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4.9 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Trusted By Over 20,000 Streamers
"Having a stinger transition really gave my stream a professional look & feel" - Nick, Stream Designz Customer
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When Do You Use a Stinger Transition?
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A stinger transition is best used when switching scenes in tools like OBS Studio, Streamlabs or Streamelements.
Select various stinger transition color designs to find the one that best fits your live stream.
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✅ Instant Access To Download in .zip format
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What You Can Expect With Purchase
What You Can Expect With Purchase
You will be able to download your products immediately after checkout.
You will also receive an email with the download as well.
If you are an existing user or create an account during checkout, you will access all your purchases in your account dashboard.
How to Setup Stinger Transition
How to Setup Stinger Transition
1⃣ Download Stinger Transition zip file
2⃣ Unzip the download to gain access to files
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4⃣ Under "Scene Transitions" Select Dropdown & Pick Stinger"
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Best animated stinger transition scenes for Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook gaming. This "Monochrome" stinger transition will level up your live streams, helping you keep your viewers engaged.
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Rick Beerendonk - instructor of the course
Rick is a senior consultant and trainer from The Netherlands. He has over 20 years of professional experience while working in small, large and fast growing organisations. His passion is simplicity, well-written code and team dynamics. He is specialised in front-end technologies and speaks regularly about these topics at international events. Rick have teached and talked about React since 2014.

subset: commoncrawl


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Could Sandy postpone November 6th election?
WASHINGTON (AP) -- One week before a close election, superstorm Sandy has confounded the presidential race, halted early voting in many areas and led some to ponder whether the election might even be postponed.
It could take days to restore electricity to more than eight million homes and businesses that lost power when the storm pummeled the East Coast. That means it's possible power could still be out in parts of some states on Election Day next Tuesday -- a major problem for precincts that rely on electronic voting machines.
But as the storm breached the coast, even some of those intimately involved in the election seemed in the dark about what options are available to cope with the storm. Asked Monday whether President Barack Obama had the power to reschedule the election, White House press secretary Jay Carney said he wasn't sure.
Some questions and answers about what's possible and not when it comes to reworking Election Day.
Q. Could the Nov. 6 election be changed?
A. Yes, but it's highly unlikely, and it's not up to the president. Congress sets the date for the presidential election -- the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, every fourth year. Congress could act within the next week to change the date, but that would be tough because lawmakers are on recess and back home in their districts campaigning for re-election. Plus, it's likely that would mean changing the date for the entire country, not just those affected by the storm. What's more, Congress only selects the date for federal races, so changing the date would wreak havoc for state and local elections also scheuled for Nov. 6. States might have to hold two separate days of voting, which could bust state budgets.
Q. What about pushing back the election just in some states?
A. It's possible, but the legal issues get tricky. States, by and large, are in charge of their own elections. Each state has its own laws dealing with what to do if an emergency jeopardizes voting and who can make the call. Federal law says that if a state fails to conduct an election for federal races on the day Congress chooses, the state legislature can pick a later date. But state and federal laws don't always jive perfectly. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has said his state's laws don't grant him authority to reschedule the presidential election.
Q. Have elections ever been postponed before?
A. Yes, but not on the presidential level. New York City was holding its mayoral primary when terrorists struck on Sept. 11, 2001, and the city rescheduled the election. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Louisiana's governor postponed municipal elections in New Orleans after elections officials said polling places wouldn't be ready.
Q. Other than rescheduling the election, can anything else be done?
A. Voting hours could be extended at various locations. In places where electronic voting machines are in use, paper ballots could be used instead. Some areas also might choose to move polling locations if existing ones are damaged, inaccessible or won't have power on Election Day.
Q. Would those options create any other problems?
A. Lots. If poll hours are extended, under a 2002 law passed by Congress in response to the disputed 2000 presidential election, any voters who show up outside of regular hours must use provisional ballots, which are counted later and could be challenged. Sandy's impact was felt in some of the most competitive states in the presidential race, including Virginia and Ohio. The more provisional ballots that are cast, the greater thechances are that the winner won't be known until days or even weeks after the election.
There's another issue if poll hours are extended in some areas -- such as counties with the worst storm damage -- and not in others. That could prompt lawsuits under the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause, said Edward Foley, an election law expert at The Ohio State University.
Relocating polling places is also risky because it could drive down turnout, said Neil Malhotra, a political economist at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. "If you disrupt their routine and the polling place they've always been going to, even if you don't move it very far, they vote less,'' he said.
Q. What is the federal government doing to help?
A. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's administrator, Craig Fugate, said Monday he anticipated the storm's impact could linger into next week and affect the election. He said FEMA would look at what support it could provide to states before the election. "This will be led by the states,'' he said.
CLICK HERE for additional Sandy coverage via FOX6Now.com.


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Coral face 'a stormy future'
As global warming whips up more powerful and frequent hurricanes and storms, the world's coral reefs face increased disruption to their ability to breed and recover from damage.
That's one of the findings from a new scientific study of the fate of corals in the wake of large climate-driven bleaching and storm events.
"We have found clear evidence that coral recruitment - the regrowth of young corals - drops sharply in the wake of a major bleaching event or a hurricane," says lead author Dr Jennie Mallela of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and Australian National University.
Using the island of Tobago in the Caribbean as their laboratory she and colleague Professor James Crabbe of the University of Bedfordshire, UK, backtracked to 1980 to see what had happened to the corals in the wake of nine hurricanes, tropical storms and bleaching events.
"In every case there was a sharp drop in coral recruitment following the event - often by as much as two thirds to three quarters. Not only were fewer new coral colonies formed, but also far fewer of the major reef building coral species recruited successfully."
"This finding mirrors our modelling studies on the fringing reefs of Jamaica, and on the Meso-American Barrier reef off the coast of Belize", says Prof. Crabbe.
Tobago lies outside the main Caribbean hurricane belt and therefore is more typical of the circumstances of most coral reefs around the world. Nevertheless its corals are disrupted by a major storm or bleaching every three or four years - and the frequency of this may be growing.
"Climate researchers are seeing increasing evidence for a direct relationship between global warming and rising hurricane intensity as well as frequency," Jennie explains. "Global warming produces significant increases in the frequency of high sea surface temperatures (SSTs), and hurricane winds are strengthened by warm surface waters."
The high temperatures cause bleaching, while the storms inflict physical destruction on the corals as well as eroding the rocky platforms they need to grow on, or burying them in sand.
"Maintaining coral reef populations in the face of large-scale degradation depends critically on recruitment - the ability of the corals to breed successfully and settle on the reef to form new colonies. Our research suggests this process is severely disrupted after one of these major events."
If the disruption is sufficiently large it may threaten the actual survival of some of the larger and more spectacular reef building and brain corals, she says. "In the aftermath of a big storm or bleaching event, some of these important species appear not to have recruited at all.
"Healthy reefs usually have high numbers of coral recruits and juvenile corals, whereas degraded systems typically have far fewer young colonies."
The concern is that if major storms and bleaching become more frequent as the climate warms, the ability of individual reefs to renew themselves may break down completely, Jennie says.
"While our work was carried out in the Caribbean, it has general implications for coral reefs globally, and deepens our concern as to what may happen to them as global warming advances and the world's climate becomes more tempestuous."
More information: The research paper is Mallela, J., Crabbe, M.J.C., Hurricanes and coral bleaching linked to changes in coral recruitment in Tobago, and is published in the latest issue of Marine Environmental Research (2009).
Source: ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies


