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The Leader in Voting Technology
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|How to Vote Better
The Witness-Voting System, by Ed Gerck, invited opening chapter in "Towards Trustworthy Elections, New Directions in Electronic Voting", published by Springer Verlag. Chaum, David, et. al. (Ed.), (c) 2010, pages 1-36. ISBN-10: 1-4020-7301-1.
Voting is a challenging problem, a problem that even school children can understand but that is made harder to solve than conventional cyber-security and ecommerce by requirements for public verifiability and ballot secrecy.
We present a comprehensive theory of voting, viewed for the first time as a non-classical communication process, even though the results are expected to be deterministic. We consider both passive and active attacks and, for additional fairness assurances, further requirements including that the system must work as desired without insight or ingenuity (i.e., without relying on human input) while it must be fully auditable by a diversity of machines and humans.
Among the many novel and strong results gained from our approach, we show how any type of voting can be as secure as desired while assuring that ballots and voters are unlinkable. The secret ballot is, therefore, not the reason for the failures that we observe in all actual voting systems, so far.
In fact, when ballots and voters are unlinkable, voters can be both strongly anonymous ballot-wise and strongly identified as eligible voters.
Further, in implementation terms, we show that paper-based voting faces unfavorable scaling with increasing number of voters, while paperless electronic voting and networked voting (networked machines, not necessarily using the Internet) are easier to secure in large scale. The latter being easier to secure than voting with isolated machines.
And, contrary to ecommerce technology and what is currently feared with Internet voting, voters do not need to give up the right to vote anonymously in order to prevent voter fraud.
Read more & request free reprints »
HIPAA-security is NMA ZSentry
Since 1999, we have been writing the book on modern voting theory and practice, with secure and private electronic, networked, and online voting.
Postal mail ballots?Cost per eligible voter: $5 to $35
Cost per ballot cast: $9 to $350Slow distribution
Low voter returns
Spoiled ballots
1775 technology
Time to update, also for public elections. Safevote's secure email ballot technology ZSentry passed U.S. Government HIPAA and ARRA certification, satisfies HITECH and U.S. State Safe Harbor, FERPA, and other regulatory compliance rules, with much more convenience and less cost for everyone. The Safevote email process also allays coercion and other fraud concerns that cannot be avoided with postal mail.
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Turn your organization's voting needs into a great opportunity to contact people, motivate participation, showcase benefits, and offer services.
Request Quote»
Safevote can provide all voting services required by your organization, assuring election integrity, privacy and security.
Our experience since 1999 includes voter & candidate registration, campaigning, online and postal mail ballot creation & delivery, voting, nomination, elections, by-law amendments, Board meetings, scientific surveys, petitions, signing forms, signing power of attorney, printable (PDF) cast-ballot image, running tally, result analysis, and auditing. As the Election Manager, you define how you want Safevote's service to run.
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Please choose below how you wish Safevote to authenticate voters and deliver ballots:
Safevote by email: Go to ZSentry Ballot description»
Safevote on-site: Go to Secure Login Ballot description»
Other: Request Quote»
Our differential
The Safevote technology makes your entire election process a self verified "closed circle", with additional, human-based, full audit.
Safevote's technology assures election integrity, privacy and security. Safevote identifies, qualifies, and authenticates the voter, and secures the ballot, but voting is anonymous — ballots and voters cannot be linked to each other. We are not just a hosted-application provider, we do not start your election in minutes and we do not finish it in seconds. We provide audited online election services that you and your voters can trust and verify.
"The ZSentry ballot process worked very well for our last election." Norman Veen, PMP, Past President. Project Management Institute, Central Iowa Chapter, IA
"Safevote's technology allows the University to use our own pages and trusted login procedure to authenticate the voters, including data from our enterprise directory. The voter goes on to vote using Safevote, while keeping all the privacy and security assurances, and audit, of the Safevote process." Asa Rudehall, Head of Vice Chancellor's Office, Umea Universitet, Sweden


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Product Information
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Hello, everyone! I am SUPER excited to welcome you to the December 2016 MHKDesigns release! I am also really happy to share that we have THREE amazing guest designers with us this month! Please help me welcome JoAnn Burnham, Shirley Qu, and Tasha aka Crafty Pink Pixie!
We have some really fun sets for you to check out, as well as chances to win either one of the sets OR all of them! More about the giveaways a bit later on, but right now, let's check out today's release set...
Here's some inspiration using this set
from our fabulous GDTs~
And now, let's talk about how to get this new set OR the entire release for FREE! Here's what you'll need to do...
- Comment here on the MHKDesigns blog.
- Comment on each DT member's blog.
- Join our MHKDesigners and Friends Facebook group and comment there.
I'll be choosing comments randomly from all these places after the release is over, and the authors of those comments will be our winners! So, the best way to win is to comment every day! We LOVE the feedback you give us! :) Here's the list of blogs for you to visit today...
Thanks for stopping by today, friends! We will be back tomorrow with another *NEW* set to share from the MHKDesigns Etsy shop! Don't forget to get all your commenting in for your chance to WIN, and please do join our monthly challenge, as well! Until tomorrow, HUGS and happy stamping! :)


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Show #531 - Politically Incorrect
An episode of The Exploding Barrel Podcast
By A.J. and Mike Minotti
Every week, a different gaming topic becomes the center of debate between AJ and Mike, brothers and lifelong gamers. But they'll often squeeze in their other, geeky interests -- including movies and Disney theme parks. The Exploding Barrel Podcast is 10 years old, but its fire still burns bright.
Listen on
More places to listen
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Every week, a different gaming topic becomes the center of debate between AJ and Mike, brothers and lifelong gamers. But they'll often squeeze in their other, geeky interests -- including movies and Disney theme parks. The Exploding Barrel Podcast is 10 years old, but its fire still burns bright.
More places to listen
Show #537 - Series X-ly
Mike and AJ recorded this episode right after watching the 2019 Game Awards. Listen to our thoughts on the winners and the night's big revels including the Xbox Series X.
December 13, 2019
Show #536 - Stadia Away
Mike and AJ discuss what Stadia gets right and wrong. We continue to enjoy Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Pokemon Sword and Shield. And can you believe a new Half Life game was announced? We discuss our thoughts on Half Life Alyx.
November 27, 2019
Show #535 - Jedi Fallen Over
Mike, AJ, Chris, and Perry are here to talk about the community's issues with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, our impressions of Pokemon Sword and Shield, our complete love of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, our very, very early impressions of Google Stadia, and AJ's impressions of the Xbox Elite 2 controller.
November 20, 2019
Show #534 - BlizzConMen
Mike and AJ are joined by Perry and Chris for a jam-packed episode. Mike and AJ attended BlizzCon 2019. We went hands on with Diablo 4, Overwatch 2, World of Warcraft - Shadowlands, and talk to devs, meet cosplayers, and more! And since it's right across the street, we went to Disneyland. AJ finally gets to experience Galaxy's Edge and live the dream of flying the Millennium Falcon. That same weekend, Chris took his family to Walt Disney World. He talks his time in Galaxy's Edge, Toy Story Land, the Skyliner, and more. Perry is here for a long overdue talk about the latest entry in the Call of Duty franchise, Modern Warfare. We also spent some time together trying the latest DLC character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Terry.
November 10, 2019
Show #533 - Ay Eee Dub
Mike and AJ talk about Mike's experience at a live AEW show which turns into a longer discussion about the state of wrestling entertainment. We also hear a little more about Luigi's Mansion 3, the grind of Destiny 2, and more!
October 25, 2019
Show #532 - Livin' on the Edge of the Galaxy
Mike got to go to Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge and get an extended preview of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. AJ is totally not jealous. Nope. Not one bit. He's had Destiny 2 and Overwatch on Switch to play, so that's something.
October 18, 2019
Show #531 - Politically Incorrect
Mike and AJ discuss Blizzard's disastrous day, the new details of the PlayStation 5, and the breakdown of the Disney World Skyliner. AJ has been bitten by the Destiny 2 bug, and Mike is revisiting Ori and the Blind Forest for Switch.
October 9, 2019
Show #530 - Mario Kart World Bore
Mike and AJ try Nintendo's latest mobile game, Mario Kart World Tour. It's not great. AJ has been enjoying more Apple Arcade games, the 1.0 release of Dauntless, and Bob Iger's new book, The Ride of a Lifetime. Mike is wearing an old shirt.
October 3, 2019
Show #529 - Chaos in the Windy City
Mike and AJ are here to talk about Mike's recent trip to Chicago, the release of Apple Arcade, and the pure joy of The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening.
September 25, 2019
She #528 - Mounted
Mike and AJ are still playing the WoW Classic, and Mike even got his mount! We also talk about the new Tomorrowland sign (not to be confused with the old New Tomorrowland sign) and the role audience participation has played at Walt Disney World.
September 19, 2019
Show #527 - The WoW Killer
Mike and AJ are here to talk about more World of Warcraft Classic and what mainline WoW needs to learn. We also revisit the Dreamcast for its 20th anniversary, dip our toes into Gears 5, and hear Mike's thoughts open Daemon X Machina.
