To find your ideal vacation, browse our comprehensive selection of guided coach tours to Britain that vary in length from 8 - 24 days. Choose value-for-money first class programs, splurge with deluxe properties or find something in between.
All of our quality escorted coach tours to Britain feature prepaid daily sightseeing, excellent hotels, full breakfasts, most dinners, including specialty dinners with entertainment and, most importantly, no hidden extras! Our tour guides do not sell any optional tours so that they can focus 100% on your vacation enjoyment!
The spectacular Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is enjoyed by over 100 million people on TV worldwide. It's a thrilling experience to see the live show on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle during the three-week season in August. Tattoo tickets are featured on all CIE Tours' vacations staying in Edinburgh during that time. Click here to view our full range of itineraries that include the 2018 Tattoo.
Select tours below offer you this exclusive experience with an average of just 24 guests on select departures. Please continue through to the Dates & Prices page of the tour for individual departure dates.
Also consider one of our popular vacations combining England with Scotland, Ireland and Wales. If you need help in deciding which tour is right for you, just call us at 1-800-243-8687 to discuss with one of our friendly CIE Tours travel advisors.
Visit England and Scotland, seeing the highlights of London; exploring the musical heritage of Liverpool, the home of the Beatles; traveling through the Lake District which inspired Beatrix Potter. Visit Edinburgh; enjoy a festive traditional dinner and Scottish ceilidh; taste whisky in the distillery where it is made, and more!
Start in London with visits to St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London and end in Glasgow. Experience the essence of Britain – Shakespeare's Birthplace, Cotswolds, Beatles' Liverpool and Lake District. Cross the Scottish border to stay in Edinburgh and visit St Andrews, view Highland peaks and valleys and cruise Loch Lomond.
Focus on Edinburgh, York and London at a leisurely pace with 2- and 3-night stays in each. Enjoy city sightseeing tours and experience other locations such as the golfing town of St Andrews, fishing port of Whitby, Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon and more. Gentle walking tours and Scottish and pub evenings enhance the experience.
Start in London to visit St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London. Discover historic Stonehenge and the Roman spa in Bath. Feast at Cardiff Castle's Welsh banquet and travel north to Caernarfon, with its dramatic castle and stunning scenery. Stay in Stratford-upon-Avon and explore Oxford on foot before ending in royal Windsor, close to London.
Explore the west of England with tastes of Wales and Scotland. Start in Windsor, near London and travel to Devon and Cornwall. Head to Cardiff Castle for a Welsh banquet, tour Shrewsbury with a town crier, explore Chester and the Lake District. End with a 3-night stay in Edinburgh. Spend a full day in St Andrews.
The quintessential tour if you would like to see a lot of Britain in a short time – from Windsor Castle to historic York, from Beatles' Liverpool to Edinburgh Castle, from a Welsh Evening in Cardiff to cosmopolitan London. Enjoy daily sightseeing, full breakfasts and five dinners including three special dinner/shows.
Our most comprehensive tour of Britain, with 2- and 3-night stays in most locations. Experience famous classic sights in London, Stonehenge, Bath, Cardiff, Edinburgh and York. Try fish 'n chips in Whitby, explore Cornwall's Minack Theatre, browse the used-book capital of Hay-on-Wye, walk around Shrewsbury with a town crier and spend a full day in St Andrews. Extend your vacation with an optional 3 days in Paris!
Our longest, comprehensive itinerary taking in a wealth of highlights while staying at great hotels with most meals included. Start in London and visit Stratford-upon-Avon and York before staying in Edinburgh. Explore the Scottish Highlands and journey around most of the Irish coastline. Travel through Wales and England's West Country before ending in Windsor, close to London.
London is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. Whether you're looking to walk in the footsteps of Shakespeare and Dickens, tour the castles in hope of spotting Harry and Meghan, or eat great ethnic foods from every continent, London will entice you with its charms and exceed your expectations.
You can be in London to celebrate New Year's Eve – maybe you'll choose to join the crowds watching the fireworks over the Thames!
We could not find any trips to match your query. Please expand your search to try again.


text:
IndyCar Notebook: Rosenqvist likes forgiveness of these cars
By INDYCAR | Published: Jul 31, 2019
An unsung feature of the NTT IndyCar Series is the contact these Dallara cars can take, particularly on a road course. Felix Rosenqvist of Sweden has raced open-wheel machines all over the world, but he has never experienced car forgiveness like this.
"We see all the time that you can touch and we can always bang wheels," he said after giving Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon a solid but unintentional hit on the final lap of Sunday's Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. "I think that's one of the great things for the sport is that we can go really aggressive against each other without spinning or (damaging) parts."
Rosenqvist also appreciated that Dixon and their boss, Chip Ganassi, were fine with the Turn 2 bump.
"I think everyone really enjoyed that – we were enjoying it (as drivers)," Rosenqvist said. "We were banging wheels, (and) it was a bit exciting."
Nice guys can finish first
Dixon was willing to play nice on Mid-Ohio's final lap, but a 46th career race win meant more to him than allowing Rosenqvist to score his first win in the series.
"I'm not going to leave the door wide open by any means," Dixon said. "I knew he was going to come in deep there. I thought he was actually going to just wait to get a good exit off of (Turn) 2 and ultimately I think if he had just been a little bit more patient there I think he would have (passed) me going into (Turn) 4."
Dixon remains third in career Indy car wins, but Mario Andretti's 52 is increasingly within reach. A.J. Foyt won a record 67 races in his career.
Andretti Autosports builds on continuity
NTT IndyCar Series team owner Michael Andretti had a newsworthy Mid-Ohio weekend by announcing contract extensions with both star driver Alexander Rossi and Honda Performance Development. It wasn't that many years that Andretti got plans in place as the next season was about to begin.
"Now we can be ahead of the game," he said. "It takes a lot of the pressure off and makes it good for us planning on how to run the team. We aren't reacting; we are being proactive. That's important for the race team and part of the reason we have come on strong the last few years. It makes for great continuity."
"I keep saying it, but he's a big talent. He's going to win a lot of races." – Five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon on Chip Ganassi Racing rookie teammate Felix Rosenqvist
-- Former Formula One driver Felipe Nasr tested Monday at Mid-Ohio in an Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda. Nasr, the reigning IMSA prototype champion, was joined by Alex Palou, the most recent race winner in SuperFormula in Japan. Palou tested an Indy car with Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan.
-- The top two championship contenders in Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires -- Oliver Askew and Rinus VeeKay – have been confirmed to IndyCar tests, both next month at Portland International Raceway. Askew will be with Chip Ganassi Racing, VeeKay with Ed Carpenter Racing.
-- Sunday's victory extended Dixon's record total of Mid-Ohio victories to six. Among tracks hosting NTT IndyCar Series races this season, Michael Andretti won seven races in Toronto while Al Unser Jr. won six times at Long Beach. The old Trenton (N.J.) Speedway held more than one race a year, which enabled A.J. Foyt to win 11 races. Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti won seven times each at Trenton.
-- The 41 points scored by Rosenqvist at Mid-Ohio gave him breathing room in the season's tight Rookie of the Year battle. Rosenqvist has 296 points to Santino Ferrucci's 259. Colton Herta has 245, Marcus Ericsson 219.
-- Dixon's win pushed Chip Ganassi Racing into a tie with Andretti Autosport for the second-most wins by an Indy car team using a Dallara chassis. Each has 63. Team Penske leads with 100. Dallara debuted in the sport in 1997.
The ABC Supply 500 will be held Sunday, Aug. 18 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Television coverage will be on NBCSN at 2:30 p.m. with the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network providing the action on radio affiliates, including Sirius Channel 98 and XM Channel 209.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Feature selection (backward elimination) in polynomial regression I have a polynomial multiple (univariate) regression with 2nd degree (for example) as below.

Question. When I execute backward elimination to select features, should I remove features from the highest degree of polynomials to low in order? Or, can I remove features regardless of polynomial degree, solely depending on pvalue (>0.05) from t-statistics?
I have seen this learning material, and here that removes features regardless of polynomial degree order meaning e.g. low degree terms can be removed when high degree terms kept.

A: There are several issues here that you should consider, depending on the details of how you wish to use and present your model.
First, if you want to use your model to predict values of $y$ for new cases based on their values of $a$ and $b$, then you might be best off retaining the complete model. As Frank Harrell put it:

First you have to decide if you really need model selection, or you just need to model. In the majority of situations, depending on dimensionality, fitting a flexible comprehensive model is preferred.

Whether a coefficient for a particular predictor passes a test of statistical significance can be more a measure of the size of your data sample than a measure of the importance of that predictor. Some argue that following the traditional $p<0.05$ criterion for statistical significance is not always a good way to proceed. See this page for an introduction with references into this issue. This is particularly important if your main interest is predicting future cases, where throwing out a "non-significant" predictor might still be throwing away useful information.
Second, before you start throwing away features, at least see how stable your feature-selection process is. Try repeating your modeling on multiple bootstrap resamples (say a few hundred) from your data, and keep track of the coefficient values for each resample. Very often the identities of the "significant" predictors will change from sample to sample. If so, you might want to reconsider the wisdom of throwing away predictors that happened to be "insignificant" in the original model.
Third, automated methods for model selection can pose serious problems. At the least, once you start using your data to select coefficients, the assumptions underlying calculations of p-values and the like no longer apply. See this page for extensive discussion and references. Backward elimination as you propose might be among the least objectionable, but there could still be a question of how much your results will only apply to your original data set rather than be generalizable to other data samples from the same population.
Fourth, the decision matters somewhat on how you will be interpreting your model. For example, were you to omit either or both of the $\beta_2 a$ or $\beta_3 b$ terms but keep the $\beta_5 ab$ term, you would be keeping an interaction term without the main effect. That might or might not be a good idea, as discussed on this page. If your sole interest was in prediction you might get away with keeping only the interaction term in some circumstances, but it can be difficult to interpret the physical meaning of the coefficients in that case.
Finally, however you choose to proceed, double-check your entire model building process with bootstrapping. For example if you choose to do backward selection without regard to polynomial degree based on nominal p-values (which I would not recommend), repeat that entire modeling procedure on a few hundred bootstrap samples and evaluate each model's performance on your entire original data sample. That provides perhaps the best estimate of how well your model-building process would work on a new data sample from the same population.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Netflix, Hulu, Amazon...U.S. consumers in large numbers are piecing together their media. According to a report out from Deloitte, 43 percent of consumers subscribe to both to streaming services and pay TV. Yahoo Finance's Sibile Marcellus reports.


