Good news to all SOCOM: Confrontation beta fans! The SOCOM: Confrontation Online Team has just released a patch for the SOCOM: Confrontation beta that updates the client to version 1.60. The good news gets even better. In order to test this new patch out, the beta has been extended again, and will now last until October 11th, at midnight PST. The patch is live as of this writing, and is 241 MB in size. Current beta testers will be prompted to download the update upon launching the game while connected to the internet.

While the official site fails to mention many specifics in regards to what this patch addresses, it is mentioned that "joining and disconnection issues" were the main focus for this patch. Expect an easier time when attempting to join rooms as well as actually being able to stay in that game.

Source

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Dr. Robin was accused of passing derogatory remarks against the beard of Prophet Muhammad.

He is currently detained in Gujranawala jail. Dr. Robin's family was forced to go into hiding as the family members of the accused cannot stay at their home after the stigma of blasphemy has been slapped on any of their family members.

The family of Dr. Robin and some 20 Christian residents of district Hafizabad had come to see the APMA Chief; Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti, after Dr. Robin was accused of blasphemy. They apprised him of the insecurity they had become exposed to after Robin was implicated in a blasphemy case.

The APMA has been extending financial support to the family as well as free legal aid to Dr. Robin since the occurrence of alleged blasphemy by Dr. Robin.

The family of the accused including Veenus, 50, Tariq 42, Waseem Bhatti, 32 and Francis Masih, a relative of Dr. Robin came to the APMA office in Islamabad on October 3, 2008.

Describing the fear and uncertainty that gripped the family members following leveling of blasphemy charges on Dr. Robin, Waseem told ANS that they felt as if a roof had been snatched from them.

“We felt secure after we met the APMA Chief Shahbaz Bhatti,” he said.

“We wanted our voice to be raised. We were desperately looking for someone to steer us out of the problem we were confronting. We were praying for some help. We prayed to God and we knew our prayers were heard when we met Shahbaz Bhatti”, said Waseem.

The young Christian man went on to say that fears of sorts were assailing the family's mind after detention of Dr. Robin. They (fears) left us disturbed and helpless all the more, he said.

After incarceration of Dr. Robin, he said the family had lost the breadwinner and they were not in a position of hiring a lawyer.

“You need a lawyer to defend you even in a simple dispute. We knew we had to hire a competent defense counsel for Dr. Robin. It was again Mr. Shahbaz who extended free legal aid for Dr. Robin”, said Waseem as tears ran down his cheeks.

Waseem, who works as an animator in a local Non Governmental Organization (NGO) feared that it had become virtually impossible for Dr. Robin to run his clinic at the same locality.

He also ruled out possibility of any of his family members staying at the same place after leveling of blasphemy accusations on Dr. Robin.

“His (Dr. Robin's) family members are living in hiding. They have been able to find a roof above their heads with the help the APMA Chief extended to the family but you still feel alienated. You take time to settle down at a new place. You continue to live a tension-ridden life”, he said.

“The children of Dr. Robin have been robbed of fatherly love. Michael Rose, the youngest of Dr. Robin's children used to stay in a hostel. He does not feel comfortable staying at the hostel now”, said Waseem.

In response to a question he said that during this period of tribulation Dr. Robin had emerged as a strong Christian. He said his (Dr. Robin's) belief in Christ had only become stronger.

Tariq, a relative of Dr. Robin told ANS that Dr. Robin wished to be released as soon as possible.

He said the incident had come as a big jolt to the children of Dr. Robin.

He said they had not been able to concentrate on their studies fully after Robin was arrested by the police.

Francis, brother-in-law of Dr. Robin called for repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

Citing his talks with a couple of Muslim friends, he said that they were of the view that the law should be repealed.

“My Muslim friends admitted that a thorough investigation should be made before lodging of a blasphemy-related Police First Information Report (FIR)”, said Tariq.

Tariq disclosed that he had been able to record a conversation between the complainant and some family members of Dr. Robin in which the complainant tried to do a “deal” with the family of the accused.

According to Tariq, the complainant said that he would withdraw charges against Dr. Robin if his family agreed to pay him money.

