![]() ![]() As such, I can create more space from a defender and beat my man off the dribble, where I was never good at doing so before.Įven so, that’s nice to have, but by itself it doesn’t make me want to re-spec my M圜areer player to take advantage of these new abilities. ![]() This went much better for me, and the Pro Stick, as a modifier for my player movement, feels more responsive to instinct, rather than requiring discrete and deliberate choices. In introducing Shot Stick Aiming, Visual Concepts rejiggered the rest of the right thumbstick inputs for ball-handling moves (called the Pro Stick). I couldn’t figure it out, but players who have mastered the old timing-only system might find it worth a look. Shot Stick Aiming requires the player to center a wedge on the shot meter with the right thumbstick, in addition to releasing that stick at the right time. That’s not what I get out of Shot Stick Aiming, a new control scheme geared more toward experienced players looking for a steeper challenge. In other years, or in other sports titles, new controls or adjustments to the core game can still make me go, “OK, now I really want to play career with this.” Shot Stick Aiming adds a degree of difficulty, and makes scoring a more determinative effort, but is only accessible for advanced players. There are changes, even upgrades, in the gameplay, but by themselves they don’t justify restarting M圜areer or MyTeam. That’s NBA 2K21 for you: It worked last year, so of course it works this year. Hell, NBA 2K20 also brought in a guy from The Wire for its story, and gave the player character a swaggering but lovable rival to measure up against, too. Williams (Omar from The Wire) is just shady enough as a streetwise mentor to make an endgame choice - one the game even forced me to reconsider! - both reasonable and personally regrettable.īut the shame is that even in its best and most distinctive offerings, NBA 2K21 is too similar to NBA 2K20 for me to give my recommendation much supporting material beyond a gut feeling, a kind of “yeah, it’s fun go play it” mood. Given every chance to be a preening overdog, newcomer Vince Washington turns the character Hendrixx Cobb into a warm, believable friend instead. That means some kind of personal journey or transformation for the star, and supporting characters with some depth and likability. My recommendation isn’t much more than a ‘go play it it’s fun’ gut feeling NBA 2K21, with The Long Shadow, gets what other sports games largely haven’t in their experiments with narrative modes: I don’t just need a backstory I can believe, but also one I’m proud to carry forward. The studio’s gifts for flair get a great showcase with The Long Shadow.Įarnest performances, from Jesse Williams ( Grey’s Anatomy) as the deceased dad casting said shadow, and the clean, show-don’t-tell writing and dialogue elevate a basic-as-bread story into a good popcorn movie. Let’s start with the virtue, which is that Visual Concepts’ production values and obvious commitment to each annual game as an artistic proposition can make the endless purgatory of sports video games - it’s really good, just like last year! - feel fresh and worth exploring. Real-life college teams are back in The Long Shadow, the story mode introducing players to “Junior,” an up-and-comer with a legacy to live up to. That’s the virtue and the shame of it all. Oh, don’t get me wrong: NBA 2K 21 will still gobble up hours of my time, just like last year’s game. NBA 2K21 doesn’t give me a better reason to spend my virtual paper there, either. ![]() Or maybe until I went over to MyTeam, the card-collection/fantasy sports mode tied into the currency system that also builds up a M圜areer run. I re-created my NBA 2K20 player’s look in NBA 2K21 with ease, making this year’s story mode look like a direct sequel, albeit one where my guy has gone back to college to work his way up from nothing … again.įor some reason, this still worked for me - until I pulled back into M圜areer, the mode which The Long Shadow, part narrative, part onboarding, gets new players fired up to play. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() In fact, one of the only criticisms I have about this title is that it feels slow and awkward to control the brush with the joystick at all, but I understand the necessity of that functionality for those who want it. This is definitely the best way to play the game. However, you can instead use any finger you like to paint the touchscreen of your Switch and interact with the world as much as possible. You control your character using the left stick and move your brush cursor around with the right one. Similarly, you can’t explore caves until you unlock glowing paint, and then those caves present a glut of new mechanics for you to discover and master.