text:
<?php
/*------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	cron: executing tasks at a later moment

	this file is the entry point for the system's cronjob
	install instructions are in INSTALL.markdown
------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/

/*------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	save all output and possible errors for later
------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
ob_start();

/*------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	startup the environment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
$private = realpath(dirname(__FILE__).'/..');
require_once($private.'/backend/bootstrap.php');
require_once($private.'/backend/load.php');

/*------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	check if there is work to do
------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
try {
	$cronjobs = load::model('cronjobs');
	$jobs_to_execute = $cronjobs->waiting();

	// execute cronjobs
	if ($jobs_to_execute) {
		foreach ($jobs_to_execute as $job_id => $job_info) {

			try {
				$job = load::model('cronjob', $job_id);
				$job->execute();
			}
			catch (Exception $e) {
				if ($job) {
					$job->update_property('status', 'error');
					$job->update_property('result', $e->getMessage());
				}

				// something terrible happened, let the webmaster know
				error::mail_cron_job($job_info, $e);
			}

		}
	}

	// remove cronjobs marked as done and older than a week
	$cronjobs->cleanup();
}
catch (Exception $e) {
	// let the errors come in the generic output email
	echo $e;
}

/*------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	check for output or errors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
if (ob_get_length()) {
	$output = ob_get_contents();
	error::mail_cron_generic($output);
}
ob_end_clean();

/*------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	tell cron everything went fine
------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
return 0;
?>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Cloning and characterization of the glucosidase II alpha subunit gene of Trichoderma reesei: A frameshift mutation results in the aberrant glycosylation profile of the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30
Steven Geysens, Tiina Pakula, Jaana Uusitalo, Isabelle Dewerte, Merja Penttilä, Roland Contreras
BA3402 Protein production
BA3405 Bioprocess engineering
BA34 Industrial biotechnology and food solutions
We describe isolation and characterization of the gene encoding the glucosidase II alpha subunit (GIIα) of the industrially important fungus Trichoderma reesei. This subunit is the catalytic part of the glucosidase II heterodimeric enzyme involved in the structural modification within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of N-linked oligosaccharides present on glycoproteins. The gene encoding GIIα (gls2α) in the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30 contains a frameshift mutation resulting in a truncated gene product. Based on the peculiar monoglucosylated N-glycan pattern on proteins produced by the strain, we concluded that the truncated protein can still hydrolyze the first α-1,3-linked glucose residue but not the innermost α-1,3-linked glucose residue from the Glc2MaH 9GlcNAc2 N-glycan ER structure. Transformation of the Rut-C30 strain with a repaired T. reesei gls2α gene changed the glycosylation profile significantly, decreasing the amount of monoglucosylated structures and increasing the amount of high-mannose N-glycans. Full conversion to high-mannose carbohydrates was not obtained, and this was probably due to competition between the endogenous mutant subunit and the introduced wild-type GIIα protein. Since glucosidase II is also involved in the ER quality control of nascent polypeptide chains, its transcriptional regulation was studied in a strain producing recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and in cultures treated with the stress agents dithiothreitol (DTT) and brefeldin A (BFA), which are known to block protein transport and to induce the unfolded protein response. While the mRNA levels were clearly upregulated upon tPA production or BFA treatment, no such enhancement was observed after DTT addition.
https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.71.6.2910-2924.2005
10.1128/AEM.71.6.2910-2924.2005
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Cloning and characterization of the glucosidase II alpha subunit gene of Trichoderma reesei: A frameshift mutation results in the aberrant glycosylation profile of the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
4-nitrophenyl-alpha-glucosidase Medicine & Life Sciences
Trichoderma Medicine & Life Sciences
frameshift mutation Agriculture & Biology
cloning Earth & Environmental Sciences
Frameshift Mutation Medicine & Life Sciences
glucosidases Agriculture & Biology
Trichoderma reesei Agriculture & Biology
Glycosylation Medicine & Life Sciences
Geysens, S., Pakula, T., Uusitalo, J., Dewerte, I., Penttilä, M., & Contreras, R. (2005). Cloning and characterization of the glucosidase II alpha subunit gene of Trichoderma reesei: A frameshift mutation results in the aberrant glycosylation profile of the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71(6), 2910-2924. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.71.6.2910-2924.2005
Geysens, Steven ; Pakula, Tiina ; Uusitalo, Jaana ; Dewerte, Isabelle ; Penttilä, Merja ; Contreras, Roland. / Cloning and characterization of the glucosidase II alpha subunit gene of Trichoderma reesei : A frameshift mutation results in the aberrant glycosylation profile of the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30. In: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2005 ; Vol. 71, No. 6. pp. 2910-2924.
@article{e549846a500e453fa3e3db26bb72cce5,
title = "Cloning and characterization of the glucosidase II alpha subunit gene of Trichoderma reesei: A frameshift mutation results in the aberrant glycosylation profile of the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30",
abstract = "We describe isolation and characterization of the gene encoding the glucosidase II alpha subunit (GIIα) of the industrially important fungus Trichoderma reesei. This subunit is the catalytic part of the glucosidase II heterodimeric enzyme involved in the structural modification within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of N-linked oligosaccharides present on glycoproteins. The gene encoding GIIα (gls2α) in the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30 contains a frameshift mutation resulting in a truncated gene product. Based on the peculiar monoglucosylated N-glycan pattern on proteins produced by the strain, we concluded that the truncated protein can still hydrolyze the first α-1,3-linked glucose residue but not the innermost α-1,3-linked glucose residue from the Glc2MaH 9GlcNAc2 N-glycan ER structure. Transformation of the Rut-C30 strain with a repaired T. reesei gls2α gene changed the glycosylation profile significantly, decreasing the amount of monoglucosylated structures and increasing the amount of high-mannose N-glycans. Full conversion to high-mannose carbohydrates was not obtained, and this was probably due to competition between the endogenous mutant subunit and the introduced wild-type GIIα protein. Since glucosidase II is also involved in the ER quality control of nascent polypeptide chains, its transcriptional regulation was studied in a strain producing recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and in cultures treated with the stress agents dithiothreitol (DTT) and brefeldin A (BFA), which are known to block protein transport and to induce the unfolded protein response. While the mRNA levels were clearly upregulated upon tPA production or BFA treatment, no such enhancement was observed after DTT addition.",
author = "Steven Geysens and Tiina Pakula and Jaana Uusitalo and Isabelle Dewerte and Merja Penttil{\"a} and Roland Contreras",
doi = "10.1128/AEM.71.6.2910-2924.2005",
Geysens, S, Pakula, T, Uusitalo, J, Dewerte, I, Penttilä, M & Contreras, R 2005, 'Cloning and characterization of the glucosidase II alpha subunit gene of Trichoderma reesei: A frameshift mutation results in the aberrant glycosylation profile of the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30', Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 71, no. 6, pp. 2910-2924. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.71.6.2910-2924.2005
Cloning and characterization of the glucosidase II alpha subunit gene of Trichoderma reesei : A frameshift mutation results in the aberrant glycosylation profile of the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30. / Geysens, Steven; Pakula, Tiina; Uusitalo, Jaana; Dewerte, Isabelle; Penttilä, Merja; Contreras, Roland.
In: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 71, No. 6, 01.06.2005, p. 2910-2924.
T1 - Cloning and characterization of the glucosidase II alpha subunit gene of Trichoderma reesei
T2 - A frameshift mutation results in the aberrant glycosylation profile of the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30
AU - Geysens, Steven
AU - Pakula, Tiina
AU - Uusitalo, Jaana
AU - Dewerte, Isabelle
AU - Penttilä, Merja
AU - Contreras, Roland
N2 - We describe isolation and characterization of the gene encoding the glucosidase II alpha subunit (GIIα) of the industrially important fungus Trichoderma reesei. This subunit is the catalytic part of the glucosidase II heterodimeric enzyme involved in the structural modification within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of N-linked oligosaccharides present on glycoproteins. The gene encoding GIIα (gls2α) in the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30 contains a frameshift mutation resulting in a truncated gene product. Based on the peculiar monoglucosylated N-glycan pattern on proteins produced by the strain, we concluded that the truncated protein can still hydrolyze the first α-1,3-linked glucose residue but not the innermost α-1,3-linked glucose residue from the Glc2MaH 9GlcNAc2 N-glycan ER structure. Transformation of the Rut-C30 strain with a repaired T. reesei gls2α gene changed the glycosylation profile significantly, decreasing the amount of monoglucosylated structures and increasing the amount of high-mannose N-glycans. Full conversion to high-mannose carbohydrates was not obtained, and this was probably due to competition between the endogenous mutant subunit and the introduced wild-type GIIα protein. Since glucosidase II is also involved in the ER quality control of nascent polypeptide chains, its transcriptional regulation was studied in a strain producing recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and in cultures treated with the stress agents dithiothreitol (DTT) and brefeldin A (BFA), which are known to block protein transport and to induce the unfolded protein response. While the mRNA levels were clearly upregulated upon tPA production or BFA treatment, no such enhancement was observed after DTT addition.
AB - We describe isolation and characterization of the gene encoding the glucosidase II alpha subunit (GIIα) of the industrially important fungus Trichoderma reesei. This subunit is the catalytic part of the glucosidase II heterodimeric enzyme involved in the structural modification within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of N-linked oligosaccharides present on glycoproteins. The gene encoding GIIα (gls2α) in the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30 contains a frameshift mutation resulting in a truncated gene product. Based on the peculiar monoglucosylated N-glycan pattern on proteins produced by the strain, we concluded that the truncated protein can still hydrolyze the first α-1,3-linked glucose residue but not the innermost α-1,3-linked glucose residue from the Glc2MaH 9GlcNAc2 N-glycan ER structure. Transformation of the Rut-C30 strain with a repaired T. reesei gls2α gene changed the glycosylation profile significantly, decreasing the amount of monoglucosylated structures and increasing the amount of high-mannose N-glycans. Full conversion to high-mannose carbohydrates was not obtained, and this was probably due to competition between the endogenous mutant subunit and the introduced wild-type GIIα protein. Since glucosidase II is also involved in the ER quality control of nascent polypeptide chains, its transcriptional regulation was studied in a strain producing recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and in cultures treated with the stress agents dithiothreitol (DTT) and brefeldin A (BFA), which are known to block protein transport and to induce the unfolded protein response. While the mRNA levels were clearly upregulated upon tPA production or BFA treatment, no such enhancement was observed after DTT addition.
U2 - 10.1128/AEM.71.6.2910-2924.2005
DO - 10.1128/AEM.71.6.2910-2924.2005
Geysens S, Pakula T, Uusitalo J, Dewerte I, Penttilä M, Contreras R. Cloning and characterization of the glucosidase II alpha subunit gene of Trichoderma reesei: A frameshift mutation results in the aberrant glycosylation profile of the hypercellulolytic strain Rut-C30. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2005 Jun 1;71(6):2910-2924. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.71.6.2910-2924.2005


