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When Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Outlast launched a week apart from each other, I was not going to play them. I'm a wimp when it comes to getting scared, so the idea of subjecting myself to hours of cowering in the dark while terrifying creatures hunted me down? Please, not going to happen.
But as all the reviews and coverage flooded in, I grew curious. Not curious if they were good – by all accounts they were – but curious how two games that looked so similar on the surface compared to each other. If I wanted to dip my toe in the survival horror genre and play one game, which game was right for me?
So against my better judgment, I offered to play both games for Kotaku and break them down side by side. After about 15 hours of cussing and jump scares, one game stood tall against the other as the obvious choice.
A good horror experience has a knack for creating an atmosphere that is as memorable as its characters, like the Overlook Hotel in The Shining or the "chase-chase-chase-kill-kill-kill" sound effect in Friday the 13th, so this feels like the right place to start when evaluating these games.
Outlast: Mount Massive Asylum is aggressively disturbing. It features more torture and mutilation than all of the Saw movies combined, and the handiwork of those atrocities is everywhere. Disembodied hands and legs float in the toilets, decapitated corpses litter every corner, and even the inmates who are still alive are disfigured to a stomach-churning degree. And if you aren't stepping through blood and guts, you'll find other bodily fluids coating the floors and walls instead.
But beyond the asylum, the inmates really steal the show. Outlast is not a solitary experience, and surrounds you with the asylum's inhabitants. Some inmates are hostile, some are not, and not knowing if the guy sitting in the corner watching you is going to attack or let you pass keeps you on constant edge. I passed by a window to a room I needed to enter, and spotted a gruesome-looking fellow playing piano. He stopped, got up, and walked slowly towards the window, staring at me for a good 15 seconds before disappearing into the darkness. Knowing that he might still be in there when I walked through the door was an awful feeling.
Amnesia: In stark contrast, Amnesia is almost entirely solitary, and the focus is more on exploring the mansion itself than your interactions with other people. There is very little visual violence outside of butchered pig carcasses, and the game relies heavily on you reading your journal entries and found documents to paint a picture of the grisly deeds that took place there.
In fact, most of Amnesia's atmosphere relies on you letting your imagination run wild. Shadowy figures dart out of view in the corner of the screen, and pig masks appear in places where you know they weren't earlier to remind you that someone is watching your progress and is always near.
EDGE: Outlast. Aesthetically, I actually preferred the industrial steampunk style of Amnesia to the asylum in Outlast, mainly because the asylum setting felt more familiar. We've seen that setting before in games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, and I'm a sucker for Amnesia's time period. But in terms of building an atmosphere that is threatening and disturbing, Outlast's constant interjection of menacing figures is far superior to Amnesia's subtleties.
Strong plots in horror games are massively important to me, because I don't like being scared. If I'm going to put myself through five to ten hours of tormented exploration, there needs to be a good story encouraging me to push on.
Outlast: You're Miles Upshur, a journalist who receives a tip about shady happenings at a recently reopened insane asylum, so you set out to get to the bottom of it. The journalist who gets more than he bargains for while investigating a story is a well-worn horror trope, and Outlast checks most of the boxes you'd expect from a game taking place in an insane asylum, like horrific experiments, notes from hospital staffers questioning the ethics of their superiors, and breathless accounts of a mysterious project that could change everything. It's all familiar but it serves the purpose of illustrating how horrible the environment you're in is.
Things start to unravel in the third act however. The big twist (note to developers; not every horror script needs a twist) left me groaning rather than gasping, and I spent a lot of the last half an hour wishing that the story wasn't going in the direction it did.
Amnesia: Amnesia also takes a common game trope (amnesia. I know, I was shocked too), but builds the story around lead character Oswald Mandus' search for his missing children and a mysterious voice on the telephone that instructs him to restart an even more mysterious machine below his mansion that has been sabotaged.
Amnesia's story feels much fresher, and it becomes clear early on that this machine is more diabolical than it first appears. Work memos and journal entries paint an unpleasant picture of the machine's true purpose, and of the sacrifices necessary to keep it running, and that curiosity drove me to continue far after I'd grown familiar and even bored with the gameplay. You'll see the twist coming from a mile away (because again, there has to be a twist), but unlike Outlast, it didn't leave me rolling my eyes.
EDGE: Amnesia. Amnesia's plot is one of its strongest selling points, whereas Outlast's plot is one of its weakest.
Outlast: Have you ever wondered what playing a movie like Cloverfield or The Blair Witch Project would feel like? Outlast is your answer. You can see your hands and feet, you scramble over obstacles, and everything can be recorded through a video camera. Miles is also a quick runner, so coming face to face with a threat often leads to a breathless parkour pursuit as you tear through hallways and around corners desperately searching for a place to hide. And since you can climb, the environment opens up with more platforming opportunities like leaps across chasms and stacked tables leading to accessible air ducts.
Huge portions of the asylum are blanketed in darkness, and it's both a hindrance and your main means of survival. You rely on the night-vision feature on your camera to explore and spot enemies with the caveat that it drains the battery. I'm OCD to the point of worrying about running out of ammo in Call of Duty, so even though I never dipped below one full battery in my inventory, knowing that running out of batteries meant fumbling around in the dark left me in a constant state of agitation. And [SLIGHT SPOILER] when the game briefly takes your camera away late in the game, I couldn't believe how panicked it made me. I had built an attachment I didn't even realize was there until it was gone, and the scramble to retrieve that camera is one of the game's most memorable moments. [END SPOILER]
Amnesia: Amnesia feels more like controlling an interactive ride than an actual human being. Items you pick up float in front of you, there are no contextual ledges that respond to jumping (jumping is worthless for the most part), and enemy encounters are limited to single rooms, so escaping is as simple as running to a dark corner on the other side, ducking, and letting the enemy walk past. It's also fairly linear, and you'll never have to go more than one room over to find what you're looking for in the few environmental puzzles you'll face.
You are also given a lantern and warned that using it in the dark can attract unwanted attention, but in an interesting departure from the first Amnesia, this lantern has unlimited fuel. This means that your only incentive not to use it is the potential of attracting enemies, but since most of the game is bright enough to be able to see without it, it didn't add much to the experience.
EDGE: Outlast. I left a lot of little corners in Outlast unexplored since I was hoarding batteries so tightly, whereas I could dive into every nook and cranny in Amnesia without fear of handicapping myself later. But as much as I hated having the constant dread of dead batteries hanging over my head, I have to admit that it added a lot to the intensity of the entire experience. Amnesia's lantern, on the other hand, barely factored into my game at all.
Outlast: Outlast derives a full-on horror blitz. There is rarely a moment when you aren't running for your life, cowering in a hiding space, or looking over your shoulder to make sure you aren't being followed. Downtime doesn't exist, and every time you flip a switch or turn a crank, you can expect a pipe-wielding psycho to come investigating. The running mechanics that I wrote about earlier? You need those, because you will never feel at ease while wandering the asylum's hallways. Death is always lurking around the corner.
Amnesia: Amnesia succeeds early at building Nope moments, creating a sense of foreboding and dread behind every door and bump in the dark while letting you imagine what is waiting for you on the other side. But while it succeeds in building foreboding, Amnesia rarely backs it up with anything substantial.
There are, without exaggeration, about five to ten actual enemy encounters in the entire game, with the rest of the scares reserved for off-camera sound or shadows darting out of view. Once I realize that, along with the fact that enemies only appear in the dark, I could bomb through areas without fear of confrontation. I never felt entirely comfortable in a room in Outlast, but I could write off entire sections of Amnesia because I was reasonably confident that I'd be left alone.
EDGE: Outlast. When you do see an enemy in Amnesia, escape is as easy as running to the nearest lit area, which is usually right around the corner. In Outlast, you see an enemy, run around three corners while hurtling over tables and slamming doors behind you to slow your pursuer down, then dive under a bed and watch in horror as he walks into the room and starts checking hiding places for you.
Ultimately, Amnesia threatens to scare you but makes your imagination do most of the heavy lifting. Outlast scares you repeatedly, relentlessly, and effectively.
For the first hour of Amnesia, I was convinced that it was going to be my game of choice. The late-1800s setting was pushing all the right buttons, and the game seemed much more disciplined with its horror, using ambient scares to heighten the tension without shoving anything in my face. Oh man, I thought, when they finally decide to ratchet up the intensity, this is going to be terrifying.
But that ratcheting up never came, and once I called the game's bluff, I realized how few moments of actual survival there were in this survival horror title. And since it's so linear – Outlast has its linear moments, but it also opens up small sections that give it a more open feel - and I felt like I was just being shuttled from one scare to the next with a few distractions in between.
Maybe Amnesia would have been scarier had I played it before Outlast instead of after it, but after my visit to Mount Massive Asylum, Oswald Mandus' mansion felt tame by comparison. Outlast's gameplay is more fluid and immersive, the enemies are more menacing and memorable, and it's much, much scarier. You won't be disappointed if you buy Amnesia, but if you want a game that will really stick with you when you turn off the lights, Outlast is the game for you.
Both games were played with download codes provided by the publishers.
Cameron Gidari is a freelance writer and the author of Manhattan Before8 and Seattle Before8. You can follow him on Twitter at CGidari.