September 13, 2019
Show #526 - P/Terry
Mike and AJ are joined by everyone's favorite, Perry. We talk about the most recent Nintendo Direct and Smash Bros. update, more WoW Classic, and more of Mike's thoughts on Astral Chain.
September 6, 2019
Show #525 - Just the Classics
Mike and AJ are loving their time in World of Warcraft Classic. Mike finishes his second play through of Fire Emblem: Three Houses and gets started on Astral Chain, while AJ checks out the latest Pokemon mobile game, Pokemon Masters. We also give a brief wrap up on the announcements from last weekend's D23 expo!
August 30, 2019
Show #524 - Trying to Prepare
Mike and AJ prepare for World of Warcraft Classic, dip into the Dragon Quest XI demo on Switch, and explore more games on the Genesis Classic.
August 23, 2019
Show #523 - Here's My Number
Mike and AJ talk about AJ's close, personal friendship with Ninja now that they text each. We also get a hands on impression of the Sega Genesis Mini, the chance to name our World of Warcraft Classic characters, and learn if the Cataclysm is enough to get anyone back into Anthem.
August 16, 2019
Show #522 - I Need a Hero Power
Mike and AJ are here to talk about the newest Hearthstone expansion, Saviors of Uldum. There's lively talk of the long awaited Cataclysm update for Anthem, Sky on iOS, and the state of the wrestling industry.
August 7, 2019
Show #521 - Exploding Barrel of Exploding
Mike and AJ weigh in on Universal's announcement of Universal's Epic Universe. It's gonna be epic. We also get AJ's thoughts on Fire Emblem: Three Houses now that it's out to the masses, and we try the newest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter, Hero from Dragon Quest.
August 2, 2019
Show #520 - Be Unprepared
Mike and AJ are glad the internet hasn't broken what with all the Switch hardware announcements, our unplanned hiatus, and the Cats trailer dropping. But at least Mike was able to get us an early preview of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, a review of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, and more!
July 25, 2019
Show #519 - Far From It
Mike and AJ are here with a spoiler filled discussion about Spider-Man: Far From Home. We recorded immediately after seeing the movie Tuesday night, and decided to give it a few days for everyone to see the movie over the holiday. Enjoy!
July 5, 2019
Show #518 - For Naj- Narg- Uh For Azshara!
Mike and AJ are here with a look at the long awaited 8.2 patch for World of Warcraft, Rise of Azshara. We also have early impressions of Super Mario Maker 2, Virtua Racing, and more!
June 30, 2019
Show #517 - E3ed
Mike is back to tell us what's what from the E3 show floor. Get hands on impressions from the show along with a few other surprises as we wrap up E3 2019!
June 21, 2019
Show #516 - Stop the Pressers
Mike is in Los Angeles for E3, so AJ is joined by Chris and Perry to play the home game. It's called a salute to all the press conferences, but mostly Microsoft and Nintendo. Buckle up for 90 minutes of E3 goodness!
June 12, 2019
Show #515 - Ripped from the Headlines
Mike and AJ get ready for E3! We try to guess what we'll see at the show, discuss the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, revisit Final Fantasy XIV and Elder Scrolls Online, and take a look at the final batch of games announced for the Sega Genesis Mini.
June 5, 2019
Show #514 - Let's Go Home and Sleep
Mike and AJ are back after an inadvertent hiatus caused by some work and travel, but we've got a great show filled with (weird) new Pokemon announcements, the console launch of Dauntless, the World of Warcraft Classic beta, and the beginning of E3 hype!
May 29, 2019
Show #513 - Some Assembly Required
We've got 20ish minutes of video games like Mortal Kombat 11, then it's all Avengers Endgame spoilers, baby!
April 29, 2019
Show #512 - Joke's On You
Mike and AJ dive into the details of the Playstation 5 (even though it's not called that), the Xbox One S All Digital Edition, Joker and the Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.0 patch, and The Rise of Skywalker and other announcements from Star Wars Celebration. Quite the week!
April 17, 2019
Show #511 - Plus+
Mike and AJ reveal their thoughts on Disney+, the upcoming 8.2 patch for World of Warcraft, and more!
April 12, 2019
Show #510 - Borderline
Mike and AJ talk about the Borderlands 3 reveal, discuss easy mode in games, the story behind Anthem's development, and find out what Mike thinks of Hallow Knight.
April 5, 2019
Show #509 - The Minotti Division
Mike is off to San Francisco for GDC, so AJ has brought in the big guns. We're joined by the other Minotti, Chris, and our friend and Smash Bros. aficionado Perry! We share our thoughts on Google's Stadia streaming game platform, the recent Nintendo Nindies showcase, give out thoughts on The Division 2, talk more Anthem, catch up on the state of online play in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and discuss Captain Marvel's place in the MCU.
March 21, 2019
Show #508 - Reach Around
Mike and AJ discuss the news of Halo: The Masterchief Collection coming to PC. We also learn that AJ's Elmo voice is terrifying to small babies. Fun!
March 13, 2019
Show #507 - Crybaby
Mike and AJ are here with Mike's thoughts on Devil May Cry 5, the LFR experience of the latest World of Warcraft raid, and AJ's conspiracy theory that he's playing a different version of Anthem from everyone else.
March 6, 2019
Show #506 - Haterade
Mike and AJ talk about some random movies including the Lego Movie 2 an the new trailer for Detective Pikachu. We also get a bit deeper into Anthem, discuss the newest Overwatch hero, and hear about Mike's experience with the final World of Warcraft raid boss.
February 27, 2019
Show #505 - Ant Him
Mike and AJ are here to talk about the latest Nintendo Direct and our early experience with Anthem.
February 22, 2019
Show #504 - Apex Predators
Mike and AJ partake in the surprise release of Apex Legends.
February 6, 2019
Show #503 - Goofy Dialogue
Mike and AJ are here to talk about the long awaited release of Kingdom Hearts 3, the high and lows of the Anthem VIP demo, and Mike's experience getting to see Hamilton.
February 1, 2019
Show #502 - From Now On
Mike and AJ finally kick off 2019 by talking about this year's most anticipated releases. We also check out New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, AJ continues to slay behemoths in Dauntless, and Mike ups his JRPG street cred by beating Phantasy Star IV.
January 16, 2019
Show #501 - GotY and 17 Others
Mike and AJ are ready to wrap up 2018 with our Game of the Year awards. Join us for our top fives and 12 honorable mentions.
December 29, 2018
Show #500 - Everyone Is Here!
Can you believe it?! 500 episodes of The Exploding Barrel Podcast! And what better way to celebrate than with the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mike's birthday?
December 12, 2018
Show #499 - Splishy Splash
Mike and AJ are completely in love with Pokemon Let's Go. Did you know that Pikachu can learn a water move and usually goes first in combat?
November 29, 2018
Show #498 - Sony? More Like So Long!
Mike and AJ dive into Fallout 76 as we take our first timid steps into the West Virginia wasteland. Mike has been mesmerized by Tetris Effect, and we discuss what it means to hear that Sony will not be at E3 2019.
November 16, 2018
Show #497 - Immortal, It Is Yours
Mike is back from BlizzCon and Disneyland. But it's cool. Whatever. AJ got to watch with the Virtual Ticket and Mike and Chris's Google Photos album. At least he got to play the Fallout 76 B.E.T.A.
November 7, 2018
Show #496 - How the West Was Fun
Mike and AJ are joined by the elusive third Minotti brother, Chris! We dive into our review of the soon to be released Switch port of Diablo 3, our first hours with Red Dead Redemption 2, and we drill Chris on a few of the usual questions.
October 31, 2018
Show #495 - Whip It Good
Mike and AJ are here to talk about the new re-release of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood, first impressions (a little late) of Destiny 2: Forsaken, and some hopes and thoughts on what WoW could do with its upcoming 8.1 patch.
October 25, 2018
Show #494 - The Best Kind of Vengeance
Mike and AJ are all ready to dive into the latest Call of Duty with Black Ops 4. We also get some streaming time with Google's Project Stream (and Assasin's Creed: Odyssey), and AJ tells us about his recent trip to Cedar Point and their newest roller coaster, Steel Vengeance.
October 16, 2018
Show #493 - MMO Fallout
Mike and AJ are flabbergasted to see how many old MMOs are still getting new content. From Lord of the Rings Online to Star Trek Online and even Everquest 2. Mike also got to hang out with Bethesda in West Virgina to check out Fallout 76.
October 10, 2018
Show #492 - Unlinks' Adventure
Mike and AJ are here to talk about, uh... *checks notes* the Sinbad stunt show at Universal Island of Adventure. And video games too.
September 27, 2018
Show #491 - Astro Orbiter
Mike and AJ are back with more thoughts on Spider-Man, World of Warcraft, and AJ's newest gadget, the Astro A50 headset.