text:
$groupName = 'CarbonCOM'

function Start-TestFixture
{
    & (Join-Path -Path $PSScriptRoot -ChildPath '..\Import-CarbonForTest.ps1' -Resolve)
}

function Start-Test
{
    Install-Group -Name $groupName -Description 'Group used by the Carbon PowerShell module tests for COM grant/revoke methods.'
    Revoke-TestComPermissions
}

function Stop-Test
{
    Revoke-TestComPermissions
}

function Revoke-TestComPermissions
{
    Revoke-ComPermission -Identity $groupName -Access -Default
    Revoke-ComPermission -Identity $groupName -Access -Limits
    Revoke-ComPermission -Identity $groupName -LaunchAndActivation -Default
    Revoke-ComPermission -Identity $groupName -LaunchAndActivation -Limits
    Get-ComPermission -Identity $groupName -Access -Default |
        ForEach-Object { Fail ('{0} has COM Access permissions.' -f $groupName) }
    Get-ComPermission -Identity $groupName -Access -Limits |
        ForEach-Object { Fail ('{0} has COM Access restrictions.' -f $groupName) }
    Get-ComPermission -Identity $groupName -LaunchAndActivation -Default |
        ForEach-Object { Fail ('{0} has COM Launch and ACtivation permissions.' -f $groupName) }
    Get-ComPermission -Identity $groupName -LaunchAndActivation -Limits |
        ForEach-Object { Fail ('{0} has COM Launch and ACtivation restrictions.' -f $groupName) }
}

function Test-ShouldSetAccessPermissions
{
    @(
        @{ Default = $true; Allow = $true; Local = $true;  Remote = $false },
        @{ Default = $true; Allow = $true; Local = $false; Remote = $true },
        @{ Default = $true; Allow = $true; Local = $true;  Remote = $true },
        @{ Default = $true; Deny = $true;  Local = $true;  Remote = $false },
        @{ Default = $true; Deny = $true;  Local = $false; Remote = $true },
        @{ Default = $true; Deny = $true;  Local = $true;  Remote = $true },
        @{ Limits = $true; Allow = $true; Local = $true;  Remote = $false },
        @{ Limits = $true; Allow = $true; Local = $false; Remote = $true },
        @{ Limits = $true; Allow = $true; Local = $true;  Remote = $true },
        @{ Limits = $true; Deny = $true;  Local = $true;  Remote = $false },
        @{ Limits = $true; Deny = $true;  Local = $false; Remote = $true },
        @{ Limits = $true; Deny = $true;  Local = $true;  Remote = $true }
    ) |
        ForEach-Object {
            $grantArgs = $_

            $accessRule = Grant-ComPermission -Access -Identity $groupName @grantArgs -PassThru
            Assert-NotNull $accessRule ($grantArgs | Out-String)

            $expectedRights = [Carbon.Security.ComAccessRights]::Execute
            if( $grantArgs.Local )
            {
                $expectedrights = $expectedRights -bor [Carbon.Security.ComAccessRights]::ExecuteLocal
            }
            if( $grantArgs.Remote )
            {
                $expectedrights = $expectedRights -bor [Carbon.Security.ComAccessRights]::ExecuteRemote
            }
            Assert-Equal $expectedRights $accessRule.ComAccessRights
        }
}

function Test-ShouldSetLaunchAndActivationPermissions
{
    @( 'Default', 'Limits' ) |
        ForEach-Object {
            $type = $_
            @( 'Allow', 'Deny' ) |
                ForEach-Object {
                    $aceType = $_
                    @(
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $true;  'RemoteLaunch' = $false; 'LocalActivation' = $false; 'RemoteActivation' = $false; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $false; 'RemoteLaunch' = $true;  'LocalActivation' = $false; 'RemoteActivation' = $false; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $true;  'RemoteLaunch' = $true;  'LocalActivation' = $false; 'RemoteActivation' = $false; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $false; 'RemoteLaunch' = $false; 'LocalActivation' = $true;  'RemoteActivation' = $false; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $true;  'RemoteLaunch' = $false; 'LocalActivation' = $true;  'RemoteActivation' = $false; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $false; 'RemoteLaunch' = $true;  'LocalActivation' = $true;  'RemoteActivation' = $false; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $true;  'RemoteLaunch' = $true;  'LocalActivation' = $true;  'RemoteActivation' = $false; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $false; 'RemoteLaunch' = $false; 'LocalActivation' = $false; 'RemoteActivation' = $true; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $true;  'RemoteLaunch' = $false; 'LocalActivation' = $false; 'RemoteActivation' = $true; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $false; 'RemoteLaunch' = $true;  'LocalActivation' = $false; 'RemoteActivation' = $true; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $true;  'RemoteLaunch' = $true;  'LocalActivation' = $false; 'RemoteActivation' = $true; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $false; 'RemoteLaunch' = $false; 'LocalActivation' = $true;  'RemoteActivation' = $true; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $true;  'RemoteLaunch' = $false; 'LocalActivation' = $true;  'RemoteActivation' = $true; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $false; 'RemoteLaunch' = $true;  'LocalActivation' = $true;  'RemoteActivation' = $true; },
                        @{ 'LocalLaunch' = $true;  'RemoteLaunch' = $true;  'LocalActivation' = $true;  'RemoteActivation' = $true; }
                    ) |
                    ForEach-Object {
                        $grantArgs = $_
                        $grantArgs.$type = $true
                        $grantArgs.$aceType = $true

                        $accessRule = Grant-ComPermission -Identity $groupName -LaunchAndActivation @grantArgs -PassThru
                        Assert-NotNull $accessRule

                        $expectedRights = [Carbon.Security.ComAccessRights]::Execute
                        if( $grantArgs.LocalLaunch )
                        {
                            $expectedrights = $expectedRights -bor [Carbon.Security.ComAccessRights]::ExecuteLocal
                        }
                        if( $grantArgs.RemoteLaunch )
                        {
                            $expectedrights = $expectedRights -bor [Carbon.Security.ComAccessRights]::ExecuteRemote
                        }
                        if( $grantArgs.LocalActivation )
                        {
                            $expectedrights = $expectedRights -bor [Carbon.Security.ComAccessRights]::ActivateLocal
                        }
                        if( $grantArgs.RemoteActivation )
                        {
                            $expectedrights = $expectedRights -bor [Carbon.Security.ComAccessRights]::ActivateRemote
                        }
                        Assert-Equal $expectedRights $accessRule.ComAccessRights

                    }
                }
        }
}

function Test-ShouldNotReturnAccessRule
{
    $result = Grant-ComPermission -Identity $groupName -Access -Default -Allow -Local
    Assert-Null $result
    $perm = Get-ComPermission -Access -Identity $groupName -Default
    Assert-NotNull $perm
    $expectedRights = [Carbon.Security.ComAccessrights]::ExecuteLocal -bor [Carbon.Security.ComAccessRights]::Execute
    Assert-Equal $expectedRights $perm.ComAccessRights
}