Įach new step you make in understanding the game gives you something else to get your head around, creating a satisfying gameplay loop that feeds into your deep hunger to progress and do more. For example, some trees disappear when you paint them, others grow. Instead, you need to watch the world and learn how your interaction with it can help you move forward. There are side areas and boxes to open for new clothes that you can go after, but the main story doesn’t require it of you. This game is more about getting through the path in front of you, and once you figure it out, you’re free to move on. There’s almost no combat in this game, and I’d argue that what combat there is doesn’t count. Furthermore, you’ll have to solve puzzles in other areas to understand how to progress everywhere else in the world. You can explore anywhere you can see, but you’ll need to unlock new brush styles or abilities to get into certain locations. The world lends itself to that progression, too. The gameplay resembles that of a The Legend of Zelda title, giving you a single brush and set of colours to start with, adding more brush styles, colours, and associated powers as you progress. I could not put Chicory: A Colorful Tale down. You never stop discovering, and that’s the key to why this game is so engrossing. It’s an important story that never shies away from the subject matter, but it will hold your hand all the way through it. These feelings run deeper the more creative you are, and the story hits harder for it.Īt the heart of the story is a look at mental health, how we treat it, and the broad spectrum of reactions the world gives you. That dread of someone looking at your work and judging it, the thought that you’re doing something wrong no matter your actions, and the simple fact that you just don’t feel good enough. Throughout the story you’ll encounter themes that affect everyone. You’re immediately besotted with this character because you name them after your favourite food, and from there you head out into the world to push back against a crisis that has not only removed all of its colour, but is a danger to anyone that comes near it. This character is you, the wielder’s janitor, until you pick the brush up one day. The game’s story follows a magical brush that fills the otherwise black and white world with colour and its wielder. The story doesn’t shy away from anything. There are many themes in the game that will hit close to home for pretty much anyone, but it’s the way the game wraps those themes up and has you interact meaningfully with them – without forcing you to do anything you don’t want to – that keeps you coming back for more until the final moments. Featuring audio design by Em Halberstadt and A Shell in the Pit (Untitled Goose Game, Night in the Woods).Chicory: A Colorful Tale is one of those games that doesn’t release to huge fanfare, yet it seems to resonate with anyone that plays it. ![]() ![]() Play with your friends and paint together in local co-op! Experience 10+ hours of gameplay and dozens of side quests including mail delivery, art classes, photo taking, and more. Discover a world full of 100+ animal characters. Dress up how you want with collectible clothes, plants, and furniture. Unlock new paint abilities and use them to reach new places. Solve puzzles and manipulate the environment with paint. Explore the Picnic Province, and paint on anything! It’s a big job… but you’re ready for it! Probably! It’s up to you, Chicory’s number one fan, to pick up the Brush and fill in for her. Chicory, superstar artist and wielder of the Brush, is missing, and all the color in the land vanished with her. Use your painting powers to explore new places, solve puzzles, help your friends, and change the world! Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a top-down adventure game in a coloring book world where you can draw on anything. ![]() ![]() The content may contain documents or personal correspondence unless it contains invoices, receipts, incidental advertising, and other documents related to merchandise contained in the parcels. Packages are subject to a surcharge if they are irregularly shaped. ![]() Packages cannot measure more than 108 inches in combined length and girth.They cannot be more than 12 inches high by 15 inches long by ¾ inches thick. Large envelopes cannot weigh more than 13 ounces.Letters cannot weigh more than 3 ½ ounces (they can be between 3 ½ inches to 6 1/8 inches high, between 5 inches and 11 ½ inches long, and as thick as between 0.007 inches to ¼ inch).The service allows you to ship mail items that wouldn't normally go through the mail. ![]() Box in the US and associated territories. The shipment can be sent to any residential or commercial address, as well to any P.O. USPS First-Class Package Service can be used by individuals and businesses who need to send lightweight packages under 1 pound. Otherwise, it will be treated like the USPS First-Class Package service. If your envelope is less than 13 ounces