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Decolonising the 21st Century
New Caledonia at a tipping point
Joseph Confavreux
gérard via Flickr
Recent independence referendums in the South Pacific French territory of New Caledonia have taken place under the wary eye of a French Republic that could – for the first time in its history – take part in a peaceful and democratic decolonisation process. The rising New Caledonian independence movement should be understood by anyone interested in the possibility of living in a post-colonial world.
***Version française ci-dessous***
Should we begin the story in 1853, when New Caledonia was 'annexed' by France under Emperor Napoleon III? In 1917, with the great Kanak revolt and its bloody suppression? In 1946, when the indigenous people finally secured the right to vote (albeit still very much only in theory)? In 1988, after the French Army's killing of 19 separatists following its deployment to put an end to a hostage crisis on the island of Ouvéa, which then forced the French State to open negotiations about New Caledonia's status? Or in 1998, when the Nouméa Accord was signed, heralding an unprecedented process of decolonisation?
Whatever date is chosen as the starting point for this story, New Caledonia – a small archipelago of islands situated 17,000 kilometres from Paris and 1,500 kilometres off the coast of Australia, named in honour of Scotland by British navigator James Cook when he became the first European to land there at the end of the 18th century – now stands at a tipping point.
The Nouméa Accord
The provisions of the Nouméa Accord, which was the first French Republic-endorsed text to recognise "the shadows of the colonial period", are coming to an end. Thus, it is not just the institutional future of the archipelago that is being played out at the moment but a present-day decolonisation process. In this context, New Caledonia not only embodies the uglier aspects of France's past and present – the territory can also point the way toward a possible future, as the French Republic continues to waver between perpetuating the legacies of colonisation and playing a role, however halting, in bringing about a peaceful post-colonial world.
Today, this dilemma has been reinforced by three referendums on the independence of New Caledonia, as provided for under the terms of the Nouméa Accord, after a 20-year process of delegating political and economic power to the indigenous people.
The first referendum, in November 2018, saw 180,000 voters (56.7%) choose to remain part of France. In the second plebiscite, held in October 2020, the gap narrowed, with those opposing independence accounting for 53.26% of votes cast. While this represents a victory for French loyalists, the momentum is with the separatists and could lead to them winning the third referendum, set for 2022.
As French President Emmanuel Macron made clear in a speech just after the results of the referendum held on 4 October 2020, the situation is now "at a crossroads", as by 2022, "the transitional provisions enshrined in the Constitution must either make way for permanent provisions, if the choice to remain in the Republic is confirmed, or be withdrawn if New Caledonia chooses independence".
However, what is at stake in these referendums goes beyond the archipelago, challenging France's ability to look back at the past with a view to moving forward in the future, and doing so against a local backdrop where the wounds are recent and far from healed. Yet this is also a territory whose political maturity is such that it seems possible to go beyond what has been called the "period of events" from 1984 to 1988, marked by blood spilled both on the Kanak side and among the Caldoches (the name used, sometimes pejoratively, for the descendants of European settlers).
"After these terrible events," says Elie Poigoune, a long-standing leading campaigner for independence, "what intrigued the world at large was that the two sides kept the dialogue going even following the bloodshed. This was demonstrated by the 1988 handshake in Paris between Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the leader of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, or FLNKS, and Jacques Lafleur, the figure heading up the anti-independence movement. That image showed it was possible to rise up and overcome terrible events. There are times in history when certain individuals rise up, as Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi did, to send a message whose strength transcends national borders".
In particular, a vital step came when the Kanaks accepted that other "victims of history" should be involved in the process of redefining New Caledonia's status. In fact, this concept represented a key milestone in the rapprochement between Kanaks and Caldoches. Developed during the 1983 Nainville-les-Roches roundtable, involving separatists, loyalists and representatives of the French State, the agreement contains the beginnings of the decolonialisation process, both in its recognition of the existence of a "Kanak people" who were the inhabitants of New Caledonia before Europeans arrived and of their "right to independence", and in its extension of this right to "other ethnicities" who have suffered from colonisation. These include the descendants of convicts and of Communards (members and supporters of the short-lived 1871 Paris Commune) and also of labourers from Asia and the Pacific who were forced to work in the nickel mines that remain a defining feature of the archipelago's landscape and economy.
This roundtable sketched out the make-up of a Caledonian people, a concept that would evolve over the years but ultimately find expression as the body of New Caledonian citizens allowed to vote in the referendum. This has opened the door to the idea, however difficult it continues to be, of a reversal of the iron law of numbers and demographics, given that the Kanaks today account for just under 40% of New Caledonia's population.
But how can we ensure that the central idea of a common destiny, vaunted for over 20 years now, is not reduced to a mere slogan? The discourse passed down from the agreements on this common destiny, as well as its institutional reflection provided by the independence referendums, seem all too often to be disconnected from reality, in particular from that of the Kanaks.
The stark polarisation arising from the first two referendums does not help here, as there are still structural dichotomies between the indigenous people and the descendants of the settlers, as well as between the South Province – which includes the capital Nouméa, has the largest population and overwhelmingly rejects independence – and the other two provinces, the North and Loyalty Islands, where 'yes' voters predominate. Even the reality on the ground is more complex than the raw statistical data of the results might suggest. Although there remains a structural opposition between separatists and loyalists, there is no rigid dividing line either politically or socially.
For example, there is a sharp division in the anti-independence camp between a hard-core fringe closely associated with the French far-right party National Rally (Rassemblement National, successor to the Front National), whose members are collectively known as 'loyalists', and the party Caledonia Together (Calédonie Ensemble), which advocates the development of an inclusive Caledonian sovereignty within France, meaning there will be no turning back the clock even if the 'no' side wins.
Moreover, despite working together within FLNKS toward the cause of independence, not all separatists want the complete severance of ties with France. The separatist Kanak Liberation Party (Palika) campaigns for "sovereignty in partnership with France and other countries", while the Caledonian Union (UC – Union Calédonienne) advocates "a partnership on a level footing with France with no supervisory relationship", making it possible to resolve the colonial dispute through links involving "free consent".
There are also the parties representing the Oceanians (in particular from Wallis and Futuna) – the main ethnic group within the New Caledonian mosaic of peoples after the Kanaks and settlers' descendants – who used to vote overwhelmingly against independence and are now more split on the subject.
In New Caledonia, there has been a lot of mixing of ethnicities and communities, because the predominantly male settlers from metropolitan France often took Kanaks as wives. However, economic power remains the prerogative of a few major dynastic families from mainland France. Voting remains largely determined by ethnic questions, but it would be wrong to think that only Kanaks are in favour of independence and that all Kanaks vote for it.
A corollary of this is that in the October 2020 referendum, the separatists excelled in their strongholds of the North Province and the East Coast, where Kanaks make up more than 95% of the population, but also picked up valuable votes in municipalities, such as Bourail and La Foa, which traditionally favour keeping New Caledonia in the French fold. This is a sign that some descendants of settlers and other Oceanian communities in the territory, particularly outside the Greater Nouméa area, now think they share a common destiny with the indigenous people.
Looking beyond predictions for the next referendum and the issues specific to the archipelago, the political situation in New Caledonia is of broader significance in at least three ways.
Successful decolonisation
The first way that New Caledonia affects France as a whole is the colonial issue and what it can mean, in concrete terms, to inhabit a post-colonial world. This is the key point that Paul Néaoutyine, President of New Caledonia's North Province since 1999 and one of the main Kanak separatist figures, wants to drive home when asked about the subject: "This vote is of major importance for our country, and also for France, which could emerge with its reputation enhanced if it manages to achieve its first successful decolonisation through a peaceful, negotiated solution."
Missing this opportunity would be a serious risk, summed up by anthropologist Alban Bensa, one of the leading experts on the archipelago, with this unvarnished assessment: "The French should feel they are affected by the vote if they don't want to see a repeat of the Algerian war." For historian Isabelle Merle, who is also a specialist on the region, the process under way in the Pacific archipelago offers a chance to "rethink colonial history, with its conflicts and links which make up a painful past that is still ever present".
Will France be able to bring about what must be called a 'decolonisation' with neutrality, intelligence and sensitivity – rare words indeed in politics? Or will it continue – through pressure, financial blackmail and procedural sleight of hand – to try to influence a vote which must be above all a choice that is completely freely made?
The French Empire is no more. But a similar logic of power remains among a French State and political class still eager for international prestige and a strategy of global influence. France as a cradle of human rights, France as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, France as a nuclear power, France as a holder of far-flung overseas territories described as its "confetti of empire", France as a mainstay of the French-speaking world as gathered together in La Francophonie, France as a country with an attraction to nickel that was lured by New Caledonia's mineral-rich soil, justifying the policy of settling in this archipelago 18,000 kilometres from Paris... These are the high-flown arguments put forward time and again by those refusing to consider a different future built by the formerly colonised peoples.
A first peaceful decolonisation in France's history would undoubtedly facilitate the ability to view contemporary post-colonial difficulties from another perspective, starting with the Overseas Territories, given that, as Isabelle Merle points out, "the pact between metropolitan France and the Overseas Territories is in crisis, whether in French Guiana or in Guadeloupe. New Caledonia has some of the same problems as other formerly colonised territories, which are not calling for independence but which do have similar issues relating to inherited inequalities, economic structures and a failure to tailor school programmes to the local context. Having said that, though, the case of New Caledonia is a bit different because of the presence of an indigenous people."
The New Caledonian 'laboratory'
The second reason why New Caledonia could be a source of inspiration, but will also challenge us, is that over the last 30 years, this territory has become something of an institutional 'laboratory', with unprecedented powers being granted to territorial political authorities. These include the establishment of institutions in the Kanak tradition, particularly in the field of justice, in parallel with common law; the policy of land redistribution and proactive economic rebalancing; the development of new instruments to assess inequalities, in particular through statistics on ethnicity, and measures to remedy these inequalities...
This puts New Caledonia in a completely unique situation within the supposedly indivisible French Republic, not least vis-à-vis the statuses granted to France's other overseas departments and territories. While there is certainly no question of seeking to transpose what has been established there to other parts of the Republic, at a time when France is primarily distinguishing itself with its rigidity and empty promises, it is not inconceivable to imagine a situation where there will be a payback effect, where instead of metropolitan France continuing to unilaterally impose itself on territories across the oceans, this Overseas Territory might illuminate some of the country's black holes and blind spots.
At a time of environmental disasters and ecological stalemate, it is instructive to look at how, in the Loyalty Islands, according to an analysis by Victor David, a researcher in environmental law at the Nouméa IRD (French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development), a mixed environmental law has been jointly constructed. Developed collaboratively, it is based not only on conventional environmental protection rules, but also on ancestral management methods and practices, for which this very notion of 'environment' is hardly relevant.
Indeed, the relationship with the land and nature and the Kanak way of interacting with the non-human world have been decisive factors in protecting New Caledonia's coastline from over-development and the onslaught of tourism, as witnessed in metropolitan France and other Overseas Territories. The 'forces of nature' hold a special place in Kanak culture, drawing in particular on the notion of rhee, which does not view them as separate from human life or as a 'natural' setting that can be exploited at will.
Another example: at a time when reinventing the commons seems vital to counter the damage caused by the excesses of private interests, it is also worth looking at what the Agency for Rural Development and Land Management has done in the archipelago. The agency has purchased land from private owners who had occupied it since New Caledonia's colonisation by France, and then allocated it not to individuals but to Kanak clans, in the form of local private law groups (GPDLs), ad hoc legal entities that are unique to New Caledonia. The ancestral lands restored in this way have a special legal status. They are not subject to civil property rights and are considered "inalienable, unremovable, immutable and unassignable"; that is, they cannot change ownership, either voluntarily or by force.
Such an approach has not only placed property transfer processes at the heart of a proactive policy to combat inequalities, but it has also made it possible, thanks to a special, unprecedented status that deviates from the usual way of thinking about the relationship between public and private property, to curb the appetites of large landowners keen to squeeze profit from their land by developing it, regardless of ecological, cultural or social considerations.
According to separatist leader Louis Mapou, the "unique" system created in New Caledonia and the territory's "special status" may even lead to a debate about the rigidity and limitations of France's Constitution of the Fifth Republic. "By recognising the Kanaks as a people within the French Republic and by accepting the idea of New Caledonian citizenship, we have already extended the scope of the French Constitution. Could New Caledonia not serve as a model, for example, for considering the recognition of a Corsican people within the Republic, in conjunction with Mediterranean nations and in particular Corsica's Italian neighbour, in the same way we have links with the Pacific nations and China or Australia?"
Listening to the Kanaks
The last reason that the next referendum is relevant has to do with the way the Kanaks might speak to and challenge us if we could make the effort to listen. "But they are still seen through a primitivist lens," complains anthropologist Alban Bensa. "In media reports, they're always singing! Yet we must take them seriously and listen to what they have to tell us."
The researcher, who has studied in detail what the Kanaks could teach us about conflict resolution, gives the following illustration of this: "For example, they teach us the idea that in a society, we need everyone and that we should never cut ties, even when we have hurled abuse at or even killed each other." This is also how Joseph Goromido, the mayor of the town of Koné and a member of Palika, part of FLNKS, defends what he calls the "Oceanian method of conflict resolution", given that it is "interesting to see what small peoples possessing great wealth can bring to the table". When there is tension, he explains, "the Oceanian way is to always get everyone back on board. We try to find solutions together. Anyone not agreeing nevertheless ends up accepting the general position, while keeping their views and their identity."
Moreover, "the Kanaks also undoubtedly have things to teach us about meting out punishment and granting forgiveness," continues Bensa. "Here [in metropolitan France], once you've been convicted, you carry it with you forever. For the Kanaks, punishments aren't crippling and the effectiveness of the measures is constantly reviewed over time." Joseph Goromido confirms that the Kanaks are "at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to dealing with problems by force, sanction or imprisonment. We prefer education – patiently persuading those who have lost their way to rejoin us."
For the anthropologist specialising in New Caledonia, another lesson the Kanaks teach us is that they remind us that social status and wealth are not the same thing. "We can respect people for their history, even if they are very poor," he explains. "The social hierarchy and the economic hierarchy are not identical. Kanak society has no class system."
Whereas France is one of the European countries most hostile to migrants crossing the Mediterranean or the borders of Eastern Europe, it would perhaps make sense to look today at the practices of a territory where, says Alban Bensa, "the principle of hospitality has been elevated to the status of a political project".
Making way for collective political intelligence, looking back on the past to consider a detoxified post-colonial relationship, demonstrating institutional inventiveness, taking heed of what the Kanaks tell us... All these dimensions also provide the blueprint for another way of thinking about identity – such a divisive concept these days – by viewing it not as the monolithic development of an old strain, but as something "in front of us", as Jean-Marie Tjibaou famously put it.
Because, as separatist leader Louis Mapou concludes, "the question we are raising here in New Caledonia is about taking account of diversity. How can France, this cradle of human rights and individual freedom, reconcile itself with the fact that people also have their own individual histories?"
Joseph Confavreux has been a journalist with the left-leaning investigative journal Mediapart since 2011. He was previously a history teacher and a producer at public radio station France Culture. As well as co-editing the book La France Invisible (Invisible France), published by La Découverte in 2007, he coordinated Une décolonisation au présent. Kanaky Nouvelle-Calédonie : notre passé, notre avenir (A present-day decolonisation. Kanaky/New Caledonia: our past, our future), published by La Découverte in 2020. He is also editor-in-chief of the French journal La Revue du Crieur.
Une décolonisation au présent Joseph Confavreux
Decolonisation
Nearly 150 years after French poet Arthur Rimbaud's masterwork, contemporary France is roiled by its own Season in Hell, a deeply fractured and unsettled political moment in which dark phantasms grow large and the path to a better world is anything but clear.
Introducing a new series of political analysis from the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Brussels Office.
France's racial spring
The Citizens' Convention on Climate
In the wake of Sunday's "green wave"
"We must make the commons a fulcrum for our society, allowing everyone to have security and give meaning to their life."
Hooked on weapons exports


