Fishermen snag sea monster in nets
Mar/100
A Trinity Bay fisherman reports finding the corpse of a strange sea creature tied up in a net last summer. It was described as having an 8-10ft long n…
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Fishermen snag sea monster in nets
Sam’s having a terrible day in this new Splinter Cell: Conviction trailer
Feb/100
Sam Fisher’s been tossed into some fairly unenviable scenarios in previous games, but if this new trailer is any indication, Splinter Cell: Conviction might just place the former spy into his most precarious mission to date. Between knife fighting dudes in bathrooms, holding off home invaders and generally being rude to receptionists, Fisher’s going to great lengths to prove his bad-assitude. (Little does Sam know, he already proved it during the original Splinter Cell’s opening credits.)
Additionally, the trailer provides a bit more of the backstory leading up to Conviction, as well as some of the events we can anticipate in the game. Apparently, Sam’s going to be storming the White House after an EMP blast devastates Washington. We wonder if he’ll pass the Modern Warfare 2 guys while he’s in there?
Sam’s having a terrible day in this new Splinter Cell: Conviction trailer originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sam’s having a terrible day in this new Splinter Cell: Conviction trailer
Impacts of Climate Change on Arctic Wildlife and Ecosystems
Nov/090
Polar bears on the sea ice of the Arctic ocean, near the North Pole.
While changes in Earth ecosystems from predicted warming have been reported in nearly all biomes (biological communities), recent climate change seems to be impacting the Arctic region the most.
As Arctic temperatures rise, precipitation rates, and snow/ice cover volumes, begin to change as well. In some cases, this has lead to an increase in vegetation (shrub and grasses), which can have the beneficial effect of reducing atmospheric CO2, but which can also cause a disruption in the trace gas exchange (such as with methane, CH4) between earth and atmosphere. Also, many of these climate change impacts produce imbalances within ecosystems (the web of interactions between species, and between species and their environments) and these can and do jeopardize long-term species survival; some species (such as reindeer) gain advantage (at least in the short term) from these alterations, while others (like the ringed seal) are threatened by them.
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Impacts of Climate Change on Arctic Wildlife and Ecosystems
1st High Seas Marine Protected Area in Southern Ocean — More Diverse than Galapagos Islands
Nov/090
Fishing and refuse disposal are to be banned in the 1st high seas Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Southern Ocean, an area of the ocean that contains more species than the Galapagos Islands.
This will allow scientists to monitor the effects of climate change in this region. This is only the first of possibly twelve such areas.
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1st High Seas Marine Protected Area in Southern Ocean — More Diverse than Galapagos Islands
Splinter Cell Conviction to feature in-game advertising during torture scenes
Nov/090
Imagine this: you’re playing one of Splinter Cell Conviction’s many “choose your own torture” sequences, as described by Ubisoft’s Jeffrey Dickstein. As you’re slamming a terrorist’s face into a urinal, you might ask yourself, “is this the new Degree deodorant I should buy?” (Seriously, these are his words.)
This is actually the pitch Ubisoft delivered at Microsoft Advertising’s Gaming Upfront presentation in New York this evening. In-game advertising is rapidly growing, but has typically been relegated to sports and racing games. Splinter Cell Conviction breaks convention by being neither. Expect both static and video ads to appear throughout the environmentt — including during the game’s lengthy torture sequences. Perhaps they should take it one step further: Sam Fisher should grab a Coca-Cola bottle, smash it, and use the broken glass to kill a guy. Talk about refreshing!
In addition, Ubisoft showed potential advertisers the “heat maps” they created whilst developing the game. These maps highlight likely places players will go while playing. Advertisers will be able to place their ads in high-density areas, in order to ensure maximum exposure to their brands while in the game world. Considering Splinter Cell is a stealth game, don’t be too surprised to see ads inside of the conveniently accessible (not to mention remarkably roomy!) air ducts.
Splinter Cell Conviction to feature in-game advertising during torture scenes originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Splinter Cell Conviction to feature in-game advertising during torture scenes
An Albatross Dies Every Five Minutes
Nov/090
Once cursed with killing dolphins, tuna fishing is now being blamed for a shocking reduction in albatross numbers.
