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March 13, 2019 Ravenshaw	Leave a comment
I've recently fallen love with a tabletop miniatures game. Forgive me, for I know not what I do.
Continue reading Warhammer Underworlds →
WargamingWarhammer Underworlds
Android, Review
Devil's Attorney
January 25, 2014 Ravenshaw	Leave a comment
I mentioned in my review of Tiny Tower that I felt a bit disappointed that there wasn't an end to the mindless toil in that particular game. I began to get that same sensation in Devil's Attorney after moving into my second new apartment, I felt the familiar dread of buying another set of furniture and chintz and I considered giving it up.
I didn't, in the end. The voice acting was funny, the cases were well constructed puzzles and the art style reminded me of Rock Star Ate My Hamster, Day of the Tentacle and Sam and Max. The final level, a courtroom battle worthy of A Few Good Men or Kramer vs Kramer, came as a surprise, as it dispensed with the static puzzle flavour of the game up to that point and became a randomised series of blow and counterblow. I found that it was easily the most challenging and, for that reason, the most enjoyable.
And, in an age of micro transactions and never ending games that don't evolve out of their initial rut, it was refreshing for the game to have a defined end. The story was light but held my interest and it was satisfying for it to be wrapped up in some style.
Android, Capitalist Hegemony, Games That Make You Feel Like A Serf, Review
Tiny Tower
November 18, 2012 Ravenshaw	Leave a comment
I've demolished my Tower, evicting over one-hundred bitizens and destroying 60 floors of shops and apartments. I had finally realised that it would never end, there'd be no respite from the constant drudgery, and that I was doomed to stack shelves forever.
It's not that Tiny Tower wasn't fun, initially. Figuring out the best way to fill the tower efficiently, making sure that shops were staffed by enthusiastic workers and building new floors to maximise my labour pool were all diverting. The problem comes once you've got past this level of expertise. Once you've developed a reasonable understanding of Tiny Tower there is no more fun to be had, as no new challenges come forth to hold your interest. The drudge sets in and you find yourself logging in to restock video stores and amusement arcades in between shuttling VIPs from floor to floor.
The question is why? In an open game like this one the activities you are performing have to be intrinsically entertaining or the rewards for reaching milestones have to be special. The reward system for Tiny Tower is achievement based, and could hardly be less compelling. Completing an achievement gives you coins that enable you to perform actions more quickly in the rest of the game. Once you've mastered the game's core dynamic, these rewards become less important and therefore less valuable. Take away the flow you get from mastering the game, the long term interest in Tiny Tower is pretty slight.
Does it matter? It's a cheap enough game and I got more than a few hours satisfaction from it before coming to this conclusion. The problem is that it is not just a slight diversion. Up until the point I clicked that it was never going to end, it did feel imperative that I build the best tower, and I spent too much time doing so. It is a frighteningly effective time sink. I'm still undecided if that is such a bad thing. It certainly feels like I've been manipulated. What makes it more galling is it was all done by building full of pixelated tenants…
Film, Review
August 15, 2012 Ravenshaw	Leave a comment
This review contains spoilers for the Bourne films.
At the beginning of The Bourne Ultimatum, the killing of journalist Simon Ross sets off a chain of events that lead to a satisfying conclusion to the Bourne Trilogy. The same event in The Bourne Legacy is the catalyst for a less thrilling story of the other super-soldiers in CIA enhancement programs that make Treadstone and Blackbriar look positively unambitious and slovenly.
We are introduced to Operation Outcome through a few expository scenes and it quickly becomes obvious that all of the enhancement programs that can be linked to Treadstone or Blackbriar are going to be shut down. What this means in practice is that all of the human resources are going to be liquidated whereas all of the research and paperwork is going to be shifted to some other part of the CIA, where I'm sure it will be safe, to be started again as soon as the fuss dies down. Of course killing all of your field operatives is a little messy; we've seen over three other films that it's not as easy as it looks and things tend to blow up in the CIA's face when they try it, but hey, here's hoping they can do a better job this time.
Operation Outcome is all about infiltrating hard to infiltrate places, like North Korea and Pakistan, with brainwashed sleeper agents. Outcome agents have also been infected with a targeted virus administered through two pills, a blue pill that increases intelligence and a green pill that makes you physically stronger, heal faster and react more quickly. It's not entirely clear why infiltrating spies need super-strength or what Jeremy Renner's character, Aaron Cross, would be infiltrating as a whiter-than-white all-American GI Joe type, but let's not quibble over minor details.
It turns out the CIA has learnt something from Jason Bourne; the easiest way to kill the Outcome agents is to switch their medication. Outcome agent handlers switch the blue and green pills with a single yellow pill and explain to the agents that they've changed the medication program. The pills kill the agents within a few hours, leaving unexplained dead bodies of young, physically fit people all over the world to be examined, investigated, etc., and no other loose ends. Why the CIA felt the need to have an entirely different pill, with the possibility that the agents might think that it's a bit suspect, when they could have achieved the same effect by tampering with the blue or green pill is a further mystery.
In comparison to the method chosen to kill Cross the pill switch seems relatively sensible. Cross has holed up with another Outcome agent in a Log Cabin in Alaska, and after a few hours of ridiculously engineered tension (why did Cross lie? Why did the other agent take offence?), they hear something on the wind. Using movie sixth sense, Cross and Agent 3 decide that it's something weird and start to move to positions away from the cabin, just in case. Cross is just out of the door when a drone-delivered missile destroys the cabin and Agent 3. Why didn't the CIA just supply more fake medicine in the drone, which would probably have been cheaper, less destructive and less likely to fail? Still, in for a penny and all that, when it fails to work once, the CIA come round for a second pass, and when the Drone is destroyed by Cross with a hunting rifle, they send another drone for a third attempt. Cross has figured out that it's the CIA that are after him at this point, so uses some tinfoil and a metal plate to cover up the GPS tracker surgically implanted in his abdomen, which of course he would know about. Miraculously, this works, and after some quick surgery to remove the tracker and a fight with a wolf to place said tracker in the belly of the beast, Cross is able to evade destruction and makes his way to civilisation, weak from loss of blood, with no supplies, 300 miles from the nearest human being…
I'll dispense with the rest of the plot for brevity's sake. It doesn't really matter what happens, as you've seen it all before, done better, most recently in the other Bourne films. Morally bankrupt CIA spook and attendant flunkies – Check. Frightened government functionary targeted for death – check. The even-more-upgraded-super-soldier sent to kill the protagonist – check. Rooftop chase in third-world country – check. What does matter is that the film doesn't go anywhere and doesn't resolve in a satisfying way. The most frustrating thing is that it doesn't even attempt to do so. The climax of the film is a chase/fight between Cross and LARX-03, the even-more-upgraded-super-soldier who is introduced an hour before the end of the film, doesn't say a single word of dialogue and surprises the CIA section head with his existence as much as the audience. There is no direct interaction between Cross and Edward Norton's character, Byer, the main antagonist, except in flashback and there is no resolution to their personal story.
All of the antagonists at the start of the film are still there at the end, in much more secure positions thanks to the brutal evisceration of Pamela Landy's character throughout the film, and the only significant changes to the status quo are that Cross has got a girlfriend and he no longer needs to take the blue and green pills. The signal to the audience that the film is over is Moby. I'm not kidding, the first indication that the film is near the end is the synth string opening to 'Extreme Ways'. Again. And then the credits run.
I spent most of the film asking questions that had no reasonable answers. Why did Cross steal the watch from the factory supervisor? So he could obviously bribe someone with it later, despite having $40,000 in his jacket. Why didn't the CIA kill Marta when they arrived at her house and stage the suicide later? Because Cross wouldn't have been able to save her if they had been smart. Why is LARX-03 still operational when all the other enhancement programs have been shut down? There'd be no-one for Cross to throw down with in the finale otherwise.
The film makers had a real opportunity to do something different. The first three Bourne movies are largely about who Jason Bourne is, both in terms of his real name and identity and what kind of man he was and becomes. What little thematic interest there is in The Bourne Legacy is based around the same ideas. Byer talks about how the enhanced soldiers are sin-eaters and Cross struggles with his lack of intelligence before the enhancement, both clearly setting up similar questions of moral culpability and identity, but, as with most things in the film, they are not explored in great depth. By changing the main character they could have kept playing in the Bourne universe and explored other aspects of the spy genre. Does it always have to be two people being chased by the CIA?
Maybe that's the real genre of the Bourne films: two-people-being-chased-by-the-CIA. That's where I've gone wrong. If you like two-people-being-chased-by-the-CIA films, you're in for a treat, easily one of the top four two-people-being-chased-by-the-CIA films of all time. OF ALL TIME!
Review, RPG
The Laundry RPG
In order to read this review you must have signed and dated the 137/22b Review and Records Form, sought a counter-signature from a delegated authority determined by your department, and passed the relevant paperwork to Marcia in Human Resources for processing.
I'll wait, don't worry about it.
No, you need the other form, the 137/22B. It was updated last week, didn't you get the email? Your laptop was eaten by a parasitic, inter-dimensional virus? Sounds like you already have the requisite field experience, perhaps I should just begin.
The Laundry is based on the science-fiction spy series of the same name written by Charles Stross. Starting with The Atrocity Archive, Stross has chronicled a world not too dissimilar to our own, with the small difference that vast, alien chthonic gods from alternate dimensions are trying to eat our souls. Set in the UK it lampoons the bureaucratic nightmare of the civil service through the character and adventures of Bob Howard, a hapless IT technician. Howard works for The Laundry, a quasi-mystical secret service tasked with defending the realm from the aforementioned hideous beasties and filling in any paperwork associated with aforementioned defending of the realm.
The strength of The Laundry, as a series and as a game, is the diverse and playful setting. The CERN research centre isn't flinging tiny elementary particles at each other, for example, it's true purpose is a sacrificial-goat-fuelled summoning grid and demonic computational engine. Oh yes, and if CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN ever comes to pass it'll be a defence bunker for a few thousand people, if that many survive. The ever present Elder God Apocalypse Event generally only seems a little less inviting than the Auditing Commision inquiry if you overspend on your mission budget, however. It seems, from a GM's point of view, that one of the difficulties in running the game would be managing the levels of horror and bureaucracy without falling into a pastiche or spoof of either.
The world of The Laundry is heavily influenced by Lovecraft and the Cthulhu mythos, of course, but it is also heavily indebted to Terry Gilliam's Brazil, the spy fiction of Len Deighton and Ian Fleming, and the classic treatise by the International Standards Organisation, Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with Guidance For Use or to give it it's snappy title – ISO 14001:2004. If you've played Paranoia you'll also get shades of that game's, well, paranoia, security clearances and the idea that technology is not always the most effective answer to every problem.
The Lovecraft influence has also spilled over into the Game's system, which is a modified version of the Basic Roleplaying System from Chaosium, most prominently featured in Call of Cthulhu. The majority of it is intact, with characteristics and skills being basically the same, but there are a few additions. Players have to choose a Personality Type, a Profession and their Assignment within the Laundry. Each stage allows you to distribute points to your skills based on that selection; a bruiser personality has the opportunity to put skill points in Brawl whereas a Thinker doesn't. What this means is that all of the faults of the Basic Roleplaying System are largely intact too, so if you find the system restrictive, clunky or without enough crunch, then you may be disappointed.
The magic system has been changed rather dramatically, The Laundry setting states that the 20th century's greatest magician was Alan Turing; computers are used to calculate magical spells and tinker with the fabric of Space-Time. In this age of Android and iPhones there are even magic spell apps, designed to be used on specially jailbroken devices, that cast minor cantrips. You can use mp3 players and some speakers in a ritual instead of a group of chanters or a set of lasers to create a pentacle if you are so inclined. Magic can still be cast without technological trappings, but it can be slower and is usually more dangerous.
Along with large amounts of flavour text from the novels and an expansive background section, there are three missions to get you started: Going Down to Dunwich, A Footnote and The Greys. The first mission describes a military facility at Dunwich, a Norfolk village erased from the map in the 1940's by the UK government, and is designed as an introductory adventure to the setting. The players are cast as new recruits to the Laundry who are sent to Dunwich as part of their initial training. As might be expected there is a twist, but one that I won't spoil here. It is an effective adventure, with plenty of back-doors and GM advice based on the playtesters responses, and does embed the setting firmly in modern Britain.
While the first mission references 'The Dunwich Horror' directly, it is actually the second mission, A Footnote, that takes some of the plot of that short story as its inspiration. The final mission, The Greys, touches on themes of dementia, demonic possession and mistaken identity. All in all the three missions provide a good introduction to the setting and concepts that are unique to The Laundry, but ultimately, your mileage may vary depending on the type of games your group likes to play.
The layout is effective, or at least it would be if I was using a print copy of the book. One of the difficulties of using a pdf is the insistence on a two-column layout for all but a few paragraphs. I realise that The Laundry is not alone in this, but I do hope that, as more games offer a pdf version or go straight to pdf, that this practice is phased out as you find yourself going backwards and forwards interminably to get from one page to the next. The artwork is also effective, if limited, being mostly quarter or half page black & white images of various horrific creatures or locations. It is a bit of a shame that there aren't more splash pages, as there are some great pieces of art that seem squashed to fit.
I think the key test of licensed games is not whether they would just satisfy a reader of the original material, but whether they would also be interesting and deep enough to play if you hadn't read any of the source material before picking the game up. In this, The Laundry succeeds admirably. There is so much information here that a group would have no problem picking up the feel of the game from the flavour text and system. While it is derivative of Call of Cthulhu I don't think The Laundry ever feels like a cheap and quick knock-off or parody. The balance between humour and horror hits more often than it misses and the references to Cthulhu, Lovecraft and the Elder Gods add to, rather than detract from, the overall Cthulhu Mythos.
Perhaps I am biased, I live in the UK and work with policies, procedures, standards and 137/22B forms all day. Perhaps I get all the jokes and references that a roleplaying gamer from Little Rock, Arkansas may not get. Perhaps I should end this review with a caveat – not for consumption outside the UK? I don't believe that for a second though. If you can play an Elven warrior born in the slums of Neverwinter you can play an IT technician bevearing away in The Laundry.
Exalted – Post D&D RPG
December 15, 2011 Ravenshaw	Leave a comment
In 2001, White Wolf was enjoying a renaissance, it had released revised editions of the World of Darkness rulebooks and looked set to challenge its main competitor, Wizards of the Coast, when they announced a fantasy RPG to rival Dungeons & Dragons. Exalted was released with great fanfare as a prequel to the World of Darkness, set in the ancient Age of Sorrows. The game eschewed the Tolkien milieu that had been the basis for a great chunk of modern fantasy literature and took inspiration from ancient myth and legend, Edwardian high fantasy, and modern manga and anime. Despite the mixed pedigree, the differing influences were woven together with no little skill to produce a complex and original world that felt new and exciting.
Exalted* uses a heavily modified version of the in-house White Wolf Storyteller System. The key differentiator from, for example, Vampire: The Masquerade is that instead of a system of disciplines that grants a unique power for each level you purchase, Exalted allows you to buy any Charm you like, as long as you meet the pre-requisites, which would be based on the players attributes, abilities and other charms. Each charm allows players to supplement or replace an action with a super-power or to perform an action many times after spending essence. There is a subset of charms, called Excellencies, that allow the player to add dice, successes or a re-roll to an action. Usually you can only activate one charm a turn, but after practice and spending experience, charms can be put in special combinations called combos, that allow the use of two or more charms on the same action. For example, you can use an action adding charm with a dice adding charm so that every extra action can be supplemented with extra dice. This simulates the increasing power of Exalted against mortals pretty well, in that Exalted quickly outclass mortals in almost every respect if the player is smart during character creation.
While the general Storyteller System is easy to explain, in practice it can get quite complicated. Combat in Exalted is painful. For each action the player wants to make there is a ten-step method for resolution**. At each step the player has to roll dice or add/subtract successes so each action could take a few minutes to resolve. This isn't a big problem when only a handful of combatants are involved, but once you add a few extra action charms and a couple of extra bodies, things can get slow… very, very slow.
The Mass Combat system alleviates some of the problems that come from adding a lot of bodies, but it is only useful when you reach a certain size of encounter. One character takes the role of a General and uses his abilities to attack the opposing forces, who are divided up in to units. The General's own abilities are enhanced by the unit he is with. This means that if a General is within a unit of Archers, he adds a number of successes and damage dice to his rolls when making ranged attacks based on the units potency. Other players can be nominated as Heroes or Sorcerers who can make melee or ranged attacks respectively for the General if they are better at that sort of thing. It's a neat idea that really plays up the heroic aspects of Exalted combat and makes the General the focus of the conflict. It does, however, have the effect of sidelining players that aren't Generals, Sorcerers or Heroes, as there is a limit to the number of special characters in a unit. Those without a role either have to act as Solo character, which can be risky, or hide within the ranks of another unit and effectively not take part in the conflict.
I think we can all agree that combat needs rules of some kind to determine an outcome, but determining the outcome of social conflict through dice rolls is still a relatively novel idea. In Exalted, social combat plays out almost exactly like traditional combat but with the names changed – instead of rolling join battle, Exalted jargon for initiative, you roll join debate; instead of aiming, you monologue or study. While this means that social interaction can be played out between those with charms equitably, it does mean that it leaves little room for role-playing. Even if a player makes a rousing speech that the entire group agrees is awesome, they can only receive a three-die bonus to the roll. A starting character with a social first excellency can easily beat that bonus with a small expenditure of essence. This is the equivalent of Obi-Wan Kenobi waving his hands and stating 'these aren't the droids you're looking for.' While it works from a simulationist point of view, in that it is clear who won and is based on the relative strengths of the combatants, it doesn't necessarily feel fair to more narrativist players.
Pop quiz, and show your working, what's the probability that a player will roll at least six successes with 10 dice? Okay, I'll start with an easy one, what's the probability that a player will roll at least two successes on three dice?*** Okay, I'll start again, why do I need to know how probable things are, as a player or as a GM? As a GM I like to know how difficult something will be for a player in order to make it challenging enough for it to be exciting but not so difficult that it's impossible. If I don't have to worry about the mechanical challenge, it gives me time to think of other interesting and exciting things that could be going on in a scene. As a player I'd like to know the comparative worth of adding one or two dice to my dice pool; my choice of how much essence to spend boosting my roll or which charm to use is less meaningful if I don't have adequate knowledge about the potential consequences.
While it is a good rule of thumb that you need about twice as many dice as successes required to have a 50% chance of success, that doesn't help if you want to use more or fewer dice as it is extremely difficult to know how much of an impact adding or subtracting dice will have without using advanced statistical modelling or brute force calculation. If you're trying to save essence for a later encounter, how much can you reasonably get away with not spending and still have a good chance of success? In games like D&D and Call of Cthulhu you have a very clear idea before you roll as to your chance of success, so you can make more meaningful decisions about your actions.
By now I've probably lost about half of you. What type of boring nerd wants to know this? In the heat of battle, with stunts and descriptive storytelling, who cares about the probability that you'll hit that dude with that sword? You're probably right, players are less likely to care about this sort of thing, but as a storyteller, I think it is important to have at least a good understanding of the difficulty of the encounters you're building. Herein lies my second problem. What is a challenging difficulty for a player who can roll between 10 and 20 dice on a given action?
If you have players who love to min-max their characters, Exalted is great, and it's a fun game in itself to determine what gives you the ultimate build in a particular skill/sphere. But, if you haven't got a group of players who want to do that, or worse you have a mixture of power-gamers and normal players, how can you balance encounters? One character will have five ten-die attacks that can hit for 14 dice of damage, a Defence Value of 9 (meaning you require nine success to hit them) and a soak of 13 (Meaning you get rid of 13 damage, to a minimum of one), the other has one 6-die attack that can hit for 5 dice of damage, a Defence Value of 5 and a soak of 4. If you make it challenging for the first character, there's a very real chance you'll kill the second, and if you make it challenging for the second, you risk killing the former with boredom. Balancing encounters is made all the more difficult because there is a staggering lack of a decent bestiary or 'monster manual' to throw at players.
The argument follows that the GM should encourage players to take combat skills to ensure they reach a minimum level, but that involves taking choice out of the players hands and reducing the number of interesting decisions they can make about their character. The rulebook recommends that players should all take at least one level of Ox-Body Technique, a power that increases the amount of damage that can be taken, why not just make it a standard power and reduce the number of options available?
Given the dizzying number of charm choices, and the way that the castes have been designed, players are more inclined to roll up characters that excel in different roles. But, instead of the traditional fighter, mage, cleric, thief set, Exalted is geared around players dominating particular spheres, so you could have a character that is a combat monster, a social monster or a crafting monster. Each of these roles complements the other in general, but in specific situations, there is little opportunity for synergy. What effect can a social or crafting character have in combat situations? What does a combat monster do in a social situation? While they may be able to make minimal contributions, a bruiser might be able to intimidate an underling, they are relegated to less than secondary roles during those encounters. While the players can make contributions before the event, social characters can try to persuade the group to lay down their arms or crafters can create better weapons, once the fighting starts they are left with little to do. Again, the argument would be that players should be encouraged to create rounded characters, but this just means that they end up being uninteresting clones of each other.
Perhaps you should ignore the rules you don't like and play Exalted a bit more loosely? Concentrate on the story and it'll all work out, right? The problem with this is that the players abilities are so closely tied to systemic enhancements it is difficult to describe player powers in any other way. Because the game is built around Exalted characters who are defined by their charms to a great extent, removing the ability to use those charms makes it impossible to play an Exalted character! There are charms for each step of the combat sequence, so if I take out certain steps to simplify combat I'm potentially hobbling someone's character. If I try to ignore the rules for social combat I have to judge myself whether or not a player can influence an NPC. There is always the temptation to rig the encounter, depending on how the encounter is 'supposed' to go, whereas the more fair solution is to let the dice fall where they may.
The other problem with simplification in favour of quick and easy gameplay is that the Exalted world has been designed from the ground up with the idea that the Exalted have the power to shape and define Creation. Once you start chipping away at the edges you start removing some of the most interesting and fun narrative ideas in the system. If I say that Sidereal martial arts are too complicated and difficult to manage and get rid of them, well, then I've taken away one of the defining traits of the Sidereal Exalted. It's one of the great successes of Exalted that every aspect of Creation can be influenced by the player characters, and the system is detailed enough that those interactions are fairly arbitrated. The detail in Exalted, it's greatest strength from a storytelling point of view, make it complicated and difficult to run. Removing or altering elements to make it more manageable actually makes the setting less interesting at the same time. If you want your character to have interesting and unique charms, then you need a certain level of detail to ensure that not every charm is essentially 'does x damage and has minor side-effect'.
Exalted is roleplaying without the training wheels, turned up to 11. It is no wonder that White Wolf challenged players to 'Graduate' their game from D&D, as Exalted is orders of magnitude more complicated to play than the offering from Wizards of the Coast. Whereas D&D has a reputation for complexity it is relatively easy to play, especially 3.5 and 4.0, and only character creation is moderately difficult, Exalted is exactly the opposite, character creation is a breeze, but resolving anything can be soul-crushingly time consuming. For those willing to put the effort in to learn the system, this time is reduced enormously, but it is a very steep learning curve.
*I'm largely talking about 2nd Edition throughout.
** This can go up to 16 steps if a counter-attack is involved.
*** It's 0.46.
The great question that drives Sci-Fi literature is what if? In Time posits the scenario that it is possible to arrest a person's physical deterioration in the prime of their life at 25. The only downside is that Time, not money, becomes the global currency. Everyone is gifted a single year at birth, which starts to run down the moment the individual reaches twenty-five, and can get more Time by working. To keep track of your remaining Time, a subcutaneous green LED is installed in your arm, a handy torch in times of need but a lousy way of conspicuously showboating your wealth.
What if you could live forever?
Time as a currency is a great concept, and the film tries to explore what that would mean for the people living in that type of world. The bits that work in this film are those examining this conceit, the idea that people are now explicitly working to live is heavy-handed but effective and the global cabal of super-rich immortals managing the system is intriguing.
One of the great joys of any sci-fi film is to see how the world has been altered from our own and trying to figure out the reasons for those alterations. If you can see how the filmmaker's choices flow from the 'What If' then the film is halfway there. Problems arise when the choices don't appear to be obviously related to the central premise or directly contradict what reasonable viewer might expect in the circumstances. As I watched In Time I started thinking about the choices made by the filmmakers and came up with a few questions about the world itself. I think in the main the world of the film behaves consistently, but I just think it is consistently incorrect in its basic premises of what a Time based economic future world would look like.
Where are the mobile phones? There are a bunch of times in this film when using a mobile phone would save countless lives. Where have they all gone? The conceit that a minute of talk time would cost not just a minute of your life but also an additional minute to pay for the call is pretty funny and dark. It would destroy the tension in the film though, so mobile phones have uninvented in the In Time universe. The Internet also appears to be completely absent from this world too, but that's not a major plot point….
Why are some time transactions done wirelessly and some require physical contact? Why store Time in vaults? It's shown that individuals can easily wire Time from one location to another, so why would you need to store Time physically? And if you can wire Time electronically, why can't you wire from one individual to another? The Time system employs contactless technology, why isn't it possible to control Time via a mobile network? It would be easier to control the masses if you could easily freeze their assets, so to speak, and also ensure that you're never caught short away from the bank, as so often happens in this film. Again, current technology has been uninvented to make the story work.
How do people younger than 25 pay for anything? It is clearly shown twice that the individuals clock only starts running at the age of 25, and in both cases it is clear that they are starting with exactly one year left to run. How have they managed to survive for so long without being able to buy anything or gain any additional Time? I'm guessing that the world doesn't allow under-25's unrestricted access to anything they want, so do they have rationed supplies or some other means of sustenance? If I knew that my clock was running at 25, I'd want to get a head start and start working early, but that doesn't seem to be an option.
Why set up the system in such a way that people can steal time so easily? Firstly, in the middle part of the film the protagonists go on a bank-robbing spree in a series of jobs that clearly echo Bonnie & Clyde. Given that they are amateurs, with only two pistols, and that current banks are sophisticated buildings designed to stop that sort of thing, why are the future banks so easily robbed? Have people forgotten how to lock safes? Secondly, throughout the film it is shown that you can steal Time from individuals by making physical contact, it is even implied that you could steal Time from someone sleeping without their consent. A sure-fire way of protecting yourself from physical harm is to ensure that there is no way to steal Time this way. I could understand if there was a piece of black market technology employed by the Minutemen to steal Time, this would actually be pretty cool, but there is no explanation for the ridiculous ease of Time stealing.
Aside from the Time Keepers, can anyone else alter the amount of Time someone has? Could someone hack himself or herself to become immortal? Clearly the Time Keepers are monitoring the amount of Time in the system, but enterprising 'criminals' would sure devise a method of counterfeiting/laundering Time, given the shoddy nature of the banking sector.
Why do people just stop? Is there a kill switch implanted in the individual? Leaving aside the ridiculous notion that any sane person would willingly allow themselves to enter into this devil's bargain, how is this regulated? Has the entire human race been genetically engineered to work this way or is the technology implanted at birth? As it is a global economy, I'd assume that the human race has been genetically engineered with this kill-switch, otherwise there would be an out for anyone willing to have a natural birth, and who wouldn't want that in the ghetto of Dayton? If you could eke out a subsistence existence from the land, why get involved in the Time economy at all? Why subject your child to the horror of this system?
I'm trying to think of why some of these things are the way they are, and I think its because the film maker's want to use the way Time as a currency works as a direct metaphor for how Money works now. Because of this they have to have Time be as easily disposable, stealable and storable as money is now. Money can be in the form of a coin in your pocket, a series of digits in a computer or a block of gold in a central bank. In Time wants to mirror these so that it can have bank robberies, Time theft and still have a massive linked global economy, but the problem is, if you were to start from scratch, which they obviously would need to do, why would you copy the current system? All of its flaws are obvious and could be designed out if you could start again.
If you were in this situation where people are clearly dying around you, you had an ever present clock telling you when you were going to die and nothing to lose except the eight hours you had left, why the fuck wouldn't you try to take something back from the bastards who have everything? This is my main problem with this film. One of the things that stops revolutions is the fear that you've still got something to lose. If you've clearly got nothing to lose, or at the least only a few hours left to live, why wouldn't you do something about it? Dayton is a shit place to live, where there is essentially nothing to do except be jumped/killed by gangsters and/or work in a crappy job which screws you over when you don't make quota. The world isn't shown to be oppressive enough to stop any sort of real resistance, as the first two that try are a metal shop worker and a dizzy socialite and they succeed in crashing the global economy without any support. The question isn't why they succeeded, but why no one else tried before them? I can't think of a reasonable answer.


