#Port Digitisation

[naija247new]

FG Approves Dredging of Lekki Deep Seaport to 17m, Targets 19m Depth to Boost Trade and Transshipment

By Aisha Cole | Naija247news Lagos Bureau | May 25, 2025 In a strategic push to enhance Nigeria’s maritime competitiveness and regional trade influence, the Federal Government has approved the maintenance dredging of the Lekki Deep Seaport channel from its current 16.5 metres to 17 metres, with a long-term target of 19 metres. This landmark decision was revealed by the Managing Director of the…

[everygame]

Star Soldier (NES)

Developed/Published by: Hudson Soft Released: 13/06/1986 Completed: 10/07/2024 Completion: Beat it using all warps, saving at the start of each level (and before each boss. I’ll admit it!)

The Star Soldier series is an interesting one–or rather, its position in the pantheon is interesting. If you’re a Japanese gamer, it’s legendary–the core franchise in Hudson’s yearly “All-Japan Caravan Festival” where the company toured its games across Japan and players took part in timed score-attack challenges. For everyone else, it’s… a shooter series that is barely remembered and not especially highly rated.

Without an equivalent caravan–and the series not being released in arcades–there would have been little chance for western audiences to get exposed to Star Soldier, so unlike your Gradiuses or your R-Types, where you would be thrilled by it in arcades and then want whatever home version you could get your hands on, with Star Soldier you were taking a gamble on something that didn’t look like much of anything–especially when this wasn’t released until 1989 in North America!

And, to be honest, such a gamble would have been… ill-advised. It’s not that Star Soldier is bad as such, it’s just that in 1986–never mind 1989–it’s just a bit… underwhelming. Coming just two months after Konami’s superb port of Gradius, it already feels like a throwback to the immediate post-Xevious era as a visually simple vertical shooter with an emphasis on enemy patterns and hidden tiles that feels undoubtedly workman-like, with little variety from stage to stage.

It does have its quirks, however. The power-up system offers some risk-reward in that after a few power-ups you’re quickly given full multi-directional firing and a shield that protects you from basic enemy shots, but as soon as you take a hit you lose the multi-directional firing for a straight double shot, but you can’t get it back until you’ve lost your shield completely. Every power-up you pick-up instead works as a smart bomb, meaning that you have to either endanger yourself for later gains or rely on the occasional power ups as pressure releases (trusting, of course, that you can navigate to them on screen when they’re at their most useful.)

The secret tiles also offer more than just points and extra lives–at the cost of obscurity that is often worse than The Tower of Druaga. In fact, unless you’re playing on an actual Famicom, you can’t access one of the tiles at all (as it requires shouting into the second controller’s microphone.) That one is “Takahashi’s Expert Thumb” which allows you to get 16 shots on screen at one time, but there’s also a laser power-up that only shows up once(?) that requires you to press select at the right moment, and then of course there’s the new, post-Super Mario Bros. essential, warps, which can get you through the game skipping half the levels if you’re able to ensure your score matches digits at the hundreds and thousands, which is not easy to do.

So far, fair enough, but not every quirk is to the game’s benefit. The biggest and most baffling thing that any player of Star Soldier will immediately experience is that sometimes your ship goes under the stage. While that’s happening, you can’t shoot or be shot, which sounds like it would be good if you could control it, but as far as I could work out–and I’ve spent ages searching for information on this–it is close to random. 

It feels like it doesn’t happen if you try and cross over tiles from the side, but there are many situations where you have to approach them from the front, and it doesn’t always result in you going under. If there’s any true rhyme or reason to it it’s locked away in some ancient Japanese strategy guide that’s never been digitised–but I wouldn’t be surprised if that also threw its hands up.

All that really matters is that any time it happens, you don’t want it to. Because you can’t control it, you can never think “oh, I’ll pop under this bit of the stage and chill out while I’m being swarmed” instead it’s usually “gotta get that power up!” [goes under stage, misses power up] or popping out from under directly into enemy fire or straight into an enemy.

Additionally, the game is seriously punishing when it comes to the bosses. There are only two–which I can’t be too hard on, I mean Gradius really only has the one–but if you can’t defeat them within a harsh time limit the game throws you back quite a bit through the level and demands you try again! You’ve got just ten seconds to defeat the Star Brain, and thirty to defeat the Big Star Brain.