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Online Teacher Education Graduate Programs
Finding Teacher Education Graduate Programs Online
An online teacher education program could help you take your knowledge to a new level! If you're already working in education, you know just how much teachers may have to prepare to stay on top of their game. And if you're anticipating a career change, you're probably aware of how much you still should learn before pursuing potential opportunities in the education field. So why not potentially enhance your education career with a teacher education program? Below, you'll learn about potential benefits, degree types worth considering, and why pursuing teacher education graduate programs online may be perfect for you.
Graduate schools with Online Teacher Education Graduate Programs
What are Reasons for Pursuing Teacher Education Graduate Programs Online?
As you may already know, all states require teachers to hold a bachelor's degree in education (BLS). So, if you've already finished your undergraduate studies, why pursue further teacher education? There could be a few potential reasons:
- Your state requires continuing education: Requirements for teacher certification or licensure are different in every state. In some states, you may need to pursue ongoing education to keep your license. In that case, earning a teaching certificate online or pursuing online graduate courses for teachers could fit the bill! To be sure, check your state's requirements.
- Your state requires you to earn a masters degree in education: As mentioned before, all states have different requirements for earning and maintaining teaching certification and licensure. In some cases, teachers must earn a masters after attaining teacher certification. In other cases, students who wish to teach, but have earned a bachelor's degree in an area other than education, may need to pursue an alternative teacher certification program that results in a masters degree. Yes, it can be a bit confusing! Check with your state's department of educator for details. If you find you do need a masters degree, pursuing a masters of education online may be the way to go…especially for busy, working teachers.
- You hope to enhance your teaching skillset: After spending some time working as a teacher, you may recognize areas where you'd like to learn more. For example, do you wish you were better equipped to help ESL students, or are you interested in studying education technology that could help you deliver information to your students in new and engaging ways? Perhaps you could find online graduate courses for teachers that address your professional interests and challenges.
What are Types of Teacher Education Graduate Programs Online?
Whether you're considering teacher education graduate programs online or another path, it's important to identify the potential program that suits your individual goals! Here are some education graduate programs you may encounter:
Online masters programs in education: If you're thinking about earning a masters of education online, you may find a few different top degree types with slightly different but overlapping goals. For example, an M.Ed. in Education may be considered an applied degree that could have potential applications in fields other than teaching, whereas an M.A. or M.S. in Education may help you prepare to teach a particular subject. Of course, every program may have different areas of focus or intended outcomes, so read descriptions carefully. You may also be able to select an area of concentration, such as Special Education or Curriculum and Instruction.
Here's a sampling of just a few of the courses that may be found in online education masters programs:
- Best practices, theories and trends in curriculum and instruction
- The diverse classroom
- Instructional effectiveness
- School and community partnerships
- Educational research
- And more
And here are a few of the potential concentrations you may be able to find if you hope to pursue an online masters degree in education:
- English for Speakers of Other Languages
- Reading
- Mathematics
- Teacher Leadership
- Methods and Curriculum
- And more
Teaching certificate online: Another potential path may be to pursue a teacher certificate program. These are typically non-degree programs that may require you to pursue a series of online graduate courses for teachers. Such programs may be described as online teacher certification programs, intended to help teachers prepare to meet state requirements for certification. You may find online teacher certification programs in concentrations like pre-K through 4th education, secondary education, special education, reading specialist, instructional design, and much more.
Potential courses you may be able to take while earning a teaching certificate online include:
- Science teaching methods
- Early literacy
- Assessment
- Literacy and content skill development
- And others
Online educational doctorate programs: While earning a doctorate degree in education online may not be required for most teachers, this path may be necessary if you hope to teach at the college level (BLS). In fact, 90% of postsecondary education teachers earned a doctoral degree, while another 10% pursued post-doctoral training (O*Net). An online doctorate in education, such as an Ed.D, may also help candidates to prepare for challenges in educational leadership or research, among other areas.
Educational doctorate programs typically emphasize independent research and scholarship. However, other potential course topics you could pursue include:
- Multicultural education
- Education policy
- Contemporary problems in education
- Education research methodology
- And more
What are Potential Benefits to Pursuing Online Graduate Courses for Teachers?
Unsure whether earning a certificate, doctorate, or masters of education online is a good path for you? Online learning may be perfect for busy working professionals, like teachers, who may not have time to pursue their continuing education during traditional hours. Plus, online course delivery may make use of learning technology, like message boards and mobile devices, that could inspire you in your own classroom. And the best news? 90% of students say online classes are as good or better as their in-person classes! *
|Annual Mean Wage
|New York
|Metro Area
|Annual Mean Salary
|Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA
|Champaign-Urbana, IL
|Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
|New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
|Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
Take the Next Step
Ready to learn more about teacher education graduate programs online and teacher education courses that just might be perfect for you? Below, you'll find sponsored listings for educational paths, like online masters programs in education, online doctoral programs, and online teacher certification programs, that could help you pursue your goals. (Helpful hint: use the left sidebar to filter results by degree level.) When you find one that fits your needs, follow the link to contact the program directly. Best of luck preparing to be the best teacher you can be!
GradSchools.com offers 119 Graduate Schools with Online Teacher Education Graduate Programs
* Clinefelter, D. L. & Aslanian, C. B., (2016). Online college students 2016: Comprehensive data on demands and preferences. Louisville, KY: The Learning House, Inc.
National University
Grand Canyon University
Western Governors University
Regent University
Oregon State University
Northwestern State University of Louisiana
Anaheim University
Fordham University
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Shippensburg University
Antioch University New England
Nova Southeastern University


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Earlier this year, we learned that men greatly outnumbered women among Wikipedia editors. But now the site's article on men's rights has been through a controversial edit, and some men are calling Wikipedia "feminist propaganda."
The trouble seems to have began late last month, when editors, including one Kevin Gorman, began rewriting Wikipedia's Men's rights page. Gorman explained the rationale for his edits thus:
In general, I am going to be removing any section that does not have:
- at least one reliable source [...]
- at least one reliable source that explicitly connects the issue to men's rights [...]
- at least one reliable source talking about the issue that does not simply say that the issue is a concern for men's rights activist groups. [...]
I'm not going to be removing these completely, but will also be looking to repair:
- Any section where MRA positions are presented as mainstream positions, or sections where most of the section is talking about MRA positions [...]
- Any section that talks about issues that are specific to the global north that makes statements like "A primary concern about men's rights is..." [...]
Gorman and others removed a number of sections, leaving a men's rights article that, as of this writing, is more of a (partial) exploration of the general rights of men around the world than a description of men's rights activism. Men's rights activists, unsurprisingly, aren't happy. Says blogger Masculist Male in a post titled "Boycott Wikipedia," "The men's rights page has been altered to make MRA's the bad guys and to further the idea of female victim hood." And on Reddit, user Dude0987 says,
The truth should never be up for debate.
Feminists are thugs and can't win this debate with ideas.
The last group of thugs that famously trying to silence ideas was the catholic church.
When Galileo proved that gravity was not dependent on the mass of small objects near the earth he was silenced and banished.
We are divorced and ostricized.
By it's own admission, wikipedia facts are stricktly based on votes and so is completely political and not based on facts.
A dictionary not based on facts has a name....like Mein Kompf.....it's called propaganda. Feminist propagande.
Wikipedia has been comprimised and is now defunct in mens rights circles.....IMO. Guys boycot feminists propaganda, boycott wikipedia.
What's especially interesting about all this is that at least one men's rights activist — Masculist Male — explicitly links the edits to Wikipedia's efforts to be more inclusive of women. He links to a Wikimedia blog post that opens thus: "A key piece of Wikimedia's strategic plan is to close the gender gap by encouraging more women to participate in projects. One area where we already see progress is the Wikipedia Ambassadors program." Nearly half of these ambassadors are women, but the post actually emphasizes that they are not specifically focusing on women's issues: "They don't focus on being role models for female students. Instead, they try to ease all students into the joys of editing Wikipedia — and closing the gender gap is a nice side effect of their work." The post also quotes Ambassador Adrianne Wadewitz: "I would hope that I am providing a model for any new editor, not just women, and I would hope that I am contributing to making Wikipedia a professional and respectful environment." Or, as Masculist Male puts it, "sounds like the editors of wikipedia are man-hating dykes or self-hating dweebs."
Aside from Gorman, the gender of those who have edited the men's rights page isn't obvious (you don't have to list your gender or other personal characteristics to edit Wikipedia, perhaps in part to forestall attacks like the above). Gorman himself does appear to have worked with some of the Campus Ambassadors MM impugns above, but he doesn't seem to be one of them. And while the men's rights page is listed as part of WikiProject Gender Studies, that project has the fairly narrow goal of writing and improving "articles associated with gender studies, gender theories and gender issues (including feminism, masculism, and transgender issues)" and ensuring adherence to Wikipedia's policy of neutrality. It is not intended as a vehicle for "feminist propaganda" or propaganda of any other kind — its page reads, "This project is not a space for writing feminist, masculinist or LGBT critiques of society."
It's true that people coming to the "men's rights" page looking for information on men's rights activism may be disappointed or confused — Wikipedia might consider adding a disambiguation directing users to a page on MRAs. Such a page exists, in nascent form, under the title "Men's movement," but there's certainly room for expansion. Men's rights activism, however disturbing some of its proponents are, is a real movement deserving of (neutral, unbiased) coverage on Wikipedia. But this doesn't mean that efforts to root out biased or poorly sourced material are part of some sort of feminist conspiracy, or that attempts to close Wikipedia's gender gap are an evil matriarchal plan to take over the world's information. In fact, women in particular and rational people in general may be scared away from Wikipedia entirely if the most basic efforts to make the site "a professional and respectful environment" are recast as meddling by "dykes and dweebs."
Men's Rights [Wikipedia]
Boycott Wikipedia [Men's Rights Blog]
Image via Lonni/Shutterstock.com


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Peter Molyneux to cover E3 news with Spike TV
Peter Molyneux at E3
E3 is only a few weeks away, but Spike TV has announced that they will have Peter Molyneux as their guest host while covering everything related to the world's biggest gaming expo.
Peter Molyneux is the mind behind the popular Xbox franchise, Fable and has recently departed Microsoft to start his own indie studio. While his studio 22 Cans has yet to release any titles, Molyneux is definitely an industry giant. Paired with Geoff Keighley and Kotaku editors you can expect much smarter coverage of E3 this time around on Spike TV.
The live E3 analysis will begin on Monday, June 4 at 11:30 AM (ET)/ 8:30 AM (PT) and will cover the big Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA and Ubisoft press conferences to start, but since E3 will be going on till June 7th you can expect a large amount of quality content and quality analysis. Definitely worth watching for people that can't go to E3 and it will be interesting to see what Molyneux's view points will be now that he no longer has any ties to Microsoft.