September 14, 2018
Show #490 - What a Spider Can
Mike and AJ are here to discuss the upcoming PS4 exclusive, Spider-Man! We've also been playing more World of Warcraft, punctured with some Into the Breach on Switch. Also, remember when achievements mattered? Like, really mattered?
September 5, 2018
Show #489 - No, No Man's Sky
Mike and AJ are back. We've pried ourselves away from WoW to try a few other games this week such as No Man's Sky, The Messenger, and the updated Halo: The Master Chief Collection. We also talk about some of the recently announce Nindies for the Switch.
August 29, 2018
Show 488 - Gangplank Galleon
We're Back! (A Dinosaur's Story) Mike and AJ have returned after AJ's "paternity leave." Catch up with our excitement over recent Super Smash Bros. Ultimate announcements, marvel as AJ actually enjoys Octopath Traveler, and dive in with our first impressions of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth.
August 22, 2018
Show #487 - 40 Love
Mike and AJ warmed up before the show with a little Mario Tennis Aces on the Switch. Mike has been playing the upcoming Octopath Traveler, while AJ has been getting his feet wet in Paladins. We end the show with an inadvertent pre-hype sessions for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth.
July 11, 2018
Show #486 - E3 Afterglow Show
Mike is back from E3, so he and AJ discuss the highs and lows of the show. We also get into the world of Paladins with the mobile game Paladin's Strike and their take on battle royale, Realm Royale.
June 23, 2018
Show #485 - Excessive Hype
Mike and AJ get into their E3 predictions! Will we get a new Crimson Skies this year?!
June 6, 2018
Show #484 - Judge Doom
Mike and AJ are back from Disney World, and Mike is back from E3 Judges' Week. Listen in to the games Mike can talk about such as Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII and Kingdom Hears 3.
May 21, 2018
Show #483 - Disney Bound
Mike and AJ are prepping for a family trip to Walt Disney World. Mike also finally gets into Stardew Valley, we get our toes wet in season 4 of Fortnite, and AJ is still playing God of War.
May 4, 2018
Show #482 - Stoned
Mike and AJ are about to spoiler the dickens out of Avengers: Infinity War. So yeah, if you didn't see it yet, maybe come back to this one. We also talk about God of War, Star Trek: Adversaries, and AJ's continued success in Fortnite. He's like, really good.
April 27, 2018
Show #481 - Dad of War
Hey, we're back! After an unplanned hiatus, Mike and AJ are here to talk about the new God of War, and it's spoiler-free too! We also get into the newest Hearthstone expansion, The Witchwood, and explore AJ's crippling addiction to Fortnite: Battle Royale.
April 19, 2018
Show #480 - On Switch
Mike and AJ look back at one year of the Nintendo Switch. Oh, and we recorded this before the Nintendo Direct this week, so yay Smash!
March 9, 2018
Show #479 - Pics Art
Mike and AJ have been re-watching Coco now that's it out on Blu-ray and digital, so we decided to discuss what makes a Pixar movie good or bad.
March 2, 2018
Show #478 - Dizzy World
Mike and AJ return with all the great new things we saw on our most recent visit to Walt Disney World.
February 16, 2018
Show #477 - Jan Jan Jan
Mike and AJ take a look at a strangely busy January filled with games like Monster Hunter World, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Sea of Thieves, and more!
January 31, 2018
Show #476 - Toothsome
Mike and AJ take a look at the Nintendo Direct Mini, the latest developer update from Bungie for Destiny 2, and talk about Mike's tooth infection!
January 13, 2018
Show #475 - GotY 2017
Join Mike and AJ as we talk about out top five games of 2017! We also take a look ahead of what's to come in 2018.
January 7, 2018
Show #474 - The Last Jedi
No clever titles this week! It's a no holds barred, spoiler filled review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi!
December 15, 2017
Show #473 - This Goes to 11
Mike and AJ gush about all the new Mega Man news, including the announcement of Mega Man 11! AJ also got a change to experience raiding in Destiny 2, and we dip our toes into the game's first expansion, the Curse of Osiris.
December 6, 2017
Show #472 - Trekkin Ain't Easy
Mike and AJ discuss some favor Next Generation episodes after Mike reads the Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard. We also delve into the fruits of our Black Friday game deals.
November 28, 2017
Show #471 - Award Season, Fire
Mike and AJ dive into more fall releases like Assassin's Creed Origins, Skyrim on Switch, Battlefront 2, and more! We also weigh in on the nominees for this year's Game Awards.
November 21, 2017
Show #470 - X Gonna Give It
Mike and AJ are back from BlizzCon and/or disease! Hear all about the fun of Blizzard's latest announcements, what new things Mike got up to at Disneyland, and what AJ thinks of he Xbox One X.
November 13, 2017
Show #469 - Odyssey, Ya See?
Mike and AJ have witnessed perhaps the best Mario game ever made! We also make our Blizzcon predictions and check out some of the new things AJ saw on his most recent visit to Walt Disney World.
October 30, 2017
Show #468 - Jedyou and Jedi
Mike and AJ react to the Last Jedi trailer and the Star Wars Battlefront 2 beta. We also hear Mike's first thoughts on Golf Story on the Switch.
October 10, 2017
Show #467 - Cupdead
Mike and AJ discover the brutal yet delightful challenge of Cuphead, explore just what is the best SNES game, and check out the Destiny 3 Faction Rally.
October 3, 2017
Show #466 - New Discoveries
Mike and AJ explore Star Trek Discovery and give hands on impressions of the SNES Classic!
September 26, 2017
Show #465 - Best Seller
Join Mike and AJ as we digest this month' NPD numbers, recap the Nintendo Direct, and give some further thoughts on Destiny 2 and Metroid: Samus Return.
September 15, 2017
Show #464 - Destined to Fail
Mike and AJ start the show with a quick baseball tangent (Go Tribe!) before hitting up all sorts of games from Destiny 2 to an early look at Metroid: Samus Returns.
September 11, 2017
A big announcement for EBP!
Check out the details of our transition to Anchor! More Minotti every day of the week! Plus can ins, music, and the regular weekly shows.
September 5, 2017
Show #463 – The Barrel Is Still Exploding - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
We celebrate 10 years of the Exploding Barrel Podcast by looking back at our picks for top games of the last 10 years!
August 24, 2017
Show #462 – Sonic Maniacs - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ geek out about Sonic Mania this week. We also check out Nintendo's impressive sales last month, update our thoughts on Hearthstone, and hear what Mike thinks of Matterfall.
August 18, 2017
Show #461 – Very Cold Throne - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ take a deep dive into Knights of the Frozen Throne, the latest expansion for Hearthstone.
August 11, 2017
Show #460 – This Is My Quest - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
With a new Star Wars VR experience coming to Disney Springs and Downtown Disney, Mike and AJ reminisce about Disney's first foray into VR entertainment with an overview of Disney Quest!
August 4, 2017
Show #459 – The Drunkest Place on Earth - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ drink around the (Disney) world!
August 4, 2017
Show #458 – This Is Fine - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ go over all the big announcements at D23 and check out the Destiny 2 beta. AJ would rather just play more Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age.
July 21, 2017
Show #457 – What's Your Platform? - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ revist the 3D platformers of the late 90s. AJ returns to Final Fantasy XIV in light of the new Stormblood expansion, and Mike checks out the Necromancer in Diablo 3.
June 29, 2017
Show #456 – E3 Finito - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike is back from E3, and AJ wants to know what it was like! We also dive into the Steam Summer Sale.
June 23, 2017
Show #454 – SpookE3 - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ discuss their E3 fears, weird Nintendo plans, and Star Trek in VR.
June 3, 2017
Show #453 – Wishes - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ make a wish for E3 and have a Switch throwdown thanks to Ultra Street Fighter 2 and Arms. We also delve into the mysterious lands of Morrowind thanks to the latest Elder Scrolls Online expansion.
May 28, 2017
Show #452 – Three Way - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Sorry! We recorded this last week, but life kept me from getting it edited until now. But you can enjoy our E3 winners predictions!
May 23, 2017
Show #451 – Hooked on a Feeling - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ are back with their spoilery thoughts on Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2. We save that talk for the end should you want to avoid spoilers. But here's a spoiler: we liked it! Mike is getting into Nier: Automata, and we had fun taking some friends through their first games of Heroes of the Storm.
May 12, 2017
Show #450 – Puzzles - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ are popping Puyos and clearing Tetriminos thanks to Puyo Puyo Tetris on the Switch. We also take a look back at some of our favorite puzzle games from Pokemon Puzzle League to Zoop! And thanks to some strong incentives, AJ finally has Mike playing Heroes of the Storm and their new 2.0 release.
April 28, 2017
Show #449 – Classic Nintendo - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
With the NES Classic on the way out, and rumors swirling of a SNES Classic, Mike and AJ come up with their list of 30 SNES games to include on the theoretical system. We also get an early look at Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch.
April 20, 2017
Show #448 – First Last Jedi - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ react to the teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. We also talk about the Overwatch: Uprising event and the first week of Journey to Un'Goro.
