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Once again I find myself wandering about in Istaria - I seem to do this every year or so and with the game client now running in Vista and the release of a huge content update, I figured it was time to take another look around.
When I re-start an MMO, which I tend to do quite often, I start over from the ground floor... For me, being in the 'interactive entertainment' industry and paying my bills via "games", an MMO is less about level caps, raid content, and being a pwn-star and more about design concepts, system architecture, and user experience.
So, what follows is my perceptions of Virtrium's efforts in improving and expanding on "Istaria", from a new-user perspective.
Yes, I've played Horizons / Istaria in the past, yes I still have the 2-CD Atari-published box on my game shelf (along with almost every other Western MMO published since UO), but I'm also fairly good at putting on my 'n00b' glasses when required and playing something from the POV of someone who is truly new.
Okay, so there's a whole raft of new stuff in the game according to the web site - new high-level dungeon, new mobs, and lots of playability tweaks. This all sounds pretty neat so I head off to download the client and log in.
The client download goes quite smoothly. Being as "Istaria" uses a streaming world architecture there isn't a lot of "world" to download so the whole package is a mere 1-ish gigs. Contrast this to the typical MMO's static world system and the associated 7+ gig download so that you can have a complete copy of everything in the world on your local hard drive.
So the client installs and everything checks out, so I run the shortcut on the desktop and am rewarded with a smallish dialog box asking for my login information - which I don't rightly remember being as it's been over a year since I was last involved with Istaria.
Off to the web site I go, and the only link I can find for any kind of account management is a 'new user' link... I'm not a new user, I'm a returning user.
So I muddle about on the web site for about 15 minutes before figuring out that if I take the end off of the URL for the new user link (accounts.istaria.com/signup.php), it re-directs me to the appropriate page to recover my password and pay to re-enable my account.
Okay, so I have my login information and a paid account, so now I can log in... Now, again, I want to see things from the new user POV so I determine to make a new character - and I'm not exactly sure what my old character was or where - so I figure I'll delete the old character and start from scratch...
The new launcher doesn't have any character delete functionality... You can create characters, you can log in to existing characters, but you cannot delete them.
So, back to the Istaria web site I go, determined to figure out how to delete this old character - but I'm not successful in finding a link to any sort of character management services even in the account page I reverse-engineered a little earlier.
Stumped, I bring up Google and input "istaria" to get to the Wiki for the game and notice a link to "play.istaria.com" in the return on my search... Sure enough, this is the old character management site and I'm able to delete that old character.
I have submitted both of these issues to the Istaria bug folks and a few days later was thanked and informed that the issues are being worked on.
Now that everything is cleared up I decide to create a new character, select the new character on Chaos item, and log in...
I was informed by one of the many helpful Dragons in the game that there is an option you can uncheck in the installer options that turns off this annoyance, and sure enough it worked... Unless you change servers or there is an update, at which time it will run a full CRC check again.
Now, Istaria, as I mentioned above, uses a streaming world system - meaning that it sends the client a *lot* of information when you first log in and you will be sitting at a loading screen for a couple of minutes while the client figures out what the world looks like 'right now' before showing it to you.
Shortly I was standing in a new character show-room - a long hallway of windowed environments for each of the game's races. One very nice thing about Istaria is that it offers players more than the standard tall human, short human, pointy eared human, and odd colored human fare that has become oh-so common in the MMO world these days... I really miss my centaur prelate in Shadowbane...
After perusing the available body styles I decided on a dragon, picked a head, color, pattern, highlight, eye color, and fiddled with some sliders to really personalize things and promptly found myself on the dragon tutorial island.
More in the next installment...
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So there I was on the dragon tutorial island...
Graphically Istaria has aged rather well - the skybox is beautiful and well animated, and what they were able to do with the limited poly-counts of 2003 is quite amazing. The world has a lush, painterly look to it without the often garish quality of say 'WoW', with excellent textures making up for the lack of polygonal power.
My little hatching dragon is animated very well with a small but well done idle animation, and the color scheme I picked out when creating him looks even better in-world.
The game has a very good tutorial system that consists of blue popup windows that do a good job of explaining what is currently going on, whether that's crafting, fighting, or some other game function.
Enough sight seeing... I amble over to the hatching dragon in front of me and right click, and am shown the available chat option, so I do so.
He rambles on a bit in a pop-up text box with hyperlink style indicators for the interactive parts of the text, which reminds me a great deal of the MUD systems of yore. And after a couple of screens he tells me to talk to the dragon combat traininer in the valley behind him.
As I head up the road I note that while Istaria is a freely traversable world, the little touches like giving you a slight speed boost while on the road is quite nice.
At the point where I reach the valley I have to stop and sight see some more... The lush jungle-like setting I was in gives way to a blasted volcanic valley straight out of Dante's Inferno. The road under me has a multi-layered texture of heat blasted rock with an animated under layer of flowing magma, black ash floats through the air, and the very air itself has become a reddish mist of what I assume to be sulphurous gasses... For a dragon this must be a paradise indeed.
But, my trainer awaits and I must move on.
I reach the trainer on top of a small hill and he's huge - at least three times my size - and once the LOD version of his model is replaced with the high-rez version, he's quite an impressive critter.
So after a bit of small talk he sends me out to hunt down a pig, then a few more pigs, then some beetles, then some spiders, all the while introducing me to the various facets of dragon combat.
Interspersed with my combat lessons I'm instructed to meet with another instructor further up the valley who teaches me how to do basic gathering and crafting, and hands out the formulas and such to make my first weapon and armor (a claw which I wear over my own claws and a chest scale I wear over my own scales).
Through both of these quest lines Istaria really shows that it's a story-driven environment. The dragons both banter with you regarding how things used to be and a bit on how things came to be the way they are. The quests also logically link together via the quest text and you're never left wondering what you should do next.
With my basic training out of the way I'm instructed to talk to the Consigner in New Trismus, as she's an old friend, and to not let the portal hit me on my way out.
While on the tutorial island I encountered about five other hatchlings all going about their scaly boot-camp just as I was, so it certainly wasn't as if I was the only person in the entire world.
Coming up next I encounter some humanoids, learn from an ancient dragon camped in the town square that Gnomes are quite tasty, and am given some precious treasure to add to my hoard...
After getting my molecules scrambled by the teleporter and arriving in one piece with the same number of appendages I left with, I find myself between two caves - each is decorated with slowly pulsing runes around the entrances and both appear to be quite large inside. There's also a road that leads up and out of the area I'm in.
One of my trainers told me to head up the road, up the hill, and talk to the consigner (a quick check of my quest log verifies this with the current step of the quest highlighted by an arrow). So off I go, up the road, past the wandering herd of deer, and into New Trismus...
As I round the corner into town I'm greeted by a cacophony of chat as beings of all shapes and sizes run to and fro. In the middle of the textual melee sits a *huge* red and white dragon... By way of comparison, now that I've seen a non-dragon, my hatching self is about the size of small horse - the ancient in the town square is about the size of a large passenger jet...
If there's one thing that I would write down as the biggest, best experience of my time in Istaria, it would be the players. Istaria itself seems to foster an excellent community through game design: Nearly everything in the game is made by someone out of parts from 3-4 other people, the housing system is geared towards group use with storage silos and such for the afore mentioned crafting, and the community building projects where everyone pitches in to build everything from bridges to the current project of opening the new end-game dungeon.
So as I stand there, eyes as large as dinner plates at all the activity and people, the ancient beckons me over and just starts chatting about all things dragon - what scales I should make, what stats are important, how my hoard works, etc, etc. Oh, and how it was expected - nay, required - for me to at least sample some deep fried Gnome.
While chatting several of the bipedal races, or "Naka-Duskael" in Dragon parlance, wandered past and gave me things such as silver urns and golden crowns - items that a dragon bases its hoard off of and are typically sold via the consigner for profit - as well as some starter gems to socket into the claws and scales I would soon be making... Just to get me started.
I was told that this isn't uncommon and is just folks paying forward for help they got early on.
As I sat there talking with random folks passing through town I got to see the sun set in game, which is quite nice as the ambient light turns to an evening orange and really gives one the feeling of evening.
Eventually the ancient bid me a good evening and flew off, leaving me quite envious as I ran around town, and I met up with the consigner and finished that quest.
Much like most MMOs, Istaria has a floating indicator over NPCs heads if they have something for you to do, so it was elementary to find people needing my services for a bit of experience and coin.
This eventually got me to eleventh level and sent off to Kion for more adventures.
Currently I'm 19th level (18th level crafter), have almost finished up the quests in Kion and the 10-19 dragon quests out of both of the dragon capitals, have made all of my gear and spells (teched with primalist stuff), and have met a lot of really great people.
So far it seems like Virtrium has added enough content to get a dragon through each tier (10-19, 20-29, etc) with minimal grinding, and have made the quests very entertaining while still managing to be difficult enough to both have you logging out from frustration *and* having a huge sense of accomplishment when you get over the hurdle - which keeps you coming back for more.
Overall Istaria is a well-aged MMO with some very forward thinking design elements and some real challenges to overcome, wrapped in a warm fuzzy blanket of its player community and casual PvE / crafter-driven environment.
If you're looking for something to play that offers a lot of variety in its game play and gives you the real opportunity to both own something in the game as well as leave your mark on it, and has a fantastic community of articulate and mature players, this might be the MMO for you.
My little dragon is now 25th level (26 crafter) and I've managed to wander across most of the 'tier two' land mass (there are many more from what I gather) as well as the two Dragon cities - which are quite impressive to see with huge, floating crystals and flowing lava pools...
So far the experience has been quite nice; the quests are fun (if you actually read them to really get what's going on) and not horribly grindy - except for a healing quest which required the death of no less than 100 of a certain critter which took two days of killing to complete.
I would say the trickiest part of getting into Istaria would be that there is no real manual to explain the complexities of the game and you are usually expected to explore and find things on your own...
Istaria so far has been a lot like chess; easy to learn, difficult to master.
For example; simply by following the tutorial you can get the basic gist of the game and be able to do everything with enough skill to level and make stuff - but there are quite a few levels of complexity below the surface that just aren't explained.
Following the tutorial you'll learn how to make armor and even how to add a socket to it, but there's not a lot of information on what you should do with that socket - there are an almost infinite number of crystals one can fit into a socket, and each adds or subtracts something. Then there's the nearly infinite number of techniques that can be applied to something you're making as well - depending on what you're building... You can see how this would get complicated fairly quickly.
As a dragon, things are fairly easy to figure out as you only really have two combat options: Melee (tooth and claw) combat and spell (primal) combat. But, there are a host of stats that you have which directly impact your combat performance - strength, dexterity, health, power, focus, primal, etc, etc. and these aren't well documented. So, when you have a technique that adds a +5 to your Power stat and you're primarily a melee dragon, how does this help you? You've found a piece of armor that adds 8 focus but subtracts 3 primal - how does that effect your spells? There's no real way of knowing in-game.
Fortunately, the community has put together a wiki which does contain this information. So all one has to do is go do a little homework prior to building or equipping stuff, which is all fine and dandy, but without someone telling a new player about the wiki, there's bound to be some frustration... So consider this your wiki-instruction. :)
You can also ask around for help with things that aren't very clear. Again, this is a very friendly group of people playing this game and, unlike your typical theme-park MMO, I seriously doubt you'll ever see a "lol l2p nub" out of them.
My next update will probably happen when I'm in the 30's level-wise.
Novice Member
Joined: 7/24/03
Nicely written!
The UI has some original touches, even to this day. I particularly like the vertical light shaft for marking the chosen target (as opposed to the ubiquitous lit circle on the ground).
Also still outstanding (IMHO) is the music.
Novice Member
Joined: 4/08/09
I wanted to drop in and thank you on behalf of the team for the outstanding feedback and comments in this post. It is obviously well thought out, and thus greatly appreciated.
As a note to any who are reading it, much of what is mentioned in here as "issues" in some way are items that someone on the team is currently working on.
For example, character management and account management are things which the programmers are working on adding to the new launcher. We had to push the launcher out "as is" right now in order for the game to be more Vista compatible. But the features will continue to improve it in the future.
We are also aware that having three websites (play.istaria.com, accounts.istaria.com and community.istaria.com) in addition to the basic istaria.com, is confusing and makes it hard to find what's where. Again, fixing this is something that's "on the list" to make more user friendly.
Design team wise, the next major project for the team is to overhaul the very "tier 2" area that Rihahn is now encountering. We know that the experience one gets on New Trismus and Lesser Aradoth (the tier 1 area) isn't the same as the other tiers, but the team is working tier by tier on bring things "up to par" one tier at a time. The "grand plan" is that over the next year, design content will be a mix of adding brand new content at each tier (T1 has been done, T2 is coming soon, and others will follow) while still working to fix bugs and improving existing content.
So hopefully in time the experience that players such as Rihahn have had in the first weeks in Istaria will be what players experience from level 1 right up to level 100... and beyond.
Originally posted by dand3
Thank you.
I agree. The UI has a lot of great elements and, considering how much information and the number of options presented to the player, it manages to remain very usable.
And, yes, the music is realy nice - though over time I've turned it off, as I have in any MMO, in favor of my own soundtrack. :)
Originally posted by AmarieA
Novice Member
Joined: 9/01/04
Originally posted by Rihahn
Try the alternate music files with ambients added - u might like 'em... ;)
- Ignorance is bliss...
Today has marked a milestone in my time in Istaria; today my little Dragon has moved into the next tiers of resources!
Being as I started over with some friends, my Dragon is once again in the 20's as an adventurer. But, being as my friends can't play as often as I (they still have raid nights - I sure don't miss that second job), I've decided to work on my crafting while they're not around and am now 28th level as a Dragon crafter.
I completed all of the 20-29 crafter quests to get the bonuses to all of the crafting skills, then worked on spells until I hit 22nd level crafter. At 22nd level I reached 170 base skill in Gemcrafting and was able to talk to a trainer for 'lair shaping', an alternate crafting class for Dragons, which takes everything you've learned as a basic crafter (gem cutting, smelting, stone cutting, etc.) and combines them into more advanced forms used to build lairs...
Some day in the future I hope to build one of these lairs just to see how the land ownership and building systems work.
So this morning I wandered out to a place called "Snowfall", just south of Mahagra (a major city situated in an almost arctic area of the world), and started working on quarrying slate. Back on New Trismus (the starting area) I was quarrying sandstone, and I'd gotten rather good at it - I was able to fill my own inventory as well as the floating wheelbarrow ('cargo disc' in Istarian terms) I tow around in about 10 minutes and generate an amazing amount of sandstone bricks and spell shards in short order.
Now that I've moved on to slate, things have slowed down quite a bit as my skills with this new resource aren't as good, but it's only a matter of time before I conquer this resource as well and move on to the next.
Crafting wise, Istaria is still the 800 pound gorilla of the MMO world. The gathering portion of the crafting process is just tedious enough to make the rewards work, and the rewards are quite nice...
In Istaria, you can literally do nothing but craft and still improve your character. For each level of a certain craft, your stats improve accordingly; mining for example increases your strength and a some other related stats... I'm not real clear on what does what just yet, but I know this is the system.
Additionally, your crafting level is computed the same as your adventure level as far as gear is concerned. So, as a dragon, I'm only 21st level as an adventurer, but as soon as I hit level 25 as a crafter I got the benefits of being level 25 like a second 'gift' slot (gifts are long duration buffs).
At level 30 Dragon crafting I'll get my second wing scale armor slot, making me quite a bit tougher than a regular level 21 adventuring Dragon (who only has chest, one wing, and head scales) and making the 9 levels of adventure catch-up that much easier.
Now, don't misunderstand, crafting is not 'easy mode' by any stretch of the imagination. It takes longer time-wise to level crafting versus adventuring, is far more tedious, and requires a good deal more patience.
The other rewards for crafting are being able to make better items, like armor and weapons, with the modifications you desire. For example, as a level 21 adventuring Dragon I can wear most slate armor that I can buy from the consigner, but I'm limited to what other people have made and decided to sell.
As a level 28 crafter, I can make my own slate armor and modify it for specific requirements. Right now I have a gathering set that has modifications ('techniques' in Istarian terms) to give me bonuses in mining and quarrying and I also have a full set that has large amounts of crush resistance (just the thing for beating up on golems, who deal crush damage primarily).
Ultimately, this has allowed me, as a 21st level Dragon adventurer, to solo a named level 25 fire golem while I was out gathering crystals for lairshaping... In my previous trips through Istaria killing something my level, let alone 4 levels higher and named (named critters are much tougher than the generic ones), would have been impossible, but I've learned a great deal about how the more advanced levels of the game work now.
Oh, that's another part of gathering - there's usually critters roaming about in the areas where you want to gather resources so you either get good at avoiding the critters, or you try and kill them as you gather... It breaks up the monotony a bit. :)
So that's about it for this update.
As my journey through Istaria progresses I have achieved level 40 in my Dragon crafter school (I'm still level 21 in my adventuring school).
I've now got my first foreleg armor slot available (in addition to both wings, head, and chest) and have begun working on the level 40 crafter quests - which are similar to the 20 and 30 crafter quests just with more complex materials or bigger loads. At the rate I'm going, I'll hit my entry level journeyman level formulas (usually 400 skill) in a few more days... I've already been making slate pieces for my guild mates but am really looking forward to working with granite and such.
My current goal is to reach 50 Dragon crafting so that I'll have my other foreleg slot and can make all of my armor pieces. Once I do that, then I'll get my adventure level up to 50 and start working on the Rite of Passage quests so that I can start flying... That'll make the next 50 levels of crafting so much easier.
While I've been crafting up a storm I've also been wandering Istaria looking at both lairs for sale and currently occupied lairs to get an idea of what is possible. What I've discovered is (A) I need a lot more coin and (B) the housing system in Istaria is certainly better than any other I've seen.
The depth and breadth of the Dragon's lair system is astounding and the variations of design are certainly intriguing. Every lair I've looked at has been a very unique creation of its owner - sure, there are a limited number of 'room' types, but the fact that it can all be put together according to the whims of the resident Dragon makes it pretty darn cool.
So I'm scouting locations; I want something near a nice resource so that the work I put into crafting machines will benefit anyone working on that resource... Which is another thing I've discovered; crafting machines come in a range of levels and they can add to your skills while working with them.
It will also be nice to have material storage for working on more complex projects and for guild use... So far I've got four folks I know to come play so we've formed a small guild mostly to keep track of each other.
But, before all of this I need to determine if we're going to migrate over to "Order", the role play server. Everyone I know comes from the before-times and tend to be roleplayers - even in WoW we tend to play on the slightly-better-than-regular-server "RP" servers, so Order sounds like a paradise... Well, except for the drama that we read about on the Istaria forums.
So I have to roll up an alt on Order and look around, and ask lots of questions on the forums to get a feel for the place before everyone plunks down real money for the move... That'll probably be the topic for the next update. :)
As my adventures in Istaria continue, I find myself reaching another milestone – The Rite of Passage.
My little dragon is now a 40th level adventurer and still a 50th level crafter, and I've decided to jump the gun a little bit and start working on my Rite of Passage quests about ten levels earlier than I had planned.
So last night I began the epic quest and started the 'hatching triathlon' – the quests require a good deal of running around, which in turn really gets one looking forward to flight.
The first step of the quest has you go and talk to a few other Dragons, mostly to get an idea of what the two Dragon factions (Lunus and Helian) are all about – which the game covered in the tutorial and early levels fairly well – but now you're old enough that you have to make a choice between the two.
I chose Helian; the more scholarly and biped-tolerant faction.
Once this is done the quests really take off – you have things to make, new areas to get to, critters to kill, and a smattering of high-level bosses to deal with…
So far I've finished the first phase of the quest; this entailed running from the Dragon capital of Dralk to a hermit Dragon about 10 minutes from town, then running from the Elven main city to an Island off the Eastern coast of Istaria (a thirty minute trip plus the time stopping in a few towns on the way to attune to the portals), then beating the tar out of five (actually 7, but I only needed 5 – the others just joined in the fun) level 45 golems.
Once this was done I had to run from Dralk back to the hermit again, where I was told I needed to go back to where the level 45 golems were, but this time I had a 30 minute buff that would summon the boss…
So I portal to the nearest town and head back into the crater where the golems are, and spawn the boss… He's level 50 (ten levels over me) and has about 36,000 hit points. This may not sound like a lot to the average MMO player, but at level 40 I have about 850 hit points and the hard-to-kill critters I had to beat up to get to the boss had 1900 hit points.
So I start in on this Crystallized Golem; I hit him hard and blow all of my abilities, scratching him for a slightly noticeable amount and debuffing him… This is going to be a long fight…
So I start kiting him around so that my heal spells have a chance to recycle, and wearing him down as fast as I can… Unfortunately those level 45 golems decided to join in and I was eventually overwhelmed.
Welcome to the death system in Istaria!
The death penalty in Istaria is actually pretty interesting; you get a 'death point' for each death ,which appear to take around 12 hours to fade, and each death point increases the duration of the resurrection debuff by some factor.
So, on your first death point there isn't a resurrection debuff. On the second the debuff lasts about 3 minutes… By your sixth Death Point, the debuff lasts about a half an hour.
Now, there exists in-game a method for reducing this, which is a food you can eat that is made by players, but I've not experimented with this yet.
So, with that out of the way, back to the battle…
I wake up back in town and am faced with another long run out to the hermit to get the boss-buff again. But now I know what I'm up against and call for help.
I'm a pretty hands-on player and I like to do things for myself, so I'm therefore not one to go looking for assistance as soon as the going gets tough. So it took a few minutes of grumbling to talk myself into asking for help in the Dragon chat channel…
Once again the community in Istaria is really nice and a level 100 Dragon by the name of "Ranqthas Clawfoot" dropped his crafting to lend me a hand.
I retrieved the buff and met him at the town near the crater, and after a few minutes of area-clearing we spawned the boss and started in on him.
Even with a 100/100 ancient helping, killing the Crystallized golem took about 5-6 minutes of straight 'tank-n-spank' – though, in his defense, Ranqthas was in crafting gear which reduced his damage output by quite a bit.
But, eventually we killed the boss; I got my quest item, and after another run back to the hermit, got the first item for my ascension.
And that's about it for this update…
Novice Member
Joined: 3/09/07
Not a retired MMORPG.com mod
"Much like most MMOs, Istaria has a floating indicator over NPCs heads if they have something for you to do, so it was elementary to find people needing my services for a bit of experience and coin."
I am very disappointed to read this as I don't recall seeing any unrealistic, immersion breaking, floating icons over questgivers heads in the original Horizons that I played. I remember first experiencing unrealsitic floating icons in WoW and absolutely hate it because it dummies down the virtual world. I much prefer the classic EQ system of having to engage NPC's with keywords for discussion and never knowing what information led to a quest and what information was just lore and roleplay. I prefer to use my brain and figure things out.
Can someone confirm that the floating icons were added by the current owners? I could swear they didn't exist originally.
Novice Member
Joined: 7/24/03
A very enjoyable series of posts, Rihahn. One very minor point; it's the Rite of Passage.
In Istaria's earlier days, dragons were less well armored and generally less survivable than they are nowadays; and hoard was much harder to come by. There was generally closer co-operation between the bipeds and the fire breathers, and bipeds routinely assisted on the Rite of Passage. My tokens of friendship that granted me a place in the final stage are still treasured momentos. We were all in our 40's and low 50's (?), and, in the early days it was not uncommon for a call to go out for reinforcements, rezzers a plus. I'd suggest having mid-level friends join... it's a magnificent experience to share.
At the time, (and probably still) the RoP was the finest quest chain in MMO'dom, with an unmatchable "reward". A good friend of mine has only one regret; that he rushed through the Rite instead of taking time to savor it all.
P.S. If you can assemble a really strong party, fight your way down the spiral to Kaa...
Originally posted by dand3
Advanced Member
Joined: 3/28/04
Now I'll have to see if I can get back into the game as well! Haven't played for something like three years, so there'll be a lot of things that are new. But that's just fun, I'd say.
Thanks for a well-written and interesting writeup.
Novice Member
Joined: 10/07/06
If only it was free to play now :(
Make games you want to play.
Istaria Correspondent
Joined: 4/22/08
Originally posted by Ravik
There is a basic account that is free to play. You can play for as long as you would like for free -- the only stipulation is that you can only have one character slot and play a human. But that human can master all the adventure and crafting schools in the game and plays fairly similar to other bi-ped races in the game.
So you won't get a Dragon, but you can at least enjoy the world of Istaria -- and if you enjoy it enough, you can upgrade the account at anytime!
Rihahn -- this has been a wonderful review of Istaria! Thank you for sharing your experiences. I hope all is going well in game? I'm working my way up to my ROP on my hatchling as well and just starting to learn about lairshaping! :)
Originally posted by Aywren
Sadly, once we all moved to the RP server 'Order' it was only a couple of weeks before the ghost-town feel got to everyone I was playing with and they all scattered back to other games.
It was very difficult to break into the community on the RP server, mostly due to the small, closely knit community that are all somehow related to one another - and the feeling that no one really wanted to spend a lot of effort involving new folks that most likely wont be around in a few weeks.
The elders are so jaded at this point with people coming in, going 20-30 levels, then fading away. I don't blame them really - I was fairly hard-core and only made it to 50/50/30...
While I held on longer than the others, with my lair contributing to most of my time, one can only ferry resources back and forth for so long, alone, before deciding to 'put a fork in it'. That and I simply wasn't looking forward to running my RoP solo - it is truely something to be relished amongst friends.
If I were running the show at Virtrium, I'd try desperately to create incentives for players to congregate in a couple places - which they may be doing with the T2 revamp - I don't know.
I'd also rein-in the sprawl a bit - the housing on the servers was aimed at thousands of players. With only a hundred or so, they really need to coax people into building a couple centralized communites, rather than having everyone so spread out. (My lair is in Genevia, amongst a hundred or so vacant plots and lairs)
As it stands now, the few active folks are in a few of the remaining guilds and are located in some far-flung area of the world where their guild town is - and where no one can find them or get to them - so unless they're slumming in New Trismus, all they are is an occasional disembodied voice.
I have two accounts, both paid in full for a year, so I'm positive I'll be back on and off - but currently my little dragon is enjoying a bit of an extended nap in one of the finished hall ways in his lair - cargo disc floating quietly nearby.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 8/21/08
Originally posted by Rihahn
Sadly, once we all moved to the RP server 'Order' it was only a couple of weeks before the ghost-town feel got to everyone I was playing with and they all scattered back to other games.
It was very difficult to break into the community on the RP server, mostly due to the small, closely knit community that are all somehow related to one another - and the feeling that no one really wanted to spend a lot of effort involving new folks that most likely wont be around in a few weeks.
The elders are so jaded at this point with people coming in, going 20-30 levels, then fading away. I don't blame them really - I was fairly hard-core and only made it to 50/50/30...
While I held on longer than the others, with my lair contributing to most of my time, one can only ferry resources back and forth for so long, alone, before deciding to 'put a fork in it'. That and I simply wasn't looking forward to running my RoP solo - it is truely something to be relished amongst friends.
If I were running the show at Virtrium, I'd try desperately to create incentives for players to congregate in a couple places - which they may be doing with the T2 revamp - I don't know.
I'd also rein-in the sprawl a bit - the housing on the servers was aimed at thousands of players. With only a hundred or so, they really need to coax people into building a couple centralized communites, rather than having everyone so spread out. (My lair is in Genevia, amongst a hundred or so vacant plots and lairs)
As it stands now, the few active folks are in a few of the remaining guilds and are located in some far-flung area of the world where their guild town is - and where no one can find them or get to them - so unless they're slumming in New Trismus, all they are is an occasional disembodied voice.
I have two accounts, both paid in full for a year, so I'm positive I'll be back on and off - but currently my little dragon is enjoying a bit of an extended nap in one of the finished hall ways in his lair - cargo disc floating quietly nearby.
Boy, Rihan, if they can't even keep you, someone who really seemed to have fallen in love with the game, I wonder if there truly is any hope.
Do you think the problem could be the RP Server Order? I too found it to any empty, quiet place, where I could go an hour or so an literally hear no one else speak. It broke my heart a bit too, as I desperately wanted to love the game.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Subex, and the Inequities of DebtPosted by: Eric in Opinion
How much would you say Subex is worth? That is the question surrounding the Indian revenue assurance and OSS vendor after it announced its half-yearly results last week. Since raising $180m in Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs), they have seen the stock markets and their share price tumble. Meanwhile, Subex results have been modest in the last few years. Competition has been tough, but most of the harm suffered by Subex has been self-inflicted. In particular, the FCCBs were used to pay for the $165m cash purchase of Syndesis. With the benefit of hindsight, it looks like Subex badly overpaid for the Canadian firm. Per Subex's own LSE filing, Syndesis "has been depreciating in value owing to the losses incurred by that business and the global market conditions". Syndesis was overpriced, but if Subex had swapped its own paper for Syndesis' paper, there would have been no fallout when the inflated values of paper started to fall. Instead, Syndesis was paid for in cash obtained from borrowing. Paying back that debt has become a severe headache for Subex's management. They are now trying to find a cure, but no solution will be without some pain.


