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Partially fueled by good champagne, we had some silly chitchat with good friends on New Year's Eve regarding stupid celebrity "news" stories. My husband won the "top this" prize with a rumor that made the rounds a while back about Morgan Freeman planning to marry his step granddaughter.
Apart from the very obvious yuck factor, there's this: Freeman is 72. His intended is 27.
Now, at the risk of starting out the new year in a pair of the cranky pants, I can't help but notice that nowhere (yes, I googled) is Freeman referred to as, ahem, an "older" actor. But women actors? Once they become old enough to be, say, Freeman's daughter, "older" becomes their middle name.
Case in point, a recent post on Broadsheet riffing on a CNN.com piece by Breeanna Hare about the new screen stereotype of the woman-of-a-certain-age: the boozy grandma. First, from Hare's post:
"These women, they're not knitting — they're more interested in mixing their drinks than watching kids," said Entertainment Weekly's pop culture writer Tim Stack. "They're more inclined to offer a witticism or a barb than to give you sweet advice. These ladies aren't cooking — I don't think they even eat. They drink their lunch. And their dinners. And their breakfasts. … Maybe they eat the olives."
They're the exact opposite of the stereotypical grandmother, said TVGuide.com's senior editor Mickey O'Connor.
Or, apparently, the over-50 woman. While Broadsheet rightly bemoans the fact that good parts for veteran women actors are slim and none, I couldn't miss a certain patronizing subtext in the way writer Kate Harding brings up Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon, both playing real women on the big screen this season, and her need to frame them in terms of their age. Ugh. From her post:
For all the talk of Meryl Streep rocking Hollywood's socks off this year (and believe me, I'm as thrilled about that as any other female moviegoer who's not invested in Edward vs. Jacob), let us not forget that she's Meryl Freakin' Streep. Is her recent wave of success really going to help other women her age to open movies and land the cover of Vanity Fair? TVGuide.com senior editor Mickey O'Connor provides the reality check: "Maybe it's become, play a drunk grandmother and you get to work past the age of 60. Even if you're Susan Sarandon …
I suppose the boozy grandma is better than the dotty — or nonexistent — older woman character, in that she at least has a discernible personality, opinions and enough brains to produce just the right clever, cutting remark on the spot. But does she have to be a functional alcoholic for the audience to accept those things? Does a woman over 60 — or 50, even — have to be snobby and self-absorbed to be interesting?
Et tu, Broadsheet? Do we ever categorize men in terms of their last birthday? It may be celebs we're talking about here, but make no mistake: the trickle down hurts us all.
One of the things we talk about in journalism classes is the damage done by unwitting stereotyping – see above — often, a reporter's form of shorthand. One of the most insidious forms that affects marginalized groups is overcompensation: "gee whiz" features on 75-year-old marathoners, for example, or inspirational series on the academic success of the so-called "model minorities". All of which leads me back to the way that Meryl Streep's over-50 sexual being in "It's Complicated" or Susan Sarandon's smoking, drinking granny in "The Lovely Bones" have been framed in the media: as novelties, the anti-stereotypes who, apparently, are the exceptions who prove the rule. The unkindest subtext of all: that they – apparently, unlike most women their age – not only have lives of their own but are attractive to boot.
Shouldn't they be in the kitchen, wearing frumpy clothes and sensible shoes, humming 1950s show tunes?
Clearly, Streep, currently gracing the cover of this month's Vanity Fair, is not. The VF profile of her does one great job of thumbing its nose at the stereotypical way the media treat women of a certain age. Consider this:
Any inhibitions notwithstanding, a vibrant sexuality has remained a crucial aspect of Streep's appeal, despite her advancing years and the limitations that others might try to impose in response. When Clint Eastwood cast her to star opposite him in The Bridges of Madison County, which won Streep an Oscar nomination for best actress, in 1996, his reason was simple: "She's the greatest actress in the world," he said with a shrug.
That said, Streep reports, "There was a big fight over how I was too old to play the part, even though Clint was nearly 20 years older than me. The part was for a 45-year-old woman, and Clint said, 'This is a 45-year-old woman.'"
When casting female roles, directors and producers have often applied a comically exaggerated double standard about age. With Streep now playing the ex-wife and current love interest of Alec Baldwin, who is actually nine years younger than she is, many observers have started wondering whether such old-fashioned biases are really changing in ways that will affect other actresses, or only in relation to Streep, who has always been sui generis. In any case, a good part of her aforementioned glee may have to do with her ongoing amazement that, after all these years, she's still getting away with doing what she loves. "I've been given great, weird, interesting parts well past my 'Sell by' date," she says. "I remember saying to Don when I was 38, 'Well, it's over.' And then we kicked the can down the road a little further."
Refreshing, no? But back to the case in point, we – that's the collective "we" – rarely box in men in terms of their age. Did anyone but me bat an eye when Michael Douglas was paired with Demi Moore in Disclosure? When Sean Connery's love interest in Entrapment was Douglas's wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones? Oldies yes, but you could pull just about ANY movie made today to prove the same point: The leading man needs only a recognizable name. His costar, on the other hand, needs not only a name — but must be young and stunningly beautiful, too. Men in their 50s and 60s not only get to be leading men who still get the girl, but in the real world, they also run companies and countries. They've got status that is earned by (wait for it…) AGE. Their female counterparts, on the other hand, generally are considered redundant at best, silly at worst.
All of which makes me wonder if ageism holds us back every bit as much as sexism does, whether the tyranny of the ticking clock that Shannon wrote about here and here may be one reason why we agonize so much over our choices. Sure we're raised to know that we can be or do anything. But that nasty little voice keeps on whispering: we better get it done before we turn 40.
Maybe we ought to just take it from Meryl. The best way to ring in 2010 is to silence that voice — not to mention the clock — once and for all. As Streep points out in the VF profile, Julia Child did not become, well, Julia Child until she was 50.


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Snapshots from Sweden: Strawberry Season
From June 5 to June 11, I visited Western and Southern Sweden on a trip sponsored by Visit Sweden, West Sweden Tourist Board, Skåne Tourist Board, and Volvo as part of their CAR + VACATION contest. Here's a look at something I ate during my trip.
As summer approaches in Sweden, so does Sweden's strawberry (jordgubbar) season, and thus the season of, "Eat As Many Swedish Strawberries As You Can." If you see a strawberry stand while driving around Sweden, you should stop there and buy some strawberries. Or do what we did: Drive past the strawberry stand, three seconds later think, "Oh wait, that was a strawberry stand, why the heck are we driving away from it?" and turn the car around.
What's New On Serious Eats
Not that you have to stop by this particular strawberry stand (and not like I could tell you exactly where it is anyway—on a stretch of farmland somewhere between Ystad and Trelleborg). Drive around Southern Sweden during strawberry season—which lasts from about the end of May to August—and you'll pass stands selling Swedish strawberries. The stand we came across sold strawberries for 30 kr (about $4.70) per liter from Abraham Hill in Önnestad, along with strawberry jam, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, blueberries, and raspberries. (The security camera-equipped stand was unmanned; good thing we had lots of change with us for the locked money box.) Although it was early in the season, the strawberries were quite sweet, which makes me wonder how good they'd be later in the season.
If you don't come across a stand off the road, you'll find plenty of Swedish strawberries in supermarkets. Right at the entrance of an ICA supermarket in Höör, I was faced with a stand displaying Swedish strawberries from K-G Paulssons Bär & Grönsaker in Bromölla for 35 kr (about $5.45) per liter. (Yup, I bought 'em. I found them a bit sweeter than the ones from Abraham Hill.) And while I didn't see any during my trip, you may find strawberry stands on city streets.
In a survey of consumers in Southern Sweden from 2009, over 90 percent of the respondents said that "they, or someone in their household, had bought strawberries by late June." Sweden meets the demands by harvesting about 15,000,000 kilograms of strawberries a year, or three to four liters per person in Sweden, according to the svenskajordgubbar.se. (Sweden imports plenty of strawberries too—here are some stats from 2001—but of course, most people go for the home grown version in the summer.) Strawberries are an essential part of Midsummer, a major holiday in Sweden, this year taking place on June 25. They're commonly eaten with whipped cream or ice cream, or made into cakes and jams—but I preferred to eat them straight-up plain. They made a great car snack during our hours of driving.
More Snapshots From Sweden
Spettekaka from Fricks Spettkaksbageri »
Giant Cinnamon Buns from Café Husaren in Gothenburg »
Vikentomater, a Tomato Farm With Over 80 Kinds of Tomatoes »
Max, Home of 'Sweden's Tastiest Burgers' »
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.

