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L.A. Game Space

California Dreaming

A new game artists’ space in L.A. raised $250,000. Now comes the tricky part: spending it.

By Drew Toal • December 4, 2012

“I think all the best indie projects have that sense, that this might come to nothing.” Game designer Ben Johnson is talking about game development, but he might as well be referring to LA Game Space, an ambitious community project envisioned by Adam Robezzoli and Daniel Rehn. Rather than seek funding through corporate sponsorship or government grants, Robezzoli and Rehn turned to the Internet and Kickstarter, a popular fundraising website which allows potential creators to explain their project and offer goodies to those who pledge money to back it. If the fundraising goal isn’t met, no money changes hands and everyone goes back to square one. For a while, it looked as though LA Game Space might fall short of its $250,000 goal—even as it offers a package of 30 indie games to anyone who donated at least $15—but a funding surge in the closing days of the campaign put this internet telethon over the top. (The project is still accepting donors.)

As it’s imagined, LA Game Space will convert a warehouse into a game design art emporium, complete with galleries, research labs, workshops, and, perhaps most intriguingly, artist residencies. This latter will throw game designers together with people from other fields—artists, architects, zoologists—to collaborate in unconventional ways, in the hope that unconventional games will result. “Our focus is going to be to really push the residents to do stuff that’s really out there, stuff that’s uncomfortable for them, and sometimes uncomfortable for people to play,” Rebezzoli said. “A residency like that is going to have a high rate of failure, because when you do have successes, they’re going to be groundbreaking successes. We want the effort and the focus to be, ‘Don’t do things that are expected, and if you know you’re going to succeed, then you’re not doing the right thing.’”

L.A. Game Space

It’s difficult to assess a project where failure (or, at least, the prospect of failure) is the benchmark for success. If viewed in terms of existing institutions, LA Game Space would seem to be a mixture of the academic and DIY aesthetics of some indie game communities. The NYU Game Center, for instance, hosts talks and lectures by established game developers and features new work in its annual No Quarter exhibition. And Babycastles, another New York-based outfit, installs indie-game arcades throughout the city and curates exhibitions of experimental games. (Babycastles’ latest event, Babyharvester, is at Manhattan’s Clocktower Gallery right now.) But neither of those entities provides an exact blueprint, and both of them have advantages LA Game Space will probably not enjoy.

“One of the things that I have learned from working at the academy, where we don’t have a huge amount of resources—but we do have a huge institution backing us up, you know?—there is something to fall back on,” said Charles Pratt, a researcher at the NYU Game Center. He noted that LA Game Space’s mission statement is remarkably broad. “When you feel like you know what the scene needs, you want to do it all at once.” Kickstarter is aptly named: It’s a great way to get a project going, but without institutional or corporate backing, the long-term sustainability for a project this size is untested. If measured failure is the goal, it could be difficult to convince your many shareholders (i.e., people of the internet) to continue donating money, no matter how many games you entice them with.

Babycastles is a low-cost operation. To fund resident artists for six months at a stretch is something else entirely, and where the money comes from in the future is uncertain. “It’s going to be difficult to maintain, in that you want it to come to something, especially early on,” predicted Ben Johnson, a Babycastles organizer. “You want to have successes that you can show. You know, ‘We sponsored this person, and they created this thing, and it was amazing, and the world is forever changed.’ When you’re going around trying to figure out if you can pay your rent next year, that is a good thing to be able to say.”

L.A. Game Space

Rebezzoli believes that the world is ready now and that the Kickstarter campaign offers the best route toward making LA Game Space a reality. To encourage pledges, the project directors offering never-before-seen games from the likes of Keita Takahashi (creator of Katamari Damacy), Cactus, and other indie luminaries, creators whose work is part of the project’s inspiration. Rebezzoli insists, though, that the Game Space isn’t going to be some kind of indie insider’s club. Its doors will be open to commercial game designers as well, or anyone with an interest in games. It’s not even going to necessarily be a local thing, as there are plans to broadcast talks and projects on the web.

Pratt suspects that this sprawling vision might hit a few snags. “It’s something I really want to succeed, and there’s a bunch of really talented people involved in [LA Game Space],” Pratt said, “but when I look at it, the two questions I want to know are what is it this thing does, which is very hard for me to discern. And the other thing is who is doing it, and do I understand that personality. A feeling for what that aesthetic is. And I don’t immediately get that from LA Game Space. It just wants to be this big awesome thing. And it can be a big awesome thing, but I think it’s also important to put a stake in the ground and say, ‘This is the thing we believe in.’” Pratt emphasized that all of the NYU Game Center undertakings are meant to advance the program’s sole mission—teaching people to make games.

And while it does seem like LA Game Space doesn’t have as concrete a statement of purpose to hang its hat on, it’s also a young enterprise, and it would be a mistake to underestimate the power of an idea. People have been making video games for more than 40 years now, Robezzoli said. “It’s not like we’re the first people to do this. I think [in] the last five years, we’ve seen tons of growth of people saying like, ‘I don’t need to sell my games for money. I don’t need to be a part of an industry.’”

“We’re going along with that idea—that this medium is incredibly powerful and amazing, so there should be a place that can help nurture that and help people who want to do that kind of thing, give them a place to talk and show their work.” As of this writing, the Game Space’s Kickstarter funding is at $253,000 and growing, so it looks like we’re going to see just how powerful that idea is.

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85 Responses to “California Dreaming”

  1. caspiancomic says:

    Woo LA Game Space!

    I’m super excited for this project, or at least I’m super excited for the version of it that goes 100% according to plan. To my knowledge a space like this with an atmosphere and a stated goal like this has never existed for games. I think this kind of atmosphere is an important step in giving gaming its true avante garde, like The Factory for games, a place where gaming’s most forward-thinking mental patients can really slap their toys together and see exactly what the boundaries of the medium are- if it even has boundaries- and what would happen if those boundaries were crossed.

    Of course, I’m wise to the potential avenues for collapse or destruction here too. I don’t know all that much about construction or reappropriating space, but I feel like a quarter of a mil is a kind of puny sum for such a huge undertaking. And, like Drew outlined, it’s wonderful to have a project with such ambition, but casting a net this wide might actually hinder what is in many ways both a toweringly large and a shrinkingly intimate project. The video on the Kickstarter page positions the LA Game Space as a studio, gallery, auditorium, living space, and cultural headquarters. That sounds rad as all crazy, but it’s a tremendously ambitious project as well, one that’s liable to collapse under its own weight.

    Still, sight unseen these guys were able to net some A-List talent to sweeten the pot for potential investors, so if their tongues are that silver they probably have more up their sleeve than they’re letting on.

    I don’t know how long this project will take to get off the ground (assuming it manages to take flight at all), but if it actually does manage to succeed at its stated goals, this could really change the way the industry, gaming community, and general public understand and grapple with video games.

    • Fyodor Douchetoevsky says:

      I’m actually really excited to see how this turns out. The people who threw in some junk for the $15 tier is pretty impressive, and I love the idea of having a place to foster cool new weirdo games and stuff like that. Good call with The Factory comparison. I really like that this is happening at all.

      VIDEOGAMES! It’s like watching the medium grow up in front of my eyes. Very cool.

    • Effigy_Power says:

      It’s great that this came along, and I really hope that something new and awesome springs from it.
      I am however, through some experience collaborating with various artists and organizing collaborations, a bit skeptical how much this will produce. Sadly throwing several amounts of talent and motivation together doesn’t always produce the sum of said talent and motivation, and artists are imho generally flukes who often lose track of time and progress, though I have never worked with game developers.

      Here’s hoping that this think tank for Indie games will get some great stuff together, and if, that it’s not all 8-bit nostalgia arcade poo. Best of luck for sure, innovation is sorely needed after Medal of Warduty 9: Black Snipermedal 4.

    • I imagine it will occupy a space similar to this place http://www.bemiscenter.org/

      It’s a studio that hosts artists, gallery shows, and lectures, and it is all free and open to the public.  It’s not an impossible dream, but in that case it is one that has corporate funding from Omaha Steaks and not Kickstarter.

      I’m pretty jazzed on the project though (I live in the same city as the Bemis Center and the prospect of a video game equivalent makes my pants shrink).  I understand it’s the press’s duty to cast a skeptical eye at projects like this, but seriously?  This is my favorite thing to come out of the internet all year.

    • Spacemonkey Mafia says:

      If this ends up being akin to the Factory, I call dibs on being their ‘Nico’.

  2. GaryX says:

    Hey all, I just wanted to let you know that the final round of voting is up for the Commies at http://www.avclubawards.com, and there’s several Gameological items in the mix, including the Assassin’s Creed III review for Best Article of the Year, Drew Toal for Most Improved Writer, and John Teti for AV Club Writer of the Year, plus some commenters that frequent these pages as well.