text:
Could you guys start making summaries at the end, i get too lazy to read the whole thing, but i really wanna know what its about lol ;D
TiPb Retorts: iPhone Shmodcasts?! WinMo GPS Locks?! Fight the Real Enemy!
Sibling site WMExperts, which -- while Dieter doffs his WinMo cap and rounds his robin reviewing the iPhone -- brings us Phil Nickinson's exception to iPhone OS 2.2's Podcast Download feature.
Okay, it's not cut and paste, lack of MMS, no unified inbox, no Flash, etc. etc. In all fairness, it's an interesting look at some of the things we here at TiPb complain about as well, pointedly the 10MB cap for podcast downloads over the 3G network (you have to switch to WiFi for anything larger, same as the App Store has enforced since iPhone OS 2.0):
It's this kind of manipulation from Apple that keeps a good many of us from wanting to deal with the company (and frustrates many who do). It's not that the hardware's not sexy. It's not that the software is lacking. It's that lines are being blurred, or destroyed. Apple makes the hardware, and AT&T provides the service. There's too much collusion going on. If AT&T wants to set a 5-gigabyte cap on my data, fine. But don't tell me how to use those gigs. And don't use Apple as a proxy to do so.
The only problem with the argument? The inclusion of Apple.
Look no further than the very next day on WMExperts, when Dieter posted a rant of his own, asking people to help save GPS on Windows Mobile, which we'll paraphrase thusly:
It's this kind of manipulation from [Microsoft and the OEMs] that keeps a good many of us from wanting to deal with the company (and frustrates many who do). It's not that the hardware's not sexy. It's not that the software is lacking. It's that lines are being blurred, or destroyed. [Microsoft and the OEMs] make the [software and hardware], and [Verizon] provides the service. There's too much collusion going on. If [Verizon] wants to [lock down the GPS that's not fine]. [And] don't tell me [I have to pay to subscribe to Telenav in order to do it]. And don't use [Microsoft and the OEMs] as a proxy to do so.
See what we're getting at? Targeting Apple and the iPhone -- which hits the rabbit-eared AT&T 3G towers like Elmer Fudd with a rail gun -- for redirecting high-bandwidth traffic to WiFi, when Verizon is locking out GPS entirely is platform division at the expense of a united front against a common enemy. It's the WinPot calling the iKettle black in a cupboard full of charred cooking ware, and it misses the main culprit: the carrier fire.
Now, while Apple has done more in it's brief 1 1/2 years in the mobile space to break the carrier locks than Microsoft or any other megacorps have done in a decade it's still not enough. Just imagine what could happen if Microsoft put their own, still ginormous weight behind reform. Imagine if Google, rather than taking the carrier-centric, business-as-usual Android licensing route put their "don't be evil" mantra where their handset was? Imagine if RIM, rather than letting carriers rip WiFi from the Blackberry Storm, stood up told the carriers just where exactly they could push their odiferous demands? Imagine if Apple told AT&T to invest a little in infrastructure cause unlimited means unlimited and podcast downloads they are a coming!
Those are the rants I want to see more of, and in more places.
Go get 'em, tigers!
PS: Particularly perplexing with the current 10MB cap on podcasts in iPhone OS 2.2 is that they only apply to direct downloads. Hitting the title, on the other hand, will begin to stream the podcast over 3G (or WiFi) without any such limitations or restrictions. What's up with that? Anyone know if streaming traffic is any different for the 3G network than download traffic?
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment! Need help with something else? Ask in our forums!
Reader comments
TiPb Retorts: iPhone Shmodcasts?! WinMo GPS Locks?! Fight the Real Enemy!
Rene, nice response to what seems to be "cheap shots" by the other SPE sites... as for your streaming question, I could be wrong but isn't that stream compressed a great deal? Another reason why they could made it that was is because of iTunes. People could start getting away from iTunes if it was that simple to do it right from the iPhone. I understand I am probably pushing it there but who knows...
Joe has a good point. How does selling a carrier locked iPhone in the United States show that they're breaking carrier locks?
@Joe @thekevinmoster:
Apple basically froze AT&T out of the iPhone -- they didn't get to see it until almost the last minute. They didn't get to cripple the WiFi or GPS. They didn't get to load a ton of carrier crapware, ringtone services, or other nonsense onto the phone. They didn't even get their branding on the hardware. They also deliver updates outside the snails (or non-existent) pace of other carrier-bound handsets.
With the original iPhone 2G, Apple even handled the activation inside iTunes, completely outside the carrier model.
Perhaps 1.5 years is long enough time to forget, and perhaps Apple is guilty of backsliding with the 3G, but not recognizing how Apple has dictated terms to the carriers that were before all but un-imaginable, is pretty hard to fathom.
And even with the 3G, they've frozen the carrier out of music and out of Apps.
If Microsoft, RIM, and Google step up, we can begin the process of making the carriers the ISPs they really are.
@Rene -
Froze AT&T out, eh? Guess that's why we have real turn by turn directions, because Apple can do whatever they want on the platform and AT&T would never complain about how they're not getting let into the traditional TeleNav ARPU Loop, and even if they did, it's not like that would stop Apple from offering it or allowing it in their development kit.
Oh, wait. :P
Agree that MS needs to step up. Also agreed that Apple is backsliding with the 3G. And yes, I think there's more than meets there eye here wrt turn by turn.
Guess I'm just saying that when it comes to openness and not-locking-down, Apple Apologists ought not get all huffy when WinMo people point it out. MS may be buckling to ARPU pressure from carriers at the expense of the platform, but I think it's fair to say that Apple doing it too, eh?
Not huffy it's being pointed out... and wouldn't dream of ever apologizing for Apple. I want a closed platform. That's what has always made Apple products superior. We get the best of what is truly needed without the confusing, chaotic clutter that has WinMo people coming over to Apple in the first place.
Sometimes I would rather have the carrier lockdown crap over the Apple lockdown. Why? XDA-Developers can generally get us Windows Mobile users past the carriers crippling or loading us up with bloatware. The iPhone dev team still can't enable turn-by-turn GPS, cut and paste, A2DP (how is this still missing?), etc.
At least Windows Mobile is still open enough to allow people to get around the follies of the carriers or Microsoft.
Who says they're not working on those things? Perhaps they're spending time making those things BETTER rather than same ol' same ol'.
I remember just a few years ago wondering why Apple's new cell phone was taking so long. Now I know... and I'm glad they came out with something revolutionary rather than just another phone.
Hello my name is Merle Dean Shamblin and I would like to be your new friend. I sure could use somebody to chat with. I am a 47 year old long haul truck driver who currently lives in Duncan Oklahoma. Dec 8th 1960 I was born in Fairview Oklahoma. Moved to Caddo and Washita counties where I attended school at Colony Hydro and Weatherford. My parents Malvin and Wanda Shamblin were cotton and peanut farmers. Dad died in 99 from lung cancer. Graduated from SWOSU with a business degree. My two sisters are LaDonna Hubert and Malva Burrahm. Dennis is my brother. I have been a truck driver for 14 years and have driven 2 million paid miles. I have received many safe driving awards over the years. I am single and have never been married. I have a wide range of interests and am pretty much an open book. Currently I drive a 2006 Freightliner for a major carrier. I dont go to Canada very often. I dont have a dedicated route so I run the entire lower 48. I enjoy reading cinema music sports travel etc


