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Video Game Review – Gears of War 4
Posted on October 19, 2016 by nathanlostlighthouse	in Video Games and tagged gaming, Gears, Gears of War, Gears of War 4, Horde, Horde 3.0, Horde mode, Microsoft, Sci-Fi, The Coalition, The Lost Lighthouse, TLL, tllgaming, video game review, video game reviews, video games, Xbox, Xbox One.
Nath sometimes reviews games for us. This is one of those times. He's been playing Gears of War 4 on Xbox One.
We currently live in a world where all films in the cinema are currently superhero movies (not complaining about that), sequels that people thought were overdue but really should've stayed locked away and remakes of films that probably didn't need remaking. It seems like the video game industry is going that way too. We've had Doom (or Doom 4), Uncharted 4 and soon the Final Fantasy 7 remake. The next game to come into this endless sequel cycle is Gears of War 4.
Before I get into the review, I would like to say that I am a massive Gears of War fan. I truly believe it is one of the greatest game series ever created, maybe even the greatest. The gameplay is fantastic, the voice acting is top notch and the storyline is engaging. I have also played Horde a lot as well, even managing to complete the 50 waves with a great team of four (Editors note from Adam – I was one of those four!). When Gears 4 was announced I was excited but I didn't feel like the game needed a sequel as it could potentially ruin one of my favourite series. However, with it being an Xbox One exclusive and a Gears game, I went into it with an open mind.
Please be aware this review has spoilers.
The game begins with First Minister Jinn commemorating the 25th anniversary of the victory against the Locust. During that time, an elderly Hoffman recounts the battles he faced during that time, including the end of the Pendulum Wars, E-Day and a battle at Anvil Gate at the end of Gears 3. You play a squad member in each memory as a tutorial which is a great start to the game. There are new weapons to play with and new gameplay to enjoy too, which I will explain later.
Once this is done, you meet J.D., Del, Kait and Oscar. J.D. and Del were once part of the COG but had deserted, a crime punishable by imprisonment. They now lead a raid party to help Kait's mother, a leader of an outsider village. Their aim is to steal a Fabricator, basically a box of tricks to give power to the village. During the raid, they come across a new enemy called DB, also known as killer robots and these come in all shapes and sizes.
After stealing your box of tricks, you head back to the village which gets attacked again by the robots and you use the fabricator to build defenses in order to hold the base. After a successful defense, people start disappearing from the village, including Oscar and Kait's mother.
You decide to meet up with your father (Spoiler Alert) Marcus Fenix. Marcus, now an old man, is bitter that his son joined the COG and even more annoyed that he has deserted it and put himself in grave danger. Nonetheless, he agrees to help the group as he fears the "Swarm" may be another version of the Locust. He takes them to a mine where the locust bodies were dumped to see if they can get a clue, but all they have done is opened a big can of worms. A mighty big can of worms.
It is truly a fantastic campaign. The gameplay isn't too different from the Gears of old, however there are some added extras. You can now vault over obstacles and if there is an enemy behind it, you have the opportunity to stun the enemy in order to execute them. My favourite feature is the pull-over. If you are one side of the wall and there is an enemy on the other side, you can pull him over the wall and stab them. This however, can only be done on Drones.
The new enemies mainly consist of DB's and the Swarm. DB's are basically killer robots. They range from small ball-like exploding robots to unmanned armed helicopters. They are supposed to be Peacekeepers, but it seems someone has upgraded them to kill instead.
The Swarm are the new locust-type enemies. Drones are similar to grubs, however there are some interesting new enemies. Particular favourites are Pouncers, basically large dog like creature that has the ability to throw quills from its tail. It has the ability to pounce on you and maul you to death unless you can shake it off or someone shoots it off.
There is also another enemy called the Snatcher, clue is in the name here. It is a large enemy with a tail with the ability to take you down with one shot, a sort of sniper tail. Doesn't sound too bad, however if your team doesn't revive you, he will snatch you and the team have to shoot you out of it's stomach or he will literally run off with you.
The weapons are mostly the same, but there are some interesting new ones too. Overkill is basically a shotgun that fires 2 shots for 1 bullet, making it very powerful. My favourite is the Buzzkill, basically a large cannon that fires circular saws at the enemy. If you miss, they bounce off walls and take out what you may have missed.
There is only one thing that lets the game down, which is the friendly AI. I play the game a bit gung-ho, I will likely charge and shoot at the enemy. There isn't an issue when fighting normal enemies, however when fighting the Snatcher, I did get hit by that tail. Normally the team will try and revive you but when the Snatcher sees a downed enemy it runs towards it like me towards a bucket of chicken and eats you whole. Now if there are no enemies about, the team will shoot you out, but if there are other enemies, your team ignores you and lets you to be carried off to your impending doom. It is very annoying, it happened so many times during one particular moment.
Horde 3.0 is the newest version of Horde available in this game. Again, it is not too dissimilar to old Horde, but instead of set areas where you can place things like in Gears 3, you have a Fabricator that allows you to place barriers and turrets wherever you want. It means you can choose where you want to setup camp, although I am yet to find the best place to hide in each level. To spend money, you have to collect it from the kills you make and place that into the Fabricator in order to spend it.
There also classes for Horde in order to diversify the team. They are split between Soldier, Heavy, Sniper, Scout and Engineer. They come with different load-outs and bonuses for your game ahead. So far I have only made it to wave 20, so Horde does seem a lot more difficult now, mind you I am playing with people online instead of my friends who are good players (Editors note – except Alex and Tian).
In conclusion, the new Gears franchise has a decent start and to make things better, it comes with all the previous Gears games so I can replay the first series again. I think it is much better than the Halo franchise that has resurfaced too. The Coalition have done a fantastic job taking this on and they should be commended for it. Overall it receives 9 Buzzkills to the face out of 10. Some slight improvements are still needed but it is a fantastic start.
You can pick up Gears of War 4 through our handy-dandy Amazon link here, and we get a little taste from your purchase!
I Want to Be the Very Best – Pokémon Go Launch
Posted on July 18, 2016 by nathanlostlighthouse	in Gaming, Video Games and tagged Aerodactyl, Charmander, gaming, mobile gaming, Niantic, Nintendo, Pokémon Go, Pokémon gyms, Pokéstop, pokemon, social gaming, The Lost Lighthouse, TLL, tllgaming, video games.
Nath sometimes writes for the site. This is one of those times.
Unless you have been living under a Geodude for the last few weeks, you may have heard that Pokémon Go has been released across the majority of the world. The app has taken the world by storm, it is now one of the most downloaded apps in history and is currently on 10.8% of android devices. However, does the app live up to the hype? Hopefully this review will give you some clarity.
The start of the game is similar to the Pokémon games of old. This time it is Professor Willow who offers you a choice of 3 Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. The 3 Pokémon appear on your mobile phone screen and you tap the one you want to start off with. There is a hidden Easter Egg where if you walk away from these 3, you can catch a Pikachu instead. I went for a Charmander in this scenario as I have always started with one. To catch him, your phone camera turns on and you can view the Pokémon via your screen.
Once you have caught your first Pokémon, you will then have to visit Pokéstops in order to obtain items and experience. This means the app is forcing you to go outside in order to explore certain points of interests around your home town. I managed to visit one and swipe to obtain a few extra Pokéballs, then a Rattata turned up nearby. So like an eager Pokémon trainer, I went to catch my first Pokémon. To do this you simply point your camera at the Pokémon and swipe the screen to throw the Pokéball at the Pokémon. Doing so, earns you EXP, stardust (used to level up Pokémon) and candy (this allows you to level up or evolve your Pokémon)
Levelling up Pokémon is done by either giving it a mixture of stardust and that Pokémon's candy in order to increase it's combat power, or giving it a load more candy to evolve it. Increasing combat power doesn't give you experience, but evolving them does, so the key would be to evolve the weaker Pokémon and level up the stronger ones to make them stronger.
Once you have a strong enough team, you can then head out and start taking down gyms. Before you do this, you have to choose a team to be on: Team Instinct, Team Mystic or Team Valor. There isn't a benefit to choosing a certain team over another, so I chose Team Valor. Once you are at a gym, you can then battle your Pokémon. This is done by tapping the phone to use your Pokémon's normal move to build up power for it's special move. You can also swipe to dodge the rival Pokémon's attack. If you win and take the gym down, you place your own Pokémon there to defend it.
There also many features of the game which I thoroughly enjoy, mainly the egg hatching, as the only way to hatch eggs is by walking the distance that is needed to hatch them. There are 3 egg distances, 2km, 5km and 10km. The 2km ones are for fairly common Pokémon whereas the 10km are for the more rare kind. I have managed to hatch 2 5km eggs and 1 2km egg. The 5km eggs produced a Staryu and a Paras and the 2km egg produced a Magikarp. I don't have a 10km at present, but it will be egg number 1 when I do get one. It also seems that location doesn't restrict you to what type of Pokémon you can catch. I once caught a Goldeen in the middle of a field, with no rivers, lakes, sea or puddles around me.
I suppose the best feature is how well the online community have responded in regards to the app. There are numerous pictures online of funny encounters with Pokémon, my personal favourite being one with a Magikarp in a frying pan. Twitter has gone mad with PokémonGo fans as well, lots of people sharing what they've caught, the hilarious names they've been given and the problems people have faced.
Media view
It has also been noticed by the media too, there have been many horror stories related to PokémonGo. You may have seen the news story about the girl who stumbled across a dead body whilst searching for Pokémon. I really hope that doesn't matter to me. My favourite story is the Pokémon Challenge issued by Twitter users. This is a series of challenges that trainers must to do to cross it off a checklist. There is no prize, only pride but the first challenge was to place a Pokélure (a lure for Pokémon to come to) at a hospital. I did wonder why until I realised what they were trying to accomplish. Unfortunately there are children who are ill and cannot leave hospital for days, maybe even weeks or months at a time. So the whole point of the lure was to bring Pokémon to the hospitals so they can continue playing. I was genuinely touched by this story and it was fantastic to see how well the online community has taken to this game.
I did see a story recently where one user walked into an open road and got hit by a car. The girl blamed the app for this, however it clearly states that when the app is loading to be aware of your surroundings.
There are of course some issues with game. The servers have gone down a fair bit since release which has angered the community. The excuse mainly being that the developers didn't think it would be so popular. I'm sorry but this is a terrible excuse, people like me in their late 20's have wanted to catch Pokémon in the real world since the games first came out on the original Gameboy. The servers are back up and running which is great, but you do wonder what is going to happen when other countries get hold of the app.
Another issue is the battery life. Most smartphones use up a lot of battery anyway but this app is the ultimate battery drainer. You can turn on battery saver mode in the game and put your phone in stamina mode (Android users only) but it still drains. You will need to invest in a power bar if you plan on going on an adventure for a large amount of time.
There are also some questionable Pokéstops and Gym locations. One stop nearby to me is the Royal Mail Sorting Office. I mean seriously, it is not a point of interest but if it does get me a few potions then I can let it slide. There are some Pokéstops in rough areas of the USA and teenagers are already getting their smartphones stolen by wandering into those area. There is also a Gym right outside someones house and he is getting very aggravated that people seem to be loitering outside.
The biggest problem is crime caused by the game. There have been a lot of reports of trespassing on other peoples properties in order to catch rare Pokémon, as well as a lot of people using the app whilst driving to essentially drive-by stops, gyms and catch Pokémon. It is only a matter of time before we see a news article saying that someone has crashed their car trying to catch a Dratini or something and this needs to be taken into serious consideration.