Yarr. Everyone likes treasures! Anyways, back on topic, TheZappa has started a rather interesting thread about each player's favourite booty. What made the thread worth reading is that many forummers contributed tips on how to get the worthwhile treasures, as well as advice on getting the helpful boosts such as the pirate-guarded 325 gold. Treasures are good boosts to your economy to gain that little edge over your opponent. Go submit your input here now. Yarr.
Olannon has posted a thread in our Strategy Central forum asking about the very-likely possibilities of booming or turtling with the Germans.
"It's essential, you get to play in every age of the game!
"Olannon, what is your point with all of this, will you ever get there?
He's opening the field for strategists to see if this can be done. Interested in coming up with a German boom strategy? Can it happen? Check out his thread and discuss!
This week we're wondering "What type of download are you most interested in?" Vote in our poll!
What noteworthy events occured on the AoE3 battlefield recently? This week started off with a thread asking an simple question: How did you discover the Age series? Next came a cool thread that gives the interpretations of what the units say in their respective languages, still growing of course. If you're curious to see what your Explorer is really saying as he awakens from his minor leg injury, now's your chance to find out.
There was no shortage of strategy articles; posted this week was Ceres's Guide to the British, the Dutch Wildcard Strategy, and the Dutch Great Wall (a good week for the Dutch).
Bruce Shelley posted up a new designer's blog, and finally, the Fort Wars team has uploaded Fort Wars 1.0.
That's it for this week! See you on the battlefield!
Age III Reviewer Replies to My Comments on Review Disparity: A few entries ago I mentioned being struck by the disparity in the Age III review scores published by the two leading PC game magazines in the US. I drew particular attention to the score in Computer Gaming World: three stars out of five, which I translated as 60%. Tom Chick wrote that review and was disappointed to read my comments. You can read what he had to say in response here.
Anyways, the point is, go check it out now here.
The Fort Wars team (Matei, pftq, TBMike and myself) are happy to announce that Fort Wars 1.0, the update to the most played Age3 custom map to date, has been released. This new version contains a long list of changes and additions, and a possible fix to the OOS errors, special powers, bigger civilization based bonuses, and much more.
To find out more, visit my forum thread. You can download Fort Wars 1.0 here.
As the ToC shows, it's definitely lengthy and detailed, making it a must-read. Check it out!
Have your own additions or corrections? Add them to the thread!
Diceclock has written an interesting guide for the Dutch. It is indeed not a single strategy, but opting for flexibility and adaptation. It has build orders for Fast Fortress countering, heavy booming, and also for an early attack. Here's a snipit from the thread.
To provide a flexible Dutch opening that allows the player to adapt and execute any of the popular Dutch opening stratagies. To provide the bennefits of the best military openings without sacrificing economy. To allow the Dutch to remain in Colonial without having to feel rushed into a premature Fortress.
Check it out in this thread!
Fortress Age Merc Spam, and my current favourite, the Fast Industrial.
There are no step-by-step build orders, just some sound advice and tips and that I have learnt on my own after playing almost 200 games as british.
How Did YOU Find the Age Series?
king_magician posted a discussion thread in our General Discussions forum asking how you learned about the almighty Age of Empires series. Did you learn about it from a friend or acquaintance? Found the game while browsing the store? Some crazy guy throw the game at you in a wild frenzy to stop the voices? A mix of each? Tell us in our forums!
The question this week has to do with the geography of the New World: "What's your favorite random map?" Vote in our poll!
It was another active week here at Age of Empires III Heaven, with the week starting off with the announcement of the first 2v2 AoE3H Ladder Tournament at Patagonia, which is going to be held tomorrow for ladder players. Not a part of the ladder? Sign up and start playing!
AoE3 got significant praise this week, being the 8th best selling game of 2005, and for beating out all other PC games in sales for the month of December.
The highlight of the week was the release of patch 1.04, which fixed a lot of stability errors with ESO2 to improve gaming, but it came with repercussions; some mods, notably Ekanta's UI, were incompatible with the patch and cause OOS errors.
Finally, a Cinematic contest hosted by Liquid Fire Studios has started today, with sign-ups ending February 3rd. If you plan on designing for it, enter today!
That's all the news for this week. See you on the battlefield!
"The Myll Clan has launched a signature ratings solution for AoE3, with many innovative ideas.
- Supports both Supremacy and Deathmatch.
- Random images for various time periods if the user can't decide on a specific image.
Ratings are calculated through a player's wins and losses to obtain an ELO rating (1600 being the default rating). Thanks to plexiq and fast_tam for providing the rating scheme.
The Myll Clan is working on a ladder solution to properly determine a player's rating, incorporating the skills and ratings of opponents, as well as team games. The Launch Date will be announced when the project is close to finished."
This is a reminder that we're holding another forum party today at 12 noon, EST/5PM GMT and 8PM EST/1AM GMT at the HeavenGames lobby on ESO (which will be created 15 minutes prior to the party times). As with all forum parties, it's a great chance to improve your game, crush Elpea, and learn from fellow players!
Liquid Fire Studios has announced that it will host a cinematic contest. It will be based on how well the map design is, the storyline, as well as being original and simply put, awesome. The prizes are very good - the winner gets 1 of 3 excellent games, a T-shirt, and their movie will be publicized in their website. Since this is a larger scaled contest, it needs participants. So quickly sign up and show what you can do!
- Your first and last name (private information will not be given out).
- Your HG or LFS forum nickname (if you don't have one, make one).
You cannot enter the contest if you don't do this!
Any designers can participate, but you should hurry as the contest ends in March 25th. This is a good chance for people to take advantage of the graphics of Age of Empires III, and to utilize the trigger effects.
Anyhow, check out the thread here. So, sign up before the sign-up ends in February 3rd.
... "4:- Then, all vills to hunts.
5:- Except 1 vill to wood cart, build house, then, shift to hunting.
It sounds like he's open to commentary, so be sure to check it out!
10. The Sims 2: Holiday Ed.
Thanks to KS for the news!
If your Age3 won't start after installing patch 1.04, the problem might be Ekanta's UI. Ekanta's UI, which we talked about here at Age3H a few days ago, has a feature that has been disabled in the new patch and therefore cause the game not to start. In order to play, you must uninstall it. If you have no idea what Ekanta's UI is, then you don't need to worry ;).
-Update to the patching process which should address difficulties experienced during the autopatch process.
-Resume button added. A dialog is now displayed when a user pauses the game.
-Changes to Games List functionality. The list is pulled down once on initial login and can be updated by pressing the Refresh button.
-Quickmatch now uses only standard maps.
-Home City level now displayed on the Game Start screen.
-Clan tags added to the Advanced Game Setup.
-Fixed an issue with clan chat not being displayed.
-Fixed a game pause issue when a resigned player remained in game.
-Removed the exploited ability to split the military and economy scores.
-Timeout added to Vote Dialog box.
You can download the patch by logging in ESO2.
KS informed us in this thread that Ensemble Studio's Age of Empires 3 is the 8th best selling PC game of 2005. On the top 10 list, Age of Empires 3 is the only PC RTS game. In fact, if you do not count simulation games such as The Sims 2 and Roller Coaster Tycoon, Age of Empires 3 is the only high selling strategy game.
Some good news to online players: ES has sped up their development of the 1.04 patch to ensure better stability and adding a new server for the increase of players on ESO. The patch should be available by next week, according to ES. This patch will be primarily focused on ESO, and thus would not change the balance just yet. And finally, for those that are dissapointed in the lack of a rating system, ES has started developing it.
We have accelerated our patching schedule in order to address ESO server stability, which has been our highest priority since our online population greatly increased after Christmas. We have made several server side fixes that improved ESO performance, and added a new server to help with the increase in traffic.
All in all, read the announcement here.
jaafit has written a guide on a Dutch strategy intended to surprise the opponent by doing exactly opposite of what opponents would expect. It's a good alternative to the typical Fast Fortress employed by many players. By a combination of surprise and villager harrasements, this strategy can help make the Dutch more effective in the early game.
You prevent his vils from doing anything. You harrass him relentlessly. You kill as many vils as you can. Keep him off his gold mine. He will try to escape out his back door so you use your envoy to see when that happens. Keep your hussars on the move looking for his desperate attempt to sneak out.
Check it out in this thread.
It's going to be a one day, single elimination event at Patagonia. To be held on Sunday, 22 January. Participants must be on the AoE3Heaven Ladder with a minimum of 3 ladder games played. Teams can have a total of no more than 245 ladder points. For all of the rules, signups and even to find a partner go to the Tournament Thread.
If you're not already on the Ladder you can signup right now and start playing games immediately.
Fame, glory and a whole lot of ladder wins await the champions.
This week we're asking about the sub-civs that make Age of Empires III even more fun to play: What's your favorite Native tribe in AoE3? Answer in our poll!
This week saw tons of activity in the AoE3 community, starting off with pro Flammifer posting up three articles: a comparison of light infantry, an article about AoE3's scoring system, and last but not least, an article on XP and trading posts.
This week also included the opening of the Ask Sandy thread over at the Age Community, where veteran Ensemble developer and overall "1337 guy" Sandy Petersen answers questions regarding AoE3. Next came lead designer DeathShrimp, giving us his balance opinions on the under-powered Portuguese as well as future patch information in our forums, and Bruce Shelley updating his Designer's Blog.
Finally, Elpea featured a couple mods today and gave a design community update to show the latest in the Scenario Design world.
That's all for this week, see you on the battlefield!
This week's Forum Party is happening on a Sunday because I, admit, forgot to newspost it yesterday ^_^. Anyway, this week we have two choices of games. Fort Wars, the popular blood style RMS, or Deathmatch. For more information (such as times and etc), check my forum thread :).
Not only the scenario will look amazing, it will also sound amazing. Gaurdian has partnered up with voice actors to do the voice work for his scenario. Not only that, he has compiled a great set of music for the scenario that will amaze you. I have listened to both the voice acting and the soundtrack myself and I can personally tell you it is awesome.
Progress on the development is going at a good steady rate. If you wish to view more screenshots, comment or flame Gaurdian- visit his forum thread.
Woad Creations Closed Its Doors!
Woad Creations is a pretty old Design Team for most strategy games. Projects by this team include the famous Norse Wars map for Age of Mythology. It is must unfortunate to see Woad Creations go, specially after all the contributions this team has made in the past. Please give a warm goodbye at the announcement thread.
Ensemble Studios' tech team tells me that a (possible) solution to OOS errors on ESO2 may be simply restarting your game after playing Fort Wars. It seems that the error is caused by Age of Empires III not clearing unit data after playing the map, which then gets carried over to a normal RMS. The error doesn't happen to everyone though, so you're fine if it doesn't affect you. Version 1.0 of Fort Wars is being heavily worked on meanwhile.
That is all for this time, see ya later!
So if you're bored of your main menu, give this mod a try! (no, it will NOT affect ESO2 or cause any OOS errors).
Bruce Shelley has recently updated his blog. While he mentioned some topics outside of Age of Empires III, he also gave some comments to his team's creation.
The Dutch Are Coming: I noted a while ago that the Dutch seemed out of favor, which surprised me since they were popular with our balance team during development. We are seeing more interest in the Dutch now as forums discuss the use of Dutch Banks and the Dutch are being used in more games. I think they are one of the better civilizations but also one of the most challenging since their play is really different. For all of our games it has been very interesting to see how the popularity of the various civilizations rise and fall. It looks like the Dutch are swinging back towards being in favor. We'll see if that lasts or if they fall back.
Check out Bruce's blog here. Also, ES_Sandyman has revived the Ask Sandy thread over in ES community forums. Players can ask questions and expect answers.
"Fort Blood is a Random Map Script that came with the idea that even though our editor was mostly "bad", even though we couldn't play scenarios online, we still had one hope left - do a multiplayer RMS. But it seems however, that even that is impossible.
In the map we use an effect called "Modify Protounit". This effect is made by ES so that we can modify certain aspects of units, like HP, speed, etc. The effect is really a base of our map, because we entrusted that if it worked and it wasn't blocked by ES to work online (like all the triggers in the editor that don't work online) that it would not cause *any* problems with anyone.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be obtuse. We are almost done with the balance patch. I didn't want to say, for example, "in two weeks," because inevitably it will slip until the following week and then everyone will want my head. But it should be soon."
We're not considering any Card changes so severe that it would be worth refunding the point you spent on them.
We are pretty happy with the balance changes we have in hand. I don't want to spill them out here though because we may want to make a more official announcement. We're still looking at some additional testing and hoping to get in a few ESO changes, but don't think it's going to be April or June before you see the patch.
Portuguese - What Should They Change?
"I personally think the Portuguese military is fine. They have about the best Musketeers in the game, which is a very mainstream unit. An army of Musketeers and Cacadores is pretty hard to counter and several of the Portuguese cards benefit both units. The British army of Musketeers and Hussars may feel more powerful, but it requires building Barracks and Stables, getting separate upgrades, and keeping them in different control groups (lest you lose the cavalry speed). I'd take the infantry army any day.
I think you are seriously underestimating Bandeirantes. It takes a player who can micromanage a lot, but those suckers can kill a lot of stuff on their own, especially with Crackshot. How are you supposed to counter that? If you kill them, the Portuguese player just ressurects *all three* again for the low price of 100 Coin.
I do think the Portuguese get off to a slow start and can't capitalize fully on their extra TCs quickly enough. For a long time in the game, the Ports were way too powerful, so we probably erred on the side of making them too weak. I think some kind of econ boost would help them a lot."
Check out the full thread in our General Discussions forum!
French Cavalry isn't Over Powered?!
5) Are you aware that French cav are OP?
A – I deny that French cav are OP. French hussars and dragoons are the same or even weaker than those of other civs. And our balance tests demonstrate that cuirassiers are in fact slightly weaker, per cost, than hussars.
To read Sandyman's full post, go to his thread at AgeCommunity.
Check out his thread for more information!
Essentially the score is the value of what the player currently has. That means resources in the stockpiles as well as the buildings, units and technologies. Every 100 resources make for one point. Units or buildings that are killed or destroyed no longer count towards a player's score.
You may have noticed in the postgame you can chose to view not just the total score but the military and economic scores separately.
Check out the complete article!
Flammifer wrote an article comparing the various light infantry units in AoE3. He compared units by equal numbers and equal resource costs. The result is rather interesting, as it turned out it was quantity over quality in many cases.
In equivalent pop, the higher cost units win except for lbows against skirms and cassadores.
In equivalent cost the higher unit count wins. xbows v strelets is a possible exception. Note that the cost of houses was not considered in this test.
Check out in this thread.
This week's question pokes into the future of AoE3: "What kind of expansion would you like to see?" Vote now in our poll!
a RMS by pftq, Elpea, Matei and TBMike.
Fort Wars is a blood map that plays very like AoM's Norse Wars. If you love blood maps, then you should not live without trying this out! The entire gameplay involves massing huge armies and killing off your enemies with an array of powerful upgradable troops.
Fort Wars is quickly growing as a popular RMS at ESO2. People love it, so you probably will too. More info and screenshots here.
Plenty of events in the strategy department happened this week, starting off with F1RE_FLY posting up calculations on how many hits it takes for the three basic Age3 units (Musketeer, Skirmisher, Hussar (or "MSH" for those who enjoy difficult acronyms)) to strike down any other unit. Following it came TheGoodEvil with his The Russian Winter article series, providing several strategies straight from his blog, and adding to the guides came Echoic's guide on a Tower of Power strategy for the Portuguese. Finally, first Ladder champion was announced, the crown going to Qazitory! Congratulations!
In addition to the influx of strat news, the developers give us some hints on a release date for 1.04 and their own thoughts regarding patch fixes; they even gave some commentary on future Scenario Editor fixes. Last but not least, TGE started a still-active discussion thread regarding the possibility of trading Home Cities online.
That's all the news for this week! See you on the battlefield!
If you're a big huge DS fan like myself, you're probably very excited about the Age of Empires: Age of Kings title for the DS. Well, French site jeux-france.com released a fresh batch of new screenies for the title. If you have a DS and are interested, go check it out :).
Many think the idea's interesting. Your thoughts? Check out the thread!
Tomorrow is Saturday (woohoo!) and Saturday is Forum Part-ay day! If you never came to a forum party, you really should. It's your chance to pwn every forummer and you even get to mock them on the forums. It's also a great chance to learn from great players like TGE and Mokon. For more information such as times and etc, visit my forum thread.
The 'Tower of Power' is a Portuguese strategy designed to repel attacks while booming interrupted out of two TCs at home and advancing to age III. It is a turtle and a boom combined. Age II consists of turtling to age III with defense from minutemen and TC fire. Age III consists of finishing the tower (TC-TC-Fort) and creating military units and sending military shipments to counter with superior units and a superior economy. Writing a guide for a turtling strategy is difficult, so bear with me This strategy is a guideline, but as turtling is you will need to adapt.
We haven't stated a specific ETA for 1.04, other than sometime in the first few months of the new year.
I certainly understand the frustration that players have been experiencing with all of the Otto, French, Otto, Otto, games being played and the instability of ESO. We're our own biggest critics, and no one here finds the current performance of ESO acceptable. It's our number one priority at the moment.
We know there are some bugs in the editor and we do plan on fixing them, but it will probably be after patch 1.04. While we recognize that user-created content, including mods, is increasingly becoming more and more important to our types of games, it is easy during development to always push editor bugs down below those that affect say ESO or setup issues. It makes more sense, in our minds, to deal with the editor once we have major stability issues addressed, else you risk having great tools and nobody left to use them. I know some of you would prioritize things differently.
With the AoE3Heaven Ladder having just finished it's fourth week there is already quite a bit of activity and we're just getting started.
Qazitory is the first ladder champion after having gone undefeated in a round robin tournament between the top five players on the ladder. Congratulate our new champion and check out the downloads section for some great games from the tournament. How long can you keep that crown Qaz?
About Ladder Warriors: These players take on all Challenges. They are not afraid to put their points and their egos on the line. Graceful in victory and defeat, they learn from both their wins and their losses. They look at every challenge, no matter how tough their opponent, as an opportunity to improve their game. They just love to get it on. No excuses are given when they lose; they just say.....I'll get you next time. Their attitude is their opponent may have won the battle, but they will win the war if not now....next time.
The Ladder Warriors for Dec 23 to Dec 29 are Myll_Erik, HelzBelz and AlphaJae.
To read the rules, join and post game results see the ladder thread.
To view the current standings see the rankings thread.
NIC1138 proposed that by using a certain math calculation, one is able to find the optimal amount of villagers to enhance some strategies. This serves as a useful guideline in which a gamer can perhaps gain that small edge over an opponent.
It´s just a sum of the harmonic series [1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + ... + 1/(n-1) ] (this is approximated by the logarithm function) plus a term related to the last saving of food, proportional to the amount of food we want. This last term decreases with the amount of villagers.
A very good read indeed, especially for those of you who enjoy playing as the Russians. Check out the thread for more information!
It's that time of the year again. What time do you ask? Time to vote! For what you ask? Why, the Age of Empires III Heaven Community Awards!
This is the time you take to vote and award those who excel in our community. The most helpful forummer, the best newbie, the funniest forummer, etc. For more information, visit this forum thread.
Check out the rest of his results in our Strategy forum!
Gamespy has picked out their favorite games of the year for the good ol' 2005. Not surprisingly, Age of Empires III won some awards. Gamespy handed the game a PC Strategy Game of the Year award, as well as the 5th spot as the PC Game of the Year! Congrats Ensemble! :).
Update: I seemed to have missed as reader FD2 pointed out, that Age of Empires III also won Best PC Graphics.
There were also Reader's Choice award. Age of Empires III came close, but Civilization IV took the first place.
This week we're asking you "What's the most important quality in a strategy game?" Vote in our poll!
We're close to our one-year anniversary here at Age of Empires III Heaven, and we've progressed through the official announcement of the game to the official release surprisingly quickly. With 2005 ending and 2006 beginning (yay!), one might wonder: what's in store for AoE3H's future?
Shaking my magic 8 ball, I keep getting "No".... To cut to the chase: expect a very likely new design for the site, a full content revamp (including new stuff, we promise), and plenty of contests / tournies. This is just from AoE3H alone, so I can only imagine how much buzz there will be in the entire community.
Hope you have a happy new year, folks!
ToMyBoY has found a way to make units fly by modifying the proto.xml file. This is a wonderful way to make awesome looking screenshots as well as cool effects in single player scenarios.
Since the early days of AOM, designers seemed to be fascinated with perching units up on anything that would support them. Walls, buildings and towers were favorites. Yet the process used up to now, that is creating a small hill using the elevation tool and hiding the hill with a model has severe limitations, and during levels, often when the building that's hiding the hill was destroyed, you were left with an unsightly hill that gave away the illusion. Also in AOE3, since there's no impassable terrains, it is hard to get units to stay put atop their little hill perches.