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A father/daughter go racing...
View Single Post
off-ramp slayer
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: Tampa
Oddometer: 4,349
HS#7 Astronaut Trail HS
This is real late... I know.
The setting for this race report is the flat and woodsy property near New Smyrna used by the Apollo Motorcycle club. The course was 5+ miles for Sat and 11+ miles for Sunday. The weather was forecast to be cold with a chance of rain on Sat. The moisture arrived just as the practice lap was ending and made for some slippery conditions for the start of Haley's race. This will be her 3rd start on the bigger bike so she's still learning to use all it has to offer. The course was one of thick woods/palms with not a lot of open areas to regroup/take a breath, so staying relaxed will be important.
The horn sounds and she's off. Not last into the 1st corner is an improvement as she disappeared into the woods. Soon enough she appears to complete the first lap and looks like she's having fun. She manages to dump it in a tight right hander just as the course enters the woods and by the way she was able to pick the bike up quickly and get going it looks like keeping her on a 2 stroke continues to be the right move.
Time passes and we start to get worried....where is she. An answer isn't far away as a friend rides up and says Haley is back at camp...mad... and minus her kick starter ! I'm soon greeted by a upset racer who is ready to fire her mechanic. Seems she stalled the bike, went to kick it and realized she was missing something. A nice course worker got her bump started. She most upset that she had to now wait 3 weeks to race again, so it seems my master plan of getting her hooked on this all is going according to plan
Junior Girls
Place # Name AMA # Brand City, State Point Adv Laps Elapsed
1 5G Zoe Steindl KTM Sanford, FL 50 0 4 1:08:58
2 169G Haley Schell Honda Odessa, FL 12 0 1 0:19:08
Speaking about grand ideas, mine was going according to plan. The mist that was bothering most folks during practice has started to let up. There were only 12 riders in the class (usually 20+) due to the weather so less competition. The horn sounds and in one kick the bike fires and I'm off. Now David Davis (48C) is the hole shot king of the Senior C line. His technique is shrouded in mystery and the scuttlebutt is he never actually kills his motor for the start, he just has it idling really,really slowly So as I shoot away from the line I look over and realize with shock...I've got the holeshot! Seems David had installed a rekluse after the prior race and the slight delay it caused in his start let me get the jump on him. I decided at that moment I was going to park it next to the pole and make everyone go around me, which worked for 2 corners until David went flying around the outside of me and led the class into the woods.
Now prior to this race I was talking with Haley about how this race was going to be the one of opportunity. Tight trail meant I needed to bide my time and wait for opportunities. Don't push too hard and wreck as it would be so much work to try and pass people back.I was thinking this as I followed David into the first 1/4 mile of the trail. David took a slower line and I couldn't resist it, I passed him back and took over first. Now some of you might remember the last time I had first place and how I had the propensity to give it right back. I was passing over some seemingly routine whoops and released my grip on the throttle for a 2nd. The issue was my sticky gloves combined with some excellent grips meant for a split second the throttle had other plans. The bike and I shot off into the bushes as if we knew something the trail designers didn't, and the entire class passed me by.So much for staying cool and letting the race come to me..
It's pretty remarkable how deep a 300 can bury itself when the ham-fisted pilot blunders. After getting it back on track I knew all I could do was try and salvage something. I also learned I am now a card carrying member of the Brian Coughlin/tight trees are for enduro's way of thinking. I swear they I saw a sign that said "old enduro course" as I plowed the bars back and forth through a section that sapped what little strength I had left. I passed a few people, was forced to go out another lap and passed a few more. I managed to make it up to 6th by the end, but the course had whipped my butt. I was laughing as I pulled up and told my story to David and Tom Miller (congrats on the win Tom !!!) so I guess any race you can smile after is a good one. Should be a great one this weekend in Brooksville so see you there !!!
PS. I would thank my cheering section for the encouragement, as I really need it!
Senior C
Place # Name AMA # Brand City, State Point Adv Laps Elapsed
1 31C Tom Miller 696207 KTM North Port, FL 50 10 2 1:28:23
2 48C David Davis 854296 KTM Lake City, FL 47 5 2 1:28:51
3 828C Mike Hunter 744142 Kawasaki Middleburg, FL 45 4 2 1:29:41
4 15C Kevin Vaughan KTM North Port, FL 43 3 2 1:30:19
5 919C Randy Bolen 987702 Honda San Mateo, FL 41 2 2 1:31:50
6 117C Troy Stainbrook KTM Odessa, FL 40 0 2 1:32:56
7 26C Robert Ryan 941623 Yamaha Lake Mary, FL 39 0 2 1:36:15
8 818C Irvin Kelly 942897 Honda Kissimmee, FL 38 0 2 1:37:39
9 11C Don Learn GasGas Jacksonville, FL 37 0 2 1:40:07
10 42C Brenton Teixeira KTM Key West, FL 36 0 2 1:44:55
11 1C Ouri Kahn Yamaha Weston, FL 35 0 2 1:56:26
DNF 96C Todd Comeens KTM Deland, FL 0 0 0 0:00:00
DNF 69C Armando Rios 897436 KTM Kissimmee, FL 0 0 0 0:00:00
Senior-C #117
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text:
The half project
It seems as if the power of technology keeps on increasing, the people and pokemon keep on getting closer. All over in the world of pokemon, people have been going missing; the people have noticed that only people in the age range of ten to eighteen age range, have been taken. What the people don't know is that this is the best age for surviving, the process of Merge, when a human's DNA is combined with that of a Pokémon's. Not human, or pokemon, but both. You are one of the taken, given a Pokémon's DNA, with the ability to look like your old human self for an hour. Will you escape and find a new home, or will you try to find a cure? One thing for sure, life will never be the same again.
The Project has three different main groups Hunters, scientists, and Grunts.
The hunters are the people that go after the runways, they tend to use pokemon that can clause sleep or catch things. They are also the people that took you from your home. It worth mentioning that because the runaways are successful they don't want to kill them, just take them back.
scientists are the people that did the experiments, they know your weakness, and who you once where, they come along with the hunters to help subdue you. They don't always use pokemon, but when they do they lean tower more modern ones.
The grunts are like the hunters, but the grunts stay at the lad, They are your keeper before you escaped. they like to use powerful pokemon, they fight well in small spaces
the lab is located on an island just of the unova region.
No bunnying or the like,
The general form rules must be obeyed
I am GM my world is law, if you have a question, VM, PM, or just ask in this thread.
You can only have one form of merge, so only one pokemon.
Please be active, it really helps
Merge Sign up sheet:
Age: (has to be 10-18)
Which pokemon you are merged with: (try not to use human like pokemon, like lucario no lendarys)
Appearance before merge:
Appearance after merge:
Project Sheet:
Age: (should be over 20, give a reason if you want it to be younger)
Rank:(you can be as high as you like, but I control the leaders of each section)
Appearance :
History:(not required, but recommended)
Pokemon:(should have Gender, moves, and ability, Up to six pokemon)
Once 4 or 5 people join, then we can begin. Also once three people Join, you can have as many people as you like, but you must be able to mange then all.
Accepted people:
Lilith, Caleb @Valcarona;
Ozias, Calix @Polkadot Jolteon;
Alexander @TobiasMoon;
Tony, Eric, Helen, Nel, Tybalt @Dark Deox;
Clair Sunder @Terra-chan;
Trizark Zachrai @Blathers;
Chris @ZeroTwo;
Rank: hunter leader
Appearance: Tom has short back hair, and white skin. he is a very tall man, and is as strong as an ox. he weirs a cameo vest with a black shirt underneath. he has brown combat boots and grey pants.
Personality: Tom is a ruthless man, who is willing to do anything to catch his prey.
History:all that is know is that he is very good that that he has be doing this a long time.
Pokemon: only two are known, his Ariados, and his Garchomp.
Name: Sandy
Age: unknown
Appearance :Sandy has long blond hair and blue eyes. she is always wearing her lab coat with a Black shirt and plants underneath. she also wears black hills.
Personality:Sandy rarely shows emotions. she seems to always be cool and collected.
History:even less is known about sandy, roomers say that she was the one to come up with the project.
Pokemon: only one is known, Porygon-Z.
Name: Dango
Age: unknown
Appearance :he has black hair, and is ripped. he wears a green shirt and tends to go topless. he also wears green plants and boots. they say he can snap steel.
Personality:he is very cruel, when he get's angry and tends to explode
History: nothing is really known about him, he just showed up one day.
Pokemon: only one is known, Conkeldurr.
These three are the leaders of the project little is known about them. some say that their may be 4th member, the real leader. But there is a rumor about some one else as well
Name: Shawn
Age: 17
Gender: male
Which pokemon you are merged with: Absol
Appearance before merge: he had white hair and blue eyes. he used to wear a green T-shirt and black pants with brown boots.
Appearance after merge: he now has white shaggy hair all over his body, minus his face witch is blue, and has Absol's horn sticking out of it. he also has an Absol's tail and claws.
Personality: not much is known, but he seems kind and smart.
History:before his merge nothing is known, he was, and still is the first merge to escape and stay free. because he was made about a year before the RP starts he does not have the ability to look human. he wears a white jacket, and sweatpants and shoes to hid this real appearance. His ability to scene danger is what allowed for him to get away. they say
Other: He is something of a legend to the project. you may want to try to find him.