April 14, 2017
Show #447 – Cratered - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ give their first impressions of the latest Hearthstone expansion, Journey to Un'Goro.
April 7, 2017
Show #446 – My Stuff! - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ are here to discuss Destiny 2, Mike's views on Persona 5, and AJ's admiration of Rock Band VR.
March 31, 2017
Show #445 – Tale as Old as Time - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ are fresh off seeing the live-action remake of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Find out what we thought about this re-imagining of the 1991 animated classic.
March 17, 2017
Show #443 – Line 'Em Up - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ compare the Switch launch line up to all of Nintendo's past launches. Mike got to review the upcoming PS4 exclusive Horizon: Zero Dawn.
February 24, 2017
Show #438 – Switch On - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ have already pre-ordered they Nintendo Switch systems! Get our reactions from Nintendo's event as we tear apart the deatails.
January 13, 2017
Show #437 – Tender - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ beginthe 10th year of EBP by taking a look at what's to come in 2017.
January 6, 2017
Show #425 – PSFun - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ take a trip down memory lane with the original Playstation. We also get to tear into Forza Horizon 3 and the new Pheonix Wright!
October 7, 2016
Show #423 – Would You Kindly - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ take a look back at the Bioshock franchise in light of its recent remaster. We also give some quick opinions on iOS 10 and hear about Mike's very exciting new mount in World of Warcraft.
September 16, 2016
Show #414 – Gotta Go Fast - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ have been enjoying the speed runs at this year's Summer Games Done Quick event. We also got some time with Pokemon Go.
July 8, 2016
Show #411 – Clairvoyant - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ gaze into the E3 crystal ball. AJ took a break from Overwatch to check out Paragon, Epic Games' upcoming free to play, third person MOBA.
June 2, 2016
Show #408 – Virtual Insanity - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike an AJ mourn the premature deaths of Disney Infinity and The Muppets (the ABC show, not the beloved characters themselves). Since everyone has betrayed AJ and he is fed up with this world, he has retreated into the virtual safety of his new Oculus Rift.
May 13, 2016
Show #389 – Xcuse Me - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ talk about the biggest news and surprises from the Game Awards and the Playstation Experience. Or is it Xperience?
December 10, 2015
Show #371 – Remembering Iwata - The Exploding Barrel Podcast
Mike and AJ take some time to remember and recognize the legacy of Satoru Iwata.
July 17, 2015
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Jimquisition: Dumbing Down for the Filthy Casuals
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Fucking casuals grabbing the sword! There shouldn't even BE a sword in Zelda, god damn casuals dumbed the game down!
More like god damn "hardcorez" gamers forgetting that they CAN do things like this. Another example, OH NOEZ LITTLEBIGPLANET ADDED INFINITE RESPAWN CHECKPOINTS, DUMBED DOWN DUMBED DOWN!!!! Hey idiots, you do know you can always quit back to the pod and restart the entire level from the start if you still WANT that challenge in your game, right? Nobody is forcing you to respawn infinitely, you're choosing to and then bitching about something YOU chose to do.
As much as I hated hearing about Nuzlocke runs in Pokemon for a while when it became popular, at least the Pokemon community was intelligent enough to find more challenge in their game since that's what they wanted. And that's supposed to be a "kiddie" game according to teh hardcorez. I guess the kiddies are smarter than you, hardcorez gamers! What are you going to do about it? ... Bitch some more? K.
This video honestly made me frustrated. Not because I'm against an easy mode in video games or I'm against casual players but because I am subscribed to a guy on Youtube named Epic Name Bro who already talked about this and he did it a lot better than you as far as the idea of an easy mode in Dark Souls. I'll paraphrase a little bit from him, the idea worried him because of a few problems it might cause for the overall game. First off would be the issue with multiplayer and balancing. Would someone who played the game on the new easy mode and someone who played on the harder difficulty get the same type of gear? If they did then it would be somewhat unfair to the player on the harder difficulty as they are higher skilled and completed a more impressive feat but at the same time the casual player paid the same amount of money so would they not be entitled to balanced multiplayer? From Software could always just take the multiplayer out but that would be a shame as the multiplayer in the souls series is really unique and pretty damn fun.
your implying that other people will care about whatyou think about how dark souls works
and this is why jim is right
no one gives a damn about you playing through the game the way you played, NO ONE
no one cares
See what I mean? Right here^
"People just shouldn't care that much about games" Is a terrible argument.
Saying "people don't give a crap" and declaring victory is an amazing display of childishness.
This immaturity is nothing the community needs if its what we are gonna get if easy mode goes in.
Ok I am not saying that I should dictate how people play or that new people shouldn't start gaming cause I am all for that I am saying they are not going to get a good impression of games we all think are awesome if you start ripping out what made us all love the games in the first place like the difficulty in Dark souls. If you start doing that then you are going to put people off gaming.
to do what you said, a video game would have to take the hard mode out
so i think your going need
because if you leave a franchise because other people can play it now
Well said Jim, well said.
This in particular. "There is the "Option" to do it easy? WAAAAA RUINING MY HARDCORE EXPERIENCE!"
You know I never see Bayonetta mentioned in any of these difficulty discussions, it really does deserve bringing up. Bayonetta on the harder modes is a challenge enthusiasts dream come true. Bayonetta on super easy mode is easy enough for "filthy casuals" like me. The latter doesn't "destroy" or lessen the former.
hmm i think you don't understand me
Well made video Jim, and very good points.
One of the things I find interesting is that gamers mostly do not want to be patronized about their hobby, but tend to alienate those who don't fit into the elitist status of the hardcore. Take this comic on Dorkly for example (http://www.dorkly.com/comic/46874/female-fantasy-iii). It's along the same mentality. "I want someone to indulge and accept my hobby, but you /obviously/ don't know your stuff, so why are you wasting my time?" (Yes, a bit of a gross generalization, but if you strip it to the core concept, they relate). If the casual gamer wants to ease into these more hardcore games, why not give them stepping stools? They could ease up to where they could be on the same level as other gamers, but they aren't going to start there.
Along with that, many of us who frequent gaming sites and play such games have been playing video games since we were young, or more frequently than others. To say that a brand new gamer should "play at our level" is not only off-putting for a new person, but simply a negative thing for the view of gamers themselves. It helps keep the potential for acceptance at a distance.
Now should every single game out there have difficulty settings? No, but if they include the option, or options to help the player out (such as the features Jim pointed out for the NSMB games), then it's fine as they are just that: options. The Easy Mode outcry would have been 100% justifiable if it was the only difficulty that they were patching in, but instead they were giving new, curious players something that they could step into the Dark Souls world and experience it. Also, if that player played on easy and became better, they could amp it up to hard. This could provide the player a great comparison of how they've grown in skill as a video game player, and further encourage them to play harder games.
I've seen where the concern is that, nowadays, Hard and Very Hard are now too easy. A valid concern to have. But maybe it's that system that needs to be tweaked. I know early games had 3 settings (sometimes only 2!):
This could also be a bad thing where a person on easy gains some form of competitive edge in multiplayer than a person on hard. There are ways around it, but developers should be mindful of this should such a situation like this could exist in their game.
These days I like having the option for the fact that I have so many games I want to play that I don't have the time to play them on a harder difficulty (like I used to do). The easier difficulties allow me to experience the content without spending too much time stuck in certain areas. So many games, so little time.
Lastly, more players means more sales, which can mean sequels to your favorite games. Video games are a business, after all.
So in short, we shouldn't have every single game with this option and finding a good balance when having the options will be difficult, but by giving more players the ability to work up to the "elite" level, we gain more people that we can share our passion with. Outside of the few bad seeds we'll get with it, I'm ok with that. :)
Thanks for reading my rant on this!
You make some sense but there is the trend in games that hurt themselves by dumbing down WAY too much case in point ff 13. The first 3 hours you can win all the fights simply by pressing one button and have no exploration or danger of getting lost. Oh trust me, the challenge and exploration is eventually there for those who want it in alot of the later marks that will have you swearing at the screen but you have to slog through SO much handholding before you get to the challenging bits.
I clearly heard him say in the video that he didn't play it. And way to generalize yourself there, pal.
It's not about not wanting "filthy casuals" to play the game, it's about taking away the uncompromizing nature of the game.
No a easy mode would ruin Dark Soul's, what's the point in trying your hardest when you can just skip it down to easy and roll through it? And it doesn't encourage gamers to become better players by constantly handing them an easy out, for scrubs.
Oh I do think the developers care about their intended experience. And this is why they didn't add an easy mode to dark souls.
AND THIS IS WHY JIM IS WROOOOOOOOOONG! Do I win the internet argument now, or what? EPIC BURN, SEE YA!
The way I see it, games have gotten easier over time for two main reasons:
1) You've gotten better at them. Having played almost every Zelda game, being able to read the environments and enemy patterns has become virtually second nature to me. But hand the controller to somebody who hasn't played them and they'll have a tricky time. It's like Usain Bolt complaining that the race he was in was too easy; well of course it was because he's the best at running.