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A Night With a Bigfoot Investigation Society
The Southeastern Ohio Bigfoot Investigation Society is committed to the quest for Bigfoot. But instead of finding the mythical beast, they might've stumbled onto something else entirely.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
I'm walking through the dark woods with three strangers. They're all carrying knives. A sliver of white moon hangs between the black, bare tree limbs. My dim headlamp barely illuminates the mossy trail. The man in front of me walks without a light, finding the path with his feet. The only noise is the sound of our feet shuffling through the dead leaves.
Behind us, the woman in our party stops. We pause and look back at her.
"Wait a sec," she says. "I'm gonna call."
She catches her breath for a moment. Then she leans back, cups her hand around her mouth, and releases a high-pitched wail that makes my toes curl inside my hiking boots. It echoes through the empty forest, over the lake and through the valley. The woods are silent for a moment. We listen.
"Not much activity tonight," she sighs. "Let's keep going."
Tonight I'm on a hike with three members of the Southeastern Ohio Bigfoot Investigation Society (that's SOSBI for short). With a whopping 228 sightings listed on an Internet database, Ohio has the third most Bigfoot sightings in the nation. According to some, the Ohio Bigfoot has been living in the area for centuries. He just doesn't want to be found.
In 2008, a small-but-eager group of "Bigfooters" founded SOSBI. For the past four years, the club has hosted monthly meetings at a public library in the small town of Cambridge. According to its Facebook page, SOSBI is an open forum created "to give everyone and anyone the chance to talk about Bigfoot without the fear of being made fun of or taunted."
When Animal Planet featured the group in a reality show called Hunting Bigfoot, the club saw a spike in popularity. Now the meetings draw up to 80 people from across the Midwest. This summer SOSBI started hosting group campouts in Salt Fork State Park. The 17,000 acres of dense forest in Salt Fork are perfect for concealing dreadlocked gorilla-men.
Seriously, though? Bigfoot? These meetings must just be an excuse for some weirdo redneck-types to venture out of their parents' basements for the night, was what I figured. So, in late September, I decided to find out.
When I arrived at the campground that night, I found a dozen or so men and women lounging in lawn chairs around a campfire. I'd expected a few skinny, acne-speckled teenage boys and maybe some shotgun-wielding folks in tinfoil hats. But these people looked…normal—a group of middle-aged men and women in blue jeans and lumpy sweatshirts. The men sported camouflage hunting hats, and the women had short frizzy hair. They looked more like volunteer firefighters than paranormal enthusiasts.
I sat down next to a man from Pittsburgh who offered me a cookie.
"I don't believe in Bigfoot; I just believe in Shawna's cookies," he chuckled, gesturing toward one of the women. "I just happened to be lost in the woods one day and come upon these people. And next thing you know, they start talking about hairy guys with big feet who live in the woods."
According to some, the Ohio Bigfoot has been living in the area for centuries. He just doesn't want to be found.
Then the self-proclaimed non-believer pulled out his phone and opened a photo album called "Evidence." He scrolled through 380 photos of log piles and bent trees, patiently explaining to me that Bigfoot likes vandalizing the forest shrubbery.
Tall tales and vague pseudo-science swirled around the campfire. I learned that the Sasquatch looks like a large, hairy man with a pronounced brow ridge. They can be three to 15 feet tall and come in any color. And yes, we can talk about Bigfoot in the plural. The Ohio Bigfoot population, someone told me, ranges from 30 to 300 individuals. But since they're migratory, there's no good season or area to spot one. They can be anywhere, at any time.
Just like bears, they spend their days foraging for berries, small animals, and sometimes even garbage. Just like deer, they peel the bark off trees in the winter. Like hippies, they stack rocks next to trailheads. Their eyes have the reflective membrane tapetum lucidum, the same thing that makes cats' eyes glow in the dark. They communicate with long, moaning howls that sound like ambulance sirens. They exude the fetid stench of sewage, urine, and dead animals. Oh, and they've never been found. They're too darn smart.
Here's what we really know: Bigfoot is rooted in folklore. Legends of humanoid creatures in the wilderness come from all over the world. There's the Yeti of the Himalayas, the Yowie in Australia, the Yeren of Mongolia, and a plethora of wild-man myths from native tribes in North America. Even Daniel Boone claimed to have shot and killed a 10-foot hairy man he called a Yahoo.
Historically, most of Bigfoot sightings are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest. In the 1920s, a Canadian journalist coined the term "Sasquatch" from the Halkomelem Indian word sásq'ets, the name for the tribe's version of Bigfoot. In 1924, five miners in Washington claimed to have been attacked by several "apemen" throwing rocks at their cabin. Later, one of the men wrote a book about the experience, in which he claimed that the creatures were mystical beings from another dimension. In 1958, a bulldozer operator found tracks at a worksite in Bluff Creek, California, and presented a plaster-casted replica of the footprints to a local newspaper. After his death, his children came forward with a pair of 16-inch wooden feet that he'd used to fake the tracks. In 1967—also in Bluff Creek—Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin captured the iconic film of Sasquatch tramping through the undergrowth. The most recent sighting was 2007—a Pennsylvanian hunter thought he'd caught an image of a creature with an automatically-triggered camera. Turns out it was probably a juvenile bear with mange, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
But there's been never been one conclusive piece of evidence. No real documented sightings. No captured individuals. No carcasses. Not even a stool sample.
In the book Anatomy of a Beast: Obsession and Myth on the Trail of Bigfoot, Micheal McLeod writes that the Bigfoot craze is "a silly slice of history…the first widely popularized example of pseudoscience in American culture." The fad reached its peak in the 1970s when self-identified "experts" started spouting theories to magazines and television networks. Real scientists, not wanting to get mixed up with the crazies, fled from the Bigfoot scene. Then, nobody was around to challenge what McLeod calls "junk science," and it was effectively legitimized in the minds of those who wanted it to be. Enthusiasts took heart; the beast couldn't be disproved! It had to exist.
Since then, groups of self-made Bigfoot "researchers" have sprung up all over the country. The oldest and largest is the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (or BFRO), which has maintained an online Bigfoot database since 1995. The website has a black background and glaring white font proclaiming the legitimacy of their research. The BFRO claims to be a non-profit organization, but they've taken some flack for their steep membership fees and their affiliation with the star of Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot, the aptly-named Matt Moneymaker. The members of the Ohio group were glad that they only had to pay $10 to camp at Salt Fork, contrasted with the $500 Moneymaker required to join one of his nighttime stakeouts.
Around the campfire, everyone was eager to pull out their favorite monster story. One person had an elderly neighbor with a Bigfoot-infested barn. Another guy's friend saw it cavorting in his garden. He had the footprints casted in plaster as proof. Someone else had been followed by the animal while on a hunting trip. The listeners nodded, then butted in to tack on extra details to the end of each yarn.
"There's a lot of bullshittin' around here," boomed a pot-bellied man, slapping his knee. "But there's a lot of fact-finding too. When most people say something, it's true."
What does that even mean? I wanted to shout. Do you people really think there's a giant gorilla man sneaking around rural Ohio? Seriously?
But they kept offering me cookies, calling me "honey," and showing me pixilated photos of dark shrubbery. They told me about the teasing they'd endured from their coworkers and families and how grateful they all were to have made friends in SOSBI. Everybody was so sweet and earnest. I didn't want to ruin their campout, slapping them in the face with questions. Instead, I stayed pinned to my camp chair and gazed into the crackling fire.
Here's what we really know: Bigfoot is rooted in folklore. Legends of humanoid creatures in the wilderness come from all over the world.
The next morning, I met Nancy and Bernie, a middle-aged couple from West Virginia. Nancy was bubbly and enthusiastic. She looked like a woman who could belong to my mother's book club. Bernie was a stocky man with a silver crew cut and square glasses. He shied away from my handheld recorder. They asked me not to use their last name in order to save Bernie from workplace ridicule.
The couple first saw Bigfoot in 2009, Nancy said. They were driving through Salt Fork in the daytime when they passed a huge, hairy figure standing against a tree on the side of the road. By the time they managed to turn the car around, it was gone. But they were sure of what they'd seen—it was a Sasquatch. After that, they were hooked, and they wanted to see it again.
Nancy invited me to go on a nighttime hike. They promised to take me to the best Bigfoot hotspots in the park. And that's how I found myself wandering through Salt Fork late on a Saturday night.
Back at the trailhead, we'd met up with another Bigfooter named Todd, a tall, bespectacled Hummer-driver in camo pants. He'd rigged up his other car, a GMC Jimmy, with ultra-bright spotting lights on the roof in case he startles a Bigfoot out on the road.
Nancy puffed on her inhaler, Bernie shoved his "Bigfoot kit" (plaster for footprint casting, a stick of beef jerky, and an audio recorder) into his backpack, and Todd handed out flashlights to everyone. Then we set off down the trail.
For the past two hours, Bernie has led us down miles of dark trails. We've walked to the historic stone house by the lake, to the spot where Bernie and Nancy had their sighting, to the entrance of the caves that have the most nightly Bigfoot activity. We've taken so many turns; I have no idea where I am.
Every once in a while, we stop so Nancy or Todd can shriek and shout gibberish into the forest. That's how they communicate with any creatures that might be nearby. They encourage me to try it; Bigfoot is attracted to female voices. I let out a weak yelp. Nancy smiles proudly. I blush and laugh nervously, feeling totally ridiculous. Are they trying to prove something to me here? It's really not working.
We continue tramping through the undergrowth. Todd has been talking about paranormal activity for the past half-hour. His girlfriends, he says, have never really been into Bigfoot or ghosts. He's single at the moment. He pauses. "You know," he says to Bernie, "you guys are lucky to have each other to do this with. It's good to have anyone to go on these hikes with—especially someone like a mate."
Bernie smiles.
Half-an-hour later, the trees finally thin out and we emerge onto a moonlit road. Nancy shakes her head. "I really wanted you to have some activity," she says to me. "Did we convince you?" I shrug. I don't have the heart to tell her no.
The road curves into a long hill. Nancy and Todd fall back; Bernie and I power ahead.
Bernie is more talkative tonight than he was at the campout. I learn that he's an ex-army guy who used to be stationed in Germany. He and Nancy moved back to Ohio to start a family. As we tramp alone up the hill, he opens up about his and Nancy's experience with the Bigfoot community.
In 2009, Nancy hated her job, even though she was making good money. She was working at a bar. Bernie had been laid off, so he spent most of his time drinking at that bar. He was exhausted and unhappy. Then they had their sighting, and things finally started looking up. Bernie finally found a new job. Now he and Nancy drive to Salt Fork and hike on his days off. They come two or three days a week, even in the winter. They're out of the house so much that they've canceled their Internet and cable plans.
"We're probably never going to see it again," he says, resigned. "But it's been good. We've met so many people that we never would've met any other way. I wouldn't be here talking to you right now if it weren't for Bigfoot."
Everything Bernie says is true—because it happened. Bernie and the rest of the Bigfooters seem like genuinely nice people. More than that—they're genuinely people, just people who happen to spend their free time chasing after a mythological forest-beast. Are they delusional? Sure. The statistics—zero documented sightings, ever—might suggest so. But they also care deeply about what they do. When I asked questions about their research, they bubbled over with enthusiasm, offering me documents and photographs and DVDs of their findings. They invited me to their meetings and let me borrow flashlights and camp chairs. And they seriously wanted for me to have an "experience" of my own to report to the world. Whether or not they've actually seen anything or had their own "experiences," doesn't really seem to matter.
We pause at the top of the hill to wait for Nancy and Todd.
When we reach the parking lot back at the trailhead, Nancy opens a bottle of wine and Bernie throws a few logs into the fire pit. Todd pulls a cooler out of the Hummer and offers me a bottle of cold water.
Nancy's beaming with happiness that I tagged along on the hike. She wishes me luck and invites me back any time. Todd offers to carpool with me. I grin but decline.
"Call us when you're back safe!" Nancy calls as I drive away. "If you hit a Sasquatch, make sure you bring it back so we can show Bernie's mother-in-law it's real!"
I smile and wave. Back at home, I pull out my phone and text Bernie: Back safe. No Squatch. Thanks! Maybe it's not the trail of Bigfoot, but these people are on to something.