The sneaky trick here is that the game offers you auto-fire once you’re powered up, but in order to defeat in particular the Big Star Brain using it you have to be perfect. My own experience is ultimately anecdotal, here, but you are actually expected to do your best Takahashi Meijin impression by hammering the fire button to fire faster than the auto-fire–and even at that, defeating the bosses is probably more efficiently done with the double shot.

It feels a touch cruel and probably a reaction to the fact that the game honestly doesn’t feel that difficult outside of that. It’s not something you’d breeze through–and I definitely didn’t attempt to master its intricacies–but most of my deaths during the levels seemed to come from frustration with dipping under the stage, meaning that the bosses feel like the major issue (though if my anecdotal evidence is correct, you might be able to breeze through them with a good autofire.)

Ultimately? The fact is that nothing Star Soldier does is all that interesting–apart from the things that are annoying about it.

Will I ever play it again? The value in any shooter really is in how much you’d like to play it from the beginning and see how far you can get or how high you can score. I feel no interest in that here.

Final Thought: Not only were North American players who were unfortunate enough to buy this denied Takahashi’s Expert Thumb, Taxan’s release was so lazy that they missed that the game features an entire second, increased difficulty mode that can also only be unlocked by using a code that involves shouting into the second controller. It’s even got different graphics!

Support Every Game I’ve Finished on ko-fi! You can pick up digital copies of exp., a zine featuring all-exclusive writing at my shop, or join as a supporter at just $1 a month and get articles like this a week early.

[r3d-f0xs-blog]

OC Profile: Salty

Basic Info

Name: Elena Armitage

Alias(es): Salty, Priestess of Spiders, Gorgon of Totentanz

Date of birth: [redacted]

Zodiac sign: Gemini

Gender: Female

Place of Birth: [redacted]

Sexuality: Straight

Appearance

Height: 5’6 /169cm

Build: Slim

Hair: Grey/dirty blonde

Eyes: replaced by Maelstrom optics

Cyberwear: Deep dive port, arms with personal link and interface plugs, Maelstrom’s own optics and body cybernetics, Synthskin, blackmarket Self-ICE, Fuyutsuki Tinkerer Mk.3 Cyberdeck, RAM and Memory boosts, artificial heart and lungs. Voice modulator, cybernetic teeth and jaws.

Background

Father: [redacted]

Mother: [redacted]

Languages: English

Affiliations

Maelstrom: member

Militech: former agent

Occupation: Netrunner

Role: Tech-occultist, Netrunner, technomancer

Weapons: clawed and spiked cyberarms, offensive Daemons, whatever weapons she can get her hands on

Personality type: ESTP-A Entrepreneurs always have an impact on their immediate surroundings – the best way to spot them at a party is to look for the whirling eddy of people flitting about them as they move from group to group. Laughing and entertaining with a blunt and earthy humor, Entrepreneur personalities love to be the center of attention. If an audience member is asked to come on stage, Entrepreneurs volunteer – or volunteer a shy friend. Entrepreneurs leap before they look, fixing their mistakes as they go, rather than sitting idle, preparing contingencies and escape clauses.

Good luck getting Salty to tell you about herself as she will obfuscate and tell half-truths or lies to keep people off track.

Nobody is certain how old she is but one thing that is known is she was once an agent for Militech. She was a Netrunner but specifically she was also known for being able to extract information from those Militech had interest in provided they were alive to tell the tale. In Maelstrom she’s perfected this so she can even do this with the dead.

How she ended up with Maelstrom? Some say she found something in the net which sent her to the brink of cyberpsychosis, something that Militech didn’t want her to find again. Others say she was the victim of internal corporate politics and found discarded in Northside where she was picked up by the gang, others say she was a deep cover agent sent to infiltrate the gang and abandoned her handlers. Perhaps it’s a a bit of all of those? Either way, Elena was no more, and Salty was born in blood and chrome.

Elena was always fascinated by the darker side of the Net and found a home in Maelstrom with their immersion in occultism and the fusion of that with cyberspace and cybernetics. She happily delves into places few go to find and harness or contain and control what she finds.

As somebody who dealt with the human mind and drawing information from it, she takes a deep interest in that as well as how to digitise them for her own use. She’s come up with her own way to do this and has been experimenting with it on others. Usually people Maelstrom have captured and don’t want to chrome up. Not all of them get what Salty does but some of her methods are just as bloody which keeps them happy.