text:
Author: vonderhaar
What's there to say about me? I'm just your average gamer, suckered by a childhood spent with my nose buried in the latest EGM into dreaming that I could turn my favorite hobby into a livelihood. If the dream doesn't end up becoming reality, I've got an interest in philosophy, political science, economics, and sociology that will hopefully land me a job somewhere in academia.
Ender's Game gets a video game: about damn time
I'm sure the second thing you thought after finishing one of the most entertaining sci-fi books of all time- after "there's no way a kid could do all that." – was "damn, a game based on the battle room or space battle simulator would be awesome!" Your wish, my fictional reader, is about to come true, as WRAL reports:
Chair Entertainment Group will utilize Cary-based Epic Games' Unreal engine to develop the first videogame based on science fiction author Orson Scott Card's international best-seller "Ender's Game."
Sure, Chair's track record may not be incredibly impressive- the reasonably good (in my opinion) Advent Rising, and recent XBLA freebie Undertow being their primary claims to fame- but how could you go wrong with the Battle Room? Penny Arcade may be pessimistic, but I still have hope for the game I dreamed about back when I was 13. And the first releases are expected to be downloadable titles, so cross your fingers for a budget price across all consoles.
Author vonderhaarPosted on January 29, 2008 Categories Uncategorized3 Comments on Ender's Game gets a video game: about damn time
Indie Watch- Charles Barkley + RPG = love
The Great B-Ball Purge of 2041, a day so painful to some that it is referred to only as the "B-Ballnacht". Thousands upon thousands of the world's greatest ballers were massacred in a swath of violence and sports bigotry as the game was outlawed worldwide. The reason: the Chaos Dunk, a jam so powerful its mere existence threatens the balance of chaos and order. Among the few ballers and fans that survived the basketball genocide was Charles Barkley, the man capable of performing the "Verboten Jam"…
Flash forward 12 years to the post-cyberpocalyptic ruins of Neo New York, 2053. A Chaos Dunk rocks the island of Manhattan, killing 15 million. When the finger is put on the aging Charles Barkley, he must evade the capture of the B-Ball Removal Department, led by former friend and baller Michael Jordan, and disappear into the dangerous underground of the post-cyberpocalypse to clear his name and find out the mysterious truth behind the Chaos Dunk. Joined by allies along the way, including his son Hoopz, Barkley must face the dangers of a life he thought he gave up a long time ago and discover the secrets behind the terrorist organization B.L.O.O.D.M.O.S.E.S.
A tale of zaubers, b-balls, and atonement; brave dangers unheard of, face spectacular challenges that even the greatest ballers could not overcome, and maybe… just maybe… redeem basketball once and for all.
From that description, you'd expect a game continuing the internet's tradition of absurdist humor… and you'd be half right. But what sets aside Barkley's Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden is its entirely deadpan, nearly cliched Japanese RPG delivery. While you'll be doing things as absurd as searching for "manufacted jamicite," fighting a surgeon who fufills the wishes of the furry community by turning people into animals, and running away from the anti-B-Ball authorities, you'll never hear genre-savvy characters remark on the inaneness of the situation. Rather, they take the world entirely seriously, as Barkley comes to terms with the loss of his wife, and Cyberdwarf deals with the intolerance of a society that can't handle a person with skin made of basketballs. This juxtaposition is quite satisfying, and makes for a far more hilarious experience than most run of the mill internet humor. Add in decent writing, a turn-based battle system that's better than a lot of commercial releases, tight dungeon design, and excellent music, and you've got a game good enough to distract me from Crackdown and Call of Duty 4. Oh, and it's free.
Download the game here.
Author vonderhaarPosted on January 27, 2008 January 27, 2008 Categories PC, Video GamesTags Barkley, indie watch, RPGLeave a comment on Indie Watch- Charles Barkley + RPG = love
Game design and probability- math geeks only!
Or, as Tyler Sigman states in his introduction:
Be warned: this feature is long and contains a lot of things that are suspiciously and unsettlingly math-like. Go check up on BRITNEY SPEARS or PARIS HILTON or AMY WINEHOUSE if you have a shorter attention span. (Take that, Search Engines!)
Okay, so the article is probably not for everyone. But if, like me, you relish busting out excel to figure out optimal talent point placement, have a calculator by your side whenever making a major decision in a game, and spent hours of calculation discovering the most efficient Pokemon team (take that, schoolyard bullies!), this is manna from heaven.
It's also good to know that, abhorrent as game design can be in the turn-based space, there's at least one guy who understands the basics (Mr. Sigman worked on Age of Empires DS).
Instead of using a video game as his example, Mr. Sigman turns to a board game he's designing, which although is perhaps less appropriate to the Gamasutra setting, is useful for the simplicity of calculation that a lack of a computer requires. Check out the article here.
Author vonderhaarPosted on January 22, 2008 January 23, 2008 Categories Video GamesTags game design, probabilityLeave a comment on Game design and probability- math geeks only!
Echochrome dated in Japan
The most impressive game from E3 2007 finally gets a release date.
Last week I mentioned Echochrome was arriving on the PSP on March 19. Now I can confirm it will arrive on the PlayStation Store as a downloadable PS3 game on the same day. The price has not been announced, but if Sony is selling the PSP version for 3,990 yen ($36) it will probably fall in the $25-$30 price range.
I know what some of you are thinking, "no fucking way am I paying 25-30 dollars for some tiny PSN game." You, sir, are dead wrong. Echochrome's like nothing you've ever seen before, the kind of game M.C. Escher would make if he could only draw stick figures. I play games to have this kind of mindbending experience, and just watching the trailer, it felt like I had sprained my brain. Don't let the lo-fi graphics fool you: Echochrome is one of the most promising PSP and PS3 releases this year. At least, I think I'll probably have more fun with it than MGS4 and GTA4. If the trailer below doesn't convince you of its awesomeness, well, you have no soul.
Courtesy of Siliconera.
Author vonderhaarPosted on January 17, 2008 January 17, 2008 Categories PSP, Video GamesTags Echochrome, GOTY, PSNLeave a comment on Echochrome dated in Japan
More cool game swag you'll never get your hands on.
Why do developers enjoy tormenting me? First the Weighted Companion Cube plush sells out before I can get one, then the Okami Complete Works book gets delayed indefinitely, and then I hear about the cool chocobo mug several months after Square-Enix sells out its original production. The latest useless bit of junk I'm doomed to lust after and never get my greedy paws on? A kick-ass fan with official artwork of Okami on it. This one they're not selling at all, so at least I don't have to blame my chronic late to the party status this time
Author vonderhaarPosted on January 10, 2008 January 10, 2008 Categories Video GamesTags Okami, swagLeave a comment on More cool game swag you'll never get your hands on.
Blockbuster releases to be more spread out in future, says analyst
It seems that gaming publishers may finally be getting the message, shouted daily from countless enthusiast web communities, that we want to play good games all year round, not just in the fall. About damn time too; when a quirky, niche Atlus title is the most exciting release for three months, while the next three feature Mario, Mass Effect, and Uncharted, there's something wrong. Thankfully, the SimExchange's Jesse Divnich says there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
A broader release schedule could positively affect retailers such as GameStop and make them more attractive to the investment community as they will have more months of strong sales to hedge themselves against any negative short-term economic factors
It's the same logic we enthusiasts have been using against game developers for years: while releasing at the end of the year is good for those who can stand out from the pack, just as many titles see decreased sales from increased competition. The logic hasn't changed from last year, and sales numbers this holiday season were up from last year, so why expect change? While Jesse doesn't offer an explanation for the publishers' change of heart, he does provide ample evidence for his claims.
Before the first half of 2008 ends, we can expect the release of AAA titles such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl (expected to achieve 13.95 million units of GLS [global lifetime sales]), Wii Fit (expecting 8.7 million units of GLS), Grand Theft Auto IV (expecting 17 million units of GLS), and Metal Gear Solid 4 (expecting 4.7 million units of GLS).
While I'd be surprised if even half of that list actually releases in Q1 or Q2 2008, the point is well taken. This year's early releases are the best recent memory. Call me cautiously optimistic that, burned by flops like Stranglehold and Blue Dragon, publishers will be less likely to flood the retail channel around the holiday season.
For more, see here.
Author vonderhaarPosted on January 10, 2008 January 10, 2008 Categories Game Business, Video GamesTags analysts, blockbuster1 Comment on Blockbuster releases to be more spread out in future, says analyst


