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Solicitation of Interest issued for redevelopment of LouisvilleKY's Heritage West
TOPICS:Councilwoman Cheri Bryant HamiltonHeritage WestLouisville Urban LeagueMetro CouncilOneWestRussell NeighborhoodSeed Capital KentuckyWest Louisville Community CouncilWLCC
Posted By: JackieBentley March 20, 2017
Photos from West Louisville Community Council's Website
Louisville, KY., – Mayor Greg Fischer joined Councilwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton and members of the West Louisville Community Council (WLCC) today to announce that the city has issued a Solicitation of Interest for the redevelopment of Heritage West in the Russell neighborhood. The city seeks a unique proposal to create and implement an innovative and sustainable development plan for the property located at 3029 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd.
"Heritage West represents 24 acres of opportunity. When we originally purchased this property in 2013, we knew it was ideal for redevelopment," said the Mayor. "We've had great partners along the way – Metro Council, WLCC, OneWest, Louisville Urban League, and Stephen Reily and Seed Capital Kentucky – who have remained committed to seeing this property redeveloped into a project that fits this community's vision."
Redevelopment proposals should reflect the goals established in Vision Louisville—sustainability, economy, livability, connectivity, creativity, health and authenticity—and the Vision Russell priorities established through visioning meetings held in winter 2016 and 2017. A summary of priorities can be found here: http://wearewestlouisville.weebly.com/heritage-west.html
Responses to the proposal are due no later than May 22 and should include:
A concept plan showing the general pattern of development proposed, mix of uses, and unit counts where applicable
An explanation of financing, including sources of funding proposed and any city and state incentives anticipated to be requested
A list of development partners who will participate in each aspect of the proposed project.
An explanation of the development team's qualifications for undertaking a project of this size and scope.
A commitment to adhere to the fair labor standards contained in Chapter 37 of the Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances pertaining to minority, female and handicapped business enterprises.
Respondents are strongly encouraged to attend at least one of two informational sessions intended to provide an opportunity to view the Heritage West site and to ask representatives of Louisville Metro Government questions. These sessions will take place, weather permitting, on Thursday, April 13, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 15, 2017 at 9:30 a.m. at 3029 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd., at Heritage West.
"This 24-acre site is prime for developers who have a vision for thriving and revitalizing west Louisville," said Councilwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton (D-5). "The community has shared their ideas and vision and they, along with Metro Government, are ready to work with and support positive development for this neighborhood."
Louisville Metro has partnered with the WLCC to gather information on the community's vision for the redevelopment of Heritage West, and is committed to facilitating redevelopment that best reflects the needs and desires expressed by residents and other stakeholders during this process. To that end, members of the community will be involved in the selection of a development team and will have access to all materials provided as part of a response to this Solicitation of Interest.
"Positive outcomes can be achieved when community, organizations, and government agencies strategize collectively around issues impacting people," said Ramona Lindsey, West Louisville Community Council. "Heritage West is an example of how our collective resources can spur transformation within a community."
Heritage West totals 23.86 acres, as shown below, and is located on the western border of the Russell neighborhood. The site is bounded on the west by an elevated rail line, to the south by a 6-acre property featuring a historic multi-story warehouse, to the east by single-family residences, a community orchard called "Produce Park," and various light industrial uses, and to the north by a variety of single- and multi-family residences and neighborhood commercial uses.
For the full Solicitation of Interest, please visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/advanced-planning/heritage-west
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Sphinx franckii is een vlinder uit de familie van de pijlstaarten (Sphingidae). De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort werd in 1893 gepubliceerd door Berthold Neumoegen.

Pijlstaarten

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The parshah opens with LIFE -- the LIFE of Sarah -- even though it goes on to speak of her death, and later that of Abraham (Gen. 25:8). This is because it is the very limit that death puts upon life that makes every year of life and every day so precious. "Teach us to count our days" (Psalms 90:12). What gives true value to each day is not the material pleasures enjoyed or the wealth amassed but the eternal goodness attained through the mitzvos one accomplishes each day, each minute.
In the words of Rabbi Nathan of Breslov in his Introduction to Chayey Moharan, the Life of Rabbi Nachman: "There are countless gradations in the life and vitality found in the world. Real life is the life of true wisdom, as it is written: 'Wisdom gives life to those who possess it' (Eccl. 712). And the essence of wisdom is to labor and endeavor to know and acknowledge G-d, who is the Life of life. The closer one comes to God, the more his life is genuine life."
"And these are the days of the years of the life of Abraham that he lived." (ibid. 25:87).
"And the sons of Ches answered Abraham saying to him. No man among us would withhold his grave from you." (Gen. 23:5-6).
No one in the world is exempt from death. All Adam's children must pay the price of his sin by tasting death. Thus even the Canaanite children of Ches (who were later to prove bitter enemies of Abraham's descendants) were forced to take a share in the mourning for Sarah. ISH MIMENU -- "No man among us." The words imply an awareness that all mankind lives under the shadow of death (ARI).
Burial is one of several possible ways of removing the bodies of our dead from within our midst. Removal of the dead from the midst of the living serves the living, to whom the presence of a decomposing corpse is too offensive and humiliating a reminder of their own mortality. But dead bodies could be burned or disposed of otherwise: Why bury them?
The answer is that burial benefits the dead as well. "For you are dust and to the dust you will return" (Gen. 3:19). Burial brings KAPARA, atonement, to the dead person for the sins committed in this world through the body. Being lowered into the earth after a lifetime of proud living above it is the deepest humiliation. The concealment of the person's physical remains beneath the earth, where they decompose and are reabsorbed into the elements, signifies the concealment and atonement of his sins. Eventually everything is merged back into unity and even the sins are turned into merits.
Abraham found it sufficient to live in tents for his whole life -- he was fully aware that he was but a "visitor and a resident" (Gen. 23:4) on this earth. Only when Sarah died did Abraham find it necessary to acquire permanent accommodation -- a final resting place for the body while the soul goes on to the life eternal. Thus Abraham teaches us that our most important acquisitions in this world are not the material houses on which most people lavish so much money and effort for their temporary stay here. Rather, our truest acquisitions are those that will truly serve us in the eternal life. Buying a burial plot is a SEGULAH for long life!
Earlier in the story of Abraham, when Malki-tzedek (= Shem) king of Shalem (=Jerusalem) had come out to greet him after he rescued Lot from the Four Kings [Parshas LECH LECHA], Malki-tzedek blessed Abraham in the name of " the Supreme G-d, OWNER of Heaven and Earth" (Gen. 14:19). Abraham swore by the same G-d -- "owner of Heaven and Earth (ibid. 22).
Only when man acknowledges that G-d owns everything can man be said to own anything -- "for if you lack DA'AS (knowledge), what have you acquired?" [KINYAH requires DAAS.] Everything belongs to G-d: "The earth is the Lord's and all it's fullness" (Psalms 24:1). When man understands this and blesses G-d before he takes anything from this world, then G-d brings man to his true glory. G-d gives the world to man and allows him to own it: "And He has given the earth to the children of Adam" (ibid. 115:16).
Although Ephron had been the titular owner of the land, it had meant nothing to him -- it was dark and concealed -- because he did not possess this knowledge. Since Abraham had the knowledge, when he purchased the land it became truly his and associated with his name for ever: "And the field of Ephron stood." -- ("It had TEKUMAH, an upstanding" -- Rashi) -- ". to Abraham as an ACQUISITION" (Gen. 23:17-18).
Everyone knows that G-d rules over the heavens -- even the nearest star is way beyond man's reach. What is concealed from many people is that G-d rules over the earth and over every detail of what happens here. This was what Abraham came into the world to teach.
Rashi tells us (commenting on why Abraham, speaking to Eliezer, invoked "HaShem, the G-d of the heavens" but did not mention "and of earth" -- Gen. 24:7): "Abraham told Eliezer that now He is G-d 'of the heavens AND the earth' because I have made this phrase habitual on people's lips. But when He took me from the house of my father, He was 'G-d of the heavens' but not 'G-d of the earth' because people in the world did not recognize Him and His name was not familiar on the earth".
Abraham's could not allow his work to end with him. It was an integral part of his mission to have a worthy successor who would in turn have a worthy successor to ensure that the knowledge of G-d would never again be hidden from the world.
As a "Prince of G-d" (Gen. 23:6) and leaof the progeny of Shem, Abraham could not but be discriminating about the family that would provide the appropriate wife for his son and successor. Contrary to the widely held fallacy that people of any and every family and national backgrounds are all "equal", Abraham was unwilling to make a family alliance with any other than his own family back in Padan Aram. This was where they had stayed when Abraham went on his journey of destiny to the Land of Canaan.
Abraham was unwilling to make a family alliance with the Canaanites, for Canaan, son of Ham, was under the curse of Noah. On the other hand, Abraham could not allow his son Isaac to return to Padan Aram even for the sake of being married. This would have undermined the whole purpose of Abraham's departure from that "Old World". Padan Aram (with it's high priest, Laban = Bilaam, brain of all the forces of evil, the KELIPOS) was the old World of Devastation (OLAM HATOHU, Breaking of the Vessels), whereas Abraham had gone to turn the Land of Canaan in to the Land of ISRAEL (Yeshurun, Yosher) in order to create OLAM HATIKUN, the world of repair and healing.
Accordingly Abraham sent his servant Eliezer to Padan Aram to redeem the spark of TIKUN -- Rebecca -- from the World of Devastation, Padan Aram, a place characterized by DECEPTION.
The Torah devotes gives much space to the account of Eliezer's journey to Padan Aram because witnessing closely Abraham's devoted servant in action, we learn deep lessons about Abraham and his mission in the world.
The first thing Eliezer does at the well is to pray to G-d for help. He asks G-d to make events happen in a way that will enable the kindness of Abraham to be handed down to future generations. Eliezer's request to G-d to make events happen this way is founded upon the belief -- received from Abraham -- that He is "G-d of earth" and not only "G-d in heaven." G-d is in complete control of what "happens" on earth, down to the last detail. It is no "coincidence" that Rebecca steps out to "draw water from the well" just as Eliezer completes his prayer.
The test Eliezer devises for the candidate suited to marry Isaac and bring Abraham's kindness to the world is a test of CHARACTER. What counts is not what people say (like Ephron, who said a lot but did hardly anything.) What counts is what they actually DO.
Rebecca does MORE than Eliezer asks her. Not only does she want to give him to drink. She wants to perform kindness, GOMEL Chessed, to the very camels, GAMALIM. She has the expansive quality of CHESSED characteristic of the true family of Abraham: she was fitted for the role of consort to the new Prince of G-d.
The loss of one member of the family, Sarah, who went into the grave, HaKeVeR, opens the way for the entry of a new member to build the family: RiVKaH. The death of the old generation and their descent into HaKeVeR turns out to be HaBoKeR, a new morning, a new day!
Rebecca's first sight of Isaac was when "Isaac went out to meditate in the field towards the evening" (Gen. 24:63). This was the field of submission, the site where Isaac had been bound on Mount Moriah. Isaac turned his submission into a daily devotion: the devotion of set prayer and meditation.
Prayer is where we make Him "G-d of the earth", involving Him in all our daily affairs and activities and shining His light into the innermost depths of our hearts.
At first, attachment to G-d is like a high mountain. To scale the mountain, we must discipline ourselves like oxen to plough daily and turn the mountain into a cultivated field. This is the work of Isaac. Finally we come to the stage where spirituality is part of our lives and comes into our very homes, houses, domestic and family affairs (see Likutey Moharan I:10). This is the work of Jacob, to whom we will be introduced in next week's parshah, and whose garments had the fragrance of the "field that G-d has blessed" (parshas Toldos, Gen. 27:27).