    If you’re interested, pop over and vote!

    • Jackbert322 says:

      omigosh omigosh omigosh my nomination of Cults by Cults is on the ballot. Also, some of my other nominations of more popular things, but Cults by Cults!

      • GaryX says:

        I’m glad you did then. I love that album.

        • Jackbert322 says:

          YEAH YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN *sways aimlessly*

          Seriously though, thanks for setting it up. I was only disappointed by there not being enough Gameological commentators nominates for best commentator! Also, the ability to remove items from our rankings was really really helpful, because I haven’t seen all of those movies or listened to all of those albums. It’d be great if this became an annual thing, thanks again.

        • GaryX says:

          @Jackbert322:disqus So long as I don’t get too busy/die in between this year and next year, I’m planning on doing it again.

    • Fyodor Douchetoevsky says:

      First of all, thanks for this. This thing was a lot of fun. sorting commenters and writers was awful though. I want everyone to get a trophy!

      Glad to see Adventure Time in the best shows category, but of course some bullshit like Community is gonna win. Lame.

      • Jackbert322 says:

        I really hope Louie or Adventure Time wins best show, but there’s no way. It better be Breaking Bad then! Community though, bleh. LAAAME.

        I was amused by the fact that I played every single game of the 2011 list this year, but haven’t played any of the games on the 2012 list. (Well, excluding Dishonored, which I wrote a review for.) Everything this year was rated M/a PC indie game! *surrenders hip gamer badge* So I voted based on what seems coolest to me. Hotline Miami won!

        Are there tiger masks? Because tigers are my very favorite animal.

        • Fyodor Douchetoevsky says:

          There is a tiger mask! It’s called “Tony,” because cereal, and it gives you FISTS OF FURY so that just one punch kills dudes.

          I also voted Bastion for best game of 2011 even though I played it in 2011. Frozen Synapse was the REAL goty 2011, for those who were curious.

          I was also vaguely bummed that I didn’t show up on the ballot at all.

        • Fluka says:

          I see my tactic of nominating “Deus Ex: Human Revolution” in every single category was successful at least once!

          Tiger mask was okay.  Mr. Fluka preferred Don Juan, the Horse mask, because that gives you one-punch kills, except you’re punching with the goddamn DOOR!

        • GaryX says:

          Well, the idea of the rankings system for that stuff was to hopefully generate a more robust list and result. While Community is probably still the front runner (I’m not going to look at how results are coming in for at least 24 hours so I’m just guessing), I think the weighted ranking will allow some surprises to sneak up in there.

          I still really need to watch Adventure Time though.

          Fyodor, I believe you were nominated several times, but one of the ones that didn’t make the cut. I kinda felt bad about everyone that happened to. Sorry!

      • Girard says:

        Hotline Miami and Walking Dead are both tops in my book, and my listing.

        Community was fairly high in my listings, but not right at the tippy-top. Which probably means I’m granting an assist to the army of folks who will undoubtedly push it to their tippy-top. But whatever, it’s a pretty good show, even if I don’t enjoy it as much as Louie, Breaking Bad, or Parks, etc.

      • Sorry dude, I love Hotline Miami (finally unglitched and beat the whole game/ biker missions were the best) but it had the unfortunate luck to come out in the same year as Spelunky.  I haven’t even beat that game and it’s my GOTY.

      • GaryX says:

        I’m pulling for Hotline Miami personally, but I think it’s a surprisingly strong list overall. I think it’s gotta get best music though. Fingers crossed anyways.

        • Fluka says:

          Yeah, if Hotline Miami doesn’t win best game soundtrack, there is no justice in this world.

        • GaryX says:

          @Fluka:disqus Without saying much, I’m not happy with the direction it’s going. :(

        • Girard says:

           @GaryX:disqus : Is it going south for “Best Game” or “Best Game Soundtrack“? The former would be sad, but the letter would be cause for busting heads.

      • Merve says:

        I put Sleeping Dogs and Dishonored on top of the list, since my personal favourite, Stacking, didn’t make the cut. (Then again, being released for consoles in 2011 but for PC in 2012 probably makes it a 2011 game.)

    • caspiancomic says:

       I hope “fourth empty space from the top” wins “Meme of the Year”

    • Merve says:

      Thanks for setting this up! It was a lot of fun. Nice to see Gameological getting some recognition too.

    • Girard says:

      Things this iteration of voting has taught me about myself:

      -I have not seen a single new good movie this year. (Is the only thing I’ve seen in the theaters this year really Prometheus?! Good God.)

      -I don’t read any new books (apparently, they still make those things).

      -I’m lucky I live in a country with a bone-headed two-party system and not a parliamentary system with proportional voting where you enumerate your preferred choices…Because I tend to only feel strongly about spots 1 and 2, then let laziness, conjecture, and hearsay shape the rest of my ballot.

      -I am apparently my 30th favorite AVClub commenter (I imagine if I could have selected from more members of the Plaid Jacket Club this time around, it would have bumped me down a couple more spots…)

      • caspiancomic says:

         Dood, go to the movies! This was actually a really great year for film. I was legitimately struggling to rank my favourites in some sort of comprehensive order while still keeping Prometheus at the bottom. I thought I had it all figured out until I scrolled down a little and saw that Arietty came out this year, and that was pretty clearly top 5 material, so I had to rejigger my whole ranking!

        Also, I placed you first for Best Commenter, so we basically cancelled each other out.

        • GaryX says:

          Yeah this year was nuts for movies. I’m waiting to fill my ballot out because I can’t figure it out yet. I think it might have been stronger than 2007 honestly.

        • caspiancomic says:

           @GaryX:disqus In the end my Top 5 (I’m big on Top 5s) was Looper, The Master, ParaNorman, Seven Psychopaths, and The Secret World of Arriety. The Cabin in The Woods, Skyfall, The Avengers, TDKR and their ilk were not far behind, in much looser order. Sole regret: I haven’t seen Wreck-It Ralph yet, I feel instinctively that I would have ranked that pretty high.

          Bonus regret: we had to vote before The Hobbit opens.

        • Girard says:

          I suspect when I am home for the holidays, my lack of schoolwork combined with my being at home with family will result in my seeing a fair amount of things that are out at present – The Hobbit and Wreck-It Ralph will almost certainly happen, and I can sometimes sucker my mom into seeing something more arty/independent at the Cedar Lee, so maybe I’ll fit in Anna Karenina or Holy Motors…

        • GaryX says:

          @caspiancomic:disqus Yeah, the bit with The Hobbit couldn’t be helped, but it’ll be eligible next year for that reason.

          Girard, fit in Holy Motors. For America.

        • PaganPoet says:

          @GaryX:disqus And for Kylie Minogue

      • GaryX says:

        W/r/t either category, you’ll probably be pissed. I know the music one leading right now is the one I thought most disappointing.

        • Girard says:

           Weird! None of those other games, at least in my limited experience with them, have much beyond your typical orchestral movie soundtracks. I honestly have no idea which of those would be in the front.

          Also, when I logged in to check the other nominees (on a different computer than I had used to vote), none of my votes were preserved, and I had a “fresh” ballot – is there a way you can confirm that my vote was submitted? I don’t mind not being able to go back in and edit my previous votes, but I’m worried that this means my selections aren’t in the system.

      • GaryX says:

        Yeah it’s all there. If you went on from a different computer, it won’t show what you wrote because it’s just cookies based, but your filled out one is there.

    • Effigy_Power says:

      It’s interesting how many of the TV, movie and album choices I was utterly unaware of, but I managed to fake my way through after all, making sure to downvote Community wherever I could in order to provide at least a bit of a challenge and also because I think it’s bullocks.

      • caspiancomic says:

         Yeah, for most of the music, TV, and literature choices I was making up opinions on the fly based on word of mouth and gut reactions to titles. It brought back bad memories of going to freshman parties and trying to trick everyone into thinking I had opinions.

        • Jackbert322 says:

          Nate Silver? He wrote for Baseball Prospectus! Number 1 spot for sure. Stephen King? He’s good, right? Number 2, definitely. That guys first name is DJ? Number 3 for you, DJ!

          I made liberal use of the N/A button for music and television, feeling very thankful it was there, because I’m neurotic enough that if I had to rank them all, I would’ve had to look them all up. Sadly, I have seen Community, so I had to put at 12 out of 12, although I’m now thinking I should go back, research the shows, and spitefully put Community at the very bottom. Blergh, I hope Community doesn’t win. Music wise, man, this year I’ve just been listening to albums from 2011 (CULTS!), so I only ranked like 8. Channel Orange for the win, I guess? And pretty much the rest of the 8 I just voted from previous knowledge of the artists.