He claimed he recorded the conversation on September 19, a day ahead of the hearing of Dr. Robin's case in a lower court.

Echoing a grave concern of Pakistani Christians, who like their fellow Muslim Pakistanis want their concerns to be highlighted on national and print media, Tariq said that Dr. Robin's case only drew marginal coverage of the incident.

Lashing out at the police he alleged that the police failed to provide adequate security to Dr. Robin's family.

“If the Police had provided security to Dr. Robin's family and his vulnerable relatives then they might have decided to continue staying in Hafizabad but in the absence of any such security the family was forced to go into hiding”, he said.

In an apparent bid to support his disbelief in the police, he said that police did not take initiative for rescuing Dr. Robin's family “rather some local Christians entered Dr. Robin's home at about 3 am and rescued the family members who had become prone to attack by the angry Muslim residents of Hafizabad”.

“Do you want us to jump into fire”, he quoted a police official as saying, who Tariq and other Christian residents of the area wanted to rescue Dr. Robin's family members.

Post-arrest situation

Tariq said when he and some other members of Dr. Robin's family went to Dr. Robin's place to collect some clothes, books and some other daily use items they saw a “shocking scene”.

“Not even a single thing was at its place. There were visible signs of human presence at Dr. Robin's house. It was not hard to conclude that some people have been living at Dr. Robin's house. We saw crumbs of bread, chicken bones, and unwashed dishes.

Dr. Robin's house had been ransacked”, said Tariq, who looked scared while sketching the ransacked home of Dr. Robin.

He said that the lower court rejected a post-arrest bail petition, prompting the APMA to file a petition in Lahore High Court.

Asked who could have inhabited Dr. Robin's house after his arrest and exiting of his family members, Tariq said that the fundamentalist Muslims of the area could have maintained their presence at Dr. Robin's house. Nobody could have dared entering Dr. Robin's home if the police had been vigilant, he said.

Tariq disclosed that a small but angry Muslim crowd took out a rally in a bid to pressurize the court.

He said that participants of the rally were holding placards, which were inscribed with slogans, “Give death to Dr. Robin.”

He disclosed that the witnesses at a court hearing had submitted their written version on legal papers that Dr. Robin did not commit blasphemy.

He said he learned that Dr. Robin's lawyer also gave precedents of post-arrest bails granted to blasphemy accused in the past “but even then the judge did not grant post-arrest bail to Dr. Robin”.

Talking to the APMA Chief, Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti, Veenus said that recording of the alleged conversation between the complainant and some family members further angered the local Muslims.

Thanking Mr. Shahbaz, she said she was optimistic that Dr. Robin would soon be home due to the APMA's efforts.

She said: “I urge the Christians across the world to pray for release of my husband from prison. I cannot give fatherly love to my children. We want him back as soon as possible”, she said while talking to the APMA Chief”.

The APMA Chief told ANS that he was going to urge authorities to do an in-camera trial of Dr. Robin for security purposes. An application in this regard would be moved soon, he said.

He assured the family of the accused that Dr. Robin would soon be with them.

“The APMA is concerned. It (APMA) has been since leveling of the blasphemy accusations on Dr. Robin. We stand by you at this critical juncture in Robin's and your life,” Shahbaz told the family of Dr. Robin who had come to see him at his office in Islamabad.

“It is the case of entire Christian community. When children of Dr. Robin talk to me by phone, I could feel the agony in their voices. I understand what they are living through. The APMA will do all it can to ensure expedient release of Dr. Robin”, said Shahbaz.

“We understand that the Pakistan blasphemy laws are being misused to settle personal scores. Religious enmity, prejudice and intolerance have been found behind filing of blasphemy cases in the past”, he maintained.

“God will move in His own mysterious way. Dr. Robin will be with you soon”, the APMA Chief told Dr. Robin's spouse, Veenus.

Shahbaz reiterated his pledge that the APMA would continue to extend free legal aid to the blasphemy accused.

He said the APMA would continue to struggle until the blasphemy laws are repealed.

A person is reduced to the status of a refugee in his country after blasphemy allegations are leveled against him, said Shahbaz implying to the threats the accused and his family receive after slapping of blasphemy charges.