That being said, I have now been playing the game for almost a week and I have to say it is fantastic to be a Pokémon addict again. I have assembled a strong team and have started to dominate gyms around where I live, much to the annoyance of certain kids who have shouted at me to leave the gyms alone. I have also caught one of the rarest Pokémon in the game (Aerodactyl) and have evolved many other Pokémon in order to complete my Pokédex. The app, even though as a bit clunky to begin with, will forever go down as one of the most popular apps ever created, bringing together a fantastic online community. I have to say a massive congratulations to Niantic for creating such a fantastic app and for attempting to resolve server issues as quickly as possible. I will give the app 9 towns full of Rattatas out of 10. There are a few things that need sorting out still and features that need fixing. Server crashes happen quite a lot at the moment and this does need resolving as it's not just me that is getting irate about it. That being said, this is something that can be resolved hopefully in the long run. Also this is the first 151 Pokémon available, there are still many more to be added into the game. I am loving this game and I'm sure that I will be continue to play for this many years to come.
Button Smash Episode 1
Posted on May 11, 2016 by Kii	in Gaming, Uncategorized, Video Games and tagged Battlefield 1, Blizzard, gaming, Nintendo, Overwatch, TLL, tllgaming, video games, Youtube.
Welcome to a new gaming podcast from Team Effort!
This week we talk about our main talking point is the Overwatch Beta from Blizzard and we also discuss League of legends, Battlefield 1 and Miitomo.
Don't Starve Together
Posted on May 4, 2016 by Kii	in Gaming, Uncategorized, Video Games and tagged Don't starve, Don't Starve Together, gaming, Klei Entertainment, The Lost Lighthouse, TLL, tllgaming, Twitch, video game streaming, video games.
This week Kii plays Don't Starve Together with Matto! Watch them survive! Or not…
Twitch Stream: Stardew Valley Pt2
Posted on April 20, 2016 by Kii	in Gaming, Uncategorized, Video Games and tagged farming games, farming sim, gaming, Kittenstitch, Stardew Valley, TLL, tllgaming, Twitch, video games.
Kii has actually obtained a facecam! Now you can see her expressions whilst farming!
Stardew Valley: Farming Crack Simulator
Posted on March 31, 2016 by Kii	in Gaming, Video Games and tagged PC Games, RPG, Stardew Valley, Steam, TLL, tllgaming, Twitch, video games.
A more chilled out stream this week where we play my latest addiction; Stardew Valley. Stardew is a farming game from a one man team with influences from other crack-addict gamings such as Harvest Moon. It's utterly delightful and I can't stop playing. If you're weak of will and empty of pocket, maybe skip this one…
~Kii
Final Fantasy XIV: Sproutling Adventures
Posted on March 23, 2016 by Kii	in Gaming, Video Games and tagged Final Fantasy 14, Final Fantasy XIV, gaming, mmo, MMORPG, The Lost Lighthouse, TLL, tllgaming, video games.
Hey all! I return! With streaming! Most Fridays you can find me on my Twitch Channel gaming. Currently I've been playing a lot of Final Fantasy XIV (You may have wondered where I've been for the past six months. The answer is, in Eorzea) so I've rolled a new character for you all to watch me bumble through a class I've never played!
I've also uploaded the streams to Youtube, sadly the first one is missing but I'll fill you in. I hit things with arrows until I was level 10. There ya go, all caught up.
Enjoy! and I'll see you all next week ♥ ~Kii
Video Game Review – Far Cry Primal
Posted on March 21, 2016 by nathanlostlighthouse	in Gaming, Video Games and tagged beast master, Far Cry, Far Cry Primal, gaming, hunter, sabre-tooth tiger, The Lost Lighthouse, TLL, tllgaming, Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal, video game reviews, video games.
Nath sometimes reviews games for us. This is one of those times. He's been playing Far Cry Primal on the Xbox One.
So the franchise that really doesn't know what it is releases a new game that isn't connected to any of the previous games whatsoever. The first game had an ex special forces agent trying to rescue a journalist, the second is tracking down a mercenary in Africa who has turned two fighting factions against each other, the third is where a tourist is abducted by pirates but escapes and tries to rescue his friends and the fourth is where you try and overthrow a self appointed king in the Himalayas. These are just the main games, there are many spin-offs as well, with Far Cry Primal being the latest of these from Ubisoft Montreal. Is it still just another mediocre game in a mediocre series, or is it something completely unique in it's own world? Please note this review may contain spoilers.
You play a hunter called Takkar, who is part of a tribe of humans called Wenja, a tribe that is dying out in the world due to the oppression of the cannibalistic Udam tribe and the pyromaniacs of the Izila tribe. Your main goal is to rescue your tribe, set up a camp/village and allow your tribe to prosper. Very simple premise to begin with and a fairly valiant quest seeing as you are tribe looking to survive instead of eating each other or setting fire to everything.
You arrive in the valley of Oros, a new land where many animals lives and exotic plants grow, after being chased down by a sabre-tooth tiger. You meet a gatherer who attempts to help you set up a safe place for the Wenja tribe, but along the way you meet a lot of interesting and colourful characters, including one guy who pisses on you and thereafter refers to you as "Piss face". Each character can allow you to learn new skills, craft new weapons or look for certain resources, plants or animals.
The world is a mixture of rivers, grassy plains, forests, caves and snowy areas. It is a sandbox-style game, where you can explore the world Oros and it's many beasts, as well as performing small side-quests along your journey. It isn't as big as Fallout 4, but you still have a lot to explore.
The gameplay is brilliant. The variety of weapons is fairly small, mainly limited to clubs, bows and spears, but also including throwing shards, bait bags and sting bags (basically mini bee hives). My particular favourite is the spear, mainly because you can just poke things constantly or if you have a keen eye, can throw from a long distance and cause some serious damage. One of my favourite skills is the beast master ability, where you can tame some of the wild animals of Oros. Of course, you don't really want to tame a deer, they aren't going to do much, but having a sabre-tooth tiger as your wingman has some excellent advantages. Apparently the badger is supposedly a handy sidekick too, I'll let you know if I find one. (Editor's note – Nath did find one. Apparently it took out a Mammoth)
The storyline is pretty decent, nothing too complicated, just making sure your tribe survives. There are a lot of side-quests and it is easy to get distracted from the main plot. However, like Fallout 4, the side-quests can ultimately make you overpowered for the main quest, but who cares if you have a bear as your backup instead of a jaguar?
There some drawbacks however. The game does rely on you creating weapons and ammo using the crafting method which means you do have to do a fair amount of foraging. It's not too bad I guess, but if you want that particular bow, you sometimes have to skip to the other side of the map to obtain the resources instead of the area you wanted to be in. However, you can skip this by sleeping which allows your daily resources to become available from all the hunters and gatherers in your village.
The weapon wheel can be a bit complicated too. There's quite a few things you have to do to select the weapons you want. For example if I want my short bow, it's LB, followed by the left stick to highlight the bow, then left/right to select the bow I want. What makes it worse is that the gameplay doesn't pause. You can see the pack of wolves surrounding you whilst you're trying to get your best club out.
In the end the game is breath of fresh air in a video game landscape populated by guns and ammo. It is nice to see something different for a change that isn't a Call of Duty: Something, or Assassin's Creed: Something, or FIFA 20 or whatever number it is on now. I'd give Far Cry Primal 8 spears to the face out of 10. It will almost certainly will be in my top 5 games of the year I think, but probably won't make number one (unless Doom turns out to be a complete disappointment)
Adam's Top 5 Video Games of 2015
Posted on December 28, 2015 by thelostlighthouse	in Video Games and tagged Arkham Knight, Avalanche Studios, Batman, Batmobile, best videogames of 2015, Bethesda, Bethesda Softworks, Bloodborne, bugs, Fallout 4, From Software, FromSoftware, Fury Road, gaming, glitches, gothic, horror, horror game, Lovecraftian, Mad Max, Playstation 4, post-apocalyptic, PS4, Ready at Dawn, Rocksteady, Rocksteady Studios, sandbox game, Scarecrow, Sci-Fi, Sony, steampunk, supernatural, The Lost Lighthouse, The Order 1886, TLL, tllgaming, video game reviews, video games.
Over the next couple of weeks we're going to be sharing our top 5s of 2015, from everyone who writes here at The Lost Lighthouse. This time Adam will go through his favourite 5 video games of the year.
I'm taking a quick break from the depths of writing my PhD thesis to write about some of the things I actually cared about this year. This time it's my favourite video games released in 2015. Of the various things my misguided attempt at a doctoral level qualification has taken from me, the spare time to actually play video games is probably the most felt. Also video games are expensive and I'm incredibly broke. As such, I've only actually played five games this yeah (at least that came out in 2015. I also played the incredible Transistor). So this was really just an exercise in picking which order they go in for me. All of these games were played on PS4.
5. Fallout 4 (Bethesda Softworks)
The above is part of the reason why Bethesda's latest installment of everybody's favourite huge, sprawling post-apocalypse sandbox game is only number 5 on my list. After months of rumours and speculation, details of a new Fallout began to emerge and in November it was finally released. Now due to my heavy work load right now and general state of being very busy (and leaving my PS4 in London over Christmas), I haven't finished the main story yet. I have however pumped a lot of time into the game, completing a lot of side missions and doing a large amount of world exploration.
Let's talk about that world, as a way of kicking off with the good about the game. The world is stunning, as long as you look at it from a distance. While the post-apocalypse trope of a colour palette heavy in browns and greys is definitely present, 'The Commonwealth' is densely packed with a lot of interesting scenery and locations to interact with. The storyline so far has been relatively engaging. I don't really care about my missing son, but the shadowy Institute is intriguing and the return of certain organisations on unprecedented scales is an interesting inclusion. The world really lives through the side missions though, many of which are not only engaging but incredibly enjoyable too (my favourite so far is The Silver Shroud). The combat mechanics are unchanged for the most part, so the V.A.T.S. system is back and still a lot of fun.
Now for what I don't like, and I'm just going to rattle through them. Feel free to discuss them in the comments! The UI is not great, and any changes have not improved things from Fallout 3 or New Vegas. The graphics, while not the be all and end all of a game, should really be better at this point especially for the character models. The dialogue system, previously a big part of Fallout, has been stripped back to make you feel like a passenger in what is largely otherwise a shooter, rather than a participant in an RPG. I have yet to see the point in settlements, and the user interface in building and interacting with a settlement is horrible, likely the reason why I have no desire to spend any more time doing it. While I do enjoy the crafting aspect for weapons and armour, having this and the base construction in the game means that almost every piece of junk in Fallout is worth keeping, and every location contains more crap than you and your companion can carry. As such, I've spent probably about 40% of my playtime hefting junk around and either selling or scraping it.
But for me the biggest issue with Fallout 4 is the glitches and bugs. There has been a lot of comment online about this, which largely seems to boil down to this being something you expect and accept in a Bethesda game. I don't really see it like that, and this is probably the first time I've really had a problem with it. With limited time and money to play games these days, having a full price game be released as a bit of a glitchy mess doesn't hold water with me. Weapons disappearing, enemies floating, corpses janking around ruining the desolate quiet of a vault. This is why it bothers me. These games are about immersion, and every time I see my companion get stuck in a wall or I fall through the world it takes me completely out of it. Sure they're working on fixes all the time, but I'm reaching the point where I want games to just be finished properly when they come out.
4. The Order 1886 (Ready at Dawn)
Speaking of a game that was finished, The Order 1886 was the first game I played this year (I reviewed it over here). I liked it a lot. The gameplay was a bit heavy and reminiscent of a clunkier Gears of War, but it wasn't bad. The story was interesting, succinct and well-paced and while it ultimately didn't quite deliver on the promise of alternate steampunk Knights of the Round Table supernatural beast hunters, with the very few instances of actually fighting monsters either shockingly easy and repetitive or relegated to quick time events, while the rest of the game was spent shooting 'rebels' and other humans for reasons that were never made abundantly clear other than waving around the word 'conspiracy', it was a satisfying plot that I enjoyed.