subset: commoncrawl


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Neutral Milk Hotel | 14/02/08
It seems strange to put 'In An Aeroplane Over The Sea' into a context of a time and place, it feels more like an exotic treasure from a forgotten era, such is its continual confounding appeal.
This month (February 2008) is the 10th anniversary of the album's release on to a world that wasn't quite ready to embrace it at the time.
All the big themes are here; death, freedom, physical sensation, the search for meaning and spirituality - you'd never suspect that this was a (loose) concept album based on the diary of Ann Frank.
If you've not had the pleasure yet; 'In An Aeroplane Over The Sea' kind of feels like it's been cooked up in the same strange land as 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and 'Hansel and Gretel' as the surreal Victorian circus-like visuals of the album's artwork alludes but the fantastic production still feels like your physically being accompanied by the band rather than just listening to the music.
Songs like 'Oh Comely', 'Two Headed Boy', 'Ghost' have an almost trance like quality from the beautifully baffling lyrics by Jeff Magnum, collages of warm distortions on an ebb and flow of boisterous instruments from the communal group born out of the Elephant 6 Collective that feels more like a family playing rather than a band performing.
What is it that keeps fans wanting this Aeroplane to sore?
Ten years on it is still an enigma - which is truly something special these days - but has had an effect on people the way that you hope music continues to inspires people; empowering, communal and euphoric.
Trust us, this is an eternal pleasure and a truly out of this world experience.
Searching for more…?
You might know of its influence on other artists from Franz Ferdinand, Arcade Fire, Caribou and loads more but if you'd like to find out more about Neutral Milk Hotel there's an intriguing Pitchfork interview providing rare insights into the world of Jeff Magnum prior to the release of the 'In An Aeroplane Over The Sea', also there a short book by Kim Cooper as part of Continuum's 33 and a third series and there's also an excellant excellent Stereogum article to mark the anniversary with a collection of fantastic rare live clips including the below version of 'King of Carrot Flower Part 2'.


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I often see misspelled words in titles and bodies of questions, only to see them spelled properly in the tags. I have to imagine that tags are always spelled right because it's hard to type arbitrary text into the tag box. I also have to imagine that sometimes autocorrect and spellcheck provided by browsers tend to turn programming terms and package names into English words. For example, see https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=magneto
Would it be possible to have some sort of spellchecker that compares text of titles (and maybe bodies) to known tags and offers some sort of correction (maybe red squiggles or something) when there's some statistical probability of a misspelling?
Since this would be using a site's tags, "magneto" would get corrected to "magento" on SO, while "magento" would get corrected to "magneto" on aviation.stackexchange.com.
In theory this could reduce a lot of stupid typos and prevent trivial edits just to fix the spelling of key words.
Note that this is not solving a problem that a user's browser can already solve because browsers ship with English dictionaries, not dictionaries of programming terms. In fact, it's potentially correcting a problem created by the browser (which might have already autocorrected "magento" to "magneto").


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As I mentioned yesterday, our entire weather situation tonight is based upon changing thermodynamics. Rain falling into dry air and evaporating, as well as snow falling from the clouds and then melting, BOTH cause cooling in the atmosphere. This is changing our afternoon rain into snow and, as expected, this initial burst of snow is a very heavy one.
View: Communities under snow emergencies
However, that changeover to snow is happening two-to-three hours later than expected. Since there's only a certain amount of moisture in the atmosphere available to fall as rain or snow, the delay in the changeover will cut back a bit on my expected snow totals (note - later in this article I explain how I forecast snow amounts...it's pretty interesting).
But this doesn't mean we won't have any weather problems. First of all, once the snow starts falling and the temperature drops to near freezing, an icy mess could develop underneath the snow. That could be really treacherous come Wednesday morning.
For the latest forecast and weather alerts go to JustWeather.com.
Second, this will be a heavy, wet snow. If you are elderly, have heart problems, or are at risk for heart problems, you shouldn't be shoveling this snow.
As far as total snow accumulation from tonight's snow and the periodic snow we get on Wednesday, I think an average 4-5 inches total snow can be expected across the heart of the metro area. Those of you in the Winter Storm Warning area will probably average about 6 inches, while those of you in Lenawee and Monroe Counties should see less...perhaps only 3 inches of snow.
So how do I forecast snow? There are so many factors with this storm (which is not the typical winter storm that we get around here) that I would have to write an essay for you. But here are the highlights:
The first thing to consider is what we meteorologists call precipitable water. This is the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere available to be turned into rain or snow. My computer models over the past couple of days have consistently predicted 0.80-0.90" of precipitable water for this afternoon through tonight, so I was justifiably concerned.
Next is how much of that precipitable water will fall as rain, and how much will fall as snow. This was the trickiest part of today's forecast, and I explained earlier in the article how the changing thermodynamics impacted things.
Once I decide how much of that precipitable water will fall as snow, I then have to calculate how much that snow will pile up, and that's based upon temperature. If you recall the snow that fell in those very cold temperatures earlier in the month, those were fluffy snowfalls that accumulated a couple of inches from just one-tenth of an inch of water (a 1-to-20 ratio). Today's snow is falling in much warmer temperatures...a roughly 1-to-8 ratio...and also will be compacting due to its own weight from the extra water content, so even if we get 0.6" of liquid falling as snow, it'll probably only accumulate 4-5 inches.
Then, I have to take things like lake effect into account, which can add to the snow totals.
There are many other factors that influence how much snow we get (some predictable, some not), but this gives you a pretty good idea how I do it. Sometimes it's an easy job (last Friday's 2-3" forecast panned out exactly), and sometimes I pull my hair out trying to make my forecast.
By the way, I'll be out reporting live in the elements Wednesday morning on Local 4 News Morning starting at 4:00AM. I'll have you covered with the most up-to-date weather and road conditions when you wake up ... see you then!


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Percentage of U.S. Agricultural Products Exported
May 30, 2018
Graphic showing the percentage of U.S. agricultural production which is exported overseas. All told, more than 20 percent of U.S. agriculture is exported.
Top U.S. Agricultural Exports in 2017
March 23, 2018
Bar graph showing the top U.S. agricultural exports in 2017. Soybeans was the highest at $21.6 billion, followed by corn and tree nuts.
Agricultural Exports Finish Strong in FY 2017
November 15, 2017
U.S. farm and food exports climbed eight percent in FY 2017, reaching the third-highest level on record.
Top U.S. Agricultural Exports to India, 2006-2016
October 31, 2017
Graphic illustrating the top U.S. agricultural exports to India from 2006-2016.
Infographic: U.S. Agricultural Trade with India
October 30, 2017
Infographic discussing U.S. agricultural trade to India which topped $1.3 billion in 2016.
Share of U.S. Agriculture Exported in 2016
May 12, 2017
Bubble charting show what percentage of each commodity grown in the United States is ultimately exported to overseas markets.


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2020-2021 Tuition and Fees - J.D. Program
|Nevada resident tuition, full-time (12 or more credit hours):
|$25,900/year (exclusive of summer)
|Nevada resident tuition, part-time (11 or fewer credit hours):
|$926/credit hour
|Non-resident tuition, full-time (12 or more credit hours):
|$37,800/year (exclusive of summer)
|Non-resident tuition, part-time (11 or fewer credit hours):
|$1,350/credit hour
In addition to tuition, law students will be charged the following fees each semester:
|Graduate student association fee:
|International Education fee:
|Law student activity fee:
|$9/credit hour
|Rebel recycling fee:
|Student health service fee:
|Mental health fee:
|Student life facilities fee:
|Technology fee:
|$8/credit hour
|iNtegrate fee:
|$3/credit hour
|International student fee:
|$145/semester for all students with F-1 or J-1 visa status
|*Health Insurance fee:
|$1,146.00 (Fall), $1,662.00 (Spring/Summer), $2,808.00 (Annual)
* It is possible to waive the mandatory health insurance fee. Please read more about health insurance and the process of applying for a waiver here: https://www.unlv.edu/studentwellness/health-center/health-insurance
Estimated Costs of Attendance
The estimated cost of attendance (COA) for the academic year (fall and spring semesters) will vary according to a student's enrollment status. The estimated COA (excluding tuition and fees) for resident students living off-campus during the 2020-2021 academic year is $25,524.
Refund Policy
In the event a student withdraws from the law program, a tuition refund for the semester in which the student withdraws will be issued according to the following schedule:
|Withdrawal prior to or during the first week of classes:
|100% tuition refund
|Withdrawal after the first week of classes and before the seventh week of classes:
|50% refund
|Withdrawal after the seventh week of classes:
Federal financial aid recipients are subject to a "Return to Title IV" and, as such, may owe UNLV for unpaid tuition and fees. Contact Student Financial Services for details.
Acceptance Deposit
Applicants offered admission to the law school are required to submit a $1000 non-refundable deposit which is credited toward tuition upon registration.