This is an important area for breeding waders. The site holds 20,000 or more waterbirds on passage, on a regular basis. Species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria: Crex crex (breeding).
BirdLife International (2019) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Ems valley between Leer and Emden. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/04/2019.


I second chrome soft. Retains spin but softer so you don't feel like you're hitting a brick.
Whatever you play in warm weather. The Chrome Soft isn't very soft and the Vice Pro Soft especially isn't.
Wilson Duo Pro is nice. The matte yellow and green stand out great in gloomy conditions too.
Playing in Ohio I usually go with something as soft as possible. Bridgestone E6 Soft are soft and cheap. Early in the season rounds I tend to lose more balls so I like to start with something cheaper in the spring.
Yes but it's not especially soft. The regular duo is sub 29 compression, the pro is 60. The Chrome Soft is about 75 compression and the super soft is like 38. The super soft and regular duo are like marshmallows. The thing is if you have any kind of swing speed they fly forever with short clubs because they generate VERY LITTLE spin.
I'd like to know why you like the QST. I bought a sleeve last year but my swing was so bad the day I tried them that I lost all three before I could form an opinion. I hear many people sing it's praises, but I haven't seen much detail on the reasons why people like it. Thanks for your input!
Srixon Soft Feel or a good ladies ball.
I'd like to know why you like the QST. I bought a sleeve last year but my swing was so bad the day I tried them that I lost all three before I could form an opinion. I hear many people sing it's praises, but I haven't seen much detail on the reasons why people like it. Thanks for your input!
Let's see, very reasonably priced urethane ball that spins well around the green. Nice feel and comes in yellow? Anything else you need from a ball?
E12 soft - pretty good.
True on performance. But, the feel of the ball does get affected. A low compression ball feels better in cold weather.
I like a lower compression ball with a urethane cover such as the Chrome Soft. While its not super low compression like a Supersoft, it is less than a Pro-V1, Z-Star or TP model, and the urethane cover helps with greenside spin.
I also keep two or three balls in my pocket and rotate them frequently, as suggested above.
Wilson duo urethane, if you can still find any.
Callaway supersofts feel like a rubber ball on my irons, when cold. Don't notice it once it warms up, doesn't seem to effect distance though.
My favorite day in and day out course is so wet that you can lose balls in the middle of the fairway to plugging. I'm currently playing an inexpensive and soft ball, the Top Flite D2+ Feel. There are quite a few good balls that perform well and are reasonably soft for cold weather performance. For the ones who like specs here is a golf ball compression chart. https://golf-info-guide.com/golf-tips/equipment-choices/golf-ball-compression-chart-and-rank/ Good luck.
Just curious, but do you know what the compression of a Pro Soft is?
The core compression is like 35 but I'm not sure what the overall compression is. It doesn't feel very soft.
Pull out gamers once the weather gets above 45 or so.
Whatever you play in warm weather. The Chrome Soft isn't very soft and the Vice Pro Soft especially isn't.
The core compression is like 35 but I'm not sure what the overall compression is. It doesn't feel very soft.