text:
AT&T IoT / M2X Coding Workshop (Plano – AFTERNOON) - Free
- Science & Technology
- 2900 W. Plano Pkwy., Plano, TX, 75075
AT&T Mobile App Hackathon - Palo Alto - GAME JAM!
AT&T Developer Program
Friday, January 25, 2013 at 6:00 PM - Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 10:00 PM (PST)
Interested in building mobile games?
Mobile App Hackathon is an event produced by the AT&T Developer Program that is designed for attendees (technical & non-technical) to build apps/mobile apps, get fed, compete for prizes across different categories and most importantly: meet new people and scout for teammates to work on new or current projects. Our hackathon will introduce you to the latest cutting edge tools to help deploy your own app with a website backend, fully hosted in the cloud.
This specific hackathon will feature speakers from the gaming industry as well as mentors that can help you with the game you have been thinking about building or advance the game you have already built.
To make this event even more interesting for you, Wild Tangent has graciously offered to FINISH the first place game, free of charge. You own the rights to the game and Wild Tangent / AT&T will help get the word out through our channels.
We Supply: Quick presentations and code samples that help to bootstrap your hacking, food to keep you going, and caffeine to keep you awake. Along with technical senseis to assist you in building faster, smarter, and with new tools.
You Bring: Your laptop, skills & ideas. Come with a collaborative, team focused mindset and/or team up in advance on Twitter/Facebook/Google+ via the #atthack hashtag. Whether you are a backend person and code in Ruby/PHP/.NET or are a designer and only work with Illustrator, you are invited to attend this event. Every group needs a good balance of talent and your development skills are needed!
Event Schedule. The following is a list of the weekends agenda:
Prizes. The following prizes are experiential and geared towards accelerating you towards a successful business as well as expanding your network and industry knowledge:
A 3-month incubation period at nestGSV including:
Judging Criteria. Apps will be judged based on the criteria below and weighted accordingly.
|Alex Donn, Senior Marketing Manager at AT&T, is based out of sunny Seattle! His passion is educating developers young and old about mobile application development best practices through events like hackathons that fuse the collective interests of multiple technology and business leaders. He loves bacon and is allergic to all types of gluten.
|Lance Nanek is one of the programmers for Lock n Roll - a cross platform dice puzzle game with over 1 million downloads and available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7, and facebook. He has over 10 years of experience in IT - supporting other developers as part of HTCdev, working on hit apps like CardioTrainer at WorkSmart Labs, and working for big companies like IBM and State University of New York.
|Joshua Granick is a BlackBerry Developer Evangelist and a Lead Developer for NME. He is highly skilled in everything from web languages like web languages like Javascript, CSS and HTML to compiled languages such as Haxe, Flash, C and C++. Prior his time with RIM he ran his own firm where he managed projects for Adobe, Kellog, and Disney.
|Ibon Tolosana is the CTO at Ludei. He is the lead architect for Ludei's world leading HTML5 mobile game development platform. At Ludei, he has been actively involved in the development of all aspects of the platform, including the delivery of CocoonJS, the company's client virtual machine, the Ludei cloud and Ludei's own games, VideoPuzzle, iBasket and Sumon for IOS and Android. He has been in the internet world since 2000. A former Technical Director at juegon.com, a multiplayer gaming portal.
|Tim Anglade, handles Developer Relations & Outreach for Apigee. In previous lives, he was a Research Assistant, a Project Manager, a University Lecturer and a CTO but he kept writing code all the while. You may have met him at a conference, during the NOSQL Summer or seen him host the NOSQL Tapes. He's always up to chat about dev, hacks, apps & tech — so come say hi!
|Curtiss Pope is the founder and CEO of AisleFinder, an app that matches your shopping list with aisles in supermarkets. He started his technology career coding and designing web sites and software for companies like Yahoo, Microsoft, and Installshield. He often shares his views on entreprenuership and design in blogs such as Venturebeat, and Hacker News. He additionally has been featured on many sites including Tech Crunch and CNET.
|Andrew "Andy" Manoske is an investor at GGV Capital, a technology-focused venture capital firm with over $1.5B in assets managed. As an associate he focuses on GGV's investments in gaming, digital music, and technology infrastructure. He is also a board observer on Playhaven and Bandpage. Prior to GGV, Andy served in a variety of technical product roles at EA, NetApp, SAP, and Microsoft. He was credited on the Xbox 360 release of The Godfather and was the youngest product manager in NetApp's history.
|Roger Billerey-Mosier is VP Eng and Product at Crunched, the best online meeting and presentation platform out there. Previously big data guy at Federated Media and early web and data engineer at Trulia (NYSE IPO 2012). Linguist by trade.
|David Chung is Director Channel Sales - Americas NeuroSky, Inc. the leader in biosensor technology changes the user's experience. NeuroSky works with leading manufacturers, universities and researchers, to deliver solutions that improve people's lives – by bridging the gap how applications respond to the individual.
|Larry Downes is an Internet industry analyst and author. His books include "Unleashing the Killer App" and, most recently, "The Laws of Disruption." He writes regularly for a variety of publications including CNET and Forbes.com
|Eric Apel is Senior Character artist at 2K Sports. He works in 3D modeling, surfacing, rigging and Visual Development for current and Next-Gen platforms. Previously he worked at Sierra On-Line doing Design and Animation.
|Alvin Wang, founder of Cloud Wizard, is currently the CTO or Lead Architect at 5 startups. At Cloud Wizard he works to develop scalable cutting edge systems using the latest technology including the various cloud platforms including Amazon Web Servinces, Google App Engine, Joyent, etc.
|Paras Wadehra is a Nokia Developer Ambassador promoting development for the awesome Windows Phone platform. He himself is an expert mobile developer and also helps startups understand the mobile world and helps them build mobile apps. He can be found on Twitter at @ParasWadehra.
Hi! I am a developer evangelist with the AT&T Developer Program and specialize in rapid mobile app development
If you have any questions about this event or mobile application development in general, please find me on Twitter and message me!
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IOWA CITY, Iowa Its winning streak may have reached 40 Friday night, but top-ranked Iowa City Regina has a much smaller number in mind two, the number of wins it will take to secure a third straight state championship.
Junior tailback Riley Dixon rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns as the Regals defeated the 10th-ranked Maquoketa Valley Wildcats, 38-14, in a Class 1A quarterfinal game at Regina Field.
"We're going to the dome," Dixon said after the game."I can't even describe the emotion going through me right now. Forty games, I mean, I know we don't really talk about it too much, but shoutout to all the coaches.They do all the work, we just play for them."
Regina (12-0) advanced to the semifinals in its first year in Class 1A after capturing state titles at the 2A level in 2010 and 2011.
"This is a group of guys that will focus on the right things," said Regina Coach Marv Cook, whose record in six years at Regina is an astonishing 71-5.
A more-than-game Maquoketa Valley squad pulled out all the stops in a first half filled with punches and counterpunches.Down 21-14 and facing a 4th-and-2 at their own 33 yard-line, Wildcats Coach Wes Wilson called for the fake punt, a direct snap to super sophomore tailback Ryan Parmely, who raced 46 yards to the Regina 17.
However, Maquoketa Valley quarterback Ben Dzaboff's pass to the end zone for the possible tie was intercepted by Regina's Fritz Wagner in front of the goal line.
Then the Regals did what good teams do they delivered a haymaker.
With the ball on its own 2-yard line and just 1:25 before halftime, Regina was not content to take a seven-point lead into the locker room.Senior quarterback Mark Ward heaved a pass down the left sideline to a leaping Matt Streb, who pulled it in at the Regina 40 and raced to the end zone for a 98-yard touchdown to extend the Regals' lead to 28-14.
Parmely rushed for 207 yards but was held to 54 in the second half for Maquoketa Valley, who finished a fantastic season at 10-2.
Following a taxing stretch of four games in 15 days, Cook is giving the team a couple of days off before preparing to face undefeated Dike-New Hartford (12-0) next Saturday at the UNI-Dome.
"They're a great, great traditional program so we'll need to be ready," Cook said.
The Regina/Dike-New Hartford game, and all other state semifinal and final games, can be seen live on KCRG 9.2
Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather
Prep Football: Regina Wins 40th Straight, Advances To 1A Semis
By Douglas Miles, Reporter
Most Popular