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Iraqis Take to the Streets, Call for Real Democracy
published by Aaron Hughes on 03/26/11 6:56pm
Repost from Truthout Friday 25 March 2011 by: David Bacon, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis
The war in Iraq is supposedly over. The US administration says the occupation, which began on March 20 eight years ago, is ending as well, with the withdrawal of US combat troops. But as the US, Great Britain and France begin another military intervention in North Africa, their respective administrations are silent about the price Iraqis are paying for the last one.
The Iraqis, however, are not remaining silent. Demonstrations have taken place in Baghdad, Basra and Kirkuk, among other cities, calling on the US in particular to stop its escalating military intervention in Libya. Iraqi unions have been especially vocal, linking the US invasion of Iraq with continued misery for its working people. According to one union representative, Abdullah Muhsin of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW), "Eight years have ended since the fall of Saddam's regime, yet the empty promises of the 'liberators' - the invaders and the occupiers who promised Iraqis heaven and earth - were simply lies, lies and lies."
The GFIW, which supported the recent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, says the US should "allow the people of Libya, Bahrain and other countries to determine their own destiny by themselves." Falah Alwan, president of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq, says violence directed against workers and unions is intended to keep a lid on protests against miserable living conditions. "We are still under occupation," he charges. "The new Iraqi army, created by the US occupation, is doing the same job, protecting the corrupt government while we are suffering from the difficulties of daily life."
"There's no electricity most of the time and no drinking water - no services at all," says Qasim Hadi, president of the Union of Unemployed of Iraq (UUI). Eight years after the start of the US military intervention, "there's hardly even any repair of the war damage - there's still rubble in the streets. People are going hungry."
Despite often extreme levels of violence in the years of occupation, Iraqis have never stopped protesting these conditions. When demonstrations broke out in other countries of the Middle East and North Africa, people in Baghdad, Basra and Kirkuk had been taking to the streets for years. In large part, protests continued in Iraq because living conditions never changed, despite promises of what the fall of Saddam Hussein would bring.
"There has basically been no change in the unemployment situation since the occupation started," Hadi charges. "There are more than 10 million unemployed people in Iraq - about 60-70% of the workforce." According to the UUI, government unemployment statistics are artificially low because they don't count many people. "Women aren't counted," Hadi says, citing just one example, "because the government says their husbands or fathers are responsible for supporting them."
Hadi was one of Baghdad's first protesters, leading marches of unemployed workers to the gates of the Green Zone, where US occupation chief Paul Bremer had his offices, almost as soon as Bremer moved in. On July 25, following the May 2003 invasion, Hadi was arrested by US troops for protesting. For the next six years, he led one protest after another, making the UUI a thorn in the side, first of the US occupation administration, and then of the Iraqi regimes that followed.
Some government representatives tried to stop the union's growth with bribes. "They said they'd give us a position in the Labor Ministry and make us responsible for unemployed people," Hadi says. Those attempts were unsuccessful because, he explains, "we belong to the union because we want civil rights, not for ourselves, but for all people."
When bribes didn't work, threats followed. "A representative of the Dawa Party (the party of Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki) told us to leave the union," Hadi recalls. "If we didn't, he said we'd be enemies of the people of Iraq. We know what this language means. They will kidnap you. They'll make holes in your body with a drill. They will kill you slowly, with lots of pain."
Hadi isn't exaggerating. During the years of US occupation, many union organizers have been murdered, some, like Hadi Saleh, brutally tortured first. "People who get threatened like this change the place where they sleep many times," he says. "Sometimes they go live in another city. I don't care what they do to me. I have a dream I'm fighting for. But when they threatened to kidnap my wife and children I couldn't stay." A year ago, Hadi left Iraq.
He describes enormous economic pressure on families. "Prices are very high and millions of people have no income at all," he elaborates. "Even for those who have a job, wages are so low you see people on the street selling all their furniture. If they get a sugar ration, they sell it instead. People stop drinking tea because they have to spend all their money just on the food they need to stay alive. It surprises me how people can survive."
The Iraqi government only counts two million unemployed and pays unemployment benefits to a quarter of them. Benefits are low, about $110 a month and if there's more than one unemployed person in the family, they reduce the benefit. But the worst problem, the UUI says, is that you have to register with the governing political party at the same time you register for benefits. "If you oppose the governing party, you can't register," Hadi says. "Benefits are given out as political bribes."
Unemployment, hunger and corruption were the fuel that fed the rising wave of protest that culminated in Iraq's Day of Rage at the end of this February.
At the beginning of the month, Baghdad neighborhoods saw rallies calling for dismissing and jailing corrupt officials, including those involved in election fraud. Al-Kuray'at neighbors protested declining services, while the people of Al-Mutanabbi Street demanded more freedom. Some held banners saying "The Baghdad Municipality is wasting billions and the capital is sleeping in trash." Other banners had warnings for the government: "O inhabitants of the Green Zone - think about the others" and "Remember the fate of Arab dictatorship regimes and how their people revolted." On Al-Fardaws Avenue in central Baghdad, protesters accused a security company of executing an Al-Ma'lif man in front of his children, and called for ending random arrests and home invasions by police.
One of the sorest points for Iraqis has been the lack of more than a couple of hours of electricity a day and skyrocketing prices for gasoline and diesel oil, not just for vehicles, but for the small generators many people now use to run their air conditioners in summer heat that can reach 120 degrees.
Last summer, Basra was rocked by protests over the lack of services. Police put down June demonstrations over blackouts, supported by the Iraqi Electrical Utility Workers Union, the first national union led by a woman, Hashmeya Muhsin. Haider Dawood Selman was killed and several others injured. Electricity and Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani then issued an order to shut the union down. A thousand Basra workers protested, shouting slogans asking Shahristani where the $13 billion appropriated for electricity reconstruction had disappeared. Within days, the union was expelled from its offices as well.
A similar fate met Iraq's oil union after it, too, protested corruption, privatization, unemployment and bad housing. Hassan Juma'a and Falih Abood, president and general secretary of the Federation of Oil Employees of Iraq, were hauled into court and threatened with arrest. The government has never taken off the books the infamous Public Law 150, issued by Saddam Hussein in 1987, which makes unions illegal for public workers, including in the oil and electricity industries.
Both Qasim Hadi and Hashmeya Muhsin charge that the electricity blackouts are not simply the result of unrepaired war damage - the claim of the US contractors like Bechtel Corp. that received billions of dollars for their (unsuccessful) reconstruction.
"Since 2005 there have been many projects to fix the electrical stations," Hadi says, "but the money appropriated for them has been stolen. Big generators are not repaired. The workers in the stations say they can fix them, but instead they're sold and government people pocket the money. Each new minister just demands more money and time." In addition, Hadi says, blackouts are used to punish communities for opposing the government.
Under Saddam Hussein, power was free and there were no blackouts. Today, large private generators sell power on a thriving black market at 10-15 times the government's power price.Muhsin incurred the government's anger when she accused ministers last year of using blackouts and repression to create an atmosphere of desperation. "If people are desperate enough, the government believes they'll accept anything to get electricity, including privatization," she charges. "It knows our union won't accept that, so it wants to paralyze us so we can't speak out."
This year, as the February demonstrations grew, other workers joined in, including the oil and gas workers' branch of the GFIW, which struck the refinery and fields of the North Oil Company in Kirkuk on February 13. The union demanded pay raises, especially for temporary workers who make only a tenth of a normal salary. The Mechanics and Printing Workers Union held a one-day protest in Baghdad, followed by a contingent calling itself the Youth of the 14th of February, who organized a big rally that day in Tahrir Square. In addition to the constant complaint of lack of services and corruption, young people demanded jobs.
As the month wore on, the government passed an $82 billion budget, financed almost entirely from oil revenue. Endemic corruption, however, practically guarantees that little of that will reach the country's hungry and unemployed populace. The growing anti-government tone of the demonstrations was displayed in one large banner at a Tahrir Square rally that read, "The oil of the people is for the people, not for the thieves."
Finally, unions, left-wing political parties, and other organizations of Iraqi civil society announced a national mobilization for February 25, the Day of Rage. The Maliki government attempted to keep turnout low by arresting leaders of organizations calling for the protest. One was Jabbar al-Asadi, a member of the Executive Bureau of the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC) in Baghdad and a member of the People Protests Committee in Iraq. Another was IFC member Mahmood Khalis, who had applied for a rally permit for Tikrit (Saddam Hussein's hometown.) The offices of both the Iraqi Communist Party and the Iraqi Nation Party were closed by troops as well.
Nevertheless, Yanar Mohammed, president of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, reported that almost 70,000 people participated in the day's protest rallies. One demonstration in Samarra was the first tribal protest organized by women, in part because widows now make up a majority of the city's female population. "The army shot the demonstrators in the evening," Mohammed says, "attempting to disperse them. Seven were killed in Samarra and 15 were wounded." According to the Iraqi Society for the Defense of Press Freedoms, 14 people were killed in Hawija, Mosul, Tikrit and Basra during the February 25 Day of Rage.
It's hard to measure the number of people even in the Baghdad protest, the largest, because the government used force to disperse people that day, and when even more protested on the day following, tanks closed off the square.
Marwan was an IFC activist who helped organize the demonstration. He told Hadi, "When we started they surrounded us with Hummers. We were shouting slogans - 'Give us 24-hour electricity! Give us a minimum wage! Raise the salaries of those who work! Give us unemployment benefits!' At first we thought the authorities would protect us, but then they suddenly withdrew. Then cars rushed in full of plainclothes police. They attacked us with knives, sticks and their fists. That's when we began demanding that the government resign." Marwan was shot in the neck.
The government closed streets leading into Tahrir Square. While 6,000 people were able to assemble there, Hadi says, in every street around it there were many times the number of people in the square itself. Al Jazeera reported 20,000 in one street alone. "Everyone was shouting about their civil rights," Hadi says. "Then the police and army began to attack them, so everyone sat down. They called out to the army and police, 'There's no reason to hit us!' When the attacks continued people fled into the neighborhoods. The police followed, beating and shooting people. Residents let people into their homes, but then the army followed."
If only several hundred people were brave enough to demonstrate in Baghdad's Tahrir Square on March 4, a week later, the reason was obvious. Iraqis have never become inured to high levels of violence, even after eight years of occupation. But it is not likely that shooting demonstrators and a massive show of force will end the protests sweeping Iraq. Instead, the state's violence has pushed protesters into moving beyond calls for better conditions to demands that the government itself resign.
"The government says we're Baathists or Al Qaeda," says Qasim Hadi. "That's their main tactic - try to scare people, to say we're going back to 2003. But it's a lie. They know the people don't want them. They're just the government because the US and Iran helped them get power with threats and militias and the military. But I believe people will lose their fear and the protests will get bigger and bigger."