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Nicholas Ian Allen
Kansas State Football: Wildcats' 2021 Spring Preview
The Kansas State Wildcats were on the wrong end of the first major upset of 2020, losing to Arkansas State 35-31. K-State bounced back in a big way with an upset of its own, beating Oklahoma 38-35 to open a four-game winning streak, but the Wildcats struggled down the stretch and lost five in a row in the second half of the season. The painful back end included alternating losses to West Virginia, Iowa State, and Texas by an average margin of nearly 37 points, and near-misses against Oklahoma State and Baylor by a combined three points.
Kansas State is set to begin spring practice soon, and despite the losing streak has plenty to be excited about. Here we take a look at five of the topics worth watching about the Wildcats this spring.
5 Storylines to Watch During Kansas State's Spring Practices
1. The health of Skylar Thompson
The Wildcats' quarterback was incredible in the victory over Oklahoma (the second time he's done so against the Sooners), throwing for a career-high 334 yards while averaging 13.4 yards per pass attempt and accounting for four total touchdowns. Unfortunately, Thompson suffered a season-ending arm injury the following week against Texas Tech. A silver lining of the injury was the seven games of starting experience true freshman Will Howard received, and with the extra season of eligibility awarded every player from 2020, Thompson will return as a "super senior." We won't see much of Thompson in his new No. 7 jersey this spring (he only started throwing about a month ago), but his health is key to the Wildcats' hopes.
2. Finding offensive playmakers
Running back Deuce Vaughn was one of the most productive true freshmen in the country last season. Vaughn led the Wildcats with 642 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 123 carries, surpassing 100 yards on the ground three times including the final two games of the season. He also led the team with 25 receptions and 434 receiving yards (129 against Oklahoma) and caught a pair of touchdown passes.
Vaughn is one of the most exciting playmakers in the Big 12, and he'll benefit from the return of Thompson and all five starters on the offensive line, but who else will step up for the Wildcats? Tight end Briley Moore is off to the NFL, Chabastin Taylor will miss spring practice due to injury, Malik Knowles took a step back in production as a third-year sophomore, and All-Big 12 punt returner Phillip Brooks hasn't been much of a factor on offense.
3. Replacing Wyatt Hubert
Kansas State allowed 32.2 points per game last season, which ranked No. 84 nationally and marked an increase of more than 10 points per contest compared to 2019. The Wildcats surrendered 6.11 yards per play, which ranked 90th on the FBS leaderboard and ranked 57th in success rate allowed (39.6 percent) and 101st in Expected Points Added per play defensively (0.096), according to cfb-graphs.com. K-State also is set to lose four players to the NFL draft: junior edge rusher Wyatt Hubert, sixth-year linebackers Elijah Sullivan and Justin Hughes, and senior cornerback AJ Parker.
On paper, Hubert is the most difficult to replace. He posted 19.5 sacks and 33.5 tackles for a loss in three seasons with the Wildcats, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2019 and 2020 following a Freshman All-American campaign. However, K-State returns five players with double-digit total pressures, led by Khalid Duke, who had 37 as a sophomore including a team-high 30 quarterback hurries, according to PFF. Duke and super senior Bronson Massie (28 total pressures) have the potential to be one of the top pass-rushing duos in the conference.
4. New-look linebacker corps
Hughes ranked second to returning super senior defensive back Jahron McPherson with 45 total tackles last season, and Sullivan ranked fifth with 40 total stops. Because Hughes and Sullivan each missed two games, the Wildcats were able to give sophomore Daniel Green, who was credited with 39 tackles, a pair of starts, and Cody Fletcher, a senior taking advantage of the extra year after making 44 stops in 10 games in 2020, started the final three games. However, depth is an issue entering the spring, as no other returning linebacker posted more than five tackles last season, with Nick Allen (tremendous name but limited resume) and Austin Moore playing a combined 46 defensive snaps last season.
5. New strength coach Trumain Carroll
Former Kansas State strength coach Chris Dawson left for UCF last month, but head coach Chris Klieman wasted no time replacing the long-tenured Dawson, whom Bill Snyder hired in 2010. Klieman hired Carroll from USF just three days after the news of Dawson's departure. Prior to his stint under Jeff Scott with the Bulls, Carroll was the head strength and conditioning coach at Arkansas and SMU and also played and coached at Big 12 rival Oklahoma State. The timing isn't ideal as offseason workouts began under Dawson in January, and Carroll hasn't had much time to reshape the K-State strength program before spring football begins. But as the most hands-on member of the staff, he will play a vital role in preparing the Wildcats for the 2021 season throughout the spring and summer months.
— Written by Nicholas Ian Allen, who is part of the Athlon Contributor Network and managing editor of CFBWinningEdge. Follow him on Twitter @CFBWinningEdge.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Judgement Index is the world's original and best values based assessment tool and has no equal when it comes to identifying and developing the right people. Established in the 1970's from decades of research by Nobel Prize nominee Dr Robert S Hartman, the Judgement Index has been integrated into forward thinking organisations long before "values" became a buzzword.
It is one of the most highly mathematical, scientific and logically-based assessment instruments ever created, and no other values based assessment comes close to it in terms of depth and sophistication. It empowers you to measure the value system and the judgement capacity and capability of an individual – and it does so with unswerving accuracy.
Personality assessments often categorise people into one of sixteen personality types. In fact, someone who is a CEO and a particular personality type will no doubt find others with the same type serving life in prison. The differentiator between these people, one in prison and one regarded as a success is their judgement. Personality simple is not a good predictor of success – good judgement is.
The Judgement Index is a simple, online assessment and whilst it is not timed, it takes on average around 20 minutes to complete. The participant is twice required to drag and drop 18 abstract phrases into a sequence and order that feels right for them. Because of the abstract nature of the phrases, the assessment forces the participant to reflect and sieve through their own value systems before deciding on an order, which is why it is not possible to predict a desired order and sequence – or outcome.
The Judgement Index is an online assessment, and whilst it is not timed, it takes on average around 20 minutes for a candidate to complete. The individual quite simply ranks two sets of eighteen statements from best to worst, based on their own unique values. Once they are happy with their decisions they submit their assessment and the highly sophisticated logic and maths used to score the Judgement Index does the work of determining the results.
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We have clients who use the Judgement on a "project" basis when needed in their company, and we have clients who use the Judgement Index on a subscription basis for the entire company, both for the existing team and for every new recruit. We can tailor a package to suits your needs so please get in touch for more information.
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We offer support online in the form of bi-monthly webinars, a client area on our website and regular updates. We also include a twelve month review for any yearly subscription to evaluate the impact the Judgement Index is having on your organisation.