text:
My ATI Radeon Video Card still has quite bad performance in Ubuntu 11.04 My Laptop is Acer Aspire 4820TG My Graphic card is ATI MOBILITY RADEON 5650
I have that laptop too. I couldn't get that Radeon to works well on my Ubuntu, so I completely powered off it following that guide:
My battery duration went from the previous 3h30 to the current 6h+. I suggest you to do the same.
I doubt that you can achieve a better performance than by using the open source drivers and vgaswitcheroo (like lorenzo-s said). Sadly the 4820TG's graphics card still comes with a MUX that is not supported by the proprietary AMD drivers. The last driver that worked was fglrx 11.8 which was developed for 10.04. For all newer versions, switching with MUX was disabled and it is not likely that AMD will ever come up with a driver for that again.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012
HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012:
This year you experience many different feelings that help guide you. You sometimes wonder which voice to listen to, but only you can decide that. You often have issues with the opposite sex. Maintain your sense of humor, and everything will work out fine. Transform your attitude, and you'll transform your life. If you are single, you come from a place of compassion when you meet someone. Be vulnerable yet open to the fact that this person might not be Mr. or Ms. Right. If you are attached, share a new hobby with a sweetie in order to become closer. PISCES can drag you down.
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Please enter a maximum of 5 recipients. Use ; to separate more than one email address.
| Romanow, Stephany, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff, Houston, TX
[natural gas]
[crude oil]
According to a year-end report from the American Chemistry
Council (ACC), the global economy is still stumbling three
years after the great recession of 2008. The Euro
area is challenged to move beyond recession conditions.
Chinas thriving economic expansion slowed in 2012 from the
double-digit expansion of earlier years. The
final thought on 2012 economic news can be summarized as
confidence eroding. Global manufacturing entered a soft period
in the 2012 summer; Europe and East Asia were the most
affected regions.
In the US, recovery in the manufacturing industry struggled
against waves of uncertainty, such as the results of the fall
elections, the failing consensus in the US Congress over
raising the debt ceiling, future tax reforms and the looming
fiscal cliff discussion during December.
Uncertainty throughout 2012 has been unhealthy for the US
and global economies. Manufacturing and HPI companies are
fearful of possible government regulations. In response, these
companies cut back business investments and delayed workforce
Global HPI leaders are divided on how to prepare for the
future. As shown in Table 1, the global
chemical industry has collectively made an improvement from
dismal 2009 numbers. But, this recovery will be uneven beyond
2012. According to ACC, global economic condition will be
characterized by a two-speed world: Developed nations (the US,
Canada, Western Europe and Japan) will be further
challenged by debt, adverse demographic factors and tighter
fiscal policies; economic growth will be slow. Conversely,
developing nations (India, Brazil, Eastern/Central Europe,
Russia, China, East Asia, Africa and the Middle East) will
experience more dynamic conditions. All are based on continued
industrialization and consumer-driven economics. The
Asian-Pacific nations, excluding Japan, will experience strong
growth in 2013 and into the future.
According to ACCs findings, the global chemistry
business paralleled other manufacturing sections in 2012.
Growth was stalled in Europe due to continued uncertainty over
debt from several EU member countries and concerns about the
value of the euro. China, likewise, experienced a downturn in
its chemical industry, as Europe is a major customer of
Chinese chemical products and finished goods. The North
American market is expected to be flat in 2013. However, new
shale gas supplies have kept natural gas prices very low in the
US, and this trend is expected to continue. Accordingly,
lower-cost feedstock and fuels (energy) will
support increased chemical/petrochemical production in the US
and Canada. (For more information, visit
www.americanchemistry.com.) HP
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A searchable database of project activity in the global hydrocarbon processing industry
Engineers and designers are highly skilled individuals. Forcing them to enter design changes using tables, forms and spreadsheets is unproductive and uneconomical, and it increases the likelihood of human error—this is the way that most instrumentation software systems currently work. For too long, software vendors have denied engineers and designers the simple practicality of a graphical visual engineering interface with "drag and drop" capability and inbuilt intelligence, ensuring changes are automatically replicated into all the associated data and databases.
Is 2016 the peak for US gasoline demand?
Too soon to tell
July 2016


text:
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- Academically rigorous and relevant curriculum, designed to help you manage projects from a global perspective.
- Study abroad opportunities. Get an international perspective of leadership, business best practices, and cultural, political, and economic differences all over the world, which allows you to better understand the modern global marketplace.
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Meyskens Featured in WalletHub on Best Small Cities to Start a Business
Moriah Meyskens, clinical professor of management in the University of San Diego Scho…
University of San Diego School of Business to Host Entrepreneurship and Family Business Workshop, August 2-4
The University of San Diego School of Business in collaboration with the Management C…
Custin Quoted in Military Times on 'Incident to Service'
Rick Custin, clinical professor of business law and ethics, was quoted in a June 16&n…


text:
So I was looking at Jorge Castro's blog, and I saw that there was a Reddit lens for Ubuntu 11.04 Unity. How do I install it? Is there a PPA?
You can download the .deb I've created using Andrew Starr-Bochicchio's packaging from HERE.
Once installed, log out and log back in for Unity Reddit Lens to work.
For more info (like configuring it - you must edit a file for this), see the article on WebUpd8.
Ubuntu 11.10 & 12.04
For Ubuntu 11.10 & 12.04, the Reddit Lens may be installed as follows:
In a terminal, type the following commands:
Then log out and log back in to activate the lens.


text: Jeri Ryan was born Jeri Lynn Zimmerman on February 22, 1968 in Munich, West Germany, to Sharon, a social worker, and Gerhard Florian Zimmerman, a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army. She and her brother Mark grew up on several military bases, including Kansas, Maryland, Georgia and Texas. Finally, at the age of 11, her family settled down in Paducah,... See full bio »


text:
One of the best times of the year for fishing in Kansas is in the spring, right in the middle of the crappie spawning season. As the weather starts warming up and the fields start to turn green, the crappie start moving closer to shore making fishing on Kansas lakes a dream come true.
Passing on the Crappie Tradition
Posted on May 10, 2012 11:12AM by Elizabeth Peterson


text: Running With Proper Technique and Form By Julienne McCulloch October 16, 2013 As the temperature starts dropping outside, we turn to food to warm us up. Proper running technique can not only help runners become more efficient at running, but help reduce injury and increase performance as well. Read More


text:
we need a ms outlook database file size
closed as not a real question by Dennis Williamson, Not Kyle stop stalking me, Shinrai, Daniel Beck♦, Randolph Potter Mar 4 '11 at 18:18
It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, visit the help center.If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.


text:
I have a probability problem, which I need to simulate in a reasonable amount of time. In simplified form, I have 30 unfair coins each with a different known probability. I then want to ask things like "what is the probability that exactly 12 will be heads?", or "what is the probability that AT LEAST 5 will be tails?".
I know basic probability theory, so I know I can enumerate all (30 choose x) possibilities, but that's not particularly scalable. The worst case (30 choose 15) has over 150 million combinations. Is there a better way to approach this problem from a computational standpoint?
Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks! :-)


text:
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text:
How 3D imaging creates the perfect dental implant
Posted at: 12/06/2012 3:22 PM | Updated at: 12/06/2012 3:33 PM
Dr. Burt Melton shows how 3D imagery is helping to create the perfect fit for dental implants.
A. Burton Melton, DDS, PA
(505) 883-7744
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Albuquerque, NM
141 Paseo De Peralta
Santa Fe, NM
This Good Day New Mexico segment may include paid advertising content. It is not affiliated with KOB-TV's News Department.


text:
I am looking for a simple direct proof of the fact that $$ \frac{\frac{f(x + \Delta x) - f(x)}{\Delta x} -f'(x)}{\Delta x} \stackrel{\Delta x \to 0}{\to} \frac{1}{2}f''(x), $$ or, equivalently, $$ f(x+\Delta x) = f(x) + f'(x)\Delta x + \frac{1}{2}f''(x)\Delta x^2 + o(\Delta x^2). $$
holds for a twice-differentiable $f(x)$.
I remember there were times when I could derive this directly from the following definition of a derivative: $$ f(x+\Delta x) = f(x) + f'(x)\Delta x + o(\Delta x) $$ in a couple of simple lines.
A long time has passed since then and now I need to either recollect this magical "obvious" proof of mine or find out I was wrong then and the actual proof is more involved.