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Paris , Calangute, Goa, India
Show on Map
Paris With Disneyland tour package is a well planned 4 nights and 5 days itinerary that lets you explore Paris to the fullest. The tour will take you to iconic buildings like Eiffel Tower , a prominent attraction to be watched while in Paris. Enjoy a visit to the various structures build during the Napoleonic era for understanding the rich culture and history of the city. Close up with your favorite Disney Characters along with enjoying various fun and entertaining rides. While on the tour of Disneyland Paris, spend some time behind the scenes of your favorite Disney films at the Walt Disney Studio Park. Enjoy a romantic dinner at the Champs Elysees while you are kept entertained by the impressive performance of Bluebell Girls and the Lido Boy Dancers at the Lido Show.
Note: This is just a suggested itinerary indicative of what could be possible. We customize holidays for your specific needs. Contact us if you want modifications so that we could customize a holiday to suit your need for an unforgettable International tour.
Paris With Disneyland Tour Package Itinerary
Day 1 :
On arriving at the Paris airport, meet our representative who'll escort you to one of our listed hotels. Check-in at the hotel. Spend the day relaxing in the comfortable surroundings of the hotel room. In the evening you may take a leisurely walk to explore Paris, the romantic capital of the world. Experience an unforgettable evening by attending the Lido Show, the famous French cabaret located in the Champs Elysee. A major attraction of the show is to witness an impressive performance of Bluebell Girls and the Lido Boy Dancers. Later return to the hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 2 :
Paris: Panoramic City Tour-
On the following day after breakfast, embark on a sightseeing tour of Paris. The tour will start with a visit to some of the beautiful Napoleonic era structures followed by a visit to the Champs eleysees. This vast lawn features a wide walking path and the borders of the park are lined with a variety of trees and flowering shrubs. Eiffel Tower, one of the most famous icons of Paris is a prominent attraction to be watched. It is famed to be the tallest building present in Paris. Later in the day you may pay a visit to the Musee de Louvre, originally a royal fortress which was converted into the museum which houses more 35,000 works of art. It is an ideal place to learn and enjoy great Symposia, films, readings and concerts in the auditorium present in the museum. Drive past the Louvre Museum. Also pay a visit to Place Vendôme, Cathedral of Notre Dame and Comédie Française. In the evening return to the hotel for enjoying a lavish dinner and a comfortable overnight stay.
Day 3 :
Paris: Disneyland
The 3rd day of the tour is reserved for a full day excursion to Disneyland. The day is sure to be full of fun, entertainment and adventure. There are numerous rides present in the Disney Park, to make you feel the adrenaline rush under your skin. Also enjoy a visit to the beautiful Walt Disney Studio Park where you can enjoy the sight of various stunt shows and also enjoy watching a film being shot. It will surely delight you to watch the real-life sets where famous movies were created. Enjoy dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.
Day 4 :
Post breakfast today the day is free for leisure activities. You may move out to explore Paris on your own. During the tour you will find ornate and elegant architecture at every turn. It is impressive to see how these striking landmarks are connected and aligned through wide boulevards and open spaces offering magnificent views. After exploring Paris, the "City of Lights" return to the hotel for enjoying a sumptuous lip smacking dinner a dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.
Depart Paris-
In the morning after breakfast, get transferred to Paris CDG airport on SIC basis to board a flight for your onward destination.
4 Nights 5 Days Paris With Disneyland…
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Days : 5 | Nights : 4 | Hours : 0
Please Note : Once review added cannot be deleted or updated


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The Machinery Directive applies for machinery that has been placed on the market since 1995. The Machinery Directive specifies the requirements of a machine.
A risk assessment is required for the machine, among other things.
The risk assessment should state the hazards emanating from the machine, any risk reducing measures, the limits of the machinery and its intended use, for example.
This assessment will determine the requirements of the machine's working environment and any need for an operator to be on-site.
Machines that were placed on the market prior to 1995 must at least comply with Annex 1 of the BetrSichV.
Annex 1 stipulates the minimum requirements for work equipment.


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America is a nation founded in major part by refugees to whom religious expression was important enough to risk the perils of an ocean voyage and brave the challenges of frontier life. Freedom of religion is enshrined in two clauses of the First Amendment, which promote both its free exercise and protect against the establishment of any particular belief system as a state religion. So it is unsurprising that religion continues to play a major role in American life, including politics.
With some trepidation, I'd like to consider with you three aspects of religion in politics, one each over the next three blog entries: first, religion and the candidate, then religion and domestic policies, and finally religion in a global diplomacy context. I'm guessing that the views of this readership vary across a broad spectrum and I'm also hoping they can be expressed here in a reasonable manner that befits the lofty topic (I would add "praying," too, but I suspect the Deity has better things to do).
My own awareness of religion-and-the-candidate dates from the 1960 presidential campaign (yeah, yeah you kids get off my lawn), in which JFK's Catholicism was a front-and-center issue. So deep was the concern that he took the initiative and entered a Lion's Den of Texas clergymen. In a masterful speech (written by Ted Sorensen, a Unitarian by faith), he declared " I want a chief executive whose public acts are responsible to all groups and obligated to none; ? and whose fulfillment of his presidential oath is not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation.
This is the kind of America I believe in, and this is the kind I fought for in the South Pacific, and the kind my brother died for in Europe. No one suggested then that we may have a 'divided loyalty?'"
JFK's point was that his religion would not interfere with his judgment of those policies he'd advocate as good for the general populace. Similarly, candidate Obama was whispered to be a secret Muslim, and also faced a worry in some quarters over caustic views espoused by the minister of his Chicago church. Did then-Senator Obama's attendance at that church suggest that he subscribed to his preacher's theology?
Current GOP candidates Romney and Huntsman are Mormons, and subject to similar suspicions a recent poll indicated that a quarter of Republicans would not vote for a member of the LDS church, on that basis. That's a big chunk of the party base that is apparently closed to their campaigns.
Those instances of candidates on the defensive vary dramatically from the approaches of other Presidential aspirants. Candidates Bachmann and Perry are playing offense with their evangelical religious beliefs they wear their faith on their sleeves. Governor Perry recently led a prayer service for America in a Houston football stadium (thus combining two defining elements of Texas life), and Representative Bachmann routinely declares to the faithful that her faith will inform her Presidency in fundamental ways.
Now, all candidates have values (let's assume), and those principles influence their policies. How important are those candidates' religions as markers of their policy preferences? Do you think their faith Really makes a difference at "crunch time?" Would you vote for, or against anyone primarily on the basis of his-or-her stated religion? Would it matter if that religion was Buddhist, or Muslim -- or Atheist? Are you comfortable with a candidate founding her/his campaign appeal significantly on Faith?
'Tis the presidential campaign season, already -- I invite your thoughts on these subjects.


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2015 Dodge Challenger SXT
Retail $16,995
5-Speed Automatic
City 19/Hwy 30 Estimated By E.P.A. - Actual Mileage May Vary
Dealership Information
Mid-Illini Auto Center
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Visit Mid-Illini Auto Center online at www.midilliniautocenter.com for more pictures and details of this vehicle or call us at 309-642-6750 today to schedule your test drive.
- ABS Brakes
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Throughout history, churches have often served as repositories of art. Such is the case with Peace Lutheran in Danville. Each year it hosts several concerts in the Jazz at Peace series, and the sanctuary has been converted into a gallery for a variety of exhibits.
Now, thanks to Pastor Steve Harms; Music Minister Gary Sponholtz; Webmaster Dabbie Bowron; and resident curator, artist, and my associate Bill Carmel, I am having a month-long exhibit at the church. Hanging in the sanctuary is a giant trAction Painting I completed by transforming bikes, skates, and a walker into ?brushes? (special thanks to Gary and Bill for suspending it). Also on display are a small painting and some tools of the trade.
Peace has also invited me to be part of the concert on Sunday, February 9. On the program is singer Tiffany Austin, backed by the Marcus Shelby Trio. I will be available to discuss my work at a reception following the concert, which starts at 5:00 P.M. Featured at the reception will be Noci Bella fine organic chocolate.
Peace Lutheran is located at 3201 Camino Tassajara, Danville, CA. www.peacejourney.org.