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Welcome to The Gnomon Workshop, the industry leader in professional training for artists in the entertainment industry.
Founded by Alex Alvarez in 2000, The Gnomon Workshop launched as a means to share professional techniques with artists unable to attend the on-campus courses offered at Gnomon – School of Visual Effects, Games + Animation in Los Angeles, California.
The Gnomon Workshop's mission is – and always has been – to provide the highest caliber training that both educates and inspires, to help artists achieve their personal goals. Over the past 16 years, The Gnomon Workshop library has grown to offer instruction from hundreds of professional artists covering a diverse range of tools, software, and media. Whether you're looking for design tutorials, want to improve your drawing, learn sculpture techniques, expand your painting abilities, or gain new modeling, texturing, animation, effects and compositing skills, the library has an extensive collection of content to suit artists of all disciplines. All tutorials are by top industry talents who are primed to educate the next generation of artists.
Users range from high-school students who are first discovering career opportunities in the entertainment industry, through to seasoned professionals with decades of experience. Studio licenses are also available to enable entire teams to keep their skills in top shape.
Gnomon – School of Visual Effects, Games + Animation and The Gnomon Workshop facilities comprise of over 30,000 square feet of classrooms, studios, lounges, labs, offices and production space. Together, the companies have educated many of the world's best digital artists through a variety of educational options, including full-time two- and three-year programs, specialized courses for high school students, over 100 individual courses for professional enrichment, plus The Gnomon Workshop training library.
– Founder, Artist, and Instructor, Alex Alvarez
With over 300 titles, The Gnomon Workshop library covers a myriad of subjects and techniques. Choose from lessons in design, drawing, painting, modeling, texturing, rigging, effects, and animation to create your desired path and learn at a pace that suits you. The Gnomon Workshop aims to supplement and guide artists' journeys.
Most users of The Gnomon Workshop have a specific interest in mind. Some approach the content knowing that they want to improve their skills as a character, vehicle, product or set designer while others are interested in the cutting-edge 3D software techniques used in the video game, broadcast and film VFX industries. When an artist's project demands change from week to week, often requiring new skills, R&D time is a luxury that not all can find readily available. The ability to log-in to the library, find an appropriate title and learn proven production techniques gives any artist an invaluable edge. For this reason, many studios, libraries, and schools subscribe to The Gnomon Workshop to create a valuable resource for staff and students alike.
The Gnomon Workshop library offers tutorials by many of the industries most respected and admired designers. Any artist will be inspired and illuminated by the techniques and guidance of Syd Mead (Production Designer, Bladerunner), Ryan Church (Art Director, Star Wars: Episodes 2 and 3), Scott Robertson (Concept Designer, Minority Report) and Dylan Cole (Production Designer, Avatar). There is only one Syd Mead, James Clyne, and Neville Page – and they all share their techniques here at The Gnomon Workshop.
The entertainment industry numerous creative, inspiring and rewarding careers for those who are passionate and dedicated to design. Want to design vehicles? Harald Belker designed the Batmobile for Batman and Robin and the red Lexus in Minority Report. Want to design creatures? Carlos Huante designed aliens and creatures for such films as Men in Black, Van Helsing and Hellboy. Are characters your thing? Iain McCaig designed Darth Maul and the many looks of Princess Amidala in the Star Wars prequels. The list goes on and on. For years, the techniques of such artists were kept secret, available to the select few who had the opportunity to work alongside them. But over the past 16 years, The Gnomon Workshop has been privileged to have access to their time, energy and commitment to education.
3D computer graphics and animation software have come to dominate the industries of gaming and visual effects. From Avatar and How to Train Your Dragon, to Destiny and World of Warcraft, artists are responsible for creating the stunning visuals that consumers demand, and they do so using a host of cutting-edge tools. Programs such as Maya, 3ds Max, MARI, V-Ray, and ZBrush make the games that we play and the movies we watch visually richer and more believable with every new release. The challenge for artists is in staying up-to-date with the newest technologies as computers continue to get faster and software packages consistently evolve.
The Gnomon Workshop library represents the entire pipeline of animation and effects production. Camera tracking, live-action integration, character rigging and animation, hard-surface modeling, photorealistic texturing, digital sets, matte painting – you'll find tutorials for every step of the process. Instructors include artists who have worked for such studios as Industrial Light and Magic, Digital Domain, Blizzard Entertainment, Naughty Dog and more.
We are constantly working with production artists in the development of new training to address new workflows, tools, and techniques. Contact us if there is something you would like to see added to the library.
And remember: the only things that separate you from the artists you admire are time, patience, passion, and practice!


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Resolve to Save More of Your Money in 2013by GDN Shared Post December 25, 2012
Two of the most commonly made and commonly broken New Year's resolutions are saving money and paying off debt. These are promises we all seem to make to ourselves every year with every intention of seeing through. But somehow, we wind up in the same spot we were before. So how can you make sure that 2013 is the year you take control of your finances and start making your money work for you?
• Figure out what your objectives are — be it paying off debt, buying a first home, or saving for vacation. Identifying your goals can help you stay motivated. Consider placing a visual reminder somewhere you'll see all the time, like the refrigerator.
• Many people have no idea how much money they spend monthly. Creating a spending plan is vital if you want to make your money do for you what you want it to. If you share your finances with someone else, make sure he or she is part of this process as well.
• Many financial services companies offer free tools to help you easily see what you've been spending and ways you can save. For example, the non-profit Family Credit Management offers spending plans, savings guides and a comprehensive personal financial goals workbook that help you to lay out a strong plan in an easy way. Visit www.FamilyCredit.org to see these and other financial tools.
• Make the small changes that add up to big savings. Most people have small expenses that they can live without. Maybe for you it's a coffee every morning on your way to work. If you do this every weekday, that adds up to $1,300 per year! If that's important to you, then fine. But if it's not worth the annual amount you're spending, cut the cost.
The idea is not to strip the fun from your life, but to save money on things that you really don't care about. For more areas to save in your daily life, visit www.StopThinkSave.org.
• Involve your whole family. Many parents feel the need to shelter kids from financial strain, but budgeting is an invaluable life lesson that you can teach them by including them in the process.
• Ask for help! If you feel you could use some guidance, reach out to a certified credit counselor who is licensed by your state's banking department and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Visit www.FamilyCredit.org to find a certified counselor.
• Finally, figure out what to do with your new found savings! If you're not sure where you'd like to keep or invest your money, you can visit bankrate.com and investigate high interest, low balance requirement savings accounts.
Once you've completed these steps, you are on your way! Saving money is habit forming — when you get your monthly statement and you see money building up, you'll want to put more and more away. It's a great way to get started on a financially successful New Year.


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This site is the archived OWASP Foundation Wiki and is no longer accepting Account Requests.
To view the new OWASP Foundation website, please visit https://owasp.org
Category:OWASP Security Analysis of Core J2EE Design Patterns Project
Most application security experts focus on a single activity for integrating design into the SDLC: threat modeling . Threat modeling is excellent at approximating an application's attack surface but, in our experience, developers sometimes do not have the time, budget or security know-how to build an adequate threat model. Perhaps more importantly, developers cannot create a comprehensive threat model until they complete the application design.
This reference guide aims at dispensing security best practices to developers to make security decisions during design. We focus on one of the most important concepts in modern software engineering: design patterns. Ever since the publication of the seminal Design Patterns Book , developers have reused common patterns such as Singleton and Factory Method in large-scale software projects. Design patterns offer a common vocabulary to discuss application design independent of implementation details. One of the most critically acclaimed pattern collections in the Java Enterprise Edition (JEE) community is the Core J2EE Patterns book by Deepak Alur, Dan Malks and John Crupi . Developers regularly implement patterns such as "Application Controller", "Data Access Object" or "Session Façade" in large, distributed JEE applications and in frameworks such as Spring and Apache Struts . We aim to dispense security best practices so that developers can introduce security features and avoid vulnerabilities independent of their underlying technology choices such as which Model View Controller (MVC) framework to use.
Java developers currently have access to patterns for security code (e.g. how to develop authentication, how to implement cryptography) such as the Core Security Patterns book. We hope our guide will help address the critical shortage of advice on securely coding using existing design patterns. Your feedback is critical to improving the quality and applicability of the best practices listed in the Security Analysis of Core J2EE Design Patterns. Please contact the mailing list at [email protected] with comments or questions and help improve the guide for future developers.
The project is broken up into three categories:
Hear the project lead talk about this project on OWASP Podcast #40
Downloadable Versions
You can download the OWASP Security Analysis of Core J2EE Design Patterns here:
The source for the images used in the patterns can be downloaded here
Project Identification
What does this OWASP project offer you?
What does this OWASP project release offer you?
Project's License: GPL v3
This category currently contains no pages or media.