"She has made herself. She has worked hard to become what she is. She is the kind of person who gives a lot of love and affection. And, it comes very naturally to her. She is a very sensitive person," Anil said.
"Now I feel 'Ek Ladki...' gives Sonam another opportunity to prove what she's worth. Her performance is not overpitched. She is never over dramatic because she relates to real people and situations through her first-hand experiences. She's widely read and traveled. She connects to her character in 'Ek Ladki...' and expresses the character's emotions with such natural grace," Anil said with pride in his voice.
"Whether it is mainstream actors or filmmakers, they've always done the unexpected. Raj Kapoor Saab's 'Mera Naam Joker' and Guru Dutt's 'Kagaz Ke Phool' didn't work at the box office on release. In retrospect, they are regarded as masterworks. One has to make risky choices in life. I am so glad Sonam is doing it so early in her career," he added.
Reminiscing "1942...", Anil said: "Vinod and I go back a long way. The title of 'Ek Ladki...' comes from Vinod's '1942" A Love Story'. That's the last time we worked together. And now we've collaborated again 25 years later, can you believe it!"
Talking about escaping Bollywood stereotypes, Anil said: "I started my career with 'Woh Saat Din', where I played a role of someone who comes from Patiala to become a music director which was very unconventional at that point in time.
"It was totally opposite to what everybody was doing around me. That included the lead actors riding horseback or a motorbike or even playing a guitar. No actor would be launched in the same manner that I was."


When you connect an external hard drive directly to your Mac, you may be asked if you want to use the drive to back up with Time Machine. Click "Use as backup disk". If you select the option to perform encryption, the backups will only be accessible to users who have the password.
Open Time Machine preferences from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Or choose Apple menu ()> System Preferences, then click Time Machine.
Click Select Backup Disk, Select Disk, or Add/Remove Backup Disk.
Repeat the process to add another backup disk and thus improve the security and convenience of your backups. For example, you can use one disk at home and another at work.
After configuring Time Machine, this feature automatically creates time backups of the last 24 hours, daily backups of last month and weekly backups of all previous months. Older backups are deleted when the backup drive is full.
To stop automatic backups, open Time Machine preferences, then deselect Perform backup automatically (macOS Sierra) or turn off Time Machine (OS X El Capitan or earlier). You can still back up manually by choosing Backup Now from the Time Machine menu.
To cancel a backup in progress, choose Ignore this backup (or Stop backup) from the Time Machine menu.
To exclude items from the backup, open Time Machine preferences from the Time Machine menu, click Options, then click on and select the item to exclude.
It may take a long time to perform the first backup, depending on the amount of files you have. You can continue to use your Mac while a backup is in progress. Some Mac computers create backups even when they are in a stop state. Time Machine only backs up files that have changed since the previous backup, so future backups will be faster.
1- Choose Enter Time Machine from the Time Machine menu or click Time Machine in the Dock.
2- Locate the files to restore: Use the timeline on the edge of the screen to view the status of files in the Time Machine backup on a specific day and time. The timeline could also include local snapshots.
Use the up and down arrows on the screen to go to the last time the window contents have changed. You can also use the search field in a window to locate a file, then move over time keeping the focus focused on the changes made to that file.
Select a file and press the spacebar to preview the file and make sure it's what you want.
3- Click on Restore to restore the selected file or click on the file while holding down the Ctrl key for other options.
To restore all the files in the Time Machine backup, use macOS Recovery.


Being a security guard at the hotels must be a pretty boring job at the best of times. There's a lot of standing around with no-one to talk to so we usually stop and have a chat and Lynn practices her Spanish on them, and they often welcome the chance to practice their English. When Lynn was returning from an early morning swim yesterday she chatted to one of the guards who told her that he sometimes saw Jutías amongst the jumble of rocks overlooking the lagoon. We later went to check it out and although we didn't see any we did find evidence that they were there. There was a pile of droppings by the path. Jutías, otherwise called tree rats, are large rodents and confined to the Caribbean. Twenty-one species are known but many of these are are already extinct including some from Cuba where ten species were once found but most of which are now threatened. Only Desmarest's Jutía Capromys pilorides and the Prehensile-tailed Jutía Mysateles prehensilis remain common and widespread. They are largely nocturnal and are vegetarian, their diet consisting of leaves, the bark of trees, fruits, and even roots and tubers.
They are hunted for food in Cuba, where they are often cooked in a large pot with wild nuts and honey. At the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base however, there is a good population due to an abundant food source and the lack of natural predators. Desmarest's Jutías are referred to by those stationed there as banana rats not for their dietary preference but because their droppings look like small versions of the fruit.
So this morning I went to the spot at first light while Lynn was having a swim to try and see and photograph one. There were a few warblers around as I crept into position and I spent a while photographing them. The light was still poor so I had to change the settings to ISO1000 but I was quite pleased with the results of this Yellow Warbler considering.
I couldn't work out why they had pale patches on the forehead until I saw one taking nectar from a Passiflora cuprea flower (thank you Eddy for the id) and then it became clear that these flowers have evolved to be pollinated by birds and the pale patch on the forehead was pollen rubbed from the stamens that are held high above the flower itself. I then saw an adult Prairie Warbler doing exactly the same thing.
I heard a scrabbling on the rocks below me and looked down to see a Jutía but I'm sure it was aware of my presence and it moved out of view so I in turn moved back into the bushes on the off-chance that it wanted to come up the path past me. And in a few minutes it did just that, pausing briefly behind a bush preventing me from getting a clear shot but it was a Jutía nonetheless - very exciting, and just a few feet away from me. I'm pretty sure this is Desmarest's Jutía Capromys pilorides but I wouldn't swear to it.
And there was also an Anole that I didn't recognise running around on the rocks below me. What a brilliant hour of wildlife-watching - and all before breakfast.
The rest of the day was spent in or around the hotel garden and in a small clearing nearby where we spent time sitting in the shade watching the butterflies coming to a flowering bush. We saw the Mexican Sailor Dynamine postverta again and a De Villiers Swallowtail Battus devilliers along with Caribbean Banner Lucinia sida and a few skippers and several whites and sulphurs. While photographing a Florida Duskywing Ephyriades brunnea larva that was getting ready to pupate I heard a loud squawking above me and found that I was being watched by a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
And the only decent butterfly photo of the day was a Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon istapa down near the beach.


Portable Document Format (PDF) is a widely prevalent format for document publishing, archiving, and exchange. Windows now adds support for rendering PDF content in Windows Store apps, abstracting the details of the format from the developer. This session provides everything you need to know to incorporate PDF rendering functionality in your Windows Store apps.


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A Step By Step Approach to Avoiding Common Mistakes When Board Members Engage with Shareholders
by Small-Cap Institute | Nov 5, 2021 | Activism, Best practices, Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, Investor Meetings/Expectations, Public, Shareholder Activism
A Step By Step Approach to Avoiding Common Mistakes When Board Members Engage with Shareholders A special thanks to iconic boardroom lawyer, Bob Lamm, for his invaluable advice and contributions to this piece. There was a time in the not too distant past when board...
Webinar: Small-Caps & Media: Dos and Don'ts From a WSJ/Bloomberg Veteran
by Small-Cap Institute | Oct 29, 2021 | Capital Markets, Communications, Public
CEOs ask us regularly for advice about how to exceed investor expectations when interacting with the media. Paul Barrett worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, covering the intersection of business, law, and society at The Wall Street Journal and...
PR: A Misunderstood and Overlooked Micro-Cap "X" Factor
by Small-Cap Institute | Jul 22, 2021 | Capital Markets, Communications, Subscriber-only
The content you've selected can only be read by members of Small-Cap Institute. If you are an officer or director of a public company, and would like to subscribe, you can read more...
"About Us" Videos Are a Necessity, but Less is More
by Small-Cap Institute | Jun 29, 2021 | Capital Markets, Investor Meetings/Expectations, Public
By Small-Cap Institute. There is no doubting that we live in a video world. More than 1 billion hours of videos are consumed each and every day on YouTube. Despite this, many small-cap companies still don't have an "About Us" video. Particularly for technology and...
The Credibility-Destroying Earnings Q&A Reply
By Small-Cap Institute. Investor: "I saw the cash balance at quarter end. Do you need to raise more capital?" CEO: "We have no plans to raise capital at this time." [12 days later, the company issues a press release detailing a $20 million PIPE.] *** In the micro-...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Download lagu cinta d pantai bali koplo. Google has many special features to help you find exactly what you' re looking for. When you use a browser it saves some information from websites in its cache , like Chrome cookies. Jun 14 · Search the world' s information, including webpages, images, videos more.