I arrive and left my bags in staff was friendly but unfortunately property should not exist. The windows are right next to a railway that runs 24 hours. The towels had poo stains and were dirty. Finally when we went to bed there was blood stains on the bed sheets. I complained and the staff tried replacing all but unfortunately again the covers had long black hairs in them with all of us having no hair we could determine the long black hairs where obviously from previous customers. After this they tried providing a new room to again find long hairs in the new bed. Started to even feel sorry for the poor staff cause he was trying but the property is not clean and not in a safe location.
The AC (air condonitioned ) and the fridge filled with bottles of water, milk, etc - all were a bonus along big comfy bed & all the things expected to be in a double room. I really enjoyed my stay. Thank you !
Definitely get what yi pay for. The location was choice as well.
For the price was very good, needs a little work and some fine tuning but overall it was clean and comfortable, slept very well the bed was nice.
The only thing I liked was that it wasn't very far from Central London.
The bed linen was clean. There were two fans in the room.
Pasha Hotel - 3* Boutique Hotel This rating is a reflection of how the property compares to the industry standard when it comes to price, facilities and services available. It's based on a self-evaluation by the property. Use this rating to help choose your stay!
Near Camberwell Green, Pasha Hotel - 3* Boutique Hotel is 15 minutes' drive away from Oxford Circus.
Room features at Pasha include free internet connection and a flat-screen TV with satellite channels. There is also a 24-hour front desk.
An excellent bus service operates from outside the hotel, allowing easy access to central London. Kings College Hospital and the Oval Cricket Ground are around a mile away.
When would you like to stay at Pasha Hotel - 3* Boutique Hotel?
A spacious room with modern decor.
These air-conditioned rooms feature free wired internet, a private bathroom and a flat-screen TV.
House Rules Pasha Hotel - 3* Boutique Hotel takes special requests – add in the next step!
Pasha Hotel - 3* Boutique Hotel accepts these cards and reserves the right to temporarily hold an amount prior to arrival.
Higher car-parking charges apply for vans and other large vehicles.
Please note that payment must be from the original card and the cardholder must be present at check-in.
Please inform Pasha Hotel - 3* Boutique Hotel of your expected arrival time in advance. You can use the Special Requests box when booking, or contact the property directly using the contact details in your confirmation.
Nothing. Best nights sleep for ages.
There was only one half of a set of curtains but that didn't bother me too much.
The staff were really friendly and accommodating. The shower was amazing and bed very comfortable. Great location with easy access to public transport into central London.
I couldn't get the shower to go any cooler than scaulding hot and the toilet seat was broken and the hot and cold on the tap were the wrong way round but other than that, a comfortable and friendly stay.
The staff were super friendly, the guy on the desk printed out my cv for me in prep for a uni interview the next day (so thank you!) the room was basic but comfortable with shower gel and shampoo provided and towels.
I wasn't expecting a view of the Mediterranean but found the window looked out to a wooden chair immediately outside the window, on the roof, and surrounded by cigarette butts, beyond that a scrappy yard and the backs of houses which I was kind of expecting. The room was very stuffy on arrival but I was unable to open the window which was either locked or broken. I requested assistance but the guy who came up was unable to open it either and I heard no more. I generally, even in a freshly aired room, like to sleep with the window open so this was an issue. Otherwise the room was shabby (I was expecting a little shabby) a hole in the wall covered by a patch of paper, cramped, cupboards not fully opening for the bed being in the way, broken loo seat, peeling paint and soiled carpet.
Staff were ok, interesting Uzbek restaurant at the back. Knew the area so location was fine. Was cheap.
The shower could be better but everything else's great.
The staff are very professional and nice to talk to. The restaurant is great. I found it all very relaxing.
The décor was very tired it could do with a good spruce up.
Towels were dirty on check in. Hotel is very tired and is in desperate need of a small refurb and painting. However for the price paid, it was acceptable.