and not more than 15 inches long (or more than 12 inches high and more than ¾ inch thick), your mail will be classified as first-class mail. First-class mail is for mailing letters, large envelopes, and postcards. First-Class Package service is for shipping packages and poly mailers up to 1 pound. Note: It is crucial to know that First-Class Package is not the same as USPS first-class mail. Other first-class services available are first-class mail (an affordable and simple way to send postcards and envelopes) and first-class mail international (the most affordable way to send letters and lightweight packages globally). First-class mail is a higher priority class than marketing mail, retail ground, and media mail. Then, after first-class mail, there are USPS marketing mail, retail ground, and media mail. Besides First-Class Package, the following services are also considered "first-class": Tracking is included with no extra charge. The service usually offers nationwide delivery within three days (or less in most cases) which is similar to USPS Priority Mail. When compared to Priority Mail and Parcel Select Ground, First-Class Package offers greater cost savings. Boxes, and many APO/FPO/DPO destinations. territories including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands), P.O. ![]() You can send your packages anywhere in the United States (and the U.S. Keep in mind that using USPS-branded packaging when shipping through the service is forbidden. If you use USPS First-Class Package, you should send your items in an envelope, poly mailer, or plain or branded box. USPS First-Class Package is one of the USPS services that allows you to ship lightweight packages that weigh up to 15.999 ounces. What is USPS First-Class Package? What is USPS First-Class Package delivery time? Let's dive deeper into it. It turns out that one of the most affordable and quickest options is the First-Class Package service from USPS. Especially when your package weighs less than one pound, you probably want to manage that quickly and cheaply. If you ever needed to ship a package quickly and conveniently, you probably wondered what the easiest and most convenient delivery option was. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Resistance Coefficient Method – K Method – Excess head In the following section these methods are summarized in the order from the simplest to the most sophisticated. There are several methods how to calculate head loss from fittings, bends and elbows. K is the sum of all of the loss coefficients in the length of pipe, each contributing to the overall head loss. Like pipe friction, the minor losses are r oughly proportional to the square of the flow rate and therefore they can be easy integrated into the Darcy-Weisbach equation. The data, especially for valves, are somewhat dependent upon the particular manufacturer’s design. The minor losses are commonly measured experimentally. For relatively short pipe systems, with a relatively large number of bends and fittings, minor losses can easily exceed major losses (especially with a partially closed valve that can cause a greater pressure loss than a long pipe, in fact when a valve is closed or nearly closed, the minor loss is infinite). Such losses are generally termed minor losses, although they often account for a major portion of the head loss. These additional components add to the overall head loss of the system. In industry any pipe system contains different technological elements as bends, fittings, valves or heated channels. ![]() If there is no change in elevation head (the pipe lies horizontal), the decrease in kinetic head must be compensated for by an increase in pressure head. Since the outlet velocity is less than the inlet velocity, the kinetic head of the flow must decrease from the inlet to the outlet. If this pipe undergoes a gradual expansion in diameter, the continuity equation tells us that as the pipe diameter increases, the flow velocity must decrease in order to maintain the same mass flow rate. Thus, Bernoulli’s equation states that the total head of the fluid is constant.Ĭonsider a pipe containing an ideal fluid. The sum of the elevation head, kinetic head, and pressure head of a fluid is called the total head. It is the height in feet that a flowing fluid would rise in a column if all of its kinetic energy were converted to potential energy. Kinetic potential – Kinetic head: The kinetic head represents the kinetic energy of the fluid.Elevation potential – Elevation head: The elevation head represents the potential energy of a fluid due to its elevation above a reference level.