Highly anticipated channel will feature original radio shows hosted by members of the band, rare concert performances and insider interviews.
NEW YORK, Aug. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — SIRIUS Satellite Radio today announced the launch of the highly anticipated Grateful Dead Channel. Heard exclusively on SIRIUS, the channel will feature music spanning the Grateful Dead’s long and celebrated history. The channel will include rare and unreleased performances, original shows hosted by Grateful Dead founders Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, as well as rare archival interviews with Jerry Garcia.
The Grateful Dead Channel will make its debut on September 7 at 12 pm ET on SIRIUS channel 32 with an extremely rare concert broadcast of the band’s 1974 performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. This performance will be followed by a special show hosted by Bob Weir, the first by a member of the Grateful Dead on the new channel. The channel will also feature contributions from Grateful Dead expert David Gans, as well as Dead archivist David Lemieux, who will provide a unique look into the Dead’s lush past with daily insights.
“Since we announced the launch of the Grateful Dead Channel, it has become one of the most anticipated music channel launches in our history.” said Scott Greenstein, President, Entertainment and Sports, SIRIUS. “The loyalty and passion of Grateful Dead fans are the truest testament to the band’s legacy. Sirius is thrilled to bring exclusive content to this community and welcomes their continued participation as Sirius becomes part of the Grateful Dead family.”
“This is gonna be one fun channel,” said the Dead’s Bob Weir. “We, the guys in the band, get to be involved as much as we can and we’ll make sure it’s fun. We want the fans to be involved as well.”
The Grateful Dead formed in mid 1960’s San Francisco’s psychedelia and quickly became a staple in the local music scene. The historic summer of 1967, known as ‘The Summer of Love,’ is when the band first found world wide recognition as thousands of young people from around-the-world made their way to San Francisco’s Haight and Ashbury district to find a new social experience. The Dead, well-known for constantly touring, kept the experience alive for another three decades with a devoted community of fans, many of whom traveled the country with them.
The Grateful Dead Channel joins an exclusive line up of 24-hour, commercial-free music channels dedicated entirely to some of the world’s greatest recording artists including Elvis Radio, the world’s only official, all-Elvis Presley radio channel broadcasting live from Graceland; and Siriusly Sinatra, devoted to the music and legacy of Frank Sinatra. SIRIUS has previously dedicated channels exclusively to the music of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Rolling Stones, David Gilmour and Pink Floyd, George Strait, and most recently, The Who. SIRIUS is also the exclusive radio home of Shade 45, the uncut hip-hop channel co-created with Eminem, “Little Steven” Van Zandt’s Underground Garage, channel 25, and Jimmy Buffett’s Radio Margaritaville, channel 31.
About SIRIUS
SIRIUS, “The Best Radio on Radio,” delivers more than 130 channels of the best programming in all of radio. SIRIUS is the original and only home of 100% commercial free music channels in satellite radio, offering 69 music channels. SIRIUS also delivers 65 channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data. SIRIUS is the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, NASCAR and NBA, and broadcasts live play-by-play games of the NFL and NBA, as well as live NASCAR races. All SIRIUS programming is available for a monthly subscription fee of only $12.95.
SIRIUS Internet Radio (SIR) is a CD-quality, Internet-only version of the SIRIUS radio service, without the use of a radio, for the monthly subscription fee of $12.95. SIR delivers more than 80 channels of talk, entertainment, sports, and 100% commercial free music.
SIRIUS Backseat TV(TM) is the first ever live in-vehicle rear seat entertainment featuring three channels of children’s TV programming, including Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, for the subscription fee of $6.99 plus applicable audio subscription fee.
SIRIUS products for the car, truck, home, RV and boat are available in more than 20,000 retail locations, including Best Buy, Circuit City, Crutchfield, Costco, Target, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, RadioShack and at shop.sirius.com.
SIRIUS radios are offered in vehicles from Audi, Bentley, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep(R), Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercury, Maybach, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Rolls Royce, Scion, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. Hertz also offers SIRIUS in its rental cars at major locations around the country.
Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance with respect to SIRIUS Satellite Radio Inc. are not historical facts and may be forward-looking and, accordingly, such statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among the significant factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed are: our pending merger with XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. (”XM”), including related uncertainties and risks and the impact on our business if the merger is not completed; any events which affect the useful life of our satellites; our dependence upon third parties, including manufacturers of SIRIUS radios, retailers, automakers and programming providers; and our competitive position versus other audio entertainment providers.
Satellite radio
A satellite radio or subscription radio (SR) is a digital radio signal that is broadcast by a communications satellite, which covers a much wider geographical range than terrestrial radio signals.
Satellite radio is currently at the forefront of the evolution of radio services in some countries, notably the United States. Mobile services, such as Sirius, XM, and Worldspace allow a listener to roam across an entire continent, listening to the same audio programming anywhere he goes. Other services, such as Music Choice or Muzak’s satellite-delivered content require a fixed-location receiver and a dish antenna. In all cases, the antenna must have a clear view to the satellites. In areas where tall buildings, bridges, or even parking garages obscure the signal, repeaters can be placed to make the signal available to listeners.
Radio services are usually provided by commercial ventures, and are subscription-based. The various services are proprietary signals, requiring specialized hardware for decoding and playback. Providers usually carry a variety of news, weather, sports, and music channels, with the music channels generally being commercial-free.
In areas with a relatively high population density, it is easier and less expensive to reach the bulk of the population with terrestrial broadcasts. Thus in the UK and some other countries, the contemporary evolution of radio services is focused on Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) services, such as HD Radio rather than satellite radio.
Satellite radio providers
United States
In North America, there are two satellite radio companies, XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. These two former rivals have announced their intention to merge, which would create a single satellite radio entity in the United States with nearly 14 million subscribers.
Canada
XM Canada and Sirius Canada, operated as separate entities from their American counterparts with 51% ownership by different Canadian companies, may eventually merge as well. Sirius Canada’s market share is slightly more than that of XM with 300,000 and 270,000 paid subscribers respectively. XM Canada owns a lucrative contract with the NHL, which it feels would bring a great deal to the merged company in hockey-crazed Canada.
