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Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Republicans shouldn't blame Obama for gas prices
Republicans get it wrong by blaming President Obama for higher gas prices. Yesterday on Hardball with Chris Matthews, Congressman Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts put it this way. Domestic oil production has gone up (an eight year high) and demand ( by 7 per cent) has gone down. Note that Jo Ann Emerson, a Republican congresswoman from Missouri makes the argument for more drilling but she can't promise gas prices would go down. Higher gas prices are the result of speculators and OPEC. IF you watch the video, Congresswoman Emerson concedes that speculators and outside factors can drive up gas prices. Lower demand for gas will cause the prices to go down. Check out the Hardball video below.
Javik of Mass Effect 3 is cool
I've read from commentators that Javik, the Prothean you get by completing the DLC mission "From Ashes" is ugly. I disagree. The lizard like skin and four eyes are cool. That's what an alien should look like. He's pictured above.
Mass Effect 3 Scanning Solar Systems Tips
Mass Effect 3 has replaced the dreadful mining from Mass Effect 2 with a scanning pulse from the Normandy. When you pick up something, EDI will tell you that you found something. They will be either raw materials, assets, or fuel. The rub is that sending out a pulse alerts the Reapers. It takes about three pulses before the Reapers enter the system and will destroy your ship. You can tell when they are about to arrive by the red alert bar on the left. If it fills up, here they come. Here are some tips to help you avoid the Reapers and make this a snap.
1. Orbit the planet with assets if Reapers are in the system. Say Reapers are already in the system and are chasing you. Make a beeline to the planet with the assets and orbit it. You can scan the planet and get the assets without being killed. Now, here's where you need to be careful. Once you break orbit, the Reapers will chase you. Fly like a bat out of hell to the green line which exits you out of the system and to safety. This also works with orbiting wreckage.
2. Save game and make a trial run with sensors. This is the best way to avoid Reapers in a solar system with assets. Save your game before you are to enter a solar system. Enter the system and scan away. Eventually the Reapers appear. Keep pinging away. Find the assets while avoiding the Reapers. Remember the location of where the assets are located in the system. Exit the system. Now reload the saved game. Maximize the sensor range and scan the areas where the assets were found in the trial run. It may take you two pings and the Reapers won't enter the system due to your economical use of the sensor. Easy.
1. Orbit the planet with assets if Reapers are in the system. Say Reapers are already in the system and are chasing you. Make a beeline to the planet with the assets and orbit it. You can scan the planet and get the assets without being killed. Now, here's where you need to be careful. Once you break orbit, the Reapers will chase you. Fly like a bat out of hell to the green line which exits you out of the system and to safety. This also works with orbiting wreckage.
2. Save game and make a trial run with sensors. This is the best way to avoid Reapers in a solar system with assets. Save your game before you are to enter a solar system. Enter the system and scan away. Eventually the Reapers appear. Keep pinging away. Find the assets while avoiding the Reapers. Remember the location of where the assets are located in the system. Exit the system. Now reload the saved game. Maximize the sensor range and scan the areas where the assets were found in the trial run. It may take you two pings and the Reapers won't enter the system due to your economical use of the sensor. Easy.
Mass Effect 3 "From Ashes" Tip
Here's a tip for the last part of the DLC mission "From Ashes" for Mass Effect 3. This tip is for the normal difficulty setting. Okay, after you activate the Prothean's pod, you come under attack from Cerberus troops. At first there will be two waves. Stay in cover and wipe them out.
Once there all dead, you get a message from your squad mate telling you that you should get ready. Move to the building in front of you and replenish your ammo. Remember how you got here? Yeah, you moved over the roof of this building. So head to the building 's ladder and climb back up. Bring the squad with you.
Now when the third wave of Cerberus troops arrive with the Atlas. you're at an elevated position. There's also cover up on the roof. The Atlas can't climb ladders. So rain down fire on it. You eventually put them all down with little effort.
Once there all dead, you get a message from your squad mate telling you that you should get ready. Move to the building in front of you and replenish your ammo. Remember how you got here? Yeah, you moved over the roof of this building. So head to the building 's ladder and climb back up. Bring the squad with you.
Now when the third wave of Cerberus troops arrive with the Atlas. you're at an elevated position. There's also cover up on the roof. The Atlas can't climb ladders. So rain down fire on it. You eventually put them all down with little effort.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
"From Ashes" DLC for Mass Effect 3 Review
In a controversial move, Electronic Arts has released a DLC (Downloadable content) on the same day that Mass Effect 3 has come out. Which means they want you to pay an extra ten bucks for the DLC or pay an extra twenty bucks for the Collector's Edition in which the DLC is included for free. The complaint from consumers? Why didn't EA include this DLC on the game disk since you've already paid sixty bucks? The DLC mission isn't that long so why try to milk an extra ten bucks from the customer? But the ultimate question is should you pay for the extra mission?
"From Ashes" is a mission which is available as soon as you first get back to the Normandy. You're instructed to go back to Eden Prime, the place where it all started for Shepard or you if you really identify with your character. It's here where he made contact with a Prothean beacon in the first Mass Effect. The Protheans were a race that fought the Reapers but were defeated. Their light vanished from the galaxy fifty thousand years ago. You are to recover a Prothean artifact. But here's the rub. It's not an artifact. It's an actual Prothean named Javik. He's in cryogenic freeze so you have to find the codes to safely thaw him out. Of course it isn't that easy because Cerberus forces will try to stop you.