Responding a question, he said the APMA had been providing free legal aid and shelter to the blasphemy-accused since the abuse of the law became rampant in Pakistan.

The APMA, he said, wants to see the controversial laws abolished. He disclosed that he wanted to table a bill in parliament in a bid to either get the laws repealed or see them significantly amended.

He appealed to the Christians across the world to pray for the APMA and Pakistani Christians.

“I thank you for your previous prayers and support. We need your prayers to be able to continue fighting for the rights of the marginalized and the down-trodden Pakistani Christians and other minorities”, he said.

Dubbing Pakistan blasphemy laws as a death warrant in the hands of extremists, Shahbaz called for the repeal of the law, which he said had done more harm than good since their introduction in 1986.

Report from the Christian Telegraph

by Salim Abraham .

The governments are scrambling to rectify the economic disaster first off we have to find where the money has gone and what happened to it , then rectify the problem - the fund that has been drained out should go back in to the countries it was drained from , not as a donation but as an extended loan or as direct investments causing an influx in to the drained countries .Fifty to Eighty percent must be brought back in to the exploited countries .

Cheap alternative energy sources will be discovered in 10-15 years , it will be mainly from solar energy and Hydrogen energy .

In that very near future Oil will be the third source of energy It will be Solar ,Hydrogen and then Crude Oil and Crude oil will assume the current position and demand of coal .

Regards .

Praise God .

Salim Abraham .

Praise God .

]]> http://itsnotclose.wordpress.com/?p=25 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:44:51 +0000 t3hm0uth http://itsnotclose.pt.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/extended-forecast/ With the massive rotation in extended, we're going to be seeing an entirely new format... That's what all the analysists online are saying anyway.  However, on StarCityGames (www.starcitygames.com) on a recent premium article, it was made quite clear that at least one deck is going to survive (and perhaps even gotten better?) the rotation.

Before I move much more forward let me move back a little bit.

Thomas and I have been rigorously testing pretty much every format, with a good hour or two of debate over sideboard options and dropping one of this or that for one of this or that (you know, test-and-tweak) daily.  Fortunately, because of this, I consider us two of the most highly educated people on the subject of constructed MtG in South Dakota.  Unfortunatly, this comes at a cost of time (minor) and watching decks that you thought would be really fun to play and might be competitive get absolutely SMASHED (major).  Quite disheartening.  For example, the minute we started looking at the Shards list, I saw Ethersworn Canonist (1W, 2/2 White Artifact Creature - Human Cleric.  Each player who has played a nonartifact spell this turn can't play additional nonartifact spells.) and thought it was AMAZING.  "Wow," I said, "that thing totally wrecks Storm-based combo and is definetly a pain in the side of permission-based control." Then I noticed it was an artifact creature.  Then I noticed it was a bear.  Then I started brewing, and Thomas and I developed the following monstrosity:

CEA (Canonist Erayo Affinity).dec

// Lands
4 [MR] Ancient Den
4 [MR] Glimmervoid
4 [MR] Seat of the Synod
4 [MR] Vault of Whispers
1 [MR] Great Furnace

// Creatures
3 [SOK] Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
4 [MR] Frogmite
4 [9E] Ornithopter
4 [ALA] Etherium Sculptor
4 [ALA] Master of Etherium
4 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist
4 [DS] Arcbound Ravager

// Spells
4 [LRW] Springleaf Drum
4 [MR] Thoughtcast
4 [MR] Welding Jar
4 [FD] Cranial Plating

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [SOK] Kataki, War's Wage
SB: 4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
SB: 4 [MR] Pyrite Spellbomb
SB: 4 [FNM] Smother

It was ridiculous.  Three straight days of testing and basically nothing came close.  Outraced other aggro, killed control before it could stabilize, or at least put the writing on the wall (flipped erayo + canonist is the hardest soft lock i've ever seen), and combo saw canonist and the bottom dropped out.  Even other affinity decks we're running this well.  Take a 50/50 matchup in the mirror pre-side, bring in kataki's and smothers, and unless they did they same (never happened) the matchup looked more like 90/10 post-side.  Then this article came out and TEPSAGAN (TEPS with Angel's Grace [AG] and Ad Nauseam [AN] starting rearing its ugly head.....