Europe, Asia, and Africa
WorldSpace is the sole mobile satellite radio provider in Asia and Africa, and seeks to expand into Europe. ONDAS Media S.A., based in Madrid, plans to be Europe’s first and premier digital satellite-based provider of multilingual radio, video, and other data and telematics services primarily to vehicles and hand-held mobile devices.
The European Space Agency, however, has unveiled a plan and a prototype to use pre-existing satellites to construct a satellite radio service. The satellites were part of Europe’s original satellite TV system, and are nearing the end of their operational lives. As satellite radio doesn’t require the exact satellite positioning that a dish-based TV system does, their lives can be extended even though the satellites are drifting out of their original orbits.
Other areas
Areas outside of the Worldspace, XM, or Sirius footprint, including Australia, New Zealand, and the Hawaiian Islands, do not yet have access to mobile satellite radio services. There are several satellite TV services which operate in these areas and can provide audio programming via dish antennas.
Business applications
Satellite radio, particularly in the United States, has become a major provider of background music to businesses such as hotels, retail chains, and restaurants . Compared to old-line competitors such as Muzak, satellite radio’s significantly lower price, commercial-free channel variety, and more reliable technology make it a very attractive option. Both North American satellite radio providers offer business subscriptions, though given the merger of XM Satellite Radio with Sirius, the future of XM for Business is uncertain. Sirius’ commercial services are provided nationally by third-party partner Applied Media Technologies Corporation .
System design
Satellite radio uses the 2.3 GHz S band in North America, and generally shares the 1.4 GHz L band with local Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) stations elsewhere. It is a type of direct broadcast satellite, and is strong enough that it requires no satellite dish to receive. Curvature of the Earth limits the reach of the signal, but due to the high orbit of the satellites, two or three are usually sufficient to provide coverage for an entire continent.
Local repeaters similar to broadcast translator boosters enable signals to be available even if the view of the satellite is blocked, for example, by skyscrapers in a large town. Major tunnels can also have repeaters. This method also allows local programming to be transmitted such as traffic and weather in most major metropolitan areas, as of March 2004.
Each receiver has an Electronic Serial Number (ESN)-Radio ID to identify it. When a unit is activated with a subscription, an authorization code is sent in the digital stream telling the receiver to allow access to the blocked channels. Most services have at least one “free to air” or “in the clear” (ITC) channel as a test. For example, Sirius uses channel 184 “Sirius Weather & Emergency”.
Most (if not all) of the systems in use now are proprietary, using different codecs for audio data compression, different modulation techniques, and/or different methods for encryption and conditional access.
Like other radio services, satellite radio also transmits program-associated data (PAD or metadata), with the artist and title of each song or program, and possibly the name.
Call Of Duty 4
(I apologize for that that have not specified a source for this info. The main artcle is http://www.2old2play.com/News/Call_of_Duty_4___The_Beta_First_Impressions )
For the past month and a half the gaming community has been chomping at the bit to get a look at anything that has to do with Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare.
This past week we got the chance to do just that when Infinity Ward opened up their Beta for COD4 to a select group of people in the press, as well as some lucky members of the CharlieOscarDelta.com community.
Here is what we saw and what we thought about the game that a lot of people are calling the Halo Killer.
The Call of Duty 4 Beta is only a touch of what you’ll see in the final version of the game when it’s released on Monday November 5th, but what you are able to see is going to make your mouth water for more of the tasty goodness. ( cashadvances )
Graphics
If you are looking for a crisp clear brightly colored game look the other way, because that is not what you are going to find in Call of Duty 4.
The graphics in the game are extremely gritty to give the gamer a feel of being in a real warzone. Everything looks drab and washed out, in a good way; it makes you feel like you are actually immersed into a modern day warzone.
All the buildings are broken and cracked so they look like they will fall over in the slightest breeze, with the help of an M16A4 bullet, or when the next chopper hovers over the top of them waiting to pick off the unsuspecting enemy.
The foliage is really where this game shines. It has to if you are going to be able to pull off being a sniper and wearing a ghillie suit.
Many times in game we would be running along trying to make it to a point of entry or cross a road without getting our heads taken off, only to be sniped down by someone camouflaged to the nines and hiding in the bushes.
All in all the graphics definitely compliment the game play and game style very well. Don’t be surprised though if you have to squint at your screen to spot an enemy on the other side of the map, they blend in that well.
Controls
The control scheme is very similar to that of Call of Duty 2 with a few subtle differences. So subtle in fact that if you have played a lot of COD 2 you shouldn’t have much of a problem picking up the controls for 4 in a short amount of time.
Most of the buttons are set up in the same place as they were in 2 with a few new additions. When sniping you can hold your breath with the left thumb stick as you could before, but when you aren’t scoped in this is the sprint button. Players can now sprint across open areas for short distances in order to help them better avoid getting gunned down when they click or hold down the left thumb stick.
The other addition is one that involves your kill streaks and you some of your perks, but we’ll get to those in a little bit. Let’s just say that one click of the button can cause a lot of damage to the other team and put a smile on your face as you watch the destruction.
All in all the controls have a smooth and familiar feel to them and you won’t be disappointed in how your movements flow from your fingers the screen.
Game types
There are four game types in the beta, and they all have their own areas of appeal. Here they are: Free for all, Team Death Match, Search and Destroy, Domination.
Free for All – Exactly what it sounds like. Players pick a load out and head out onto the battle field and try to prove they are the best of the best, (in that particular game).
Team Death Match – The tried and true staple for all shooters is back in COD 4 and it is just as much fun, if not more so, then it has ever been. Be prepared to feel like you are surrounded and constantly feel like you need to check your six as you battle it out in teams of up to six vs. six.
Search and Destroy – A new spin on the old version of Search and destroy from COD 2 in which one, player, from the attacking team, must pick up the bomb at the beginning of the match and then move towards the A or B objective, with the help of his or her team, where they must plant the bomb. After the bomb is planted the attacking team must then defend that area for 30 seconds.