ρ w: density of water assumed to be independent of pressure Pressure potential – Pressure head: The pressure head represents the flow energy of a column of fluid whose weight is equivalent to the pressure of the fluid. ![]() There are four types of potential (head): Therefore the characteristics of all pumps can be usually read from its Q-H curve (flow rate – height). This head is usually referred to as the static head and represents the maximum height (pressure) it can deliver. The units for all the different forms of energy in the Bernoulli’s equation can be measured also in units of distance, and therefore these terms are sometimes referred to as “heads” (pressure head, velocity head, and elevation head). In fluid dynamics, head is a concept that relates the energy in an incompressible fluid to the height of an equivalent static column of that fluid. It can be used to determine a hydraulic gradient between two or more points. In general, the hydraulic head, or total head, is a measure of the potential of fluid at the measurement point. ![]() ![]() ![]()
![]() ![]() The association of a certain stage of sleep with dreaming might have been described by any number of observant cave men in fact, if the 17,000-year-old Lascaux cave painting of a presumably dreaming Cro-Magnon hunter with an erect penis is any indication, maybe it was.īut scientists had long been blinkered by preconceptions about the sleeping brain. The two-page paper is a fine example of the maxim that the eye can see only what the mind knows: for thousands of years the physical clues of REM sleep were baldly visible to anyone who ever gazed at the eyelids of a napping child or studied the twitching paws of a sleeping dog. The existence of rapid eye movement (REM) and its correlation with dreaming was announced 50 years ago last month in a brief, little-noted report in the journal Science. What was going on? Yet another problem with the infernal machine? Aserinsky didn’t know what to think, standing in bewildered excitement, on the threshold of a great discovery. But Armond’s eyes were closed the boy was fast asleep. Aserinsky went in to check on his son, expecting to find him wide awake. While the long banner of graph paper unfurled, Aserinsky noticed that the pens tracking his son’s eye movements-as well as the pens registering brain activity-were swinging back and forth, suggesting Armond was alert and looking around. ![]() The hours crept by in the spooky gray-stone gloom of Abbott Hall. Money was so tight Aserinsky would eventually have to accept a small loan from his dissertation advisor, Nathaniel Kleitman, and then be obliged to feign enthusiasm for the distinguished man’s suggestion that he economize by eating chicken necks. They lived on campus in a converted Army barracks heated by a kerosene stove. His wife, Sylvia, was pregnant with their second child. He had nothing but a high school degree to fall back on. He was a graduate student in physiology, and his future was riding on this research. When he was not in his lab coat, he usually wore a bow tie and a dark suit. He was 30 years old, a trim, handsome man of medium height, with black hair, a mustache, blue eyes and the mien of a bullfighter. Sustained by pretzels and coffee, Aserinsky sat at a desk under the hellish red eyes of a gargoyle-shaped lamp. And then it was lights out, the sharp smell of acetone lingering in the darkness.Īrmond fell asleep his father tried not to. The ink pens jumped in concert with the boy’s eyes. From the adjacent room, Aserinsky calibrated the machine, telling Armond to look left, right, up and down. And now, late one December evening in 1951, his 8-year-old son, Armond, came over to the lab and sat patiently on an Army cot while his father scrubbed his scalp and the skin around his eyes with acetone, taped electrodes to the boy’s head and plugged the leads into a switch box over the bed. ![]() He had tinkered with it long enough to think it might not be totally unreliable. He’d dragged an ancient brain-wave machine, an Offner Dynograph, from the basement to the physiology lab on the second floor of Abbott Hall at the University of Chicago. Night after night Eugene Aserinsky had been working late. ![]() ![]() I only won because you had no idea what I was doing. Even against guys with over 1k hours, no one defends my resets and the match is completely free. It's a big part of the game right? But I don't feel right for doing these dirty things. When I play online, I'm really only successful when I abuse resets. I chose these characters because I feel like they have some of everything, Crossups, crossunders, overheads and just really ambiguous things.