Salty is V's mother and her relationship is complicated. Vesper doesn’t know about this as she was left with a woman who lived in a motel in Northside and her father, a Maelstrom ganger, sometimes reluctantly had her around. Vesper wasn’t intentional and so Salty is in her life as a friend. A more friendly face to Maelstrom for the young girl. She doesn’t care for Vesper as such, more that she presented an opportunity for Salty because it was clear she was surprisingly resistant to cyberpsychosis.

Salty has no hobbies other than what she does mentioned already. You will find her frequenting Totentanz when she’s not deep in the net or her studies.

Salty is more stable for a Maelstrom member. She dances along the edge of cyberpsychosis like many of them but maintains her self by her studies and her purpose. She’s also less hostile than others because it’s an easy way to gain trust from others which she can exploit later. Nothing she does is without reason, even if it seems like madness. She is manipulative and has a knack of finding the best way to get to a person to use them. She doesn’t have much emotional attachment to people, it’s mostly attachment to their utility for her goals so any appearance of caring is for show only.

Salty took her name from the Salticidae family of spiders as she’s obsessed with jumping spiders. She frequently uses them in her cyberspace appearances but she changes this accordingly. If she’s being more approachable it’s more cute and cheerful looking. If she’s aggressive then it’s more horrifying, bigger and made to make others feel fear.

She’s particularly interested in dolls because of the behavioural chip and how it operates. Ren is a particularly interesting one because of his lost memories from his past career with Netwatch. For that she becomes an enemy of Carmelo’s and Charlie's.

People she gets along with are Dum Dum, Brick, V(esper), Voss, Misty. She knows of Ren through Misty. She is neutral on Lightning.

Enemies are Royce, Netwatch, Carmelo, Frederick, Charlie.

[kgsupsccourses]

Introduction to Economic Current Affairs

Introduction to India’s Economic Landscape

India’s economy is buzzing from tech start-ups to green energy, from rural schemes to global diplomacy. And with the world watching closely, current economic trends are more relevant than ever to citizens, entrepreneurs, students, and policymakers alike.

Why Keeping Track of Economic Affairs is Crucial

Whether you’re investing in stocks, running a business, or planning your future career, being aware of what’s happening in the economy helps you make smarter decisions. Especially in a dynamic economy like India’s, where every policy or budget tweak impacts millions.

Key Drivers of the Indian Economy Today

India’s growth is currently driven by tech innovation, infrastructure development, digitisation, and a young, aspirational workforce. Government reforms, global partnerships, and educational advancements like those by Khan Global Studies are helping build a future-ready economy.

Post-Pandemic Recovery

Growth in GDP Post-COVID

India’s GDP rebounded sharply post-COVID, making it the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Sectors like manufacturing, construction, and services saw a significant uptick, with the IMF projecting robust growth through 2025.

Employment and MSME Revamp

The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, the backbone of India’s economy, is getting back on its feet thanks to financial stimulus, digital tools, and credit guarantees.

Inflation and RBI’s Monetary Policies

Rising Prices and Consumer Sentiment

Prices of essentials like food and fuel have been volatile. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is walking a tightrope between controlling inflation and sustaining growth.

Interest Rate Hikes and Their Impact

To manage inflation, the RBI has raised repo rates multiple times. While it curbs rising prices, it also makes loans and EMIs more expensive, affecting consumers and businesses alike.

Digital India and Tech Growth

Digital Payments and UPI Expansion

India is leading the world in digital payments. UPI transactions have skyrocketed, even in rural areas, transforming how people buy, sell, and save.

Start-up Ecosystem and Unicorn Boom

India is now home to over 100 unicorns. From fintech to healthtech, innovation is thriving, drawing global investors and creating new jobs.

Role of Khan Global Studies in Digital Education

Khan Global Studies is playing a key role in educating students and professionals on the digital economy. Their online platforms offer courses that simplify complex economic concepts, preparing learners for the real world with relevant, timely knowledge.

Budget 2025 and Fiscal Policies

Highlights of the Union Budget

The Union Budget 2025 focused on capital expenditure, rural development, and digital skilling. A significant chunk was allocated to green energy, transportation, and youth employment programmes.

Push for Infrastructure and Manufacturing

Initiatives like PM Gati Shakti and National Infrastructure Pipeline aim to build modern roads, ports, and railways, enhancing logistics and attracting investments.