2) Games were harder back in the day because it was the only way to keep you playing. The limited memory available on old consoles meant the games couldn't be too massive, so in order to pad out the gameplay the games were made nigh on impossible to beat. Now we have infinitely more space to work with than we did, so games can provide more actual content instead of just beating us to death with their difficulty.
I can relate to this from both sides:
My favourite game series is the Jak and Daxter series. There is a mission in Jak 2 where you have to run a constant gauntlet of enemies on narrow walkways with insta-death if you fell off. No healthkits no checkpoints, hundreds of troops and dozens of gunships that can shoot you from miles away. It took me ages to get past that bit and it drove me nuts, though once I got there I *may* have done a little victory dance. If a games too easy people never get that feeling.
However if a games too hard before you get invested (for example the above mission was roughly half way through) you'll just rage-quit and return the game. Bought a jrpg (forget the name) and the very first fucking enemy after leaving the starting city had me beat, I could not beat this mission no matter what I tried, I was dead inside a turn. Gave up and returned it (was a preowned copy so didn't lose much money)
I will disagree Jim, I don't think just because you payed for something there should be an easy-mode. I have two examples. In the past lets say star fox 64, there are two difficulties: Normal and Expert. I have never seen anyone ever complain about how star fox 64 or old n64 console games needed an easy mode. Now i know both difficulties are different from dark souls and star fox 64, but are they? Both are about recognizing patterns and understanding how to get from point A to point B(safely) and beating a boss(who may or may not kill you multiple times and you have to go back to the checkpoint).
Now you made a point about literature(exploding words) or movies(pausing till a quiz is finished). Now here is my counter argument to this. Now if i bought a book written by Steven Hawkings or from someone who is difficult to understand, can i beg the author to write it in an easier way for me to read? The answer is no and never. Just because someone purchases something does not entitle someone to easy-mode. Consumers need to be educated on what they are buying. They are entitled to the product and it's content, but if they didn't know what they were buying in the first place then they deserve to feel bad.
Taking the difficulty out of dark souls would cause the game to lose it's appeal. The game wasn't catered to casuals or easy-moders. Let the hardcore crowd have their game.
Wow.. you went there, and not only made "hardcore" gamers complaining seem silly, you made opposition to gay marriage seem just as trivial... Nice.
I'm just saying that it's tearing out a key component of the game.
It isn't "easy modes" that should be getting people up-in-arms. It's what they've done in NSMBU that should be getting this attention.
If they want to give you the option to make the game insultingly easy, that's one thing. But letting the game play itself while you watch completely defeats the purpose. Someone who partakes of that option isn't allowing them access to content they might otherwise have been denied, they are simply denying themselves content to give themselves the illusion of progress. It's the completely wrong way to go about it, and this is a blatant example of what happens when you dumb down content to make it "accessible." It'd be like watching a scary movie, and having a warning appear in the corner before every scare, or a mystery novel telling you to skip to the end.
This is the real threat, because it doesn't make games accessible, it destroys what makes them games in the first place.
OMG! I am literally about to rip out my hair, the ignorance in this thread is just amazing. Dark Souls isn't hard because the enemies have too high health or do too much damage, it's not because you do too little damage nor is it difficult because of too low health.
It's difficult because of LEVEL FUCKING DESIGN. In Dark Souls the levels are crafted to be difficult, but possible, in easy mode they would have to change this to be, not difficult and possible. In Dark Souls there are parts where even with more health and damage, it would still be brutually difficult because it has careful placing of enemies spots, traps, and overall just where things are placed.
They would have to redesign all enemies and levels to be easy enough for a casual player to do it. Trying to then apply that to the normal mode it would be way to easy. What allows the quality of the levels to be as good as they're is that they don't have to worry about designing it for multiple difficulties. Games with multiple difficulties usually don't have levels that are built for any specific difficulty but built for ALL difficulties.
That's what makes Dark Soul's unique, it's built from the ground up to be hard, so it's all possible, and difficult at the same time. Enemies don't have a lot of health (some do, but mostly optional enemies), but are placed in the right spots to make it difficult.
The Souls series rewards CAREFUL PLAY and not Reckless play. Apparently people don't understand this and think it's all about Health and Damage when it's not. Bosses usually don't even have that much health, but they all have staredgy's on how to easily beat them.
So yes, Easy Mode would dumb it down by making the levels having to account for both difficulties. Same for bosses and enemies.
This is why fans of the Dark Souls series don't want multiple difficulties because it WOULD suffer.
I have seen the future of reality television and it is hosted by mutant carrot men!
OT: Personally when i play games i usually play them on easy, because i like to play games to hear the story and have some fun interaction along the way, but i must say that my favorite games are the ones which don't give you a choice of difficulty like TF2 or KOTOR. I think the goal of a developers shouldn't be to make a game that only the best can beat or so easy that any lobotomized howler monkey can beat, but a game that has been made so well that the developers know by the time you reach a certain part in the story you're ready for whatever they throw at you, or a game that can scale itself to the level that the player seems to be at. A game that can scale back for a newb or ramp up for the 1337.
I honestly don't really consider it as such. The difficulty seems complimentary more than anything, like bad controls in Silent Hill. It serves it's purpose, but I don't think the game would be directionless if it was less hard. But then again, I think of the game much differently than others, it seems...
KOTOR actually does. If you go into the options menu, you can adjust combat difficulty. By default it is set to medium, but it also has easy and hard modes as well. :P
I'm pretty sure Hideki Miyazaki and the rest of the team behind Dark Souls aren't "some random guy on the internet."
We're talking authorial intent here. This isn't just my opinion.
If you're not going to read my posts then don't quote me.
That does not follow logically from anything that I said. It's also a silly argument. You might as well say "I like elephants so Dark Souls should have a trunk".
Mr. Sterling's attitude on this topic is the very definition of absolutist. "I know everything about how every game should be, I have nothing new to learn, I am not willing to consider an alternative view. There is an incredibly specific mindset and feature set that EVERY game should have, and if you disagree you're a cunt. Meah." You seem to be trying to cram having any opinion about how a particular game should be into the definition of "absolutist" so you can throw it back at me, but it's not working.
People like ponies, let's turn Dark Souls into a pony
That is factually incorrect. I'm sure what you mean is it shouldn't effect how we play, and I would probably agree with you in any other case.
Good for him, I don't begrudge him that. But he didn't play a game so much as listen to the soundtrack and look at the art book. He doesn't need an easy mode to accomplish that, as you have demonstrated.
I don't understand this viewpoint at all. Surely its merit as a work of art is one million times more important then the developer's intentions for its merit as a work of art?! Maybe I'm taking you too literally, here. But it's merit that counts, and that is what Dark Souls has in spades. It's a work of art with a message and themes and goals. People who see it as a mere product will never understand why those who are passionate about it hold certain opinions. I don't really care about it being "their decision" except to the extent it brings me a greater work of art. I think Dark Souls should not have easy mode because it undermines the game's artistic messages and themes, among other things.
What you're doing is like saying Young Frankenstein should be colorized because people like color, and color is an obvious added value and utility. What you are ignoring is the artistic statement you can make by not having color, and the themes and goals that are supported and reaffirmed by that choice. The very fact of NOT having color is an artistic statement. The very fact of NOT having an easy mode is an artistic statement, in addition to the more practical reasons for excluding it.
Jim Sterling, on the other hand, has been nothing short of AGGRESSIVE in demolishing the concept of games as art and judging them as products with a task to perform only. This is another perfect example. I don't think he realizes he is having that effect, however. He thinks he wants to view games as art but, like Yahtzee, he shrinks when actually given the chance to examine a game as if it were art. He just hasn't thought it completely through. Fill a game full of obnoxious, pretensions bullshit that resembles artsy things on a superficial level and they defend it to the death. Give them the real McCoy and they don't know what they're even looking at.
You are persistent in this straw man that I don't want easy mode because of how it effects OTHER people. You have ignored everything I have said about how it effects ME. We cannot have a meaningful discussion about this if you are unwilling to even hear my side. Obviously having another game that is just like all their other games would be wonderful for people who want an easy mode, but in this case I think it is only reasonable to keep the Dark Souls experience intact for the people who enjoy it as it is and can't get the same experience anywhere else.
But I don't think this kind of game can survive in the long run. I will constantly be anticipating its ruin. Anything that is even slightly off the beaten path is hunted down and executed, as you can plainly see happening right here.
How the fuck am I the bad guy in this? Easy mode lovers can play anything in the world. I wish they would play Dark Souls too, but if they can't, won't they at least leave it alone for my enjoyment? How come they get everything and I get nothing? That is not fair.
Dark Souls fans: hated, feared, maligned, misunderstood.
Guys guys guys, can we please move the easy mode discussion away from "yes or no" and onto "how to implement it in ways other than the distinct, modal settings"? The worst thing to do for this subject is to give the impression that having Easy/Normal/Hard settings is the only way to do it. Because it's not.