          AND in response to your response to Girard, this WAS a great year in film’ Moonrise Kingdom,
          Paranorman, Arietty, The Avengers/Dark Knight Rises…

        • GaryX says:

          @Jackbert322:disqus Honestly, if you don’t want Community to win, a N/A would probably do more damage: it keeps it from getting a ranking at all. Otherwise, it still gets some points.

        • Girard says:

          …and THIS is the point when I wished I’d recognized that the “N/A” over on the right side was a clickable button. So many pieces of pop culture I arbitrarily condemned or elevated in a haze of total ignorance….

        • GaryX says:

          @paraclete_pizza:disqus You can go back and change it if you’d like. It’s open for almost two weeks.

    • Swadian Knight says:

      Some of those decisions were quite grueling, but you can’t imagine how relieved I am that I wasn’t forced to choose the best dressed Gameological Society contributor.

      Also, what the hell did I do this year? I seem to have skipped most of the stuff that happened in it.

      • Chum Joely says:

        Totally, me too. Pleased to see here that there are other folks here and at AV Club that are in the same boat.

        Almost wrote “in the same boar”, which should also be a saying.

      • Fluka says:

        I am so relieved that I didn’t have to choose between Todd’s Girls comment and The Story of Dawes!  The Citizen Kane and Annie Hall of AV club commenting, they are.

        Also, I definitely had one of my strongest “Oh god, I am getting old!” moments when I read the music list.  At least I’d *heard* of 95% of the 2012 movies.  I used to be cool, guys!  No, wait.  I’m still cool.  It’s the music that got strange and upsetting.

      • Merve says:

        A lot of the stuff I nominated didn’t make the cut, so I was left looking at lists of works with which I had no familiarity. I don’t think I even recognized any of the names of the albums nominated for Album of the Year.

    • Well, logging into Disqus with my Twitter account apparently disqualifies me from voting… Sad face.

      But shame on all of you for not even nominating Dark Souls for 2012 2011 Game of the Year.

    • stakkalee says:

      Just finished my voting.  One thing is definitely clear, I have no idea what’s going on with modern music – I just left the entire category blank.  Thanks for doing this man!

  3. EmperorNortonI says:

    So, they’re committed to doing games research, eh?  To push the genre in new, dangerous, and possibly uncomfortable ways, eh?  The need an aesthetic statement, or a goal, eh?

    How about they find a way to make fetch quests fun?

    Figure out a good way to use motion-sensing controls in a game outside the sports and rhythm/music genres.

    Help build the next generation of conversation-based combat engine.

    Figure out how to design an RPG that is not dependent upon leveling as a key mechanism.

    For that matter, figure out how to design an RPG that does not rely on the accumulation of XP and loot via combat.

    Develop a theory or technology for the creation of open-world environments that do not rely on obviously artificial blockages, roadblocks, or locked doors to contain the player in obviously artificial ways.

    Show how strange and unusual settings can be effectively deployed in games – Medieval African Kingdoms?  A cargo container ship?  The mythical India of the Ramayana?  The real slums of modern India?  Heian-era Japan?

    Or, just figure out how to make properly interactive porn, preferably using motion-control technology, and rake in the dough.

    • Girard says:

      Those all sound like valid pursuits. Draw up a decent proposal for any of those and maybe YOU could get a residency…

    • Afghamistam says:

      “Develop a theory or technology for the creation of open-world environments that do not rely on obviously artificial blockages, roadblocks, or locked doors to contain the player in obviously artificial ways.”

    • Effigy_Power says:

      I think the invention of HD and motion control has made porn exponentially sadder.
      Otherwise good ideas, especially the XP-less RPG. All XP-less approaches so far have been intolerable.

    • Destroy Him My Robots says:

      1) When the player cares about the characters, they’ll care about the fetch quest. When Swanson asks for fruit, I will bring her fruit, posthaste. When some farmer in Elwynn Forest asks for fruit, I tell him to get lost.

      2) Pointer controls if we’re talking about Wii, Flower in general or aiming the cannons in Super Mario 3D Land if we’re talking about gyroscopes.

      3) What now? You mean something like a turn-based RPG but with a parser?

      4 & 5) That’s pretty much what Kudo tried to achieve with the Tingle games and Paper Mario: Sticker Star. I think he explicitly mentioned it in the Nintendo Direct.

      6) Make it a really small planet you can circumnavigate, I suppose?

      7) Yes, please.

      8) No, thanks.

      • EmperorNortonI says:

        I agree, the Japanese have been making attempts at alternative RPG mechanics for a while – but at the same time, their proper RPG’s are the most combat and level and XP heavy in the genre.

        I’ve not played the Tingle games or Sticker Star, lacking the proper hardware, but weren’t the Tingle games Zelda variants?  In a way, they are level free, but in another way the items are just levels in disguise.

        By conversation-based combat, I’m talking about a real and meaningful conflict resolution mechanism that is challenging and entertaining in its own right, that engages with player stats and in an interesting way, that has numerous interesting and meaningful tactics and strategies for the player, and that is suitable for resolving situations where two people are having a discussion or an argument.  Most real life interpersonal conflict is not resolved by combat, but so far no gaming genre has really managed to capture that in any way, resulting in non-combat conflicts being shunted off to the side, scripted entirely, or awkwardly tacked on to RPG scores via trait-specific or stat-specific speech options.

        And as for the open world, I don’t mean something that simulates literally the entire world.  Honestly, I have no reason or desire to travel to most of the world in reality, and in games you usually have something to do that makes traveling to most of the world a bad idea.  There’s no time to go take a holiday in Cancun while you’re trying to save the world.  What I mean is a system where all the places that I might reasonably want or need to go, and the places next door or around them, are reasonably accessible.  I can’t tell you how tired I am of quests being little more than, “I need to go there, but the door is locked, so I need to do a bunch of stuff to get the key” kind of quests, no matter how they are disguised.  The artificiality is painfully obvious.

        • Girard says:

           The Tingle games used a tertiary Zelda character, but their gameplay was wildly different from Zelda games or JRPGs.

          You only have one stat, money, which counts as your HP, your gold for buying, and as the mechanism for advancing the game and unlocking new levels. This means you have to be strategic about the amount of money you spend, since it also depletes your de facto life, and also will mean you have to earn that much more money to advance, etc.  There’s a significant bargaining element to the game (you bargain for info, for key items, and for support party members), which plays upon this tension, since you always risk paying too much money for stuff, or paying too little and not getting anything for your money.

          There was no direct or menu-based combat, instead you bump into an enemy on the screen, and a cartoon “fight cloud” appears over you and the enemy and the fight occurs automatically. You can tap the screen to speed the fighting, or move the cloud around to try and engage multiple enemies for better drops.

          In a sense, since the money functions as a kind of ur-stat, and your sums get progressively larger, there is a bit of a functional similarity to XP and levels, but the ludic feel of the whole enterprise is totally different.

        • Destroy Him My Robots says:

          In addition to what Girard said, the storyline of Rosy Rupeeland (I’ve yet to play Balloon) is very much an indictment of letting acquiring as much as possible be your motivation. It’s hard to say though whether it’s an RPG without XP or an experimental graphic adventure. What is and what isn’t an RPG is subject to much debate anyway (and at some point there’s always a smart-ass who claims “Well then Gran Turismo is an RPG because you play the role of a race car driver”), and I usually prefer to leave it at a Potter Stewart-esque “I know it when I see it”, but this is an especially tough one.

          Another one that might work for your “no levels” criterion is Way of the Samurai, which I’ve written about before. On the surface it’s a clunky swordfighting game, but you get the branching paths typical of WRPGs and every sword has its own set of moves and stats. So the swords basically represent your class and build (some are faster, some are more suited to fighting defensively etc.), and since they’re lost when you die and they can break (and you can’t load old saves), there’s an element of permadeath involved. Stats like durability can be increased by going to the blacksmith, moves can be learned with scrolls dropped by enemies, and the sword can even learn the ability to automatically block a certain type of attack once you performed a perfectly timed parry against it.

          Thanks for clearing that up about the conversation-based combat. I had googled it and what I found was mostly people asking for a fighting mechanic for IF. You’re completely right. Rolling a dice against your Persuasion or Charm stat isn’t very sophisticated, and I’d love to see something better take its place. We’re still playing conversations with D-Pads instead of analog sticks, so to speak.