If the defending team kills all of the attacking team’s members or defuses the bomb they win, if the bomb goes off then the attacking team wins. Each game is first to 4 wins and you only have one life so be careful when you stick your head around a corner.
Domination – This game type is a lot like Call of Duty 3’s war. There are three areas on the map, (A, B, C), which players must capture and hold for points. The more areas you hold the more points you will acquire and the quicker the round will be over.
Sounds easy right? Well it’s not. Each team ideally has six players each so you have to spread yourself out in order to attack or defend each territory making it easier for the attacking team to put all their effort into capture the area you are defending.
This game type is that will take the tactical side of what has been a more of a run and gun series to a new level of strategy and teamwork. So if you like to work and as a team and develop different strategies this will be the game type for you and your friends.
Create a Class
Taking a page from the Rainbow six series and other more tactical shooters Call of Duty 4 has added a new customizable option to its game play. The newest option allows players to create your own player class and customize your load out to compliment your own playing style.
Each player has five customizable slots to set up for different maps or game types. If you don’t want to spend the time setting up the custom classes, which we highly recommend you do, then you can choose from standard setup ala Call of Duty 2 with set weapons, grenades, and other goodies
The possibilities are endless for any type of play style.
Weapons and Special Grenades – Players will have the choice of a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, and a special grenade.
Primary Weapon – Players can choose from Assault Rifles, Sub Machine Guns, Light Machine Guns, Shotguns, or Sniper Rifles. There are five to seven choices in each area to choose from so you shouldn’t have any problem finding something you like.
After you pick your weapon you can also pick attachments that will help you get the enemy in your sites a little faster or help you aim a little straighter.
An example of this is the red dot site which puts a red dot, not a laser, on wherever you are aiming to help you get a better feel for where your bullets are going to end up.
Side Arm – Just like most other shooters you are allowed to take a pistol out with you onto the battlefield. There are four to choose from and they each have their pros and cons, but we’ll let you figure that out for yourself.
If you want to be sneaky you can hook up a silencer to the end of your pistol in order to get that stealth shot to the back of your head on your unsuspecting buddy.
Special Grenades – There are three types of special grenades. An upgrade from the older Call of Duty games where you only had smoke grenades. The three types are: Flash Grenade, Stun Grenade, and Smoke.
Each grenade serves a different purpose and can be helpful or deadly its own way. So choose carefully you don’t want to bring a smoke grenades to a room breaching party.
Perks - These are special abilities that let each player further customize your load to compliment your game play style. You are limited to three perks for each one of your customizable class slots.
Here is what you have to work with and get ready to put your thinking cap on because there are a lot of options:
Category 1 Perks:
Bomb Squad - Ability to seek out enemy explosives
C4 x 2 - Remote detonation explosive
Claymore x 2 - Trip activated explosive mine
RPG-7 x 2 - Rocket Launcher with 2 rockets
Special Grenades x 3 - 3 special grenades. No smoke
Category 2 Perks:
Juggernaut - Increased health
Sleight of Hand - Faster reloading
Sonic Boom - Higher explosive weapon damage
Stopping Power - Increased bullet damage
UAV Jammer - Undetectable on enemy radar
Category 3 Perks:
Deep Impact - Deeper bullet penetration
Extreme Conditioning - Sprint for longer distances
Last Stand - Pull out your pistol before dying
Martyrdom - Drop a live grenade when killed
Steady Aim - Increased hip-fire accuracy
Dead Silence - Movements make less noise
Modifiers
Ever wanted to call in an airstrike, find out exactly where the enemy is located or have a badass helicopter crew slice through the opposition? Well now is your chance and all you have to do is string together some kill, without dying, to be able to hook up your team with a little extra help to win the war.
This is where the D-Pad comes into play as all of your modifiers can be enabled by hitting right on the D-Pad after they have been activated. Also if you are in middle of launching a modifier and fall to your death don’t worry you can still use that option after you re-spawn, so all your efforts weren’t in vain.
3 Kill Modifier – UAV – The UAV enables you to see exactly where the opposing team is located so that you can advance on their position and take them down in which ever fashion you see fit.
5 Kill Modifier – AirStrike – Death from above is what this modifier is bringing to the battle field if you correctly determine where the enemy is or will be on your handy map that pops up to help you send in your planes anywhere on the map.
Friendly fire is turned off for the Beta so don’t worry about blowing up your own team, but you might want to practice letting your team know when you are about to launch one, because once friendly fire is enabled a lot of people could be really pissed off or happy depending on your aim.
7 Kill Modifier – Helicopter Support – This option lets you call in support from above that hangs around for a little while and can help you rack up some serious kills in a hurry.
The Helicopter hangs out above the map firing at the enemy whenever they come into view, and will do so until it is taken out. So when you see an enemy copter fly onto the screen you better run and hide or get someone with an RPG to take that thing out, or you’ll be in for a world of hurt.
Leader boards – Call of Duty 4 has added leader boards to its repertoire where you can track your final score for each match, how many wins and losses you’ve accrued kills and deaths, and also how well you can keep your sites on the target in the accuracy section.
Party System – I’m sure this will be fixed in the final version, but as of right now you can only have six people in your party if you want to get into a game. Add a seventh person and you lose all your options to start a match. Other than that the system is very promising and a little reminiscent of the Halo 2 & 3 party system.
Could it be that someone actually listened to the gamers and followed in the footsteps of Bungie to create a party and matchmaking system that actually works. Well we’ll just have to see when the final version hits shelves.
Pros
Great potential for a Match Making system that works, fast and furious game play, realistic battlefield action that is very immersive, the weapons seem to be on point there really isn’t anything that is super overpowered or underpowered except maybe the sniper, more options than you can shake a stick at and this is only the beta, the perks add a whole new level to the game, and the new melee is awesome (you whip out a knife).
Cons
In a couple of the games when the action was building to a crescendo with explosions going on all over the screen the game froze and everyone on my FL had to re-boot. With some much going on, on the battlefield will this be the rule more so than the exception, only time will tell.