The game wasn't particularly long, in fact many said it was far too short for a full price game. I clocked in around 7 hours for my playthrough, and I was fairly defensive about the length in my original review, while also decrying the debate as generally oversimplified. However, since I completed it I really haven't felt any compulsion to revisit the game. I'm not really sure what that says about it or it's value. Saying that, it remains the best looking game I've played so far on the latest console generation. Despite it being a largely drab and grey trudge through Victorian England, it was stunning to look at and I really enjoyed it.
3. Mad Max (Avalanche Studios)
This one snuck up on me, as it would probably have totally passed me by if I hadn't been swept up in the Fury Road fever this year. Instead, I actively made the decision to pick up this new Mad Max game over Metal Gear Solid V, due to it's reasonably positive if not stellar reviews and the fact that I was fairly sure it would be an easier game to pick up and put back down for short gaming stints, making it better for taking breaks from working and avoiding getting so engrossed that I waste hours on it. Fortunately I turned out to be right about that, but more fortunate was how much I ended up loving this game for all of it's simplicity.
Set before Fury Road, with a somewhat tenuous link to characters in the film, you play as Max after having the Interceptor stolen and being left for dead. You ally yourself with a mechanic, and slowly modify a rusty frame to an armoured 'Magnum Opus' capable of driving across the Plains of Silence to freedom. The game is another big sandbox environment, as you drive around finding scrap for your car, fighting off raiding parties, taking down War Boy camps with your fists and limited shotgun ammo and helping your allies thrive, while trying to outrun sand storms and stop Lord Scrotus and his minions. In essence, you just drive around and blow stuff up. And it is incredibly fun. The game's only real let down is that it is very repetitive. The map is studded with scavenging locations, and each of the 4 allies you meet along the game require the same things from you. A lot of it is extraneous, but useful for completing the game. That said, there are some very fun and unique missions, like driving through the Underdune – a network of tunnels that was once an airport, now home to the nocturnal Buzzards.
2. Bloodborne (FromSoftware)
Second from top for me this year is the PS4 exclusive Bloodborne from 'Souls' creators FromSoftware. A grueling, Groundhog Day style trial-and-error endurance experience where you spend most of your time dying. A lot. But it's the sort of game that makes you think tactically, commands your full attention, tests your ability and ultimately rewards you for it. As a hunter, you wade through scores of the crazed residents of the town of Yharnam, feral beasts and huge, hulking monsters. Each time you finally figure out how to beat a boss and 'Prey Slaughtered' pops up on your screen, you feel an immense satisfaction and a real feeling of earning it.
The game itself is beautiful. Well, beautiful if you like heavily gothic surroundings and grotesque monsters. Halfway through the game you enter a sort of nightmare realm, while everything takes on a deeply Lovecraftian slant, including horrific beasts that cling to the huge buildings around you that you can't attack… but get close enough and they can attack you. My flatmates described this as the game they've enjoyed watching me play the most, I expect in part because of the surroundings, but likely also due to my reaction to the difficulty level of the game – swearing my head off every time I felt like I was unjustly killed, even thought it was probably due to me not paying enough attention. It happened a lot.
1. Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios)
My favourite game of the year is likely a little predictable for me. As a huge Batman fan, I've always been extremely impressed by the Arkham games (at least the Rocksteady ones) for not only capturing the ethos and feeling of a mixture of the best Batman comics and Batman: The Animated Series, but also managing to create gameplay that makes you really feel like you are being the Batman. Easy to control combat that looks brutal yet elegant, stealth that combines technology and fear to take down foes, and detective work to put together a case. This third installment from Rocksteady is their final Arkham game, though there isn't a doubt in my mind that WB will be back with more.
Scarecrow is working with the mysterious 'Arkham Knight' and his militia army, and using an overwhelming force and seemingly hundreds of drone tanks they bring Gotham to it's knees. Batman must prevent them from poisoning the city with fear toxin, while figuring out the identity of the Knight and putting a stop to their plans. Along with a few new tricks, like the hugely satisfying fear takedown, Bats also finally has the Batmobile – less a car in this incarnation and more of the personal tank of the Christopher Nolan films, able to speed around at huge speeds before transforming into a combat mode complete with missiles, stun guns and a huge cannon – to be deployed against drone tanks only. While feeling hilariously overpowered, the Batmobile has been successfully deployed in much the same way as the hand-to-hand combat was for the first time in Arkham Asylum – it's very easy to feel like a total badass with it. The one drawback? I get the feeling Rocksteady were very, very proud of their new toy. So much so that the Batmobile is shoehorned into missions and situations that feel totally unnatural, to the point that it is essentially overused.
The main plot is an exercise in escalation, in an understandable trajectory from the first game until now. But it's a very enjoyable superhero tale with some very well deployed twists, some less well deployed twists (I may have seen the identity of the Arkham Knight coming a mile off due to my familiarity with the comics, but it's telegraphed very clumsily and out of nowhere a couple of hours before) and a huge climax. The side quests are even better than they were in Arkham City, once again drawing from the extensive rogues gallery (some of which were extensions of side plots set up in that game). For every one that fell a little flat, like the Hush sequence, there were excellent scenarios like 'The Perfect Crime'.
The only issue I have with the extra content like this, which was the same as the previous games, is that while I can suspend my disbelief in general for superhero antics, it is physically and temporally impossible for all of this to occur in one night. Equally unbelievable is that with the city in such dire peril, you'd take some time out of saving it to capture Man-Bat or train Azrael. Maybe leave them to tomorrow Bruce? Or even just have the plot take place over a couple of days. Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight go to ground for a day or two, and while the Batcomputer checks up on some leads you start cleaning up some other problems in the city? Whatever. It's really a tiny and slightly pointless complaint, really just brought about by overthinking things. Ultimately, this was a great game. Unless you tried to play it on PC.
Top 5 Games That Desperately Need a Remake
Posted on December 19, 2015 by nathanlostlighthouse	in Video Games and tagged Abe's Exoddus, Abe's Oddysee, Chrono Trigger, Eidos Interactive, Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII remake, gaming, HD remake, Hideo Kojima, Konami, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Metal Gear Solid, Oddworld, Oddworld: Stanger's Wrath, remakes, remaster, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Square Enix, video game remakes, video games.
Seeing as 2015 will probably be seen as the year of the remake, with so many films and games being reproduced with younger actors (in some cases better actors) and older games going through an HD makeover. However, I do feel some brilliant games from the past are being left behind. Here is a list of games I believe need a HD remake. I have not included any games that have a remake coming up such as Pokemon or Final Fantasy 7 because they would be in the list otherwise.
5. Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Technically this is a remake of the granddad of first person shooters (sort of), however it makes the list because it is truly a fantastic FPS. You start off escaping a castle and helping the resistance fight against the Nazi's but throw in some Nazi occult factions, zombies and genetically made super soldiers, you have some absolutely fantastic and hilarious battles on your hand. There are also 2 stealth missions too, and proper stealth missions. If the alarm is raised then it is game over.
The multiplayer was also brilliant, you could choose to be a commander, medic, engineer or soldier and if you are attacking a base, most of the time you have to blow up an objective whilst the other team defends it. There are also capture the flag options too.
This game was a particular favourite of mine, even my dad loved playing it (albeit with cheat codes) and it does need a remake. The Wolfenstein games that followed had nothing to do with the original storylines and seem to have gone off on a somewhat weird tangent.
Chances of this happening – 2 electric legless mutants out of 10. Probably not going to happen for a few reasons. iD is now owned by Bethesda and they are concentrating on the Doom franchise more than this one, and there have been 2 mediocre games that have followed this one so it is probably unlikely that it will happen.
4. Oddworld: Stanger's Wrath
OK now we are getting a bit more serious. Stranger's Wrath is an absolute hidden gem from the creators that brought you Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus, two absolutely fantastic games. Now with Oddysee already getting a remake and apparently Exoddus is in the works (which I will be getting), surely this game deserves it.
Set in a Wild West version of Oddworld, Stranger is a bounty hunter who is also trying to uncover his identity. Quite simple really, but the gameplay is absolutely fantastic. A mixture of first person shooter and third person action and adventure.
This game did port to mobile devices but I found it too difficult to control. It needs a good old fashioned controller.
Chances of this happening – 7 slingshotted bugs out of 10. With other Oddworld games in the making, it is probably very likely, however it is not as popular as the other Oddworld games.
3. Metal Gear Solid
Of course this game needs a remake, it would be amazing to play the original storyline again but with a bit more stealth and the first person shooter aspect enabled for it. Everyone has to admit the storyline to this game is epic, as well as the characters introduced. Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, Revolver Ocelot, Sniper Wolf etc.
Coupled with some great voice acting and brilliant gameplay, this game is well deserving of a remake. I believe it is better than some of the sequels it spawned too. The likelihood of this happening is about 1 "!" out of 10. Hideo Kojima (producer of the series) seems to be no longer working for Konami and Konami seem to be interviewing for new staff to take over the series. They even barred Hideo from accepting a reward for MGSV at the 2015 Games Awards. Such a shame, but there's always hope.
2. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
This game fully deserves a remake, I can't stress that enough. This is probably the first game I played with amazing voice acting incorporated. Might be a bit difficult to do it now seeing as the guy who voiced the Elder God is dead (same guy who voiced Frolo form Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, don't ask me how I know that) however the whole point of a remake is to remake it. I imagine we can find a new voice for the Elder God.
Regardless of this, as well as quality voice acting, the storyline is brilliant. Vampire who out-evolves his master is cast aside and thrown into a 1000 year oblivion. Then rescued by an Elder God to enact his revenge. What more can you ask for? It is absolutely brilliant, The series intertwines with the Blood Omen series and is finally finished off in Defiance with an absolutely brilliant ending.
I have already written a "Why haven't you played this" review of it. Honestly get yourself a Playstation, get this game and play it.
Chances of this happening – 2 dimension shifts out of 10. Made by Eidos Interactive, now defunct but owned by Square Enix Europe and let's face it, they have more important remakes going on at the moment.
1. Chrono Trigger
I'm putting this as number 1 whether people like it or not. This game deserves a remake and people have been trying. There was even a few fan made remakes created before Square Enix came along with their cease and desist orders and promptly put an end to the production. I'm no business man, but if there are fan games being made, surely there is a demand for the remake.
Again this is a game I have reviewed previously, however I'm mentioning it again for a reason: because it is brilliant. Arguably one of the best RPG storylines ever, with a fantastic battle system. Each character having an element assigned to them and also the prospect to combine their abilities in order to unleash some devastating attacks.
Chances of this happening – 6 time travel gurus out of 10. With Square Enix taking so long to create a Final Fantasy 7 remake, I think this game is a long way off it's remake, but it may only be a matter of time before this graces our screens again.
The Lost Lighthouse