Look, I don't mind that any game has an easy mode, or a super easy mode,
Also, another example of bad difficulty tweaking (or whatever it's called):
That's why I find it terrible when games scale the challenge (or the difficulty mode) based on how you're dooing, they assume you want to succeed on the first try. (but I don't, I LIKE TO FAIL FIRST)
Unfortunately for me, the games I play rarely offer a difficulty that I like.
anyway, this has turned into a rant instead of a real comment.
I'm a big fan of this concept when it comes to RPGs because then people seem to equate "challenge" with "clunkiness." Never was this more apparent than with Dragon Age: Origins or Mass Effect 2. Yes, I remember the heady days when DA: O was being called "dumbed down Baldur's Gate" by people who obviously hadn't played Baldur's Gate in a decade...
They do release those. They're called "edited for TV versions." And much like with that, I fail to see how the existence of a completely optional setting hinders your enjoyment in the slightest. It's like complaining that PC games still include 640x480 settings despite you owning a bleeding-edge graphics machine.
I DO like the Easy mode in games... because I have friends who just can't finish the damn games I intro to them (SUX at Skill), with Easy mode... they can actually finish them and we can talk about them( and I can tell how the hard mode is) Take DmC3 as example, all we had to do is show our Super Dante around to prove that we finished "Dante must Die" mode, and we have the privilege to play using UNLIMITED POWER!~ it's a good balance, where all can finish the game, but there are extra contend (that one CAN LIVE WITH OUT) for the completionists, to OP the already mastered game!~ games SHOULD have that options good EP man~
Thanks for beating me to the punch.
If you wanna play a different way then intended(and be a beginner)....you get the motto.
Dark Souls main selling point was its difficulty. Its tagline was "PREPARE TO DIE" for chrissake. Putting in an Easy mode is the exact opposite of all of the marketing done for the game and undermines the series. I understand where Jim is coming from, and I agree it is silly to complain about, but when the game is marketed as being crotch-kickingly difficult, it becomes a nagging little reminder when oldfag gamers hear about companies pandering to newfag gamers that people want things handed to them, things which beforehand had to be worked toward and earned.
Things which the oldfags worked for and earned, and the newfags just expect to be spoon-fed to them.
Really, it's the fact that beating a Souls game actually meant something. You went through all of the cheap shit, all of the tough battles, all of the respawns and losing all of those Souls and Humanity and came out over Gwyn in the end, only to then have a bunch of people come in and blast right past you on Hand-Holding difficulty. It'd be like if you worked for years to afford a mildly acceptable car while the spoiled rich kid down the street is bitching that his new corvette that Daddy bought him isn't the right color.
So of course they'd be a bit mad. A few with some rage issues. But it's not hard to understand.
Has anyone added an easy mode to Ninja Gaidden yet? Because if I remember right, just Acolyte difficulty was practically every other Hack N' Slash's Hard Mode. Would people like all commands to be mapped to one button that just causes all enemies to spontaneously explode? No, because NG is supposed to be difficult. I haven't played the third one, someone told me that one was easy as hell.
And thank you for also understanding. God, I feel like aside from a few others I was one of the few sane people who actually get why no easy mode is a good thing.
Games are the only forms of entertainment that make you work for the content? Jim, you need to read more.
Adding easy-modes to a game does diminish the entire product because it has a budget. People used the same argument in about the multiplayer in Mass Effect 3. "It doesn't hurt you." It does hurt me, because that money could've been spent elsewhere.
I'm glad you made this, also I must mention I hate it when they make something that was overcomplicated in a game more simple and practicle to improve gameplay in the sequel and people called it dumbing down, it isn't, it is making the game more fun and less of a chore to play through.
I just want to be able to get somewhere in the fucking game I payed good money for.
In short, shut the fuck up you whining bitches, I own the game, I want to see what it has, and if I can do that with an easy mode, I'll all for it.
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Modern Theatre
The History of the Modern Theatre
Suffolk's commitment to the Modern Theatre is inspired, in part, by the Modern's history of innovation. The Modern opened in 1914 as the first venue designed specifically to show motion pictures in Boston. It was described by The Boston Herald as "the most elaborate and costly theatre of its size in New England." The Modern screened the first sound film in Boston, The Jazz Singer, and pioneered the double-feature.
Despite its status on the National Register of Historic Places (1979) and designation as a Boston Landmark (1995), the Modern suffered from decades of neglect and deterioration. With Suffolk's new management, construction, and programming, the Modern has once again become a vital gathering place for the Suffolk community and the public at large.
The rebirth of the Modern Theatre completes a vision laid out by Suffolk University and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who made historic preservation of the Theatre District a priority, including the restoration of three landmark theaters. The Modern, and a new Suffolk University residence hall that rises above it, bring important activity to the Downtown Crossing area, contributing to that neighborhood's ongoing revitalization.
The Renovation of a Historic Theatre
The approach to the renovation reflects the eclectic history of the space. Working closely with CBT architects and our theatre consultant, our renovation looks both backwards and forwards in time to reflect values appropriate to an historic theatre in the center of Boston's theatre district.
The Exterior
The elegant Renaissance-style marble and sandstone façade and selected interior elements were restored and re-installed.
The Interior – The Lobby
A decorative frieze was hung in the sound and light lock of the lobby. This twenty-two foot scrim was originally conceived as a decorative covering for a large acoustic hole built into the three-story wooden proscenium wall of the theatre. Before the demolition of the interior it was removed intact and lovingly restored—the only decorative feature of the interior to have survived nearly one hundred years of wear and tear intact.
The Interior – The Stage House
In order to bring more theatricality to the interior design, we commissioned Tony-award-winning John Lee Beatty, one of the world's most recognized scene painters and designers, to create an original mural design for the stage house walls. The central design elements features a modernization of some of the most distinctive historic features of the 1914 theatre. Although the design is generated with help of state-of-the-art computer technology, all of the surfaces were over-painted by the artist himself.
The painterly treatment of the interior harkens back to the intimate 18th century Georgian playhouses whose intimate relationship of the audience to the stage put a special emphasis on the spoken and sung word; yet the flexibility of our renovation aspires to new theatres such as the Wyle Theatre at the Dallas Theatre Center and Zankel Hall, the newest performance space at New York City's Carnegie Hall.
Programming and Event Information
Our programming is appropriate to the intimate 185 capacity of our historic theatre. Our professional programming will be divided into three areas: Conversations at the Modern, Movies at the Modern, and Performance at the Modern. Some highlights include conversations with Lewis Black, Peter Beinart, James Carroll, Robert Jay Lifton, and Maxine Hong Kingston.
Visit the Modern Theatre website for more information.


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State Rep. Steve Toth to file 'firearm protection act'
AUSTIN - State Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) has begun the process to file legislation assisting the protection of the Second Amendment of the United State Constitution.
The "Firearms Protection Act" bill would make any federal law banning semi-automatic firearms or limiting the size of gun magazines unenforceable within the state's boundaries. Anyone trying to enforce a federal gun ban could face felony charges under the proposal.
"We can no longer depend on the Federal Government and this Administration to uphold a Constitution that they no longer believe in. The liberties of the People of Texas and the sovereignty of our State are too important to just let the Federal Government take them away. The overreach of the federal administrations executive orders that are do not align with the Constitution, are not very popular here in Texas," said Toth.
Along with Wyoming, Texas will lead the country in continuing to stand for the sovereignty to run Texas as Texans see fit while exercising the Bill of Rights Amendments 2& 10 to "prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers … [to] extending the ground of public confidence in the Government."
Along with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who has already filed more than 23 suits against the Federal Government, Toth will continue to stand with other Texans to encouraging the promotion of personal responsibility and liberties while actively guarding against outside parties attempting to erode the freedoms enjoyed by Texans so that the people of Texas may have more confidence in their government.
For more information contact, Amy Lane, Chief of Staff at 512-463-0797. Steve Toth is the newly elected State Representative for District 15, which includes The Woodlands, Shenandoah, Imperial Oaks, Oak Ridge North and Benders Landing along with some of the surrounding areas. He lives and works in District 15 and is establishing a House District 15 Office in Alden Bridge near the corner of Research Forest and Kuykendahl that he hopes to open by February of this coming year.


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The first, "Risk, Fear, and Nuclear Power" by David Ropeik discusses the role emotions have played in shaping public opinion in a (now-defunct, due to lack of signatures) effort to use California's initiative process to close down its two nuclear generating stations. Specifically, Ropeik brings into play some of the same "fear factors" which I discussed prior, including voluntariness - which is why, he points out, the public accepts radiation from medical sources with little complaint while the same cannot be said for nuclear power. Much of his essay delves into the same issues of how cultural and emotional factors influence and amplify public perception of risks, based risk characteristics (i.e., the factors like unfamiliarity, invisibility, "dread" factors like cancer, trust in institutions, etc.).