The party system has the potential to be great, but as it stands right now is a little jacked up and need some tweaking. We’re not sure if the developers set it up this way for the Beta or if it is something that can be adjusted in time for the final release. Right now it’s a pain getting together with a group of more than six friends.
The Conclusion
This game has the potential to be one of the best games of the year. The game play is fast and furious, the visuals are beautiful, and the customization will add to the longevity of the games life.
Will it be the Halo killer I doubt it, but it will give the folks at Bungie a run for their money.
So if you have the chance to play the Beta do so, you won’t regret it in the least. If you can’t get your hands on the code you need to reserve your copy for rental or buying as soon as possible, because this is one that’s going to be hard to find come November 5.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, announced on April 25, 2007 for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, will be the ninth installment in the Call of Duty video game series and the first not to be set during World War II. It is currently due to be released worldwide on November 5, 2007.
Gameplay
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will introduce a variety of game play styles into the single player campaign completely new to the Call of Duty series. The game moves away from the standard three country-specific campaign style, and allows the plot to play through more like a film style plot with interlaced story lines from the perspective of the player as a member of the US 1st Force Recon and a member of the British 22nd SAS Regiment. There is also a variety of cameo-style missions where you play as various other soldiers such as an AC-130 Gunship gunner, or as one part of a two man sniper team behind enemy lines in a flashback style mission.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will focus on the variation of modern warfare as an infantry soldier by allowing the player to control soldiers in a vast amount of different scenarios, straying away from the constant “at eleven” action of previous Call of Duty titles and allowing for both heavy intensity fire fights and slower paced drama styled intensity. The developer, Infinity Ward, has so far told about a handful of such levels including where the player will be the gunner of an AC-130 gunship and the pilot of a AH-1 SuperCobra helicopter providing air support.
The series’ move to modern warfare has also introduced a variety of new modern weapons and technology to be introduced to the Call of Duty franchise. Such showcased weapons and attachments include M203 grenade launchers, IR laser pointers for use in conjunction with night vision goggles, silenced MP5SD submachine guns, and the FGM-148 Javelin portable anti-tank guided missile among many others.
Plot
A Russian nationalist by the name of Zakhaev is set on returning his homeland to the Soviet times. Zakhaev knows the United States would never allow this to happen, thus he funds a coup in the Middle East, organized by his ally Al-Asad, to draw attention away from Russia. The two men and their seconds-in-command gain the nickname The Four Horsemen. However, the British and US governments have been monitoring Zakhaev’s activities and discover his real intentions. The story is told from a perspective of a British 22nd SAS Regiment operative in Russia and American 1st Force Recon in the Middle East.
The game also features a flashback mission set 15 years ago in the Chernobyl Zone of Alienation, which features a new incarnation of Captain Price from 22nd SAS Regiment, the only character to appear in both of the first two games of the series. He needs to assassinate Zakhaev, but his mission fails because his Captain gets wounded and he has to get out him of the Zone of Alienation.[3] Whether this new Price will be confirmed to be a relative of the WWII era Price remains to be seen. It is also believed that the assasination attempt had left Zakhaev with only one arm.
The game features following as playable characters:
Lieutenant Price, 22nd SAS Regiment (15 years ago)
Sergeant John “Soap” MacTavish, 22nd SAS Regiment (present)
Sergeant Paul Jackson, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (later Staff Sergeant as part of 1st Force Recon Co., U.S.M.C.) (present)
Their names are seen in mission info which is seen in published gameplay footage of the game. Further characters are unknown.
Multiplayer
Hardcore Mode
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has been announced to have a new mode called Hardcore Mode. In multiplayer, users can choose to play standard game types such as Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch and others, or choose to play them in Hardcore Mode. In Hardcore Mode, damage received and inflicted increases, the heads-up display (HUD) is removed – the mini-map, ammo counter, and other on-screen indicators – and friendly fire is enabled.
Classes
For multiplayer, it has been confirmed that Call of Duty 4 will include a class system which has five preset classes with default weapon load outs and perks assigned to them as well as allows users to create five custom classes where the user can customize their weapon load out and three perks to assign to their soldier. The five default classes include Assault, Spec Ops, Light Machine Gunner, Demolitions, and Sniper class. Create a class will be unlocked through the user’s first few games after gaining enough Experience Points (XP) and ranking up to his first few ranks. Only two of the classes are available to a first time player; the rest are unlocked as he gains more experience online and gains higher rank.
Perks
Another introduction in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer includes Perks. Perks are special abilities which allow users to further customize their character to their personal play style. The amount of perks available in multiplayer has not been announced however it has been confirmed that the player will be limited to three multiplayer perks at a time which can be assigned via Create a Class.
Perks List:
Category 1 Perks:
Bomb Squad - Ability to seek out enemy explosives
C4 x 2 - Remote detonation explosive
Claymore x 2 - Trip activated explosive mine
RPG-7 x 2 - Rocket Launcher with 2 rockets
Special Grenades x 3 - 3 special grenades. No smoke
Category 2 Perks:
Juggernaut - Increased health
Sleight of Hand - Faster reloading
Sonic Boom - Higher explosive weapon damage
Stopping Power - Increased bullet damage
UAV Jammer - Undetectable on enemy radar
Category 3 Perks:
Deep Impact - Deeper bullet penetration
Extreme Conditioning - Sprint for longer distances
Last Stand - Pull out your pistol before dying
Martyrdom - Drop a live grenade when killed
Steady Aim - Increased hip-fire accuracy
Dead Silence - Movements make less noise
Double Tap - Greater rate of fire when using automatic weapons
Attachments:
Grenade Launcher
Vertical Grip
Laser Sight
Infrared Laser
Open Red Dot Sight
Cylinder Red Dot Sight
ACOG Scope
There may be other attachments. Only one attachment can be attached to your weapon at a time in multi-player.
Setting
The game’s main setting is the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Some locations seen in the trailers may be Cairo, Chernobyl, Prypiat, and Azerbaijan. The developers have indicated they may also utilize additional locations, according to Game Informer magazine.