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Accessories News
Aether Collaborates With Salt on Sunglass Collection
Aether is moving into eyewear with a collection of limited-edition sunglasses it created with Salt.
— June 8, 2015
Salvatore Ferragamo Offers Customized Ties
Salvatore Ferragamo is launching Ties MTO, a special service allowing clients to order customized ties that retail for about 30 percent more than its traditional ties.
— June 6, 2015
Randa Opens Belt Lab in Chicago
The facility is expected to increase sales by 30 percent.
— June 5, 2015
Braun's High-energy Launch for Series 9 Razor
The razor will retail for $349 when it hits stores in August.
— June 4, 2015
Reinventing the Men's Dress Shirt
Newness and variety are driving business in the growing men's dress shirt category and giving guys a reason to shop.
Dwyane Wade Launches New Collection for The Tie Bar
The Miami Heat player hosted a dinner at Dirty French restaurant in New York City to celebrate his sixth collection for The Tie Bar.
— May 21, 2015
Jesse Tyler Ferguson Creates Bow Tie for Tony Awards
The "Modern Family" actor has partnered with the Tony Awards for the third year on a limited edition bow tie produced by accessories retailer The Tie Bar.
— May 14, 2015
Huntsman Planning New York Store
The Savile Row tailor has also named a creative director and chief cutters.
— May 13, 2015
In the Spotlight: G-Star Raw X Afrojack Sunglasses
The denim brand has created a limited edition pair of sunglasses with Afrojack, a Grammy award-winning DJ and music producer.
— May 12, 2015