text:
Reoh's Massive Global Agenda Beta Review
TOG Score
Members (av.)
The Good
- Innovative mix of shooter and MMORPG elements.
- Option to play for free, or subscribe for more.
- TF2 influences work well, but title is not a clone.
- Conquest accounts offer a persistant world for global domination.
The Bad
- No open world areas to explore and fight over.
- Linear co-op maps offer few surprises.
- Crossbreed syndrome; Some loved it while others hated it.
- Match scoring system needs work.
For the last week I've buried myself into Global Agenda's Beta, and have a massive review to help you decide if this is the right game for you! I'm currently witnessing a few issues with Youtube but will be adding live game footage captured during the beta into this thread.
It was all quite welcoming to see after witnessing some of the lackluster approaches and performances made by rival game developer's over the last year.Super sexy and sleak to boot, Global Agenda (GA) is one game guaranteed to impress. The level of communication, information and support available during the beta (said to be testing the services for live) and extra thought that Hi-Rez Studios has placed into the title has impressed me. It was all quite welcoming to see after witnessing some of the lackluster approaches and performances made by rival game developer's over the last year.
While some games were barely available at all for beta testing, GA's servers are up for long hours almost continuously. This game is going to be tested ten times more thoroughly than recent MMO's and that is great news for players, who have been left with the bitter taste of Pay-4-Beta game launches for far too long. This along with the interesting payment models bodes well for the post launch which is likely to provide a smoother ride, and should also ensure better player retention for the title's future.
Now the major concern that I wanted to test in the game was latency. As an overseas player (living in Australia) I had concerns that my ping time tested at 250-350ms (using the games "f2" key option) to their Atlanta servers may cause problems. The results of my gameplay experience were quite surprising, I experience little lag related issues while playing the game in both PvE and PvP! I don't know what they've done with the code but somehow it really didn't matter that I was on the other side of the world.
Matches are privately instanced and hosted on HiRez's servers. No need to worry about server management and fee's, although also no ability to control a dedicated server or mod the game either.The game provides a single shard solution, with matchmaking services, built-in chat and voip (for team and mission on seperate push-to-talk keys), although I had no problems using either Teamspeak or Ventrilo in the background. Waiting times for most matches were very short (a matter of seconds). Each instance of "Dome City" where you reside between matches has shops, auction houses, mail depot's, even a seasonal vendor which hints at the promise of annual festive goodies yet to come. Matches are privately instanced and hosted on HiRez's servers. No need to worry about server management and fee's, although also no ability to control a dedicated server or mod the game either.
The agency management features were quite good compared to most games I've played, with a database of guilds which could flag themselves as accepting applicants or not as they so desired. The website which provides agency management tools (in tandem with those available in game) also logs an impressive amount of stats for each of your characters, including matchscores scaling back as far as I could see. I believe more is yet to come in this area of the game and I'm looking forward to seeing its development.
By now you're probably asking, "But what about the gameplay?!" Well I can tell you that it provides the mouth watering enticement of AvA (Agency/Alliance vs Agency/Alliance) persistant world combat. While AvA is only available to conquest subscribers, who also get co-op and pvp map updates; all players (including non-subscribers) can enjoy both co-op and pvp experiences straight out of the box through the games free-2-play account alternative. While you will be going without some of the content available to others, subscribers will not be able to use priveledged equipment for an unfair advantage that is unavailable to non-subscribers in the free game modes. Thats just a taste, and now I'll go into each of those in more detail.
With different sectors available, which unlock rapidly as you level up, the Co-op game provides for a number of player abilities. Light sector where you begin could almost be considered a tutorial for the game. Providing you the ability to try out different classes and equipment sets as you pass your way through a fairly linear enemy stronghold. Each time through may be different as usually the spawns will change around in size, density, composition, and location. Medeum sector uses the light sector bosses as mini-bosses along they way, while High sector was remarkably challenging. I havent' seen Max sector yet but I'm scared of it already! A queued matchmaking system will group you up (or you can join as a full or partial team of 4) and almost any stack of classes can complete missions (dependant on skill, of course!). It should be noted that a recent patch has seriously turned up the difficulty on the PvE side and introduced some new opponents too.
If you took TF2 and gave it a SpyFi makeover then this would give you a good idea on what the basic pvp is like in this game. The developers were all big TF2 fans (and what FPS player isn't?) and have conceeded the veteran titles gameplay and classes were influential in developing Global Agenda. While there are only four classes many of them could be considered hybrids of TF2 classes (to a point). It should be noted however that this isn't simply a TF2 clone, saying that would be an injustice. There are differences both in the abilities that may "mirror" something familar and also several new gadgets that all introduce new strategies and problems for your opponents.
The gametypes I have personally played included Capture Point and Payload, although there are other types I have yet to experience such as Demolition, and Double Agent where two members of the team are secretly chosen to stab their colleagues in the back with a surprise attack! Can't wait to see that one in action. These game types do unlock as you level up, however the first two mentioned should be available almost immediately and were the ones most commonly available with little waiting time.
The real jewel in the prize for many Global Agenda fans is it's Conquest Alliance vs Alliance persistant world pvp. Now let me preface this by saying this isn't a mass onslaught of players, but controlled teams in tactical engagements to capture and control territory so that their agencies may build facilities to both gather lucrative (in game) resources or build defences to help protect them. A reminder that this AvA feature is only available to Conquest accounts, in other words those who subscribe and pay a premium each month.
Unlike in many other PvP MMO's, only certain areas of the world are available for attack at any given time through the day. So pick an area where your agency is going to have its peak membership online and so long as you can hold your territory for those few hours, the rest of the day they're safe and secure without having to worry about them being attacked. Furthermore, as you control areas you naturally project forcefields from around your base to help keep nearby hexes safe from attack. That is, presuming nobody nukes your shield with a missile from a nearby silo containing hex, and opens it up for invasion.
When agencies want to attack a hex, there is a bidding period. Bids are non-refundable, just like everything in Conquest. You have to scrounge for materials, resources, or just pay for the special equipment you take in. Everything from respawn beacons to missiles is used and lost, which is all part of the lively player economy which players can interact with through the Auction House system.
Skipping the symantics, when an agency actually attacks an enemy hex they have an objective to capture. They may send in several teams, and different teams will be able to help one another out. For example, I may shut down a power generator that lower's the force fields or disable turrets in a comrades mission to help them reach their objective. So while each the strike force team numbers (10v10) are kept managable, several strike forces on a larger scale are still interacting together on their path to capturing the hex… and the world! Don't worry though, if you're doing poorly this time around the maps are expected to reset every few months to make sure no one Alliance dominates all.
There are four classes available in Global Agenda, although each can fill a number of roles. Ideally a Co-op team will be one each of Assault, Medic, Recon, and Roboticist. Although as mentioned previously a 'perfectly balanced' team while probably having an easier run doesn't mean oddly matched groups cannot succeed all the same.
The first I tried, If the TF2 Heavy and Soldier had a baby, and the Demoman raised it as his stepson then this would be the Assault class. With a wide variety of projectile and explosive weapons the Assault might be considered the tank class (although they can also pound out a lot of damage). It should be kept in mind however that unlike in other MMO's (*cough, WoW as an example) the Tank doesn't just soak up the damage while being healed. A good Assault will pull the aggro but also negate the damage through their skill at positioning, dodging incoming fire, and skills to forestall disaster when things go wrong. An easily overlooked device for your kit is the Ion grenade. Handy in PvE when being swarmed by robot defenders, and in PvP for stunning players and temporarily knocking out Robofarms so you can blast them off the map.
Yeah its obvious, this class heals! But more than that, the Medic can also opt for power regeneration or specialise in damage over time and debuffing effects. A properly specialised medic can put up respectable damage numbers and a well trained medic will balance the healing requirements with their offence to help their team through both PvE and PvP encounters as necessary. You should have heard me laughing at the monitor when scoreboards flashed up that I had both top healed AND damaged in the same co-op runs!
FYI, this guy's the spy. He might also have been the lovechild of the Scout's mother because he's fast too. The real question though was how did the Sniper get involved? Yep, the Recon can mix it up both up close and really freaking far away. Couple in stealth and their penchant for dropping mines and bombs, and this can be one mean customer. I found Sniping worked especially well in the PvE world where being up close to a swarm of enemies will lower your life expectancy, although a well timed stealth up and EMP bomb drop can seriously help a team out. In PvP I prefered to play this guy up close and nasty. I picked on turret farms (...with some success!), hunted down and took out the enemies respawn beacon (that teleports players from their dropship to anywhere on the frontline) and pinched every capture point I could. Probably the most populace class, and *sigh* played by many that don't understand their potential. A good Recon is a serious asset in PvE or PvP.
Sometimes I think this is the most beloved class of them all by the developers. The roboticist has a whole lot going for them. Ostensibly you might consider them Global Agenda's answer to the Engineer. The thing is, they can build up Turret farms, lay down aoe healing goodness, detect stealthers, aoe power recharge, project force fields… and they can mix it up on offense with an ensemble of rapid deploying short lived drones. Their shotgun is a rude awakening to the unwary recon caught up close and personal too. If you have one of these in your PvE team (and they're at least a half decent player) your run is probably going to be a lot smoother. In PvP they're the stronghold that defines the frontline, that is if you make sure nobody takes them out…
Extra Features
Most of the extra features you won't commonly find in a Shooter style game, but are mainstay's of the MMO circuit and are available in Global Agenda too. Auction Houses, a Mail system (with item attachment), even crafting of equipment (implants, and notably in the conquest tournament). Armor Dyes, models, and customisable avatars. I noticed there were a few shops in Dome City which were "closed" during beta that hint at DNA facial reconstruction, hair cuts, and also a shop selling jetpacks which suggest at some of the things to be released soon.
The truth is, I've always been more partial to MMO's than Shooters. HiRez Studios have taken a great idea and run with it. Delivered upon what they promised and then surprised us with very innovative marketing strategies (non-subscriber gaming options, in conjunction with alternative conquest subscriber accounts). They've taken shooters, ripped out a bunch of things that got on my nerves, tossed it into an MMO vat and allowed it to soak up the rich features that have enhanced the shooter core into something unique. I know some players disagree with that, but I really believe that if you enter Global Agenda without genre preconceptions and embrace it for what it is, you might find a lovely surprise awaits you.
The design structure of the game insures that it can easily scale proportionately to its playerbase without having empty server issues that have caused many other games to falter shortly after their launchThat's not to say things have been flawless, but really what beta ever is? Truth is I've played a lot worse than this one and there's weeks left before launch. Its a very promising candidate in gaming and I think this title has a good chance of retaining a core of rabid fans. The design structure of the game insures that it can easily scale proportionately to its playerbase without having empty server issues that have caused many other games to falter shortly after their launch. Not to forget the remarkable ability to play the game with littie issue at high pings; on what I must admit is a very humble gaming rig (Intel Q6600 / nVidia 8800Gt) with smooth frame rates at max settings.
I still harbour hopes for the game, that it might be developed further. I would love to see the PvE side of things become a little less linear, and maybe even incorporate some pve/pvp open combat areas that would let you run around the world as is more common in classic MMO's. Truth is I'm even partial to nabbing phat lewt off the bosses; even if it didn't work in PvP, and indeed I think it very well shouldn't as I'd rather see that side of things kept as balanced as possible for to the betterment of new and old player experiences. I would love to dig up more of the story of the world they've crafted, as the mission based context of the game world keeps the post tutorial experience seperated from its story rich beginnings (The tutorial can be conveniently skipped if you choose to, I recommend you play through at least once though).
I've bought this game already, and know I'll have a lot more fun playing it in the future. There's a good chance I might even subscribe for the conquest metagame if TOG runs an AvA Agency (and all that takes is players committed to the cause). This is going to be a good solid title, and if the conquest side of things pan out I'm sure you'll see a lot more developers copying its model with their own Intellectual Properties. Not bad to what is in essence a publisherless Indy company. Well done HiRez, and thanks for a great game!
PS - One last thing I would like to ask you the reader, what would you classify this game as; A Shooter or an MMO because I'm not sure which forum to put the discussion thread in?!
TOG Global Agenda threads on forum - Shooter Forum - MMORPG Forum.
Global Agenda's - Official Website.
Games Developer - Hi Rez Studios.
I will be adding several HD live captured gameplay videos to my youtube channel over the next few days.
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Sounds like a very interesting game and well worth checking out Nice write up Reoh :)
I'm on day 2 of Global Agenda. It was easy to install. I have had minimal issues and thats amazing even in a beta. I was worried about playing this on my clear wireless modem. I must say lag is not an issue so far!!! I have recommended spec which is a core 2 @ 2.3 mhz ,a nvidia 9800gt card and 4 gb ram and I am running smoothly. So far I have played only assault and love using the spider grenades and rocket launcher!! This game is easy to learn...but you will constantly change gear and abilities to rise to challenges. They will need to change up PvE missions a bit more ..I do not like to grind on the same crap over and over again. Lets hope they keep fresh foes and arenas or this will get boring fast. I also like how they pair you up with people to get pvp and pve moving smoothly. How this ends up as less people play tho is yet to be seen ..meaning if you get online in Aussie time will you wait longer due to less people playing? You will want to have max peeps playing on a mission cause they are rather difficult! Otherwise id recommend Global Agenda **Thumbs Up**
Nice review Reoh! SOLD!
Sounds very interesting and worth trying out..will give it a shot when my new computer finished. Cheers for the write up.
A very thorough review - I am now seriously considering purchasing it! Thanks!
Congratulations Reoh, you make front page of the Global Agenda website.
Excellent stuff Reoh Wonderful read sounds like a great game
Might just give it a go then.
My mistake. It uses the 'Guild Wars' subscription model. I'll wait til it's on special via Steam.
nice review Reoh
Great review. The game is an interesting take on the mmo genre. GA takes some of the best parts of established players in the MMO market and builds on them while trying to make headway in new areas. At times it gets a little repetitive but when you get a group of friends together it makes for a very fun game.
This game is fantastic! I can see it seeming repetitive if you're coming at it as an MMO, but to be honest this is a shooter and approached as such its incredibly deep. What we have here is a game heavily influenced by Team Fortress 2, and all the better for it. First person shooters have been slowly adopting some of the traits of RPG's over the last few years. Battlefield 2's levelling and weapon unlocks was followed by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's levelling, weapon unlocks and perks. Although not a First Person Shooter Global Agenda is the next step in this merging of genre's. The familiar round based team vs team gamestyle of countless fps from Quake onwards, mixed with pve instances, a communal hub, character levelling, equipment tinkering and specialised classes/party rolls from limited MMO games like Phantasy Star Online and Guild Wars. Topping all this is the Conquest mode, which I haven't had a chance to partake in yet so I can't really comment on it. This is where Global Agenda seems to borrow from EVE Online, of all things. Politic's, alliances, territory...there's a lot there and I can't wait to get stuck in. If you enjoy Team Fortress 2 and find RPG elements in games addictive (must...get.....next...unlock!) I'm sure you'll find something here to enjoy. There's also something here for the MMORPG fan, but World of Warcraft this is not, and approached as such it will disappoint. Anyway, TOG needs you (points finger, Yes YOU!). If you're a fan of teamwork shooters get your butt into Global Agenda and help TOG conquer! P.S. I've only had the time to write this rabid response because the Global Agenda headstart period is over and I've been forced to stop playing :P
Thank you very much Reoh. After swapping from mmo to fps there have been times I have missed playing mmo's. I'd heard of GA but was unsure if it was what I was looking for. Your review has cleared up most of my questions and i'm now willing to download the trial and see how it plays on my computer. Once again..Thank you.
Sounds like a very interesting game and well worth checking out Nice write up Reoh :)clothing manufacturer
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In a match against North Bullitt last month the junior Jo Jo Miller — perfect through nine frames — needed just one more strike to complete a 300 game.
"It really hit me when I got to the 10th frame. I was shaking and nervous," said the 16-year-old with a 221 average.
Everyone and everything in Derby Lanes froze as Miller zeroed in. Using his signature two-hand release, Miller delivered the ball on a crash course down lane 34.
Two excruciating seconds passed before the fifteen-pounder smashed into the 1-3 pocket.
Not a pin was left standing.
"I turned around and everybody was yelling, cheering, clapping," said Miller. "A weight came off my chest."
It was Miller's fifth career perfect game, but it was first in the state to go down in KHSAA record books.
Bowling, the first new sport to be sanctioned by the KHSAA since fast-pitch softball in 1995, is enjoying a high profile in its inaugural season with 80 schools competing.
Tigers coach Randy Cook believes the sport is trending upward: "We've picked up quite a few teams so I hope it will grow and get competitive."
Miller explained that sanctioning has not been a dramatic change for those who competed in years past as part of the Kentucky High School Bowling League.
"There is more incentive now because it's widely recognized," said Miller.
The state championship will be contested March 23-24 in Louisville Executive Bowl on Phillips Lane.
"I see it growing exponentially," Miller said. "Everybody is going to come out and realize how much fun it is and bring all their friends to join the team."
Girls – 18
Take four star seniors, throw in a strong bench and add the motivation that comes from a second-place finish at last year's state tournament.
What you get is the state's best girls' basketball team.
Manual — ranked No. 1 in both The Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings and The Lexington Herald-Leader's Cantrall Ratings — entered this week undefeated through its first 15 games and has outscored Kentucky opponents by an average of 37.1 points.
Head coach Stacy Pendleton said there are significant differences between this year's team and last season's squad that fell to Rockcastle County 56-54 in the state championship game.
High IQ
"The basketball IQ on the team is a lot higher," said Pendleton. "We can do more things and change up quicker. They have a calm and a quiet confidence that I really like."
Jan. 14 the Lady Crimsons travel to No. 2 Marion County for a 6:30 p.m. tilt.
The Lady Knights (13-2) are also undefeated against in-state competition with their only losses coming to Winward School (Calif.) and Mater Dei (Calif.) at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix last month.
"Playing them is always a big deal," said senior guard April Wilson. "I don't think we've ever been more ready."
Best Ever?
Wilson (13.1 ppg.), Wright (13.2), Lauren Bodine (7.8) and LeAsia Wright (8.3) make up a senior class Pendleton called "the best I've ever had."
Six-foot-two junior center Kayla Styles has been sidelined with a sprained knee but should be back in the starting lineup for Saturday's game.
Junior Katie Long and sophomore Tabitha Mitchell chip in valuable minutes and "have come a long way" according to Pendleton.
"Developing our seventh and eighth kids is paramount to our success," he said. "I'm looking to get more contributions from those kids."
This weekend's matchup with Marion County kicks off a two-week stretch that will see the Lady Crimsons face a Ryle team with only two losses (Jan. 20) and defending Ohio state champion, Twinsburg (Jan. 21), before Louisville Invitational Tournament play begins at Bellarmine Jan. 24.
Post-season awards and honors continue to pile up for the state and national champion Trinity High School football team.
Coach Bob Beatty was named the Russell Athletic Coach of the Year on Jan. 6 at a ceremony in San Antonio, Texas.
Voted by the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Committee, the award honors the nation's top coach and recognizes exceptional coaching abilities and leadership skills.
Beatty, in his 12th year at the helm, led the Shamrocks to a flawless 14-0 record and their ninth state title in 11 years.
In addition, MaxPreps named wide receiver James Quick a first-team U.S. Air Force Junior All-American. Quick caught 82 passes for 1,434 yards and 21 TDs. He is now a star on Trinity's No. 1 basketball team.
Contact columnist Chris Cahill at email@example.com.