Call of Duty 4 is not set in an existing conflict, according to Grant Collier, one of Infinity Ward’s co-leads:
We wanted an enemy that is going to give the player a stand up fight. When people hear modern warfare, is that driving in a Humvee until an IED blows your tire off, then people shoot at your Humvee and you shoot back at them and they run away? Strangely enough, that’s not Infinity Ward-style combat. So we are creating a robust enemy that is going to give the Western powers a run for their money. They use high technology just like we do.
J.K. Rowling has been spotted at cafes in Scotland working on a detective novel, a British newspaper reported Saturday.
The Sunday Times newspaper quoted Ian Rankin, a fellow author and neighbor of Rowling’s, as saying the creator of the “Harry Potter” books is turning to crime fiction.
“My wife spotted her writing her Edinburgh criminal detective novel,” the newspaper, which was available late Saturday, quoted Rankin as telling a reporter at an Edinburgh literary festival.
“It is great that she has not abandoned writing or Edinburgh cafes,” said Rankin, who is known for his own police novels set in the historic Scottish city.
Rowling famously wrote initial drafts of the Potter story in the Scottish city’s cafes. Back then, she was a struggling single mother who wrote in cafes to save on the heating bill at home.
Now she’s Britain’s richest woman — worth $1 billion, according to Forbes magazine — and her seven Potter books have sold more than 335 million copies worldwide.
In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Rowling said she believed she was unlikely to repeat the success of the Potter series, but confirmed she had plans to work on new books.
“I’ll do exactly what I did with Harry — I’ll write what I really want to write,” Rowling said.
The office of Rowling’s literary agent, Christopher Little, was not immediately available to comment late Saturday.
After Harry Potter
Rowling has stated that she plans to continue writing after the publication of the final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She declared in a December 2005 interview that she will most likely not use a new pen name as the press would quickly discover her true identity.
In 2006, Rowling revealed that she had completed a few short stories and another children’s book (a “political fairy story”) about a monster, aimed at a younger audience than Harry Potter readers.
She is not planning to write an eighth Harry Potter book, but has said she will be writing an “encyclopaedia” of the wizarding world consisting of various unpublished material and notes. Any profits from such a book would be given to charity. When asked on 6 July 2007 whether she would ever write an eighth Harry Potter novel Rowling confirmed that she only ever planned to write seven books in the series but also that she could not rule it out entirely. “Um, I think that Harry’s story comes to quite a clear end in Book Seven but I’ve always said that I wouldn’t say ‘never’. I can’t say I’ll never write another book about that world just because I think what do I know, in ten years time I might want to return to it but I think it’s unlikely”. In a recent interview, she said she “wants to fall in love with another idea…”, also stating that “Harry Potter was the experience of a lifetime”.
In an interview published on 26 July 2007, Rowling said that she wants to dedicate “lots” of her time to her family, but is currently “sort of writing two things”, one for children and the other for adults. She did not give any details about the two projects but did state that she was excited because the two book situation reminds her of writing the Philosopher’s Stone, explaining how she was then writing two books until Harry took over.
It has been reported that Rowling is currently working on a crime novel set in Edinburgh, Scotland. Fellow Scottish author Ian Rankin is quoted as saying that his wife has seen Rowling writing the novel in Edinburgh cafes.
Kevin Alderman didn’t bring sex to “Second Life.” He just made it better. The 46-year-old entrepreneur recognized four years ago that people would pay to equip their online selves — which start out with the smooth anatomy of a Barbie or Ken doll — with realistic genitalia and even more to add some sexy moves.
Business at Eros LLC has been brisk. One of his creations, the SexGen Platinum, has gotten so popular that he’s now had to hire lawyers to track down the flesh-and-blood person behind the online identity, or avatar, that he says illegally copied and sold it.
The $45 SexGen animates amorous avatars in erotic positions. It is software code, written in the scripting language of “Second Life” and placed in virtual furniture and other objects. Avatars click on the object and choose from a menu of animated sex acts.
Alderman filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Fla., last month alleging an avatar named “Volkov Catteneo” broke the program’s copy protection and sold unauthorized copies. Alderman, who runs his business from home in a Tampa suburb, allows users to transfer his products, but prohibits copying.
“We confronted him about it and his basic response was, ‘What are you going to do? Sue me?’” Alderman said. “I guess the mentality is that because you’re an avatar … that you are untouchable. The purpose of this suit is not only to protect our income and our product, but also to show, yes, you can be prosecuted and brought to justice.”
Catherine Smith, director of marketing for “Second Life” creator Linden Lab, said she knew of no other real-world legal fight between two avatars.
However, Linden Labs itself has been sued more than once by subscribers over seizures of virtual property. In 2005, Japanese media reported that a Chinese exchange student was arrested for stealing virtual items from other players in an online game, “Lineage II.”
“Second Life” isn’t a game. There are no dragons to slay or other traditional game objectives. San Francisco-based Linden Lab describes it as “an online digital world imagined, created & owned by its residents.”
Linden Lab provides a free basic avatar, a 3-D virtual representation of the user in male or female form. Everything else costs real money. A 16-acre virtual island costs $1,675 plus monthly maintenance fees of $295. Virtual money, called Lindens, can be exchanged with real dollars at an average rate of about 270 Lindens per $1.
Avatars can be equipped with flowing gowns and tiny tattoos, and users with programming and Photoshop skills can reshape themselves into a virtual Greta Garbo or just about any shape imaginable. With a little cash, users can also have people like Alderman transform the avatars for them.
At Alderman’s “Second Life” shop, shoppers can try out a dragon bed powered by one of his SexGen engines. Along with programmers and designers, he employs a sales staff who hang around the shop like real salespeople to pitch the perfect sex toys. He is investing in a $25,000 motion-capture suit, a low-end version of one used to create digital characters in movies, to create more realistic sex moves for “Second Life” avatars.
As customers demand more real life in their “Second Life,” though, these virtual creations can collide with reality.
“Virtually every aspect of real life is getting duplicated, and all the laws that can be applied to the real world are being applied in ‘Second Life,’” said Jorge Contreras Jr., an intellectual-property attorney in Washington, D.C.