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Q: MBean of Hornetq is not exposed in WildFly Although here it is described that JMX is enabled by default in HornetQ, I do not see any MBeans in jconsole, after connectin to the process of WildFly. What do I miss?

*

*WildFly 8.2.0.Final

*HornetQ 2.4.5.Final (here are all component versions in WildFyl 8.2.0.Final)

A: After backup-ing, edit your server config XML file (e.g standalone-full.xml) and add the jmx-management-enabled XML element, as described here for disabling JMX:
    .......
    <subsystem xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:messaging:2.0">
        <hornetq-server>
             <!-- next line is to be added -->
             <jmx-management-enabled>true</jmx-management-enabled>
             ...........
        </hornetq-server>
    ...........

After that restart WildFly.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Uncrowned Addiction: What's Popular (Jun 2022)
June 27, 2022 in Uncrowned Empire News
Password Managers - Password mangers are software tools used to store and manage your passwords and other secure credentials. These tools are often utilized in the form of browser add-ons and mobile apps but can come in other forms like full desktop applications. Most of these apps are free or have low cost paid tiers for more features....
Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade - What are you opinions of this? Pro-life vs Pro-choice have been a hot topic of debate and now it is more intense then ever before.
What are you Currently Listening To? - What are you listening to or what was the last song you heard?
Your 'wheels'? - Come on, let's see 'em! 😎
HP's Linux-Based Dev One Laptop is Here - HP and System76 (A Linux System Builder and Dev of Pop!_OS) have teamed together to create an impressive new laptop aimed at developers called the HP Dev One. The Dev One is a fully Linux-focused device with fully supported hardware and even a full Linux keyboard in place. The specs are competitive for the price and overall the machine appears to be quite well designed...
Chromebooks with Dedicated GPUs Are Coming - Recently it has been announced that Steam will be releasing a platform for Chromebooks that will allow users to play full steam games on their Chrome OS devices. Many users wondered if this would result in gaming-focused Chromebooks and while we have seen Chromebooks released with a very "gamer" ascetic we have yet to see a true dedicated GPU Chromebook line be released...
Twitter Agrees to Elon Musk Purchase and Privatization of the Platform - The board of directors running Twitter has unanimously agreed to sell the platform to Elon Musk for 44 billion dollars. The board made the notation that the transaction would be the best path for Twitter shareholders as they will receive $54.20 per share as the company goes private. According to NBC, that is a 38 percent premium for shareholders using the April 1st closing price (before Musk revealed his plans)...