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Types of Soils That Filter Water Best
Hello Community,
Water filtration is a natural part of the water cycle. When water in lakes, rivers, and the seas is heated by the sun, some of it becomes water vapor and rises into the atmosphere as clouds. The air cools the water vapor, which falls back to Earth as rain. The rain is filtered through the soil and becomes part of the water table. As the water seeps through layers of rocks and soil, they remove impurities from the water.
Sand: Whether a soil type will filter water well depends on how much organic matter, sand, silt and clay it contains. Sand is composed of coarse, large particles and is very porous, so it works as an effective filter. According to West Virginia University, sand filters are one of the oldest methods of municipal water filtration. The filters need to be large to be effective because water seeps through very slowly. Water that has organic contaminants is difficult to filter with sand because it creates clogs and limits the water flowing through the fine sand of the filter.
Clay: Clay has a fine particle size that absorbs and holds water well. Clay absorbs contaminants from the water as it passes slowly through. Clay is often mixed with organic matter, which traps and holds chemical contaminants. The fine particles of the clay, according to the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, slow down the water while the organic matter in the soil promotes the chemical and biological breakdown of contaminants, keeping them out of the groundwater.
Aggregates: Groundwater is not found in an underground lake or pool, but in an aggregate, or mixture, of sand, stones, and silty clay. The water from rainfall, snow melt, or overflowing streams seeps through the different layers of the soil; contaminants are filtered out and held in the soil. The upper layers of soil include a healthy mix of organic matter. According to North Carolina State University, a healthy soil mix is vital to preserve the quality of existing and future groundwater.
Best Regards,
Alex Johns
Re: Types of Soils That Filter Water Best
That's good.
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Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American actress, pop singer, and songwriter. Cyrus is known for starring as Miley Stewart/"Hannah Montana" in the television series Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel.
Miley has two sides to her style, as she gets to dress in glamorous gowns for award ceremonies, but also works the laid-back look with jeans and t-shirt every day. We would describe her dress sense as casual but chic.
Miley is regularly seen wearing Gypsy 05, Chaser LA, Lauren Moshi and Rails.