Last year, “Second Life” was rocked by a scandal over users who had modified their avatars to look like children and simulated pedophilia. Last month, Linden Lab shut down gambling in “Second Life” after concerns arose that virtual games of chance might violate U.S. gambling laws when members cashed in Lindens for real money.
Now comes Alderman’s SexGen suit, which was filed July 3 and seeks unspecified damages. It accuses the unknown owner of the Catteneo avatar of violating copyright and trademark protections by copying, distributing and selling copies of Alderman’s software.
Alderman’s attorney, Francis X. Taney Jr. of Philadelphia, said the lawsuit has gotten a lot of attention because it involves sex, but is fundamentally about long-established law.
“It’s a piece of software and software is copyrightable,” Taney said. “It’s also expressed in graphics, which also are copyrightable. There is some sizzle. People like to say it’s really far out there, but at the end of the day I equate it to basic intellectual property principles.”
Unlike many popular online worlds, such as “World of Warcraft,” Linden Lab grants its users broad rights to create and sell content with few restrictions. Users can install copy protection and seek U.S. copyright and trademark protections, all of which Alderman did for the SexGen software.
“Whenever you create a situation where people are buying and selling things and potentially misappropriating them from their rightful owners, it is only a matter of time before the legal system gets called in,” said Fred von Lohmann, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. “This seems like a relatively straightforward case. It sounds like there is a real copyright issue.”
Taney believes he knows who Catteneo is in real life, but is confirming it through subpoenas of records of eBay Inc.’s PayPal payment service as well as chat logs and trade history in “Second Life.” He said Linden Lab and PayPal turned over their records, and he is preparing another round of subpoenas.
“We’re proceeding carefully,” Taney said. “This guy has claimed the information he gave to Linden was bogus. We are looking for ways to cross check and corroborate the information.”
Catteneo, who did not respond to several interview requests sent through the “Second Life” messaging system, will likely have a hard time hiding.
“There is a whole lot less anonymity online than people think,” von Lohmann said. “There are over 20,000 people who have been sued for downloading music. They may have felt anonymous, but they’re weren’t.”
Alderman is unlikely to be the last to drag an avatar into court as the designers in “Second Life” try to protect their creations in the same way clothing designers such as Gucci try to eliminate realistic knockoffs
In recognition of the growing legal issues “Second Life” is likely to generate, the country of Portugal recently set up an arbitration center in the virtual world, though it has no power to enforce its decisions.
The legal issues may be similar offline and online, but von Lohmann said the trials could be a lot more interesting.
“In a virtual world, you have the ability to gather evidence you don’t have in the real world,” he said. “Everything that happens in ‘Second Life’ is reflected on computer servers. Depending on how long they keep the records, you could actually replay the event as it happens.”
Second Life’s Real-World Problems
Reality is catching up with Second Life, the much hyped 3-D website that lets users create alter egos called avatars who can walk, chat, fly, have sex and buy and sell virtual stuff for real money. The ballyhoo surrounding this online community has led multinational brands from Reebok to Toyota to establish beachheads on Second Life to interact with consumers and be a part of the next wave in social networking. In April market-research firm Gartner predicted that by the end of 2011, 80% of active Internet users will have some sort of presence in a virtual world, with Second Life currently one of the most populous. Business Week last fall put on the cover a real estate agent whose virtual land deals made her the first person to earn $1 million through the site, and TIME included Second Life creator Philip Rosedale in this year’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. Even NBA commissioner David Stern now has a Second Life avatar, although he told TIME, “I don’t think it captures the essence of my personality or good looks.” He was kidding, but the site’s failure to live up to expectations is serious business.
Alfa Romeo has been teasing us ever since it showed the 8C as a concept car way back in 2003 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Since then, the concept has been a fixture at every important international gathering, finally appearing in production form at Paris last fall and at Geneva in March.
The limited 500-unit run of the $200,000 supercar is reportedly spoken for, although Alfa has promised that it will sell a handful in the U.S. in anticipation of its return to the American market in time for the 2010 model year. So, it will be some time before anyone will catch a glimpse of this sleek 2-seat coupe in the States anytime soon.
But, if you have a hankering to see an 8C up close, you might camp out on the north loop of Germany’s Nurburgring, where near-production-ready cars are being tested before the first 8Cs are delivered to European customers in September.
Riding on a 102.2-in. wheelbase, the 8C promises blistering performance from its Maserati-derived 4.7-liter V-8, which is said to produce 450 bhp and 347 lb.-ft. of torque with maximum revs in the 7000-rpm range. The 8C should be relatively light, using a tubular aluminum chassis and a carbon-fiber body - it should tip the scales somewhere around 3300 lb. The manual gearbox features an electronically controlled, pedal-less clutch, and the 6-speed offers five different shift programs through its steering-wheel-mounted paddles - Normal and Sport modes with manual shift, Normal and Sport modes with automatic shift and an ice mode for winter driving.
The 8C rides on a fully independent wishbone suspension and 20in. wheels shod with P245/35R-20 rubber. Since there are so few of this expensive, stylish and wickedly fast coupe available for U.S. buyers, it is an interesting calling card for Alfa’s return to America, to say the least.
The wait is finally over and Alfa Romeo has a supercar fit for the premier league
We’re used to Italian exotics from Ferrari and Lamborghini, but Alfa now plans to push upmarket – and it’s created this stunning machine to spearhead the exclusive assault. The 8C Competizione is a sports coupe with searing performance, sensational styling… and a ?100,000 price tag. Originally debuting in concept form at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show, the car is ready to order for delivery in a year’s time. And to see what those lucky buyers can expect, Auto Express was first to get behind the wheel.
When Alfa took the wraps off the 8C, few people thought it would make production unchanged. But, as you can see here – and as visitors discovered at last week’s Paris Motor Show – it retains all the concept’s amazing details.
At the front, the gaping air intakes and fared-in headlights give a really aggressive look, and they’re matched for visual drama only by the quad exhaust pipes and twin circular tail-lights at the rear. But it’s the classic sports car shape, with a long bonnet and short tail, that’s the real star feature. It’s been made possible by an aerodynamic undertray which sucks the model down on to the road at speed, doing away with the need for ugly wings and spoilers.