          And sorry for not getting what you meant re: open worlds at all. I thought the problem was getting eaten by a big fish when you’re swimming too far from the shore in Jak & Dexter and figured you could do Just Cause 2, but when you cross the Western end of the map, you pop up at the Eastern end. The thing where you’re only able to enter the building you have to enter could probably be solved soon by procedurally generating interiors and, once generated, commiting them to memory. With increasing amounts of RAM, that seems doable to me. I don’t really see the other point going away, though. GTA-type “The bridge is out” situations seem like deliberate design chosen so the player won’t be overwhelmed to me. I guess what might happen, though, is open worlds with destructible environments. Keys in particular would become a lot less mandatory once you have access to functional rocket launchers.

      • EmperorNortonI says:

         Replying here because I can’t reply downthread.  The way that i can imagine properly open worlds working is by using the element of time properly.  In most games, it is a worthless, unlimited quantity, and thus players are able to, say, goof around for hours on random things and places while their boyfriend is waiting to be rescued from ninjas, or whatever.  On the one hand, it’s nice to give the player a bit of freedom.  On the other hand, it’s obviously artificial, AND it leads to monstrous situations for the designer – the player has unlimited time to poke all the holes in their design.

        Tying realistic consequences to the use of player time would cut dramatically into the amount of random wandering the player is likely to do – they’re not going to go to Cancun just for the heck of it if it means they lose automatically.  Majora’s Mask had a system somewhat like this, if I have heard correctly.

        A progressive time system, where player actions take realistic amounts of time (driving across town is not a 5 minute action – it costs time even if it’s accelerated), and where the plot, NPC’s, and antagonists progress according to reasonable schedules (which the player needs to discover and take advantage of to win) would make open world design much more reasonable.  They could be allowed the freedom to go places without it becoming an burden on the designers because the player would lack the motive to do so, and would be penalized for wasting time.

    • Fluka says:

      Pretty much all of those goals made me smile happily and nod.  (Though I’m pretty sure the porn one *would* lead to the downfall of civilization and/or us finally being hooked up to machines a la The Matrix.)

      The strange and unusual settings would be great too, although my disappointment would then be tenfold when invariably all one would be doing in those locations is killing dudes (looking at you, Assassin’s Creed).  I once again state my desire for some kind of stealth intrigue game set in 17th or 18th century French court.

      • Destroy Him My Robots says:

        So much Francois Couperin! I’m sold!

      • Effigy_Power says:

        Court intrigue is generally a topic that’s vastly underplayed in gaming. CK2 has some and a few other trading or war simulators, but in general it’s a fertile soil left untended.
        If I had a vast and long game where I could seed the seeds of distrust in my fellow nobles, making them assassinate and defame each other, all the while sucking up to the ruler and planning my own takeover… Householding my own lands, taxing my peasants in order to afford hiring a forger who will fake some incriminating letters…
        All that without just being some tacked on mechanism to an RTS or war-game… that would be fantabulous.
        I don’t even need a sword or pistol. I’ll let my wit and my seething hatred of my fellow nobility be my weapons. ^,..,^

    • stakkalee says:

      On the matter of non-artificially-constrained open worlds, Outerra has been developing a 3d rendering engine that essentially creates whole planets.  They’re still only in alpha, and there’s not much you can do with the engine yet, but I’d be willing to bet the “open worlds” in open-world games 2 console generations down the line are going to be much bigger than anything we’ve experienced so far.  Of course, populating that vast amount of territory is another problem entirely.

      • Effigy_Power says:

        Depends on the game of course, but in general I’d just love to play a vast empty landscape that’s actually vast. Deserts and oceans especially are thus far fairly limited either by shoehorning them into mountains to separate them from other lands or by ringing them with invisible walls.
        Give me a low-flying space ship or something and let me blast at murderous speeds over vast, endless desert to drop some troops off 10 minutes away or something. I’d play the hell out of that.
        Vastness is something that technical constraints are still holding back and I’d really rather like to get me some of that.

        • stakkalee says:

          There was this game for the C64, I can’t remember the name now, where you were a space captain on a frontier world.  You could trade resources, or deliver medicine, fight raiders, etc.  It wasn’t quite open world, in that you set your destination pre-flight and couldn’t change it, but the flight between locations could go smoothly or it could be broken up by an attack, so sometimes you’d just get to have a leisurely flight between ports.

          I could easily see a game based on Firefly, or something similar, combining space exploration with planetary exploration or terraforming.  Keep the world big, but the NPC settlements small and far apart, throw in some antagonistic fauna or flora, and just enough randomization between planets so that things don’t feel too static, and you don’t even need a plot.

          Or we could make the Lands of Mormon MMO, where everybody gets their own planet to dink around with and various factions can fight over control of Kolob.  Mmm, that’s good blasphemy!

      • Girard says:

        Eventually the system will just procedurally generate civilizations, characters, and dialogue… eventually they’ll achieve such a level of complexity that emergent consciousness – genuine machine intelligence – will develop, at which point video games will provide a thrill they’ve only hinted at until now: virtual murder will be actual murder!

        …in Girard’s Cypherspace, coming out from Tor books this holiday season!

  4. This is the Kickstarter for which I became “that guy”.  Bugging my friends, tweeting constantly, posting videos on Facebook etc.  I even upgraded to a rewards tier I wasn’t remotely interested in (What am I gonna do with a 24-hour dublab mix?) but now that it’s done I couldn’t be more excited.

    I realize there are similar spaces like the NYU Game Center, but Teti gave a talk their earlier in the year, can I find it somewhere to download so I can listen? Nope. It’s only for those who live in the area.  Can’t even find a transcript. Not cool NYU Game Center. Not cool at all.

    I don’t live in L.A. and I doubt I’ll ever travel there, which is awesome because all their lectures are going to be online.  If even one of those lectures is as good as they could be, it’s a success, if even one of the games in the 30(!) game bundle is great it’s a success, if one codemonkey kid sees this, and thinks, every game out there doesn’t have to be inspired by DOOM or Mario, then it’s a success.

    Everybody loves to play the Negative Nancy, and point out, “Gee, that’s an ambitious idea” “Boy, you sure wanna do a lot of stuff, I don’t know…” “These guys don’t have an established goal, they could fail.” SHUSH! Just for once, Sh-SHUSH! Let us have this moment where the community came together to support Indie games!  Go bother that Wing Commander guy’s ambitious Kickstarter. Let us have this moment.

    Look at some of the best games this year, Hotline Miami, Spelunky, Mark of the Ninja, all of them are indie and 2 out of 3 of those developers are involved in LA Game Space. Hell, Sundance even played a documentary about Indie games! This could be the year that Indie really comes into it’s own. 2012 has been a period of rapid growth and 2013 could see even more! So let’s celebrate dammit!

    • Effigy_Power says:

      NYU – Too stoned to upload transcripts.
      I miss that place.

    • Fyodor Douchetoevsky says:

      I always like seeing people not be cynical on the internet. Also Indie games rule. I’m not even sure what the last big budget AAA game that I bought was. Dota 2 is made by Valve, but I didn’t buy it really. Maybe Portal 2? Either way, it’s a pretty exciting time to be into games right now, if you ask me.

    • caspiancomic says:

       This project officially had two “guys”, then, because I’ve been banging on about it nonstop to my friends. Hell, I even emailed Teti about the Kickstarter hoping the site would write it up. I think Drew had this round in the chamber already, but I choose to believe it is through my efforts, possibly single-handedly, that this article was written and indeed the project was funded.

    • Girard says:

      I hope “indie” games really break big this year, because then I can look down my nose and talk about how I was into “indie” games before it was cool.

      But seriously, while I’m not a guy who NEEDS “return on my investment” when supporting something great, the fact that these guys have built into their plan the on-line dissemination of their lecture series and stuff is a big source of my enthusiasm for this project and definitely contributed to my desire to support them. It’s nice to know that I’ll be privy to the bleeding-edge stuff they’re working on over there in LA, even if I end up in, like, Podunk, Kentucky, or something.

    • John Teti says:

      I love the spirit of this comment. I’ll just offer one factual correction in NYU’s defense: The talk you’re thinking of took place at the Museum Of Art And Design, not the NYU Game Center. So you can blame MAD for the lack of video, audio, or transcript.

      I’m talking to some folks about delivering the talk at a larger venue next year. When that happens, I plan to post a version of it here on Gameological as well.

    • hastapura says:

      Wholeheartedly agree with this. I took a game design class at NYC before the Center had an MFA, and before I bailed at the prospect of a life in the bleak blackness of incomprehensible debt. Thing is, to get the game courses there you have to attend the school, which is not cheap and not for everyone. So that’s quite the barrier to entry.

      This seems like a really awesome, creative, egalitarian approach to a game collective that for once is not in NYC. Even that is enough to get my vote.