The second, "Fear of Nuclear Power out of proportion to actual risks" by Dr. Melanie Windridge serves as a useful companion piece, namely by framing the issue of the impact of public perception of risk - namely, in that how the public reacts to the health risks associated with nuclear is entirely out of proportion with other health risks, including both those from natural and medical uses of radiation as well as health risks associated with other energy sources like coal.
Unfortunately, I think Dr. Windridge's piece, while well-written, also serves as an example of how typically the conversation moves to individuals talking past one another. The aim of her article is to demonstrate how, even in the case of a serious accident like Fukushima, perceived risks tend to be held out of proportion with actual, everyday risks we blithely accept without protest. In this regard, she does quite well; and indeed, it is a refreshing reminder for those oriented in a more "technical" understanding of risk.
As I read it again however, and especially as I read the reader comments (again, perhaps one of the most discouraging things one can do), it becomes more and more clear to me that this piece represents the same mistake being made over and over again in nuclear communication - we're convincing those already predisposed to our position. To wit: those predisposed to hear the message that the public perceives nuclear risks out of proportion to other risks are likely those already predisposed to favor nuclear energy. The people who perceive these risks in disproportionate fashion are not going to be convinced by this alone. (Again, have a look at the reader comments and see if you don't agree. You may however wish to pour yourself a stiff drink first...) To emphasize, Dr. Windridge's piece is extremely clear and well-written but at the same time sails right past half the audience (those predisposed to oppose nuclear), who immediately dismiss anything she has to say.
Slogging through reader comments like these, it becomes again evident in the extreme that there are two completely divergent narratives going on here, with their own respective experts and "facts." (It goes nearly without saying that the divide could not be more stark - on one side one are trained nuclear professionals and experts in their field, the other populated by hucksters and cranks. On a personal note, it sometimes drives me positively insane in the regard that in the realm of climate science, there is a loud and well-publicized push-back against "bad faith science" but many of these same individuals remain silent when it comes to attacks on science by anti-nuclear activists.) That being said, none of this matters until the communicator can establish the one thing that matters most with their audience: credibility.
In this regard, despite the valiant efforts of numerous pro-nuclear communicators, we seem to be failing - badly. This is not to say that the efforts have been for nothing - certainly, pro-nuclear communicators have helped to profoundly shape and influence debate, pushing back against a narrative dominated by snake-oil salesmen bent upon selling cockamamie theories of radiation health effects with zero basis in sound science. And indeed, this has tremendous importance in capturing the otherwise "uncommitted" - those whose opinions on nuclear energy tends to be weak in support or opposition.
|"Technically correct... the best kind of correct."
In this case, it concerned a debate over lifting the moratorium over uranium mining in southern Virginia - which to anyone familiar with the region, would be a much-needed economist boon to the region. What resulted instead was an unedifying spectacle involving quasi-religious questions and comments from anti-nuclear activists and tin-eared, highly abstract responses from the nuclear professionals tasked at handling questions from the public.
It reminds me of an old joke about engineers:
A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts: "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?" The man below says: "Yes, you're in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field." "You must be an engineer" says the balloonist. "I am" replies the man. "How did you know?" "Well," says the balloonist, "everything you've told me is technically correct but useless to anyone."Of course, then there's the real punchline:
The man below says "you must be in management." "I am" replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?" "Well," says the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you're going, but you expect me to be able to help. You're in the same position you were before we met, but now it's my fault."It again reinforces a point which I made previously which I am coming to realize the importance of - technically correct simply isn't enough - we, as nuclear communicators, must speak to values. One of the greatest scandals in nuclear communication has been in allowing the anti-nuclear opposition to take the field entirely unopposed in dressing their arguments in the ethics of care and concern - namely by painting both nuclear operators, and by association, nuclear advocates - as cogs in a rapacious, uncaring capitalist enterprise. (Not that there's anything wrong with capitalism...)
[Aside: I recently spent the evening with some very good friends of mine, one of whom works closely with the medical profession. She pointed out to me how much some of these same issues of risk communication overlap in the issues of public acceptance of vaccines - or rather, overcoming a small but dogged vaccine refusal movement. Fundamentally, many of the same issues are at play here - a series of parallel "experts" and a contingent doggedly set against the mainstream scientific establishment. What is at stake here is perhaps yet more important than the challenges faced by nuclear energy, given the dynamics at play with phenomena like herd immunity. But fundamentally the same issue is at play, that being the need to engage with individuals, particularly by addressing values as a means of understanding how to reach these individuals in order to accurately convey relative risk. End aside.]
A great number of nuclear professionals are in this line of work precisely because they care about creating a better world for their families and children (myself included). However, one likely reason nuclear professionals have ceded the issue of personal concern to the anti-nuclear activists has likely been a victim of technical culture - technical arguments are won and lost not over demonstrated concern or espoused values but upon facts alone. Engaging with the public thus almost requires a deprogramming for some - allowing technical experts to express their humanity and concern alongside their sound technical arguments.
No doubt, some resistance comes from the perception of falling into the same trap as the anti-nuclear movement - preying upon appeals to emotion rather than logic and couching arguments in terms of clever sound bites rather than in actual, robust appeals to science. Yet it doesn't need to come to this (and indeed, over the long run I believe strategies which focus upon this are doomed to failure as they serve to further undermine trust by coming across blatantly manipulative.) But falling down on the other extreme - communicating with a complete tin ear with regards to the audience - is clearly doing the nuclear movement no favors, either.
What it again fundamentally comes down to understanding the values of the audience. It means understanding why certain experts and arguments seem to hold sway (rather than simply dismissing these folks as cranks - again, something very hard not to do sometimes). Ultimately, it involves a great deal of listening - something which is not that easy, given the nature (and yes, ridiculousness) of some of the arguments put out there. But if nuclear advocates expect to sway those not already favorably predisposed toward nuclear energy, this is what it's going to take.


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Setting Down the Spelling Rules
Some rules make life hard for your child. She wants to feel the soft grass under her toes, but the sign says to keep out, or she wants to bomb into the blue water, but the lifeguard warns her against any kind of jumping. Not so with spelling rules. Spelling rules help a great deal as long as you don't overload your child with them. Three or four rules cover pretty much all the important spelling factors that your child needs to know.
Rule One: Bossy e
You write Bossy e everywhere. That's why it's a great letter for your child to get to know. Here's the rule: Your child spells a word like mate by adding Bossy e to the end of mat. The e is bossy because it bosses the other vowel in the word to make a long sound or to shout out its name. Here are a few words that show Bossy e doing its thing: plate, mate, lake, Pete, scene, ride, hide, mine, rode, bone, hope, cute, mule and tune.
When a vowel makes a long sound, it's the same sound as its name. Bossy e makes the vowel (in the word it tags onto) have a long sound or shout out its name.
Rule Two: When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking
Here's a cute rhyme to help your child remember another way of spelling long vowel sounds. When spelling words like neat and boat, your child can go over the when-two-vowels-go-walking-the-first-one-does-the-talking rhyme. Most long-e sounds fit the two vowels rule. Long e is spelled either with ee, like in meet, seed, and weed, or ea, like in team, seat, and bead. The two vowels come side by side, but the first is the one that makes its long sound. A long-o sound is also often spelled with two vowels. The long o is spelled with oa like in boat, coat, and loan. A long-a sound can be spelled with side-by-side vowels, too. In words like pain and rain, your child spells the long-a sound with ai. See how the two vowels come together? Your child needs to start them with the long vowel that he hears and then remember the partnership.
Rule Three: y behaves like a vowel
Without a doubt, vowel sounds are tricky to spell. That's why these four spelling rules are about them. Every time your child hears a long-vowel sound, he must run through the options, which explains why he always needs to use scrap paper when trying to spell them. The third option mostly has to do with long-e or long-i sounds that your child hears on the ends of words. The y-behaving-as-a-vowel rule applies to vowel sounds on the end of words that are spelled with a y. In words like happy and sunny, your child uses y to sound like long e. In little words like by and shy, he uses it to sound like long i.
What about words like system, cyst, and gypsy? In those words, your child spells the short-i sound with a y. The words cyst and gypsy are soft-c and soft-g spellings (as well as spellings that use y to make the short-i sound) so.
You use y to make e or i sounds. When your child puts y on the ends of longer words (like happy), it makes a long-e sound, and when she puts y on the end of short words (like by), it makes a long-i sound. She uses y in the middle of some words (like gypsy) to make the short-i sound. When your child gets into the habit of jotting down her spelling options on scrap paper, she gets better and better at deciding whether to use y.
Rule Four: i before e except after c (when you hear ee)
All sorts of words have the long-e sound in them, and the i-before-e-except-after-c rule gives your child a fourth spelling option. The question becomes: Should your child write Bossy e like in Pete, or two vowels walking like in meat and meet, y as in happy, or ie as in niece? Whew. Where is that scrap paper? With ie spellings, be sure to help your child learn the first part of the rule — i before e except after c — before helping her discover the except-when-you-hear-"ay"-like-in-neighbor part. Practice on words like niece, piece, and receive, and after she's at ease with those, tackle the tough words like neighbor and weight. (You hear ay, so you don't put i before e.)