The body itself is bang up-to-date, too, being made of carbon fibre on a steel spaceframe chassis. Sitting well behind the front axle virtually in the middle of the car is the 8C’s heart – a 450bhp 4.7-litre V8, which is shared with the forthcoming Maserati Coupe. The two models will be built on the same production line in Modena, Italy.
Just like Alfas of the past, the gearbox and differential are mounted toge-ther at the rear, helping to give the 8C perfect 50:50 weight distribution. The suspension is double wishbone all-round, while huge vented Brembo disc brakes hide behind the 20-inch alloys.
Inside, the cabin is classic Alfa, with twin cowls for the speedo and rev counter, plus a simple facia with carbon fibre trim. The shell-type racing seats, also carbon fibre, are clad in the luxurious leather used by Ferrari.
Our model was one of the first 8C prototypes, and was fitted with a conventional six-speed manual box. Customer cars will use a semi-automatic version, which will allow the driver to change gear via the steering wheel-mounted paddles. With some chassis fine-tuning still to be done, our drive was brief, but it’s obvious that the 8C is a true Italian sports car.
The V8 roars into life at a push of the starter button, revving angrily and noisily like a thoroughbred racer. Stab the throttle and the 470Nm of torque has no trouble launching the 1,400kg car away from the line. Alfa says it’ll do 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds and hit a top speed of 190mph – and from the driver’s seat, it certainly feels savagely fast.
Backing up this huge acceleration are rock-solid brakes, which slow the 8C as if you’ve hit a wall. And while we couldn’t quite put the Alfa through its paces in corners, the steering is alive with feel even at low speed. The stiff suspension offers immediate responses, promising a truly involving drive.
Is there a downside to the 8C? Just one: the fact only 500 models will be built. If you have this kind of cash, we’d advise you to get in the queue now!
If you decorated the hall of your wedding party with hundreds of exotic butterflies shipped in from an African rainforest, your friends might think you stylish, extravagant, even decadent.
But according to some Kenyan entrepreneurs, you could be helping save one of east Africa’s last remaining patches of natural forest, home to thousands of rare species.
Countries that are poor but rich in flora and fauna are increasingly seeking new ways to save wildlife from poverty and population pressure. Most rely on visits from dollar-bearing eco-tourists.
For the people of western Kenya’s Kakamega forest, though, there is more than one way to make money from your wilderness.
Besides tourist lodges and tree nurseries growing valuable species of timber and herbal medicines, they set up a farm which cultivates butterflies for export in 2001.
Buyers range from European scientists studying the behavior of forest-dwelling creepy crawlies to fashion designers and New York socialites wanting to spruce up their parties.
“We get orders from Americans wanting 400 butterflies to look pretty around their wedding reception,” says Roseline Shikami, a project founder. “I don’t know why butterflies. In Kenya, we use balloons.”
Shikami says scientists in Europe request species to study their diets, anatomy or mating habits. A fashion designer ordered some to match her dress at a function.
“Her outfit is black-and-white, so she wanted the butterfly to match the color of her dress,” she says, pointing to a black-and-white patterned insect flitting around an enclosure.
HUNGRY CATERPILLARS
Successful butterfly farming is tough. First, you have to catch at least two members’ of the species you want — different sexes. Then you have to persuade them to mate.
When the eggs hatch, you feed the caterpillars on their favorite forest leaves until they wrap themselves in a cocoon. The insects have to be exported in pupa form or they will not last the journey.
“Some of them hatch in just a few days, so you need to ship them out quick,” said butterfly farmer Benjamin Okalo.
Besides butterflies, Kakamega’s forest dwellers are planting and harvesting trees for commercial wood and medicines, including the red stinkwood, hailed as a cure for prostate cancer.
Other plants cure malaria and stomach ailments, locals say.
“We estimate 70 percent of these plants have medicinal properties, but only a fraction have been discovered,” John Atsango, who guides tourists for the Kenya Forest Department, told Reuters.
Atsango said a local pharmacy had started manufacturing herbal medicines using the plants for export markets.
“We are worried big drug companies will steal the secrets and patent them — I’m not allowed to tell you what half of these plants do,” he said.
Conservationists say the undiscovered medicinal properties of many plant species is one of the strongest arguments for saving biodiversity.
LIMITED MARKETS
Kakamega is the eastern most patch of what was once a vast rainforest stretching from the jungles of west Africa across the Congo into modern day Kenya, before much was chopped down.
Kenyan authorities are keen to halt the retreat of forests in a country mostly characterized by dry savanna and semi-desert. Only 36 of Kakamega’s 238 sq km (92 sq mile) is protected.
But some conservation groups are skeptical about whether schemes harvesting forest products besides timber can make a big difference.
“The problem is there just aren’t enough markets for butterfly pupae,” says Andrew Plumptre of the Ugandan branch of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
“It’s good for relations with the community, but I don’t think it raises a lot of money for conservation.”
Shikami admits the sums of money involved are small — pupae go for as little as $1 each — but she puts that down to unscrupulous middlemen.
“We need our own direct market,” she says, gently scraping a black caterpillar off her hand onto a broad leaf. “We could make a lot more money.”
The Kakamega Forest
The Kakamega National Reserve is a 36 km2 reserve, situated at the north end of the Kakamega Forest, in Western Province, Kenya, at an elevation of about 1560 m, along the northeastern edge of the Lake Victoria basin. Along its eastern edge rises the partially forested Nandi Escarpment which runs along the western edge of the Rift Valley. The Kakamega Forest is generally considered the eastern-most remnant of the lowland Congolean rainforest of Central Africa. Faunally and florally, Kakamega is dominated by central African lowland species, but due to its elevation (predominantly between 1500 m and 1600 m) and proximity to the formerly contiguous Nandi Forests it also contains highland elements and is thus unique. The forest boundary (including the reserves) encloses about 238 km2, of which less than half is still indigenous forest.