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A Professional Diplomat, not ours
Perhaps the U.S. preference for military action and threats has to do with the poor quality of our diplomatic corps, including recent Secretary of States. A NYTimes story this morning profiling Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister highlights some of the qualities a good and successful diplomat should possess and deploy. These may not always make him/her an agreeable human being, but Lavrov seems to get the job done--in this case putting off U.S. military action.
"Mr. Lavrov has sought to force the United States into a conversation that the Kremlin hopes will set a precedent, establishing Russia's role in world affairs based not on the dated cold war paradigm but rather on its own outlook, which favors state sovereignty and status quo stability over the spread of Western-style democracy."
Rather than the thrust and parry one should expect in diplomatic engagments, Lavrov seems to have annoyed his U.S. counterparts: "In many ways, Mr. Lavrov's work over the next six days [leading to the framework agreement] represented the apex of a career largely spent trying to body-block what the Kremlin has long viewed as dangerous American unilateralism. It is a job he has done so effectively that it has earned him the nickname "Minister Nyet," and senior American officials, including Hillary Rodham Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, have said they often found it infuriating to deal with him."
Somehow "infurating" doesn't seem like the right response.
About the Author
Margaret O'Brien Steinfels, a former editor of Commonweal, writes frequently in these pages and blogs at dotCommonweal.
13 comments
- All
- Editor Featured
Perhaps it was the lack of a compelling crisis as much as anything else, but in retrospect, one of the good things about Hillary Clinton's tenure was that she rarely seemed to be in the spotlight. Apparently she was setting frequent-flyer-mile records, but managed to do it without speaking overmuch into the microphones or facing the cameras. I really wish Secretary Kerry would follow her lead in that respect. I am sure the State Department employs spokespersons who can feed tidbits to the media. When it comes to difficult and delicate negotiations between powerful parties, I am of the school that believes there is an inverse relationship between public posturing and effectiveness.
I'm not sure why we would look to Russian foreign policy as a model. Putin has a dreadful record on human rights and supported Assad and his chemical weapons arsenal, which were used against all those innocent people. American diplomacy is leading, hopefully, to peacefully disarming that arsenal. Which is the better choice?
MOS: With all due respect, your blog post borders on adolescent whinning. What do you want? What outcome will ever satiate you sensibilities? I thought the road to Damascus always entailed some groping around in the darkness before sight is restored.
Obviously, President Obama has been applying quiet, secret diplomacy to addressing the Syrian situation for well over a year. It appears that all those trips that Hillary Clinton made to Moscow during her time at State have finally come to fruition. John Kerry did not make a slip of the tongue when he suggested publicly that what was required to forestall an American attack is for Syria to surrender control over their chemical weapons. That is the way international politics is played.
As is apparent to anyone who is paying attention, President Obama has been saying for a long time that the only solution possible in Syria is concerted diplomacy coupled with the credible threat of force. No matter how you may want to spin it, it was not until Obama put the military solution in gear that the Russians and Assad got religion and finally understood what was going to happen to Assad personally, and to Russian interests in Syria when Obama unleased the US military.
I will be one of the first to cheer when war and military force are no longer acceptable options, or even threats, for our international politics and national security interests. Regrettably, the world collectively has yet to achieve that maturity.
How "infuriating" do you think it was for Israeli parents to have to make sure that their children packed their gas masks when they went off to school the last several weeks? How "infuriating" do you think it was when Syrian parents came to claim the bodies of their children after they had been gased?
Do you really think that being "infuriated" with Assad would have been sufficient deterrent for him to gasing more of his own people? I don't think so. The only thing a murderous thug like Assad understands is when drone missile has locked on to his house, filled with his family. Sad, tragic, but true. Lavrov becoming infuriated is a small price to pay for peaceful solutions.
BTW: Papa Francesco's response to call for public prayer vigils for peace, IMO, is really the best thing that the church could have done. I believe, Francesco raised the peace consciousness of the entire world because nothing happens until it first crosses our minds. As Pete Townsend once sang:
But when you look back you must realize
That nothing in your life's divine
Everything that's ever befallen you
Happened simply 'cause it crossed your mind
You're crashing by design
Nothing can pass this line
Unless it is well defined
You just have to be resigned
You're crashing by design
We are getting what we vote for. The last three presidents -- count 'em in reverse order: Obama, W. Bush and Clinton -- had no, zero, nada foreign policy experience. They came from states -- Illinois, Texas and Arkansas -- that were safely far from the ocean breezes that make New Yorkers and Californians (ugh!) cosmopolitan. They were exactly as innocent as we like our presidents. Yee haw. (The Gulf of Mexico does, unfortunately, abut Texas, but Texas is so big that, Houston aside, it can ignore the Gulf).
The last two secretaries of state got their jobs through politics. The ones in the previous administration actually knew something about foreign affairs, but W. Bush wisely took his policy advice elsewhere, from a guy from Illinois and another guy who said he was from Wyoming but was really from Texas, as his daughter just found out. Midlands anyway.
Tom Blackburn: Diplomats are a kind of politician. Don't you think? But they are diplomats primarily. Our current and last Secretary of State are primarily politicians. They may have some diplomatic skills, but not enough to make really good diplomats. The burden of the Times article was that FM Lavrov of Russia has those skills and that he is a good, even excellent, diplomat, whatever anyone makes of the policies he's promoting.
Tom Blackburn, I think you'd have a hard time finding many if any presidents with foreign policy experience, and I surely don't see any correlation between a president's experience before their election and their success in foreign policy as president.
Who was a good foreign policy president, e.g.?
But maybe it's the Secretaries of State that are the backbone of solid foreign policy making. And we've had some good ones. Here's the list since WWII. Who do you think qualifies as good? anyone great?
- Edward Reilly Stettinius (1944-1945)
- James Francis Byrnes (1945-1947)
- George Catlett Marshall (1947-1949)
- Dean Gooderham Acheson (1949-1953)
- John Foster Dulles (1953-1959)
- Christian Archibald Herter (1959-1961)
- David Dean Rusk (1961-1969)
- William Pierce Rogers (1969-1973)
- Henry A. (Heinz Alfred) Kissinger (1973-1977)
- Cyrus Roberts Vance (1977-1980)
- Edmund Sixtus Muskie (1980-1981)
- Alexander Meigs Haig (1981-1982)
- George Pratt Shultz (1982-1989)
- James Addison Baker (1989-1992)
- Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger (1992-1993)
- Warren Minor Christopher (1993-1997)
- Madeleine Korbel Albright (1997-2001)
- Colin Luther Powell (2001-2005)
- Condoleezza Rice (2005-2009)
- Hillary Rodham Clinton (2009-2013)
David, before Reagan, most presidents had been abroad and had passports if they lived in the passport era. Since Reagan, only Poppy Bush could find the departure lounge at an international airport. One can also learn a lot by being on the right committees in Congress, but one has to do it for more than three years -- or two in the case of the tea party's front runner of the moment.
You don't always get them like Theodore Roosevelt, who could translate from Italian and speak German, of course (so could Garfield, by the way, with the German). Or like Quincy Adams. But until 1980 it was a minority view in this country that ignorance of foreign lands and foreign people was bliss. Now it is an article of faith.
There is, I believe, an aspect to the reality of the events the author of this post and the NY Times article have chosen to ignore. We now have in the White House a group of folks less prone to accept as either real or useful the utterly destructive fear-mongering nonsense so many of its previous inhabitants so often presented to the public as near gospel.
As for the criteria useful if not essential in identifying a constructive diplomat, I believe it was Ben Franklin who started the journey praising the importance of common sense, hard work, learning and such. However, once he made it near the top he found less time for those challenges and more for the charm of it all. Seems our diplomats are mere mortals after all.
I believe Lyndon Johnson would have show little hestitation (in private) admitting he struggled with his native tongue but the man could get things done. Good things.
ALL: I am struck by the defensive notes in these comments (as well as the offensive one from Jim Jenkins). Why? The Times profile was a straightforward assessment of a diplomat who, at least for the moment, has struck a deal that is good for his own country, good for the U.S., and we can all hope good for the Syrian people and their neighbors. Our diplomats (and the NYTimes) seem to be grateful that he took up the casual comment made by John Kerry.
I am grateful too (wo, let me assure you approving of Russia's human rights record, level of alcoholism, behavior of its gizzilionaires, etc.). I think our diplomatic corps is suffering from lack of resources (money), smart thinking at the top, and a certain unseemly level of egoism in our recent Secy. of States. Course correction needed, imho.
And to answer my own questions: I don't think there have been many great secretary of states, perhaps the last was George Marshall; Henry Kissinger must fit in somewhere; but good: James Baker and Madeleine Albright.
MOS: Your list, and the lists of others, do not include perhaps the greatest Secretary of State ever: Thomas Jefferson. Not only was Jefferson a skilled diplomat in France during the Revolutionary War, the first Secretary of State in the Washington administration, but apparently had enough political acumen that he went on to be elected president in arguably the nastiest and closest election ever.
And, let's not forget that Jefferson had the vision and forethought to conceive of a continental United States. It was during Jefferson's administration that the Louisiana Purchase was negotiated. Jefferson is the one who sent Lewis and Clark on the Corp of Discovery expedition. In this single deft move, not only was Jefferson able to exclude and preclude any enduring European political influence in North America, but the US economy and population was able to expand and grow in probably the most richly endowed geography and landscape in the world.
Of course it always needs to be said, Jefferson missed the boat on the human rights of African Americans.
BTW: I agree that Lavrov was instrumental, perhaps essential, in achieving whatever diplomatic solutions are possible for Syria. However IMHO, Kerry did not make a "casual comment." Kerry learned the art of diplomacy at his father's diplomatic knee as a child in Europe. Kerry didn't survive war in the jungle, confront a hypocritical Congress as a young veteran, rise to the US Senate and Secretary of State without knowing how to execute a faint or gambit in political poker. Both these diplomats should be credited for their skilled achievement.
Jim Pauwels posted this analysis below on "Real Winners." It's an interesting and helpful not about winners and losers, but mostly about the conundrum Obama finds himself in, and how diplomacy, Russia and U.S. resolved it--at least for the month.
Worth reading: http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2013/09/17/ideology_trumps_americ...