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Is Green Arrow in Peacemaker? [Spoilers]
Pratik Handore
'Peacemaker' follows Christopher Smith/Peacemaker as he takes on a daring new mission known as Project Butterfly. In the series, the anti-hero works with a group of ARGUS Agents to take down aliens plotting a hostile takeover of Earth. In the season finale, the main characters find themselves against overwhelming odds and consider calling for backup. The situation opens the door for the arrival of a fan-favorite DC Comics character as Peacemaker mentions the hooded vigilante hero Green Arrow. If you are wondering whether the Emerald Archer shows up in the season finale of 'Peacemaker,' here's everything you need to know! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Is Green Arrow in Peacemaker?
In the season 1 finale of 'Peacemaker,' the heroes must stop the Butterflies from teleporting the Cow, an alien who is their only food source on earth. Therefore, by killing the Cow, the group hopes of stopping the Butterflies from taking over the earth. Adebayo calls her mother, Amanda Waller, to send back up. However, Harcourt insists that they must act swiftly. Thus, Peacemaker, Vigilante, and the ARGUS Agents formulate a plan for killing the Cow. For their plan to succeed, they must place Peacemaker's sonic boom helmet at the aliens' base.
Image Credit: DC Comics
To complete this task, Adebayo suggests using a zipline like Green Arrow. However, Peacemaker does not feel very fondly for the hero or the method. The earlier call for backup, the show's street-level aesthetic, and the name-dropping suggest that Green Arrow will show up to lend a hand to the group. However, unfortunately, it turns out that the reference was merely a gag, and the Emerald Archer does not appear on screen in the episode. Nonetheless, the reference is one of the first actual confirmations of the hero's existence in the 'DCEU.'
Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, Oliver Queen/Green Arrow is a fictional character who first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 (later known as DC Comics) in 1941. Green Arrow has been a flagship character for DC's television side with the hit series 'Arrow,' which spawned the 'Arrowverse' franchise of television shows. Actor Stephen Amell essays the role of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow in the series.
Likewise, actor Justin Hartley appears as a different iteration of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow in 'Smallville,' which aired from 2001 to 2011. However, despite the character's immense popularity, Green Arrow has been notably absent from the larger 'DCEU,' and that trend looks likely to continue.
Prior to the name drop on 'Peacemaker,' Green Arrow has only been obscurely referenced in promotional marketing material for 'Batman v Superman,' where Oliver Queen's Queen Industries is mentioned in an article. Compared to that reference, the one in 'Peacemaker' is much more direct and confirms that the Emerald Archer exists in the 'DCEU' continuity. With multiple DC Comics projects in the pipeline, it is hard to imagine Green Arrow staying out of action for much longer. Therefore, even though the character does not appear in 'Peacemaker,' fans should not lose hope of seeing the Green Arrow in future 'DCEU' projects.
Read More: What is Glan Tai in Peacemaker? What's the Yellow Substance?


As with other industries, the HVAC industry also has a certification organization that's responsible for ensuring high standards. Founded in 1997, NATE was developed and has subsequently been supported by the entire heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration industry since.
You can avoid heating and air conditioning problems by scheduling regular inspections and service for your HVAC system. Many repair problems are avoidable by regular maintenance, so you can end up saving a significant amount of money by taking advantage of service agreements.
Is Your Home's Indoor Air Making You Sick?


Our merino wool knitted fabrics are perfect for basics! This season we introduce a detailed pair of We Norwegians Kleiva sweat pants with contrast detail in the side seams. Wear yours with the matching Kleiva hoodie for a chic weekend look.


Situated in South Lake Tahoe in the California region Azure Avenue Holiday home features a patio. Guests staying at this holiday home have access to a fully equipped kitchen.
Tahoe Queen is 1.5 km from Azure Avenue South Lake Tahoe. The nearest airport is Reno-Tahoe International Airport 62 km from the accommodation.


Subcommittees of ASTM International Committee F23 on Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment are developing two proposed standards to protect health care workers and others from hypodermic needle punctures and contact with chemotherapy drugs. Subcommittee F23.20 on Physical is developing WK15392, Test Method for Protective Clothing Material Resistance to Hypodermic Needle Puncture, and F23.30 on Chemicals is working on WK15563, Specification for Protective Clothing to Be Used against Chemotherapy Drugs.
No current clothing test standard covers medical needle puncture resistance. Cliff Richardson (651-651-2562, crichardson@hdri.com), director of research and development at Higher Dimension Materials, Inc., and chair of the WK15392 task group, said the closest test method now available is ASTM standard F 1342, Test Method for Protective Clothing Material Resistance to Puncture, which provides a method for measuring nail-like puncture resistance. "However, the type of puncture probes used in F 1342 are very different from needle puncture because a medical needle has a much smaller diameter and has sharp cutting edges near the tip of the needle," Richardson said. "Consequently, it is much harder to design a flexible material that can stop a medical needle than it is to design a flexible material that can stop a more nail-like probe."
The WK15563 standard is being patterned after D 6978, Practice for Assessment of Resistance of Medical Gloves to Permeation by Chemotherapy Drugs, but will detail barrier and physical qualities of gowns used for health workers handling chemotherapy drugs, said Jeffrey Stull (512-288-8272, intlperpro@aol.com), president of International Personnel Protection, Inc., and chair of Committee F23, WK15563. "Two levels of barrier performance are proposed within the draft specification to address the different levels of exposure that might be expected in a health care setting: larger volumes in mixing or preparation of the drugs and lower volumes or splatter in administration of the drugs," Stull said. Higher barrier requirements can make the gowns less comfortable; having two levels of barrier protection covered in the proposed standard will let health care facilities decide on the appropriate level of protection, he said.
The committee's next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 29-31, 2008, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.


text:
Gautam Dantas
Combo of 3 antibiotics can kill deadly staph infections
Three antibiotics that, individually, are not effective against a drug-resistant staph infection can kill the deadly pathogen when combined as a trio, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They have killed the bug — methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) — in test tubes and laboratory mice, and believe the same strategy may work in people.
By Jim Dryden September 14, 2015 January 13, 2016
Bacterial flora of remote tribespeople carries antibiotic resistance genes
Scientists, including researchers from Washington University School of Medicine, have found antibiotic resistance genes in the bacterial flora of a South American tribe that never before had been exposed to antibiotic drugs. The findings suggest that bacteria in the human body have had the ability to resist antibiotics since long before such drugs were ever used to treat disease.
By Jim Dryden April 17, 2015 January 13, 2016
Academy of Science-St. Louis honors Washington University researchers
Six researchers at Washington University are being honored as outstanding scientists by the Academy of Science-St. Louis. University recipients are faculty members Ralph Quatrano, Jennifer K. Lodge, Samuel Achilefu, Charles M. Hohenberg, Gautam Dantas and Steven Teitelbaum (right), who received a lifetime achievement award.
March 27, 2015 January 13, 2016
Soil bacteria may provide clues to curbing antibiotic resistance
Bacteria that naturally live in the soil have a vast collection of genes to fight off antibiotics, but they are much less likely to share these genes than infectious bacteria, a new study by researchers at the School of Medicine has revealed. Shown is senior author Gautam Dantas, PhD.
By Michael C. Purdy May 21, 2014 January 25, 2016