GCalctool 5.30 was a case of two steps forward, one step backwards as I didn't have the time to complete all the changes I had planned. GCalctool 5.31 has these changes. Note that this is an unstable release at the start of a development cycle; the design will be refined before the 6.0 release (GNOME 3.0).
The most noticable change is the use of colour thanks to a tip from Chris Lord.
I've also added memory operations and squares and square roots. I'm not sure if this is too much (or too little) for "Basic" - feedback welcome.
Programming and financial have similar changes but need more work. Number bases are easier to work with than in 5.30.
It now starts fast. Really fast.
It's a well behaved GTK+ application. This means that keyboard input and accessibility should work without any problems.
The code is modular. The calculator widget could be split out and used in other applications.
Please try it out! If you are using Ubuntu Lucid you can try it using the GCalctool PPA.
I'm not sure of a good label for the memory buttons, the current labels don't feel right.
There's not a good way to delete variables/add new ones. I've been trying to integrate this into the popup menus (GTK+ is getting in my way).
The colours are done using primary colours and blending them with the GTK+ theme. I tried using Tango colours but they looked worse to me.
While removing the spacing between the buttons has reduced the optical illusion of the grid it still remains to some degree. I'm not sure if I can get around this without making custom widget (I'd like there to be no space between groups of buttons). Note the buttons do not have to be in a grid so please do a mockup if you have a good idea.
The programming bit editor is too big.
I have no idea what the "R" stands for in the basic mode. I don't use calculators much any more but I think in the "basic" mode it needs to be more easily understood.
Have you ever thought of putting in a graphing portion? i would find that very useful!
Maybe a very simple, basic and clear implementation of graphs would be nice (leaving the user to download other applications for more advanced options).
@Ellipisis: The "R" buttons are the memory buttons, as I said I don't have good labels for them yet.
History and (basic) graphing are features I want to add but they will have to wait for the next cycle.
The real-world calculators I've seen use "Min" for storing and "MR" for restoring.
I never thought it was obvious, but it was always consistent.
I see and love how quickly this starts up, and the colours also make me happy.
I had a recent painful experience with Windows' latest Calculator tool (which people seem to like for some reason), making me really appreciate your work here. Thank you for the focus on being useful instead of feeling like a "real" calculator.
I like how switching number bases in Programming mode doesn't change my number (as displayed), but adds the base subscript. Neat touch!
Thanks for this. It's looking fantastic.
I did the Greek translation for Gcalctool, and I translated register as memory. I though that register was too "tech-speak" for a tool that can also be used for general purposes. So, I do think that using M would be a good choice, since that is what standard calculators use (either Min and MR, or M plus arrows). For translators, maybe you could also add a note saying something like: "Translate to the standard abbreviation used by calculators in your country for memory input and recall".
Where is "%" in advance mode?
I'm trying to avoid using "M" as I think it's not a good label either. It is better than R however.
I left % out of advanced as it didn't fit well. I wanted to see if anyone would notice. (Note that all these functions are available in all modes via the calculator).
I think my old calculator uses "Sto" and "Rcl". Not much help. But, I also seem to remember "M+" and "MR" for store and recall, respectively. Just my $.02.
that access one specific memory would be welcome.
Is this going to be yet another program that I have to modify the colours for to fit my theme or will it use colours already in the existing GTK theme? If not the latter then this is backwards.
Great work! I like the coloring. Perhaps you could integrate settings to change the colors (like in gnome-terminal).
Anyway, a simple function plotter would be awesome!
The memory buttons should access one memory cell, to eliminate the need to click twice (a drop down arrow can be placed to the right of each memory button for multi memories if needed).
You have no idea how much I appreciate the colored buttons! To me, it's a giant leap in usability. Thanks much.
A couple trivial typos, in advanced mode, the tooltip for superscript mode reads "Supercript" (missing an 's') and the e key reads "Eulers number", should have an apostrophe, "Euler's".
as far as I remember GCaltool could store and recall a list with bunch of numbers in Lucid, but not anymore. Due to this missing feature I use qalculate in the meantime.
The currency converter ist great. Thanks.
Why is factoring numbers so slow?
is orders of magnitude faster.
I'm currently running 5.32 on ubuntu 10.10.
I really liked from the previous versions, the STO and RCL in registers. I used them a lot. They were intuitive.
Now with this new version, ->R and R-> are simply not user-friendly. Also, I tried to define a variable (have to mix keyboard and mouse to do that, while with previous versions only mouse), and then to add 1, but the name of the variable and the operation get messed up in the box.
I'm not liking this new version, sorry.
Am using version 6.2.0 in Xubuntu 11.10. Is there a command which will open gcalctool, or some way to configure the appication such that, it opens in Advanced mode?


People from around the world are yet to explore the rare Chinese remedies for headaches. They come in many forms and sizes, and are being used in many Far East countries and even in the US today. Some of these options include Chinese herbs as well as acupuncture.
The best way to treat your headache or migraine will ultimately depend upon the type of headache you have in addition to the symptoms. There are many traditional Chinese remedies that can be used to treat tension headaches, post-traumatic headaches, migraines, cluster headaches and the ones resulting from existing disorders or diseases you have.
How traditional Chinese Headache and Migraine Remedies can Help you?
The efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine is mainly due to the way it views various headaches, their causes and symptoms. There are hundreds of causes of headaches and they affect individuals in vastly different ways. So traditional Chinese medicine looks at headaches in relation to the entire body-this particular concept is termed as the "confluence of yang." It's this unique perspective which makes some of the Chinese remedies one of the best natural remedies to heal headaches. It shuns one-size fits all approach, and seeks cures by addressing the way brain communicates with the rest of the body by creating harmony by activating some pressure points or by absorbing some nutrients.
According to traditional Chinese remedies, right functionality of your body organs and nourishments are key to addressing symptoms of what you may feel in your head. Anything in the body that impedes the easy flow of nutrients to your head through collaterals and meridians-two main communication pathways between your organs and brain-will definitely result in pain. For this reason, Chinese remedies mostly focus on total nourishment and health to affected body areas that may be responsible for the blockage. This also explains so much diversity in the treatment methods I will discuss shortly.
There headaches are more common in men and mostly occur in cycles or groups. A person can feel debilitating sharp pain in one side of the head, resulting in watery nose or eye on the same side of the face. It can be treated with Chinese herbs or acupuncture.
People suffering from these headaches may feel pain at the back of temples, head or neck.
These are recurring headaches that are caused by many OTC painkillers. If you're using drugs to treat headaches (couple of times a week), you're at an increased risk of such headaches because then you're building dependency.
Common in people who suffer from sinus infections, which is often the culprit for the headache? Acupuncture around the nose and sinus area is an effective treatment.
These headaches may result in searing pain that may last for hours, and in some cases, for days. The pain is strong, throbbing, and is usually behind the eyes and come with sensitivity to light and nausea.
It's an ancient Chinese herb that is very effective in stopping inflammation due to its core ingredients because they provide natural treatment to headaches. You can chew Gingko, or consume it in powder form (not more than 500mg three times a day) with some water or as soon as you feel those nagging headache symptoms.
This highly popular Chinese remedy has a proven track record and has emerged as a powerful remedy to handle headaches. This natural treatment can reduce pain by 36 percent in people with migraines and chronic tension headaches. For some just one acupuncture session can dramatically reduce the days they are down with a headache. It also lowers the dosage they had to use. For treatment of headache, fine needles are inserted in the legs, arms, and shoulders.
This has much higher success rate, and can easily limit pain emanating from just about any headache. One session may last between 5-30 minutes, and can be performed weekly for an extended period of time. In this particular remedy, different pressure points can also be used to reduce the pain from different types of headaches.
The acupressure massage can definitely work wonders even for a minor headache. You can reduce the amount of pain you experience with very simple ways. One easy way is to search for the point that exists between the webbing of your thumb (between your thumb and index finger). Press this point firmly and hold for three to five minutes. You can repeat this with your other hand for better results. At this point, you should feel relaxed. The other point lies directly between the eyebrows right at the start of the forehead. Apply some pressure for three to four minutes. It's very easy natural remedy that you can easily do yourself whenever needed.
You need to combine these two separate products that are easily available at many health stores to banish headaches caused by phlegm. Angelica puts digestive track back in order, while other ingredients will reduce inflammation. Congestion will be cleared and proper circulation will be restored to the head.
You just need to apply this pleasant oil all across your temples and see your tension headache (and even migraines) disappear in thin air. In a double blind study in 2014 it was found that 17 percent peppermint oil lotion rubbed five times in just two-hour over temples can be as effective as any drug in relieving your headache pain. In another interesting study, it was found that peppermint oil is as powerful as any OTC painkiller. It is being used in many traditional Chinese cures for centuries.
This interesting Chinese natural headache cure can heal all headaches caused due to indigestion. It has many herbs, and this remedy was first prepared way back in 1894. You need just one dose. If you feel bit dizzy, this headache cure can even stop the room from spinning!
This Chinese natural remedy cleans the "heat" emanating from the liver's blood. As such, this remedy is meant to handle liver-related headaches. It improves healthy flow of bile. You will have to take up to 12 pills per day, but it's important to follow instructions on the package. It works fast for headaches that are accompanied by constipation, blisters in the mouth, or urinary tract infections.
This natural herbal remedy from china can treat headaches caused due to indigestion, depression, or food allergies. This herb builds "Qi" in body's organs of the digestive tract- the pancreas, spleen, and stomach. It also sustains the flow of bile to the gallbladder and liver.
Rhubarb, skullcap and gypsum are the main ingredients of this formula which makes it super inflammatory. It's the most powerful Chinese remedy for clearing all phlegm-heat headaches. This particular formula can easily treat headache by properly cooling down all inflammation and encouraging toxin outflow from the liver and your large interesting.
Where do I order Chinese medicine for headaches?
Please do some research on Google. It's easy!


When we think of space we tend to think only in images. But did you know there is a lot of sound in space as well? I always thought sound couldn't travel in space but apparently there's enough of it for NASA to make some amazing recordings of stars and planets as they oscillate at various frequencies. Louis Giglio picked up on this phenomenon and gave an incredible message about the heavens and the earth worshipping God. You can access it by clicking here.
Listening to the following recordings by NASA just took my breath away.
Space sounds from our Solar system.
You see when God commands the heavens to rejoice in Deuteronomy 32:43 and to be glad in 1 Chronicles 16:31 and Psalm 96:11 and for the sun, moon and shining stars to praise Him in Psalm 148:3 and 150:1, THEY DO! Just like the rest of nature, the whole universe is doing exactly what it was made to do—worship the Creator and bring glory to Him.
But you know what's even more remarkable than the fact that seemingly silent heavens are joined together in a loud chorus of praise? The fact that the very beings God chose to make in His own image are NOT. Here we are with the cognitive capabilities to launch space craft that capture these recordings, with an emotional capacity to thrill at the latest images from Hubble, and with the very image of the Creator of the universe stamped upon our faces and yet we refuse to worship the One who holds every atom of our being together by the Word of His power. We really are that dead.
Why? With a whole universe and a host of angelic beings obediently and joyfully rendering God what He is due, why did He go to all the trouble at the cost of His own Son's life to make worshippers out of us? Ephesians answers that, too.
Now can you lift up your heart and voice and rejoice together with the "angelic hosts… the sun moon and shining stars… the great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling His word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds!" Can you O kings of the earth, O peoples, princes and rulers, can you young man, you maiden, you old men, you children, can you, by God's mercy, do what you were created to do?