    • RobMeyer says:

      The NYU Game Center actually tends to upload a ton of their stuff. A bunch of old stuff is on iTunes U, at least it was. There’s also tons of stuff posted to their vimeo page from Practice and most other lectures are available somewhere on their website or their vimeo. If you don’t find one particular one it’s possible it just wasn’t recorded. I can’t even seem to recall Teti ever speaking at the NYU Game Center, even. Are you sure you’re not confusing this with his talk at the Babycastles summit?

      Anyways super happy for LA GameSpace, and the NYU Game Center is already incredible – for everyone.

      • babycastles says:

        That was def. the Babycastles summit, though I bet we smoke a hell of a lot less weed than NYU.  Babycastles is a volunteer run effort – so we get what people really feel committed to, unpredictably, and from all angles, and there’s a beauty in that, too because it allows people to express themselves with whatever efforts they’re personally invested in.  We just kinda channel it into specific times and places.

        This is a full documentation of all the talks from the entire summit put together independently by game designer PigFarmer – tried to promote the hell out of it and it didn’t stick – but some fucking fantastic talks here so check it out please! I believe John Teti, you are included:

  5. ayu febriana says:

    cara menyembuhkan keputihan yang gatal wants to build an office like California Dreaming


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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Valentine Bundle Now Available

Love You Much Promotion

Dates: December 23, 2008 - January 31, 2009

Promotion details:

Get ready for Valentine's Day with the exclusive Love You Much Bundle (item 115405). The Love You Much Bundle includes the following:

Description Retail Value

Love You Much stamp set

Candy Lane Designer Series paper (Close to Cocoa, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla)

Heart To Heart punch

Bundle Retail Value

Love You Much Bundle (20% off; item 115405)

This Valentine bundle is available December 23 thru January 31.

Contact me to order yours.

Also, free shipping ends today. Spend $70.00 and receive free shipping.

Keep an eye out for my Valentine Workshops Coming in January and February.

1 comment:

Denise Clark said...

Just wanted to stop by and wish you a happy New Year!


text:
Research Group of Prof. Dr. J. Garcke
Institute for Numerical Simulation
[1] J. Garcke and A. Kröner. Suboptimal Feedback Control of PDEs by Solving HJB Equations on Adaptive Sparse Grids. Journal of Scientific Computing, 70(1):1-28, 2017. also available as INS Preprint No. 1518.
bib | DOI | http | .pdf 1 ]
An approach to solve finite time horizon suboptimal feedback control problems for partial differential equations is proposed by solving dynamic programming equations on adaptive sparse grids. A semi-discrete optimal control problem is introduced and the feedback control is derived from the corresponding value function. The value function can be characterized as the solution of an evolutionary Hamilton-Jacobi Bellman (HJB) equation which is defined over a state space whose dimension is equal to the dimension of the underlying semi-discrete system. Besides a low dimensional semi-discretization it is important to solve the HJB equation efficiently to address the curse of dimensionality. We propose to apply a semi-Lagrangian scheme using spatially adaptive sparse grids. Sparse grids allow the discretization of the value functions in (higher) space dimensions since the curse of dimensionality of full grid methods arises to a much smaller extent. For additional efficiency an adaptive grid refinement procedure is explored. The approach is illustrated for the wave equation and an extension to equations of Schr{ö}dinger type is indicated. We present several numerical examples studying the effect the parameters characterizing the sparse grid have on the accuracy of the value function and the optimal trajectory.


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a mediateam website

See a sample issue of The Irish Garden!

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Tel (+353 1) 2947777 Email info@garden.ie

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a mediateam website

See a sample issue of The Irish Garden!

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See more questions on Mowing

New lawn

I'm a complete novice to garden - set a new lawn six weeks ago - it's a small bit patchy - with a few weeds - when is the right time to start cutting - and could you recommend anything to kill off weeds. James martin, Ennis, Co Clare Posted: 21/05/2017

When the grass is 7 or 8 cm tall, you can give it a light trim with the blades set high. Gradually reduce the height of cut as the grass thickens up.

The weeds there now are weeds of cultivated ground, not lawn weeds, and regular mowing will soon wear them out.

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Codling Moth on 6 old trees

We have 5 old apple trees and one old pear tree, all 10 to 15 feet high. They have always been good croppers and are professionally pruned every 2 years. In recent years, we have developed a huge problem with Codling Moth. We have used the traps each of the past 3 seasons. The first year 50% of the crop were affected. Last year the percentage was much lower, but it was an enormous crop. This year, the apple crop is much smaller, and it looks like a high percentage are affected again. Some pears are always affected. I understand that most garden insect sprays have been banned. I agree with this, but clearly the Pheromone based glue traps are not working. Any suggestions? bindweed, Limerick, Co Limerick Posted: 29/08/2017

The traps only catch some of the male moths and fertilised females can go on laying eggs.

You need to spray at blossom fall and two weeks later with a garden insecticide, organic if you wish, such as pyrethrum.

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Posts Tagged "wordpress"

Some Site Tweaks

Posted by on Jun 10, 2008 in Blog, Site News

Recently I made a few changes to my .com. Instead of putting time into something that would turn into more time than I desire, I chose a few templates to run with for the next few months. The present theme is...

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Wait & See Estate Planning

The most common concern we see in clients about estate planning is the fear of getting boxed in and taking losses. The world of estate planning is volatile, but just because laws and regulations are bound to change, does not mean you should skip planning altogether.

Wait & See Estate Planning lets high-net-worth clients like yourself start planning now, but keep that plan as flexible as possible. It also allows for access to any trust assets, should there be no estate tax, but remains outside of your estate in case you do get hit with a tax. It's really the best of both worlds.

We establish a highly specialized trust that will hold your assets outside of your estate - which means automatically no taxes on those assets. Furthermore, because of the specialized language surrounding the trust, your spouse has constant access to the assets inside, making Wait & See Estate Planning a simple and practical solution.

But wait, there’s more. Having access to your trust assets means you can use them for extra retirement income, and if you do it right, you can keep that income tax-free.

Fast forward to many years later. Assuming there is an estate tax in place that looks to be quite permanent, the trust assets can be re-positioned in such a way that you’ll be able to leverage them to address those impending tax costs. The client's heirs will then have the liquidity and proceeds to pay for the estate taxes at the client's passing - and can be done at no cost to the client or the trust.

The Wait & See Estate Plan is an incredibly useful weapon in your arsenal. Not only do you have access to your assets, though they are technically out of their estate for all intensive purposes, but you can even drive plenty of retirement income. Plus, we can always re-position your assets so you’re liquid in case estate taxes become due in later years.

The flexibility you want meets the estate plan you need. As we said, it’s truly the best of both worlds and any financial planner worth their salt will agree.

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Tour De France Rider Throws an Elbow, Causes a Wreck, & Gets Disqualified for Injuring Another Rider

If you’re a fan of circuit racing formats like NASCAR, you know that there are ...

If you’re a fan of circuit racing formats like NASCAR, you know that there are phrases like “Rubbin’ is racing” for a reason. Sure, a little bit of contact might happen out there on the track no matter what you’re wheeling and it’s something that we can all get over but, sometimes, when drivers or riders take it too far, fines and other penalties can be assessed to make sure that everyone is out there trying to keep the racing safe and sportsmanlike. The same holds true when you look at a sport like professional bicycling. The Tour de France, the sport’s most recognized event, most certainly has these safety precautions in place so that riders don’t get too ridiculous out there and this time, they had to put them to use in a situation that was downright ugly.

In the 2017 version of The Tour, we got to see how a late stage crash turned this event from a race into nothing short of a contact sport, complete with injury and all. I guess that, among fans, there might be a little bit of debate as to what exactly happened between world champion, Peter Sagan and fellow racer, Mark Cavendish, in the last leg of the race, however, if you ask officials, it looks like they decided that the actions that went down were way out of bounds here. When you watch this clip back and pay closer attention to Sagan, you can really see why he would be disqualified because of his actions.

If you follow along at the video below, you can see, when they take the chance to slow it down, that an elbow was thrown that ended up knocking Cavendish off of his bicycle. Whether it was intentional or not is up for debate but the fact is that it ended up causing quite the pileup and giving Cavendish a fractured shoulder blade and cut hand in the process! From there, a disqualification would send Sagan packing, cutting his Tour de France just a little bit short. The German team maintained to “reject [the claim] to have caused, or in any way intended to cause, the crash of Mark Cavendish.” Sagan made his own personal statement saying that “I can accept the decision but for sure I do not agree with them, because I think I have done nothing wrong.” “As you saw it was a crazy sprint, it was not the first one like that or the last one. I wish that Mark recovers well.”