There is much cause for concern given the current state of our economy. About a year ago, the U.S. underwent a credit rating downgrade by the S&P due to concerns about its spiraling debt. More recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting overall unemployment at 8.3% as of July 2012, which is lower than the 9.6% reported for 2010 but still not at the pre-Recession 4.6%. Consumer spending, initially boosted by government stimulus packages in 2009 (and which increased our national debt), has now slowed and stalled. The bottom line: We are not doing well financially.
Traditionally, times of economic uncertainty have lead consumers to save and invest their money rather than spend it. In the past, it was popular to hide one's cash under the mattress or to invest it in high interest bearing Treasury bills. In the 90's, people invested (and made out like bandits) in the stock market. These days, however, with government bonds paying a measly 1.56% (for a 10-year bond), the U.S. dollar depreciating like crazy and stocks also tanking, many folks have turned to a different investment vehicle: gold.
You might notice that the price of gold has increased significantly since 2007, the last year before the Great Recession began. However, did the price of gold really appreciate or did the value of the dollar simply go down? According to SymmetricInfo, gold is merely a commodity and its value is determined by the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar. If that's the case, our money may actually have depreciated 50% given that gold's price has doubled in the last 5 years. Yipes!
Because our economy is not out of the backwoods just yet, many commodities experts predict that the price of gold will continue to go up. Personally, I would not be surprised if gold rose to $2,000/ounce following another economic downgrade or scandal. Some alarmists are stating that, should U.S. debt increase to the point where no country is willing to buy it (making the U.S. dollar meaningless as the fiat currency it is), the price of gold could head into the stratosphere at $5,000/ounce. However, even if such an apocalyptic event doesn't occur, it never hurts to have a small percentage of your money invested in a truly tangible asset like gold.
Gold is typically purchased in the following ways: mining operations, funds and bullion/coins. Mining operations are most often made available as stock shares in companies such as Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) and New Gold, Inc. (NYSE: NG). While such an investment strategy does help you earn money when high flyers in the tech sector fall or when there's a panic on Wall Street, it's not the same as owning the real thing. Also, your payout from these stocks still comes in the form of dollars, not gold.
Gold funds are purchased either as mutual or exchange traded funds (ETFs). With gold mutual funds, you pool your money with other investors and buy a given number of mutual fund shares. Those shares, meanwhile, might be derived from stocks, bonds, money market instruments, etc. With ETFs, you buy shares of a fund that is publicly traded on a stock exchange. Many gold ETFs hold a significant amount of gold in storage; for example, the iShares COMEX Gold Trust, which is publicly traded on the NYSE as the ticker IAU, holds over 44 tons of gold in storage. However, just like with buying shares in a gold mining company, you do not own gold directly and only collect dividends or monies associated with stock/bond appreciation.
Finally, there is investment in the REAL thing, meaning the glittery stuff you can hold in your hand and even bite if you want to. Gold coins and bullion can be purchased from "brick-and-mortar" dealers (e.g., jewelry stores) and/or banks. Here in Madison, Wisconsin, I've been a faithful patron of the dealer Jim's Coins. Alternately, you can find plenty of gold dealers online, such as the APMEX (American Precious Metal Exchange). Online gold dealers offer several advantages, including a more available and wider selection. They also (though not always) charge a lower commission price over the "spot" price of gold.
Incidentally, what is the "spot"? It is the "raw" price of gold as determined by the exchange markets. This is the price of gold that you will always pay no matter what dealer you choose. Spot quotes, much like stock quotes, change day to day as gold is traded. However, the commission, which is sometimes termed as "price over spot" will differ based on your individual dealer. Thus, it helps to shop around in order to get the lowest price over spot.
I'm definitely in favor of investing in real gold versus shares in a gold mining company, mutual fund or ETF. Should the end of the world (as we know it) come, I'd rather be caught short with actual gold lining my pockets than worthless printed emails stating that I own some part of a gold mine out in Columbia. Furthermore, if the dollar does continue to deflate, how much are my shares going to be worth anyway?
The hard luck story. The online or real-life dealer promises to double or triple your money if only some hurdles can be overcome with obtaining the gold in question. This was famously portrayed in the case of Tri Energy, a company that swindled 735 (primarily though not solely) Mormon and born-again Christian investors out of at least $50 million. Many of these investors had taken second mortgages or cashed out of their retirement accounts to finance the venture. Tri Energy's storyline was that a Saudi Arabian prince needed money so he could transfer 20,000 tons of gold currently being held in Israel through Luxembourg and to the United Arab Emirates (seriously, does this even sound plausible?). Anyone who helped this unnamed "prince" move his gold would be rewarded handsomely (up to 1000% of the invested amount). Investors were duped into paying more and more money by occasionally receiving investment "returns"; however, these returns were generated not from the gold in question, but rather from funds supplied by new recruits to the Ponzi scheme.
"Vaulting": The dealer states that gold is too risky a commodity to send in the mail and offers to "vault" the item for you (has no one heard of shipping insurance?). Instead of obtaining the actual product you purchased, you receive a worthless certificate or some other document stating that you have X amount of gold in Y location. Usually, this location will be hard to reach and/or out of the country. Buyer beware.
Fake coins/bullion. An online dealer offers unusual gold coins and bullion that no one has ever heard of and which are not marked by an easily recognized manufacturer like Credit Suisse or PAMP. You receive your product as promised- only to later discover that the gold is actually an alloy or some other metal. By that time, the online dealer has long since shut up his/her shop and disappeared with your money.
Check dealer accreditation. When locating a dealer, be sure to check out his/her store's rating and accreditation by the Better Business Bureau and the Industry Council for Tangible Assets. If you're looking strictly for coins, it helps if the business is also affiliated with the American Numismatic Association.
Do your research. Look up the dealer online and link his/her shop to the word "scam". See what pops up. Also, find out how long a particular dealer has been in business; scam artists typically don't stick around for very long. If you have any lingering doubts about a dealer, there are online gold forums that you can frequent and where you can ask for recommendations. For example, Kitco offers forums for various precious metal interests. Finally, it never hurts to call the dealer at his/her provided phone number and see if you get through to an actual human.
Choose well-known gold bullion and coin brands. It's best to select a well-known gold piece and/or manufacturer when working with a new dealer so that your purchase can be easily verified by another dealer or appraiser "back home". For instance, there's bound to be significantly more information about the authenticity of say, a common American Eagle than a rare Ultra High Relief 1907 Walking Liberty. The same goes for gold bullion; you're better off with "name brands" like PAMP, Perth Mint or Engelhard rather than unlabeled bullion or industrial gold.
Buy small. Until you can verify a dealer's reputation, don't go buying $100,000-worth of gold from him/her. Instead, purchase the smallest quantity possible and build from there. Also, it never hurts to shop through more than one dealer. This way, you lower your chances of being completely ripped off should, God-forbid, one of the dealers turns out to be shoddy.
What type of gold should you buy?
Pure gold comes in two forms: bullion and coin. Gold investors have differing opinions when it comes to buying either of these forms. Those in favor of bullion argue that it is the cheapest form of gold around, is stamped by its manufacturer and is guaranteed to be genuine. No one can doubt that your one troy ounce bar of PAMP-stamped gold is anything but a one troy ounce bar of PAMP-stamped gold.
On the other side of the camp are those investors that favor coins. The most convincing argument that coin investors offer is that, in addition to your gold being recognized as gold, having it in coin form also makes your investment recognizable as money. Overall, coin strikes are easier to recognize as genuine, while identifying a gold bar as pure gold might require physical and/or chemical tests.
The downside to buying coins is that their price over spot can be $100 or more. Coins that are rare, very old or have significant historical value can cost several times more than their actual weight in gold. By comparison, bullion gold commissions are $40/ounce or under. What's the best solution to this dilemma? Buy bullion coins.
Bullion-grade coins are a relatively new concept and are perfect for the gold investor (rather than the collector) because their commissions run about the same as those of gold bullion pieces. However, the coins are deemed legal tender and are internationally recognized as currency. Some examples of bullion-grade coins include the Canadian Maple Leaf, American Buffalo and Australian Kangaroo. To qualify as bullion-grade, these coins must be at least 99% gold. The purity of the bullion coin is typically stamped onto its head as either .999 or .9999 gold.
Investing in gold is not like investing in stocks or bonds. It may take years, even entire decades, to see a return on your investment. Furthermore, you may wish to leave your gold collection to your children as an inheritance. Many investors derive pleasure from collecting rare gold (and other precious metal) coins and reflecting on their history. However, in the end, gold is a commodity that can be bought as well as sold. And, unlike other tangible assets such as land or real estate, gold is still the best bet against depreciation and deprivation during hard times.