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Ukrainian schismatics must repent and return before talk of autocephaly—Polish Orthodox Church
Warsaw, September 14, 2018
Photo: news.church.ua
The Polish Orthodox Church has again raised its voice in support of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, whose canonical territory is currently being trespassed upon by bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Speaking with wisdom and prudence, the Polish Church has called on Ukrainian schismatics to display the Christian humility of repentance and return to the canonical Church. The Polish bishops also expressed their conviction that any autocephaly granted without pan-Orthodox consent will only deepen the schism in the suffering Ukrainian nation.
These positions were stated in a letter of the Secretary of the Chancellery of the Polish Orthodox Church, Ezhi Doroshkevich, sent to rbc.ru in response to a request for a statement from the Polish Church on the matter of Ukrainian autocephaly. The story has also appeared on the site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Through the letter the Polish Church has thus confirmed its position expressed at the Bishops' Council on May 9.
With reference to excerpts from the minutes of the Bishops' Council's session, Doroshkevich writes that "autocephaly is provided by the Mother Church only after agreement with the primates of all the Local Churches," adding that hasty actions will only deepen the schism in Ukraine. "There is currently a situation in Ukraine that al the Local Orthodox Churches should take care of," the letter reads.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate has stated that it sees no reason why its unilateral granting of autocephaly to Ukrainian schismatics should lead to a schism in the Orthodox world despite that the Russian Orthodox Church has openly declared that it will break communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the event that the latter grants autocephaly.
"There are several schismatic churches of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine that should repent and return to the canons of the Orthodox Church. Only then will a discussion on the question of granting autocephaly begin," the Polish Church representative writes.
"We must not be led by the political climate in questions of dogma and the canons," the Polish Synod also stated at its May 9 session.
Belarusian Orthodox Church condemns Constantinople's anti-canonical incursion into Ukraine Belarusian Orthodox Church condemns Constantinople's anti-canonical incursion into Ukraine
The Holy Synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church met yesterday to discuss the recent appointment by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of two exarch bishops in Kiev as a preparatory move towards granting autocephaly to a united Ukrainian Church at the request of President Petro Poroshenko. Constantinople rejecting dialogue with Russian Church Constantinople rejecting dialogue with Russian Church
"What is happening now is a monologue of the Constantinople Patriarchate, and the Russian Orthodox Church's efforts to prevent what may turn out to be irreparable are to no avail so far," Vladimir Legoida, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate's Synodal Department for Relations with Society and Media, said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel today. What's Really Happening Around the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Met. Antony (Pakanich) What's Really Happening Around the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Metropolitan Antony (Pakanich), Natalia Goroshkova
Due to the commotion surrounding the question of autocephaly, the editors of "Pravoslavnaya Zhizn" asked the Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Antony (Pakanich) to tell about the real state of affairs.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Funcom's Plans Going Forward
Category: News Archive
Written by ValH on	March 2nd, 2017
The folks at Massively Overpowered have analyzed Funcom's new financial report and dug out quite a bit of interesting facts.
Probably the biggest piece of news there is that the studio is planning a relaunch of The Secret World with a major revamp to gameplay and combat, redesigned new player experience, and addition of daily rewards. F2P isn't specifically announced but there's a mention of "adjustment of the business model, including allowing access to story content for free."
Another Funcom's project, Conan Exiles, currently in Early Access, despite its shaky launch, has recouped the development costs in less than a week and on a track to becoming a major earner for Funcom. In order to ensure this goes smoothly, this PC Gamer article details Funcom's plans for the significant updates coming to the game throughout Early Access:
Moving forward, incremental patches are expected to roll out every fortnight, as well as up to seven "significant" updates between now and the game's full release in early 2018.
Speaking to the former, 'Regular Patches' will focus on performance and stability adjustments, alongside bug fixing so as to "continuously polish the game experience". So-called "Quick Win" features are small additions that will be implemented against requests from the game's community.
Game updates, on the other hand, will be less frequent but will bring with them significant changes. The examples given by the financial briefing include Trebuchet and Siege weapons, a Dye system, and mounts—à la Ark: Survival Evolved.
"The current plan is for four to six Game Updates during the Early Access period," so reads the briefing. "[This includes] two to three game updates during H1 2017, two to three Game updates during H2 2017, [and] one Game Update during Q1 2018."
Anarchy Online and Age of Conan are also getting some attention, but the news there aren't as bright. The games will receive some new promotional events, but for the most part, they are moving into maintenance mode, without any significant updates planned for them in the future.
Related Games: Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer, Anarchy Online, Conan Exiles, The Secret World