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The World's Most Eligible Royal Bachelors
Every girl dreams of one day being royalty -- let's blame all those Disney movies! Three years ago, Kate Middleton gave us commoners hope that we could marry a royal when she married Prince William and in honor of their anniversary, we're rounding up the world's most eligible royal bachelors! > read more


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Attention TV/radio announcers:
Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:
Here is an item of interest to swimmers.
Due to big waves, red flags have been hoisted at Repulse Bay Beach, Middle Bay Beach, South Bay Beach, Chung Hom Kok Beach, St Stephen's Beach, Stanley Main Beach, Turtle Cove Beach, Shek O Beach and Big Wave Bay Beach in Southern District, Hong Kong Island; Hung Shing Yeh Beach, Lo So Shing Beach, Pui O Beach, Upper Cheung Sha Beach, Lower Cheung Sha Beach and Tong Fuk Beach in Islands District. Beach-goers are advised not to swim at these beaches.
Ends/Tuesday, July 8, 2008


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Topic Page
Nation Topics - Campaign Finance
News and Features
Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), better known as the McCain-Feingold law, by a 5-to-4 majority, is the need for campaign finance reform over?
To declare oneself an unapologetic liberal in mainstream political debate these days is to invite abuse.
CLARIFICATION: In last week's editorial "Dean With a Small 'd,'" we mentioned Dick
Gephardt's refusal to sign a campaign-reform pledge. The pledge, which
strengthens public financing for future elections, is not binding for
the upcoming primaries. Gephardt claims it should be. (11-19-03)
George W.
Nothing deepens your cynicism quicker than the power of money in
American politics.
New Mexico is on the verge of joining
those happy few states that have acted to rein in the
extreme influence of corporate money on US politics.
Campaign finance reform can succeed--but only if the pressure stays on.
Senator Corzine speaks from knowledge when he calls for regulatory reform.
In the 39 states that elect appellate judges, politicization of the
bench is growing.
If a definition of news is something that hasn't happened before,
readers of the New York Times may be excused for wondering why
the paper featured a front-page story on June 8 on the travails of a
Senate candidate from Oregon who spends hours a day cold-calling rich
strangers to ask them to contribute to his campaign. There's nothing new
about the terrible, time-consuming need for candidates to curry favor
with the donor class; readers may recall Caleb Rossiter's first-person
account of the numbing effects of fundraising for his 1998 Congressional
The real news story is in Arizona and Maine, where Clean Elections laws
provide public funding for candidates who avoid fat-cat donors. In those
states more than 300 candidates for everything from governor to state
assembly are proving their political worth not by the size of their
campaign war chests but by their ability to attract the requisite number
of $5 contributors to qualify for public money. Participation rates have
nearly doubled compared with 2000, when Clean Elections systems had
their first run. In Arizona more than 80 percent of the statewide
candidates are participating in Clean Elections--including seven of
eight major candidates for governor and nearly half the legislature
contenders. In Maine two gubernatorial candidates, a Republican and a
Green Independent, have been certified for Clean Elections funding,
along with 206 so far of 375 candidates for the state legislature.
In the past few years the determined organizing of dozens of state
coalitions, led by Public Campaign in Washington, has chipped away at
the belief that we'll never get the special-interest money out of
politics. Adding new force to that effort, Senator John McCain, the
country's most prominent campaign reform advocate, recently announced
his support for his home state's Clean Elections system. In ads paid for
by the Arizona Clean Elections Institute, McCain says: "Clean Elections
works well to overcome the influence of special interests. It gives
Arizonans the power to create good government. Keep supporting Clean
McCain's move has a significant local context: Right-wingers and
business interests are trying to undermine his state's pioneering
system. Clint Bolick has set up a state satellite of his conservative
Institute for Justice to go after public financing in the courts, and
former GOP Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon is
attacking Clean Elections as "welfare for politicians" and promising to
get rid of it if he's elected this fall. Activists tied to GOP
fundraisers have floated the idea of a ballot repeal initiative if they
can't get rid of Clean Elections by other means.
Outside Arizona McCain's announcement should end the notion that
Republicans can't stomach public financing. In fact, there is a clear
trend toward greater acceptance among GOP leaders, who are beginning to
understand the rank and file's revulsion at big money's corrupting
power. In recent years, Republican businessmen in Maine, veteran
legislators in Vermont, a sitting governor in Massachusetts (along with
the state party) and a slew of former elected officials from around the
country have expressed their support for public financing, along with a
host of politicians in those three states and Arizona. Now that McCain
has thrown his clout behind the cause, let's hope others will follow.


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Magners 'Magners specials' by The Red Brick Road
Magners has launched a print and poster campaign for Magners Specials, a new range of premium ciders, specially blended with natural ingredients.
Created by The Red Brick Road, the campaign includes three executions, one for each of the three flavours: Pear & Ginger, Spiced Apple & Rhubarb, and Spiced Apple & Honey. It also includes an app by Glue Isobar.
The print work was art directed by Matt Allen. The photographer was Giles Revell.


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Washington, D.C. weather forecast: Hottest week of the year on the way
High pressure off the coast will pump hot and humid air across the mid-Atlantic this week.
- Overnight:
- Scattered Showers, Patchy Fog
- Lows: 65°-73°
- Wind: Southwest 2-5 mph
- Monday:
- Partly Sunny, PM T-Storms (30%)
- Highs: 88°-93°
- Wind: West 5-10 mph
- Tuesday:
- Hot and Humid, PM T-Storms (30%)
- Highs: 90°-95°
- Wind: Southwest 5-10 mph
For as comfortable as it was this weekend, that is how uncomfortable it will be this week. Scattered showers will dot the radar overnight, but don't expect much. Patchy fog may form during the early morning hours as temperatures fall into the middle 60s to lower 70s.
Monday will bring a nice mix of sun and clouds along with about a 30-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms. Afternoon temperatures will rebound to the upper 80s to lower 90s. The core of the hottest air arrives Tuesday and lasts until Thursday. Temperatures will be in the lower to middle 90s with heat index readings in the upper 90s.
For the latest weather headlines, stay with ABC 7 News, NewsChannel 8 and WJLA.com. Follow ABC 7's Steve Rudin on Twitter @SteveRudinABC7 and follow on Facebook by clicking here.