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Statement of the Supreme Court of South Carolina Regarding the ABA
Consultation Team's Reports on the South Carolina
Lawyer and Judicial Disciplinary Systems
At the request of the Supreme Court of South Carolina, a consultation team sponsored by the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Professional Discipline conducted an in-depth review of the lawyer and judicial disciplinary systems in South Carolina. In addition to reviewing rules, annual reports and other documentation, this eminently qualified team conducted extensive on-site interviews with personnel within the Office of Disciplinary Counsel; the Office of the Attorney General; members of the Commission on Lawyer Conduct and Commission on Judicial Conduct; respondents and their counsel; complainants; and members of the legislature. Additionally, they met with the leadership of the South Carolina Bar and with the members of this Court.
The Court is delighted to announce that it has received and reviewed the reports prepared by the ABA consultation team, and it is extremely grateful for the recommendations made by the team. They reflect the highly professional and thoughtful approach which the team applied to its review of our lawyer and judicial disciplinary systems. Links to these reports appear below.
As the team recognized in its reports, this Court is fully committed to improving and modernizing our lawyer and judicial disciplinary systems. We can assure the bench, bar and public that we will fully consider the recommendations suggested by the team.
One of the recommendations made by the team is already being implemented. In the report on the lawyer disciplinary system, the team recommended additional formal training for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Further, in the report on the judicial disciplinary system, the team recommended that the members of the Commission on Judicial Conduct receive additional formal training.
Commission Counsel and Disciplinary Counsel have worked to implement a yearly training program for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the Commission on Lawyer Conduct and the Commission on Judicial Conduct. A full day of mandatory training has been scheduled for October. Additionally, it plans to develop a training video and comprehensive written materials for new Commission members. Further, renewed emphasis will be placed on involving the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Commission Counsel and the Commission members in national professional responsibility organizations and programs.
While most of the changes recommended by the team do not involve significant changes to our disciplinary process or the protections afforded to the parties in disciplinary matters, several recommendations are significant and will require further study and consideration by this Court. To assist this Court in the review of these recommendations, the Court has decided to request written comments on these recommendations. A link to this request for written comments appears below.
The Court wishes to again express its sincere appreciation to the ABA Standing Committee on Professional Discipline for its willingness to assist the Court in conducting an independent review of our lawyer and judicial disciplinary systems. We are confident that its involvement will allow this Court to further improve and streamline our disciplinary rules while maintaining procedural protections for both respondents and complainants, and increasing public confidence in these systems.
ABA Report on the Lawyer Regulation System
ABA Report on the Judicial Regulation System
Request for Written Comments on ABA Consultation Team's Recommendations Regarding the South Carolina Lawyer and Judicial Disciplinary Systems


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Home Page Chess Life Online 2012 December Cautious Start to World Championship in Moscow
|Cautious Start to World Championship in Moscow
|By GM Ian Rogers
|May 13, 2012
After 27 years, the World Championship match has returned to Moscow.
Instead of Karpov and Kasparov battling it out in the Hall of Columns, the home of the Soviet Union's Communist Party Congresses, in 2012 it is India's Viswanathan Anand and Israel's Boris Gelfand who are fighting for world supremacy at the home of Russian art, the Tretyakov Gallery.
Instead of the 1985 prize fund of 72,000 roubles, Anand and Gelfand are playing for $US2.55m.
When Kasparov and Karpov competed for the crown in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev had just become leader of the USSR and his reforms set the stage for the dissolution of the Soviet Union 6 years later.
By 2012, Mikhail Gorbachev has become an elder statesman, signing autographs at the opening ceremony while present as patron of FIDE's Chess In Schools project.
Anatoly Karpov was another guest at the opening ceremony, held in the magnificent Vrubel Hall at the Tretyakov Gallery. Karpov gave plenty of interviews talking about the good old days, but the man with whom he is forever twinned and who took his title in 1985, Garry Kasparov, was not. (Hopes were expressed that Kasparov would attend later in the match and even enjoy a cameo with the commentators.)
At the opening press conference Gelfand expressed his hope that the players could produce games worthy of the works of art at the Tretyakov. Unfortunately those hopes have not yet been realised.
In contrast to the ultra-voiolence seen so far at the US Championships, the world title match running concurrently has been a quiet affair.
After two games of the 12 game contest, the score is tied at 1-1, after two draws. The underdog Gelfand has already shown that he has come to the title match very well prepared and has given Anand no chances.
Gelfand will be pleased with the current score but knows that he cannot relax. In 2008, Anand's title match against Vladimir Kramnik also started cautiously with two draws but the Indian then broke the shackles with three wins from the next four games to effectively end the contest.
Anand is not relying on history, saying "Every match has its own story or trend and we will have to see how this one develops."
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3
The Grunfeld Defence - a system which Gelfand had never used in a serious game. "You expect to be surprised," admitted Anand. "I had taken a look at [the Grunfeld opening] but it was difficult to expect since I can't remember a single game with the Grunfeld by Boris."
4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Bb5+!? Nc6 1.55 9.d5!? 1.55
This is Anand's idea, one that had long been dismissed as innocuous.
9...Qa5! 1.39 10.Rb1 a6 11.Bxc6+ bxc6 12.0–0 Qxa2!?
Typical Gelfand. 12...0-0 is safer but after long thought he could find nothing wrong with the text move.
13.Rb2 1.44 13...Qa5 1.06 14.d6!? 1.18
14.Bg5 is also promising but the text move sets a sophisticated trap.
14...Ra7! 1.03 15.Bg5 1.10
15...exd6! 0.58
The pundits in the press room, were wondering why Black did not play 15...f6? until they found the stunning refutation 16.Rb8! 0–0 17.Qb3+! Kh8 (17...c4 is no better due to 18.Qxc4+ Kh8 19.Be3 Rd7 20.dxe7 Rxe7 21.Bc5) 18.Ne5!!
when Black is helpless, e.g. 18...fxg5 19.Nf7+ Kg8 20.Nh6+ Kh8 21.Qg8+!! Rxg8 22.Nf7# with a classic smothered checkmate.
16.Qxd6 Rd7 17.Qxc6 Qc7! 18.Qxc7 Rxc7 19.Bf4
"Once the queens were swapped I had to be exact," said Anand.
19...Rb7 0.43 20.Rc2 0.56 0–0 21.Bd6 Re8 22.Nd2 f5 23.f3 fxe4 0.16
"Of course 23...Bd7 is the critical test," said Gelfand, "but after 24.Rfc1! [preempting 24...Ba4], I couldn't see anything."
24.Nxe4 Bf5
Draw Agreed
"The computer assessment of the position is probably –0.15 but after the exchange [on e4] hardly anything could be done," Gelfand explained.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6
The Chebanenko Slav has never previously been part of Anand's repertoire but Gelfand has had plenty of experience playing against it.
6.c5 and; 6.Qc2 have also been tried by Gelfand here.
6...Bb4 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 0–0 9.0–0 Bd6 10.Rc1 1.39
Not especially testing for Black. In three previous games from this position, Gelfand had chosen 10.Qc2.
10...e5 1.52 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4 1.30
12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 is supposed to be fine for Black, despite – or perhaps partly because of the isolated pawn.
12...dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4
14...Nf6! 15.dxe5
Played after half an hour's thought. "This was a very critical moment in the game," explained Gelfand. "There were two options – either dxe5 or Bg5."
15...Nxe4 16.exd6 Qxd6 1.37 17.Be3 Bf5!
"Originally the position after 17.Be3 was thought to be better for White," said Anand, "but we checked this and found that ...Bf5 is exact."
18.Qxd6 Nxd6 19.Nd4 Rfe8!
"Giving up the bishop was a very good decision," said Gelfand.
20.Nxf5 0.34
20.Bf4 Re4 would be an immediate draw.
20...Nxf5 21.Bc5
"When he played this I briefly thought that this might be unpleasant," said Anand, "but very soon I realised that White cannot use the advantage of bishop versus knight in any way."
21...h5 22.Rfd1 Rac8 23.Kf1 f6 24.Bb4 Kh7 0.55 25.Rc5 0.17
Draw Agreed
"Black has found a clever way to bring his king into the game and mobilize all his pieces," explained Gelfand. "I tried but I couldn't find the slightest idea how to give him any problems.
Find more information on the official site and look for further CLO coverage by GM Ian Rogers as the tournament progresses.