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Banks really want to understand the blockchain
Gnasher October 18, 2015, 10:49am #1
Banks are very interested in the blockchain at the moment, the technology that underpins digital currency bitcoin.
The technology has the potential to make money transfers faster and cheaper, as well as having potential revolutionary applications for everything from stock issuing to the diamond trade.
22 of the world's leading investment banks have formed a partnership to look at how the blockchain can be used in traditional banking.
But the former head of Barclay's technology division in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa says it is just a "cynical" attempt to try and control the technology.
Watson told Business Insider: "I can tell you, it's the most cynical thing I've ever seen. What they're going to do is what they always do — form a little consortium to block."
Anthony Watson believes the banks are trying to build their own proprietary internal blockchain that will deliver benefits for them but not customers and stop fintech challengers from taking them on.
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/banks-approach-to-bitcoin-is-cynical-says-an-ex-barclays-tech-chief-2015-10
henry October 18, 2015, 2:01pm #2
I come form a fintech background, so I too have a very cynical view about this. There has been plenty of discussion pointing out that centralized permissioned blockchains are just databases. I do believe the financial services sector can leverage blockchain in some specific use cases for cost savings around existing inter-party processes such as settlement, payment of dividends & bond coupons, and other back office inter-party administration. In the settlement case blockchain gets dumbed down to a shared transaction audit trail, but the first thing the various firms sharing it do is whack the data back into their own database. So really it's a shared communication protocol with replay. In the coupon/dividend case, expect to see a direct 1:1 link to a fiat currency rather than some inter-party crypto. But in terms of customer facing money services, there is no merit in the idea of a consortium controlled blockchain. True it may still get market penetration with the aid of heavy marketing, just as there are plenty of mugs out there who drink brown sugar water and other similar products that require more money spent on their marketing than on their ingredients. The problem is we the general population have become too used to others looking after our interests, which too often translates with the passage of time into abusing our interests. We the people need to take back the responsibility that we have all too willingly given up.
But there are other things driving this too - banks wanting to look "with it", geeks bamboozling bosses into allocating budgets, same geeks wanting to get cool stuff on their CVs, the fact that all big banks have a room full of people somewhere whose job is to "play" just in case something comes of it (which they always dress up with impressive tech lab names), etc. Of course these geeks know enough to feel uneasy about working for criminal organizations, but have dug themselves into debt holes that they need their high salaries to service - how so many get trapped into working for "the man". But geeks wanna have fun where ever they work.
bmp02050 October 18, 2015, 7:46pm #3
Speaking of blockchain interest, Vermont (my state) is actually creating a committee to study use case situations for blockchain technology. I emailed the governor when I heard about this (pretty sure it was on coindesk) and got this as a reply, along with the head of the committee's email address:
Blockchain Technology * * * Sec. A.3. STUDY AND REPORT; BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY (a) On or before January 15, 2016, the Secretary of State, the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, and the Attorney General shall consult with one or more Vermont delegates to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and with the Center for Legal Innovation at Vermont Law School, and together shall submit a report to the General Assembly their finding and recommendations on the potential opportunities and risks of creating a presumption of validity for electronic facts and records that employ blockchain technology and addressing any unresolved regulatory issues. (b) Each participating Vermont delegate to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and each participating representative of the Center for Legal Innovation at Vermont Law School who is not also an employee of the State of Vermont and who is not otherwise compensated or reimbursed for his or her time shall be entitled to per diem compensation pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 1010(b).
Gnasher October 18, 2015, 9:43pm #4
In Australia, from a government standpoint, generally the technology is in a watch and see but supported as an emerging industry (the government here is more interested in how to tax and collect). End of 2014 a Senate enquiry was held and was open to the public and private sectors to comment. This enquiry was quite positive and the very short summary of that equiry was that anyone outside of the financial industry was supportive of what could be offered by the blockchain, for all the respondents from the financial sector the replies were less than favourable.
The financial businesses see bitcoin as a major threat to their business model
Fast forward 12 months, and number of bitcoin businesses and individuals have had their bank accounts suspended or difficulties in doing business, while some bitcoin businesses have moved offshore to more favourable destinations. In Australia, there are 4 major banking institutions and each of them have made moves (possibly colluding) to shut out both bitcoin businesses and individuals.
I think what can be gleamed from this is that although the banks many study and even use the blockchain technology for their own purpose, Banks will remain banks, and their interest would be how to transact as cheaply as possible, while maximizing profit (for the shareholders) from its users (thats you and me). I don't see banks jumping onboard with Bitcoin per se, but i do see them taking the best of what blockchain has to offer.
Ultimately, i hope that this situation improves, as for the general populous this is the easiest way to onramp to owning Bitcoin. The other option is that people see Bitcoin (and crypto in general) as having real tangible value and not exchange between the 2.
Gnasher October 19, 2015, 6:09am #5
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating why Australian banks are closing the accounts of bitcoin businesses, amid concerns banks are colluding to block emerging competitors.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims told The Australian Financial Review the investigation was in its early stages, but had started with requests being sent to banks to explain their actions. He hoped to get to the bottom of the matter within a couple of months.
The investigation comes after The Australian Financial Review revealed at least 17 emerging Australian bitcoin companies had received letters from various institutions, telling them their bank accounts were being closed. The ACCC was then contacted by Nationals Senator Matthew Canavan, who asked for an investigation.
"It is being investigated. We have already spoken to some banking representatives and sought some information. It is all still early stage, but under way," Mr Sims said.
Read more: http://www.afr.com/technology/accc-investigating-why-banks-are-closing-bitcoin-companies-accounts-20151018-gkc5iv
In my experience the banks are rarely on the wrong side of the establishment, despite show fines and other wrist slaps for PR purposes. So it will be interesting to see what actually happens in this case.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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By James Bernard
Used to be that we turned to youthful performers for a refreshing breeze of carefree innocence. Not anymore. After their triple-platinum debut, Totally Krossed Out, which spawned the mega-hit "Jump," Kris Kross' Da Bomb seems hell-bent on establishing the duo's authenticity in the hard-core rap world. (Lest you miss the point, they call the track-seven jam "I'm Real.") But while one of the two Chrises raps that "my mind is a nine [millimeter] and my tongue is a trigger," this 14- and 15-year-old team isn't simply tagging along behind the likes of Ice Cube. Instead of being participants in the urban drama, they represent the kids who grew up literally under fire, the children who find it hard to sleep because of, as one cut has it, the "Sound of My Hood."
Neither Chris shines particularly brightly on the mic, although they're both confident and steady. The real master here is producer Jermaine Dupri, who favors slower, deeper, more melodic grooves than he used on any of Kris Kross' previous hits — which means that, far from being confined to suburban malls (à la "Jump"), the album's first single "Alright," could turn out to be the street's big summer anthem. B+
She's Da Bomb
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Seeing Stars: Richard Madden, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, and more great celebrity photos
Zombie heads and F-bombs roll in NSFW trailer for The Dead Don't Die
Lennon Stella performs 'La Di Da' in EW's revived 'In the Basement' series
They're Da Bomb
The Blacklist recap: Liz drops a bomb of betrayal