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By Eline Stiekema, Onrpg writer
At first it may sound a bit contradictory: pirates and puzzling? An image of Jack Sparrow trying to solve a Rubik's cube pops up... erm, puzzling pirates? Seriously?
Okay, it's not as crazy as it sounds. It's actually quite fun. In Puzzle Pirates, players move their ship and sword fight against other players by playing puzzles. On these ships, you don't have to be a good sailor to make a good pirate. Practicing you bejeweled skills is enough.
Getting started
Getting started as a Puzzle Pirate is very easy. You don't have to download and install anything; you can play the game directly from your browser. When you have created an account, you can design your very own pirate and give him or her a nice piratey name. This name may only contain of one word, which is a bit of a shame. Playing the game I saw a lot of characters with two word names ('Silent Sarah' and the like), but I figured they were NPC's (or, as they are called here, 'NPP's', meaning Non Player Pirates).
You can maintain three pirates at once, but you can only play with one of them at a time. You can choose each pirate's hairstyle, hair color, skin color and you even have the ability to style their outfit for a bit. Cooler clothes and other items can be purchased at the 'palace shoppe'. There are many ways to pay for these, like credit card or PayPal. There are also a lot of 'shoppes' in the game itself, which are managed by other players. Here you can pay with the gold you've earned accomplishing missions.
As a newbie pirate, you first get a few simple missions to learn basic skills like sailing, rigging, bilging and sword-fighting. Each skill has its own puzzle. Sailing and sword-fighting are a lot like Tetris. Bilging an rigging are more like bejeweled.
New pirates also get their own little shack and some free furniture. Other furniture has to be purchased at one of the 'shoppes'.
The puzzling is very relaxing. It's simply fun. The puzzles are relatively easy, especially at the beginning, but it was because of this simplicity that I liked the puzzling so much. But if you are the kind of player who likes it rough, this might not be your thing.
A very annoying feature, however, is the 'duty report': a screen that pops up when you're in the middle of a puzzle, to tell you how everyone is doing. You can't close this screen, you just have topatiently wait until the puzzle continues. Sometimes this takes up quite some time, especially when it keeps saying 'no duty reports'. It really slows down the game.
There are always new missions to embark on to improve your skills. However, when you get tired of the work on a ship, you can explore one of the many islands. On these islands, you can visit the 'shoppes', where you can buy new stuff or find a job to improve other skills, like distilling, alchemistry or blacksmithing. These also have their own puzzles. Don't feel like working? You can also go to an inn to play parlor table games like hearts, poker or spades. Even drinking is a puzzle.
The games you can play on land are only free a couple of days a week. You can subscribe to be able to always play for free. One month of full access will cost you $9.95. On the help page, called 'Yppedia', you find a schedule of the free puzzle days.
Speaking of Yppedia, this is a really good help for newbies. You can check the page while you are playing, which I always find a big plus. The information is arranged very neatly, with clear explanations. I strongly recommend reading the 'starting out'-chapter before playing the game for the first time.
When you think you have practiced enough, you can take a job with a real crew. This is serious business: if you don't work hard enough, there will be penalties. When you really are an advanced player, you can also start your own crew or get your own stall on one of the markets. Puzzle Pirates seems to be a game that you can play for a long time without getting bored, because there are always opportunities for you to grow and try new stuff.
Graphics and sounds
On the one hand, the graphics look nice, happy and friendly. The characters reminded me a bit of playmobil. The graphics ooze a kind of 'feel-goodness', although some may experience them as a bit childish. On the other hand, when your pirate walks over an island, navigating is kind of hard because it's impossible to zoom or look around. This was anegative issuefor me, because it makes the game look a bit obscure. It's hard to see where your pirate is heading. Luckily, there's also a map on which you can click the location you want to go.
Once again, I happen to find the music incredibly annoying. I'm starting to think that I will probably consider all game music annoying, since I can't remember writing that I liked it once. So maybe it's me. But still, it was annoying, so I had mostly turned it off. The sounds were very good though; while playing a puzzle, you hear the creaking of the ship and all kinds of other sounds that give you the feeling of really being at sea. When you log off, the sounds fade out instead of bluntly stopping; I liked that too.
General Recommendation
Puzzle Pirates is a cute, low-key kind of game with a friendly atmosphere. Everyone is welcome to play and everyone can do it. The puzzles are relaxing and certainly not too hard. If you like this kind of 'soft gaming', this is a really nice one to get involved in. But if you are the kind of player that likes a bit more excitement and challenge, you might easily get bored with it.
Still, Puzzle Pirates is a nice alternative to all the monster-slaughter kind of games. Sometimes the puzzles get a bit repetitive, but overall this game could really keep you going for a while.
-Low key kind of game with friendly atmosphere
-Puzzles are relaxing and quite simple
-Really good help function
-A lot of variation in activities for more advanced players
-Friendly graphics and good sounds
-Low key kind of game with friendly atmosphere
-Puzzles are relaxing and quite simple
-Really good help function
-A lot of variation in activities for more advanced players
-Friendly graphics and good sounds
-If you like it rough, this could easily get boring
-'Duty reports' slow down the game
-On land it's hard to see where you're going
-If you like it rough, this could easily get boring
-'Duty reports' slow down the game
-On land it's hard to see where you're going


text:
Hats Off! to Nancy B. Brewer...Written by Paul Jones
- Details
Category: Hats Off!
Published: 14 October 2011
...who was awarded the prestigious "Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal" by The United Daughters of the Confederacy on October 8, 2011. Presented to her for her books, Carolina Rain and Beyond Sandy Ridge.


text:
A first edition of Anton Checkov's short stories has been auction by Bonhams in New York for $16,250.
The first edition of Chekhov's second collection of short stories called 'In the Twilight' was estimated at $12,000-$18,000. The rare book was published in 1887 in St. Petersburg and is inscribed to the actor and writer Pavel Svabodin, the writer's close friend.
Other lots in the sale of Russian Literature featured a handwritten poem by Aleksandr Blok. The signed manuscript of the poem, "I pozdno i temno. Pokinu bez zhelanii…" [It's late and dark. I will leave without regrets…], written in pencil on the inside back wrapper of Sergei Rachmaninov's Moments musicaux pour piano, dated February 27, 1916 sold for $10,625.
An edition of 'Coats of Arms of the Provinces and Regions of the Russian Empire' dated 1880 became the top-selling lot. It sold for $21,250.
The auction house did not reveal the names of the new owners.


text: The Howard EP2/40RS/MV/MC electronic fluorescent ballast operates (2) F40T12 or F34T12 lamps at 120/277 input volts. Ideal for use in normal light areas, this rapid start ballast is typically used in offices, board rooms, and retail. This ballast is UL listed, operates F34T12 and F40T10 fluorescent lamps, and includes a 5-year warranty.


text:
'American Idol': Amy Brumfield goes from the tent to HollywoodAdd to Favorites | American Idol
"American Idol" found a rather interesting girl in Amy Brumfield, whom Jennifer Lopez dubbed a "hipsy" (a hippie and a gypsy). She is out of work and her husband works odd jobs and because they can't really afford anything, they live in a tent in the woods. For real. It doesn't seem like a necessarily sad story, though - she's kind of a gypsy girl and prefers to be happy and out in the woods rather than miserable and indoors.
For her audition, she does Alicia Keys' "Superwoman" and it's startlingly soulful. We should've assumed that a Tennessee woods gypsy would be soulful, but still. Lovely.
The judges also love it. Steven Tyler says, "The spirits and the children of the woods snuck into you." What did you think, "Idol" fans? Were you a fan of Amy Brumfield?
Photo/Video credit: FOX


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NET-TELENT-DATE is a date and time parsing and formatting library originally written by Jim Healy for CMUCL¹. It was later packaged and maintained under its current name by Daniel Barlow and Kevin Rosenberg.
It contains routines for printing and parsing
RFC2822 and HTTP time strings primarily, but can be used to parse other time formats as well.
In this repository bugs related to parsing time zones were fixed, a big table of recognized time zone identifiers was added and the code base was tidied up. The current version is
Getting it
git clonenet-telent-date.git
- API api.html
Max Rottenkolber mailto:firstname.lastname@example.com


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You can now invite anyone to meet at your favorite Starbucks.
Limited-time feature
42 year old man | Little Ferry, NJ, USA | Seeking women 33-41 within 20 miles
Looking for someone to laugh with...
Hello.... I am a 40 y/o self employed professional in the medical field. I am a dentist in private practice here in North Jersey with a great sense of humor and a good personality. I am at the point in my life where I truly know what I want, a committed loving relationship with someone special. I am ready and willing to give all of me, heart and soul to the right person. I am past the point of playing/dealing with games and cannot wait to find the right woman to make me take this ad down.... Anyway, I consider myself to be fun, down to earth, hard working, open minded, honest, loyal and very respectful of other people. I am very easy to please and am comfortable eating at Taco Bell as much as I am going to a black tie affair. I enjoy walking around the city, going out to eat, shopping, reading, or just hanging out on the couch and watching a movie. I also like going out on the town every once in a while, whether its at Lincoln Center or the local dive bar...Every winter, I try to get to the Caribbean for some sun, and I have a list of islands that I can't wait to explore. I love spending time with my friends and family(two younger sisters and two nieces, one nephew)...I am not really looking to go skydiving, rock climbing, bungee jumping or anything extreme...I just want a regular girl, someone to talk to, hold and cuddle with on the couch after a long day. ...I think communication, compromise, and shared goals are important in a relationship, and I think that as a couple, a team approach to life is the key to a long lasting relationship. I enjoy spoiling a woman as long as it's reciprocated, and have been working and saving all these years to be able to provide a stable loving environment for my future partner and my future family... I am looking for someone who knows how to be herself, laugh, and enjoy life. You should be able to hold a conversation and be comfortable with yourself. I don't have a particular type of woman that I am looking for, just someone down to earth and fun. I would like to meet a woman who is interested in starting a family of her own someday. You don't have to be supermodel gorgeous but you should consider your self attractive. Besides, personality goes a long way...I think its hard to get to know someone by just exchanging emails or phone calls, so I would love to find someone to hang out with and see where it goes.... I guess the whole point of this is that while I am happy and enjoy my life, it would just be all that much better with someone to share it with. I think most guys are just looking for someone to sleep with, but I am looking for someone to wake up with.... So, if you are interested in a relationship with a stable, loving, passionate, giving person with no lies, games, or b/s, drop me a line back and let's see what happens....
Book club , Coffee and conversation , Cooking , Dining out , Gardening/Landscaping , Movies/Videos , Museums and art , Music and concerts , Nightclubs/Dancing , Playing sports , Shopping/Antiques , Travel/Sightseeing , Video games , Watching sports
Cycling, Golf, Hockey, Inline skating, Swimming, Tennis / Racquet sports, VolleyBall, Weights / Machines
I exercise 3-4 times per week.
I have Fish
Middle of the Road
Z{{Cta}} {{#if HasMoreInfo}} ?{{CtaSecondary}} {{/if}}
|What he is looking for
|6'0" (182cms)
|5'1" (154cms) to 6'0" (182cms)
|Body type:
|Athletic and toned
|Slender, About average, Athletic and toned
|No preference
|Light brown
|No preference
|No Way
|No preference
|Social Drinker
|Social Drinker, Regularly, Moderately
|Medical / Dental / Veterinary / Fitness
|No preference
|No preference
|Never Married
|No preference
|Have kids:
|Wants kids:
|No preference
|White / Caucasian
|No preference
|I'll tell you later
|No preference
|Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Urdu, Other
|PhD / Post Doctoral
|No preference