text:
Book flight tickets online with low fare airline Spirit
Sir Nikolai Hotel, Hamburg, Germany Booking
The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel A 30 minute Chapter by Chapter Summary Characters Î 2
The Yearbook Committee
The Impossible Knife of Memory
1 thoughts on "The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel A 30 minute Chapter by Chapter Summary"
Rosemarie Coogan Rosemarie Coogan	says:
I think the idea of a summary of a book of this uality is a great idea I got the point for 99 and now I'll buy the book Great idea I hope I see of this type of thing if u think I'm going to keep talking because you want me to you're wrong I'll never write another review
Instaread Summaries1 on The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel A 30 minute Chapter by Chapter Summary
Review The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel A 30 minute Chapter by Chapter Summary
With InstaRead Chapter by Chapter Summaries you can get the essence of a book in 30 minutes or less We read every chapter and summarize it in one or two paragraphs so you can get the information contained in the book at a much faster rate This is an InstaRead Summary of The Monuments Men Allied Heroes Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert Edsel with Bret Witter Below is a preview of the earlier sections of the summary Section One The Mission The Monuments Men The Monuments Men were a group of men and women from multiple nations who worked for the newly created Monuments Fine Arts and Archives or MFAA to save works of art monuments and archives from the ravages of war This was the first time in history that a special division of the military was tasked with such a responsibility Most of the men and women who worked for MFAA had career Dear George And Other Stories can get the essence of a book in 30 minutes or less We read every Social Creature chapter and summarize it in one or two paragraphs so you Misplaced Loyalty (Meredith & Hodge, can get the information A Pocketful of Crows contained in the book at a much faster rate This is an InstaRead Summary of The Monuments Men Allied Heroes Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert Edsel with Bret Witter Below is a preview of the earlier sections of the summary Section One The Mission The Monuments Men The Monuments Men were a group of men and women from multiple nations who worked for the newly A Love Like Ours created Monuments Fine Arts and Archives or MFAA to save works of art monuments and archives from the ravages of war This was the first time in history that a special division of the military was tasked with such a responsibility Most of the men and women who worked for MFAA had Tanduk Menjangan Merah career
Characters ´ PDF, DOC, TXT, eBook or Kindle ePUB free ☆ Instaread Summaries
S in art or history before their military service Chapter 1 Out of Germany Heinz 'Harry' Ludwig Chaim Ettlinger was born in Karlsruhe Germany in 1925 The Ettlinger family had settled in Kalrsruhe in the 1700s In 1850 the Ettlinger family opened a clothing store called Gebruder Ettlinger that flourished until the 1930s The store went bankrupt due to a ban on Jewish owned businesses Unable to work or provide for the family Harry's parents decided to immigrate to Switzerland Their applications were refused on several occasions until finally the Ettlingers were given permission to immigrate to the United States They initially planned to leave Karlsruhe in January 1939 after young Harry's bar mitzvah but moved up the date of both their departure and the bar mitzvah as the threat of war loomed The family left Germany in October 1938 just two months b The Long Year, A.D. 69 clothing store Troy High called Gebruder Ettlinger that flourished until the 1930s The store went bankrupt due to a ban on Jewish owned businesses Unable to work or provide for the family Harry's parents decided to immigrate to Switzerland Their applications were refused on several occasions until finally the Ettlingers were given permission to immigrate to the United States They initially planned to leave Karlsruhe in January 1939 after young Harry's bar mitzvah but moved up the date of both their departure and the bar mitzvah as the threat of war loomed The family left Germany in October 1938 just two months b
Instaread Summaries ☆ 2 Characters
Efore Kristallnacht the Night of Broken Glass that saw the destruction of thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues That same night the men of Karlsruhe including Harry's grandfather were rounded up and sent to Dachau a nearby internment camp Chapter 2 Hitler's Dream Hitler who had been an aspiring artist in his youth wanted to build a cultural center in Germany much like the one in Florence Italy This German cultural center would feature a museum showing the finest in Germanic art It would be located in Linz Austria Hitler's adopted hometown Hitler imagined this cultural center as a monument to himself that would be similar to the monument to Charlemagne in Aachen For this purpose Hitler gave orders as his army conuered many European nations to confiscate works of art that had any Germanic connection both from museums and private collections
Angels' Blood
Magic Bites
Destined for a King
The Treasure of Gwenlais
First Grave on the Right
Dragon Bound
Shardless
Halfway to the Grave
Slave to Sensation
Pleasure Unbound
Burn for Me
Haunted Tree
Moon Called
The Second Mango
The Blood Maker and the Witch's Curse
Kindling the Moon
You Slay Me
My Love Lies Bleeding
Stormwalker


text:
Fazoli's shuts its doors
…the Danville store was a franchised restaurant, owned by a franchisee who lives outside of the Danville area. That franchisee also owned the Champaign and Normal Fazoli's stores. Those stores will remain open, but will now be owned and operated by the Fazoli's parent company, not the franchisee.
http://commercial-news.com
April Evans
DANVILLE — Fazoli's closed its doors Monday morning to the surprise of its manager, employees and the community.
Kevin Freeland, area Fazoli's district manager, confirmed employees were notified early Monday that the Danville Italian fast-food restaurant location is now permanently closed. It had been open for business this past weekend.
Brad Ritter, Fazoli's spokeperson, said around 20 people were employed at the store.
Ritter said the Danville store was a franchised restaurant, owned by a franchisee who lives outside of the Danville area. That franchisee also owned the Champaign and Normal Fazoli's stores. Those stores will remain open, but will now be owned and operated by the Fazoli's parent company, not the franchisee.
Freeland said he will continue to oversee the Champaign and Normal stores as district manager. A sign outside the shuttered Danville Fazoli's now urges Danville patrons to visit those locations.
Fazoli's has been in Danville since 1997. Freeland said reasoning for the closure was given, but he wouldn't disclose it and referred further questions to Fazoli's corporate officials.
Ritter also said the company was not yet releasing the reason for closure as of the end of business Monday.
"Fazoli's is always saddened when a restaurant closes," Ritter said. "We are very grateful to the Danville community for its 13 years of support."
Mayor Scott Eisenhauer said the news announcing closure of the seemingly popular Italian fast-food restaurant was surprising.
"Obviously, we're very disappointed anytime a business closes," Eisenhauer said. "It appeared their sales numbers were still strong. It's surprising they're closing."
According to the Fazoli's Web site, it currently operates around 240 stores in 26 states and is based in Lexington, Ky. The first Fazoli's opened in 1988.
Danville resident Cindy DeMoss said she was baffled to hear of the closing. She and husband Roger visited the restaurant three to four times a month, with her favorite being the sandwiches.
"It shocks me," DeMoss said of the closing. "They seemed to do good business and had good food."
DeMoss said the restaurant always seemed busy when she was there and noted they had the catering option for customers as well.
Eisenhauer said Fazoli's was a unique type of fast-food restaurant that he felt filled a niche in our area. He said its vacancy will now leave a void.
"Hopefully, someone in the near future will open a similar style restaurant," Eisenhauer said.
http://commercial-news.com/local/x854233718/Fazoli-s-shuts-it-doors
Risks: Franchisee abandons their investment, Only 3 ways out: resell to next loser, independence & be sued or abandon and go bankrupt, Stores shuttered, United States, 20100820 Fazolis shuts
fazolis


text:
Q: Problem running Biblatex with bib file exported from Zotero I am trying since few days to solve a problem with Biblatex, which can't compile any of my references. I am running TeX Live 2013 (MacTeX) with Aquamacs as editor, biber 1.7 and biblatex 2.7. All packages are updated.
Strangely enough, Biblatex doesn't print any error while running (actually in the mini-buffer it says that the process was successful). The only line in the log where it shows any problem is the last one, when it says Biber abort trap: 6 at Wed Aug 14 09:33:22
The problem disappears if instead of Biblatex I switch to BibTex as backend: BibTex compiles correctly all the references (even though it gives two errors Your field is more than 20000 characters---line 1223 of file... and "{" immediately follows a field name---line 1698 of file...; in both cases BibTex concludes with I'm skipping whatever remains of this entry and finishes successfully the job).
Now I just tried to run Biblatex as backend on a different bib file on the same tex file: now Biblatex compiles successfully. I then guess Biblatex doesn't like my bib file exported from Zotero.
From where I start to get my bib compatible with Biblatex?
MWE (When I replace backend=biber with backend=biblatex the following works):
%test.tex

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}

% Create command for paragraph style (new line after)
\newcommand{\myparagraph}[1]{\paragraph{#1}\mbox{}\\}

% Set the values for the bibliography
\usepackage[
    backend=biber,
    isbn=false,
    url=false,
    doi=false,
    eprint=false,
]{biblatex}