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Microsoft betting Skype keeps it ahead of Google, Apple
For the $8.5 billion acquisition to work, Microsoft doesn't need to make more money off Skype. It just needs to make sure that its existing products are better than offerings from rivals.
Here's why Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype makes sense: Microsoft, still a laggard on the Internet, has landed one of the most popular brands on the Web with a deeply engaged base of users. And it can bake Skype's widely used technology into its communications products, making them better.
At least, that's the bet. Microsoft says Skype has more than 170 million connected users. According to a regulatory filing, Skype claims its users made 207 billion minutes of voice and video calls last year. Microsoft wants to capitalize on that loyalty, putting Skype technology into various products, hoping that it can spin Skype's users into other Microsoft products.
"The Skype brand is a verb," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said at a press event in San Francisco this morning, several hours after the acquisition plans were announced. (And just as the keynote address at the Google I/O developer conference was about to get started just a few blocks away.)
There are plenty of questions about whether paying $8.5 billion makes sense. But for Microsoft, which at the end of the most recent quarter reported that it was sitting on $50 billion in cash, it's not really the right question. Microsoft has poured billions of dollars into businesses over the years to find new markets. Some are starting to pay off, such as its Xbox video game business. And others are still a long way away from making money, such as its online services division.
Related links
• Rob Glaser's SocialEyes: Facebook-connected videophone
• What Apple's FaceTime app means for Skype
• Skype-Facebook: Like peanut butter and chocolate?
For Microsoft, the question is whether Skype allows it to get ahead of rivals, particularly Google and Apple, in key consumer market. Skype offers that potential.
"Today's announcement underscores who we are as a company," Ballmer said in an e-mail to employees. "We are ambitious and forward looking. We have big goals and aspirations. And when we look into the world and see opportunities to do more with technology, we'll drive toward them and keep pushing."
The regulatory filing, which Skype sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission in advance of an initial public offering that won't happen now, said that the company lost $7 million on $850 million in net revenue in 2010. And earnings before interest and taxes, a measure growing companies use to view profits, was $246 million for the year. In just the most recent quarter, Microsoft posted $5.7 billion in operating income.
But Microsoft doesn't have to turn Skype into a standalone profit center. It has businesses that can be improved by baking Skype technology into them. At least, that's the bet. Microsoft can add Skype to a portfolio of real-time communications products, that include Outlook, Messenger, Hotmail, Xbox Live and Lync. And it can add Skype into Windows Phone.
"We dream about building experiences that aren't limited by distance and device," Ballmer said at the San Francisco event, speaking about things like distance learning and family gatherings via video. "Microsoft and Skype together will define this future and what it looks like."
Ballmer talked about a recent conference at his son's school, and how he battled traffic to get there in time. As he was racing there, he thought about the camera that was inevitably on a computer in the school and its wireless network. He could have done the meeting from his office. "There's a better way to do these things," Ballmer said.
Just as important, Microsoft can try to sell Skype users on other Microsoft products, connecting them to one another through products such as Outlook. The deal has the potential of making Microsoft's existing communications products more valuable. It also could give those customers less of a reason to use rival technology from Google and Apple.
Microsoft plans to bake Skype's technology into a variety of products--everything from its Lync unified communications software to its Kinect motion-sensing device for the Xbox. As widely used as Skype is, Microsoft thinks it can build an even bigger base of customers. Microsoft can help push Skype into everything from business meetings to distance learning to family get-togethers. "We want to extend the reach of Skype," Ballmer said.
And it has a bit of history in weaving acquired technology into existing businesses. In 2007, Microsoft acquired speech recognition company Tellme Networks for $800 million. It currently uses that technology to let users search the Web with Bing by speaking a query into their mobile phone. Kinect uses Tellme technology to let gamers control their Xbox with voice commands.
That's why Ballmer gushed that the deal is "much more than the sum of its parts."
And it's why Microsoft is willing to shell out more than it's ever paid for an acquisition. (It's $6 billion deal for Aquantive is now ranked number two.) Unlike Skype's previous owner, eBay, Microsoft actually has some synergy with the company. Its real challenge won't be making money from Skype. It will be figuring out how to use Skype to make Microsoft's products better.
Updates at 9:12 a.m. and 10:12 a.m. PT: Added comments from Ballmer at the San Francisco event, along with a photo of Ballmer and Skype's Tony Bates.