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Elizabeth Oger-Gross
Partner, Paris
Future Leaders – Partner, Hailed by peers as an "exceptional lawyer" who is able to "focus on the details and handle cases with much rigour".
Who's Who Legal (Arbitration) 2020
Elizabeth Oger-Gross is a partner of the Firm's International Arbitration Group and is based in the Paris office. Elizabeth advises clients in complex disputes, with broad experience across a number of sectors and a focus on the construction and energy industries. She has significant experience acting for and against States. Overall, she has an excellent track record, successfully building and implementing sound and innovative strategies that help her clients win.
She has conducted both ad hoc arbitrations and arbitrations under most of the major institutional rules. Her arbitration experience spans the globe, having been involved in arbitrations in Western and Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan and North Africa, North, Central and South America, the Middle East, and Asia. She also has substantial experience in cross-border litigation. Before moving to the Paris office, she practiced litigation and arbitration in White & Case's New York office.
Elizabeth is both common-law and civil-law qualified and acts in both English and French-language arbitrations. She is a member of the LCA Arbitration Court and teaches international arbitration at Paris 2 (Panthéon-Assas), Sciences Po Paris, Université Paris Est Créteil Val-de-Marne, and the Lagos Court of Arbitration. She also sits as arbitrator.
New York State Bar
US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
US District Court for the Southern District of New York
Masters in International Affairs
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
Representation of a leading European gas buyer in an arbitration over supply disruptions relating to the war in Ukraine;
Representation of a leading European buyer of gas concerning certain contract interpretational issues, both the pre-arbitration and arbitration phases of the dispute;
Representation of a leading producer of LNG in an ICC arbitration relating to claims concerning pricing under a long-term agreement for the supply of LNG into Europe;
Representation of a Middle Eastern seller of gas in a price review arbitration under a long term gas supply contract;
Representing an African owner of an LNG plant in a New York-seated arbitration against a major construction company;
Advising a European technology company in the context of its dispute with an international organization;
Representation of an African State in a multi-billion-dollar arbitration relating to a contract to build a hydropower plant;
Representation of an African State-owned entity in two arbitrations under the OHADA regime in relation to a port concession;
Representation of an African, Middle-Eastern-owned company, in a successful ICC arbitration, conducted in French, with an African State, in connection with public works contracts, as well as enforcement proceedings in numerous jurisdictions worldwide and annulment actions;
Representation of an African oil company in a dispute with its joint-venture partner in connection with an oil concession in West Africa;
Representation of the French subsidiary of a U.S. company in a dispute regarding the construction of a plant in France and including issues related to the extension of an arbitration clause to non-signatories;
Representation of the main contractor in a series of related ICC arbitrations against the employer relating to a major infrastructure project in Central America;
Advising a Middle Eastern consortium on a dispute with the employer in connection with a construction project to build hangars in Saudi Arabia;
Representation of a European mining services company in a dispute with a West African supplier;
Representation of a Middle Eastern developer in four related ICC arbitrations in Paris involving a dispute with a contractor concerning a major land remediation project in the Middle East, as well as ancillary court proceedings in the United States regarding the involvement of a parent company that did not sign the Contract;
Advising a mining company on potential ICSID arbitration in a dispute with an African State.
Advising several leading European buyers of gas on price revisions under various long term gas supply contracts;
Representing two leading European construction companies in two ICC arbitrations regarding the construction of a hydroelectric project in Chile and including issues regarding the involvement of a non-signatory corporate parent;
Representation of Republic of Bulgaria in a successful ICC arbitration against a Swedish engineering company, with subsequent annulment proceedings dismissed by the Paris Court of Appeal;
Representation of a national energy company in Eastern Europe in an ICC arbitration concerning the construction of a nuclear power plant;
Representation of a European owner in relation to a high-profile, multi-billion-dollar ICC arbitration in respect of the design and construction of a nuclear power plant;
Representation of a Canadian company in a Swiss Rules commercial-trade related arbitration, including complex issues of contract interpretation as well as European product safety law;
Representing a sovereign state in UNCITRAL (bilateral investment treaty) arbitration proceedings in respect of an investment treaty dispute arising from a BOT toll road project in Asia;
Representation of BNP Paribas in a civil RICO claim filed by Kensington International Ltd in the federal court in New York. Kensington sought US$100 million in damages plus treble damages under the RICO statute; and
Representation of a French bank in connection with a request for discovery from a US court.
"Le Controle des Sentences Arbitrales par la Chambre Internationale de la Cour d'Appel de Paris", Paris Place d'Arbitrage during Paris Arbitration Week, 30 March 2022
ICC Institute Assessment for Damages Training, 21 September 2021
"Technology and Innovation in Arbitration", 8th E.A International Arbitration Conference, 28 August 2020
Roundtable discussion and experience sharing, Paris Arbitration webinar during Paris Arbitration Week, 8 July 2020
"A special regime for climate change disputes?", Paris Arbitration Week, 7 July 2020
Panel discussion on the different countries responses in dealing with construction delays as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, the SCL Astra/ESCL Online Webinar, 2 July 2020
"Virtual Hearings: How Best to Proceed", Nigerian Bar Association, 3 June 2020
"Cross-Border Dispute Resolution", Gaia Women Club Lagos Digital Workshop, 19 May 2020
"Contractual Caps on Damages, Including Limitations on Consequential or Indirect Damages", Juris Conference – Eighth Annual Damages in International Arbitration: Traditional vs Non-Traditional Approaches, Emerging Trends, Methods and Techniques, November 2019, New York, NY
"Dispute Funding in International Arbitration", East Africa International Arbitration Conference, August 2019, Nairobi
"Provisional Measures in International Arbitration", RDAI/Queen Mary, Paris Arbitration Week, April 2019, Paris
"Games of Seats : Arbitral institutions in Africa and the quest for ascendancy", White & Case, Paris Arbitration Week, April 2019, Paris
"Beyond the Pale: Inclusive Representation of African Practitioners in International Arbitration", November 2018, Annual Conference CIArb Nigeria Branch, Abuja
"Lex extractiva and arbitral jurisprudence", Conference of the Société Internationale de Droit Extractif (SIDE), September 2018 Paris
"Treaties in international arbitration – Relevance in Eastern Africa", East Africa International Arbitration Conference, August 2018, Addis Ababa
"The Evolution of International Arbitration", 2018 International Arbitration survey launch, June 2018, Helsinki
"Supporting the arbitral process", 3rd ICC Africa Regional Arbitration Conference, June 2018, Lagos
"Arbitration in Natural Resources and Energy" and "Fair Play: unconscious influences in appointments and in the use of evidence in international arbitration", Mauritius Arbitration Week, May 2018, Port-Louis
"Hardship and Price Review Clauses", BBSPA Regulatory and Trading Seminar, April 2018,Bucharest
"Gas pricing arbitrations and res judicata", Harvard International Arbitration Law Students Association, January 2018, Cambridge
"Economics of Gas Development", Gas Options North & West Africa Conference, November 2017, Casablanca
"In-house Perspective on the Use of International Arbitration and ADR in Resolving Corporate Disputes", Lagos Court of Arbitration In-House Counsel Forum, November 2017, Lagos
"Business Outlook in Africa and Dispute Resolution", Casablanca Arbitration Days 2017, November 2017, Casablanca
"Gas price disputes: When is there arbitration, and how does it work in practice?", BBPSA Regulatory and Trading Seminar, October 2017, Sofia
"Addressing tough questions in international arbitration", 5th East Africa International Arbitration Conference (I-Arb Africa), September 2017, Kigali
"When Doing Good Goes Bad: Resolving Impact Investment Disputes", IILGW – Grunin Center conference Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing in US and Beyond (New York University School of Law), May 2017, New York
"Reforming Arbitration Law and Practice in Africa—An Update", 2nd ICC Africa Regional Arbitration Conference, May 2017, Lagos
"BITs in West Africa: negotiations and alternatives", West Africa International Arbitration Conference (I-ARB), April 2017, Abidjan
"Recent trends in energy-related investment disputes", Energy Transitions Conference (University of East Finland), March 2017, Joensuu
"Force Majeure and Hardship in Petroleum Agreements", Global Energy Arbitration: Current Issues and Trends (Georgetown International Arbitration Society, Georgetown Arab Lawyers' Organization), Washington, DC"The Inter relationship between Effective Systems of Dispute Resolution & Economic Development", November 2016: Commercial Arbitration Law and Practice in Nigeria through the Case (Book presentation), February 2017, Lagos
"Arbitrability under Nigerian Law: New Areas of Concern", Lagos Court of Arbitration Young Arbitrators Network (LCA-YAN), November 2016, Lagos
"Abuse of Process in International Arbitration and the Unwillingness of Counsel to Accept the Outcome of Arbitration in Sub-Saharan Africa - Damaging the brand", ICC Africa Regional Arbitration Conference, June 2016, Lagos
"2015 International Arbitration Survey: Improvements and Innovations in International Arbitration", White & Case, May 2016, Paris
"Familiarising administrators with International Arbitration", Institut Marocain des Administrateurs (IMA), April 2016, Casablanca
"The Importance of Efficiency and Economy in International Arbitration", Hot Topics in the Practice of International Arbitration (Harvard Law School), April 2015, Cambridge, MA
"Transparency and Third Party Funding in Investment Arbitration", Current Trends in International Arbitration – Penn State International Arbitration Day, April 2015, New York
"Ethiopia Modernizes Arbitration Framework" White & Case Client Alert, 4 May 2021 (with Tolu Obamuroh)
"Climate Change Disputes Take Center Stage at Paris Arbitration Week (PAW)", White & Case Client Alert, 27 July 2020 (with Kirsten Odynski, Nika Larkimo, Dianny Wahyudhi)
"Paris Court of Appeal refuses to set aside ICC award against non-party (Kabab-Ji v Kout Food Group)", Lexis®PSL, 16 July 2020 (with Niels Aujouannet-Kelner)
"Dallah Revisited: The French and English Courts in Conflict Again Regarding Arbitral Jurisdiction Over Non-Signatories", White & Case Client Alert, 9 July 2020 (with Paul Brumpton, Bryony Withers, Niels Aujouannet-Kelner)
"Hardship and Climate Change", Energy, Oil & Gas, Summer 2020 (with Kirsten Odynski and Marièle Coulet-Diaz)
"Hardship and climate change: How to draw-up climate-resilient contracts", Business Green, 4 May 2020 (with Kirsten Odynski and Marièle Coulet-Diaz)
"The role of ICC arbitration in resolving climate change disputes", White & Case Client Alert, January 2020 (with Kirsten Odynski, Michael Polkinghorne, Mark Clarke, Salma Selim)
"Rethinking hardship clauses in times of changing climate", Environmental Law & Management, January 2020 (with Kirsten Odynski and Marièle Coulet-Diaz)
"Energy Sector Investment Protection in West Africa", African Lax & Business, 7 June 2019 (Bylined by Robert Wheal, Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Bachir Carl Sayegh, with additional research by Opeyemi Longe)
"Projecting energy sector investors in West Africa: The Energy Protocol of the Economic Community of West African States seeks to attract power-sector investment", Africa Focus, Spring 2019 (with Robert Wheal and Bachir Sayegh)
Book review of "Commercial Arbitration Law and Practice in Nigeria through the Cases" by Adedoyin Rhodes-Vivour, Arbitration International, October 2017 (with Charles Nairac)
"Enforcement of awards in France—a dual system (Ryanair v Syndicate of Charente Airports)", Lexis PSL Arbitration, May 2017 (with Anaïs Harlé)
"Compensatory Damages Principles in Civil and Common Law Jurisdictions – Requirements, Underlying Principles and Limits", The Guide to Damages in International Arbitration, chapter 1, GAR, 2016 (co-author with Clare Connellan, Angélica André and Heather Clark)
"Mid-year review 2016 - arbitration developments in France", Lexis PSL, July 2016 (interview with Anaïs Harlé)
"Structural support, not a bridge: The role of amicus curiae opinions in investment arbitration", Liber Amicorum en l'Honneur de William Laurence Craig, 2016,pp. 289-308 (co-author with Michael Polkinghorne)
"Arbitration procedures and practice in France: overview", PLC, March 2016 (co-author with Anaïs Harlé)
"Litigation and enforcement in France: overview," PLC Global Guide to Dispute Resolution, January 2016 (with A. Harlé, A. Pitchouguina and E. Valette)
Dispute Resolution, January 2016 (co-author with Anaïs Harlé, Anastasia Pitchouguina and Elodie Valette)
"Gravitas: Persuasion and Legitimacy", TDM, July 2015
"The Long Arm of the Law," Commercial Dispute Resolution, 24 May 2013
"How resort to US courts – with US discovery – can backfire on a US party to an international arbitration," 29 July 2010, (co-author with Christopher Seppälä)
"A bar to privilege", Legal Week, 24 January 2008, (co-author with John Willems)
Elizabeth Oger-Gross is regarded for her expertise on African cases and mostly acts on energy and construction disputes. Sources report: "She is brilliant and pays detailed attention to her client's causes." Chambers Global & Europe 2022, International Arbitration – France
Leading Individual, The Legal 500 2022, Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration – France
"Elizabeth Oger-Gross' New York law knowledge is exceptional, and her ability to address the audience in different ways to suit their legal knowledge is very persuasive."
Ranked, Chambers Global & Europe 2021, International Arbitration – France
"Elizabeth Oger-Gross is reported by market sources to be "a great technician" and a "strategist," with interviewees also highlighting her for being "able to take a step back." She is regarded for her expertise on African cases and mostly acts on energy and construction disputes."
"Future Leader: Arbitration" 2021 Who's Who Legal
Next Generation Partner, The Legal 500 2020, Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration – France
Future Leaders - Partners, Who's Who Legal (Construction) 2020: Brings significant value to clients as an "excellent thinker" and is "very well-spoken with exceptional writing skills."
Up & Coming Lawyer, Chambers Europe 2020, International Arbitration – France
"Commitment and passion."
"Quick understanding of complex technical matters."
Future Leaders – Partners, Who's Who Legal (Arbitration) 2020: Hailed by peers as an "exceptional lawyer" who is able to "focus on the details and handle cases with much rigour".
Up & Coming Lawyer, Chambers 2019, Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration – France
"Very intelligent and has wide experience."
"Skill at getting to the core of the issues, and her ability to cut away details that are of limited importance"
Future Leaders - Partners, Who's Who Legal (Construction) 2019: "'a very smart and clear-thinking lawyer' who is applauded by sources for her 'exceptional writing skills''. "'She is very knowledgeable with respect to the legal and the strategic and technical aspects' of large scale construction disputes."
Future Leader – Partners, Who's Who Legal (Arbitration) 2018 & 2019:
"Excellent", "draws praise for her strategic and commercial advice"
Recommended Lawyer, The Legal 500 2017, Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration – France
"Very thorough and efficient in examining witnesses"
Africa Focus: Winter 2022
Investment treaty protection: How to safeguard foreign investments in Africa
Ethiopia Modernizes Arbitration Framework
Africa Focus: Autumn 2020
Institutional arbitration in Africa: Opportunities and challenges
Climate Change Disputes Take Center Stage at Paris Arbitration Week (PAW)
Paris Court of Appeal refuses to set aside ICC award against non-party (Kabab-Ji v Kout Food Group)
Dallah Revisited: The French and English Courts in Conflict Again Regarding Arbitral Jurisdiction Over Non-Signatories
White & Case Advises TVO on Global Settlement Agreement
White & Case Named "Africa-wide Dispute Resolution Law Firm of the Year"
Who's Who Legal Recommends 38 White & Case Arbitration Lawyers as Leaders in the Field