%Point to the bibliography db
\addbibresource{ZoteroOutput.bib}

\begin{document}

\fullcite{greenwade93}

\include{test_chap}

\end{document}

%test_chap.tex
\fullcite{greenwade93}

First bib entry (here posted first, problematic and final lines):
@book{rainie2012,
    address = {Cambridge, {MA}},
    title = {Networked: The New Social Operating System},
    isbn = {0262017199},
    shorttitle = {Networked},
    publisher = {{MIT} Press},
    author = {Rainie, Lee and Wellman, Barry},
    year = {2012},
    annote = {Extracted Annotations {(Tue} Jun 25 20:12:42 2013)
{"Are} people huddling alone in front of their screens? If they are connecting with someone online, is it a vague simulacrum of real community with people they could have seen, smelled, heard, and touched in the {\textquotedblleft} g ood old days" {(Rainie} and Wellman 2012:17)
{"Our} research supports the notion that small, densely knit groups like families, villages, and small organizations have receded in recent generations. A different social order has" {(Rainie} and Wellman 2012:17)

... Missing lines here (It is very long)
"technology supported task coordination, in the sense that everyone knew what everyone else was working on" {(Rainie} and Wellman 2012:199)
{"ICTs} supported {\textquotedblleft} distributed cognition, {\textquotedblright} enabling team members to share and integrate their own diverse perspectives" {(Rainie} and Wellman 2012:199)
"variety of {ICTs} enabled the teams to interact in many ways, using the media they felt was most appropriate to the task at hand" {(Rainie} and Wellman 2012:199) %%this is line 1223 (starting with "variety...)
"appears that networked work and networked organizations are better at linking ideas {\textemdash} bits {\textemdash} t han at linking parts {\textemdash} atoms" {(Rainie} and Wellman 2012:199)
{"ICTs} convey fewer social cues than in-person contacts. That is why people travel to meet in person: to build trust, develop nuanced understanding, and exchange tacit knowledge" {(Rainie} and Wellman 2012:200)

... Missing lines
{"Rochelle} C \^{o} t \'{e} Gabriele Plickert, and Barry Wellman, {\textquotedblleft} Does the Golden Rule, Rule? {\textquotedblright} in Contexts of Social Capital ed. {Ray-May} Hsung, Nan Lin, and Ronald Breiger {(London:} Routledge, 2009), 49 {\textendash} 71" {(Rainie} and Wellman 2012:348)
{"Eli} Pariser, T he Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You {(London:} Penguin, 2011" {(Rainie} and Wellman 2012:351)}
},

Second bib entry:
@book{shirky2008, %This is problematic line 1698
    address = {New York, {NY}},
    title = {Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations},
    isbn = {9780713999891},
    shorttitle = {Here Comes Everybody},
    abstract = {Read Clay Shirky's posts on the Penguin Blog.    A revelatory examination of how the wildfirelike spread of new forms of social interaction enabled by technology is changing the way humans form groups and exist within them, with profound long-term economic and social effects-for good and for ill A handful of kite hobbyists scattered around the world find each other online and collaborate on the most radical improvement in kite design in decades. A midwestern professor of Middle Eastern history starts a blog after 9/11 that becomes essential reading for journalists covering the Iraq war. Activists use the Internet and e-mail to bring offensive comments made by Trent Lott and Don Imus to a wide public and hound them from their positions. A few people find that a world-class online encyclopedia created entirely by volunteers and open for editing by anyone, a wiki, is not an impractical idea. Jihadi groups trade inspiration and instruction and showcase terrorist atrocities to the world, entirely online. A wide group of unrelated people swarms to a Web site about the theft of a cell phone and ultimately goads the New York City police to take action, leading to the culprit's arrest.  With accelerating velocity, our age's new technologies of social networking are evolving, and evolving us, into new groups doing new things in new ways, and old and new groups alike doing the old things better and more easily. You don't have to have a {MySpace} page to know that the times they are a changin'. Hierarchical structures that exist to manage the work of groups are seeing their raisons d'tre swiftly eroded by the rising technological tide. Business models are being destroyed, transformed, born at dizzying speeds, and the larger social impact is profound.  One of the culture's wisest observers of the transformational power of the new forms of tech-enabled social interaction is Clay Shirky, {andHere} Comes Everybodyis his marvelous reckoning with the ramifications of all this on what we do and who we are. Like Lawrence Lessig on the effect of new technology on regimes of cultural creation, Shirky's assessment of the impact of new technology on the nature and use of groups is marvelously broad minded, lucid, and penetrating; it integrates the views of a number of other thinkers across a broad range of disciplines with his own pioneering work to provide a holistic framework for understanding the opportunities and the threats to the existing order that these new, spontaneous networks of social interaction represent. Wikinomics, yes, but also wikigovernment, wikiculture, wikievery imaginable interest group, including the far from savory. A revolution in social organization has commenced, and Clay Shirky is its brilliant chronicler.},
    publisher = {Penguin Books},
    author = {Shirky, Clay},
    year = {2008},
    keywords = {Francesco {PhD}}
},

EDIT:
After removing the annotations (see "annote" field above) while exporting the bibliography with Zotero I partially solved the problem: now BibLatex complete the job (I am able to import references running Latex). Still I got warnings for the first line of each entry (even after changing text coding to UTF-8).
This is the output after running BibLatex (on a UTF-8 coded .bib file):
Running `Biber' on `myfile' with ``myfile''
INFO - This is Biber 1.7
INFO - Logfile is 'myfile.blg'
INFO - Reading 'myfile.bcf'
INFO - Found 1 citekeys in bib section 0
INFO - Found 9 citekeys in bib section 1
INFO - Found 1 citekeys in bib section 0
INFO - Found 7 citekeys in bib section 2
INFO - Found 1 citekeys in bib section 0
INFO - Found 15 citekeys in bib section 3
INFO - Found 1 citekeys in bib section 0
INFO - Processing section 0
INFO - Looking for bibtex format file '/my/path/ZoteroOutput.bib' for section 0
INFO - Found BibTeX data source '/my/path/ZoteroOutput.bib'
WARN - BibTeX subsystem: /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/H0EsS1omok/ZoteroOutput.bib_5763.utf8, line 13, warning: 1 characters of junk seen at toplevel
WARN - BibTeX subsystem: /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/H0EsS1omok/ZoteroOutput.bib_5763.utf8, line 28, warning: 1 characters of junk seen at toplevel
WARN - BibTeX subsystem: /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/H0EsS1omok

...MISSING TEXT...
/ZoteroOutput.bib_5763.utf8, line 3954, warning: 1 characters of junk seen at toplevel
    WARN - BibTeX subsystem: /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/H0EsS1omok/ZoteroOutput.bib_5763.utf8, line 3970, warning: 1 characters of junk seen at toplevel
    WARN - BibTeX subsystem: /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/H0EsS1omok/ZoteroOutput.bib_5763.utf8, line 3985, warning: 1 characters of junk seen at toplevel
    WARN - BibTeX subsystem: /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/H0EsS1omok/ZoteroOutput.bib_5763.utf8, line 3997, warning: 1 characters of junk seen at toplevel
    WARN - BibTeX subsystem: /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/H0EsS1omok/ZoteroOutput.bib_5763.utf8, line 4009, warning: 1 characters of junk seen at toplevel
    INFO - Overriding locale 'en_US.UTF-8' default tailoring 'variable = shifted' with 'variable = non-ignorable'
    INFO - Sorting 'entry' list 'nty' keys
    INFO - No sort tailoring available for locale 'en_US.UTF-8'
    INFO - Processing section 1
    INFO - Looking for bibtex format file '/Users/francesco/Dropbox/Papers/BibTex/ZoteroOutput.bib' for section 1
    INFO - Overriding locale 'en_US.UTF-8' default tailoring 'variable = shifted' with 'variable = non-ignorable'
    INFO - Sorting 'entry' list 'nty' keys
    INFO - No sort tailoring available for locale 'en_US.UTF-8'
    INFO - Processing section 2
    INFO - Looking for bibtex format file '/my/path/ZoteroOutput.bib' for section 2
    INFO - Overriding locale 'en_US.UTF-8' default tailoring 'variable = shifted' with 'variable = non-ignorable'
    INFO - Sorting 'entry' list 'nty' keys
    INFO - No sort tailoring available for locale 'en_US.UTF-8'
    INFO - Processing section 3
    INFO - Looking for bibtex format file '/my/path/ZoteroOutput.bib' for section 3
    INFO - Overriding locale 'en_US.UTF-8' default tailoring 'variable = shifted' with 'variable = non-ignorable'
    INFO - Sorting 'entry' list 'nty' keys
    INFO - No sort tailoring available for locale 'en_US.UTF-8'
    INFO - Writing 'annotated_bibliography.bbl' with encoding 'ascii'
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    "\x{fffd}" does not map to ascii at /var/folders/4b/v7yn1_5h8xq1p3006s6jvcg00000gn/T/par-6672616e636573636f/cache-cdd483146f82a9655ce063f848d5139480fbf872/inc/lib/Biber/Utils.pm line 949.
    INFO - Output to annotated_bibliography.bbl
    INFO - WARNINGS: 316

    Biber finished at Wed Aug 21 18:46:40

A: I solved my issues of compatibility between the BibTex file exported from Zotero and BibLatex. I recap the solution here.
Apparently BibLatex is much more sensible than BibTex when it comes to reading a BibTex file...
To export correctly the bibliography from Zotero and then into a Tex document via BibLatex I used this BibTeX Export Translator (modified by Robin Wilson) with two important tweaks:
1) On line 11 of the translator script you need to set "exportNotes": true, to "exportNotes": false, (of course just in case you have added notes to your Zotero items, e.g. you extract annotations from PDFs). This will avoid BibLatex crashing on too long fields.
2) On line 2256 you need to tell the translator to avoid adding a comma after each bibliography item (the comma will result in BibLatex giving a warning on the first line of each entry excluding the first...) changing this line: Zotero.write((first ? "" : ",\n\n") + "@"+type+"{"+citekey); with this line: Zotero.write((first ? "" : "\n\n") + "@"+type+"{"+citekey);
Another possible source of problems of the BibTeX Export Translator could be the character encoding. In my translator I kept as in source file "exportCharset": "ISO-8859-1", on line 10. I tried to change it to UTF-8 but it created another class of issues, not with BibLatex (it run without errors) but with Latex,
[1{/usr/local/texlive/2013/texmf-var/fonts/map/pdftex/updmap/pdftex.map}]
(./bib/price2012.tex [2]
! Undefined control sequence.
<to be read again> \edef \blx@tempa {193\x
                                           {FFFD}\x {FFFD}\x {FFFD}219}
l.8 \printbibliography[heading=subbibliography]

for each refsection. It also messed with the "pages" field of some items, outputting:

Andrea B. Hollingshead. "Information suppression and status persistence in group decision making the effects of communication media". In: Human Communication Research 23.2 (1996), 193fffdfffdfffd219.