Yes, it was storm based combo.  But it was fast.  Really fast.  I couldn't put enough pressure on the board to kill it before it went off, which means my outs were down to 4 (the canonist) pre-side and 8 (canonist + thoughtseize) post-side.  I lost.  Badly.  A lot.  I'm a big believer in playing the best deck in the format and just hoping you get good matchups.  This was good.  I thought it was the best.  I was wrong. TEPSAGAN was faster and (very surprisingly) more consistant.  I had to play it.  So I did.  Here's the tweaked list:

// Lands
1 [TSP] Dreadship Reef
4 [TSB] Gemstone Mine
4 [ON] Polluted Delta
1 [GP] Steam Vents
1 [RAV] Watery Grave
3 [5E] City of Brass
1 [DIS] Blood Crypt
1 [10E] Island (3)
1 [7E] Swamp (3)
1 [DIS] Hallowed Fountain

// Spells
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
4 [CHK] Peer Through Depths
4 [TSP] Lotus Bloom
4 [FD] Pentad Prism
3 [TSP] Angel's Grace
4 [SHM] Manamorphose
4 [MR] Seething Song
4 [SC] Mind's Desire
4 [CS] Rite of Flame
2 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
4 [ALA] Ad Nauseam
1 [TSP] Grapeshot

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [ON] Chain of Vapor
SB: 2 [FUT] Pact of Negation
SB: 2 [FUT] Slaughter Pact
SB: 3 [GP] Shattering Spree
SB: 3 [LRW] Thoughtseize
SB: 3 [DIS] Ignorant Bliss

It's disgusting.  You can do the standard TEPS thing and storm up for mind's desire, storm up and just hardcast tendrils of agony (happens quite a bit against Get There and Zoo since they do so much damage to themselves), or you can cast angel's grace followed by ad nauseam, draw your entire deck, play out your remaining chrome moxes, rite of flames, pentad prisms, and manamorphoses (you don't lose the game to the draw effect with 0 cards in your library due to angel's grace), storm for a bunch, and cast either tendrils or grapeshot, whichever makes you feel better about yourself.

The sideboard handles all the stuff that can give you problems.  Thoughtseize is against Swans and the mirror.  Shattering spree is really good against affinity, and has been amazing in the mirror sometimes and really mediocre others.  Pact of Negation automatically comes in game 2 against basically everything.  Everyone has something against this, or will, so just bring it in.  Slaughter Pact handles Gaddok Teeg and Ethersworn Canonist, both of which give you fits.  Chain of Vapor is the catch all for other stuff that's annoying, like Thorn of Amethyst, the aforementioned creatures (Swans, Teeg, Canonist), and any enchantment that might be giving you trouble (Ivory Mask maybe?).  The real star of the sideboard is Ignorant Bliss, however.  I'm never sad to see it.  At worst, it replaces itself at their EOT step.  At best, it makes you immune to their discard until EOT and helps you dig one card deeper for that last mana or combo piece you just gotta have to go off.   This saw play in the side of Dragonstorm decks in standard a while back, and I think it's a great fit here.

I believe that these two decks are clearly the best in extended right now, as they both slide a ton of stuff underneath control's stabilization turn and have absolutely explosive potential by turn 4.  There might be something waiting in the weeds that I just haven't seen or read about or thought of yet, but I don't really see anything on the horizon at the moment.

Other decks that seem to be getting a lot of lip-service are Slide variants, Zoo, Get There, Swans, and my favorite sub-Tier 1 (in my opinion, of course) deck has to be the Life from the Loam/Retrace aggro-control thing with Tarmogoyfs.  Who knew Raven's Crime could be so good?!

As always, It's Not Close.

t3hm0uth

edit: had Persist where I meant Retrace.

~hasta la vista, baby!

"Nokia announced today the launch of Qt Extended 4.4, a complete mobile and embedded development platform based on the open source Qt toolkit. It is designed with a modular architecture that provides building blocks for assembling a Linux-based software stack for various embedded devices ranging from phones to set-top boxes." ArsTechnica showcases the various features and enhancements of the platform. There are some impressive screenshots of the Qt widgets as well.