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Organic compound: Former tiny cottage now rambling spread
Additions can go one of two ways: the awkward, tacked-on look of many older homes is the wrong way; the more organic growth apparent in this single-level rancher in Ivy is more palatable. Space on the rambling nine-acre lot provides the option for even more growth.
So now it has the sprawling feel of a country compound. The original house has seen several additions since its birth as a one-bedroom cottage in the early days of the Cold War.
Since 1950, the house has seen three major additions, and it now has little in common with its modest beginnings. A great room extending off the original living room adds significant square footage, and with an oversized fieldstone fireplace, built-ins, and clerestory window above, there's drama too. Two other additions, the kitchen and a master suite, extend in parallel from the back of the original house, creating a courtyard between them. Windows in each addition maximize views of the property so that the outside seems to become part of the living space.
Shell-pink Saltillo tile wends its way through a good portion of the house, from the foyer to the butler's pantry and sunken kitchen. The tile is easy to clean in places with heavy foot traffic, but the brittle texture might be a turnoff for some. A mix of mostly hardwood with a smattering of carpet rounds out the flooring. While unmatched flooring is typical in homes with additions, buyers who want a more unified look should factor floor makeovers into their costs.
Some original spaces have been re-imagined to serve new functions. The original kitchen is now the butler's pantry leading to the living and great rooms. The one original bedroom is now a guest or office space. The first living room, dwarfed by the great room, may be more appropriate as a formal dining room. Instead of seeming out of place, these rooms have morphed seamlessly to their new incarnations.
The size of the kitchen addition allows for a generous, open cooking and dining space. Clerestory windows emphasize the high ceiling. The space is big enough for a long farm table plus seating at the counter and maybe even a separate nook with comfortable chairs, perhaps next to the wood stove. Still, pale pink counters and dated appliances will want an update, and buyers with culinary ambitions may have even bigger changes in mind. They will at minimum need a new fridge as there isn't one in the house now.
Bedrooms, in a wing opposite the shared living spaces, are on the small side. Although the master suite will accommodate a modern couple with a walk-in closet, garden tub and stall shower, it's not quite big enough for today's over-sized sleeping accoutrements. Two other bedrooms are definitely for kids. Each fits a twin and a few other furniture pieces; they share a no-frills bath off the hall. There's certainly room to expand, though, for buyers who are drawn to the house but want more space.
All that being said, the space outside in this private neighborhood is the real draw. The mostly wooded lot isn't quite flat but could accommodate horses or even a pool. In addition to a couple of sheds and storage for firewood, a small basketball court out front is actually the foundation for another structure, either a three-car garage or a barn.
The right buyer will not only have an eye for what this roomy house is today, but a vision of what it can be. And like the folks who've modified the place since 1950, they can take the next 60 years to do it.
Each week, a brave local seller invites the Hook to provide an impartial, warts-and-all look at their real estate listing. E-mail yours today!


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27 May Illeana Douglas
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Show Summary
The show opens with an epic rant against Teacher Appreciation Week at Adam's kids' school. The gang remarks on all of the typos on the school memo, and Adam wonders why people don't save money and get school supplies at a 99-cent store. He also recalls a terrible guidance counselor he had in school, and goes through some of his 'favorited' tweets from the past week.
Illeana Douglas then enters the studio, and she talks about her new series, 'Second Looks'. The guys also talk about dog bathrooms at the airport, and trying to live life as a functionally crazy person. Later, Alison starts up the news discussing Eva Longoria's choice to get a Masters in Chicano studies (just like Adam's mom). The guys also hear an interesting statement from the Pope, and Adam talks about Buzz Aldrin being a blowhard. As the show wraps up, the guys discuss our government's ineptitude to pull off any big conspiracies like the moon landing.
Watch Illeana Douglas' new series, 'Second Looks', on TCM. For more info, visit http://TCM.com/SecondLooks. You can also follow her on Twitter @IlleanaRama
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Show Credits
Producers: Mike August, Mike Lynch, and Mike Dawson
Co-Producers: Gary Smith, Chris Laxamana, Matt Fondiler and Jeff Fox
Newsgirl: Alison Rosen
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Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926 / Prague / Czech Republic)
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Put Out My Eyes
Put out my eyes, and I can see you still,
Slam my ears to, and I can hear you yet;
And without any feet can go to you;
And tongueless, I can conjure you at will.
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Copyright law has become one of the most debated issues in the creative industries, largely as a result of networked technologies. Those parties invested in traditionally regulated forms of exchange are trying to fence off cultural products, doing everything possible to immunize themselves from the outbreak of peer-to-peer sharing and creative sampling. But many cultural producers, including artists, are forming their own responses to these delineations of creativity, seeking to open up, rather than close off, access to their work. 'Copy Art,' an ongoing, web-based collection of art works that are open to sharing, changing and redistributing, is one among many such initiatives. The show is a curatorial project of Irini Papadimitriou developed in collaboration with Metamute (the web presence of UK-based Mute Magazine), and will apply the Creative Commons non-commercial share alike license to featured artworks. 'Copy Art' launched this June at London's IBID Projects with works by Miltos Manetas, Thompson & Craighead, Critical Art Ensemble and more. Hardly a passive exhibition meant for spectators, visitors are asked to upload their own files - ideally manipulations of the works in the show. - Ryan Griffis
Coding Around the Guillotine
Where is there more public or more art than in New York City? And where better to pull people into the artmaking process than the city where Duchamp first pissed all over the museum wall with 'Fountain'? Exit Art's latest project, Public Execution, curated by Defne Ayas, Anne Ellegood and Michelle Thursz, runs from June 12-July 31 as a city-wide event aimed at engaging the viewer conceptually and creatively, in specifically public venues, celebrating art's refusal to be contained within a medium, edifice or critical community. In 'Site Expansion', Beth Coleman and Howard Goldkrand invite viewers to take and place art outside the gallery in the form of mirrored stickers. Serkan Ozkaya's 'What an Art Gallery Should Actually Look Like (large glass)' displays 20,000 internet-donated images to passers-by on 36th Street. In another window, Siebren Veersteeg's Dynamic Ribbon Devic, live AP news text stylized like a Coca-Cola logo scrolls across a screen, while Will Kwan's flash mob participants appear anywhere, anytime, to stage tailgate parties to broadcast a soundtrack of crowd noises and traffic sounds from their vehicles, blogging as they go. Download one of Kelley Walker's posters, manipulate it and you're an artist too. Multimedia, interactive and socially engaged, Public Execution is hugely ambitious and a next step in Exit Art's drive to stay contemporary and relevant. In your face and on your streets, public art just got more breathing room. - Peggy MacKinnon
In Neal Stephenson's 'The Diamond Age, or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer' the lives of three girls are shaped by an interactive book presented by 'ractors' - Nell becomes the leader of an all-girl army, Elizabeth runs away to a hacker group and Fiona joins Dramatis Personae, the possible grandchild of Texterritory v.2.3. Grace has come home early to prepare for her first date with Jerome. They have been 'texting out their territory' since meeting in a club two weeks before. Akin to Stephenson's ractors, the audience members text their responses and thoughts to the stage, helping Grace decide what to wear and, as the piece develops, to consider her possible relationship with her texting friend. Commissioned by the UK's Future Physical, a programme to enable exploration in the creative use of digital technologies in relation to the physical, Textorritory is one recipient of this year's 2004 Art Digital Era award. Combining texting, dance and music, and a planned web version, the piece may be the first message in the future of performance, where the audience, as a group and as individuals, shape the movement before them. - Bronwyn Mahoney
Kurtz 911
A follow-up to its anti-terror line, which accumulates reports on civil liberty infringements, The Bureau of Inverse Technology has just launched the Kurtz shout out line in response to the persistent injustices served to artist Steve Kurtz and his collaborator Robert Ferrell. The Bureau writes the line was set up 'to capture the public outcry at the persecution of this man, the criminalization of dissent and the intimidation of academic inquiry.' By turning any phone (cell/home/booth) into a networked microphone, the Bureau encourages individuals, who might otherwise not feel authorized, to publicly state their opinions, digressions and raw sentiments on this incendiary case. All calls are immediately uploaded to an online database and available for listening, annotation and syndication. To date, the messages are alternately shy and rambling, representing individuals (like myself) trying to synthesize a response when suddenly faced with an anonymous and infinite audience. For the purposes of the current or historical listener, this developing audio archive will make the vast public reaction to the Kurtz case more visceral. Both of the BIT lines are part satire, and part experimental democratic interface: At the same time as they conceptually riff the 'participatory' structures of federally sanctioned lines like Ashcroft's 'TIPS', they galvanize a plurality of dissenting voices to speak out, and then instantaneously mic them. Call now! - Lauren Cornell
The Digital Avant-Garde has descended on Chelsea, NYC, with an exhibit that demands that you dance, sweat, and speak in the name of art. For one more week only, Eyebeam presents Prix Selection, an exhibition of award winning works from the Prix Ars Electronica Interactive Art category. It's 25 years now that Ars Electronica, the world-renowned institution for digital media culture, has been fertilizing and rewarding innovations in digital art, and this exhibition brings together eight interactive installations from as early as 1990, along with a comprehensive collection of archival material. Looking for a new point of view? Japanese technoartist Hachiya Kazuhiko's Inter DisCommunication Machine invites you to put on a pair of goggles, strap on some wings and see the world through your partner's eyes. Watch sparks fly off your body as you dance in Myron Krueger's Videoplace, or stay cool as you bicycle through a virtual Manhattan in The Legible City, by Jeffrey Shaw: in all cases, be prepared to move your imagination and your body. Last chance to immerse yourself in these virtual worlds before Prix Selection closes on July 18! - Ophra Wolf
Literary Media
In 2001, a handful of artists and programmers at Brazil's Mamute Midia responded to Italian author Italo Calvino's incomplete 'Six Memos for the Next Millennium,' A series of undelivered lectures on 'Lightness,' 'Speed,' 'Accuracy,' 'Visibility,' 'Multiplicity' and 'Consistency' - the last of which was never written. Calvino identified his subjects as the qualities of literature that would keep it relevant in the twenty-first century; the artists subsequently identified them as key tenets of interactive media. While Calvino, who died in 1985, might seem an improbable bridge between pre-internet aesthetic questions and web art, his work is in fact marked by an immateriality, immediacy, transience and narrative not unlike the experience of many net-based visuals. Mamute Midia's CD-ROM and accompanying web site propose that even in the always fragmented and, by definition, unfinished realm of new media, we may mine the past for inspiration. Their Calvino-inspired Shockwave animations imitate literature by limiting user control over the narrative path and effectively present aesthetic trends as dual skeleton keys, which solve past quandaries while simultaneously opening doors to new ones. - Christine Smallwood
Reading Between the Wires
For those of us who like our media theory to have poetic and dramatic flair, the online journal CTheory provides regular satisfaction. In case you missed some of the recent (or older) essays, or just want them all together in a more complete context, the editorial team of Arthur and Marilouise Kroker have brought together a collection of forty-five CTheory texts into one volume. Titled 'Life in the Wires,' the reader explores music, politics, urban space, gender, art and other aspects of contemporary, technologically saturated life. 'Life in the Wires' supplies a range of critically ambivalent feelings about our electrified and networked condition, from Paul Miller's (DJ Spooky) reflections on 'the cinematic image' to a conversation with (media theorist) Manuel De Landa on '1000 years of war.' And like any media theory book worth its weight in wires, the CTheory Reader has a companion website with supplementary materials and a series of streamed events and seminars with many of the journal's regular contributors and editors. - Ryan Griffis
Power Pills in Washington Square
Who says new media art lacks theater? Whoever does hasn't seen Pac Manhattan, a project by graduate students in New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. Transplanting the iconic 1980s game Pac Man from the comfort of consoles, desktops and handhelds to New York City's rough-and-tumble urban grid, Pac Manhattan promises to bridge the gap between the online screen and offline experience; it's a live game on live streets, guided by a control room abuzz with cell phones. As an aesthetic experience, work like this allows those of us who grew up with Pacman to map our nostalgia for the game on real city streets; it's a cross-pollination of retro computing with something tactical but verging on dada. Think of Cory Arcangel hacking four-square. Ever try getting a cab when you're big, round and yellow? - Lewis LaCook
Cleaning out the Closet
What is it about things? Why are we so attached to our stuff? Lots has been written, painted, sculpted about the melancholy of objects - that inner life of things that we can't penetrate or ever know - but nothing seems to express it fully. So maybe our relationship to the object world isn't so much about things themselves but about the emotions that we attach to them. Tamar Schor's Oodala: The Secret Life of Scattered Objects offers a home for your personal detritus and the feelings and memories embedded in it all. The site is easy to use: fill out a form describing your object, upload a jpg of it, tell its story, and you're up and running. Enter as many objects as you want and keep track of them in your own file. Then link them to other people's things from all over the world and make a huge interlocking story with your cyber neighbours. There are Lonely Items and a Top Ten - this place is really addictive. And best of all, you get to snoop through other people's stuff! - Peggy MacKinnon
The View From Within
Viewing photographs online is becoming an everyday experience. We shoot them with digital cameras, upload them, and send the link around to friends. Irish artist, Cliona Harmey's new project, 'Twinned With' attempts to add an analog feel to digital photography by creating a make-shift camera obscura out of her Sony video camera. Taking an ordinary matchbox, punching a pin-hole in its top, and taping it to the inside of her lens, Harmey was able to take time-based stills by exposing the lens for a few seconds. Using this tool, 'Twinned With' consists of a click-through array of images of park benches, city streets and other generic spaces from Harmey's hometown in Ireland, mixed with similar pictures from other places. Since the lens diffuses image detail, the scenes created become generic and could be connected to many different places. This disassociation of place is a striking comment on the generic nature of our online photographs and how many could be interchanged with other people's shots without us noticing. - Jonah Brucker-Cohen