I then switched back to "exportCharset": "ISO-8859-1", and both BibLatex and Latex run without warnings or errors. The PDF output was correct:

Andrea B. Hollingshead. "Information suppression and status persistence in group decision making the effects of communication media". In: Human Communication Research 23.2 (1996), 193–219.

and I also get correct output with the umlaut of Habermas:

EDIT: The problem with the page field was probably due by a odd "-" character that you sometimes get to separate the 2 page numbers when you download the citation from the Internet.

A: The included field annote and abstract in your showed bib entries are too long (see your cited error message: Your field is more than 20000 characters). I guess you do not want to print them in your bibliography so you can delete them.
With a little pretty printing and minor corrections I came to the following MWE running with MiKTeX 2.9 and Biber without errors (package filecontents is used to have only one MWE, including both .tex and .bib file):
\RequirePackage{filecontents}
\begin{filecontents*}{\jobname.bib}
@book{test1,
  author     = {Rainie, Lee and Wellman, Barry},
  publisher  = {{MIT} Press},
  title      = {Networked: The New Social Operating System},
  shorttitle = {short},
  address    = {Cambridge, {MA}},
  isbn       = {0262017199},
  year       = {2012},
}
@book{test2,
  address = {New York, {NY}},
  title      = {Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations},
  isbn       = {9780713999891},
  shorttitle = {Here Comes Everybody},
  publisher  = {Penguin Books},
  author     = {Shirky, Clay},
  year       = {2008},
  keywords   = {Francesco {PhD}},
}
\end{filecontents*}

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}

\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
%\usepackage[Latin9]{inputenc}

% Set the values for the bibliography
\usepackage[
  backend=biber
% backend=bibtex8
 ,isbn=false
 ,url=false
 ,doi=false
 ,eprint=false
]{biblatex}

%Point to the bibliography db
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}

\begin{document}

\cite{test1} \cite{test2} \fullcite{test1}

\printbibliography
\end{document}

It seems you have an encoding problem with your files, because you said in your comment you still have a message about a junk character.  Please check the encoding you have used in Zotero, could be you have to change it ... Thats the reasion why I used new first lines for your bib entrys (@book{test1,) written in my editor to be sure to have no junk characters there ...
Another problems seems that Zotero adds a comma (,) after the closing bracket of an bib entry. I deleted this commas for my MWE. That should not be! Correct is:
@book{key,
  name  = {value},
  name1 = {value1},
}             <===== here no comma!

As you can read in this blog the commas are part of Zotero and they seem to be the jink character.
I just found an old question biblatex or biber bug that means in my opinion that Zotero is not able to create a bib file for biblatex/biber. So you should use BibTeX or change the bibliography program, for example jabref or something else.

A: Confirming that
},
at the end of a record in your .bib file can cause this error msg.  One way to fix this is to edit out those occurrences in your .bib file.  Be careful, though, since you may have instances of that sequence record-internally.  BibTeX (and I suppose LaBibTex) has a habit of converting upper case characters in titles etc. to lower case, on the assumption that nothing past the first content word of a title should be capitalized.  (I think some librarian decided that.)  But in fact we often have proper names in titles, and they need to retain their capitalization; so we often embed titles (and some other fields) in {}, e.g.
title={Evidentiality in South Asian languages},

and you definitely don't want to remove the comma after that closing }.

A: I obtained the same error message
Your field is more than 20000 characters

but found the solutions presented here were too complex for my situation (although I accept that they may have been necessary in this particular instance).
What I found worked for me was to paste my text into a word processor (such as Word, eek) and count back 20,000 characters from the point at which bibtex noted the error occurred. Be careful to include spaces in the character-count! I found that there was an unclosed "}" in a recent entry.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: How can I prevent letters inside a text element? I like to have an input with maximum length 3.
These input value should be only numbers no letters.
By referring to this post: why is <input type="number" maxlength="3"> not working in Safari? you can see that I can't use <input type="numbers">
So how can I prevent letters inside an text-input-element?

A: <script>
function checkPattern(elem) {
  if(!elem.value.match('^' + elem.getAttribute('pattern') + '$')) {
    alert('The value must be 3 digits.');
  }
}
</script>
<input maxlength=3 pattern=[0-9]{3} onchange=
   checkPattern(this)>

Modify the error handling according to the application. The idea is to use an HTML5 pattern attribute and back it up with simple JavaScript code, for browsers that do not support the attribute but have JavaScript disabled.

A: You can use jQuery.
$("#myField").keyup(function() {
    $("#myField").val(this.value.match(/[0-9]*/));
});


EXCLUSIVE: A dozen smaller talent agencies have signed a statement of support for the WGA's efforts "to eliminate conflicts of interest and properly align the incentives of agencies with their clients." None of the agencies is a member of the Association of Talent Agents, which is locked in a do-or-die battle with the WGA over a new franchise agreement. This positions a lot of have-not agencies — they would not ordinarily be considered as the reps of top screenwriters or TV writers — to be alternative landing places if the WGA follows through with its threat to force members to fire their agents at the Big Four percenteries.
"On behalf of the guild and its members, thank you for your support," a WGA official told the signers. At last count, 24 mostly smaller agencies had signed its new Code of Conduct, including one ATA member – the Pantheon Talent Group.
Last weekend, WGA members voted overwhelmingly to approve a new Agency Code of Conduct. The guild has said that any agencies that refuse to sign it will be disenfranchised, possibly as early as Sunday morning if a deal isn't reach for a new agreement with the ATA. The guild is hoping that enough of the smaller agencies will sign up to help fill the gap left by the exodus of all the major agencies that refuse to sign.
The WGA's current franchise agreement expires at midnight Saturday night.


text:
Tracks from charts
German top
Official UK
Download track 48.2. Fugue In B Minor, BWV 869
by Johann Sebastian Bach
Bitrate: Flac
Download mp3 track 48.2. Fugue In B Minor, BWV 869 Johann Sebastian Bach
You can listen and download track 48.2. Fugue In B Minor, BWV 869 Johann Sebastian Bach. This song is in album named "Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I - Keith Jarrett". Track 48.2. Fugue In B Minor, BWV 869 belongs to the genre Piano music, Instrumental, Classical. To download mp3 you may to listen 48.2. Fugue In B Minor, BWV 869 audio mp3 file first. After listening you will able to download track 48.2. Fugue In B Minor, BWV 869. To get this file you may click on "download mp3" and you will download mp3 file with bitrate Flac and size 57.0 Mb.
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Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I - Keith Jarrett
01.1. Prelude In C Major, BWV 846
02.2. Fugue In C Major, BWV 846
03.1. Prelude In C Minor, BWV 847
04.2. Fugue In C Minor, BWV 847
05.1. Prelude In C-Sharp Major, BWV 848
06.2. Fugue In C-Sharp Major, BWV 848
07.1. Prelude In C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849
08.2. Fugue In C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849
09.1. Prelude In D Major, BWV 850
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14.2. Fugue In E-Flat Major, BWV 852
15.1. Prelude In D-Sharp Minor-E-Flat Minor, BWV 853
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34.2. Fugue In A-Flat Major, BWV 862
35.1. Prelude In A-Flat Minor-G-Sharp Minor, BWV 863
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37.1. Prelude In A Major, BWV 864
38.2. Fugue In A Major, BWV 864
39.1. Prelude In A Minor, BWV 865
40.2. Fugue In A Minor, BWV 865
41.1. Prelude In B-Flat Major, BWV 866
42.2. Fugue In B-Flat Major, BWV 866
43.1. Prelude In B-Flat Minor, BWV 867
44.2. Fugue In B-Flat Minor, BWV 867
45.1. Prelude In B Major, BWV 868
46.2. Fugue In B Major, BWV 868
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It's the latest episode of the Bates Bobcast!
Episode 103: Boys of (Almost) Summer.
BANGOR MAINE (WABI)- Husson softball takes on Bates college on Monday. The Eagles show some power and pick up a win.
Final (#CCCsoft Game 1 of 13): No.8 Gordon 2, No.5 @UNESoftball 0.
Kirsten Pelletier (Sidney, ME) no-hits Colby as @BatesSBall clinches #NESCAC playoff berth!
Bobcats win 8-0 in 5 innings.
It's her 2nd no-hitter this season, and Bates' 3rd!
Softball sweeps Colby in doubleheader, breaks program record for wins in a season!