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March 13, 2011
Cape Argus 2011 results: Tyler Day edges Malcolm Lange
Television presenter Gerald de Kock interviews 2011 Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour winner Tyler Day. Photo by Roy Barford
Tyler Day is the winner of the 2011 Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, pipping his Team Bonitas partner, last year's winner Malcolm Lange, at the post. Herman Fouche of DCM finished third. Day, 21, crossed the line in 2:32:10 to claim his first Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour title.
Thousands of spectators screamed wildly at the finish line in the Cape Town suburb of Green Point, as a large bunch of cyclists gave their all in an exiting conclusion to the 109km challenge.
The elite riders departed Adderley Street in Cape Town at 06h15 and pedaled rapidly to Cape Point and back around Chapman's Peak, passing superbly scenic locations like Llandudno, Camps Bay and Clifton on their way to the finish.
For 37-year-old Lange, the result was a fitting end to a career that has spanned 20 years and included an amazing 409 road race wins. While Lange would have loved to defend his title (he even beat Lance Armstorng at last year's event), he has spoken a lot lately about how his focus has changed to mentoring younger riders, and Day's win made Lange very proud.
"I'm very happy with that," said Lange with a big smile shortly after finishing.
Lange represented South Africa as a road cyclist at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, while he was still a schoolboy. He has been an excellent example to young cyclists and will continue to play a role in developing cycling stars for the future. Read more about his retirement plans in his interview with IOL.
The 2011 Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour women's race was won by Chrise Taylor of Team USN, in a time of 2:49:45. Second was Ashleigh Moolman Pasio of Nashua Toyota and third was Catherine Williamson of Team Bizhub.
The elite riders finish in a bunch after a fierce sprint. Photo by Roy Barford
Malcolm Lange with his wife and children after finishing his final professional cycling event. Photo by Roy Barford
Malcolm Lange (left) and Tyler Day. Photo by Deon Gurling
From left: Catherine Williamson, Cherise Taylor and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio. Photo by Deon Gurling
See our photo essays:
Enjoying Cape Town scenery at the 2011 Cape Argus Cycle Tour