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When "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" came out in 2009, the skepticism that had plagued it during its production ("Why are ninjas wearing trench coats and sneakers?" "Why does Snake Eyes have rubber lips molded into his mask?" "How did they blackmail Joseph Gordon-Levitt into being in this?" "Has anyone else noticed that director Stephen Sommers' resume should be declared a crime against moviegoers?") was mostly proven to be well-founded, and the movie had a tepid box office run.
But, it made enough dough to warrant a sequel, and now we have our first look at "G.I. Joe: Retaliation." We have a new director, John Chu (who, er, directed "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never") and a revamped cast and, well, we have to say this trailer has us cautiously optimistic. Why? Because of The Rock, that's why.
So let's see what we just saw....
Among the new recruits are "Flint" (played by D.J. Cotrona) and "Lady Jaye" (played by one-time Wonder Woman Adrianne Palicki). In toy form, they look like this and this. However, in the movie world everyone wears the same thing so the code names are almost interchangeable.
We then see original team leader "Duke," who is once again played by Channing Tatum. The scar on his cheek is a nice touch.
Ah, a female ninja. That mixes things up. This red-clad warrior is called "Jinx," and she's played by Elodie Yung. In the various comic books and TV series, she's been both an apprentice to the Joe's resident ninja Snake Eyes, and his cousin. She trains with Snake Eyes' mentor, Blind Master, who, according to IMDB, is being played by RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan, which we refuse to believe because that's too awesome.
Things fall apart. Not to be confused with "Things Blow Up," by Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. Strike that. Reverse it.
The American people are so disillusioned that they actually elect Jonathan Pryce President. That man is evil and British, and that's the worst combination. Maybe, though, this time around he's a force for good…
What's this? The Joes are in shackles? What's going on? Dogs and cats, living together - mass hysteria! We are told they are being charged with treason. Surely someone must be framing them, right?
Ray Stevenson ("Thor") then pops up on cue as new villain "Firefly." According to Joe lore, Firefly is a saboteur and a mercenary. Note the new-look Cobra Commander to his right. He looks less like the melted scientist from the first movie, and much closer to his toy and TV incarnation.
Oops. Forget that whole "force for good" thing. Here we see President Pryce colluding with Cobra Commander. This anti-Joe conspiracy goes all the way to the top!
The Joes are decimated. Their numbers wiped out. Cobra has struck a devastating blow. Their plan was almost…ALMOST…100 percent effective. Except for one tiny, small, trivial detail...
...THEY LET THE ROCK LIVE! Cobra, Cobra, Cobra. Do you have any idea what you've done? This man destroys sinister terrorist organizations in between squat thrusts. In this world, Dwayne Johnson is being called "Roadblock," but you'll still only refer to him as The Rock. As well you should.
The evil ninja (and Snake Eyes nemesis) Storm Shadow looks decidedly less dead than he did at the end of the first movie.
The White House draped in Cobra flags. The terrorists have won.
Oh, wait. No they haven't - because their biggest loose end also happens to have the biggest gun. The Rock is ON THIS, people.
Jinx and Snake Eyes appear to be fighting, but since we already spoiled the fact that they are master and student and probably blood relatives, this shot kind of loses its impact. Sorry.
We're guessing this is Jinx, now fighting alongside Snake Eyes. She's wearing yellow to throw you off, but, again, we already ruined the surprise.
Still, though - Snake Eyes and Jinx fighting a horde of ninjas while rappelling down a mountain? OK. As far as set-pieces go, this is pretty damn good. We're sold, "G.I. Joe: Retaliation." Nice job. There's literally nothing you have to do now to make us want to see this movie more. Well done. This trailer is pretty jam packed with great stuff, and…what's that? There's one last shot?
…and it's BRUCE WILLIS??? <faints>
Bruce Willis and The Rock. In one movie. Merry Christmas, America.
U.S. & World
"G.I. Joe: Retaliation" opens everywhere June 29, 2012