It's a short mission. It will take you about two hours to get through it on the first playthrough. But it's no the gameplay that will keep your interest. It's the story of the Protheans as told through flashbacks. And when you get a chance to talk to Javik, you find some surprising things about the Proteheans. If you complete the mission, Javik becomes a member of your crew who can accompany you on away missions. With that, he brings his special "Dark Channel" power which is like Singularity without the lifting of an enemy. You can also use his assault rifle which is like the Collector Particle Beam but not as effective since it overheats.
But should you pay the extra ten bucks for this mission? Well, I hate to say it but just bend over and take it. Yeah, you don't need Javik. But if you're a fan of the game, you get great dialog with him. And the cutscenes of the Protheans downfall are compelling. I found learning about their culture from Javik, a fascinating and interesting experience. The grade is B +.
"From Ashes" is a mission which is available as soon as you first get back to the Normandy. You're instructed to go back to Eden Prime, the place where it all started for Shepard or you if you really identify with your character. It's here where he made contact with a Prothean beacon in the first Mass Effect. The Protheans were a race that fought the Reapers but were defeated. Their light vanished from the galaxy fifty thousand years ago. You are to recover a Prothean artifact. But here's the rub. It's not an artifact. It's an actual Prothean named Javik. He's in cryogenic freeze so you have to find the codes to safely thaw him out. Of course it isn't that easy because Cerberus forces will try to stop you.
It's a short mission. It will take you about two hours to get through it on the first playthrough. But it's no the gameplay that will keep your interest. It's the story of the Protheans as told through flashbacks. And when you get a chance to talk to Javik, you find some surprising things about the Proteheans. If you complete the mission, Javik becomes a member of your crew who can accompany you on away missions. With that, he brings his special "Dark Channel" power which is like Singularity without the lifting of an enemy. You can also use his assault rifle which is like the Collector Particle Beam but not as effective since it overheats.
But should you pay the extra ten bucks for this mission? Well, I hate to say it but just bend over and take it. Yeah, you don't need Javik. But if you're a fan of the game, you get great dialog with him. And the cutscenes of the Protheans downfall are compelling. I found learning about their culture from Javik, a fascinating and interesting experience. The grade is B +.
Santorum's Safe Sex
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has called for a war on pornography. On his website, he says, "It contributes to misogyny and violence against women" First, let's talk about the futility of doing this. The porn industry is a multibillion dollar industry. All of those people watching aren't all perverts. He cites no facts that porn cause violence against women. And what about the cost of prosecuting the hundreds of porn providers? Here's how hard it is to get a conviction on obscenity these days. In Cincinnati where porn king Larry Flynt was prosecuted for obscenity, he now has a Hustler store downtown that sells hardcore pornography. The world has changed and the Internet has led that change.
But this leads to Santorum's bigger problem regarding sex. He's out of touch with overwhelming majority of Americans. First, he opposes contraceptives. Yet, he ignores the fact that 99 per cent of sexually active women have used it at some point. He's against gay rights. Once, he said that gay sex was akin to man on dog sex and incest. On abortion, he opposes it to such a degree that he would not allow a woman who got raped be allowed to have an abortion. So, a woman would be hurt twice. Once for the rape and forced to take give birth to the rapist's child.
On pornography, he has no conception about what most Americans think about it. It's a multibillion dollar industry for one reason. Most Americans are okay with it. And I'm not talking about child pornography which is despicable. You see Americans believe in the right of privacy. Santorum doesn't. Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall put it this way when the court struck down a law prohibiting possession of pornography. "[I]f the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch." Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
Rick Santorum doesn't want to return us to the fifties, he wants to return us back to the nineteenth century when it comes to sex. I find it laughable when Republicans scream about freedom that they can't get out of our bedrooms. For Santorum, the only safe sex is one sanctioned by the Catholic church.
Stephen Colbert on Santorum's Google problem.
But this leads to Santorum's bigger problem regarding sex. He's out of touch with overwhelming majority of Americans. First, he opposes contraceptives. Yet, he ignores the fact that 99 per cent of sexually active women have used it at some point. He's against gay rights. Once, he said that gay sex was akin to man on dog sex and incest. On abortion, he opposes it to such a degree that he would not allow a woman who got raped be allowed to have an abortion. So, a woman would be hurt twice. Once for the rape and forced to take give birth to the rapist's child.
On pornography, he has no conception about what most Americans think about it. It's a multibillion dollar industry for one reason. Most Americans are okay with it. And I'm not talking about child pornography which is despicable. You see Americans believe in the right of privacy. Santorum doesn't. Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall put it this way when the court struck down a law prohibiting possession of pornography. "[I]f the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch." Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
Rick Santorum doesn't want to return us to the fifties, he wants to return us back to the nineteenth century when it comes to sex. I find it laughable when Republicans scream about freedom that they can't get out of our bedrooms. For Santorum, the only safe sex is one sanctioned by the Catholic church.
Stephen Colbert on Santorum's Google problem.
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