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If a finite group G acts on a smooth variety X over complex number field and the fixed locus of G is smooth subvariety of codimension 1, will the resulting quotient variety be smooth? What will happen if the fixed locus has lager codimension ? thanks.
In general, for a finite group $G$ acting faithfully on a smooth variety $X$, whether or not the quotient is smooth is determined by the Chevalley-Shephard-Todd theorem:
For $x \in X$, let $G_x\subset G$ be the stabilizer of $x$. Then a necessary and sufficient condtion for the quotient to be smooth is that each $G_x$ should be generated by pseudoreflections i.e. elements which fix pointwise a codimension $1$ subvariety of $X$ containing $x$.
In particular, one cannot just look at the fixed locus of $G$ to determine whether the quotient is smooth. It could well be empty but the quotient could still be singular.


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ANDERSON, S.C. – With a wealth of talent on the rosters and looking to gain valuable experience, the Anderson University men's and women's cross country teams are set to open the 2014 campaign.
Ninth-year head coach Randy Greer has high praise for his young, but talented corps, "I am looking forward to the class we brought in," he said. "We have a lot of young [runners] who are very talented and I think we can really make a splash at the conference and hopefully at the regional and national level this year. Our sophomore class did very well at conference last year. We have talent but we are a young team. Experience is something we are going to have to gain throughout the first part of the season. I think with the sophomore class we have returning, we will be able to finish where we want."
After claiming back-to-back South Atlantic Conference championships in 2010 and 2011, the women's cross country team will be looking for its third league title in five years, while the men's squad will be looking to improve on its' solid third-place finish a year ago.
"Our focus is going to be on transitioning a lot of the newer kids into collegiate running," Greer added. "It is a big adjustment for a lot of runners – with the [increase] in mileage. We just want to get everyone in and get the team around each other and go from there."
"Devan [Fisher] and Sydney [Hazel] are our two seniors on the team and we are looking for a lot of leadership out of them," Greer added. "We are hoping that their work ethic, along with what they do on the course, will play a lot into how the season goes."
The young Trojan women's squad, which includes just two upperclassmen has been tabbed fourth in the SAC Coaches' Preseason Poll, edging perennial challenger Lenoir-Rhyne for the fourth spot in the poll.
AU's lone senior, Sydney Hazel, earned Second-Team All-SAC honors for the second consecutive season with her 11th-place finish at last year's championships, while redshirt junior Devan Fisher returns for her third season of competition.
"We return our top three on the women's side," Greer said. "Sydney Hazel, Olivia Gardner and Bari Robinson and we had a big track season out of Grace Gerlock, who we are hoping will come in and contribute significantly to the team this year. Amber Worthy also had a really good finish to the season last year [after dealing with injuries] and was running well at the end of the year. We are really hoping for her to look good this season, along with Mia Swiersz, who really made a breakthrough just like Grace did. With those girls returning and the girls coming in, I think it is probably the best women's team that we have ever put together. That being said, expectations are high – it is just a matter of going out and getting in the shape we need to be in and running the races we need to run."
Robinson nearly garnered All-South Atlantic Conference and all-freshman honors last season, finishing 15th at the SAC Championships last season, while
Gardner led the Trojan efforts in four meets.
"We are looking to have a big season out of a couple of our returners on the men's side," noted Greer. "Ben Boerma, Ned Kennedy, Jesse Patrick and Westley Wilson, along with Joshua Visi-Clark – should all be a very solid top group."
The men's team also boasts just two upperclassmen, with Visi-Clark, the lone senior, and Wilson, a graduate student, looking to lead the Trojans. Boerma, Kennedy and Patrick are all sophomores who gained valuable experience on the course last season. Boerma paced the Trojans at the Charlotte Invitational and nearly captured all-freshman accolades at last season's South Atlantic Conference Championships.
"We are hoping their experience will help bring along Mason Hazel as a freshman," Greer said. "He is a very talented runner and I think with their guidance, Mason will be able to get where he needs to be and the team will be able to run the way we need to run. On the men's side we don't have as much depth but we have more experience and some good incoming talent."
Greer is looking for newcomers to add quality depth to the women's team.
"We have Haylee Love, Alex Dixon and Taylor Morris coming in. We are bringing them in and hope they have a big impact on the team. We also have Allison Halperin, who we think will be a solid mid-pack runner for us. The girl's team is looking really strong and we are going to be very solid. We have a lot of depth and some very talented runners. We will have a lot of girls we can plug into those top seven spots - It could change every week.
The Trojans open the season at the Queens Twilight meet on Sept. 6 in Charlotte, N.C.


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This is a follow-up to the question on the Ramanujan constant.
Can one find an asymptotic family of shockingly near-integers obtained by raising e to some simple algebraic number, in the spirit of Ramanujan's $|\exp(\pi \sqrt{163}) - \text{ some integer }| \le 10^{-12}$? Single numerical coincidences don't impress me (and for good reason too ...).
Is there a sequence of such near-integers, whose nearness to integers is closer than what you know exists by pigeonholing exp(alpha) for all alpha of bounded "height" or "complexity"?


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February 16, 2011
Lewis Pugh: "The Cape of Good Hope is just so graceful"
Lewis Pugh at the North Pole in 2007
Cape Town is home to many inspiring South Africans and we took the opportunity to talk to environmentalist, swimmer and public speaker Lewis Pugh on February 15, during Responsible Tourism Week.
Many will recognise him as the human polar bear that featured in the 1997 Investec Asset Management television commercial. Aptly, this commercial ended with the line, "Because ordinary doesn't change the world": Lewis is still undertaking extraordinary feats to create awareness around climate change, like his most-recent 1km swim across a glacial lake on Mount Everest.
We spoke to Lewis about what inspires him, and what drives him, and his love of the Mother City.
What inspired you to take to the water in some of the most remote (and coldest) parts of the world?
Initially, it was adventure. I went around the world and swam in places that nobody had dared swim. But on my journey I started to notice changes to the oceans. So now I swim in the most vulnerable ecosystems to draw global attention to their plight.
Is it true that your first swim was from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand?
Yes, I was 17 years old. I grew up in the United Kingdom but moved to South Africa when I was 10. I had my first proper swimming lesson when I turned 17; one month later I swam from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand and absolutely loved it.
What do you love about living in Cape Town?
The close proximity to the mountains and the sea. I walk in Table Mountain National Park almost every day with my dogs, and quite often feel like I'm the only person there. And then there are no pebble beaches – only Cape Town's golden sand!
Your most recent expedition was a 1km swim across a glacial lake on Mount Everest. What is the most beautiful place that you've ever been to for a swim?
Aye, Mount Everest is spectacular. But in terms of the most beautiful, it would be a toss-up between the North Cape, which is the most northern point in Europe, and the Cape of Good Hope because it is just so graceful.
What would your advice be to Capetonians on how to make a difference in preserving our natural environment?
We must take our children to national parks; how can we expect the next generation to care about the environment when they know so little about it? Table Mountain National Park, West Coast National Park, Bontebok National Park and the Karoo National Park are all within easy driving distance of Cape Town and an ideal school holiday experience.