This unisex Next Level brand tee comes in Icy Blue with a charcoal soft wash graphic. The 60/40 cotton/poly blend is one of our best sellers due to the great fit and durability. The lyric text on the graphic reads "Mercy is the burden". XS, S, M, L, XL, and 2XL available.


The Federal Reserve and the Fiscal Cliff continue to weigh heavily on the US markets and certainly dominate analyst conversation. How should investors position themselves a midst this tense market period? Ed Butowsky, wealth manager, financial advisor, and managing partner of Chapwood Investment Management, joins CNBC The Closing Bell to examine how investors should interpret recent comments by the Federal Reserve and the meetings between President Obama and Representative Boehner.


Bus 8X replaces tram routes 6 and 6T between Hakaniemi and Paavalin kirkko (St. Paul's Church) and tram 8 between Kallio Sports Hall (Kallion urheilutalo) and Paavalin kirkko from 17 to 23 November because of water main work on Päijänteentie. The work also causes changes to the timetables of trams 3 and 9.
Trams 6 and 6T run from Hakaniemi via Karhupuisto, Läntinen Brahenkatu and Sturenkatu to their normal route. Buses from Hakaniemi to Arabia run along Hämeentie as usual.
Tram 8 runs along Helsinginkatu, Läntinen Brahenkatu and Sturenkatu to its normal route. There are changes also to the timetables of the trams from the direction of Arabia.
In the direction of Vallila, passengers can transfer from tram to bus 8X at the Urheilutalo 0259 and 0260 tram stops on Läntinen Brahenkatu and Urheilutalo 2148 bus stop.
In the direction of Kallio, the transfer stops are the Paavalin kirkko bus stops 3026 and 3025 on Hämeentie and the Paavalin kirkko tram stop 0330.
Bus 8X uses the following route: Helsinginkatu, Hämeentie, Kustaa Vaasan tie, Väinö Auerin katu, Kustaa Vaasan tie, Hämeentie, Helsinginkatu, Fleminginkatu, Aleksis Kiven katu, Läntinen Brahenkatu. Bus 8X stops at all bus stop along the route, with the exception of the junction of Helsinginkatu and Fleminginkatu where it stops at the tram stop.
The same tickets are accepted on bus 8X as on trams, i.e. also mobile tickets and tram tickets purchased from ticket machines or with Travel Card are accepted. Also all other HSL tickets valid in Helsinki (Helsinki internal ticket, regional ticket, three-zone extended regional ticket as well as Helsinki internal and regional day tickets) are accepted on the bus.
There are temporary changes to the timetables of trams 3 and 9 in effect from 17 to 23 November.
On route 3, the services from Kallio Sports Hall in the direction of Nordenskiöldinkatu marked with an 'r' and the services from Nordenskiöldinkatu in the direction of the Olympia Terminal marked with a 'u' do not run.
On route 9, the services marked with a 'b' in the direction of the West Harbor (Länsisatama) operate from the Urheilutalo stop 0260 on Läntinen Brahenkatu and the services marked with an 'n' in the direction of Pasila operate to the Urheilutalo stop 0259 on Läntinen Brahenkatu.


Langley City's support for small business was recognized with an award presented by the province at the Union of B.C. Municipalities in Whistler on Wednesday.
For the second year in a row, the City has received the B.C. Small Business Roundtable 'Open for Business' Award, in recognition of local policies, projects, and programs that support small business.
In addition to offering competitive taxation levels and a streamlined approval process, the City of Langley has developed a number of strategies and initiatives to maximize economic development in downtown Langley. These include the introduction of a Downtown Business Action Plan combined with an 'Urban Magnets' workshop and SWOT analysis, a community survey, and the placement of way-finding signage throughout the downtown core.
This year, the roundtable – which provides awards of $10,000 to each winning community to support the implementation of measures that benefit small business – received submissions from all eight economic regions and short-listed 13 community finalists. Award evaluations were based on local measures that make it easier to do business in that community, including enhancing small-business competitiveness, recognizing the contributions of small businesses to the community, and promoting the principles of the B.C. Small Business Accord.