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Coronavirus creates new role for US unemployment insurance
Home Financial news Coronavirus creates new role for US unemployment insurance
Via Financial Times
The US unemployment insurance system was designed to encourage people to look for work during a recession. It was not designed to keep them home during a pandemic.
That is what it will have to do anyway. According to estimates compiled from early state reports, as many as 2m people might have filed a claim for cash help in the past week — a number without precedent in any previous recession.
Unemployment insurance was "absolutely the fastest way, full stop, to get money to people", said Michele Evermore of the National Employment Law Project. The $2tn stimulus package working its way through Congress will dramatically increase aid through the programme, although the exact details remained unclear late on Wednesday.
"Research shows that the US unemployment insurance system provides a valuable backstop for working families," said Mary Daly, a labour economist and president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve. "The federal government's consideration of measures to expand federal funding and availability of UI payments makes a lot of sense."
The unemployment insurance system is funded by both the federal government and the states, which will have to scale up their programmes quickly. Not all states are equally prepared. All states will have difficulty adapting.
How does the US unemployment insurance system work normally?
Under a federal law, every US state runs its own unemployment insurance fund. States build their funds up in good years, and run them down in bad ones. On average at the end of 2019, unemployed workers received $368 per week — or 45 per cent of lost wages. Under normal conditions, most states pay benefits for 26 weeks.
READ ALSO Lockdowns fuel fears of eurozone double-dip recession
The law also gives states wide discretion to determine benefits. In Florida, the average benefit was $251, offered for 23 weeks. In Massachusetts that was $518, for 30 weeks.
The federal government acts as a backstop for the state programmes in recessions. States can extend benefits for up to 20 weeks, and a federal fund pays half.
State agencies know more about where people live and how to pay them than federal authorities, said Ms Evermore, and the unemployment insurance system "has a remarkable way of knowing who's unemployed".
How will the stimulus bill from Congress change the state systems?
Under the agreement being considered in Congress, the federal government would add as much as $600 a week on top of state benefits, and add a month to the length of time that people can get cheques. That would raise the wage "replacement rate" for some to more than 100 per cent.
The replacement rate is normally set so low to encourage people to find new jobs, said Martha Gimbel, an economist at Schmidt Futures. "That's not where we are right now," she said. "We want people to stay home."
Peter Ganong of the Harris Public Policy school at the University of Chicago said discouraging people from looking for work made sense during the pandemic. When the economy was at full speed just a few weeks ago, workers were well matched with the right jobs. "If we can snap our fingers and three months from now go back to normal and go back to our jobs," he said, unemployment insurance might be a good way to get as close to that ideal as possible.
READ ALSO Coronavirus latest: US states report 200,000-plus new cases as hospital admissions 'level off'
What happens when 2m people file a claim at the same time?
States will have trouble processing a rush of claims, even though many began training extra workers last year after a bond market indicator of recession — known as the Treasury yield curve — suggested a downturn might be on its way.
Several state websites have already crashed under the sudden load. In 2016, the White House requested $5bn for new information technology at state unemployment agencies. It was not appropriated.
"It's going to be hard for the state [unemployment insurance] systems to ramp up sufficiently," said Mr Ganong at the University of Chicago. "In general, what we need is a massive cash infusion to state [labour] agencies, to pay the administrative costs of expanding this programme."
Which states will have the most trouble?
Over the past decade, a few states have worked to drive down their "recipiency rates" — a measure of how many people without jobs receive benefits. They can do this by raising barriers and paperwork, discouraging applicants. They also cut benefits, making application not worth the trouble.
There is a clear divide between red and blue states. Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, South Dakota, Florida and North Carolina all have recipiency rates at or below 15 per cent. California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Minnesota, Iowa, Massachusetts, Hawaii and New Jersey are all above 40 per cent.
The states with the lowest recipiency rates, according to Ms Evermore and Mr Ganong, were likely to have the lowest staffing levels, and the most difficulty adjusting to rising demand, particularly if legislation from Congress encourages applications by raising benefits, as it is likely to do.
READ ALSO US capitals batten down on fears of more political violence
Will the unemployment insurance system run out of money?
"States are going to burn through their trust funds," some more quickly than others, said Ms Evermore. About half of the states do not have enough in their funds to cover a year of a normal recession. Congress would probably need to act again in several months, she said, since a deep recession was likely to follow the months-long lockdown of the pandemic — and state funds would be empty.
The Financial Times is making key coronavirus coverage free to read to help everyone stay informed.
Find the latest here.
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Magazine /
Victor Papanek: The Politics of Design
Eliza Frost /
Oct 22, 2018 / Culture
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As we enter the last few months of the year, discussion of sustainability, inclusion, and social justice are stronger themes in our society than, well, ever. It is these themes that Victor Papanek first penned in his key work, Design for the Real World – the most widely read book about design ever published.
Papanek was, and still is, one of the most influential pioneers of a socially and ecologically oriented approach to design in the twentieth century. He designed a multitude of objects where the designs benefited communities and individuals, he lectured around the world, and he used pointed language and humour to criticize a blind belief in consumerism and adapt the ideas of the generation of 1968 to address practical issues of everyday life for a great number of people – Papanek was a true purveyor of a new and critical understanding of design.
From now until 10th March 2019, the Vitra Design Museum will present the first large retrospective focusing on the designer, author, and activist Victor J. Papanek (1923–1998). The exhibition includes rare exhibits such as drawings, objects, films, manuscripts, and prints, some of which have never before been presented.
Alongside these rare pieces by Papanek, you will find work from his contemporaries between the 1960s to 1980s, including George Nelson, Richard Buckminster Fuller, and Marshall McLuhan. Plus, contemporary works from the areas of critical and social design which help to provide an insight into the lasting impact of Papanek's work and influence. Modern day work centres around themes of global climate change, fluid gender identities, and the economic realities of migration.
The exhibition is organised into four sections offering an in-depth look at Papanek's biography – his life and his work, and everything in between and after. Perhaps more aptly described, the exhibition is a retrospective as well as a themed exhibition. Looking at Papanek the person means we can truly understand the significance of the large theme he introduced – that design is a political tool. Despite being revolutionary in Papanek's time, and generally accepted now, design is still a tool for political transformation that must consider social and ethical points of view. What Papanek taught a worldwide network lives on through his influence, and through this exhibition.
This exhibition is a cooperation between the Vitra Design Museum and the Barcelona Design Museum, in collaboration with the Victor J. Papanek Foundation, University of Applied Arts Vienna, and is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation.
Victor Papanek 'The Politics of Design' – Installation view © Vitra Design Museum, photo: Norbert Miguletz
Words by Eliza Frost
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text:
Q: On creating VCard not getting contact image and notes in iOS Fetching contact list using CNContactStore and converting complete contact list to VCard, all are coming fine except i am not getting contact image and notes.
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A: Contact Profile images from CNContact
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}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