Cavendish would also have to call it quits early because of the severity of his injuries. After watching the video down below, be sure to tell us what you think of this decision that would disqualify Sagan in the fourth of twenty-one stages.

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Euroasia Industry

Euroasia Industry is a quality, monthly publication that provides insightful comment, in-depth reports and relevant analysis of the world’s foremost industrial developments.

Energy forms a core sector in the magazine, which explores established leaders and emerging markets. We get the low-down from inspirational players about their achievements to date, alongside impressive operations and future strategies, while senior executives of international firms represent Euroasia Industry's core readership – as reflected in the publication’s look and feel.

Our aim is to be one step ahead, to ensure that our readers are too – and Euroasia Industry therefore continues to extend its reach to feature the very best of the global business community.


text:
eagles nestnews berchtesgadenholiday bavaria holiday berchtesgaden holiday berchtesgaden tee house watzmannking watzmannhiking berchtesgadenwatzmann ostwandvacation berchtesgadenvacation bavariavacation bavariasalzburgairport salzburgholiday paradisegeneral walker

Gasthof Gebirgshäusl
ausstattung hollerebenwinterspass berchtesgadengrundriss ferienwohnungpreise bischofswiesen
kontakt berchtesgaden
Apartment Hollereben
The House Hollereben is situated very sunny on a little southern hill. You will be impressed by the view over the surrounding Berchtesgadener mountains.

winterurlaubhollereben schifffahrt königssee sommerurlaub

The House is point of departure for little and bigger hiking- and mountain-tours at all seasons. To the House belongs a large parking place and a small playground for children. We are also in the possession of garages and bicycles, which you can rent, if demanded.

ausblick hollereben

In House Hollereben there are solarium, sauna and whirlpool for your recovery. Washing-machine, laundry-drier and a coin telephone are also available.

Of course we will help you, in case of demanding a doctor at a spa, Dialyze or massage practices and cosmetical treatments.

funtenseehochschwarzeck hintersee götschen skigebiet


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As person who was born with the last name Hefner, what can I say except that I LOVE women! It was my destiny to draw and write about hot girls…as well as science fiction when you factor in the first name (Hal) as well. And since I do write and illustrate Gates, Heavy Metal’s first online comic, in my own head all of these delusions of grandeur make me the perfect outsider to rank Marvel’s blistering babes of beauty.

So I took it upon my opinionated self to sit back, relax and rank the hotties of the Marvel Universe. Since the new 52 arrived for DC I have really not payed attention to what is going on there, so it was best that I chose to look at Marvel and their lineup of super sexy hot villains and super heroines.  I know them well having grown up with them and in all honesty my loyalties rest more-so with Marvel than DC…even though Marvel supports SOPA. So at this point in time I am boycotting both Marvel and DC comics and my only way to discuss them is through an online beauty pageant.

As for this beauty pageant list of Marvel’s hottest chicks, the qualifications were pretty simple. Hot bodies, hot faces, hot powers and sexiness.

It was a difficult process narrowing down who should be included on this list of Marvel’s beauty queens. However I HAD to make a choice. Unfortunately some of Marvel’s girls had to be left off, like Polaris and Namora to name a couple. And it was a difficult decision ranking these  hotties as well.

But I managed to do it…So without further delay, here are my choices for Marvel’s 15 Hottest Women.

15) Psylocke = Betsy Braddock
Purple hair, an amazing body and enchanted by Merlin, imagine the  things she could do to a man.

14) Rogue = Anna Marie (full name unknown)
A southern girl with lots of spunk, Rogue is so hot you can’t even touch her…or you’ll get your life sucked out of you.

13) Dagger = Tandy Bowen
The girl is sexy in that whitey tighty outfit and can throw light daggers that do everything from cure drug addiction to forcing people to confront their own demons.

12) Tigra =  Greer Nelson
What man would not want to get nasty with a cat woman? Grrrrr

11) Mystique = Raven Darkholme
Blue skin, amazing body and to top it off can shape-shift into anything. She would make an interesting one night stand

10) She-Hulk = Jennifer Walters
Big green and sexy, what man wouldn’t wanted to be dominated by this hot hero?

9) Scarlet Witch = Wanda Maximoff
A crazy sorceress who is into sex with androids. She might make for a fun night that only Clive Barker could dream about.

scarlet witch

8 ) Black Widow = Natasha Romanova
Sleek, sexy and dressed in skin tight black leather, this is one Russian babe who could paint your town red very quickly.

7) Ms. Marvel = Carol Danvers
Ms. Marvel is one sexy alcoholic who looks to be a real warrior in the bedroom.

6) Black Cat = Felicia Hardy
She is a sleek and sexy ex-catburgler with a body to die for but Spider Man chose Lindsey Lohan like Mary Jane Watson instead? WTF?

black cat

5) Elektra = Elektra Natchios
Elektra is one Greek Goddess Assassin who can rock your world with her ass kicking moves.

4) Storm = Ororo Munro
An African priestess with a bangin’ body, a beautiful booty, white hair and can rock a mohawk better than Grace Jones, Storm is a “thunderous” babe.

3) Phoenix = Jean Grey
As Marvel Girl, Jean Grey was cute. But as Phoenix she was diabolically delicious, especially the darker she got.

2) Spider Woman = Jessica Drew
This curvaceous black haired she-arachnid is ass-kickingly beautiful in a Jaclyn Smith in her prime type of way.

1) The White Queen = Emma Frost
Emma frost is as sexy and sultry as any comic book seductress can get. Her cold chill cannot does nothing to defrost her hotness. Her inner battle with good and evil only makes her hotter.

All characters are Copyright of the Marvel Universe. Their images and information are found on the official Marvel Web Page, that has character bios and anything and everything you desire to know about the Marvel Universe.

Thank you Marvel for creating these hot babes! BUT I’m very disappointed in YOU for supporting SOPA. Maybe if you were a little quicker at embracing understanding and innovating the digital space, you wouldn’t have to support SOPA. Blame yourself not others.


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Friday, August 29, 2014

The earliest use of Wicca

We want to run a competition: just for fun, but with a serious purpose. The winner will receive a copy of Margaret Murray's God of the Witches. It's very simple: Document a single case of the word Wicca being used to name a spiritual path--meaning a religion or a spiritual way of thinking. Whoever finds the earliest use, apart from use by Frost, wins. Note that Gerald Gardner used "wi(c)ca"* only once, and he did not use it in the meaning we delineate here. The earliest use by ourselves was in our booklet "Witchcraft the Way to Serenity", the first copy was sold on 4 November 1968. In the back of the booklet there was an advertisement for the School of Wicca's course in Wicca. Therefore we were using Wicca at least a month prior to the sale we can justly claim a documented** date for first use of 1 October 1968. The Articles of Association for the Church of Wicca are notarized 13 December 1971. Okay, troops. Have at it. The winner's name will be announced in six (6) months. * We have been told that in early copies of Gardner's book it is spelt with one C and in later editions with two Cs. **Documented does not mean a quote from Wikipedia.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The Problem with the Internet No recourse to Gossip

Anyone with access to the internet can diss anyone almost without fear of reprisal. Recently we have stopped blogging because people amused themselves by misquoting and disparaging our work. These two-digit IQ's, obviously jealous, with little or no accomplishments to their own credit, have taken it upon themselves to degrade and belittle almost sixty years' work that culminated in getting Wicca to be a Federally recognized religion. We ask those of you with negative things to get off your chest: What have you done that is positive in the Community? Currently those of you who are perpetuating myths are supporting gossip: gossip that has no basis in fact and is of a deliberately, deleterious, titillating, and personal nature: a shining example of an attack ad hominem. The ancient saying ordains: To know, to will, to dare, to keep silent. People spreading gossip do not know. They only have negative will. They do not dare. They talk but have no record of accomplishing anything on their own. And obviously they do not keep silent. We suggest that such behavior should not be welcomed. Further we suggest: Know the real Community and the facts. Have will to be positive. Dare to support your Community. Keep silent. To keep silent means to listen well; to absorb what you hear. It does not mean to keep damaging secrets or to hide truth. We are not advocating a culture of complicity. Blessed be those who recall the Wiccan Rede and live by it.


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Is my engagement ring covered by my Policy?

No. Our wedding Insurance Policy provides coverage only for the wedding bands to be exchanged during the ceremony, not for an engagement ring. It is recommended that you insure your rings on your household policy.

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Mason Bay

The rebirth and conversion of a New Zealand fishing boat-and maybe her further adventures. Other boats and observations will happen from time to time.....