text:
Thoughts on games and gaming from above the 49th parallel
The Maker's Lens
This post is a little more personal and less pointed than many previous. But it's an observation that's been vaguely bouncing around my head for a while and my wife (and talented editor!) helped crystallize it last night, so I figure now is as good a time as any.
It feels like my perspective on games changed after I started making them professionally. It's not for the better or for the worse, merely different. I've seen how the sausage is made. The process is a little unnerving, but damn, it's still delicious.
What I gained was an understanding of how all the pieces fit together. Even the simplest of games has a tremendous amount of interlocking pieces, nearly all of them inter-dependent. At times I'm amazed games get made at all.
I am able to better recognize the components now. I see how the components can be built into systems that challenge, engage and emote ... or at least attempt to. It's a little disheartening at times, like touring the set of a favourite movie or TV show and seeing there is no ceiling and only two walls. The vast, vibrant world you imagine really looks something like this.
It's not a negative perception though. In some ways, it's even more fascinating, both on the part of the creator and the player. The creators provide just enough substance for the player's imagination to take over. The player doesn't need to try to sneak a peek past that unclimbable wall, because they believe the city continues outward.
I am now more aware of what's beyond the wall though (nothing). It's very similar to when I read The Design of Everyday Things and started noticing how nearly every door in the world is poorly designed. But it also helped me recognize and appreciate instances of really good design. Games are not much different.
I will notice clever tricks with lighting to guide the player's eye. Seeing an NPC behave strangely, I start guessing at the logic bugs in his state management that might have caused this. I'll note the way certain abilities drive particular behaviour. The different ways enemy AI behaves has become especially noticeable.
But when a game is so engrossing that the developer lenses come off for a while, I cannot help but admire it. All the various gears and levers recede and it's just about the experience. Rather than appreciation of various components, it's the whole artifact that's engaging. Weirdly, it makes me take notice because of all the things I'm not noticing. Eventually, I'll probably start trying to peer under the hood again. Although this time, it's likely to try and understand how all the bits fit together so well and how I can replicate the same.
One interesting side effect of this is I feel more empathy for other developers. I have a lot of difficulty completely lambasting a game, because I realize there were dozens of people not too unlike me who worked quite hard to bring this thing into existence. Mistakes are not absolved, but I find myself asking, "How can I avoid doing this?" rather than frothing about the developers' intelligence and parentage, as the howling hordes of the internet so often do.
I've always been pretty dogmatic about finishing the games I start. But now, I finish games because I want people to finish mine. By finishing games, I feel as if I'm fully appreciating the efforts that went into them. I've probably sunk some unnecessary hours into games that peaked early and I understand why others would bail early. If there's just some smaller interesting facet I want to examine, I'll grab a demo. But as soon as I've laid down cash, I feel compelled to finish.
There likely aren't any stunning revelations here. It's just interesting for me to reflect on how the way I see things has changed over the past couple of years. I'm curious to hear if your perspective on playing games has shifted as you started making games, playing different kinds of games or even just playing more/less.
More than anything else, I have found it very valuable to recognize that I don't see all the exact same things others do. This makes their perspective invaluable. Find these people, be they team mates, playtesters or just other games, and let them help you see things with a different set of lenses.
Labels: perception
posted by Nels Anderson at 10:30 AM 7 Comments
The Best Disguise
Author and journalist Tom Bissell recently had his book Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter published. In concert, Michael Abbott recorded a fantastic interview with Bissell. It's one of Michael's best and I highly recommend giving it a listen. I have Bissell's book on my desk, but haven't had a chance to dive into it yet (the fantastic Darwin's Bastards occupies my limited reading time at the moment). Hopefully the topics addressed in their conversation are borne from sections of the book though, as Tom has an interesting perspective on a number of subjects.
One such subject, and this ties into this series on perception, is how game systems are presented to the player. As games have modernized, certain games have attempted to disguise or justify familiar gameplay tropes within the game's fiction. Bioshock explained the game's checkpoint system via the Vita-Changes that rebuild the protagonist from his stored DNA should he be killed. Most likely, you completed Bioshock not with the original protagonist, but with his umpteenth clone.
Bissell praises the Disguise, referring to Jon Blow's claims that the needs of a game's narrative (progress with good pacing) and the needs of a game's challenge (hold the player back until some goal is achieved) are inherently opposed. By cleverly utilizing this concealment of game systems, it's possible to ameliorate or even exploit this conflict. Portal and Dead Space are cited for their superb execution in this regard.
I cannot disgree with that either. The narrative setup in Portal allows the challenges to make complete sense while still leaving room for GLaDOS' excellent characterization. Dead Space makes the entire game's HUD endogenous, greatly closing the gap between what the player is meant to experience and what the protagonist is. Elsewhere he praises Mirror's Edge for other reasons, but I imagine its minimal use of unjustified gameplay tropes contributes to its acknowledgement.
He decries the coffee thermos collectables in Alan Wake, a condemnation I wholly agree with. Rather than attempting to integrate that collectible into the game's fiction (which is doubly absurd considering there already was a different collectible that did fit into the game's fiction), the thermoses exist exclusively to provide supposed challenge and give the player "more to do." Poor use of the Disguise like this reeks of design-by-committee: "(Game X) had collectibles and it did well, so we need to find a way to add collectibles to our game."
The conversation on this topic is great, but it does fail to acknowledge one thing I feel it should. Bissell speaks at length about "games," but most of the time, he's really referring just to single player, story-based games. There's no problem with this, of course, but I hope his book either calls this out or discusses other types of games.
That omission is notable because the Disguise can apply equally to multiplayer or games not based on story. There's no question the aesthetic and characters of Team Fortress 2 give the game much more appeal than the generic soldiers of the original Team Fortress. The promotional comic for the free Solider vs. Demoman update is more compelling than the entire narrative of a good chunk of games. But TF2 doesn't use the Disguise just for charm and personality.
As each class in TF2 has dramatically different abilities, being able to recognize them quickly based on silhouette alone is very important. By creating unique characters for each TF2 class, their highly readable silhouettes are reinforced by the fiction. As each character literally has a unique voice, their barks are immediately recognizable. In most modern-day military shooters, every "Tango down" sounds exactly the same. But there's no difficulty telling the difference between the Demoman belting out "Medic!" in Scottish brogue and the Heavy's thick Russian cries. These are just a few examples. Valve elegantly utilizes the Disguise to present information about the TF2 classes without needing to explicitly explain anything.
It's also the case that a great many games don't need the Disguise. Games where story isn't important shouldn't care about justifying their gameplay. Mario needs to find stars because ... I guess it helps save Princess Peach, who has inevitably been kidnapped again. But really, the stars exist because it's a serviceable objective in the challenge to navigate fantastical and dizzying environments. No more is needed and even that thin veneer could probably be lost without doing much harm to the experience.
It is really about being clear on what you're trying to make. As critics and consumers of games, we ought not to tolerate brain-dead artificialities that exist only to provide "challenge" while doing great harm to a game's story. Conversely though, we shouldn't condemn a game for lacking these things if that game is built to be about the challenge and the narrative is, at best, a little colour. The Disguise can be a powerful thing and those developers that know how to utilize it correctly have produced some of the engaging, immersive games seen to date. But perhaps the important aspect of the Disguise is knowing when to use it. Rather than timidly flitting between both sides, having the clarity to know when such things are necessary would demonstrate the focus necessary for a project to have a shot at being great.
Don't forget, read the book and listen to the interview. Both are definitely worth your time.
Labels: Alan Wake, Extra Lives, perception
Make a Perception Check
I think the readability series I wrote over a year ago is still one of my favourite pieces on the site. I think the connectedness has an advantage over the more reactive, "here's what I'm thinking this week" writing I tend to do. So it's time to roll out another, this time about "perception." The connections may be a little more tenuous than the readability series, but I'm hoping to keep the focus on how different methods of constructing elements of a game (or even wholly different forms of games) can significantly affect how players act.
Out of the gate we're going to talk about one of the fundamental actions in tabletop RPGs: "Make a Perception check."
For those unfamiliar with tabletop RPGs, a Perception check is the mechanical representation of your character's senses. Different systems have different parlance, but the basic action is nearly universal in some form or another. It determines whether or not you sense something intentionally concealed or merely notice small details. Most systems allow eagle-eyed characters to improve their sensory skills. And therein lies the complication.
Tabletop RPGs almost always involve a group of players. The GM will ask for a Perception check and then every player rolls. But in the vast majority of situations, only a single player needs to succeed. The result is conveyed to the group as a whole, no matter how much effort is made to rein in metagaming. This dampens that limelight moment for the keen-eyed player. And it feels very game-y when the group always sees with the best set of eyes. Possible alternatives, like passing notes to those that succeed their check, can work but are logistically infeasible to be frequent.
This also ties into the other major issue with Perception mechanics in tabletop games, namely that Perception checks without interesting outcomes for both success and failure are probably not worth having. Asking for a Perception check and then responding with "You don't see anything" immediately sets the players to sniffing out what they missed. In the worst case, they'll begin scouring every square foot of an area, probably ignoring whatever situation was previously demanding their attention. Making checks for the players in secret is a possibility, but it somewhat robs them of their ability to make interesting decisions. Or at least know the consequences of prior decisions made, like whether or not they chose to improve their Perception skill.
I'm becoming more and more convinced that Perception mechanics are strongest when they have immediate, readable outcomes. If everyone in the group is rolling, the consequences should apply for everyone. E.g. failing a check means being surprised by the ambush and losing a turn. Calling for individual Perception checks is almost far more interesting (does the character walking ahead of everyone else notice the old rotting floorboards before he steps on them?) when there are immediate outcomes. I haven't really pushed on this methodology enough to say if it has any unfortunate consequences (like always making the most Perceptive character take point), but I'm going to be more rigorous about it in the next game I run and see what happens.
Digital games often reverse the presentation of player information, with very little perceptual information being shared between players. Naturally this only applies to networked multiplayer games, as local multiplayer games naturally share their information, since everyone is looking at the same screen.
Any avatar-based game will naturally facilitate each player having a different perception of the game world. Usually the degree of sharing is driven by function, e.g. can I see my teammates' position on a map, know their statistics, etc. The perceptive skills of each player are symmetrical and their ability to share information is limited to meta-game tools (i.e. text and voice chat).
A few games have really experimented with the idea of offering different perceptive abilities. Chromehounds, a mech combat game released in 2006, featured a fascinating commander role. The commander player had a very lightly armoured mech with limited combat abilities. However, their perception abilities outstripped every other player. They could see further, have better radio control, affect the minimap, etc.
Other games have attempted the same, notably the commander role in the Battlefield series and more recently, in Sony's MAG. Savage, released in 2003, took a somewhat different tack and attempted to blend RTS and FPS gameplay. One player was given RTS-like control of the base, build tree, etc. while the rest of the players served as soliders on the ground. In actuality, I'd say none of these were as successful as Chromehounds in creating a role where differences in perception abilities are meaningful and rewarding. I think they largely fall down because the games are simply too big.
It seems the thinking behind commander roles in games like Battlefield is to simulate real-world coordinated military action. However, they lack what makes a commander on a real battlefield work- a chain of command. With games like MAG supporting 128 players per team, you're guaranteed to be playing primarily with strangers. Strangers who have no interest or incentive to listen to the commander. Without actual threat to life, or even just court martial, coordinating 127 strangers is basically impossible.
Chromehounds supported only 6 players per team, meaning there was a good chance you'd be playing with five friends. Even if you weren't, convincing five people to work together is possible where having over 100 do so is unthinkable. Given that co-op gameplay (along with motion controls, seemingly) are what's vogue these days, I'd love to see further exploration of the path Chromehounds started. A pure co-op experience where significant differences in perceptive abilities were built into gameplay from the ground up could be striking. Left 4 Dead demonstrated expertly that players, even strangers, will work together well if the mechanics ask them to.
And of course, this is only in a cooperative context. The interplay between shared information and hidden information is at the core of a great many competitive games (everything from texas hold 'em on up). That's a whole other post (or series even) that I may not delve into. But it's clear there's a lot of space to experiment with just what players can see without even needing to dive into what the players can do.
Now what happens when what I see informs what you do? I'd hazard it would be something very interesting indeed.
Labels: Dungeons and Dragons, perception
Alan Wake Is Too Much Game
I like Alan Wake, despite it being composed of numerous things that could easily be disliked. Unfortunately, those were usually the most game-like parts of the experience.
There have been many criticisms of Alan Wake discussing how the game isn't "scary enough." I think this is a misdirected criticism. Rightly or wrongly, that wasn't the game Remedy was trying to make. Hell, on the box it says "A Psychological Action Thriller." And while I'm not convinced games should need to dress up their covers with vague genre potpourri, I think that is indicative of the experience Remedy was trying to craft. To me it seems misguided, at best, to criticize a game for not being what you wanted it to be, rather than what its creators were intending it to be (of course, there often isn't an easy way to determine that).
In Alan Wake, Remedy has crafted a fantastic environmental atmosphere. I grew up in an extremely rural, heavily wooded area (just south of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming). Simply, going into the forest at night is unsettling. With naught but starlight, or at best a flashlight, there is no question you feel unwelcome. No matter how many times you've been in that part of the forest, you know there are things out there that are far more familiar with it than you will ever be. There is a quiet menace to the forest at night and Alan Wake captures that very well. Combine that with threatening industrial spaces and believable abandoned structures, and the resulting environment hits its tonal marks well time and again.
As an aside, I don't usually care much about cutting edge visuals in games (versus having an interesting art direction), but god damn, the lighting in Alan Wake is stunning. Obviously it ought to be given that it's the central theme of the game, but it's still staggering. Alan's flashlight, a road flame, car headlights; all of the light sources have a varied and tactile feel. Conversely, the facial animations and lip sync are poor to the point of unsettling. But as long as you're looking at Alan's back instead of watching him conversing, the game's visuals greatly enhance the atmosphere.
There is a sizable weakness to Alan Wake's environments though. While the spaces are dressed and lit excellently, their actual physical layout is at times downright bizarre. The areas are weirdly sparse and empty. Usually there will be a direct path through an area with massive open stretches on both sides. But only one time in three will there actually be anything to find off the path, even with the numerous and well-derided collectables. The indirect path is rarely safer, as the heavy brush gives enemies more cover and disguises their approach. So as often as not, you're blundering off the path, shining your flashlight everywhere, only to discover after scouring half an acre that there is nothing to be found. Yet, in the next area, there will be a coffee thermos inexplicably purchased on the far edge of a boulder.
Alan Wake is positively bloated with collectables, a great many of them pointless. There are the now infamous coffee thermoses (David Lynch homage or no, they're awful). There are 100 of the things and literally, the only purpose they serve is to award an achievement once you've found 25 and another once you've found all 100. I'm well convinced objects without any endogenous value in a game should be banished. Period. The manuscript pages of the novel Wake himself has/is writing, that describe events happening in parallel or just ahead of the story, are more tolerable but still too numerous. Beyond the manuscript pages (some of which are only available on the hardest difficulty that is only unlocked when you've finished the game once) and thermoses, there are also can pyramids, radio segments, TV shows, supply chests and signs. Achievements are awarded for each, of course.
Aside from the can pyramids and thermoses, which are just daft, any of these things in isolation is fine. I actually found the "Night Springs" knock-off of the Twilight Zone to be pretty darn amusing. But combined, the sheer volume of stuff becomes way too noisy. It completely derails the game's pacing and atmosphere time and again. Leigh wrote about Alan Wake being too well made to be successful. While she said it "isn't all the scary," I think she is just observing how often the atmosphere is pierced by Alan Wake's design screaming, "HEY, DON'T FORGET YOU'RE PLAYING A GAME!"
The excessive collectables are the most egregious, but the wholly unnecessary yet persistent mini-map and objective marker plastered on the HUD certainly doesn't do any favours to the aesthetic. Aside from the weird spaces off the path, the levels themselves are quite linear. And given the game's heavy thematic leaning on light, I cannot imagine making a highly navigable space would really be that difficult. The mini-map and HUD feels like the number of playtesters who circled 3 instead of 4 or 5 on the Likert scale response to "I felt like I knew where to go at all times" passed some ostensibly vital threshold. And, as Leigh noted in her piece, the presence of enemies is telegraphed to an extreme that torpedoes the ambiance.
It's a real shame too, because there are actually some really interesting things going on with Wake's character. It's buried under a mound of Stephen King paperbacks and VHS cassettes of Twin Peaks, but it's there. Wake has been wrestling with severe writer's block, but it's only noted once (late in the game and in passing) that Wake had written a long successful series of serial detective novels only to have killed the main character in has last book. Now he's seemingly unable to produce anything since. And if there's anything the games industry is familiar with, it's being unable to walk away from past successes.
And I'm only half-kidding with that. Becoming a victim of your own success and being unable to truly get out of your own shadow is something very successful creators (e.g. Douglas Adams, Andy Kaufman, etc.) have wrestled with. It's certainly something I've never really seen addressed in a game before, despite it being pretty well in the background of Alan Wake.
There are interesting things going on in Alan Wake, without question. It's just a shame that Remedy's design ending up being so diffident. It's almost as if they were afraid the experience wouldn't be good enough on it's own, so it had to be filled out with "more things to do." But rather than be filled out, it becomes bloated and unwieldy. There's an extremely compelling atmosphere and even some interesting themes, but it's been buried in an avalanche of pointless collectables and excessive hand-holding. It's possible the DLC episodes might be more stripped-down, and if so, they could be real solid. We'll just have to wait and see, but in the mean time, I do suggest giving Alan Wake a try. There's some good stuff in there, if you can peer past all the gunk.
Oh, and getting an achievement for watching a god damn Verizon commercial in the middle of the 4th area of the game? Inexcusable bullshit. Sorry, I can't pretty that one up.
Labels: Alan Wake
Level 20 Gunslinger
Red Dead Redemption may be one of the best RPGs to come out this year.
Stop and think about it for a minute. When it comes to creating a place that feels legitimate and tangible, it's pretty hard to argue with New Austin's expanse. And RDR certainly has characters and dialog in spades (no poker pun intended).
If you really consider it, what differentiates an "RPG" from another kind of game? In days long past, when we were measuring Final Fantasy against Contra, having a large, free-roaming world was a novel and unique feature. Obviously that's no longer the case. Sandbox games may have actually surpassed the majority of RPGs in presenting a large, freely navigable continuous space.
Similarly, nearly all AAA single-player games are character-driven now. It used to be that the only RPGs contained characters that would speak to each other in nothing but the most cursory of fashions. Again, those days are long past. While the stories might not always have been well-crafted, they're certainly prominent in nearly all big-budget titles. Even the notion of player choice (nearly always good vs. evil) has been used in all manner of games.
With world and story no longer domain of the RPG, what remains are mechanical distinctions. The most prominent mechanics, i.e. level, hit points, etc., were inherited from tabletop RPGs. Stat-modifying equipment is a natural consequence of this, but not really a distinct feature by itself. Some RPGs have focused intensely on this portion of the genre, most notably Diablo and its more modern offpsring, Torchlight. Of course, as is evidenced by Modern Warfare (and seemingly every other yet-to-be-released shooter), experience and levels is a system that can easily be co-opted by other genres.
Another large distinction is being able to control a party of characters, rather than just a single one. However, we have seen this diminish as of late (especially in western RPGs) from having full, symmetric control of all the characters to embodying a single character and directing AI companions. Some recent RPGs, like Alpha Protocol and Demon's Souls offer no companions at all.
Having a robust dialog system with many conversation options is part of the western RPG tradition, but rare in Japanese RPGs, so this may only count for half. This quality is shared with adventure games as well.
There is something of a question of content and setting, given that many RPGs skew toward wizards-and-orcs style fantasy. I'd consider this also a result of their tabletop heritage rather than anything intrinsic, especially when some of the best RPGs around explore different territory.
With all that boiled away, what then is the difference between Fallout 3 and Red Dead Redemption? Is it just statistics and a dialog tree? I think there is one final difference, also inherited from the tabletop ancestry, that's most important: classes. While their specific implementation may vary, the high-level goal of providing distinct playstyles is pretty fundamental to the RPG. The classes may be spread amongst characters (in Japanese RPGs) or a choice offered to the player, but they're almost always there.
I'd say this is really the heart of the RPGs. Playing Red Dead Redemption, the player is always John Marston. When you're placed in a situation where you have to shoot, you shoot. When told to race, you race. When told to mosey and rustle, well, you get the picture. The player has very little choice in how to address a situation. Even with the greater freedom afforded in a game like Just Cause 2, sooner or later, you're going to be blowing things up. It's just a question of whether or not to buy two grenade launchers or steal a helicopter.
I'm not convinced that the low-level mechanical trappings of RPGs are what make them interesting and special. I don't think Morrowind or Arcanum would be poorer games if they didn't have levels. In a single player game, the notion of level is largely illusory anyway (and in the case of Oblivion, barely an illusion). The numbers get bigger, but the game rarely becomes radically more difficult as you advance in level. It works at conveying a sense of progress, but there are other ways to do this. But the choice afford by the best of RPGs is unparalleled.
Are we going to see a convergence of RPGs and sandbox games? Perhaps. Take away the leveling and we're more than halfway there, I'd say. Imagine a game with the playstyle freedom of Deus Ex and the grand, sprawling world of Just Cause 2. Sandbox games with rich, emergent worlds succeed in providing small moments unique to each player. Great RPGs offer the ability to make large scale decisions that fundamentally alter how the player approaches the game. Putting those things together would be quite the challenge, but the payoff would be astounding.
I'm not sure who would make that game, but I cannot dispute that I would play the everliving hell out of it.
Labels: Fallout, Red Dead Redemption, RPG
posted by Nels Anderson at 11:00 AM 13 Comments
Me on Steam
DeathSpank
DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue
MIGS '16
Gamercamp '13 Text and Slides
GDC '13 Slides & Text
Conferring
Unwinning
Holy hell, do I love Dark Souls
I ... I Don't Even Know. Thank You.
Mark of the Ninja LAUNCHED!
PAX, Once Again
Design adapted from NodeThirtyThree + Free CSS Templates