does the middle one hover?
I say it'd hover, even if attached to a computer, with a set of Gentle Typhoons on there.
Anyway: One on the far right takes my interest. Be curious to see if it'll outperform a ThermalTake Frio.
IAnyway: One on the far right takes my interest. Be curious to see if it'll outperform a ThermalTake Frio.
More area is not always a good thing, remember that it will drive the price up, and as the most vital part is the transfer from the CPU into the heatpipes it may not even give an advantage worth mentioning.
From what I remember Noctua are pretty good at making decent coolers, but I think lp1988 hit the nail on the head with price; Noctua aren't known for making anything cheap.
I think this is for the new Intel CPU where the RAM in on the both side of the CPU.
Can I put in a request for photos alongside articles that we can click to biggerfy (that's not a word but I don't care)? I'd like to see these a bit more close up.
Jesus. Those are massive. Going to have to design some custom mounts for them.
It'll be interesting to see how the middle one fits in with the air flow of modern case designs. Will the lack of straight line air flow harm performance?
also noctua showcased a prototype LGA 2011 backplate stuff for the Noctua fans... does it mean that the current generation of coolers meant for the LGA 1366 socket would not fit on the LGA 2011 boards?
Oh look, one they already make, a Scythe Susanoo and a Coolermaster V8!
Not much innovation this year.
Will the case manufacturers enlarge their Cases to allow us to fit these ?
Why the hell are these things getting bigger (and ever uglier - subjectively), while the thermal properties of CPU's are becoming so efficient that you can overclock to 4.6GHz on a standard Intel cooler?
Do they know something we don't? Are 2011 CPU's going to be so monsterishly huge that require high cooling capacity? I doubt it myself. I'm sure they'll need more than 1155 chips, but not that much more.
I vote for gravity isometric plates, powered by an antimather mather field generators. It works by creating an asymmetrical subspace patterns with the help of a verteron quantum matrix, to make an inverted spacial actuator, which makes the computer 30 to 40% lighter, when the system is turn on or off. It works all the time due to generator. Oh, most importantly, to transfer the power, it uses a photonic tertryon network system.
It could be improved with a buffered modulated databanks nutation using a rapid pulse phased frequency harmonics system.
Quick simple, really. Shouldn't be tooo expensive to make.