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Tell Me When It's Over is an interview series in which we ask former athletes about the moment they knew their playing days were over. Today: Mike Marshall, the rubber-armed screwballer who won the 1974 National League Cy Young Award and who now believes his unconventional methods could eradicate pitching-arm injuries.
Marshall is a career baseball outcast. As a player, he developed a reputation for being too smart (and maybe too union) for his own good. As a pitching coach, he and his ideas—he advocates an awkward-looking upright pitching motion that even his students describe as throwing "like a girl"—have been likewise relegated to the sport's margins.
No one denies that his credentials are impeccable: doctorate in exercise physiology, 14-year major-league career, three-time league leader in saves, four-time league leader in appearances, five-team league leader in games finished, three Fireman of the Year awards, two All-Star selections, the Cy Young, and two major-league records—106 pitching appearances in a single season (1974) and 13 straight appearances that same year—that are almost certain to last forever (or at least, he might say, until people start listening to Dr. Marshall). But the baseball establishment, despite teams' heavy investments in pitchers who year after year throw fewer and fewer innings, wants nothing to do with Marshall. Occasionally, the feeling seems mutual.
Mike Marshall pitched for nine different clubs—the Tigers, Pilots, Astros, Expos, Dodgers, Braves, Rangers, Twins and Mets—over his career. He pitched his last major-league game against the Expos on Oct. 2, 1981. He recently closed his Pitchers Research/Training Center in Zephyrhills, Fla., but he continues to share his ideas about pitching through his website, drmikemarshall.com.
* * *
When I was 11 years old I was going with my uncle to Eastern Michigan University, up to Ypsilanti, basically. We were going on a back road, and there was an unmarked railroad crossing, and he just drove into the crossing, all of a sudden. There were trees on each side of the road, but he did see, out of the corner of his eye, this train coming. He tried to hit the brakes, but it was early morning, the road was still damp from the dew, and he skidded and hit the train sideways, just behind the engine, with the driver's side door impacting the train. Of course, it threw the door open, and he went out, and somehow I stayed inside. My vague recollection—what I can remember as an 11-year old—is that he grabbed and pushed me under the dashboard. There were no such things as seat belts at that time. And so he was killed and my back was severely injured.
I figured this out relatively quickly: I needed to stand straight up. I needed to not bend forward at my waist. And if you take a look at my pitching style, I stayed as straight up as I could. I didn't raise my pitching leg high above my body or follow through with my cap touching the ground or anything like that. I stayed pretty much straight up. Now my first year in the major leagues with the Tigers, my motion was not that dramatically upright because the back wasn't that big of a problem. But as I got into pitching more frequently it started to get bad again.
I could not sustain bending forward and trying to field. It got to where I couldn't put my glove on the ground. [Chuckles] Not much of a shortstop if you can't put your glove on the ground.
So it pretty much was a lost cause to continue to try to play shortstop. I loved it. I loved the hitting. I loved the base running. It's just my back would not allow me to do it. Had I not had that accident I think there's a good chance that I'd have continued as a shortstop. But after the '64 season, when I was an All-Star shortstop for Chattanooga in the Southern League, at the end of the season, I couldn't bend over. I could barely swing a bat, and I said, "OK, I'm coming back next year as a pitcher, just to make enough money to finish my bachelor's degree and get my master's degree started." Then I was going to go into high school coaching somewhere. At least I hoped.
* * *
I was an early maturer. When I was 12 years old I was probably biologically 14 years old. I was the second-tallest in sixth grade, and then by the time I was in senior high school I was the shortest guy. You know, I matured and finished my growth spurt early, and so I had more skills, more speed and so on, than most kids my age. My father played fast-pitch softball and some baseball. He was a great fielding first basemen. So he took time with me to work on fielding. He hit ground balls and all that. And I loved playing the infield. I loved trying to make plays on balls that you shouldn't be able to make.
Early on, I knew that I wanted to play professional baseball. And I did get an opportunity right out of high school. Of course, it was mainly because they could finance my college degree that I accepted the signing bonus.
Managers knew I had options. Everybody knew I had options. And it's hard to bully a guy who has options.
My mother said at 5 years old I told her I was going to play professional baseball. She didn't even know what that was, but she said "That's good, dear" [laughs]. You know how moms are. But also, very early on, I fell in love with science. I found science, at all levels, very intriguing, and I wanted to know more. I was insatiable about the science courses I took. Certainly when I got into college, my mind just went, "Whoa, what is all of this stuff?" And when I hit the kinesiology course, my life came into focus. I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I did that. It was that big of an impact on me. I wanted to learn everything I possibly could that had to do with kinesiology, which includes just about everything because you have applied anatomy—that's the huge part of kinesiology, the human movement. You have to understand what muscles and how they do it and where. And then motor-skill acquisition. And all of these courses just sort of came together and brought this collage of information from everywhere in the sciences into my passion. I wanted to know everything I possibly could. And I never, ever would have made Major League Baseball had it not been for taking that course. I was doing what my coaches were telling me, and as soon I started getting into Newton's three laws of motion and applied anatomy, I realized that everything that they were teaching is absolutely wrong. And so I started doing it per the science. Had I not done what I'm telling others to do, I never would have been able to accomplish what I accomplished.
I came to Michigan State University wanting to be a football, basketball, and baseball coach in high school. That was the extent of what I wanted my education to be. I wanted to play professional baseball to see what I could be. I didn't consider myself highly gifted. I mean, I could run well. I could throw well. I didn't believe I hit all that well, and though my dad helped me with my defense I didn't feel that I had the same fielding abilities that I saw many other shortstops display. I'd watch them and say, "I wish I could do that." It wasn't until I got into the kinesiology course that I started to see and broadened my skill set. And, of course, by that point, my back had said: "OK, that's enough of this. It's time to go into pitching."
I am an anatomy nerd. I will not say "lat" if I can say "Latissimus Dorsi." I'll not say "pec"; I'll say "Pectoralis Major." I just can't baby-talk to people.
* * *
Reality sets in pretty quickly when you get into the high school years and now you're playing against other mature people who are the same biological age as you. And then you go into pro ball and you see everybody who's genetically superior to you when you go to spring training. So the reality set in for me. And I tried to do the best I could, but until I hit '64—and I signed in 1960—the first few years of '61, '62, and '63, I did OK. I was fine, but fine doesn't make it to the major leagues. When I hit kinesiology, I felt that I was now going to start doing something meaningful as a shortstop and a hitter. My problem was my back just wasn't going to let me do it. It just flat out said, "No, it's not going to happen." I mean, I'd play hard one night and then I wouldn't be able to bend over and touch my toes the next night. Eventually I had to have the surgery. But that didn't close it for the pitching.
I feel that I spent 14 years being better than I ever thought I could be. You know the song, right? "For one moment in time to be better than you think you could be?" I was, for 14 years. I couldn't believe that I was that good of a baseball pitcher. I never expected I was going to be that good. When I started my research and started to do the things that I felt were right, that the traditional pitching coaches said were wrong, I had no idea where it was going to lead me. I just knew that I had to trust science. And it was between '71 and '72 that I figured out how to apply Newton's first law to my baseball pitching motion, and how pronation could enable me to throw pitches of higher quality. That just opened me up. I was then a pitcher who had answers for everybody. And I never took a day off.
I jogged this morning. I've jogged every day of my life that I could stand upright. Since 1965, I think it was. I've become obsessed with making sure that I have a lifestyle that's healthy. Fitness enabled me to pitch 106 games—and I feel I could have pitched more. I feel I could have easily pitched a single inning in every single game, maybe more. I never got stiff, sore, or tired. Never did not have an answer. That doesn't mean that hitters didn't surprise me. They do that. They're intelligent beings. They can hit just about any pitch that they've seen. Nobody can throw a pitch that is so good that you can throw it over and over and over again to a quality major-league hitter and not have them hit it hard. But I was never concerned that I couldn't get anybody out. It was a matter of reading his intent and doing what he didn't want me to do.
* * *
I was that smart-ass college kid, you know.
You did not get any respect for your education within baseball. In fact, you were considered a danger. That you could actually understand what they're saying was bullshit: They didn't like that too much. I wasn't an accepting kind of person. They'd tell me what to do, and I would say, "What? That makes no sense whatsoever. And I want to talk to you about Sir Isaac Newton." You know, it was not easy for them. One of my favorite managers, Jack Tighe, he'd come out and he'd say: "Listen. I'm just going to tell you what I think. If there's anything in what I say that you think will work for you, please use it." That's it. He knew that I loved baseball and that I was giving to all my teammates in any way that I could to help them and the team, and he was gracious enough to not get upset if somebody came up to me and asked about this or that and I answered it. He didn't get bothered by it. But there were others who did—other managers, minor league level and major-league level, who did not want me talking to anybody. In fact, they used that as a reason why they had to get rid of me: My ideas were seeping into other players, and that just couldn't happen.
I think what it was was they knew I had options. Everybody knew I had options. And it's hard to bully a guy who has options.
I'd been to the big leagues in '67. This was '70. So I'd been to the big leagues with Detroit and the Seattle team, the Pilots. But the Houston team didn't appreciate a lot of what I was doing. You know, "We want you to do the Exer-Genie. We want you to run the mile for time." And they just had a whole list of things that were counterproductive. And I said: "Not trying to tell you what to do here, but I'm not going to do any of those things. They don't help me pitch. They will cause problems, and I'm not going to do it." Now the pitching coach was watching me throw every day, and he was just extremely excited about what I was doing. And so I came in after the game and the pitching coach said to me: "Hey, we've got a doubleheader tomorrow. We're looking for a starter. Would you like to start?" "Great. That'd be fine."
So I get called into the manager's office, and I expected to be told I'm going to start one of those doubleheaders the next day, and he said, "No, we're sending you back down to Triple A." I said: "Oh, really? Oh, OK." And so I packed up my stuff and flew back to Houston. We were on the road. And I called the general manager and I said: "I'll give you three days. Trade me to Montreal, Boston or Detroit." Because all three of them had Triple-A teams near my home so I could put my family at home and finish the season that way. And I said: "And if you can't do it in the three days, I'm out of here, and you'll get nothing for me. I'm going back to finish my doctoral degree and we'll see y'all later. Best wishes." But he traded me before noon, and I went to Montreal. and really that was the start of my major-league career. I ran into Gene Mauch, and Gene Mauch was not intimidated by anybody. My intelligence didn't bother him. He loved it. He liked to talk to me about strategy, pitching strategy and training strategy. These are things that he didn't have in his educational background, but he was insatiable for information. And that just formed a friendship. I mean, imagine a manager asking me questions.
And Walter Alston, he also had taken a kinesiology course, so he and I got along fabulously. But there were other managers who didn't appreciate me in the meeting at all. Not that I'd say anything—I'd just sit there. I knew not to say anything, but they knew that I knew what they were saying wasn't, you know—I didn't agree with it. Even though I'd try to sit absolutely still and give no signs one way or the other. And maybe that was a problem.
* * *
My first full year in the major leagues was 1971. My first year of professional baseball was 1961. I had some ups and downs trying to find out what I was doing in the first few years. '71 wasn't all that good for me either. But the last half of it, Gene Mauch freed me up. He gave me the right to do what I wanted to do on the pitching mound: throw the pitches I wanted, make my own decisions, and so on. And the last half of that season went marvelously well. And then here came 1972. I was ready. And, you know, 1.78 ERA, I just flat kicked ass. It wasn't like I was a surprise. I'd been in Major League Baseball since '67, up and down, so here I am five years later, and I'm finally put my game together. That's what it was. I had a plan in my mind of the pitcher I wanted to be, and people kept stepping on it, not letting me do it. And I couldn't get to where I was doing it until finally Gene Mauch gave me that chance halfway through 1971. And from then on I was the pitcher that I wanted to be.
If I had known then what I know now? Oh, my goodness. There was so much more that I didn't know. I could have been one hell of a baseball pitcher. It worked all right, but there were gaps in what I could do at certain times in a game to different hitters, in different situations. I needed to expand my game. Most notably, I never threw a curveball. I didn't know how to throw a curveball. And then I figured out one day how to pronate the release of a curveball. Unfortunately it was seven years after I was out of professional baseball. I had a fabulous curveball seven years out of professional baseball. Just nasty.
I've got something nobody else thought of in the history of baseball. I mean, how long has the history of baseball gone on? And I teach a brand-new pitch. I had a screwball that nobody understood, and still don't. I'm probably still the only one who throws that kind of screwball, except for the people I teach how to do it. Those are the things that, as a research scientist, are exciting to me.
I'm not really sure why, but I think maybe the front office had soured on my player-rep activities. You've got to factor all of that into everything that happened in my career. My dad was a member of a union. I believe in people being treated fairly and so on and so forth. Very early on I was elected the player representative of the 1968 Detroit Tigers. They elected me in spring training. And the manager, when he sent me down, said, "We can't have you be the player representative of this team." And that's why they sent me down. I had a 1.9-something Earned Run Average the year before, and I did fine in spring training, although I was starting to bring in my screwball, and they sent me down. So I missed '68, but in my mind it didn't matter because I was working on the screwball.
I'm much like Tiger Woods in that way. He gets a lot of criticism because he changes his swing or tries to learn to swing better. And I know how difficult and how almost impossible that is. Once you have a motor engram tied to your swing or your pitching motion, it is really, really difficult to make adjustments. Big adjustments, especially, as he's tried to do. And when the pressure's on, like it was on him last week, it fell apart for him. But it didn't fall apart the week before, except for the last nine. He'll get back.
But I am not afraid to stop what I'm doing to drop back and make sure I have what I need to have more success. I was not interested in being a right-hand setup guy. I wanted to get everybody out. I wanted to pitch to every batter, and I wanted to close every game. That was my goal. And so I had to develop skills in order to do that. And that's the way I look at Tiger. I'm greatly impressed with his willingness to put it all aside and say, OK, I'm going to learn it, and it's going to take a long time. It's going to take a couple years. You know, swinging a golf club, the feel and the touch and all of that is so fine that it's going to be hard. But if he can be number one in a tournament in fairways hits and on the green, forget it, gentlemen. He's been winning tournaments out of the trees for years. Now he's going to win them out of the fairway, and I hope sometime soon. I'm rooting for him.
That's the kinesiologist in me. I want everybody to be the best they can. And if you're doing something wrong, fix it, don't accept it.
* * *
I was with the Mets. We were playing, I believe, Montreal. They were in it, and I'd been basically a setup guy for a young right-handed curveballer, but he was sort of fading in the pressure of the end of the year. So I believe Torre put me in to close the game. Of course, a guy got a little jam out to left field, and my left fielder was playing too deep. When I'd pitch I had have to have my own defense because I pitched so much differently than everybody else. The biggest change in my career was when Gene Mauch allowed me to set my defense. That freed me up. He put me in charge of everything that happened: the pitch selection, the defensive alignment, everything. If you're trying to pitch with the starter's defense, and you don't pitch the same way the starter does, you're going to give up hits that should not be hits. And that's what happened in that game.
I think we lost the game. I don't remember what the score was, when I came in or whatever. But I remember feeling very irritated that I couldn't get that fellow to move in farther. But he wasn't a very ... well, I shouldn't badmouth him. He didn't have a lot of range of motion. That's why they put him out there in left field.
The Twins released me the year before. And then in that year there was no season 'til near the end [1981 was shortened by a mid-season strike, and Marshall was unsigned at the beginning of the year]. I don't touch a ball in that entire time, then I go in there and have a 2.6 ERA. And that's something, because I'm not fit, I don't have quality on my pitches, and I'm still able to do that. I fully expected that I would be pitching the next year, and planned to, but the Mets released me [laughs], because the manager didn't like this guy that got free agency into professional baseball.
But then I had domestic situations that prevented me from accepting a couple of offers that I had. And I still felt that I could've come back and pitched for another two or three years. I didn't care about necessarily closing. I just loved to pitch. So then I went into amateur ball and I started pitching a lot. I didn't know that I was going to be done then, but I'd certainly done everything that I wanted to. I probably would've been better off if I'd thought about talking to people about being a pitching coach at that time, because there were people who wanted to know how I was able to do what I did. But as I said, I had some personal things to deal with. I had daughters who were sophomores and seniors and going into college, and there were things that they needed me for much more than I needed baseball.
I knew I couldn't go into coaching in professional baseball, where they did not appreciate research and all the things that I would try to do. I mean, if I came to coach, to develop baseball pitchers, I'd be taking high-speed film of each, I'd be analyzing what they're doing, I'd be explaining. I'm going to bring the classroom to the baseball field.
And the only place I could do that is where there actually are classrooms, and that is at colleges. I didn't think I should go for a Division I school because they don't like their coaches to be teaching. I wanted to teach. I wanted to be in the classroom. So I was looking at Division II schools. I went down to Florida and checked with the University of South Florida about being a pitching coach there. Robin Roberts was not interested. And then I checked over at the University of Tampa, and they didn't have a pitching coach. So I volunteered to be their pitching coach. And the team did well. And the next year I got the offer to be the head baseball coach at St. Leo College. And I was happy just to be there.
Unfortunately the athletic director didn't understand what we were trying to do and decided he wanted to go a different way, which is always the way to say, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about." But in any case, that's what I wanted to do. I got to do it. I then tried to do it with another school out in Arkansas. In both situations I feel that what I was doing was very successful. The teams and the players performed better than they would have given the resources we had and the talent we had.
So I tried three different times to get the thing going in college, in Division II schools. And each time the athletic director just didn't understand what we were doing. The players did. I don't think the players had any problems with what I did. A great many of them had opportunities after college that they never would have had otherwise. But it never seemed to work out with the athletic directors.
So, I find myself unemployable now. I can't go teach because my name is too well known, and I can't go coach because the Ph.D. and Cy Young Award winner are counter-intuitive. You know, they don't work in one place or the other, for one reason or the other. The academics don't like the Cy Young Award and the coaches don't like the Ph.D. And you've got to have sort of a consensus of the faculty and the coaching staff in order to get a job.
I feel I have so much more to give, and I'm not able to give it, because I'm not in charge of giving it. So I give everything I have to my website. I'm trying to get every piece of information I have out on that. But I would love to be in a classroom. I'd love to have research equipment facilities and do so much more that I feel that I can do. But I'm not in charge of hiring me.
And, you know, that's just the reality of life. I'm not upset by it. I've found another venue. If it hadn't been for the internet, you know, I would be a frustrated person. Can you imagine walking around with all that stuff in your head? You know, it's hundreds of thousands of words and pages and all of that, but it's cathartic for me. I wake up at 5:30 every morning, and I've got three hours where I can sit and just talk to folks about pitching and answer their questions. It's almost as good as being in a classroom, but not really.
Anybody can do what I did. Anybody! I am no special human being, physically. Anybody can do what I did, and I cannot believe that baseball is so backward, especially with these new, educated general managers, that they are completely ignoring what I'm saying.
I think of my uncle, obviously, every day. So I have to live his life.
I'm going to jog every day and eat correctly and do everything I can, not smoke and all that kind of stuff, to see how long this body will last, because I've beat the hell out of it, I'll tell you that. I've used every bit of it and I love it.
What I've accomplished in my life surprises me, but that doesn't deter me from wanting to make sure everybody has the same opportunity that I had, because I think they can all become more than they ever thought they could be, too, as a baseball pitcher. And I'd like to help them do it. And I've got it out there. All my friends say, You know, when you die, as soon as you die this is going to be how everybody pitches. They just don't want to give you credit. I said, I don't want the credit now, but the problem is that might be true.
Rob Trucks is the author of Cup of Coffee, a series of conversations with former pitchers whose major-league careers lasted fewer than 50 innings. His other work for Deadspin includes interviews with former NHL goalie Clint Malarchuk and the late Dave Duerson, and an oral history of Big Star co-founder Alex Chilton's time in Tuscaloosa. You may e-mail him at firstname.lastname@example.com or follow him on Twitter at @tusktusktusk. Theme music and video courtesy Steve Wynn.