Long line fishing is being blamed for a startling drop in the number of albatrosses around the world. Fish, squid and other bait are trailed on hooks behind a trawler to catch tuna and swordfish.
However, because the hooks for these fish are set just below the surface it attracts albatrosses who think they’ve spotted a nice free meal and dive into the water to get it.
Instead they get hooked and tangled in the line, dragged under the water, and drowned. In many cases the bait has been dislodged meaning that hook will now catch nothing.
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An Albatross Dies Every Five Minutes
Splinter Cell: Conviction collector’s edition seeks revenge on your wallet
Nov/090
In Splinter Cell: Conviction, superspy Sam Fisher is seeking revenge for his daughter’s murder. In the Splinter Cell: Conviction collector’s edition, you’ll find a varying degree of bonus items — some cool, some silly — that Ubisoft is seeking $79.99 for.
Due to arrive on the same day as the standard edition (February 23, 2010) the set will include a comic book prequel to the events in the game; an art book with illustrations from all the previous Splinter Cell titles; a DLC weapon and player skin; a credit-card-sized USB drive filled with art and a making-of featurette; and two stickers: one of the Third Echelon logo and another that looks like those fake bullet holes people slap on their cars to make it appear that they live in a warzone.
Ubisoft’s sell-sheet for the CE thankfully displays the game disc and manual, lest you worry they’re not included. They go inside the DVD steelcase, which we’d say might be good for deflecting bullets, but appears to already have been used for just that purpose.
Splinter Cell: Conviction collector’s edition seeks revenge on your wallet originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Japanese fish trawler sunk by giant jellyfish
Nov/090
A 10-ton fishing boat capsized off the coast of Japan after the crew attempted to haul a net filled with giant jellyfish on board. The area has be…
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Japanese fish trawler sunk by giant jellyfish
Warmer Seas Blocking Nature’s Carbon Pump
Oct/090
Diatoms are one of the most common types of phytoplankton.
Climate change isn’t just warming the atmosphere, it’s also warming the ocean’s surface and deeper levels of the water column. This is known as the pelagic ocean (the “pelagic zone” is any part of the water column other than that at the sea floor) and it just so happens to harbor the most productive ecosystem on planet Earth. The pelagic ocean is responsible for an estimated half of the world’s primary production (i.e., the basic food or nutrient making needed to sustain other life), and sustains most of the world’s natural fisheries.
The pelagic zone also plays a very complex but important role in the global carbon cycle. Inorganic carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) can be “drawn down” from the atmosphere by two main processes: the respiration of photo-synthetic algae and plankton (which produce oxygen and serve as a food source as well), and, secondly, the sedimentation of carbon (in the form of sinking, dead marine matter) onto the sea floor. Most algae and phytoplankton have chlorophyll and live in the upper most layer of the water column where there is sufficient sunlight penetration (this is called the euphotic zone; from the surface down to 200 meters is the epipelagic zone). Although carbon is also removed via “outgassing” (the exporting of carbon and carbon-based molecules into the atmosphere via ocean-air circulation), these two processes keep carbon out of the atmosphere. And of the two, bottom accumulation (via sinking) is the predominant means by which carbon is removed from the water column.
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Warmer Seas Blocking Nature’s Carbon Pump
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Review: Final Fantasy XIII
Mar/100
There is a moment in Final Fantasy XIII where everything just clicks.
The intricacies of the completely overhauled combat system come into focus; the meandering, convoluted story begins to take shape; the characters stop being insufferably standoffish and begin to coalesce into an engaging menagerie of heroes; the character progression system begins to offer the player a variety of thought-provoking choices; and the game begins to live up to your (I’m assuming) lofty expectations, and Final Fantasy XIII becomes an experience which can go toe-to-toe with the best entries in the franchise.
The game gets exceptional after this one moment — but, regrettably, this moment came for me after suffering 15 hours and 30 minutes of pure, unadulterated tedium.
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