Students are introduced to the concepts and process of creating a Video Game. Students create 2-D computer art and all the programing necessary to create a working video game each marking period.
Both Susan & Jerry have been "Team-Teaching" a unique UHS level Video Game Design course in partnership with Mildred-Elley college in Albany.
Both Jerry & Susan have been "Team-Teaching" a unique UHS level Video Game Design course in partnership with Mildred-Elley college in Albany.


text:
Q: Instance of Paper elements in dart How can I get an instance to the paper-input element below?
HTML file:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <!-- <script src='packages/web_components/platform.js'></script>
       not necessary anymore with Polymer >= 0.14.0 -->
  <script src='packages/web_components/dart_support.js'></script>
  <link rel='import' href='packages/paper_elements/paper_input.html'>
  <script src='packages/browser/dart.js'></script>
</head>
<body fullbleed unresolved>
  <paper-input id='subject' label='subject'></paper-input>
  <script type='application/dart' src='myscript.dart'></script>
</body>
</html>

myscript.dart:
import 'dart:html';
import 'package:polymer/polymer.dart';
import 'package:paper_elements/paper_input.dart';
export 'package:polymer/init.dart';
PaperInput _subject = querySelector('#subject');    // exception
void main() {
  ...
}

This causes an exception:
Breaking on exception: type 'HtmlElement' is not a subtype of type 'PaperInput'

Casting from HtmlElement to PaperInput does not work. Suggestions have included using shadowRoot.querySelector('#subject'); and other shadowRoot usages, but where does it come from? If I append .shadowRoot.querySelector('paper-input') to the last line of myscript.dart, the element is null. Same result if I use the id instead of tag name. The element itself is top-level to the html body, so it is not in any other shadowRoot.
There is no way to get the contents of the paper-input without it being of the class PaperInput. But there seems no way to cast it.

A: You run into how to implement a main function in polymer apps
When you do it like shown below or inside a Polymer element (attached() after super.attached() or in some click or other event handler (when the element is properly initialized)
main() {
  initPolymer().run(() {
    // code here works most of the time
    Polymer.onReady.then((_) {
      // some things must wait until onReady callback is called
      // for an example look at the discussion linked below

      PaperInput _subject = querySelector('#subject');
    });
  });
}


text:
Q: affine scheme X with exactly two points and dimension 1 I am looking for an affine scheme X with exactly two points and dim $X=1$. I am not sure if it exists, but it seems to me that it does.
I already (hopefully being right) that such a scheme with dimension 1 with exactly 1 point does not exist and it seems to me that with dimension 1 it would be possible but I can't come up with an example.