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Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has resolved his issues with Roque Santa Cruz and has told the striker he wants him to keep him at the club.
The Paraguay international gave an interview on the eve of Allardyce's first match in charge in which he said if a "better or an ambitious club" came in for him he would like to join them.
"We've had the discussion and I just said the timing I thought was very poor," said Allardyce. "He should have not done that interview. Obviously I felt it was slightly sinister, the timing of it, but we have resolved that and I have told him I don't want him to leave and that is probably the end of it."
All season Santa Cruz has been linked with a reunion with Manchester City manager Mark Hughes, the man who signed him for Rovers from Bayern Munich in summer 2007.
Since Allardyce took over last Wednesday there have been suggestions the striker, who could command a fee between £15-£20million, would be offloaded to generate necessary funds for squad rebuilding. But the former Bolton and Newcastle manager said that was not the case.
"You can never be 100% about anything in this game but I haven't come here to sell my best players," he stressed.
Midfielder David Dunn believes some of the criticism levelled at Santa Cruz has been unfair.
The 27-year-old has struggled to regain the form which saw him score 23 goals in his debut season but Dunn said that was not for want of trying.
"Roque is such a good genuine lad. He has been playing with injuries which he shouldn't have been doing," said Dunn. "He wanted to help the cause and help us get out of the mess. He is one of those guys who is a top lad, always tries his best and is not a bad egg around the place.
"He is 100% committed the cause. I had a chat with him on Monday night about this and will be fine with it."