text:
Misrule of Law
A Chronicle of Legal & Judicial Mischief
Dirty John 2: The Betty Broderick Story
June 02, 2021 by Mark Pulliam
Season 2 of this true crime series airs the San Diego legal community's dirty laundry. Betty Broderick was raging against a corrupt ruling class as well as an adulterous, disloyal husband.
I confess that I enjoyed season 1 of Dirty John, the Netflix series based on L.A. Times reporter Christopher Goffard's reportage of an ill-fated romance turned true-crime thriller based in Orange County, California. Goffard is an excellent journalist, I have long enjoyed the true crime genre (reading about the courtroom exploits of Louis Nizer and F. Lee Bailey in my youth inspired my interest in attending law school), and many of the locations depicted in season 1 were familiar to me because I lived in southern California for over 30 years.
Season 2, released on May 31, is even better. It tells the story of the epically-bitter divorce between prominent San Diego attorney Daniel Broderick and his wife, Betty, who was the mother of his four children. It does not spoil the story to reveal that Betty ultimately shoots to death her ex-husband and his younger—trophy–wife, with whom he had been carrying on an affair prior to the divorce and whom he married shortly after the divorce was final. The story was widely reported at the time, especially in southern California newspapers.
I find the tale fascinating for several reasons. I practiced law in San Diego during the time the events took place. (Dan filed for divorce in 1985 after 16 years of marriage; Betty killed Dan and his new wife, Linda Kolkena in 1989; and the highly-publicized murder trials took place in 1990 and 1991, with the first trial ending in a hung jury.) Prior to the divorce, the Broderick family lived on Coral Reef Avenue in La Jolla, near a house I later owned on Mount Soledad. While I never met Betty or Dan Broderick, the cast of characters and locations in season 2 invoke many fond memories of San Diego in the 1980s and 90s.
Viewers may find certain elements of the story to be far-fetched, such as Betty's anger and frustration when the local bench seemed to be biased in favor of her husband, a successful medical malpractice plaintiff's lawyer. Dan was able to get sole custody of the four children (and therefore relief from paying child support), an order permitting him to sell the marital home on Coral Reef (community property) without her consent, and other favorable rulings that Betty was convinced were due to the cozy relationship Dan had with local judges. Betty also had difficulty finding a local lawyer who would represent her in the divorce. Her perception was that the San Diego legal community was a close-knit fraternity that took care of its own.
Based on my knowledge of the San Diego legal community during that period, Betty's impressions are entirely plausible. In the 1980s, San Diego's lawyers were an insular group. In contrast to Los Angeles, a dynamic metropolis 120 miles to the north (albeit geographically separated by Camp Pendleton), San Diego was still a sleepy navy town, serviced by a single-runway airport. The city's law practice was local; branch offices and consolidation of law firms was not yet a thing. As an economic and legal cul-de-sac, San Diego was dominated by an establishment of insiders who aggressively enforced a hierarchy of status and influence. The pecking order was unwritten but well defined. What I am describing is a fiefdom, with an Old Guard running the show.
When he graduated from Harvard Law School, Dan went to work for San Diego's oldest and largest law firm, Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye (subsequently absorbed via merger by DLA Piper). Gray Cary was the apex law firm in the city's hidebound legal community. Several Gray Cary partners served (or would serve) on the federal bench—Clifford Wallace, Rudi Brewster, Marilyn Huff, Bill McCurine, and James Stiven—and Gray Cary lawyers tended to dominate the organized bar. Gray Cary represented the largest institutional clients in San Diego. Gray Cary lawyers—and alumni of the prestigious firm—were at the top of the legal food chain. The firm's preeminence was reinforced by a haughty internal culture and macho ethos. The litigators were particularly prone to swaggering and cockiness. Gray Cary lawyers tended to flaunt their elite status, and in turn were accorded deference by other lawyers and local judges. This social structure had been in place for so long that it was widely accepted—long after such vestiges had been eradicated in other cities. Those holding power and influence tend to zealously guard it, and often go to great lengths to preserve it.
When Dan left Gray Cary, which at the time was known primarily as a defense firm, he opened a solo practice specializing in suing doctors for medical malpractice. Dan's medical degree made him well equipped to handle such cases. In some markets, plaintiff's lawyers are held in low esteem by corporate law firms, but this was not true in San Diego. Elite personal injury lawyers able to win seven figure (or higher) verdicts were revered as celebrities. For one thing, contingent fee arrangements made successful plaintiff's lawyers fantastically rich. One of Rudi Brewster's proteges at Gray Cary, Dennis Schoville, left the firm to specialize in plaintiffs' cases. Dan was one of several high-profile plaintiff's lawyers in town who were regarded as rock stars. (The fact that he was generous with his friends and hosted lavish parties didn't hurt.)
For example, Dan was elected to the Board of Directors of the San Diego County Bar Association and one year (1987) served as President of the SDCBA, indicating his popularity and esteem within the legal community. State court judges presided over the bulk of personal injury lawsuits in San Diego. Just as many defense lawyers secretly cheered for the plaintiff's bar (in litigation and on the dance floor, it takes two to tango), trial court judges enjoyed the drama and prestige-by-association of being part of the "inner circle." The relationship between trial lawyer and trial judge is symbiotic; favorable rulings by the trial judge can ensure jury verdicts and large damage awards in favor of the plaintiff–or at least greatly increase the prospects of victory.
Conflicts of interest and even outright corruption by judges in San Diego were not uncommon. It was widely known that Magistrate Judge Harry McCue, whose duties included conducting settlement conferences in federal securities lawsuits, served as a de facto "wing man" for class action mogul Bill Lerach, whose law firm was based in San Diego. Until he was sentenced to prison and disbarred for obstruction of justice and lying under oath, Lerach made hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements, many of them facilitated by McCue.
The state court bench was even more corrupt. Several trial judges, including the former presiding judge of the superior court, were convicted of corruption—taking bribes, peddling influence, and the like in a scandal centering on attorney Patrick Frega: Michael Greer, G. Dennis Adams, and James Malkus. This was just the tip of the iceberg. Other judges who were overly cozy with local plaintiff's lawyers managed to avoid criminal charges and received a slap on the wrist on the form of reprimands from judicial ethics panels. For example, San Diego Superior Court Judge Vincent DiFiglia was publicly admonished for failing to disclose his close personal relationship with—and receipt of economic favors from—an attorney in a case in whose favor he ruled. DiFiglia resigned from the bench but went on to a lucrative career conducting private mediations and arbitrations. Other judges skated away without consequences.
Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that Betty Broderick was the victim of a corrupt scheme, or that her conspiratorial worldview was well-founded. She is portrayed in the Netflix series as a troubled, angry woman prone to vindictive, counter-productive actions. But neither is her ex-husband presented as a paragon of virtue. He comes across as a narcissistic, controlling, manipulative deceiver. When Betty (correctly, it turns out) suspected that Dan was having an affair with his much-younger former receptionist (whom he promoted to be his legal assistant despite her lack of any relevant experience or even typing ability), he cruelly denied it, calling Betty's suspicions "crazy." Psychologists call this "gaslighting," and it is a form of emotional abuse. (Committing a double homicide is inexcusable under any circumstances, and I don't mean to suggest otherwise.)
In San Diego's legal community, however, Dan Broderick is regarded as a martyred saint. The largest meeting room at the headquarters of the San Diego County Bar Association is named the Dan Broderick Room, in his honor. Each year several San Diego bar organizations for local litigators present the "Daniel T. Broderick III Award" to "an accomplished trial lawyer who adheres to the highest standards of civility, integrity, and professionalism." It is the most coveted award a San Diego trial lawyer can receive. It represents the pinnacle of achievement for an insider—the ultimate badge of Old Guard status.
Viewers of season 2—The Betty Broderick Story—can decide for themselves whether Dan Broderick was a saint, and whether his legacy warrants the encomium his acolytes continue to devote to him.
Judicial Activism
Liberty Law Blog
Crime and Consequences
"Mark Pulliam is one of the few truly fearless, devastatingly incisive, original and yet deeply learned commentators on the contemporary legal scene. His new blog is a welcome addition and a splendid and provocative resource."
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Raoul Berger Professor of Legal History Emeritus, Northwestern University School of Law
"Mark Pulliam is the Walt Longmire of legal conservatism. You don't want to be on the wrong end of his pen. His commentary on law, politics, and policy is not to be missed."
Richard Reinsch II
Director of Law and Liberty, Liberty Fund, Inc.
"Mark's blistering criticism of the foibles of the lawyering class and crackpot judges is a worthy penance for a recovering attorney. And it is our gain."
Shareholder, Wright & Greenhill, P.C.
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"Mark Pulliam, writer and thinker extraordinaire, has a new blog. Make sure to visit and register. Mark Pulliam's new blog is a thing of wit and intelligence."
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text:
Q: Doubly ruled surfaces by quasi-orthogonal lines In this question, it is asked how to prove that a doubly ruled surface by orthogonal lines is a plane.
I'm interested if this property is robust under perturbations of the angle the lines make; that is, suppose that we have a doubly ruled surface by lines which meet at angle $\theta$, where $\theta>0$ (so in the case of the question above, $\theta= \pi/2$). This $\theta$ is assumed to be fixed everywhere on the surface.
Question: with this assumption, can we conclude that the surface is a plane?
Any comment is appreciated!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


SA Hunters and Game Conservation conducts and facilitates relevant research and studies as part of our commitment to wildlife conservation. We are very proud to be associated with the research projects of four students of the University of Pretoria's Eugene Marais Chair of Wildlife Management, Mammal Research Institute. The students recently presented their preliminary wildlife management research results for evaluation and feedback to faculty members and guests at the University.
A Master's degree project by Cecilia Prinsloo on the extent and changes in the wildlife sector in Limpopo province specifically focuses on the subdivision of extensive wildlife areas in smaller camps, typically associated with intensification of game breeding. This research builds on a research study conducted by SA Hunters during 2017, on the rapid densification of game fences in the Limpopo bushveld between 2006 and 2015. SA Hunters' conservation manager, Lizanne Nel, provided background information and advice to Cecilia for her study.
Lizanne Nel, SA Hunters Conservation Manager withCecilia Prinsloo who is doing a Master's degree research project on the subdivision of extensive wildlife areas to smaller campsin Limpopo.
Cecilia's study used remote sensing or satellite images from 2007, 2012 and 2017 to assess changes in fenced farm portions. Results confirmed the trend of rapid intensification in the landscape initially documented by the SA Hunters study. Based on the findings, Cecilia recommended among others, that regulating fences and creating conservancies are essential for sustainable wildlife conservation and that communities should be provided with information about the consequences of fences and their intensification in the landscape. Further studies are required in this field to refine the methodology to detect and monitor intensification of fences in the landscape as well as measures to reduce the negative impact of fences on free-ranging wildlife, some of which are already endangered, such as pangolins.
SA Hunters also facilitated three honours research projects in support of owl conservation. The students worked in collaboration with the owl conservation team of the Springbok Branch of SA Hunters on the East Rand to assess factors affecting owl populations in an urban and semi-rural area.
Caroline Hannweg researched the factors affecting owl occupancy in the east of Ekurhuleni; Mengjing Wei's research project focussed on the diet of an owl community in an agricultural area; and Tosca Vanroy investigated the species richness of rodent population in an agricultural area. These research projects were launched in support of the owl conservation efforts of Springbok Branch that started as early as 2007 after studies indicated that in two years, 300 marsh owls (Asio capensis), 155 African grass owls (Tyto capensis), 94 Western barn owls (Tyto alba) and 6 spotted-eagle owls (Bubo africanus) had been killed in collisions with vehicles along the N17 near Devon, Gauteng. The reason for the high number of owls killed on this road is because trucks that transport grain to the mill, spill grain on the road surface that attracts rodents, which are a major food source of owls. Owls are nocturnal hunters that get dazzled by the headlights and are consequently run over.
Over the last ten years, Springbok Branch initiated various initiatives to reduce owl deaths on the N17 and to promote owl conservation in the area. To better quantify their conservation successes and assist in providing factual and fundamental information to conserve owls in their community, it was decided to approach Dr. Mark Keith and his students from the Eugene Marais Chair of Wildlife Management, Mammal Research Institute.
Tosca Vanroy, Caroline Hannweg, and Mengjing Wei with Eric Enslinand Theo Boonzaaier of the Springbok Branch's owl conservation team.
The three students worked very closely with the Springbok Branch's owl conservation team, and it is evident that both groups are learning a lot from each other and about the owl population in the area. The conservation manager of SA Hunters promotes the collaboration between their members and researchers as it has been proven that ordinary citizens can provide valuable operational support and reliable data to support research. Additionally, members of SA Hunters gain knowledge and insights into factors affecting wildlife populations in their area. This empowers members to affect change and actions to the benefit of wildlife conservation.
Springbok Branch will proceed on this path of research collaboration and will provide financial assistance to Caroline Hannweg to continue her Masters' degree on this topic in 2019.