text:
Corrupt Save File
Let's talk about games
QWOP-effect
Free Corner
Posted byslionr September 30, 2019 March 11, 2020 Posted in2D platformer, Metroidvania, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, ReviewTags:game, game review, Games, Games blog, gaming, Gaming blog, independent, Indie, indie developer, indie developers, indie games, indie gaming, indie month, Steamworld, Steamworld Dig 2
I am a big fan of Steamworld Dig as I might have shown in my last review. Despite it being a tad short, I had a blast with it as it had a fantastic focus on playing with your greed to see how far you were willing to go. When Steamworld Heist came along and shifted the gameplay to an interesting, side-scrolling, turn-based shooter, I was very pleased to think that each installment would offer something different and fantastic. However, that was not the case. Steamworld Dig 2 was announced and I was incredibly excited. The last game ended on a cliffhanger and it was nice to see the previous concept getting expanded upon. When it came out, you bet I was ready to dig in once again.
Interesting, but why include Navi?
Searching for the last game's protagonist, Rusty, you take control of Dorothy. Having traveled far and wide in search for her friend, she eventually stumbles upon a town that is troubled by earthquakes. Many seem to also have witnessed the robot you are looking for, but few are sure if his motives are good or not. Still willing to find her friend and help those in need, Dorothy sets out into the mines to find the answers she is seeking. There are some nice fillers for a story and even includes a species called shiners, which is a fun take on a creature you should be familiar with, and a cult praising these earthquakes are interesting as antagonists.
What destroys this, however, is Fen. I don't understand why some games need another Cortana or Navi as it is hard to make them appreciable companions with a good connection and Fen is sort of just there. There are some decent conversations between him and Dorothy, but it seems like the story is just there for giving a reason for the sequel to Steamworld Dig 2 to exist, making me wonder why they went the extra mile without adding anything interesting? Usually: a simple story like this doesn't go overboard with dialogue, but this tale tries to be more, when it is really less.
Story Score: 6/10
Dug a bit too deep
Similar to the first installment, Steamworld Dig 2 is a mining-game where you dig to find treasures, secrets, and try to get to the bottom of this journey, both figuratively and literally. Dorothy sports a pickaxe for digging through and making tunnels, and the ability to wall jump to make ascending faster and possible, as you only need one wall to jump on. There are plenty of treasures that can be found in these caves, which can be taken up to exchange for gold. With gold, you are able to upgrade your set, but while this is satisfying, it is way too easy to do so. This is because enemies also give treasures this time, making it hard to really be engaged to get every hidden treasure in the caves. Not just this, but you must kill enemies for being able to upgrade your tools fully and for getting more gold for your treasures, showcased by a level-up bar.
A different approach certainly and it would be fine if the game was designed with this in mind. However, it is not. You rarely have big spaces for jumping around and hardly any tools to deal with these creatures, making it bizarre that combat is even a huge part of this game when none of the common enemies where fun challenges. This destroys a lot in the game as you need to fight enemies and some can take a good amount of hits to defeat. It is so weird that they changed the concept of leveling up the city and increased focus on combat, but kept Dorothy as limited in combat as Rusty in the last game. You do have a gun, but it uses a heavy amount of the limited water you have on you, making it a tedious grind when you just want to find a pool of water to restore it or just get above the ground.
Speaking of which, getting up restores not just the water-bar under your health this time, which is used for two tools you will acquire. It will also restore health and light, making the threat the game could present gone, as it is easy to get back to the town above thanks to plenty of warp-areas. It makes backtracking quite tedious despite this, as it really breaks the immersion of being inside a dangerous cave. It rather becomes an annoyance thanks to suddenly running out of water or having too much treasure on you. I often even forgot I had a light source, which is important to see treasures to find because I never cared for it. Greed is not what keeps you in these caves, just the hope of being done with them, which is sad.
Despite this glaring issue, exploring the caves is still important as you can find cogs to modify your tools for some extra uses, such as one for making your lamp shine brighter. You can also locate artifacts that can get you blueprints to find more ways to mod a tool, which adds to the exploration. They are well hidden as well, which makes the discovery of either that more satisfying. There are also smaller caves inside the main ones that function as obstacle-courses and they are fantastic. They make use of every ability Dorothy has, and when grappling-hook is introduced, they become a blast. Some even include clever puzzles and it is a huge shame the game couldn't have just focused on these parts.
The most entertaining obstacle-course caves are those that give Dorothy a new ability to venture further with, such as the mentioned grappling hook and gun. Both have great platforming-uses and can make navigation easier and more engaging, especially in the restricted platforming/puzzle courses. While fighting the common enemies is a chore, the boss fights are incredibly fun, focusing on platforming in huge environments and areas to dig through, making these more like the mentioned obstacle-courses than direct fights.
Adding to the game's length, are the caves you will explore, each being different with tiles they have, such as some that will reconstruct and have acid-traps. Despite enemies being more of a chore to fight than anything, at least they have varied abilities, such as being explosive or have ranged attacks. Though there is a huge lack in challenge when you are near the end of the game and you will gain abilities to make you overpowered, and others that are just useful for opening doors. Not to mention some areas can be downright annoying, with the worst being the part with bouncing mushrooms all over the place, and a robotic graveyard where you will not stay for long and which tries to break the fourth wall in a not so convincing way.
Because of fighting enemies, the lack of voluntary treasure-hunting, and the tedious backtracking, Steamworld Dig 2 becomes a tiresome game to play through. Despite being about as long as the original Steamworld Dig, I was drained when I finished it. It has some fantastic obstacle-courses and I did enjoy parts of the exploration, but there was no real reward to it. It, unfortunately, took one step forward and two steps back with every new addition.
Gameplay Score: 6.5/10
Tech over simplicity
The confusion of how to expand or make better use of what the original had, can also be seen in its presentation. The remake of the intro still has the long tunes of echoing instruments similar to its predecessor, but more focus on techno and el-guitar trying to be stronger and action-oriented. It could be fitting, but also feels odd as it does not convey a clear mood on being isolated and afraid, or ready for the things to come. It showcases a return to a previous concept, but also confusion.
Though let's start with the new and slicker artstyle. Everything is shinier and has a clear attention to make everything seem more detailed, but the animations are more limited, making everything seem more like cheap puppets from a phone-app. All the characters seem more like plastic than metal and can oddly enough become stiffer than a rusty piece of hardware. There is a lot of creativity to the creatures, with the Shiners especially being deranged, scrummy, and almost unpleasant, but the robots are a mix of original concepts, such as the crab-salesman, and stereotypical ones, like the granny-robot. All are colorful and looks nice, but some parts both technically and artistically feels unfinished. It also bugs me every time when Dorothy's head is in front of a mud-piece instead of leaning into it inside one of the caves.
Though I still think the game has some great visuals and they all come from the caves themselves as the variety is fantastic. The water-cave having different colored lights giving it a fantasy-vibe, or the temple with odd statues and filled with hot lava, are just a few examples of the diversity these areas can contain. The enemies in these areas are also based on the constructions, so you will meet cultist in the fire-cave, but might stumble upon dangerous plants instead in the water-cave. The multi-layered backgrounds give a sense of depth, making some areas feel huge or claustrophobic depending on their uses, and they are filled with details, which makes each area mysterious and interesting. These places also show the best attention to detail such as when light blue grass lights up and waves as you pass it by.
The music, unfortunately, does not always add to this charm. We have some great composers, with even El Huervo on board (who is known for his contribution to the Hotline Miami-games), but they don't always have a good tone that represents the stages throughout the game, making it a mess. It is a beautiful mess, however, with the town-theme being peaceful and the big open desert having a guitar that echoes and gives a sense of loneliness, but others can be more atmospheric with too low or lack of tones. Because of this, it is hard to determine what kind of atmosphere the game wants to go for.
Presentation Score: 7.5/10
Already got my hands dirty
As for what else to do after the game is over, there is a rank at the end showcasing how many of the secrets and amount of items you got, amounts of death you suffered, and the time it took you to beat the game. This is a nice extra, but due to how much the game drags, it feels hard to recommend a second playthrough. Though artifacts are a nice extra to give exploration a more centered focus and includes nice lore that is a fun read. This also unlocks Trials of Skills that unfortunately is hit and miss, depending on when it focuses on tight platforming or enemy-management. A cool extra for sure, but as mentioned before: going through these caves can be tedious, even if you go for the more interesting loot.
Extra Score: 6/10
I just want to declare that I am totally fine if a game wants to distinguish itself from its predecessor or try to expand on the original formula, but Steamworld Dig 2 oddly enough has trouble doing either. If they just had more focus and especially neglected the need to destroy enemies and the easier treasure-hunting, we could have had a fantastic game.
As it stands, this is a solid game, but hard to fully recommend unless you need another Steamworld Dig. Besides, there are many other positive ways to get 6 feet under. Terraria for example.
Published by slionr
A guy who likes to talk about video games and loves tabletop gaming. Writer for corruptsavefile.com, you can always follow me on twitter @GSlionr if you ever want the latest article from me :)	View more posts
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