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5 Crimes That Only Cause Endless Unanswered Questions
Despite TV and Hollywood constantly insisting otherwise, thieves are usually not difficult to figure out. They're after something, whether it be money, fame, revenge, money, anger, money, or possibly money. And the thing they steal is often easy to grab -- jewels, cash, unlocked cars.
But some thieves like to take the road less traveled, pulling off daring heists for items like ...
#5. 16,500 Boxes of Tainted Tampons
Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
In 2011, a truck full of tainted tampons (stock that failed safety inspection due to contamination) were being shipped to an incinerator in Oklahoma. And somewhere, a crack team of thieves heard about this and said, "Gentlemen, this has the potential to be the heist of the century."
Polka Dot Images/Polka Dot/Getty Images
"Step one: repeated viewings of Ocean's 11, Heat, The Italian Job, and A Fish Called Wanda."
Their operation was a success: They made off with thousands of cases of the defective tampons without a hitch (shockingly, they apparently were not well-guarded), at which point we assume thieves in black turtlenecks stood around a mountain of Kotex and said, "Well, what now? Maybe play a practical joke on Steve by using them to soak up his swimming pool?"
Instead, the perps did what in a sane world should absolutely not be possible: They sold the tampons to retail stores, who happily took them and passed them on to customers. Yes, retailers are seemingly fine with selling feminine products that they bought from shady dudes out of the back of a van. But really, how could that ever go wrong? Oh, right, they were tainted. Considering where tampons ultimately end up, it's understandable that each one needs to be absolutely perfect. These 16,500 cases had tested positive for bacteria, metal, imperfect raw materials, and other assorted ickiness that most women probably don't want to deal with during that part of the month.
K-King Photography Media Co. Ltd/Lifesize/Getty Images
Somewhere, there is a person who does nothing but test tampons all day.
It is the type of crime you can get away with, however -- the thieves were never caught. As for the toxic tampons, 7,500 boxes were recovered, but they have no idea how many are still unaccounted for. Maybe one of the dudes has them all piled up in his apartment somewhere. Probably makes for great conversation on poker night.
#4. A Golden Vibrator (And Nothing Else)
Lelo (NSFW)
Back in June of 2012, a high-end luxury sex shop, unimaginatively named the Erotika Luxo, was robbed at gunpoint. The crook was seemingly dead serious about pilfering the place, even tying up the sole clerk on duty so the two wouldn't get in each other's way. He had literally an entire store at his disposal, with a highly valuable inventory, not to mention a cash register full of dirty, dirty Brazilian sex money.
But it was all apparently a heist to steal a golden vibrator. Because that's all he took -- he went right for the vibrator and went home. Now, to be fair, it's not like he grabbed a cheap-ass $10 bullet any horny moron can buy online. No, this was an 18-carat, gold-plated vibrator worth over $4,000. That's a decent day's work, right?
PEDRO LADEIRA/AFP/Getty Images via NY Daily News
Only 19 vibrators away from a Corvette!
Well ... not really. Once again, what exactly does he plan to do with it?
According to the store's owner, the vibrator itself is made of stainless steel, which makes removal of the gold plating, the only truly valuable part, extremely difficult. So if this guy actually planned to sell the gold, he's likely shit out of luck. Is he going to sell it at a pawn shop? Because this story made the news -- we have a feeling that "No, this is a different golden vibrator!" won't hold up as a cover story. But even if he found a shady store that wasn't worried about the cops claiming it as stolen goods, what kind of pawn shop is going to think they can move a used vibrator? Gold or not, who the hell would even be willing to touch the thing?
Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images
"This will go great with the tampons!"
Maybe he just wanted it for, you know, personal use. But the guy neglected to steal the charger, aka the thing that makes a vibrator vibrate. Yet despite all that, we still want to see Hollywood turn this into a movie. Feel free to suggest titles in the comments.
#3. Millions of Gallons of Maple Syrup
Ciaran Griffin/Stockbyte/Getty Images
In 2012, workers at the Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers discovered that some of the syrup had disappeared, having been sneakily replaced in the containers by tap water.
Six million fucking gallons of it.
Something like this.
And where we sarcastically referred to the tampon theft as a "heist," this one was a classic Ocean's 11-style operation: Thieves had rented out space in the same warehouse where the syrup was stored, then slowly emptied the barrels over months, replacing the volume with water, unnoticed. Why the hell were they doing that? Did they have a stadium-sized stack of pancakes to cover?
No, it turns out there is a hugely profitable underground maple syrup market. If you don't understand how anybody can make money off that since, you know, it's just a condiment and not crude oil, you apparently don't realize how expensive the real stuff is (most of the "syrup" we buy is just cheap sugar water with caramel coloring). The value of the stolen syrup clocked in at $18 million.
Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images
Even more once they've cut it with some Aunt Jemima.
Once you realize how valuable this sticky gold is, you also begin to understand why "the Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers" is a real thing. The FQMSP (pronounced "fook-muh-sip" by people who enjoy being punched in the face) controls over 77 percent of the world's syrup and stores much of it in gigantic warehouses for those lean times when the maple trees are being stubborn as hell and won't give up their precious cargo.
Not that any of this was reason enough for them to, you know, guard it or anything. They are, after all, Canadian.


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VITA GROW THUNDER BLOOM FOLIAR SPRAY. 128 fluid ounces. Mix 1 and 3/4 teaspoon per quart of water. Starting 5 days before switching to bloom cycle spray once a day. Now switch to the bloom cycle. After switching to the bloom cycle, spray once a day for 10-14 days and stop. Mist top and bottom of leaves. Guaranteed to like it or your money back! 4-ounce trial size only. To my knowledge we have only refunded one persons money. They were mad that their plants had fallen down from the excess weight. Feed your plants properly for strong stems and branches and don't forget to tie them up! Works on all flowering plants.This stuff is awesome!!!!! If you want more flowers or fruiting sites this is the stuff for you. Make sure your plant can hold up the extra fruit or your plant might lose branches. Also, make sure to mix in a surfactant (spreader sticker) with this product before you spray. Surfactants mixed into the water before you add your Thunder Bloom Foliar Spray will spread the product over the leaves evenly and coat them. Always spray to tops and bottoms of leaves when foliar feeding. In a pinch you can use a clear dishwashing detergent like Ivory liquid. Make sure there are no anti-bacterial additives in it. Use about 2 to 3 drops per gallon. Start with the lesser dose and spray a small area. The leaves should look coated. Look closely to make sure the spray is not running off of the leaves. If it is, increase the amount of surfactant.
Copyright © 2010-2016 Usisu, Inc.: Conditions of Use


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On PTGui's example/tutorial page http://www.ptgui.com/examples/, it has a tutorial for how to add a handheld nadir image to a panorama, using the viewpoint correction feature of PTGui Pro. However, what if I want to do a HDR pano. Can I do handheld bracketed shots of the nadir? How can I stitch these nadir images? Not to mention I must erase my foot from the nadir image.
Any better suggestion maybe?
Leo Dj