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Gamespot Score: n/a
My Score: 8.5
(+) Pros: - Incredibly in depth strategic/RPG turn based gameplay that's the best in the franchise thus far, - Story is the darkest among the 3 games, - Interesting squad mates, - Improved customization with new "Master Table" mechanic and giving all squad mates the ability to switch between all classes, - Great variety of maps, stages and mission types, - Split paths in the campaign leads to branching story routes and different levels, - Very, very lengthy game with a massive load of content.
(-) Cons: - 3 games in and the AI is still inefficient at times, - Main campaign is padded quite a fair bit with plenty of throwaway missions.
Gameplay time: 60 hours +
Alright, so this is probably one of my last PSP games (still waiting on that "Sol Trigger" and "Digimon Re:Digitize" translation, come on) before I move onto a VITA....and hell, its one of my most anticipated games on the PSP. Because SEGA wasn't ballsy enough to localize an English version of "Valkyria Chronicles 3", us fans had to painstakingly wait for a translation....and thank the stars, the folks over at the VC3 translation project wordpress went over and did all the VC fans around the world a justice that should never be forgotten. They translated the entire game from scratch to English for the world, and damn did they do a fantastic job (its almost like a professional English release with its current version, though I'd say it still doesn't beat the "Danganronpa" english translation). So after that, I immediately dived into the game as a hardcore VC fan....and that was it. I never left my screen, and played on for hours. As a VC fan, I must say that this is THE most improved version of "Valkyria Chronicles" that we would ever get, and if there was an installment of the series that would have the most content and features, it would be "Valkyria Chronicles 3". Its a shame that most of the English speaking audience would miss this one out, because if you've enjoyed the first 2 VC games, you'll be sure to love the hell out of "Valkyria Chronicles 3".
Instead of playing a sequel with the story taking place after that of "Valkyria Chronicles 2", "Valkyria Chronicles 3" takes us back to the time of the great Gallian/Imperial war. It tells the story of a certain squad. While the Gallian militia went out and fought the imperials, gaining all the glory, not a word was spoken about a certain squad that worked behind the scenes. This squad was always doing the undercover, dirty work. This squad would always take the one extra step to ensure victory to the Gallian military. Without this squad, Gallia would not have won the war...this squad is "Nameless", a squad filled with criminals and convicts. They are treated worst than even the lowest of ranks of soldiers, because of their mostly criminal personal. Kurt Irving was a model soldier, being a top graduate from Lanseal academy, his military life was already laid out for him. But one day for no reason, after winning a crucial battle for the military, he was branded a criminal for treason, and was sent to "Nameless". Wanting to uncover the truth, he fights as the captain of "Nameless", guiding the group of criminals and convicts to victory, and eventually trying to prove his innocence.
|Storm the front!
If you haven't known by now, "Valkyria Chronicles 3", being the 3rd numbered sequel to the franchise, is a turn based/strategy/third person shooter/RPG hybrid. Its style of gameplay is one of the most unique ones out there at the moment (closest I can think of is "Xcom", but even that doesn't take as much skill as VC), and its very easy to get hooked to it as a first timer. If you want an in depth explanation, read my previous 2 reviews of the games before this one, because while improved, "Valkyria Chronicles 3"'s gameplay flow, mechanics and system remains mostly the same. You take control of units on a big scale map, move them to kill enemy units, take objective points, so on and so forth. "Valkyria Chronicles 3" follows the footsteps of "Valkyria Chronicles 2", where battles take place on multiple mini maps rather than a single, big one like in the very first "Valkyria Chronicles".
As for the changes from the previous game...the class system has been reworked. No more hunting for certs like madmen (thank GOD), instead, there's a hidden EXP meter for each character that fills up every time you use them on the field for something meaningful, like capturing a base, or killing an enemy unit. Plus, no more branching out to different classes like before, after advancing your first stage in a class, you'll be promoted to veteran, followed by elite. Because of this, some sub classes have been removed (like Mauler, Mortar, Commando etc), but most of these weapons that these old classes that use to have were streamlined so that the primary classes can still use them (Fencers can use hammers to kill tanks). The game also makes your main protagonists more powerful (thus giving you more reason to pick them), with all of them getting special commands that use SP, a new resource in the game. You can activate Riela's Valkyira powers, granting invincibility, have Imca shoot everything in the map at once, or have Kurt move multiple units with a single CP. All of these new, special abilities allow for more strategic breakthroughs....or in some cases, just letting you experience what its like to be a badass.
|Riela...Riela all the way. You gotta feel for this girl!
Now let's talk story, which has always been one of the series' stronger points. While VC 2's story wasn't exactly the most inspired, it had its own share of good moments. In VC 3...the story here is the darkest of the 3 games, showing how the good guys aren't always...good. Even the Gallian government has a corrupt side, and it goes to show that you can't always trust the good guys. I'd put VC 3's story equivalent to that of the original VC's, but in a different way. Of course, for a good story, you'd need an interesting cast. Fortunately, like in VC 2, most of your "Nameless" squad mates in VC 3 are really well fleshed out, each with their own specific character missions so that you can find out more about them. Each with wildly varying personalities, the members of "Nameless" can be really entertaining, and they are arguably the "best" squad to be with out of ones in all 3 games in the series. Be it Felix's shonen hero tendencies, Gloria's constant bragging about her experience coming with age, or Carisa's narrow minded mindset where only money is involved...there's never a dull moment in "Nameless". Its too bad though that most of the newly unlocked squad mates that you get as the game progress do not have much say during the main story cutscenes.
If you've played the old VC games, you'll remember something unique to every single squad mate...potentials. Needless to say, potentials are back in VC 3, and they're more accessible than ever. While every character has their own set of character potentials (both good and bad), since every character can now switch to every class, and EVERY class has their own set of class based potentials...there's a lot to be had here. Plus, with the new master table system, the game allows you to unlock EVEN MORE potentials just by mastering multiple class potentials. Since your characters now have an extra potential slot to allow you to put in any potential you mastered previously from a class that you used, you can think of the best combinations that will let your character come out on top.
|Enemy scouts again? *Sigh*
As with most VC games, VC 3 throws all sorts of missions at you as you progress through the strategic maps. Some missions require you to capture a certain amount of enemy bases, or just to capture the enemy's main base. Some require you to kill a certain boss unit, or kill off all enemy units in the map. Some just require you to defend your base camp for a certain amount of turns against a ridiculous amount of enemies, or you might be tasked to make sure not a single enemy walks past a certain imaginary line (I f**king hate those missions). There are special exceptions for some story related missions, like destroying generators for a boss tank or making a last stand to defend a gate against massive amounts of imperial troops (I loved that level).
Unlike in VC 2 where maps were HEAVILY reused in free missions and story missions alike, VC 3 has a great variety of maps, bringing over maps from VC 1, VC 2 and adding in some new maps of their own as well, giving the huge amount of missions some much needed variety (it really sucks to look at the same f**king valley/mountain level over and over), and strategy, since different maps have different terrain, weather, vision conditions that make tackling them somewhat strategic at times, you can't just rush everything head on.
|Yo, get the f**k off my APC!
Another new present feature in VC 3 is the fact that there are branching mission paths in different chapters. Since missions are now selected in a war map format, you can go for different strategic locations on the map, and going by that one direction will mean disabling another different direction for your squad. Meaning if you play route A, you can't do route B, or vice versa. Its a good way to encourage replay value, since you can only play the missions that you didn't take after you cleared the game, and some of these missions will provide different story outcomes or different cutscenes, though honestly, most of them won't effect your game ending except for the final few decisions during your final chapter.
That said, there is a massive amount of content in this game. The chapters are really long (albeit, padded quite a fair bit) if you decide to play EVERY mission in EVERY chapter. Then you've got the character side missions that unlock as you use said character enough times, then you've also got the DLC missions included in the game (this is the extra edition that comes with the DLC missions)....yeah, that's a lot to muscle through if you can stomach that many missions (I count at LEAST over 100 missions WITHOUT replaying any of them).
|Buzz off Carisa, you greedy girl.
What does VC 3 suck at? Well, typical VC stuff apparently, because even after 2 full blown games they didn't do much to improve the AI in VC 3. I hesitate to even say that it's improved at all, because honestly if the AI really stepped it up, many of my victories would have been losses. Soldiers spend multiple turns walking circles around the map, doing nothing. They stare at walls, some SHOOT at walls. Fencers walk up to you and DON'T attack at times. Tanks fire their machine gun turrets at your tank, instead of their cannon, and effectively do no damage at all. Many questionable decisions....but at least the bosses are (slightly) smarter and actually do some f**king damage. While the game is fairly varied in its missions and maps, the main campaign is padded quite a fair bit with throwaway missions which usually just lead to cutscenes and more throwaway missions. Its like the objective in a chapter can be solved in just 1-2 missions, but the game just throws you 2 more while they're add it to make the game longer (sound familiar?). Its lazy padding, since most of these missions are easy or have been seen before.
VC 3 is the "best" and most improved out of the 3 "Valkyria Chronicles" games. But is it the most enjoyable? Its debatable. While the system is tweaked to be improved and the game does churn out a few of its flaws from its predecessors (except for the AI, which still sucks), its ultimately more of the same, great game. It doesn't stray too far off from its roots, and Sega takes the safe thing of making it stay that way. If you loved previous games, you'll love VC 3, but just don't expect anything too ground breaking...no massive overhauls here. It also means that if you never a fan of these types of games, VC 3 does nothing new that will suddenly convert you into a fan. As it stands though, its still a massively fun game that ate over 75 hours of my life.
Nameless Baby!
Happy gaming!