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Snapshots from Italy: The Queen of Porchetta
Last week, I took a little lunchtime trip to Frascati, one of a handful of little towns in the Castelli Romani, a culturally rich area just southeast of Rome shadowed by the Alban Hills and dotted with volcanic lakes. Thanks to a direct commuter train, I was there in only 30 minutes, and at the very appealing price of €1.90 (US$2.96) each way.
Frascati is home to a number of grand villas built by some of Rome's most powerful and wealthy families as retreats from the city's sweltering streets. Most of Frascati's day tourists make a beeline straight from the train station to visit the elaborate gardens of Villa Aldobrandini (right), the largest of the estates. I headed in the opposite direction, climbing a steep stone staircase to get to the compact center of town.
After wandering up and down the narrow, cobbled streets, I reached the Piazza del Mercato. As the name implies, it is ringed with the kind of stores that meet the daily needs of residents: an alimentari, a few bakeries, the butcher shop, and a place for household odds and ends. But at the far end of the circular piazza, I paused, gasped, and beheld "Leda, La Regina della Porchetta."
The Queen of Porchetta is actually named Isabella Leoni, who operates one of four porchetta stands in Frascati's utilitarian shopping piazza. Standing for a few minutes and observing the activity, it was easy for me to decide where to get my porchetta sandwich. One by one, they all made their way to Isabella's stand: the banker in a suit and tie; the pierced, leather-clad teenagers; the sanitation guys on their lunch break.
It must suck to be one of the other porchetta-hawkers in the square, where Isabella has a distinct advantage. Although they each had a nice hunk of pork on display, Isabella's was iconic: The skin was a richly colored and glistening, the meat was pink and deeply veined with fennel, garlic, and pepper. An artist capturing the scene would have surely included a glowing, golden halo around it.
The region surrounding the Colli Albani is known for its preparation of porchetta, and Isabella hails from the Ariccia, the area's official porchetta town. Ariccia is popular for its numerous fraschette, simple little places to have a quick bite from a very limited menu that features porchetta. Complete with open, outdoor seating, people from neighboring towns gather at Ariccia's fraschette on weekend nights, eating slices of porchetta by hand and enjoying a glass of the local DOC wine. Isabella has taken her traditional Ariccia porchetta on the road and set up a satellite court in Frascati.
Lucky Frascati. I took my perfect porchetta panino to the wide, shaded walkway in Piazza Roma and dined on a park bench with an equally perfect view of Villa Aldobrandini. For the record, the only two ingredients in this sandwich are bread—a traditional, scored, crusty roll with a moist but sturdy interior—and hand-sliced pieces of pork, with careful consideration given to the ratio of sweet meat to crackling skin. There is no need for any further embellishment, because the meat is just that good. If pork could become candy, this would be it.
An added bonus was the price tag. My day trip, including round-trip transportation, fantastic scenery, and a seriously flawless sandwich, came in at under €10 (US$15.57 at time of publication). Bravo!
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Daniel Boone was born on November 2, 1734 near Reading, Pennseylvania. A pre-Revolutionary War folk hero, he was also a surveyor, trapper, and frontiersman. A television series, which ran from 1964 to 1970, was based on his life and starred Fess Parker. All types of Daniel Boone memorabilia are collected.
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I had the privilege to meet the great John Lewis a few weeks ago at a house reception in Hartford. The Georgia congressman is an American hero, a man who literally put his life on the line — withstanding physical beatings, arrests and threats — as he persevered withMartin Luther King Jr., fighting for equal rights.
Humble and unassuming, Lewis is man who epitomizes the power and meaning of forgiveness.
In his new book, "Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change," Lewis recalls a brutal beating he and a young white male colleague took in 1961 for having the nerve to enter a "whites only" waiting room.
"These guys jumped us, beat us and left us lying in a pool of blood,'' Lewis wrote.
Two years ago, one of the assailants, now contrite, visited Lewis in his D.C. office, saying simply: "Mr. Lewis, I beat you, I attacked you, I want to apologize, will you forgive me?''
"And his son, who had been encouraging him to do this for some time, his son gave me a hug, the father gave me a hug, they both started crying,'' Lewis wrote. "And I hugged them back and I said: 'Yes, I forgive you.' And all three of us cried."
I don't know if I've heard a more powerful story of forgiveness. Unless, of course, you want to count the story of the great Nelson Mandela, who I had the honor of meeting more than a decade ago in South Africa. Imprisoned for 27 years because of his insurgent efforts to tear down a government-sanctioned, racist apartheid system, Mandela was eventually elected president of his country. He actually invited his jailers to his inauguration. At a time when he was in a power position to insist on retaliation, Mandela instead preached forgiveness and "reconciliation."
This week, I reconnected briefly with James Tillman, a Connecticut man who served 18 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. What is still striking about Tillman is that he never showed any bitterness for his wrongful imprisonment; comparing his story to that of Joseph in the Bible — a man who forgave (and was redeemed) after he too was wrongfully accused of rape.
Ernest E. Newton II's improbable bid to reclaim his Bridgeport senate seat two years after serving a four-year bid for taking a $5,000 bribe is testing my resolve (and interpretation) about forgiveness.
I believe strongly in second chances, particularly for ex-offenders. If we want to stop the cycle of recidivism then there has to be a culture of wiping the slate clean and moving forward once time has been served.
But, as I wrote in February, I've got a problem with Newton's candidacy. He did the one thing you simply cannot do as an elected official. He put his office up for sale. So, while I'm rootin' for Newton to get his life in order and reconcile his bad acts, putting him back in the state Senate doesn't make a lot of sense. The people of Bridgeport should absolutely forgive Ernie Newton. The question they have to answer when casting their votes is can they trust him again not to succumb to greed and avarice.
Pastor Rick Warren puts it best in his definition of forgiveness: "Forgiveness must be immediate, whether or not a person asks for it,'' he preaches. "Trust must be rebuilt over time. Trust requires a track record."
Newton has more time to complete in that regard.
PastorT.D. Jakesreminds us that "forgiveness does not exonerate the perpetrator. Forgiveness liberates the victim. … When you make a decision to forgive it's a decision that you have to make intellectually. It's not an emotional decision.''
Emotionally, it's heartening to see a 56-year-old former street kid endure and rebound from a life that included drug addiction, 17 years as a legislator, rising to the rank of deputy speaker — and prison.
People make mistakes, Newton counters, that's why they have erasers on pencils. "Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future,'' is his campaign mantra.
Emotionally, I get it.
Intellectually, when it comes to giving a corrupt politician another bite of the same apple, I'm just not there yet.
Stan Simpson is host of "The Stan Simpson Show'' (www.ctnow.com/stan and Saturdays, 6:30 a.m., on FoxCT) and senior executive adviser at the Hartford Journalism & Media Academy.


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Hindus in Pakistan continue to be given lessons in Hindu-Muslim composite culture, secular syncretism and South Asian "brown" identity:
They came after dusk and chanted into the night sky "Kill the Hindus, kill the children of the Hindus," as they smashed religious icons, ripped golden bangles off women's arms and flashed pistols. It wasn't the first time that the Hindu temple on the outskirts of Pakistan's largest city was attacked, and residents here fear it will not be the last.
A Hindu girl goes missing and then resurfaces days or weeks later married to a Muslim boy. During court hearings to determine whether the conversion was voluntary, students from nearby Islamic schools called madrassas often flood the room, trying to intimidate the judges by chanting demands that the conversion be confirmed.
Maharaj says he's tried to intervene in roughly 100 cases of forced conversions but has only succeeded in returning a girl safely back to her family once. If a girl decides to renounce Islam and return to Hinduism, she could be signing a death warrant for herself and her family…
"Now why would anyone even complain about this? Why should Hindus feel bad that their deities are smashed, the women in their families are molested, kidnapped, raped and forcibly converted? After all, these fortunate women are being liberated from their oppressive patriarchal traditions and given a fulfilling role as mediums for cultivating more secular South Asians. Without a doubt, only the crass communal and fascist will find any reason to complain. They need to be taught that this is all about secular syncretism and composite culture. This about secularism in South Asia." Or so, the professional secularists would have us believe. Make no mistake, given current demographic and political trends this is waiting to happen in our own backyard in India.


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By Jill
This past weekend, 55 high school students came to Sacramento for three days of intensive leadership training, followed by the 7th annual Queer Youth Advocacy Day (QYAD).
Nine youth spoke at the QYAD press conference about the need to implement essential protections for students, including two laws passed with support from youth at last year's QYAD, the Gender Nondiscrimination Act and the FAIR Education Act. Students also advocated for AB 1729 and AB 2242, which would reduce suspensions for minor infractions and encourage alternatives to suspension and expulsion. The youth were joined by Senator Mark Leno and Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano, Toni Atkins, Betsy Butler , Roger Dickinson, Rich Gordon, and Ricardo Lara.
GSA Network could not be prouder of all the incredible young people who participated in yesterday's Queer Youth Advocacy Day!


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