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Loaded 2 of the 3 anchoirs aboard and also the anchor chain. Two shots, one 50m of 1/2 working rode ,and 60 m 1/2 backup below the workshop floor. The working anchor is the new ROCNA (anchor spelt backwards!) 40kg or 90lbs. They are getting very good reports around here, Designed in NZ and made in China. The hydraulic windless powers in and out at 12m per minute and will lift 1.5 tons.
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Boston PainCare

Behavioral Health Resources

Need to Relax?

Relax!Stress, worries, negative thoughts can make your chronic pain worse!

Negative thoughts, stress, worry, and muscle tension contribute to the severity of chronic pain. Relaxation and stress management techniques can help individuals gain more control over their body and thoughts as well as improve coping with pain. Examples of relaxation and stress management include deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, and guided imagery.

Below are some online resources to help you relax.

Great Reads on Living With Chronic Pain -- a list of books recommended by our behavioral health specialists to help learn to cope with chronc pain.   Books offer solutions using a variety of strategies from mindfulness to time mangement and behavior modification therapies.

Free Relaxation Recordings -- to relax your mind and body.

Palouse Mindfulness --This online Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training course is 100% free, created by a fully certified MBSR instructor, and is modeled on the program founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center -- Free Guided Meditations

Patient Apps -- Click here to download a list of apps for your smartphone (both Apple and Android) to help you to achieve your goals whether they be meditation, weight loss, or fitness.

Mindfulness Resources -- Click here for a one stop shopping list of apps, websites, and books that will help you on your mindfulness journey.

Music Handout | Help us Create Patient Playlists! -- Learn about the healing power of music and help us help you create customized playlists for our Spotify account.

Spotify Playlists -- Whether you want to cool down after a FAST Track Workshop or relax at the end of the day, we've got a playlist for you! Spotify

Contact us

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Geeks With Blogs
The Library of Software Testing Pavankumar Pothuraju's weblog

Testing Your Web Application

A Quick 10-Step Guide

by Krishen Kota

Interested in a quick checklist for testing a web application?  The following 10 steps cover the most critical items that I have found important in making sure a web application is ready to be deployed.  Depending on size, complexity, and corporate policies, modify the following steps to meet your specific testing needs.

Step 1 - Objectives

Make sure to establish your testing objectives up front and make sure they are measurable. It will make your life a lot easier by having written objectives that your whole team can understand and rally around.  In addition to documenting your objectives, make sure your objectives are prioritized.  Ask yourself questions like “What is most important: minimal defects or time-to-market?”

Here are two examples of how to determine priorities:

If you are building a medical web application that will assist in diagnosing illnesses, and someone could potentially die based on how correctly the application functions, you may want to make testing the correctness of the business functionality a higher priority than testing for navigational consistency throughout the application.

If you are testing an application that will be used to solicit external funding, you may want to put testing the aspects of the application that impact the visual appeal as the highest testing priority.

Your web application doesn't have to be perfect; it just needs to meet your intended customer's requirements and expectations.

Step 2 – Process and Reporting

Make sure that everyone on your testing team knows his or her role.  Who should report what to whom and when?  In other words, define your testing process.  Use the following questions to help you get started:

  • How will issues be reported?
  • Who can assign issues?
  • How will issues be categorized?
  • Who needs what report and when do they need it?
  • Are team meetings scheduled in advance or scheduled as needed?

You may define your testing process and reporting requirements formally or informally, depending on your particular needs.  The main point to keep in mind is to organize your team in a way that supports your testing objectives and takes into account the individual personalities on your team.  One size never fits all when dealing with people.

Step 3 - Tracking Results

Once you start executing your test plans, you will probably generate a large number of bugs, issues, defects, etc.  You will want a way to easily store, organize, and distribute this information to the appropriate technical team members.  You will also need a way to keep management informed on the status of your testing efforts.  If your company already has a system in place to track this type of information, don't try to reinvent the wheel.  Take advantage of what's already in place.

If your company doesn't already have something in place, spend a little time investigating some of the easy-to-setup online systems such as the one found at  By using an online system, you can make it much easier on yourself by eliminating the need to install and maintain an off-the-shelf package.

Step 4 - Test Environment

Set up a test environment that is separate from your development and production environment.  This includes a separate web server, database server, and application server if applicable.  You may or may not be able to utilize existing computers to setup a separate test environment.

Create an explicitly defined procedure for moving code to and from your test environment and make sure the procedure is followed.  Also, work with your development team to make sure each new version of source code to be tested is uniquely identified.

Step 5 - Usability Testing

In usability testing, you'll be looking at aspects of your web application that affect the user's experience, such as:

  • How easy is it to navigate through your web application?

  • Is it obvious to the user which actions are available to him or her?

  • Is the look-and-feel of your web application consistent from page to page, including font sizes and colors?

The book, "Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability" by Steve Krug and Roger Black, provides a practical approach to the topic of usability.  I refer to it often, and recommend it highly.

In addition to the traditional navigation and look-and-feel issues, Section 508 compliance is another area of importance.  The 1998 Amendment to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act spells out accessibility requirements for individuals with certain disabilities.

For instance, if a user forgets to fill in a required field, you might think it is a good idea to present the user with a friendly error message and change the color of the field label to red or some other conspicuous color.  However, changing the color of the field label would not really help a user who has difficulty deciphering colors.  The use of color may help most users, but you would want to use an additional visual clue, such as placing an asterisk beside the field in question or additionally making the text bold.

For more details, refer to  Another great resource that can help analyze your HTML pages for Section 508 compliance can be found at  If you are working with the United States federal government, Section 508 compliance is not only good design, it most likely is a legal requirement.  You may want to utilize the following information regarding techniques for accessibility evaluation and repair tools, which can be found at

Step 6 – Unit Testing

Unit testing is focused on verifying small portions of functionality.  For example, an individual unit test case might focus on verifying that the correct data has been saved to the database when the Submit button on a particular page is clicked.

An important subset of unit testing that is often overlooked is range checking.  That is, making sure all the fields that collect information from the user, can gracefully handle any value that is entered.  Most people think of range checking as making sure that a numeric field only accepts numbers.  In addition to traditional range checking make sure you also check for less common, but just as problematic exceptions.  For example, what happens when a user enters his or her last name and the last name contains an apostrophe, such as O’Brien?  Different combinations of databases and database drivers handle the apostrophe differently, sometimes with unexpected results.  Proper unit testing will help rid your web application of obvious errors that your users should never have to encounter.

Step 7 - Verifying the HTML

Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is the computer language sent from your web server to the web browser on your users' computer to display the pages that make up your web application.  The World Wide Web Consortium ( manages the HTML specification.  One major objective of HTML is to provide the ability for anyone from anywhere to access information on the World Wide Web.  This concept generally holds true if you conform strictly to the relevant version of the HTML specification that you will support.  Unfortunately, in the real world, it is possible for a developer to inadvertently use a proprietary HTML tag that may not work for all of your intended users.

Verifying HTML is simple in concept but can be very time consuming in practice.  A good place to start is with the World Wide Web Consortium's free HTML Validation Service (  There are also other online and downloadable applications to help in this area such as Net Mechanic (  There are two main aspects of verifying the validity of your HTML.   First, you want to make sure that your syntax is correct, such as verifying that all opening and closing tags match, etc.  Secondly, you want to verify how your pages look in different browsers, at different screen resolutions, and on different operating systems.  Create a profile of your target audience and make some decisions on what browsers you will support, on which operating systems, and at what screen resolutions.

In general, the later versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer are very forgiving.  If your development team has only been using Internet Explorer 5.5 on high-resolution monitors, you may be unpleasantly surprised when you see your web application on a typical user's computer.  The sooner you start verifying your HTML, the better off your web application will be.

Step 8 - Load Testing

In performing load testing, you want to simulate how users will use your web application in the real world.  The earlier you perform load testing the better. Simple design changes can often make a significant impact on the performance and scalability of your web application.  A good overview of how to perform load testing can be found on Microsoft's Developer Network (MSDN) website.

A topic closely related to load testing is performance tuning.  Performance tuning should be tightly integrated with the design of your application.  If you are using Microsoft technology, the following article is a great resource for understanding the specifics of tuning a web application.

People hate to wait for a web page to load.  As general rule, try to make sure that all of your pages load in 15 seconds or less.  This rule will of course depend on your particular application and the expectations of the people using it.

Step 9 - User Acceptance Testing

By performing user acceptance testing, you are making sure your web application fits the use for which it was intended. Simply stated, you are making sure your web application makes things easier for the user and not harder. One effective way to handle user acceptance testing is by setting up a beta test for your web application.