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Billions of years ago, when the universe was still in its infancy, the formation of stars is believed to have occurred at a much faster rate than it does today. Now, a recent discovery by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) suggests that the universe's earliest galaxies may have been pumping out stars even faster than we thought.
The picture up top was captured by the HST during a three-year scan of the universe known formally as the Cosmic Assembly Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey — or "CANDELS" for short. The survey was undertaken to search for and analyze some of the most distant galaxies in the universe. This particular image highlights a collection of 18 dwarf galaxies as they existed some 9 billion years ago – that's fewer than 5 billion years into the universe's estimated 13.7-billion-year existence.
5-billion years may sound like a long time, but on a cosmological time scale, astronomers actually regard these galaxies as belonging to a relatively young universe, back when star formation is believed to have occurred considerably faster than it does today.
But according to Harry Ferguson — co-leader of the CANDELS survey — these tiny dwarf galaxies (the combined mass of the 18 shown up top doesn't add up to even one fifth the total mass of our own Milky Way) have been observed pumping out stars at a furious rate, even by early-universe standards.
By observing the radiation emitted from their newborn stars, Ferguson and his colleagues have concluded that these galaxies were churning out stellar bodies fast enough to double their total number of stars in just 10 million years. By comparison, the researchers estimate it would take the Milky Way 10 billion years to achieve a similar doubling. (The video featured here zooms in on Hubble imagery to reveal the young galaxies that are brimming with starbirth).
According to Ferguson, who is also a co-author of the paper describing the team's results, the latest HST observations actually come up against detailed studies of similarly-sized dwarf galaxies in orbit around the Milky Way.
"Those studies suggest that star formation was a relatively slow process, stretching out over billions of years," explained Ferguson.
"The CANDELS finding that there were galaxies of roughly the same size, forming stars at very rapid rates at early times, is forcing us to re-examine what we thought we knew about dwarf galaxy evolution."
Ferguson says that the team's findings could indicate that the proximity of a dwarf galaxy to a larger, spiral galaxy has an effect on its rate of star formation, but notes that at this point, ideas like these are just speculation. To get a better understanding of what's going on, he says we'll need technologies like the James Webb Space Telescope –- NASA's high-tech, infrared follow-up to Hubble.
"With Webb, we'll probably see even more of these galaxies, perhaps even pristine galaxies that are experiencing their first episode of star formation," said Ferguson. "Being able to probe down to dwarf galaxies in the early universe will help us understand the formation of the first stars and galaxies."
[arXiv via NASA]
Images via NASA


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In the previous topic, I lingered upon astrology a bit [I also talked about Vaastu Shastra here]. In this episode, I have taken Linda Goodman's book SUN SIGNS to ridicule some of her propositions. I took Libra for example. She says about Librans:
Librans hate to be rude, yet they'll straighten the crooked picture on your wall and snap off your blaring TV set.
I took Librans for discussion because I happen to be one of them (according to my birthday and sun signs) and many of my family members and my close friends are also Librans. I am married to a Libran too. I have a sample of 12 people from this group whom I know very well. Nothing about the above statement makes sense. All of them tend to be rude once in a while and most of them don't seem to straighten a crooked picture- especially not my wife.
Like gentle doves of peace, they go around mediating and patching up quarrel between others; still they enjoy a good argument themselves.
I ask you, who on this planet would not like to be seen as above? Many of us want to enjoy a good argument, and be seen as gentle doves of peace.
They're good natured and pleasant, but they can also be sulky, and they balk at taking orders.
The way she puts it, almost everyone on the planet qualifies for the above. Everyone likes to be seen as good natured and pleasant. Is that true that Librans balk at taking orders? If so, should we make sure no Libran enters the Army?
Libras are restless people. But they seldom rush or hurry.
Now, I am beginning to doubt her expertise on this subject. She doesn't take a stand on what Librans are. For each assertion, she puts a rider, negates it, or tones it down. By doing this she is making sure nobody will accuse her for being patently wrong. She can then always say, but I always said BUT. In the above four sentences, she uses words like, 'yet', 'still', 'but', 'but'. Then she goes onto say:
Just because the sign is symbolized by the golden scales of justice, don't ever think that Librans are always perfectly balanced… However, did you ever watch the balancing process on a pair of old-fashioned pharmaceutical scales?... First one side is low, then the other. Up and down, and they dip until there's perfect balance.
This is when you really start doubting her theories. Is she telling me that I am supposed to correlate myself with a sign that is laid out on the stars and constellations which some primitive man out of boredom called it a 'balance' in the night sky? Actually, there is no limit to the number of constellations. There is no reason why it can't be 1024 constellations instead of just 12. With an ordinary telescope one can conjure up many signs in the night sky- starting from a computer, a train, a bus, an airplane and even a floppy disk. The more bored you are, the more weird the object in the sky. The constellations are a pattern of stars as conjured up my man's imagination. They constellations are not even closely held entities. In the same constellation, some stars are very close to us while some are extremely far away. It's almost like one star being about feet away while another one is next to the moon. Just because our ancestors saw an object that resembles a balance we Librans cannot be correlated or uncorrelated with a balance in any of the wildest theories. I could look at the same pattern and can conjure up a sexy lady and will that have a damn effect on how every Libran is made? Then she goes onto say:
Librans features are almost always even and well-balanced… (About dimples) There will usually be a couple in the cheeks or one in the chin.
Man O Man! I am not sure how people have read this book. According to the cover page, more than 4 million have been sold. None of my Libran friends or relatives that I know has any dimples on the cheeks or on the chin. On the other hand, other sign people seem to have these. Is she telling us that one in 12 people on this planet will have a dimple on the cheek or chin? Then she goes onto say:
(About dimples)… If they're not in the face, you might check to see if the knees are dimpled. Many Libran knees are.
:) This is an extremely clever statement. No wonder she sold 4 million copies. If I don't find a dimple on the cheek, I should look at the chin, and if I don't find one there, I guess I should look for the knees. Can someone tell me how should a dimple look like on a knee? You know what, take this from me- all knees on the planet, including that of animals have dimples. Go check! (It all depends on how you want to defined those knee-dimples) But she is not even sure of that, so she adds:
But be careful. Very few girls will believe you when you tell them you were staring at their knees "because I want to see if you were born in October". Be discreet, but check. With the men, of course, the trousers rule out that clue…
Hmm! Clever woman, huh! She should have said, "Look under the armpits for dimples!" That would have made her theories irrefutable.
Don't get discouraged if you find dimples, then discover the person was not born in October. Those fetching dimples have a right to be there, because he or she will have a Libra ascendant, so your guess is still correct.
Now, this gets interesting. As I said earlier, everyone would have dimples on their knees- it all depends on how you want to define a dimple on a knee. She wants to protect herself now. She adds in another factor- Libra ascendant. So, you end up with so many factors, that now it has become a loop of 'if, but also if, or else, and if not, but, yet, and not so often,' and so on.
What does this whole argument about dimples prove? Or what should I conclude? Do Librans have dimples or not? Do the people having dimples Librans or not? No conclusion! So much for her theories!
That's when I tossed the book into the nearest garbage can!


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Jonathan Rhys Meyers Held After Airport Brawl
The Tudors star was reportedly detained for being drunk and disorderly in Paris
Tudors star Jonathan Rhys Meyers was detained by French police on Saturday afternoon following an incident in which he allegedly assaulted an airport lounge employee while drunk, Agence France Presse reports.
The Irish actor, 31, was placed in custody for several hours for having a skirmish with bar employees and allegedly punching one at the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, according to reports.
The incident began when a bartender at the café area "Le Quotidien" in the departure area of the airport at terminal 2F refused to serve the actor, who appeared drunk, according to the news service. A shouting match developed between Rhys Meyers and the bar manager. Then when another bar employee tried to separate the pair, Rhys Meyers swung and punched the intervening waiter.
Police handcuffed the actor when placing him in custody, and sources tell PEOPLE that the actor remained in a sober lock-up area for three hours before being released.
The AFP reports that Rhys Meyers has been told to appear before the Correctional Tribunal in Bobigny in September to answer charges concerning, "voluntary violence, contempt, issuing death threats and assault," according to a judicial source.
The Tudors actor was previously arrested for public intoxication in November 2007 at the Dublin airport. In April of the same year he spent time in a rehab facility for treatment.
A rep for Rhys Meyers had no comment.
from Huffington Post
Miley's New Photo Scandal (POLL)
WATCH: Conan's Tribute To Ed McMahon


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Kimora Lee Simmons has spoken out about the "hurtful" rumors emerging after her split from Djimon Hounsou, insisting she and the actor remain "happy and loving" friends and parents.
A representative for the "Blood Diamond" star confirmed the sad news on Wednesday, five months after the split was first reported in June.
The gossip mill was sent into overdrive as it was claimed the romance ended over a bitter fight about money, but Simmons has now taken to her Twitter.com page to assure fans she and Hounsou are still close.
She writes, "There have been quite a few hurtful rumors circulating. The truth is Djimon + I have been separated for some time. We have remained happy, loving, co-parenting friends + family. We all have much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving."
The couple began dating in 2007 but never officially married, although they staged a traditional commitment ceremony in Hounsou's native Benin in 2008.
The stars are parents to a 3-year-old son, Kenzo, while the brunette beauty also has two daughters from her marriage to music mogul Russell Simmons.