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Figure 2. Rescue of mean telomere length and percentage of short telomeres in late generation telomerase-reconstituted G3 Terc+/−* keratinocytes. (A) Telomere length histogram obtained by Q-FISH in primary murine skin keratinocytes. The histogram shown is representative of three independent pairs of G3 Terc−/− and G3 Terc+/−* littermates (see B). Note a greater abundance of short telomeres in the G3 Terc−/− mouse compared with the G3 Terc+/−* littermate.
Red lines facilitate visualization of short (<100 a.u.f.) and long (>1,000 a.u.f.) telomeres. The total number of telomere dots used for the quantifi cation and the percentage of short and long telomeres are indicated. (B) Mean telomere length is signifi cantly increased (P < 0.001) in G3 Terc+/−* compared with G3 Terc−/− mice. Concomitantly, these mice show a signifi cant (P < 0.001) decrease in the percentage of short telomeres and a signifi cant (P = 0.015) increase in the percentage of long telomeres. Data are mean values ± SEM for three independent pairs of G3 Terc−/− and G3 Terc+/−* littermates.
In plain English: G3 mice are unable to make telomerase and their descendants live shorter and shorter because of this. They themselves age prematurely. If you splice in one copy of the telomerase gene (G3 Terc +/-,) the numbers of telomeres drop from 3936 to 2049 but the critically short percentage drops from 12.5% to 1.7%.
A reasonable conclusion might be that when telomerase is reintroduced into the progeric mice, p53 and other mechanisms are at work to force bad cells into suicide.


Since midnight on New Year's Eve there were hundreds of car crashes in Albuquerque, dozens with injuries.
A spokesperson with the Albuquerque Police Department said there were 223 crashes, at least 66 of those had injuries. Another 124 vehicles experienced traffic problems such as getting stuck or breaking down on the road, and at least three traffic signals were knocked down in the metro area.
For cars stuck on interstates and highways, New Mexico State Police said owners have 10 days to remove their vehicles from the roadways.
New Mexico State Police said they are working on gathering final numbers on the amount of accidents there were around the state.


B&W's circulating dry scrubber (CDS) technology is ideal for small footprints and big expectations for SO2 removal.
B&W is the exclusive North American licensee for Enviroserv's circulating dry scrubber technology (CDS). CDS technology is designed for smaller units with limited space or which have site-specific needs and fire medium- to high-sulfur coals.
When integrated with our fabric filter and dry sorbent injection technologies, our CDS offers a packaged approach to particulate, mercury and acid gas control.
user with an optimized system to reduce long-term power and lime consumption, while providing reliable operation across wide load and fuel ranges, along with lower maintenance costs. See a description of this B&W project at Alliant Energy's Lansing Station.


ELMHURST, Ill.– George Hill has been selected as The Summit League's Men's Basketball Player of the Year in voting conducted by the league's 10 head coaches, sports information directors and selected media members.
Southern Utah's Geoff Payne took home the league's Newcomer of the Year honor, while the Oral Roberts trio of Yemi Ogunoye, Robert Jarvis and Scott Sutton were honored as Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively.
Hill was named Player of the Year after leading the league in scoring with 22.0 points per game. He also ranked fourth in assists (4.47) and fifth in rebounding (6.9). The four-time Player of the Week led IUPUI to a school-record-tying 24-6 overall record and a second-place league finish with a 15-3 mark. He recorded a league-leading eight double-doubles on the season, scored 20 or more points 14 times and in six games scored 30 or more points. The junior surpassed the 1,000-point plateau on Nov. 18 and has 1,548 career points, good for fifth place all-time at IUPUI.
Payne takes home the Newcomer of the Year award after transferring to Southern Utah from Snow College. He led the league in offensive rebounds (3.0), ranked second in scoring (21.9), field goal percentage (.611) and steals (1.78) and third in rebounding (7.1). He finished with career highs of 35 points and 15 rebounds at Oral Roberts on Feb. 19, one of his seven double-doubles on the year.
Jarvis, who came off the bench in all but three games this season, averaged 15.4 points per game for the Golden Eagles this season to collect Sixth Man of the Year accolades. Not only does he lead his team in scoring, but he is the top scoring bench man in the nation. He was fifth in the league in free throw percentage (.855) and 10th in scoring.
Ogunoye collects the Defensive Player of the Year honor after shutting down some of the league's – and nation's – top players this season. In league play, he limited NDSU's Ben Woodside to six points on 2-of-10 shooting, SDSU's Kai Williams to five points on 1-of-5 shooting and UMKC's Dane Brumagin to two points on 0-of-7 shooting. He also held Oklahoma State leading scorer James Anderson scoreless with four turnovers.
Sutton was named Coach of the Year after leading Oral Roberts to a 21-8 overall record and 16-2 league mark. The Golden Eagles claimed The Summit League regular-season title for the fourth year in a row, despite losing a pair of players that combined for 51 percent of the team's points last year. Sutton has a career record of 165-110 (.601) and ranks second in school history in career wins. Sutton was a finalist for the 2007 Clair Bee Coaching Excellence Award and was the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 12 co-Coach of the Year in 2005, sharing the award with his father. This is his second Summit League Coach of the Year honor, as he won the award in 2002.
Joining Hill, Payne and Jarvis on the first team are Oakland's Derick Nelson (16.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg), and North Dakota State's Brett Winkelman (18.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Ben Woodside (18.3 rpg, 5.1 apg).
The second team consists of Jaraun Burrows (14.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg) of IPFW, UMKC's Dane Brumagin (18.2 ppg, .465 3FG%), Oakland's Johnathon Jones (14.6 ppg, 6.8 apg), Oral Roberts' Shawn King (10.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.1 bpg) and Gary Patterson (12.9 ppg, .471 3FG%) of IUPUI.
Making The Summit League honorable mention team are Centenary's Tyrone Hamilton (15.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Nick Stallings (16.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg), ORU's Moses Ehambe (12.3 ppg, .885 FT%), Western Illinois' David Jackson (15.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and IUPUI's Austin Montgomery (13.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg).
In addition to Jarvis and Payne, the all-newcomer team consists of UMKC's Reggie Hamilton (11.0 ppg, .867 FT%), ORU's Marcus Lewis (7.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and WIU's David DuBois (9.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg).
* Statistics given are from Summit League games only.


It decribed the man she was seeking for and decribed herself.
I am a descentnice guy looking for casual fun with a lady. Age range around us, 20yo-32 yoplease send pics.
Again I am not looking to jump into a relationship, but I am looking for a good man to get to know and hopefully build a LTR with.


What qualifies for great outdoor furniture? What contributes to the perfect outdoor setting? Cane lounge chairs set by the pool or a redwood dining table for the entire family?
There are a number of designs and ideas you will come across while looking for patio furniture. But when it comes to making the right choice for your home, it is essential to choose that which goes with the tone of your home and gives meaning to your outdoor space.
Take a look at some of these modern patio furniture designs. You just might find what you're looking for!
Cane chairs by the pool and a tiny table for those chilled drinks. What more could you ask for? Cane furniture brings with it that "vacation-like" feel and enhances the ambience of the surrounding space.
Your vacation home can't be called "ideal" till you have the perfect patio, overlooking the magnificent blue waters of the ocean. Complement that view by setting up the most sophisticated variety of outdoor furniture you can find. Dark wood or dark brown cane with ivory and red furnishings enhances the elegance quotient.
Colorful surroundings are best complemented with white furniture. A simple patio or open terrace overlooking the magnificent view beyond is a pre-requisite for furniture like this. It easily pleases your refined tastes!
If you're designing an outdoor space to fulfill your need for day long lounging, you will need furniture like this. Elongated comfort couches with plenty of room for head and backrest. Whip out your favorite book, play some soothing music and prepare your favorite cocktail and you're sorted!
Cane furniture is often the most chosen material for outdoor furniture and there are no surprises why! Cane is versatile and can suit a variety of furniture shapes, sizes and colors, just like in this magnificent outdoor space.
Give that four-poster in your bedroom a complex! Set up inimitable four-poster like lounge spaces in your patio and you'll never run out of ideas for recreation.
A rocking chair is an integral part of outdoor furniture. Who doesn't love relaxing at the end of a tiring day on a rocking chair with a steaming hot cup of coffee? Give your rocking chair a new dimension with a rocking lounge chair for your patio. And with a good shed to protect you from the sun, you can spend many a number of bright sunny days here.
Ready to lounge in your magnificent patio?