One article to help you get started planning an effective beta test is: Supercharged Beta Test by Joshua Grossnickle and Oliver Raskin, May 14, 2001 which can be found at:  This article points out the critical aspects of setting up a beta test including how to identify beta testers and how to obtain their feedback. The main point to remember in user acceptance testing is to listen to what the people using your web application are saying. Their feedback will be critical to the ultimate success of your web application.

Step 10 - Testing Security

With the large number of highly skilled hackers in the world, security should be a huge concern for anyone building a web application.  You need to test how secure your web application is from both external and internal threats.  The security of your web application should be planned for and verified by qualified security specialists.

If you think security is a subject that is over-hyped, check out Steve Gibson's account of how a 13 year old hacker took his company's website down for an extended period of time at will.  You can find this eye-opening security case study at:

Some additional online resources to help you stay up to date on the latest Internet security issues include:

CERT Coordination Center

Computer Security Resource Center

After performing your initial security testing, make sure to also perform ongoing security audits to ensure your web application remains secure over time as people and technology change.

Testing a web application can be a totally overwhelming task.  The best advice I can give you is to keep prioritizing and focusing on the most important aspects of your application and don’t forget to solicit help from your fellow team members.

By following the steps above coupled with your own expertise and knowledge, you will have a web application you can be proud of and that your users will love.  You will also be giving your company the opportunity to deploy a web application that could become a run away success and possibly makes tons of money, saves millions of lives, or slashes customer support costs in half.  Even better, because of your awesome web application, you may get profiled on CNN, which causes the killer job offers to start flooding in.

Proper testing is an integral part of creating a positive user experience, which can translate into the ultimate success of your web application.  Even if your web application doesn’t get featured on CNN, CNBC, or Fox News, you can take great satisfaction in knowing how you and your team’s diligent testing efforts made all the difference in your successful deployment.

Copyright © 2002 Krishen Kota, All Rights Reserved

Krishen Kota is a 10-year veteran of the information technology consulting industry and is a Certified Project Management Professional.  Krishen serves as President of AdminiTrack, Inc. (, which provides a web-based issue and defect tracking application designed specifically for professional software development teams.  Krishen can be contacted via email at

Posted on Friday, June 11, 2004 12:15 PM Web Testing | Back to top

Comments on this post: Testing Your Web Application

# Testing Your Web Application
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This deserves more attention. Great piece on how to test your web applications. Here are the 10 steps, but you'll have to read the original article for all the juicy bits: Step 1 - Objectives Step 2 Process and Reporting Step 3 - Tracking Results Step 4 - Test Environment Step 5 - Usability Testing Step 6 Unit Testing Step 7 - Verifying the HTML Step 8 - Load Testing Step 9 - User Acceptance Testing Step 10 - Testing Security This is a different process than I've seen before. It's ideally suited to a pure "testing" mode, which is fantastic to get into. This is an easy process to follow, and one which could easily become second nature to those who are so inclined....
Left by Ensight - Jeremy C. Wright on Jun 11, 2004 6:57 AM

# re: Testing Your Web Application
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this is a realy helpful for the professional who are in this field. can u tell us how u go thru report testing in web application.
Left by soubhagya on Jul 19, 2005 12:01 PM

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this is a realy helpful for the professional who are in this field. can u tell us how u go thru report testing in web application.
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Great... How about some kind of back-end testing? Like database testing? testing at API level?
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Hi All

Could you please give an idea how to check a web page is secure?
Thanks in advance

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J.L. Hendricks meets GeektasticBooks.com

J.L. Hendricks is a USA Today Bestselling independent author who enjoys many genres, as evidenced by her catalogue of available books. She is currently focused on Sci-Fi and Urban Fantasy, but has also written LitRPG, Paranormal and Christmas books. Her latest series is Urban Fantasy with a kick!

She is very proud to have served in the US Army before she went to college. Early 2016 she decided to finally write, and finish a book, because of a few friends who encouraged her to do so. She hopes her stories entertain you and can bring a laugh on occasion.

Actually, it was her roommate’s cat who talked her into staying at home to be her minion all day long! Pyper truly believes that J.L. is here to serve her alone.

Jennifer has kindly agreed to let us interview her so we can find out more about her and her books.

Hi Jennifer! Thank you for talking with us today – we’re very exited to have you here!

Why don’t you tell us a little bit about how you started writing.

Jennifer: It’s just been over a year since I published my first book. I started writing in February of 2016. Although, I had started to write a book when I was in high school and it was so awful, I threw it out. LOL.

Congratulations on your anniversary! How do you come up with ideas to write about – what inspires you?

Jennifer: Pretty much anything can inspire me. But, when I get into a rut I turn to soundtracks. Suicide Squad and Tron are my two go-to albums. I also love Hunger Games and Twilight. Something about them get my brain moving and the words flying again.

The ideas part is fun! I’ll see something when I’m out and about, or on tv, and my mind will start churning out ideas. Some make it to the page and some never do. My mind is always working and coming up with something different and fun. The Voodoo Dolls series (Urban fantasy) is actually based on 4 real authors. Myself being one of them. It all started out as a game. The four of us were teasing each other and playing with fake voodoo dolls to urge each other on with our writing. Eventually we started calling ourselves the Voodoo Doll Sisters. Then I began thinking about our personalities and the new series developed from there. It’s been a blast writing this one! Indie and I are still trading barbs on twitter, some of which make it into the book.

So what does a typical day look like for you?

Jennifer: My day revolves around writing, and everything that goes with it. I wake up about 7am and don’t stop most days until around 10 or 11 PM. Social media can take a lot of my time as can marketing. I try to write at least 5 hours a day, but some days it’s really tough to focus enough. There is also a writer’s group I participate in and try to learn as much as i possible can from other authors. I can even learn from their mistakes.

That’s dedication! We’re really happy to be featuring your book, Worlds Revealed, in our collection of free science fiction and fantasy books. Can you describe what it’s about?

Jennifer: Of course. Worlds Revealed is a prequel story for my mostly clean Scifi romance with tons of adventure! While there is a happily-ever-after ending in each book, it’s more about the journey than the romance itself. This book tells the true story of Roswell through the eyes of the alien commander who was there. Humans don’t realize how close we came to annihilation that fateful day in the New Mexico desert. Thanks to one alien commander, we weren’t taken over by another alien (insectoids) species hell bent on destroying us and using us to propagate their species.

You’ve got my mind racing – just thinking of it in that way! Very cool. It’s part of a series, isn’t it?

Jennifer: Yes, it is. 🙂 It’s the prequel to the Alien Abduction Series. One alien race has actually conquered Earth, we just don’t know it yet. The V’Zenians are a proud race of warriors who almost went extinct 200 years ago when they experienced a plague of Biblical proportions. Most of their women are still infertile. They discovered Humans are compatible with them so they claimed our planet as theirs. Once a year they come and abduct 200 people, mostly women. The men are used as slaves and the women are given a choice to be slave or mate.
In book 1, Worlds Away, the alien ship is almost destroyed after it has abducted 200 humans. They crash land on an outpost controlled by the V’Zenians, but so do the aliens (Zateelians) who attacked them. There is much more going on than the V’Zenians realize and soon they are having to fight off the insectoids (Zateelians) and preparing for a war.

Each book has a theme, but overall my tales are about overcoming adversity and growing as a person (human or alien). Love always finds a way, but it isn’t the most important thing. What’s most important is figuring who you are and role you can play in this world. No one should make you doubt yourself, or your self worth.

What are you writing at the minute?

Jennifer: I have so much going on! I currently have 3 series I am keeping active. Once I finish up book 3 in The Voodoo Dolls, I will be writing a new series with Michael Anderle. I’m so excited to write this one! It’s going to be a space opera set in his Kurtherian Gambit Universe. I have wanted to write this particular story for quite some time now. There will be augmented humans, aliens, and lots of mercenaries and space pirates! It should be a blast!

You’re certainly a very busy lady and we really love Michael Anderle’s work too. That’s going to be a great series too – how can readers buy your books?

Jennifer: All of my books can be found on Amazon, but I do have two books that are available on a range of sites. Eclipse of the Beginning and Eclipse of the Warrior are currently available on iTunes, Nook, Kobo, and a few other smaller international sites. Books 2-3 in the Eclipse Series will be going wide shortly as well. I just need to find time to finish the edits and then i can release them.

And if readers want to contact you, are you on social media?

Jennifer: Sure. Come and chat with me on Facebook, and check out my Amazon author page. Oh, yeah, don’t forget my website and blog at: https://jlhendricksauthor.com/… and last but not least is Twitter!

That’s great, Jennifer! Thank you so much for your time today.

Get your copy of Worlds Revealed, for free, here.