A: \begin{eqnarray}X=\text{Spec}\mathbb{C}[x]_{(x)}\end{eqnarray} Note that there are two points $(0)$ and $(x)$ and the dimension is 1. It represents the stalk of the 1-dimensional affine space at the point $(x)$.

A: Take any disrete valuation ring $A$, e.g. $\mathbb{Z}_{(p)}$ or $k[x]_{(x)}$. Then $\mathrm{Spec}\,A$ is such an affine scheme.


yesterday our offer was accepted on a cottage on Paudash Lake (the same lake that my parents' cottage is on, but in a different bay – it's about a 15 minute drive by car or by boat). For those not familiar with the area, Paudash Lake is in the Haliburton Highlands region of Ontario, located near the town of Bancroft. If all goes well we will be closing on the property on October 7th. I won't be here of course – I'll be in France. But it will be nice to know that the place will be here for us when we get back.
we are very excited about this – in my opinion, cottage life in northern Ontario in the summer and fall is pretty close to paradise. My parents live at their cottage full time, and who knows, in the future we might want to retire here as well – though Ontario winters can get pretty chilly to say the least. Regardless, this is a very long term investment!
here are a few pictures of the place – note that all the furniture and water toys are theirs and not ours!


text:
Mattel & MGM Partner For Movie Based On View-Master Classic Toy
By Greg Evans
Greg Evans
Associate Editor/Broadway Critic
@GregEvans5
More Stories By Greg
Spike Lee To Receive DGA Lifetime Achievement Award
Broadway Box Office Stays Flat At $18.5 Million With Attendance At 66% Of Capacity
Broadway To Dim Lights For Sidney Poitier
February 27, 2019 7:10am
Mattel, Inc. and MGM will develop a live action motion picture based on Mattel's classic toy line View-Master. The toy-based film would be the second recent Mattel-MGM collaboration following the Feb. 15 announcement about a film based on Mattel's American Girl doll brand.
View-Masters are the stereoscope toys that have been a childhood staple for more than 75 years. More recently, Mattel updated the viewers with View-Master VR, a virtual reality product that brings what the toymaker calls "a whole new level of realism" beyond the 3-D versions.
Mattel Films and MGM will co-produce the film. Robbie Brenner, Mattel's Head of Film and Cassidy Lange, MGM's Co-President of Production will oversee production.
"Since the 1940's, View-Master has inspired wonder and joy in children of all ages, creating huge opportunities for storytelling," said Brenner said. "MGM Pictures has tremendous expertise and a proven track record in capturing audiences' imagination through film, and we're proud to be partnering with them to bring another Mattel franchise to theaters. This marks another important milestone as we transform Mattel into an IP-driven, high-performing toy company."
Said Jonathan Glickman, MGM's President, Motion Picture Group, "View-Master was the first device that allowed families all over the world to escape their reality and take them places they never thought they could go. We couldn't be more excited to partner with Mattel to create a family adventure integrating the old school turn and click stereotypic device with the modern world of virtual reality."
In addition to the American Girl and View-Master projects, Mattel has announced an upcoming Hot Wheels live action motion picture and a Barbie feature-film starring and co-produced by Margot Robbie, both in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures. Mattel has partnered with Sony Pictures for a "reimagining" of Masters of the Universe, based on Mattel's toy line that was previously adapted for an animated television program.
This article was printed from	https://deadline.com/2019/02/mattel-mgm-view-master-movie-classic-toy-1202566147/


WESTFIELD, Mass., February 13, 2006 - SpacePak the originator and leading manufacturer of high-velocity air conditioning systems, has named Mid-Way Supply of Zion, Ill., as a distributor for the complete line of SpacePak air conditioners and heating units.
Mid-Way will stock SpacePak units at all seven of its distribution locations, Zion, Burr Ridge, Oak Forest, Mundelein, Rockford, Niles and Wood Dale, Ill, to serve HVAC contractors throughout the area.
"We are very excited to have the Mid-Way on the SpacePak sales team," said Brian Benard, marketing manager for SpacePak. "They have been a regionally recognized powerhouse in the industry since the early 1950s and will help us drive SpacePak sales throughout the region."
"We are thrilled and excited to be associated with a brand of the caliber of SpacePak, the originators of mini-duct air conditioning systems. This brand enables us to offer our customers even broader air conditioning choices," said Karl Sisson, vice-president of Marketing at Mid-Way.
SpacePak is a highly efficient, high-velocity central air conditioning system available in two-to-five ton configurations. The system is ideal for use in homes and buildings without heating ducts, such as older homes, townhouses and commercial buildings heated with hot water, steam or radiant heat. The SpacePak system distributes cooled air through a network of two-inch, insulated, flexible tubing that is installed inside the existing walls and ceilings. The visible "outlet" is a small, round, air outlet about the diameter of a CD-ROM that can be located on ceilings, walls or floors.
7309 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park, IL 60130. Phone: (708) 771-7800 or via email at JKNSales@comcast.net.
For additional information, please contact the local SpacePak sales representative or contact SpacePak directly at (413) 568-9571 or on the web at pacepak.com. Mid-Way Supply is headquartered at 2502 Deborah Avenue in Zion, Ill. Phone (847) 872-5481 or (800) 942-9230, or visit Mid-Way on the web at mid-waysupply.com or send email to info@mid-waysupply.com.


text:
DA Vance Announces Indictment of Newsweek and Christian Media Chiefs in Long-Running $10 Million Fraud Probe
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of WILLIAM ANDERSON; ETIENNE UZAC; IBT MEDIA, INC., a/k/a NEWSWEEK MEDIA GROUP; CHRISTIAN MEDIA CORPORATION; and OIKOS NETWORKS, INC., for a nationwide scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $10 million in financing, and launder the money through a network of corporate bank accounts. The defendants are charged in a ten-count New York Supreme Court indictment with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, Money Laundering in the Second Degree, Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree, and Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree.(1)
"As alleged in the indictment, the defendants used the name of a storied Manhattan-based media company to further their financial criminal activity," said District Attorney Vance. "Etienne Uzac and his co-defendants are charged with conspiring to secure millions in funding that never would have come had they been honest about Newsweek's financial health. The defendants' brazen attempts to disguise the fraud – by creating a fictitious auditor, and laundering their transactions through a series of corporate accounts – were unraveled by my Office's Major Economic Crimes Bureau, which remains committed to ensuring the integrity of New York's core industries and financial marketplace."
According to court documents, beginning on March 18, 2015, ANDERSON was the Chief Executive Officer of CHRISTIAN MEDIA CORPORATION ("CMC"); UZAC was the co-owner and Chairman of IBT MEDIA, INC. ("IBT"); and an unindicted co-conspirator was the General Manager of OIKOS NETWORKS ("OIKOS"). The defendants worked together to obtain loans from financial institutions to purportedly purchase sophisticated computer servers valued at a range of $130,000 to $180,000.
In order to secure the financing, UZAC and ANDERSON overstated the respective financial health of both CMC, and Newsweek, LLC to prospective lenders, and provided false financial statements to the lenders. To make their false financial statements appear legitimate, UZAC and ANDERSON created a fictitious auditor, "Karen Smith, LLP," and created and maintained a website, phone number, and email address for "Karen Smith," who did not exist.
Over the course of the scheme, OIKOS, which the parties held out as an independent vendor, received approximately $10 million from lenders, purportedly to provide highly sophisticated computer servers to Newsweek, LLC, and CMC. Instead, OIKOS provided the defendants with fewer servers of significantly less value and immediately transferred nearly all of the remaining funds to accounts controlled by UZAC, ANDERSON, and their respective companies.
The defendants then transferred the funds through multiple corporate accounts to mask their origin, and to disguise the fact that the funds weren't being used to purchase equipment. The majority of the money was used to fund day-to-day operations and for purposes unrelated to the stated purpose of the financing. UZAC and ANDERSON used some of the money to make monthly payments on previously-received financing, helping to ensure that the lenders would not notice the scheme and would continue to fund fraudulent financing transactions. In some instances, UZAC and ANDERSON made monthly payments using new funds from the very same lenders they were paying back.
The indictment is the result of an ongoing investigation by the District Attorney's Major Economic Crimes Bureau.
Assistant D.A.s Solomon Shinerock and Sean Pippen are handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Julieta Lozano, Deputy Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau, and Christopher Conroy, Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau, as well as Executive Assistant D.A. Michael Sachs, Chief of the Investigation Division. Senior Investigator Anthony Santoro, Financial Intelligence Analyst Rosalind October, Forensic Accountant Investigator Ken Zorn, Investigative Analyst Annie Wattenmaker, and Paralegals Ashley Richards and Matt Nelson assisted with the investigation.
District Attorney Vance thanked the New York State Police and particularly Troop K for its assistance with the investigation.
(1) The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.
WILLIAM ANDERSON, D.O.B. 1/14/1985
Charged:
Money Laundering in the Second Degree, a class C felony, two counts
Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony, one count
Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, one count
Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E felony, five counts
Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree, a class E felony, one count
ETIENNE UZAC, D.O.B. 1/1/1983
IBT MEDIA, A.K.A. NEWSWEEK MEDIA GROUP
Falsifying Business Records in the first degree, a class E felony, four counts
CHRISTIAN MEDIA CORPORATION
Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E felony, one count
OIKOS NETWORKS
Money Laundering in the Second Degree, a class C felony, one count


text:
/*
 * Author: Koushik Sen (ksen@cs.berkeley.edu)
 */

package janala.logger.inst;