Agriculture and Rural Economy

Government Schemes for Farmers

PM-KISAN, Fasal Bima Yojana, and Minimum Support Price (MSP) reforms are helping farmers stabilise incomes and reduce risk.

Digital Agriculture and Market Linkages

Agri-tech is booming with mobile apps and digital platforms connecting farmers directly with markets, boosting their profits and efficiency.

Energy Sector and Sustainability

Green Hydrogen Mission

India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission aims to make the country a hub for clean fuel production, reducing the carbon footprint and energy imports.

Investments in Solar and Wind Energy

Massive solar parks and wind farms are being set up across the country, backed by public-private partnerships and international funding.

Employment and Labour Market Trends

Rise in the Gig Economy

More Indians are freelancing or working part-time gigs via apps, creating new flexibility but also raising questions about job security and benefits.

Government Skill Development Initiatives

Schemes like Skill India and Digital India are training millions in new-age skills, coding, data analysis, AI, and entrepreneurship.

Make in India and Manufacturing Push

PLI Schemes

Production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes are giving a big boost to domestic production in electronics, pharmaceuticals, and textiles.

Boost in Electronics and Defence Manufacturing

India is becoming a preferred destination for electronics manufacturing. Defence exports are also rising, showcasing India's strategic manufacturing capabilities.

EdTech’s Contribution to the Economy

Growing Online Education Market

Post-pandemic, digital education has gone mainstream. Platforms are expanding into regional languages, bridging gaps in access and quality.

Khan Global Studies Empowering Youth

Khan Global Studies is leading by example, offering practical, engaging economic education tailored to Indian students. Their mission? To make every learner economically literate and future-ready.

Trade Relations and Global Influence

India’s Trade with Neighbours and Beyond

India is diversifying trade ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the UK and EU are also in the pipeline.

Role in BRICS, G20, and Global Supply Chains

India is taking centre stage in global forums, influencing trade, tech, and climate discussions. Its presidency of the G20 spotlighted key economic agendas.

Stock Market and Investor Trends

Retail Investor Participation Surge

More Indians are investing in the stock market than ever before, thanks to easy-to-use apps and financial awareness campaigns.

Trends in Mutual Funds and SIPs

Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) are growing rapidly, showing rising trust in long-term investment instruments.

Urbanisation and Real Estate Trends

Affordable Housing Push

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is driving mass housing projects in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, making homeownership more achievable.

Smart Cities and Urban Planning

The Smart Cities Mission is modernising urban infrastructure with technology-led governance, better transit systems, and sustainable development.

Challenges Ahead

Inflation, Global Tensions, and Policy Delays

Geopolitical unrest, inflation, and slow policy execution could threaten the current growth momentum.

Bridging Economic Inequality

Access to quality education, employment, and healthcare remains unequal. Policies and platforms like Khan Global Studies are vital in bridging this gap.

Future Outlook for the Indian Economy

India's economy is expected to stay resilient, with strong domestic demand, a thriving digital ecosystem, and strategic global alliances. But success will depend on inclusive growth, tech adoption, and agile governance.

Conclusion

India’s economic journey in 2025 is vibrant, complex, and full of potential. With sectors like EdTech, renewable energy, and manufacturing leading the charge, and with educational platforms like Khan Global Studies building awareness and skillsets, the country is on track to become a global economic powerhouse. Staying informed and engaged is the first step towards making the most of these exciting times.

FAQs

What are the key highlights of India’s economy in 2025?

India is experiencing strong GDP growth, digital innovation, increased manufacturing, and a boom in start-ups, with a sharp focus on sustainability and youth empowerment.

How is Khan Global Studies contributing to India’s education sector?

Khan Global Studies offers interactive, real-world economics and financial education courses, helping learners understand and participate in India’s evolving economy.

What is India doing to tackle inflation?

The Reserve Bank of India is adjusting interest rates, while the government is implementing price controls, subsidies, and promoting local production to stabilise prices.

Which sectors are leading India’s economic growth?

Key sectors include EdTech, green energy, manufacturing (especially electronics and defence), digital finance, and infrastructure.

How are Indian start-ups impacting the economy?

They’re generating jobs, attracting global investment, and offering innovative solutions across sectors like fintech, healthtech, agri-tech, and education.

Originally published at http://kgsupsc.wordpress.com on May 17, 2025.