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Q: Unable to delete a user in django's built in auth app When I try to delete a user from Django's built in auth app, I have this error:
django.db.utils.OperationalError: no such table: main.auth_user__old
I searched on the web and I found this question : Django - No such table: main.auth_user__old
So I updated Django and I am now using the version 3.2.4 (I am using sqlite). Then I tried to delete auth tables from the db but when I did a ptyhon manage.py makemigrations auth, it told me that no changes were detected.
Also, I can't delete the whole database.
Does someone have an idea what I can do to fix this?

A: You shouldn't be deleting tables manually while using Django. Django adds an extra table to the database called django_migrations and in this table Django keeps track of which migrations are applied. When you manually delete stuff their entry is still left in this table and hence you find yourself unable to apply migrations.
The simplest way to do what you want is to reverse the migrations by migrating to a previous migration by specifying the migration name:
python manage.py [app_label] [migration_name]

You can use zero as the migration_name to reverse all migrations. If suppose you have already changed things manually you can use the --fake flag to fake the migrations (Which will simply mark / unmark the migrations as applied). Considering you already deleted the tables you can use the following command:
python manage.py migrate auth zero --fake

For more information on the migrate command you can read the documentation.


You'll find this popular cabbage dish at the Oktoberfest, wine or beer festivals in Southern Germany, it's usually served with Bratwurst or with good German sausages, Schweinshaxe or any other pork dish.
Sauté the finely chopped onion in the butter until tender, add the thinly sliced peeled apples and chopped garlic to the onion. Add the Sauerkraut unwashed to the onions and sauté for a few minutes. Add some water, the juniper berries, salt and simmer covered for 1/2 - 1 hour. More water can be added during the cooking process as necessary. At the end add few tablespoons of white wine as desired.
If you cook Sauerkraut in a pressure cooker the cooking time will be drastically reduced to 8-10 minutes total.


Overlooking the Torrey Pines Golf Course and the Pacific Ocean, this beautiful hotel sits between La Jolla and Del Mar. The hotel's 394 rooms offer views of the golf course, gardens and the Pacific horizon. Guests can relax at the spa or the heated pool, and enjoy a game of tennis. The hotel offers easy access to many popular attractions including SeaWorld, Del Mar Racetrack, Birch Aquarium, and Mission Bay.
Located in La Jolla, California, about 15 miles from San Diego International-Lindbergh Field.


Goddamn 4-meg limit >:( Another "dark trip-hop skratch" thingy. I hope you like it.
It NEEDED to be made.
you have once again made me happy with this nice song.
Who could have thought of such a thing other than my fave artist rucklo!?!?!
take it ez, relax and BOOOOH!
Your song is good and creepy and it has a good feel. I like the "distress lyrics"
Even though the lyrics are kinda scary it makes the song sound real cool and creepy. Good job!


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Indywidualne Mistrzostwa Świata na Żużlu 1950 – cykl turniejów żużlowych mających wyłonić najlepszych żużlowców na świecie. Tytuł wywalczył Walijczyk Freddie Williams.

Po raz pierwszy w eliminacjach uczestniczyli reprezentanci z Nowej Zelandii, Walii i Irlandii.

Runda mistrzowska
Rozgrywano 9 eliminacji na torach brytyjskich.

Awans: 16+2 do Finału Światowego

Finał Światowy
 22 września 1950 r. (piątek),  Londyn – Stadion Wembley

Uwaga! Mike Erskine zastąpił w rezerwie Arthura Forresta.

1950
1950 w sporcie żużlowym


Launching a new magazine is a lot like bringing a new baby into the world. The wait for it all to happen seems to last forever, accompanied by a lot of anxiety during the last few weeks, with everybody full of curiosity about how the new kid will look.
Last spring we told you about our plans to spin off from our Family Network letters column a new organization-- the BH&G Family Network-- with a stellar board of advisers.
Homeowners emerged relative winners from the recent tax-reform fracas. Rut what does it all really mean to you?
For teenagers, freedom is The Issue. They crave it, and they need it. But parents must decide when and how to give it.
Homeowners are on the move as never before buying up, scaling down, and moving on to other regions. Today's dynamic newhome market offers a broader selection of housing types, making it easier to find a home that suits your family's lifestyle.
Contemporary-country? The old oxymoron is one no longer. Today's country style exhibits a freshness that makes it, well, modern.
Five problems often handicap bright kids in school. Here's how to tell if your child faces one of these stumbling blocks.
Living in the city doesn't stop Virginia and Sarah Weatherly from maintaining one of the best small flower and vegetable gardens we've ever seen. It's packed with space-saving tips you can use in your own yard.
METAL BEDS RISE AND SHINE!
Awake to the new look of metal beds! Made of brass, steel, or chrome, these relics from yesteryear are jazzing up bedrooms everywhere. Whether you're in the market for a new bed or interested in fixing up a vintage one, here's a sampling of the great looks available in today's metal beds.
This Valentine's Day, enjoy romantic gifts made by every member of your family. They will long be remembered as expressions of love.
Better Homes and Gardens magazine, in cooperation with KitchenAid, presents the idea kitchen for today, a state-of-the-art showcase brimming with the latest in appliances, color, light, and drama.
Administering a dog's daily heartworm medication can be a chore. But there's help on the way. Heartgard-30, a new tablet created by Merck & Co., helps control canine heartworms. Your dog takes the tablets only once a month. Heartgard-30 has been approved in Canada, and it's being tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. We'll keep you posted.
You're cruising into a highway turn when the car's rear end suddenly slides out sideways, the nose heads off on its own, and your hands feel powerless on the wheel.
Nowhere are beaches whiter, sands softer, and shells more plentiful than along the Gulf. Play in the surf, bake in the sun, fish the day away. Come evening, you'll find motels, hotels, and resorts; or camp among the dunes. We show you the top-rated Gulf Coast areas.
Talk about taking the fun out of things: Now they're putting nutritional information on bags of potato chips!


In 2011, Germany's Federal Government established the German-Arab Transformation Partnership to support the transformation process in the Arab world, identifying education as one of the most important enablers of this process. The measures include updating the curricula in Arab universities to meet the emerging needs of the global knowledge society and supporting internal reform processes within the universities. The projects funded under this programme are designed to help tackle a wide range of challenges, be it in the field of science and technology for environmental engineers and managers, in cultural preservation for archaeologists and cultural managers, or in medicine, improving the health of mothers and newborns. The social sciences are also involved in initiating and championing change by offering a forum for open discussion and critical thinking.


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text:
Q: When are the Watch books set? Simple question: how precisely can we say when the Watch books are set?
I seem to remember some talk about the turn of the millenium around the end of book 2 (but haven't got it to hand now, so can't check), but when exactly was the year 2000 in comparison to the time the books are set in?
There is an interval of a few years between books 2 and 3, but I don't know if there are any more such gaps later on in the series. Please indicate spoilers from beyond book 3 as such :-)

A: It seems they take place in the same year (or close to) they've been published.
The "Night watch" was published in Russia in 1998. During the course of the book Anton is stopped by two police officers. To avoid them, Anton casts compulsion on them and they both go to get drunk. In the "New Watch" (2012) we meet one of the police officers that recognises Anton and asks him to not make him drunk again because "they no longer live in Yeltsin era and he would loose his job" (Boris Yeltsin was president till 31-12-1999).
Another hints: Nadya is 2 years old in the "Twilight watch", five in the "Last watch" and old enough to date in the "Sixth watch" (she still goes to school).
So, if we assume that the "Night watch" takes place in the 1998 (the publication date):

*

*"Day Watch" (2000) would take place soon after. Anton and Svetlana start dating.

*"Twilight Watch" (2003) - at least 3 years later - Nadya is two years old.

*"Last Watch" (2006) -  three years after previous book, Nadya is 5.

*"New Watch" (2011) - Nadya is about 10

*"Sixth Watch" (2014) - Nadya still goes to school, "Kesha" (who is the same age as she) starts going through puberty, which would make the action take place 2-4 years after the previous book.


Home Technology Tech News & Updates It's 2017 and Nokia 3310 is back with a vengeance. But….
Nokia 3310 was an awesome phone. It had a very sturdy build and very long battery life. To many others, it was their first phone with very nostalgic moments of playing Snake and having a dent-less phone even after a ton of accidental drops.
It's 2017 and Nokia has a surprise for all of us. It's Nokia 3310 re-modernised, re-designed, re-launched.
The new Nokia 3310 (2017) borrows the success from the original Nokia 3310 and comes with a month of battery life!
Its design may not be as rugged as the original 3310, but it has definitely come with a new, fresh, redesign with a few colourful choices: Red, Yellow, Gray, and Dark Blue.
It has a 2.4″ screen (with colours), micro USB charging port, 2MP camera with LED flash, headphone jack, FM radio and MP3 player, 16MB Internal Storage (with a MicroSD card supporting up to 32GB), and.. a Snake game for the nostalgia!
Sadly, it doesn't run on Android and most importantly, it only runs on 2G (what?). Running on 2G is a deal breaker to most as many telecommunication networks around the globe (such as here in Australia) have turn their 2G off for good.
Things got exciting, but unfortunately, many of you would probably never find a need to buy this phone. Except for nostalgic purposes.
Read more about the new, modern Nokia 3310 (2017) at Nokia's website.