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Radio communications between dispatchers and fire crews fighting Thursday's devastating Seaside Park fire reveal just how complex and confusing it was to battle a blaze that turned out to be not just on the boardwalk but also hidden below it.
"Station 45. Report of flames showing under the boardwalk near the Sawmill," a dispatcher is heard saying on radio transmissions analyzed by NBC10.com and provided by PhillyFireNews.com.
That first call went out at 2:20 p.m. with an assistant fire chief being dispatched to The Sawmill Café at Stockton Avenue. Two minutes later, the assistant chief asked for a fire crew.
U.S. & World
"Be advised, heavy smoke condition," he said. "Re-dispatch my company for a confirmed fire at the boardwalk. It appears to be coming out of the Kohr's ice cream store."
A minute after that, dispatchers ask if more fire crews should be called. The chief says one station seems to be enough.
The fire, however, appeared to have been creeping and growing under the boards.
It wasn't until nearly nine minutes into the response that crews realized they needed backup.
Officials call for a second crew, Station 44.
Ten minutes in, crews find the first flames near the rear of Kohr's Frozen Custard shop, just across the boardwalk from the Sawmill Café.
Next, crews call for a third set of responders, Station 28.
Meanwhile, the first responders ask that saws be brought in to create a barrier in the boardwalk to try and starve the flames of fuel.
"We're going to make a cut in the boardwalk here and make a trench to try and stop it," a firefighter says over the radio.
Crews would later do the same, on a larger scale, ripping up a 20-foot section of the boardwalk at Lincoln and Ocean Avenues to stop the fire's northward spread.
The power just got shut off. They're cutting the boardwalk now to try and prevent the fire from spreading. — Alex Cav (@AlexxCav) September 12, 2013
A lack of manpower and the availability of water continually handicapped fire crews during the firefight, according to the audio transmissions.
Answering questions about the response on Friday, Ocean County Chief Fire Coordinator Brian Gabriel called the first three hours of the fire "bedlam" and said it was as organized as possible.
"I'll take any one of yous and you show up here and see how much fire was coming out this building and you tell me whether you would have been overwhelmed or not," he said. "These guys acted professionally, they made the decisions that they made, knowing that they were going to have an advancing fire, OK?"
Rapid response teams were called to the scene from nearby towns like Toms River and Mantoloking, but they weren't enough to fight the fast-moving fire.
"We need more bodies," one fireman says 20 minutes into the fire response. Fifteen minutes after that, another firefighter calls for more help to fight flames on the defunct Funtown Pier, which was destroyed in Superstorm Sandy. But there aren't enough firefighters to go around.
"I think we need to request more mutual aid," one commander says.
"We have, but they're not coming fast enough," a firefighter responds.
More than 400 firefighters from counties across the state were eventually called in to join the fight.
Access to water was another hurdle crews had to overcome.
In a press briefing Friday morning, Governor Chris Christie touted a new water delivery system, called Neptune, that allowed crews to pump water from the bay. He also acknowledged that not all of the town's infrastructure is operational post-Sandy.
"They're not all 100-percent rebuilt," he said. "We had significant capacity last night through the water system, but we also had a fire that was being fed by 30 mile per hour winds out of the south."
The governor added that water had to be pumped out of motel and hotel swimming pools.
However, with all those efforts, crews still screamed for more water to drench the flames.
"Where's the water on the rear," one firefighter asks 20 minutes into the blaze.
"There is no water, I'm working on it," another responds.
Thirty-minutes into the fire, a chief asks officials to contact the water department and have water pumps turned on full blast.
"We're going to need them to kick the pumps up and get everything going because we're going to need a lot of water," he said.
In the meantime, the fire spreads to more structures and into the air.
Crews reported having buildings exposed to flames and embers flying into the sky. Those embers started a fire at a condominium complex four blocks north. Luckily, those flames were extinguished before spreading.
Despite denials from officials and Gov. Christie, there were also reports of explosions inside structures engulfed in flames.
"Multiple explosions inside the building," one official said over the radio just after asking for more engine companies to be dispatched.
While it has been widely reported that the fire started either at or around Kohr's Frozen Custard, eyewitness accounts and radio calls paint a different picture.
Kohr's employee Christine Hemingway told NBC10 smoke was seen rising from the boardwalk outside the shop, which she was helping close for the season, when the fire suddenly grew.
"Our manager came running through the stand and said 'get out,'" Hemingway said. "We go around the corner in front of Biscayne Candy and there was smoke coming up from the boardwalk. There was a little smoke and then all of a sudden, it got real thick and black."
Dispatcher communications also show the first call was for a report of fire under the boardwalk and that Kohr's fire alarm did not activate until minutes after crews arrived on the scene.
"I'm sure it's related chief, but you're getting a fire alarm activation at Kohr's Custard," the dispatcher radios.
Bruce Kohr, owner of the boardwalk shop, told NBC News the electricity had already been shut down in his shop as it was being closed up for the winter.
"The walk-ins [large refrigerators] were cleaned out, the breakers were off, the store was de-energized," he said adding that workers were "getting it ready for the winter" when the fire began.
Asked if he's heard from investigators, Kohr says he hasn't heard from 'any officials.'
BREAKING: Fire reported at Kohr's on Seaside Park boardwalk http://t.co/mkp22Srmcm pic.twitter.com/Sf0xzfjMuJ via @AsburyParkPress — WCAlerts (@WCAlerts) September 12, 2013
Officials have said it is too early to determine the cause of the fire, but the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office has put out a call for photos and videos taken near the scene just before the fire began.
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the county and state fire marshals are on the scene.
The fire is also being treated as a crime scene, both measures, officials say, is standard protocol.
Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, email@example.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.


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Speyer is a UNESCO World Heritage town thanks to its cathedral, the largest surviving Romanesque church in Europe. But it is also regarded as the birthplace of the Protestant faith because of the Protestation at Speyer of 1529.
In April of that year, the noble representatives of the princes who were supporters of Luther met at the Diet of Speyer and protested against the ban on Luther's teachings. This protest lead to the division of the Christian faith into Catholic and Protestant.
The neo-Gothic Memorial Church in Speyer with its Luther statue commemorates this momentous event. After the burning of Speyer in 1689, the baroque Trinity Church was rebuilt as a Lutheran church in the early 18th century. The wooden interior features have been preserved to this day.
In addition to the UNESCO World Heritage Cathedral and sites associated with Luther, Speyer also has a rich Jewish heritage. You can see evidence of this from the ruins of the 12th century synagogue and the Jewish bath (mikveh) which dates from the same period, making it the oldest Jewish ritual bath in central Europe. Archaeological finds, everyday objects and architectural features from both buildings are on display at the SchPIRA Museum.
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Welcome to Paris Day trip with professional guide
- Seat reservation on Eurostar
- Guided Panoramic coach tour of Paris
- Map of Paris
- Time for shopping and sightseeing
- New - One hour River Seine cruise
A great value day trip to Paris including return tickets on Eurostar, guided coach tour of Paris.
Join us at St. Pancras International train station where our staff will help check you in and introduce you to our guide who will escort you on board Eurostar and throughout the day in Paris. Travelling at speeds of up to 186mph, you will be in Paris in just 2 hours 15 minutes. You will travel through the channel tunnel before arriving in central Paris and from here join a panoramic tour of the world's most Romantic city. Enjoy spectacular views of Le Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and more.
A Seine river cruise ticket is also included so why not take a romantic cruise on the River Seine that boasts spectacular views of Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay and Place de la Concorde.
Alternatively head off to the shopping district on your own or relax and enjoy lunch while soaking up Parisien life.
In the early evening we head back to Gare du Nord for our return journey to London.
- Seat reservation on Eurostar
- Guided Panoramic coach tour of Paris
- New - One hour River seine cruise
- Map of Paris
- Time
for shopping and sightseeing
- Hotel pick up and drop off in London
- Gratuities
Please note:
- Half escorted Tour
- Tour departs St Pancras International Train
Station at 7.01 am. Check in starts at 6 am
- Returns to London 8.39 pm
- Kindly please note that check-in time on Saturdays is at 06:30am. Train departs at 07:52am.
- Once booked, we are not able
to cancel your booking and as such cannot offer you a refund, cancellation or
- Due To Eurostar requirements,
only children between the ages of 4 - 11 years old inclusive qualify for a child
- You are required to carry a
valid passport with you Please check your visa
requirements before you travel.
- Premium Tours will have no liability if Eurostar
trains are delayed for unforeseen circumstances such as security alerts, third
party action or bad weather as this is beyond our control. In such cases, please contact Eurostar directly to discuss any
compensation that may be due.
- St. Pancras International, front of Le Pain Quotidien Coffee Shop