[fmp20jemuelgallaza]

Website References

Mortal Kombat is a 1992 fighting-game developed and published by Midway for arcades. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. Released in the Fall of 1994, the Microsoft Windows 3.1x version was released by Activision Interactive. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat series.

Upon release, Mortal Kombat became one of the most popular arcade games of all time. It was subsequently ported to home video game consoles and became a best-selling game. Mortal Kombat also became one of the most controversial video games, for its depiction of gore and violence using realistic digitised graphics

Plot of the Story

Mortal Kombat focuses on the journey of the monk Liu Kang to save Earth from the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung, ending with their confrontation on the tournament known as Mortal Kombat. 

[cuddlytogas]

@originalleftist left this reply, which I think is worth digging into!

There is some truth to this, particularly that many pirates were seeking both an escape from and revenge for the harsh conditions of lawful maritime employment at the time (though I'm not sure if the Roberts quote is genuine). But I'm pretty sure a lot of this is incorrect, especially the claim that Golden Age pirates as a group were seeking to abolish nations, which is probably pure wishful thinking from modern anarchists. To the extent that they involved themselves in national politics, a bigger concern was whether the House of Stuart sat on the English throne (the name of Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, is thought to be an allusion to this). I will also note that, ahistorical or not, dismissing the freedom to love as a diluted concept of freedom is simply contemptuous of the queer community, treating their rights as an afterthought, and is a great example of how a certain brand of Left wing politics makes the reductive mistake of treating economic class conflict as the sole issue, to the exclusion of all other concerns.

okay, fair enough on the quotation: nothing in the General History should exactly be taken at face value! XD but it still shows what was understood to be part of Roberts' - and by extension his contemporaries' - motives in turning pirate, so it's still useful

but the rest of your reply is mostly a misunderstanding of my point! so, terribly sorry, but this is about to get long...

firstly, I didn't mean to say that golden age pirates explicitly aimed to abolish nations. you're right, that's a very modern anarchist value. but multiple historians (Rediker in particular, but he's not the only one; I wish I'd digitised my notes already to give proper sources!) identify their uniquely anti-national - or perhaps non-national - energy. previous generations of C17th buccaneers and pirates often retained their nationalism, seeking letters of marque, or targeting the ships/ports of enemy nations. (Henry Morgan was knighted and made Governor of Jamaica after his buccaneering ended!) they were explicitly or tacitly endorsed by european officials as tools in the struggle for mercantile and naval dominance.

in contrast, the 1710s-20s pirates were much less discerning. the post-War of Spanish Succession period saw a (slave) trade boom in the Caribbean/North America, plus a flood of unemployed navy/privateer sailors, predictably leading to increased piracy. but now, they attacked ships indiscriminately, and denied - in action and sometimes word - national allegiances. and the authorities recognised this! merchants and officials begged for help, and the English cracked down harder than ever, because these pirates were no longer useful to crown interests, but a threat to all trade.

this included pardons in 1717 and 18, but also increased naval presence; active campaigns like Woodes Rogers' in 1713 and 18 against the Madagascar and Bahamas pirates respectively; and expanded anti-piracy laws in 1717 and 1721, reinforcing a 1698 act to set up colonial admiralty courts to try pirates rather than sending them to England, and treating the assistance, protection, or trade with pirates as piracy itself, rewarding/punishing sailors who defeated/surrendered to pirates. it was a violent cycle: by the 1720s, the navy and dwindling pirates were both growing increasingly brutal and indiscriminate.

(for more on pirates and labour, especially practices of asking a boarded crew how their captains treated them, there's a talk by Rediker on youtube. pop it on 1.5x speed, he's a slow talker XD)

as to Jacobitism, I honestly think this is a neglected area of research, and I'm yet to find proper, thorough work on it. (suggestions always welcome!) but of course, this period aligns with the 1715 Jacobite rebellion and its aftermath, following Anne's death and the end of the war. many rebels were jailed and executed, or fled, including to the "new world". the 1717 piracy pardon came two months after a Jacobite one.

however, I don't think we can infer much from pirate ship names like Queen Anne's Revenge and Royal James, or reports of pro-Stuart toasts. for one, Jacobitism seems like an easy way to further slander someone accused of piracy. more importantly though, it's very unclear how earnest these declarations were!