Īnyways so yeah resets. Some examples are Fukua, Double, Filia and Valentine. Resets just make the game a big guessing game. So the reason why I think Skullgirls is cheap. Both teams aim to find an opening and then reset you until a combo is enough and then finish it off with some meter. ![]() Very pressure in your face oriented teams and very lame teams that wait for you to make a mistake and chip you to death in the meantime. There are like 2 types of teams from my experience. I'm not going to say that Skullgirls sucks!! Because it doesn't. If it wasn't for the people who completely destroyed me online then I would probably still be playing CS:GO or League instead of games like Xrd and Tekken 7. Skullgirls really ignited my love for fighting games. ![]() Skullgirls thought me about mix-ups and frame data and everything. I've played a lot of fighting games before but that was just casually. It was my first fighting game I actually invested time in learning. I started Skullgirls around late 2014 and I've played the game on and off since. Also I've already braced myself for the "You don't like the game don't play it." ![]() ![]() That being said I don't really care for post karma atm so I'll post this anyways. And Skullgirls players are very defensive and retaliate when anyone insults their game. I'll start off this rant by saying that I know I'm in the wrong territory. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Mail is proven to be one of the most profitable marketing methods. Next, submit your postage statement electronically and you are ready to bring your Full-Service mailing to your acceptance unit along with the confirmation page.Next, print your address with an Intelligent Mail barcode on labels, envelopes or insert page.First upload your address list to the IMsb Tool.No special software or installation is required and data is easily accessible to users!! Users simply access the application via a Web Browser You will have the ability to receive delivery point validation in near real time and updated mailing list.You will have 24 x 7 access to manage your Full-Service mailing activities, transactions and mailing history whenever and wherever it is convenient for you.You do not need to print hard-copy postage statements.You can do Full-Service mailings with Intelligent Mail barcodes for your mail pieces and tray.Maximum yearly volume of equal or less than 250,000 piecesīenefits you can expect from using this tool to create Full-Service mailings:.Maximum mailing size of less than 50,000 pieces.The Intelligent Mail for Small Business Mailers (IMsb) is an online tool which will allow you to qualify for automation Full-Service discount on mailings that are: If you prepare your own mailings, the Intelligent Mail for Small Business Mailers (IMsb) Tool is for you. To find a list of Software Vendors who have participated in the voluntary USPS Full-Service and eDoc certification process, go to PostalPro at: Intelligent Mail for Small Business Mailers (IMsb) Tool Several Software Vendors have developed solutions for you. To take advantage of Intelligent Mail barcode benefits, talk to your Software Provider or Mail Service Provider (MSP). ![]() ![]() ![]() For the uninitiated folks, DuckDuckGo is an extremely privacy-oriented search engine that, according to its privacy policy, never collects or personalizes your search queries. But you can always consider using Firefox Quantum on your PC or Mac, which features a Private mode that matches the core Firefox Focus experience to a certain degree.įirefox Focus (Android) Firefox Focus (iOS)ĭuckDuckGo Privacy Browser, on the other hand, is brought to you by the good folks behind the DuckDuckGo search engine. A bit disappointing if you are a desktop user. ![]() Sadly, Firefox Focus is available only on Android and iOS. The fact that user privacy is considered a guiding principle in the Mozilla Manifesto should give you a clear idea as to where they stand. And with Firefox Focus and DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser, you are in good hands.įirefox Focus is a product of the Mozilla Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a strong reputation for advocating and supporting a free and open internet. ![]() AvailabilityĪny browser claiming to champion online privacy needs to have transparent features and policies devised by a well-respected development team actively supporting the idea of user privacy. Not only do both mobile browsers offer a completely private browsing experience right out-of-the-box, but they also try to prevent websites from tracking you all the time.īut which one does a better job at that? Let’s find out. Thankfully, that’s where Firefox Focus and DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser come into the picture. Sadly, they are more focused on the offline privacy aspects rather than stopping trackers from recording your browsing behavior. ![]() Of course, most browsers do offer the functionality to search in private mode. That uncertainty is the reason why you need to get serious about your privacy. But who knows for what other nefarious purposes is your data used? All that in the garb of personalized search results and resulting in more targeted ads. The extension does not record your browsing history, capture your passwords or bank account numbers, or secretly collect or change data you submit on a web form.Search engines and advertising