Microsoft Outlook 2010 from Office 365 has a feature geared toward helping you keep track of all those conversations. The feature automatically groups conversations by subject.
Like it or not, e-mail has become a primary means of communication for the modern information worker. It is not uncommon for many people to send and receive a truckload of e-mails on a daily, if not hourly, basis. Keeping track of different e-mails on different topics with different people can be a daunting task.
Notice that Proposal is the subject of the e-mails and the entire conversation is grouped for easy reading. You can even see your response e-mails and any meetings associated with this conversation. No more digging through your Sent box looking for how you responded to a particular e-mail.
You can turn on the Conversations feature by clicking on the View tab in Outlook and then checking the 'Show as Conversations' check box.
Exchange Online gives you access to your own personal e-mail archiving system. Your personal archive shows up as another mailbox right next to your regular mailbox. You access your archive just like you access your regular mailbox. On top of that, when you need to search for an old e-mail, you can choose to search your archive in addition to your regular mailbox.


text:
Q: How to get [author:year] as a citation and in the biography listing - this is almost to ISO style? It is quite strange reading ISO 690:2010(en) without purchasing the standard.
It seems at 2.3 they deviate from their own standard by using 2.3 [SOURCE: ISO/TR 9544:1988] as a citation.
(So much fo standards, but might sanity survive.)
How can I get [\author:\year] or (a\author:\year)?
Here is extract from the standard:
computer program
schedule or plan that specifies actions expressed in a form suitable for execution by a computer
[SOURCE: ISO/TR 9544:1988]

Just for reference, the citation list in the standard is [\arabicnumeral] and that makes no sense to me at all.
What does make sense to me is to always use the same style in the bibliography listing for reference purposes.  (a:y) or [a:y] How can this be achieved?

A: I don't think you need to take the way other ISO standards are references in the standard itself as an indication of what a citation should look like in ISO style.
Indeed if I understand correctly, the prescriptive part of ISO 690 does not describe any particular citation style. Citation styles are only defined in the informative Annex A. That annex describes numeric citations or author-year citations.
If you want ISO 690, you should look into biblatex-iso690, that bundle of styles implements the Czech/Slovak translation of ISO 690 (ČSN ISO 690), which is stricter in some areas (I have been told; I expect it is  still fully compatible with the English translation).
For ISO 690 author-year citations you would use
\documentclass[british]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}

\usepackage[style=iso-authoryear, backend=biber]{biblatex}

\addbibresource{biblatex-examples.bib}

\begin{document}
Lorem \autocite{sigfridsson}
\printbibliography
\end{document}

Note that technically speaking, the standard is far more flexible in some areas than some people seem to think. The punctuation scheme in the reference list for example is not part of ISO 690, it just requires a consistent scheme. In particular the punctuation scheme in the examples is not prescriptive.
Yet there are some things that ISO 690 requires that I find a bit ... odd to say the least (medium designator, insistence on ALL CAPS in ČSN ISO 690, language switching, publisher for @articles, ...), so unless you are somehow forced to use ISO 690, I would recommend you find a different style.


Had a great question the other day. One of my delegates on a course had a task to enter two dates from her spreadsheet with the word 'to' in the middle to a different programme. I showed her a way that is saving her lots of time now. Watch the video below and see how to convert a date to text and join using concatenate.
Have you ever hidden multiple Excel worksheets in one go and then tried unhiding them in one go. The unhiding normally is frustrating as you have to do one at a time. Here is a way you can get around the issue by using Custom Views.
If you carry out data analysis on Excel spreadsheets you will probably come across the need to clean the data first. For example, removing leading and trailing spaces from words. Rather than cleaning data, it's much easier to try and prevent the mistakes in the first place. This video shows you how to prevent a user from entering unwanted spaces.
One of the big issues that a lot of people have is how to include attachments that have been sent to you in a reply. There are several ways to work around this issue but I personally feel the one in this video is the best one.
This video shows you how to use PowerPoint to record your screen. This is great if you need to demonstrate something on your screen or produce a training slide with video.
How to have a non-numbered paragraph in the middle of a numbered list in Microsoft Word.


Dickens was depicting London and Paris amid the French Revolution. Be that as it may, in this day and age, it is an able portrayal of the IT business amid the virtual upheaval.
For the most noticeably bad of times, we require look no more remote than the server business, which announced another lamentable quarter not long ago. As per IDC, overall shipments dropped somewhere in the range of 26.5 percent year-over-year in the main quarter of 2009, with the majority of the significant merchants indicating twofold digit income drops. Generally speaking, the industry dispatched just 1.49 million units, the biggest decrease in five years, with incomes down almost a quarter to $9.9 billion.
The wellspring of this burden is the one-two punch of the retreat and virtualization, which hoses the interest for new equipment through higher use of existing machines. While this might be useful for capital spending plans, and also the earth, it's turned out to be a genuine weight for the server business, which had since a long time ago relied on an unfaltering revive rate to keep its coffers full. The decrease was most distinctly felt in x86 gadgets.
IDC is additionally announcing that the photo is by all accounts the same for the second quarter up until this point, in spite of the fact that they are anticipating a lukewarm bounce back by the fourth.
Shockingly, a large number of the best server merchants are not endeavoring to push back the tide but rather are effectively grasping virtualization and other propelled innovations intended to create more proficient equipment stages. IBM, for example, is preparing for another server line that exploits Intel's pending Nehalem-EX engineering that highlights up to 64 centers crosswise over eight processors. In spite of the fact that the framework is probably going to be costly, it could carry out the occupation of different cutting edge servers through its capacity to deal with up to 128 individual strings. The chip itself additionally gives 16 memory spaces for each attachment and four QuickPath interconnect joins for preparing a lot of information pair.
Presently for the best of times. The majority of this virtual and multicore action is unmistakably a help to the systems administration side of the house, especially wide-band arrangements like 10 GbE. Dell'Oro Group reports that the 10 GbE advertise bounced back in the main quarter, following a decrease in the final quarter of 2008. The organization did not discharge any numbers from its Network Adapters Quarterly Report, in spite of the fact that it said that Intel is indeed the new pioneer in connector card income and port shipments, while Broadcom held the spot as pioneer in silicon controllers.
What's more, in this vein, there doesn't appear to be anybody inspired by backing things off. Mellanox, for instance, simply divulged a 6-port, different convention 10 GbE physical layer that lays the foundation for another era of high-thickness, low-control switches and go through gadgets. The PhyX bolsters each of the 10 Gigabit Ethernet physical layer works and can be field-moved up to FCoE with 2, 4, and 8 Gbps Fiber Channel entryway benefit without equipment changes.
With such steep changes in server farm equipment purchasing designs, many think about whether things will ever return to ordinary. While deals and income figures have varied throughout the years, the hard news this time is that these progressions look perpetual. Once the subsidence is finished, server deals should get, however they will be no place close past numbers on the grounds that those low usage rates are gone until the end of time.
The new typical will be generally low server action and progressively quick systems as ventures position themselves for the shady/virtual decade to come.


Helicopter Skiing, commonly known as heli-skiing or heliskiing, is skiing that is done downhill on trails that are ungroomed. The trail heads are only accessible via helicopter. Gaining in popularity, heli-skiing is now offered at many popular resorts around the world. However, France does not allow heli-skiing, and the sport is strictly regulated in European countries.
Heli-skiing is not for beginners, and depending on the terrain that one will experience on the course, it may not be suitable for intermediate skiers either. Avalanche safety knowledge is extremely important as well. The conditions on the mountains will vary, so if you have problems skiing in tough snow conditions, heli-skiing may not be suitable for you.
Heli-skiing places a large physical demand on the body. Therefore, you obviously need to be in great physical shape before you set out to heli-ski. Also make sure that you have given yourself a couple of days to adjust to the altitude before you heli-ski. Again, heli-skiing is demanding and challenging. The trails covered with untracked snow, there will be numerous obstacles, and tricky turns and suchto make. Make sure that you are physically able to handle the terrain before you set out.
Aside from specific skill requirements, there are other requirements associated with heli-skiing. The company operating the heli-skiing wont allow you to heli-ski if you dont meet those requirements. For instance, most will require that you have a ski buddy with you. You should also be given an avalanche transceiver. You will need suitable sub-zero clothing as well. Most companies wont allow you to carry a backpack, but you can bring a small fanny pack to carry some essentials in.
If you dont have a ski buddy, you should seek out heli-skiing groups. These are groups of people who want to heli-ski, and they are led by a guide. The groups may be very small, but there usually arent more than fifteen people in a group.
Heli-skiing is a day long event. You dont just ride in the helicopter to one trail, ski down it, and thats it. Once youve finished one trail, you go up in the helicopter again, and you are brought to a trail with more fresh, untracked snow. You may ski anywhere from five to ten trails in one day.
The best time for heli-skiing is in the Spring. This is due to the fact that the days are longer, which means you get more ski time in, and it isnt quite as cold out, which offers you better protection from hypothermia. The texture of the snow is also different in the Spring time, being more powdery than icy or wet.
The biggest risk of heli-skiing is avalanche. You must know avalanche safety procedures before you attempt heli-skiing. Most heli-skiing companies employ pilots and guides who are well trained in avalanche safety as well. If the company does not provide you with the avalanche transceiver, you might want to look for a different company. This is an important piece of equipment to have. It will enable rescue workers to locate you in the event of an avalanche.