public class LDC_long extends Instruction {
    public long c;

    public LDC_long(int iid, int mid, long c) {
        super(iid, mid);
        this.c = c;
    }

    public void visit(IVisitor visitor) {
	visitor.visitLDC_long(this);
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "LDC iid="+iid+" mid="+mid+" c="+c;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Is there an easier way of doing this? So I wrote a python code that converts seconds into hour minutes and secs, but the code doesn't look neat. What would be a better way of doing what my script is doing?
from fractions import Fraction as Frac
from decimal import Decimal as Deci

def Hrs(mins,hr=[],deci=[],hrs=True):
  return(Seperator(mins/60))

def Seperator(Decimal,num=[],deci=[],nums=True):
  del num[:],deci[:]
  for item in str(Decimal):
   if item == '.':
    deci.append(item)
    nums = False
    continue
   num.append(item)if nums else deci.append(item)
  return''.join(num),''.join(deci)

def Mins(secs):
  t = Deci(float(Frac(secs,60)))
  return t

def Secs(deci):
  r = Deci(float(deci*60))
  return r

def Clean(decimal,deci=[],p=True):
  del deci[:]
  for item in str(decimal):
   if item == '.':
    if p:deci.append(item);p=False;continue
    else: break
   deci.append(item)
  return float(''.join(deci))

if __name__ == '__main__':
  Seconds = 6033
  Hours   = Hrs(Mins(Seconds))[0]
  Minutes = int(Secs(Clean(Hrs(Mins(Seconds))[1])))
  Seconds = int(eval(Seperator(Secs(Clean(Hrs(Mins(Seconds))[1])))[1])*60)
  print '{}:{}:{}'.format(Hours,Minutes,Seconds)

A: Absolutely. Here you go:
def convert(total):
    secs = total%60
    total /= 60
    minutes = total%60
    total /= 60
    hours = total%24
    days = total/24
    return (days, hours, minutes, secs)

convert(13246345)

Output: (153, 7, 32, 25)

A: This should do the trick
import time

localtime   = time.localtime()
timeString  = time.strftime("%Y%m%d%H%M%S", localtime)

timeString  = time.strftime("%H:%M:%S")
print timeString


Relax, you've chosen the perfect carpet cleaner for your business! Our products are non-toxic, PH balanced and biodegradable.
In our experience, cleaning your carpet at least quarterly will keep your commercial carpet looking its best, prevent most stain damage and reduce the allergen load in your business. Your guests and employees will thank you!
Restaurants may want to consider deep cleaning their carpet monthly to ensure food wastes do not get deeply embedded in the backing of their carpet. This will keep your dining rooms smelling fresher and help with pest control.
If you were dirt, wouldn't you like to stay comfy in the carpet? Of course it would! Dirt, stains and debris in your carpet likes where it is. Even in a short period of time, dirt firmly bonds with the carpet fibers and becomes thoroughly "comfortable" in your commercial carpet.
Helping the dirt enjoy its stay in your carpet are body, cooking, automotive and industrial oils which work their way into high traffic areas. Any area that receives foot traffic from outside is bringing oils and oil residue onto the carpet. It is simply a fact of everyday modern life.
Our commercial carpet cleaning solutions are designed to quickly break the hug dirt and oil are enjoying with your carpet fibers.
You can walk on your carpet almost immediately after cleaning, which means minimal interruption to your business, guests, and employees.
Our limited carpet cleaning downtime means more productivity for your business!


text:
Airport information and maps for Wharton Regional Airport:
WHT Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: WHT / KARM
Wharton Regional Airport
Location: Wharton, Texas, United States
GPS Coordinates: 29°15'15"N by 96°9'15"W
Area Served: Wharton, Texas, USA
Operator/Owner: City of Wharton
View all routes: Routes from WHT
Facts about WHT
Map of Nearest Airports to WHT
List of Nearest Airports to WHT
Map of Furthest Airports from WHT
List of Furthest Airports from WHT
Facts about Wharton Regional Airport (WHT):
Because of Wharton Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 100 feet, planes can take off or land at Wharton Regional Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
Wharton Regional Airport covers an area of 124 acres which contains one asphalt paved runway measuring 5,004 x 75 ft.
Wharton Regional Airport (WHT) currently has only 1 runway.
The closest airport to Wharton Regional Airport (WHT) is Bay City Municipal Airport (BBC), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SE of WHT.
In addition to being known as "Wharton Regional Airport", another name for WHT is "ARM".
The furthest airport from Wharton Regional Airport (WHT) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,995 miles (17,694 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
Map of Nearest Airports from Wharton Regional Airport:
List of Nearest Airports from Wharton Regional Airport:
1 26.17 miles (42.11 km) SE Bay City Municipal Airport (BBC) Bay City, Texas, United States
2 36.86 miles (59.31 km) S Palacios Municipal Airport (PSX) Palacios, Texas, United States
3 39.28 miles (63.21 km) NE Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR) Sugar Land, Texas (near Houston), United States
4 42.94 miles (69.10 km) ESE Texas Gulf Coast Regional Airport (LJN) Angleton / Lake Jackson, Texas, United States
5 46.90 miles (75.48 km) NE Andrau Airpark (AAP) Houston, Texas, United States
6 48.56 miles (78.15 km) NE West Houston Airport (IWS) Houston, Texas, United States
7 53.87 miles (86.70 km) WSW Victoria Regional Airport (VCT) Victoria, Texas, United States
8 59.20 miles (95.27 km) ENE William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) Houston, Texas, United States
9 64.67 miles (104.08 km) ENE Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD) Houston, Texas, United States
10 66.47 miles (106.98 km) NNE David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport (DWH) Houston, Texas, United States
11 70.21 miles (112.99 km) NE George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) Houston, Texas, United States
12 77.98 miles (125.50 km) E Scholes International Airport at Galveston (GLS) Galveston, Texas, United States
13 81.04 miles (130.43 km) ENE Baytown Airport (HPY) Baytown, Texas, United States
14 87.90 miles (141.45 km) NNE Lone Star Executive Airport (CXO) Houston, Texas, United States
15 93.05 miles (149.75 km) N Easterwood Airport (CLL) College Station, Texas, United States
Map of Furthest Airports from Wharton Regional Airport:
List of Furthest Airports from Wharton Regional Airport:
1 10,994.61 miles (17,694.06 km) ESE Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG) Rodrigues Island, Mauritius
2 10,992.29 miles (17,690.34 km) SW Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK) Cocos Islands, Australia
3 10,691.66 miles (17,206.52 km) ESE Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (MRU) Plaisance, Mauritius
4 10,606.08 miles (17,068.79 km) W Shark Bay Airport (MJK) Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia
5 10,591.55 miles (17,045.40 km) W Kalbarri Airport (KAX) Kalbarri, Western Australia, Australia
6 10,584.17 miles (17,033.52 km) E Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE) Saint-Pierre, Réunion
7 10,582.11 miles (17,030.21 km) W Carnarvon Airport (CVQ) Carnarvon, Western Australia, Australia
8 10,577.69 miles (17,023.10 km) ESE Roland Garros Airport (RUN) St Denis, Réunion, France
9 10,577.43 miles (17,022.68 km) W Geraldton Airport (GET) Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia
10 10,576.60 miles (17,021.34 km) WSW Margaret River Airport (MGV) Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia
11 10,569.68 miles (17,010.20 km) W Jurien Bay Airport (JUR) Jurien Bay, Western Australia, Australia
12 10,559.67 miles (16,994.09 km) WSW Busselton Regional Airport (BQB) Busselton, Western Australia, Australia
13 10,549.65 miles (16,977.97 km) WSW Rottnest Airport (RTS) Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia
14 10,543.86 miles (16,968.66 km) WSW Bunbury Airport (BUY) Bunbury, Western Australia, Australia
15 10,529.96 miles (16,946.29 km) WSW Jandakot Airport (JAD) Jandakot, Western Australia, Australia


text:
momguide
Every Star Wars fan's dream: find out you're going to have a baby with Darth Vader
September 28, 2018 by richard
One of the most mythical and emblematic phrases in the history of cinema is the "I am your father" that Darth Vader tells Luke Skywalker in the movie "The Empire Strikes Back", so surely for every Star Wars fan it would be an honor, or a dream, that one of the world's best-known parents was one of the first in congratulating him because he will be a father for the first time.
This is what happened to this fan of the saga: he learned that he was going to be a father with Darth Vader and two imperial soldiers.
"You are his father"
The name of the future dad is Bryan Starr, and he was spending a nice day at Disney with his partner when they stopped to see a small representation of Star Wars. Then they made him believe that they were going to have a detail with him for being a big fan of the saga and what his wife had prepared happened: photos with Darth Vader and the imperial soldiers and, in between, a gift that would reveal the surprise of pregnancy.
It all ends with the congratulation of all of them in some photos and a video that Bryan will always remember, although with the feeling of those who see him that Missing "You are his father" by Darth Vader (better than an "I am his father", which would have been very funny as well but less true). I guess the voice may not accompany the character or look, the boy behind the mask did not occur.
In any case, a surprise that surely all fans would want to live (or have lived) at the moment they learn that In a few months they will be able to tell their baby "Yoooo soyyyy tu padreeee".
Track | AlphaBetaPlay
In Babies and more | Twenty lovely ways to announce pregnancy, Curious ways to announce pregnancy: inside a photo booth!, When the pregnancy announcement becomes the trailer for a horror movie
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