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The Order: 1886 does what it wants. Zeppelins, elevated trains and automatic rifles? It might not fit the history it's based on, but hey, why not? Toss them in. Developers Ready at Dawn are telling a story about men and women fighting half-bred monster people that never existed in their own vision of 19th century London.
The Order's presentation is as striking as the content. The entire game—cutscene and gameplay—is framed in a 2.40:1 animorphic aspect ratio (so it looks like a widescreen movie). It runs at 30 frames per second because that delivers a look they like. And they're taking cues from what other developers have done in order to build the experience they want to give players.
The titular Order refers to a group dating to the Middle Ages who have carried on a millenium-long war with half-breeds who have some beast blood in them. It's not a straight-up shooter but rather a third-person action adventure in the vein of Uncharted (with cover, of course), and the similarities between Naughty Dog's franchise and Ready At Dawn's potential series-starter extend beyond a shared genre.
Aside from the visual fidelity afforded by developing exclusively on the PlayStation 4, the most glaring characteristic of The Order I noticed in the brief hands-off gameplay demo we were shown at a press event in LA last week is its seamless presentation; it goes from cutscene to gameplay without a break, then from shooting to branching quick-time events back to cutscenes with nary a gap to be found. And once you start playing, studio co-founder and creative director Ru Weerasuriya promised me, you're not going to face a loading screen until the next time you boot up the game.
"The point is immersiveness, making sure the player, once they're involved, that emotionally they don't get detached," Weerasuriya emphasized. "Every single time you break it, regardless of whether it's a visual break, that changes the way cinematics [change] from gameplay, or whether it's a loading screen that changes the pacing, all of those are pace-breakers."
Where you might say the seamless presentation is inspired by Naughty Dog, the QTEs I mentioned are akin to those we've seen before in Heavy Rain or The Wolf Among Us. They come in a sequence, and missing a button doesn't doom you immediately but changes that sequence. Fail too many times and you're dead, sure, but this is the new age, not the old one. Ready At Dawn wants these QTEs to customize the experience a bit for you, and to be one of many bits of curation the studio is using to deliver its vision.
"Every single element is really there as a tool to deliver an experience," Weerasuriya told me. "There is no one thing."
Another of those single elements is the framerate, a contentious point of debate in gaming these days. But bigger is not necessarily better, despite what some people will tell you, because while Peter Jackson may insist that 48 frames per second is the only way to watch a movie now, more folks tend to disagree with that than not. Also, frame-boosting tech on modern TVs—like TruMotion, MotionFlow, ClearScan, etc—are the butt of so many jokes ("I can't even watch five seconds of it" was all Weerasuriya had to say about that) because the visual difference between high and film-stand framerates is extremely stark.
And while response time is a worthwhile concern—60 frames definitely feels faster than 30—Weerasuriya noted the way the game is constructed can eliminate the need for a quicker response.
"You build the game with that in mind, because everything you do is a compromise," he said.
"Some things are done the way they are because of the experience they're trying to portray to the player. I think for us 30 frames per second and the animorphic… is very calculated because it happened very early on."
Ready At Dawn was from the beginning seeking a specific look and feel for the game. They liked the way 30fps looks versus 60, and they insisted on utilizing a 4x multisampling anti-aliasing (MSAA) process—which is quite technically demanding. Between that and any number of other graphical effects they wanted to implement. going with a higher framerate just wasn't a priority.
"Higher framerate doesn't equate to better," Weerasuriya insisted. "The framerate has to satisfy the experience you want to have."
Phil Owen is a freelance journo with work at VG247, GameFront, Gameranx and many, many other places over the years. You can follow him on Twitter at @philrowen. Send hate mail to email@example.com.


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How many times have you walked into a gas station or a restaurant out on the road somewhere here in America to find a cookie jar next to the cash register with the photo of someone who is ill and whose family cannot afford their care, someone who is suffering not just from their illness but from a healthcare system that discriminates against the self-employed and the under-employed: the artists, the musicians, the waitresses, the short order cooks, the line workers, the craftsmen, the family farmers?
In every other civilized, developed nation in the world cookie jars are for cookies and those who cannot afford care are not reduced to begging from strangers for their lives. In the lands of our allies, and some of our so-called enemies, those suffering most are not forced to appeal to those suffering-somewhat-less for help navigating a wasteful, unjust, and unfair healthcare system.
Thirty to forty percent of every dollar we hope to spend on healthcare disappears into administrative costs in doctor's offices, hospital accounting departments and private insurance companies.
Where are those dollars when we need them? Where are the corporations? Where are the CEOs with their obscene salaries? No one is actually worth that kind of money, except those who are suffering and might be healed, those who are injured and might be helped, those who are broken and might be made whole.
Help us by contacting your congressmen and senators, your state legislators and governor. Write letters to the editor. Get involved or start a Healthcare Is A Human Right Campaign in your community. Produce your own Musicians for Healthcare CD. Talk to your neighbors. Civil discourse and a willingness to simply care for those in need will do it. Waiting for anyone else to do it will not.
On behalf of the artists, engineer and studio that donated their time and talents, I ask you to join us. If our representatives won't lead us where we want and need to go, then, together, we will lead them.
– Scott Ainslie, Producer
– James Haslam, Director, Vermont Worker's Center


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Category: Jiburiru: Second Coming
Otonashi Meimi is walking alone in an empty park when the demon Rococo suddenly appears. Rococo users her Eternal Arm attack on Meimi in order to separate the power of Misty Mei from within her body.;Meanwhile, at Naoto's house, Hikaru, Naoto's stepsister who was studying abroad, returns home. She starts going to the same school as Naoto, and it worries Rika, Naoto's lover, a little.;I love you the most in the world." With these words, Naoto makes love with Rika in the school nurse's office. However, Misty Mei appears and spirits Rika away. Then, the angel Luvril appears saying that Naoto has no choice but to have sex with Hikari so that a new Djibril can be born to save Rika.