How Do I Design My Project with an Architect?
The opportunity to remodel or design a new house for a client is a privilege, a joy, and something that has often moved me to do the cliché "pinch myself to see if this is real" routine. I have my dream job and I'm in awe that people put their trust and hard-earned money in my hands to help make their dream come true. It is also a little stressful to realize that we DO have people's dreams in our hands. It's a weight that lies heavy on our shoulders, knowing that our creativity (which isn't a fixed resource) can either make or break your day.
Luckily, architects and designers have thick skin. We also know that there is a process in place that helps to alleviate anxiety-attack-inducing moments. I probably wouldn't leave my house (heck, my bed!) if every day I let it sink in: what could happen if we had no road map for design. Rome wasn't built in a day and your project won't be designed in one either. Here's how it actually works.
During Schematic Design, we will work together to come up with numerous plan and interior concepts that will help shake out the things that you like or don't like. We will develop a "kit of parts" that will be used to make the final plan the ideal layout. This plan is an example of a Schematic Level plan (not all plans will be rendered in color, however).
Once we have a signed agreement, we've measured your house for existing "as-built" drawings, and performed preliminary code and site research, we have the basis of what we'll use to start designing your project. The proposal includes your first list of what you want (the program) and we use that, as well as the realities of the site / project, to help determine our first steps. The core project team - two associates - will sit down for an internal kick-off meeting to review the project parameters and start laying the ground work for design options. We review the information and begin to assemble some basic parameters (what expansion options we have based on the zoning code, where the best solar exposure is, where the bedrooms should go for privacy, etc.). This is a very rough working session to help shake the cobwebs out of our heads and get the ideas rolling. It is exciting, inspirational, and easily my favorite part of the design process.
I find a great deal of value in having two people tackle the first round of design. Quite frankly, when it comes to design, two heads are better than one. Following the kick-off meeting, we sit at our desks to design and dream in peace. All ideas are on the table and this is the time to sketch loose-and-quick and gather a large pile of crinkled trace paper. Sometimes I'll be Googling images or searching through Houzz (yes, we do that too) for something that resembles what's in my head. We'll pour through our library and find examples of projects that inspire and get our spirits rolling too. At the end of this deep exploration, we have several iterations of ideas, plenty of messy sketches, and if we've really given it our all, by then we're usually in need of a glass of wine, a hard cider, or three fingers of Bullit bourbon on the rocks (OK, that last bit was my particular solution).
This was water, I promise.
The following day, we'll reconvene and walk through our ideas. We'll discuss the pros and cons (design, budget, sheer insanity), and try to critique each other's work to find the best possible options. I'll usually pull out a variety of ridiculous phrases I've assembled in my bag of tricks to describe the merits of some of the options. The meeting is rambunctious, spirited, and always shockingly productive. At the end we have three, four, or five options that we think are worthwhile (and they're often not the ones we came into the meeting with). We'll walk through our ideas, and begin assembling the drawings we'll present to you at the first meeting, typically two weeks after we finish the as-built drawings.
So, what happens at that first meeting? Well, first we walk you through our big picture approach by describing the parameters influencing our designs, what obstacles are we working around, what particular programmatic elements were challenging, and a myriad of other issues that may have influenced us along the way. This helps you get into our heads so you can understand where the work is coming from. Then we present each of the options along with their individual pros and cons. We rarely build any of the plans exactly as presented to you, but we often will incorporate pieces of them into the final design. It ends up being a collection of menu items from which you can choose your perfect architectural meal. At the end of this first meeting, you're likely to feel a little overwhelmed with preliminary thoughts and gut reactions swirling in your head, but hopefully you leave our office inspired that there's a great path forward to your dream project.
Now we pause. You go home and discuss it. We won't take any direct feedback in that first meeting as I feel it is imperative that you get the chance to digest the information and talk it out alone. If we were to put you on the spot you might say, "Oh, I definitely see your point on that sketch, it is very interesting," when what you really mean is, "Whoa, that plan is just awful. Aunt Mabel would laugh at me for years if we built a kitchen like that." You really can't hurt our feelings, but you should have the time to talk through what you saw on your own, at your own speed, and with your own process. So pull together your feedback and get it to us in a way that works best for you (email, another meeting, or a phone call).
Next we move forward with typically one or two of the top choices. Usually it becomes clear that there is one viable option and maybe a second option that is worth some additional consideration. We dive into these plans and start work on refining them. Here, again, is where some magic really starts to happen. You may notice that my name isn't on the door at Board & Vellum (and to answer a question I often receive, there is also no one named Board or Vellum here). What that really means, is that I don't have to "win." You, the clients, get to win. Whatever design Board & Vellum comes up with should really resonate with you and solve your design problems. We are obsessed with this customer service approach, so at this point we pull the top plans, gather your feedback, and gather the whole team in a room to hash it out. Everyone gets a say, we yell a lot at the wall, and in the end we feel confident we've worked through a variety of design ideas.
A design critique (or "crit" as we call them) is a tool that most architects and designers are accustomed to from school. We present our well-thought out ideas to a well-educated group, receptive to our ideas. We pin up drawings on the wall, describe our goals, and then carefully defend our thoughts on why our idea is the best. Then the group rips our ideas to shreds.
We are relentless. We want to ensure that every idea has been filtered through the two lead designers, but has the added benefit of critique from the entire team here at Board & Vellum. Our team comes from a variety of backgrounds with different lengths of experience, and because of that, we can always approach a design from multiple angles. Sometimes those ideas are junk, but more often than not, a gem shines through and the design gets better. The goal here is to get all the viable ideas from our talented design staff on the table and ensure that the best design wins. It is a little unconventional, but we believe it adds value to our projects and our clients benefit from it.
Once this happens, the core team gathers back together and works on refining the plans. We present them again and work through the details. At this point we're usually 90% there, and work through a few tweaks by email, or in a rare case, in another in-person meeting at our office. Clients typically leave this meeting far more centered and grounded than they do from the first meeting. This is where it all gets real and you can start picturing yourselves in the house.
Coupled with this final plan (realizing that there's still plenty of time to tweak the details), we pull together a schematic-level specification to help with pricing and support the plans. This helps clarify things that can't be drawn (where the tile is, what the budgeted price per square foot should be, what the assumed heating system is, etc.), and then we can use this to pull together a Schematic Pricing Set. This is used to pull together our preliminary budget and pricing and set the tone for how we move forward in the phases ahead.
Phew. Design isn't a quick process. Overall you should assume four to eight weeks from hiring an architect to the delivery of the Schematic Pricing Package. Our main goal is to assure you that the finished pricing package is what works best for your project. It is exciting and intense, but just one more reason why I believe we have the best jobs in the world.
And remember, that job isn't just as an architect and designer, it is as your advocate.


JM: Utlimately what has inspired me most throughout my career is the dynamic jazz tradition found in Melbourne, and particularly the music of giants such as Allan Browne and the Hoodangers.
JM: I have had the good fortune to tour Tokyo and Japan with both the Lagerphones and the Aaron Choulai Quintet a few times, and I want to build on my musical relationship with Japan and collaborate with a range of artists there. I am also passionate about Korean music traditions and hope to travel there to study them in depth.
James Macaulay is a trombone player from Melbourne, Australia. James studied at Monash University with Scott Tinkler, Paul Williamson, Julien Wilson and Jordan Murray. Known for his work with a variety of traditional and contemporary jazz ensembles such as the Lagerphones, the Eugene Ball Quartet, the Aaron Choulai Quintet (Tokyo), and the Monash Art Ensemble; he is passionate about the unique history of jazz and improvised music in Australia. He has performed with the Australian Art Orchestra, Allan Browne, Maria Schneider, George Garzone, John Taylor and Hermeto Pascoal, as well more popular artists such as Harry Angus, Clairy Browne and the Bangin' Rackets, and Brian Wilson among others.


Your Life fashion Why medical franchise centers work? Ongoing demand for advertising and marketing companies Franchising had become a highly regarded and in-demand enterprise trend in the Philippines right this moment. Part of the reason being due to its many opportunities, including its affordability.
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25 years old Petroleum Engineer Amado from Clifford, loves to spend time juggling, . and consuming out. Likes to visit unknown cities and places like Ironbridge Gorge.