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I have received several email messages regarding the meaning of the TEPR states that are set on AO-27. To summarize: We set the bird to charge its batteries for "x" number of minutes AFTER it enters the Sun. This is TEPR state 4 expressed in 30 second increments, e.g. TEPR 42 means that the charging time is 21 minutes. We then set TEPR state 5 to the length of time, expressed in 30 second increments, that the transmitter would be on from the start of TEPR 4 but not on until the completion of TEPR 4, e.g. TEPR 78 means that the transmitter will shut off 39 minutes after the start of TEPR 4, but the transmitter will be on for 18 minutes. (78-42 =36, or 18 minutes) AO-27 TEPR States Explained AO-27 uses a method called Timed Eclipse Power Regulation (TEPR) to regulate the batteries. In simple terms, TEPR times how long it has been in the eclipse or in the sun and decides what subsystems to turn on or off. The current software onboard AO-27 breaks an orbit into 6 different states as follows: TEPR State 1: Starts when the satellite enters the Eclipse TEPR State 2: Starts a programmed time after TEPR State 1 (Still during the Eclipse) TEPR State 3: Starts a programmed time after TEPR State 1 that's after State 2 (Still during the Eclipse) TEPR State 4: Starts when the satellite enters the Sun TEPR State 5: Starts a programmed time after TEPR 4 (Still in the Sun) TEPR State 6: Starts a programmed time after TEPR 4 that's after State 4 (Still in the Sun) Current Subsystems by State: TEPR 1,2,3 - all unneeded Subsystems turned off (This is why there is no Night time use of the satellite) TEPR 4 - AO-27 Transmitter is turned to exciter power only. All other Transmitters are off. TEPR 5 - AO-27 Transmitter is turned to 0.5 watts (low power) TEPR 6 - all unneeded Subsystems turned off Using this Model, During a descending, day-time pass, AO-27 will enter TEPR 4 after coming out of the eclipse and will start to recharge its batteries. We program the TEPR 5 time so the satellite will stay in TEPR 4 until the foot print reaches latitudes equal to the Northern United States. At that time, it changes to TEPR State 5 and the transmitter turns on. The duration of TEPR State 5 is set for the longest we can leave the transmitter on to keep the batteries in a state that will prolong their life time. At the current time (June 1999) this is 18 minutes. If we were to leave it on longer we would start to limit the life time of the satellite. The TEPR 6 period needs to be long enough to recharge the batteries before we enter the eclipse again (TEPR 1). The time we need to stay in TEPR 6 is what places a limit on the southern latitudes we can work in. 73 Chuck, KM4NZ, Acting Control Operator Michael, N4USI, Control Operator ---- Via the amsat-bb mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA. To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe amsat-bb" to firstname.lastname@example.com
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1968 Ford F100 - Bumpside Build-OffWritten by on March 16, 2007 Part 3: Rear Suspension Redo Our '68 F-100 Gets A Fatman 4-Link, A Currie 9-Inch, And ECI 13-Inch Discs
It's only been three months since I started working on the '68-it feels like it's going well so far, and I'd like to keep it that way! Most of the major chassis work is done, and the rest will be finished next month, minus the motor and tranny mounts. The Fatman Mustang II is ready for action, the steering is hooked up, and in this installment, I'm gutting and updating the rear suspension. When I called Fatman and ordered the frontend, I also got their rear parallel four-link kit and Pro Shock coilovers to complete the chassis transformation. Brent, aka The Fatman, let me drive his '67 F-100 with all the same stuff under it, and I was surprised how nice an old truck could handle! To help customers complete their suspension upgrades and get back on the road, Fatman works quite a bit with Engineered Components Inc. (ECI), which makes disc brake kits for almost everything. After discussing my needs with them, I decided on their big 13-inch disc kit for both the front and rear that uses widely available GM calipers and pads on their impressive cross-drilled 13-inch rotors. The ECI kit comes with all the brackets and hardware necessary to mount it to your rearend.
I had to do something about the old stock 9-inch rearend while I was at it, and right off the bat I knew I'd have to redrill the 28-spline axles for the 5 on 4 1/2 bolt pattern to match the front, mostly for the sake of finding wheels easier than with the 5 on 5 1/2 pattern. At the same time, I should go through the rest of the rearend since it's been in service for almost 50 years, maybe put a posi in, and upgrade to 31-spline axles so I don't have to worry about any of it ever again. I brought my rearend down to Currie Enterprises for the once- or twice-over. In the end, the only thing they used from my stock unit was the third member housing since it's of the strong, post-'65 variety and is good to around 450 horsepower. They stuffed it with a posi and some 3.50:1 gears. The rebuilt third member was dynoed and dropped into their 100 percent new 9-Plus Hot Rod housing that also holds their new 31-spline axles and roller bearings-done.
To get started putting all this together, the bed needed to come off, the stock rear suspension had to be removed, and the crossmembers just in front and behind the rearend had to be taken out. With the truck up on jackstands and leveled, I soon had it stripped to just the cab sitting on the frame. Next, I cleaned and boxed the rear framerails, and with the bed back on, I found my rear axle centerline where the wheels looked best in the wheelwell at my projected ride height, which is a half-inch lower than when the frame sits on the rearend housing with 27-inch-tall tires. With all this coming together, it was four-link time. Patience, careful measuring, and planning are the most important things here-if you rush or fudge something, it'll show in the end. I want my truck to sit lower than most, which forced me to improvise a little on the thorough directions Fatman includes, but it worked. Next month, I'll weld everything up, step-notch the frame, finish the upper coilover mounts, and install the panhard/Z-bar, and it'll be a rolling chassis! Getting all the coinciding parts together, like having the finished rearend and brakes, helped avoid any possible problems down the road. All the companies involved have very helpful tech lines with professionals ready to help if you get stumped, so follow along, and we'll see you again next month!
More Photos From This Article View Slideshow
My '68 F-100 is (or will be) the truck in the foreground, while John Gilbert's is the Gasser. We now have a little under a year to get 'em whipped into shape before we face off.Now that the '68's frontend is up to par, it's time to do the same to the rear suspension. I'll be replacing the stock leaf spring and drum brakes with Fatman's parallel four-link along with a Currie-built 9-inch and ECI's new 13-inch disc brakes.To some, my truck has looked more like a big puzzle than progress in the last few months, but it's actually coming along well. I finally found a Styleside bed that I traded my Flareside bed for straight across. I had to have the bed before I put the Fatman kit in it to be sure the wheels were in the right spot in the wheelwells. I won't wax eloquent about disassembling the rear suspension. I put the truck on jackstands, removed all of it-along with the crossmembers just in front and behind the rearend-and began cleaning the frame so it'd be ready to be boxed.I made a template and traced it onto a piece of 1/8-inch cold-rolled steel, fitted it into the gap, and tacked it in place. I'll finish welding it when the boxing plates are in to avoid warpage to the frame.To make way for the factory shocks, there are these notches with a rolled edge in the bottom of the framerail just before the rearend. These need to be cut out and made flat to blend into the rest of the 'rail.Next up was the task of making the boxing plates for each framerail. They wound up being about 50 inches long; Fatman recommends boxing at least 30 inches in front and 10 inches behind the rear axle centerline. I did this the same way I did the front of the frame (March '07 CT), clamping the 1/8-inch plate to the inside of the frame and scribing its shape into it, cutting it out, and trimming it to fit. Each side wound up being made out of three pieces I welded together before welding them to the frame to minimize warpage.I stretched the boxing plates back to where the frame narrows in front of the last crossmember and then up to just behind the cab. I'm planning on boxing the rest of the frame under the cab to meet up with the front of the frame, but not right now. Make sure to set the truck on good jackstands and level it from side to side, checking the front, middle, and back, and welding in steel stringers to help keep the frame in place. There's going to be a lot of heat going into it once it's all welded up, but just weld a few inches at a time and move around from the top to bottom and side to side letting it cool.
With stock parts, you'd normally use ECI's included spacer that takes the place of the backing plates on the drum brakes between the housing and the axle retainer, but Currie now has an all-inclusive spacer/axle retainer that does the job of both. Now the ECI primary bracket goes on over the retainer like you would with or without Currie's combo plate.To coincide with the rearend revamp, I had to do something about the stock 9-inch. It was in need of a rebuild, and I was going to change the bolt pattern to 5 on 4 1/2 to match the front, which I chose mostly because it's easier to find wheels to fit. Plus, it had 28-spline axles and no posi, so I called Currie Enterprises to see what they could do. Being that my third member was of the '65-and-later gray iron variety and good to 450hp, a new rearend was built around that. Notice that I had them slide the Fatman four-link brackets on the housing before they welded the ends back on.After they pressed the new bearings on the axles and greased everything up, they slid the axles into the housing. Currie uses heavy-duty roller bearings instead of the old ball-bearing type.Currie wound up rebuilding my stock third member with a posi and the ability to accept their 31-spline axles, which are 43 percent stronger than the stock 28-spline axles.To make sure everything was going to work together, Currie also installed ECI's 13-inch disc brakes. ECI's has rearend disc brake kits for most popular models, and they have a few rotor options as well. All the kits use OEM Cadillac Seville calipers with an integral parking brake system and standard GM pads so you don't have to find some oddball or special-order pads. If these brakes were good for these huge late-'70s Cadillacs, they'll stop my truck just fine!Looking from the rear of the rearend's left side, the ECI primary bracket goes on with the hole for their secondary bracket to the rear. Install the machined spacers between the primary and secondary brackets.Next, install the ECI secondary/caliper bracket. Make sure the secondary bracket doesn't hit the T-bolts that hold the rest of the brackets to the rearend-if they do, you'll have to trim the T-bolts to clear them.With one side complete, Mario spins the pinion yoke to make sure it moves freely and there's nothing hanging up before finishing the other side-lookin' good, huh?
Now ECI's big 13-inch cross-drilled rotors can go on. The axle flange's diameter needs to be no bigger than 6 1/8 inches for the rotor to fit properly, so Currie made the new axles with a flange diameter of 5.90 inches to be safe.With the bed on the truck and squared up both visually and with a measuring tape, which takes a while, the cab was still off to one side about a quarter of an inch as well as sagging on the driver's side, so don't always go off the stock original placement. Now I could get a good axle centerline, but I had to borrow a wheel to make sure it looked right in the wheel opening. Your eyes need to be used as mich as a tape measure.Now I could locate the front four-link crossmember/driveshaft hoop. Measure 25 3/4 inches in front of the axle centerline-that's where the back of the crossmember goes while the top is level with the axle centerline's height.Next, the calipers are bolted to the secondary bracket. ECI supplies rebuilt calipers and new pads along with all the hardware.Because my ride height is going to be lower than normal, I had to notch the bottom of the frame to mount the crossmember since I was putting the four-link on the outside of the framerails. The notch wound up being as tall as the crossmember, 3 inches, and actually worked out pretty nice since it'll be welded in double-shear each side. I dropped a plumb bob off my marks on the top of the frame to keep everything square, then I marked the area I needed to cut out for the crossmember.After fitting the crossmember in place, everything checked out well. The bottom of the crossmember was even with the bottom of the frame. Again, make sure you support the frame during all this to minimize movement.I wanted 5 inches of the four-link crossmember sticking out from each framerail, so I trimmed it, then boxed in the ends with the pieces Fatman provides. A piece of tape can help hold the plate in place so you can get it tacked.The rearend four-link brackets are pretty self-explanatory. They go together like this, with the bottom hole left to mount the Z-bar/panhard bar.
For side-to-side crossmember positioning, make sure to offset the driveshaft hoop if your pinion is offset so you have proper driveshaft clearance. Since I don't have the motor and tranny in yet, I used my wide straightedge to take the place of the driveshaft.With the four-link on the outside of the frame and the bracket with the three holes at the top, I put the links in the top holes. There were a few holes in the frame that would've been hard to get to later, so I welded and ground them now.Well, it's almost there! Everything is looking pretty good so far; I can start tacking it together. Next month we'll look at the upper coilover mounts, step-notching the frame for rearend clearance, and hooking up the panhard bar-stay tuned!It was time to get the links ready. With a little grease on the rod end threads, I assembled all of them. Fatman says there should be 23 inches from center to center of the bolt holes, and that's where I set mine. I checked them by putting long bolts through them to make sure they were all the same length.


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For Kindle Direct Publishing, the minimum price you can set is $0.99.
I published a short story and wanted to price it at $0.49. This is because it is a short story of about 500 words. Its short and sharp though.
Can any one tell me how to indicate that it is a single and not a long story to potential readers.
I have always believed that being honest and upfront is always the best policy.