Throughout the forest are a series of grassy glades, ranging in size from about 1 to 50 ha, with a few larger clearings. The origins of the glades are uncertain. Some are certainly recent clearings, but others predate recent records. These may have originated from past human activity such as cattle grazing or may be the result of herbivory and movements by large mammals such as buffalo and elephants (both now extirpated from the region). The glades vary a great deal in structure, some being open grass and others having a considerable number of trees or shrubs. A number of streams and small creeks run through the reserve. The larger creeks are usually bordered by a few to tens of meters of forest on either side which divide the glades, while the smallest creeks flow through open grasslands, often forming small marshy patches.
No complete floristic studies have been done at Kakamega. The forest hosts about 160 tree and shrub species, many of Congolean lowland forest affinities, including a number of endemic plant species, mostly ferns and orchids. The flora of the open areas and glades has not been well studied. The glades often have small trees. Conspicuous flowering plants include flame lilies and Gladiolus. The forest edge is lined by dense thickets of Acanthus pubescens , a shrub with sharply spined, thistle-like leaves. Marshy patches are dominated by sedges and the grass Echinocloa pyramidalis .
The forest is best known for its diversity of birds: 367 species have been recorded. The avifauna is a mix of lowland and highland species, but lowland elements dominate. Nine of the species that occur at Kakamega are found nowhere else in Kenya, and two of its species, Turner’s Eremomela and Chapins’ Flycatcher, are threatened.
Insects are abundant and some are quite spectacular, such as giant Goliath beetles, pink and green African flower mantids, and numerous colorful butterflies. Particularly well represented groups are ants, Lepidopterans, Orthopterans, and beetles. Gastropod mollusks, millipedes and spiders are also common.
Kakamega is also known for its diverse snake fauna, with over 40 species, although they can be difficult to find. Lizards are more in evidence, with various skinks, chameleons, and agamas the most common. Amphibians are represented by a number of anuran species, the most common being Bufo and Phrynobatrachus toads and Ptychadena mascariensis frogs.
Except for the monkeys and squirrels large mammals are not much in evidence. Today only smaller antelope (primarily various duikers) and bush pig are present. Small carnivores, such as Egyptian mongooses, African civets, servals, genets, and palm civets are common; some larger carnivores, including jackals, spotted hyaenas, and leopards also occur there. Although rodents, insectivores, and bats are clearly present, they have been little studied at Kakamega.
WASHINGTON - After exhaustively compiling a list of the 237 reasons why people have sex, researchers found that young men and women get intimate for mostly the same motivations. It’s more about lust in the body than a love connection in the heart.
College-aged men and women agree on their top reasons for having sex — they were attracted to the person, they wanted to experience physical pleasure and “it feels good,” according to a peer-reviewed study in the August edition of Archives of Sexual Behavior. Twenty of the top 25 reasons given for having sex were the same for men and women.
Expressing love and showing affection were in the top 10 for both men and women, but they did take a back seat to the clear No. 1: “I was attracted to the person.”
Researchers at the University of Texas spent five years and their own money to study the overlooked why behind sex while others were spending their time on the how.
“It’s refuted a lot of gender stereotypes … that men only want sex for the physical pleasure and women want love,” said University of Texas clinical psychology professor Cindy Meston, the study’s co-author. “That’s not what I came up with in my findings.”
Forget thinking that men are from Mars and women from Venus, “the more we look, the more we find similarity,” said Dr. Irwin Goldstein, director of sexual medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego. Goldstein, who wasn’t part of Meston’s study, said the Texas research made a lot of sense and adds to growing evidence that the vaunted differences in the genders may only be among people with sexual problems.
Meston and colleague David Buss first questioned 444 men and women — ranging in age from 17 to 52 — to come up with a list of 237 distinct reasons people have sex. They ranged from “It’s fun” which men ranked fourth and women ranked eighth to “I wanted to give someone else a sexually transmitted disease” which ranked on the bottom by women.
Once they came up with that long list, Meston and Buss asked 1,549 college students taking psychology classes to rank the reasons on a one-to-five scale on how they applied to their experiences.
“None of the gender differences are all that great,” Meston said. “Men were more likely to be opportunistic towards having sex, so if sex were there and available they would jump on it, somewhat more so than women. Women were more likely to have sex because they felt they needed to please their partner.”
But this is among college students, when Meston conceded “hormones run rampant.” She predicted huge differences when older groups of people are studied.
Since her study came out Tuesday, people are coming up with new reasons to have sex.
“Originally, I thought that we exhaustively compiled the list, but now I found that there should be some added,” Meston said.
Why Humans Have Sex
Cindy M. Meston . David M. Buss
Abstract: Historically, the reasons people have sex have
been assumed to be few in number and simple in nature–to
reproduce, to experience pleasure, or to relieve sexual
tension. Several theoretical perspectives suggest that motives
for engaging in sexual intercourse may be larger in
number and psychologically complex in nature. Study 1
used a nomination procedure that identified 237 expressed
reasons for having sex, ranging from the mundane (e.g., ‘‘I
wanted to experience physical pleasure’’) to the spiritual
(e.g., ‘‘I wanted to get closer to God’’), from altruistic (e.g.,
‘‘I wanted the person to feel good about himself/herself’’)
to vengeful (e.g., ‘‘I wanted to get back at my partner for
having cheated on me’’). Study 2 asked participants
(N = 1,549) to evaluate the degree to which each of the 237
reasons had led them to have sexual intercourse. Factor
analyses yielded four large factors and 13 subfactors,
producing a hierarchical taxonomy. The Physical reasons
subfactors included Stress Reduction, Pleasure, Physical
Desirability, and Experience Seeking. The Goal Attainment
subfactors included Resources, Social Status, Revenge, and
Utilitarian. The Emotional subfactors included Love and
Commitment and Expression. The three Insecurity subfactors
included Self-Esteem Boost, Duty/Pressure, and Mate
Guarding. Significant gender differences supported several
previously advanced theories. Individual differences in
expressed reasons for having sex were coherently linked
with personality traits and with individual differences in
sexual strategies. Discussion focused on the complexity of
sexual motivation and directions for future research.
For the full text look here: http://tinyurl.com/ypzwvr