Ya tuvimos un anuncio de Adobe hace algún tiempo y parece que han cumplido la promesa. En una reciente rueda de prensa, Adobe ha contado todos los detalles de su nueva Suite CS4 a fondo.

En la Suite se incluyen los programas Photoshop CS4, Illustrator CS4, Indesign CS4, After Effects CS4, Premiere Pro CS4 y SoundBooth CS4. La suite se podrá adquirir a partir del mes de octubre, según se ha sabido.

En primer lugar, Photoshop CS4 aprovechará el uso de gráficos acelerados por GPU para varias tareas, lo cual aumentará su rendimiento. Además, mejorará el escalado, incluirá correcciones no-destructivas, una mejor integración con Lightroom, funciones en tres dimensiones avanzadas en la versión Extended y lo que mucha gente estaba esperando, una nueva interfaz visual basada en pestañas.

Además, y sólo para los ordenadores portátiles de Apple, Adobe Creative Suite CS4 será compatible con los gestos multitouch de sus trackpads. Podremos aumentar o disminuir el zoom de un imagen, girarla o incluso desplazarla por la pantalla, con efectos de aceleración o frenado, muy parecido a como usamos nuestras fotos en el iPhone.

En cuanto al precio, la Suite CS4 de Adobe costará 699 dólares (477 euros), aunque si tenemos una licencia de las versiones CS, CS2 o CS3 la actualización costará 199 dólares (136 euros). La versión Extended costará 999 dólares (682 euros) y la actualización antes mencionada costará 349 dólares (238 euros).

Fuente: Applesfera

I'm risking it all
But it's a chance I got to take
Better to be than be for gone

'Cause I'm out of control
And so insecure
But it only makes me want it more
The harder I try
The further it seems to slip away

You keep pulling me down
Can't take any more
I'm fighting this battle on my own
Should I surrender if I fall

I gotta runaway
I'm only hiding from myself
I feel like I suffocate
I gotta get away
I'm only hiding from the truth
I feel like I suffocate
I gotta runaway
Runaway...

There's something inside
Staring me right into my eyes
I'm trusting my conscious as my friend

I try and I try
But you just keep me holding on
When will this nightmare ever end

'Cause I'm out of control
And so insecure
But it only makes me want it more
The harder I try
The further it seems to slip away

You keep pulling me down
Can't take any more
I'm fighting this battle on my own
Should I surrender if I fall

I gotta runaway
I'm only hiding from myself
I feel like I suffocate
I gotta get away
I'm only hiding from the truth
I feel like I suffocate
Runaway
Runaway
Get away
Runaway

Extended Trailer

Funny little Heroes parody!

Wellps, you know I'll be watching tonight.

That is according to a Land Transport Authority study.

In October 2005, ERP gantries in Orchard Road started operating on Saturdays. ERP hours on weekdays were also extended from 7pm to 8pm.

But in the year after the changes, sales went up by 9per cent, more than double the 4per cent growth the year before.

The figure is also higher than the growth rate for businesses outside the Central Business District during the same period, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said yesterday.

He cited the figures in response to Ms Irene Ng (Tampines GRC), who had asked about the social and economic impact of more ERP gantries and longer operating hours.

Mr Lim noted that many factors could affect businesses.

'While retailers within ERP zones have given feedback that ERP is one of the reasons their businesses have been affected, they recognise that their business outside ERP hours has also been poor,' he added.

Mr Lim also assured the House that ERP gantries are not erected pre-emptively.

Rather, traffic situations along congested stretches of roads are studied over several quarters before any gantries go up.

The five new gantries along the Singapore River, for example, were put up after complaints received, over time, about slow traffic in the area.

Another MP, Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah GRC), wanted the restriction on the driving of weekend cars on Saturdays removed.

Currently, off-peak cars can be driven only from 3pm onwards on Saturdays. Those who wish to drive them before that time must display a $20 day licence.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Teo Ser Luck said a change to usage restrictions for off-peak cars would mean changing the tax concessions for such cars as well.

'However, not all off-peak car owners may agree to a reduction in tax concessions in exchange for such additional benefits,' he said.