networks love to track and profile your online activities. It's important to know that just because AdBlock can see everything on a web page, it doesn't mean it actually does anything with it. Change the data on the page by adding some HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code to the page to hide unblocked ads.This also means that AdBlock can see any forms you submit and your browsing history on that tab. See all the data on the page to find any unblocked ads among the other content.This also means that AdBlock knows the URL of every page you visit. See every page you open so that AdBlock can run on every page you visit.That's because it's important to be careful with your browser permissions! You should be aware of what your browser extensions can do.Īd blockers work by 1) blocking a web page's requests to download ads from the servers that host them and, 2) hiding any ads that can't be blocked. This could include sensitive information like passwords, phone numbers, and credit cards." Although the exact wording depends on which browser you use, the warnings all sound a little scary. It will look something like this: "AdBlock can read, modify, and transmit content from all web pages. When you install AdBlock for the first time, AdBlock will request some permissions to operate within your browser. ![]() ![]() It's a glimpse into secret places, a school for scandal and a funeral pyre. The Big Hurt tells us what it's like to fall dangerously in love when the timing is wrong and the children are young, and when the man in question has immolation on his mind. In the middle of marriage and motherhood, Erika Schickel pulled the pin from a deadly grenade and blew it all up. It's the story of a bad girl who grew up to be a good woman-until she felt the old itch. The Big Hurt is a most timely read."- Annabelle Gurwitch, author of the New York Times bestseller I See You Made an Effort and Wherever You Go, There They Are Schickel's unraveling of her past, will make you rethink every assumption you hold about the nexus between sexual desire and power. ![]() "Who doesn't love a fallen woman story? Erika Schickel's The Big Hurt delivers that in spades, but this fierce, elegant memoir does so much more. Erika Schickel is not just an interrogator of her own psyche but an interpreter of the times-the current era as well as the decades that led us here."- Meghan Daum, author of The Problem with Everything " The Big Hurt fulfills the promise of which too many memoirs fall short: it takes the vagaries and vicissitudes of the human heart and elevates them to the level of social, even political, inquiry. Wowee."- Sandra Tsing Loh, author of The Madwoman in the Volvo "One of the top five books I've ever read, don't remember what the other four were. I loved this book."- Claire Dederer, author of Love and Trouble Beautifully written, intensely relatable, and fueled by incendiary fury and love, The Big Hurt belongs on the shelf with a small number of memoirs that rearranged my world-view and maybe even a few of my cells. I was transported and consumed by Schickel's hypnotic unspooling of her troubled, sexed-up adolescence and the way the legacy of that time followed her like a black dog into midlife. "I picked up Erika Schickel's memoir and the world disappeared for the next two days. It looks at the long shadow cast by great, monstrously self-absorbed literary lives and the ways in which women pin themselves like beautiful butterflies to the spreading board of male ego. It shines a light on the haute culture of 1970s Manhattan that made girls grow up too fast. The Big Hurt looks at a legacy of shame handed down through a maternal bloodline and the cost of epigenetic trauma. The Big Hurt tells two coming-of-age stories: one of a lost girl in a predatory world, and the other of that girl grown up, who in reckoning with her past ends up recreating it with a notorious LA crime novelist, blowing up her marriage and casting herself into the second exile of her life. ![]() ![]() In the wake of her parents’ ugly divorce, Erika was packed off to a bohemian boarding school in the Berkshires. Schickel came of age in the 1970s, the progeny of two writers: Richard Schickel, the prominent film critic for TIME magazine, and Julia Whedon, a melancholy mid-list novelist. Seduced, caught, and then whisked away in the night to avoid scandal, Schickel’s provocative, searing, and darkly funny memoir, The Big Hurt, explores the question, How did that girl turn out? She was that girl-rebellious, precocious, and macking for love. In 1982, Erika Schickel was expelled from her East Coast prep school for sleeping with a teacher. This complex memoir shows what it was like growing up in the shadow of a literary father and a neglectful mother, getting thrown out of boarding school after being seduced by a teacher, and all of the later-life consequences that ensue. ![]() |