these pirates often exhibited a dark sense of humour. they were committed to (quoth Roberts via Johnson again) "a merry life and a short one", and are consistently reported as feasting, drinking, and carousing. Anstis' crew apparently spent a 1721 holiday running mock piracy trials of each other.

such people toasting the Pretender seems less a political statement than general anti-authoritarianism. they certainly never materially assisted Jacobite causes, nor (AFAIK) targeted Hanoverians. in my opinion, the evidence suggests that these toasts and ship names were generally provocative, an abstract allegiance with treason/disruption rather than a sincere political endorsement.

all this to say: I didn't mean that golden age pirates were political anarchists trying to abolish nationhood. but their practices - allying with their own, democratic communities rather than any state - contains anti-national energies that I wish were more often expressed by modern pirate media. again, if we're going to valourise these pirates, we might as well extrapolate the highest of their actual ideals, and wouldn't that non-national, radical-democracy energy be a great place to start?

as to "dismissing the freedom to love as a diluted concept of freedom [compared to class conflict]"... I mean - come on. that's obviously not what I meant. my frustration isn't with the freedom to love as an abstract political concept, and TBH, as a righteous queer, I don't appreciate being accused of 'treating queer rights as an afterthought'.

my frustration is with how modern popular media utilises a shallow and unchallenging idea of 'freedom to love' to epitomise rebellion, while also erasing the actual rebellions. queer rights aren't advanced by endless anodyne, straight romances in pirate movies with a veneer of defiance because they're a noblewoman and a pirate (sometimes also a nobleman in disguise).

like, we could talk about how class/racial marriage equality paved the way for same-sex marriage; how cross-class relationships were and are oppressed; Anne Bonny/Mary Read's freedom in pirate relationships compared to on land; homosocial male communities and potential freedom from anti-sodomy laws; etc etc etc. all of which would be fascinating, exciting lenses through which to examine piracy historically and in modern media!

but golden age pirates themselves didn't mention that. to repeat the original post, what these pirates expressed - and what's left out of mainstream pirate media - was a specific response to specific social and economic oppressions. the erasure of this isn't frustrating to me because I'm a leftist focused on class struggle above all, but because it ignores and defangs actual political history.

maybe it's just the Radical Rediker talking, but there's something pointed in the way that, say, popular pirate media like Pirates of the Caribbean dilutes the pirate's freedom to "bring me that horizon" as opposed to, say, "plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power" (Bartholomew Roberts).

broadly speaking, most pirates chose the life in order to escape and revenge the hard labour, corporal punishment, overworking, and unequal pay of merchant/navy/privateer ships; or the privations of their sudden unemployment once a war was over, ignored as soon as their ability to die for the state was unneeded. yes, many were thugs, but, consciously political or not, they were responding to a particular, material reality.

the pirate's desired freedom was from the effects of exploitative modes of statehood and capital production. but popular media usually shifts this into a general desire for freedom: freedom to roam, freedom to love (usually merely a cross-class white, heterosexual union), or freedom from the personal pressures of social norms. it's a vague, ahistorical, post-Enlightenment, libertarian ideal rather than a response to a real social and economic situation.

to be clear, this only really applies to specifically the late golden age of piracy, in the first quarter of the 18th century. earlier generations of pirates/buccaneers often displayed nationalist/religious motives, and were lauded, tolerated, or even encouraged by the French and English states for aiding their fights against the Spanish and Portuguese. only the last gasp of age of sail pirates had a truly anti-national energy, and both figured themselves, and were figured by the imperial powers, as the enemies of all nations.

but if we are to valourise the late golden age pirate, at his best, his ideals were for true democracy, and the abolition of nation, hierarchy, and labour exploitation; not "the horizon". he was striking out in response to specific political, social, and economic oppressions, rather than a general individual restlessness, and that reality - and its similarities to our own - are important.

I dunno, I just... have a lot of thoughts about the defanging of piracy in modern media. obviously there were a lot of things bad about them, too, and the level of egalitarianism varied between individual people and ships. but again, if we're going to be valourising them anyway... there were idealists. and they weren't subtle about they wanted.

"I shan't own myself guilty of any murder", said William Fly in 1726. "Our captain and his mate used us barbarously. We poor men can't have justice done us. There is nothing said to our commanders, let them never so much abuse us, and use us like dogs. But the poor sailors --"

[intergrated456]

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[zedecksiew]

PRISON OF THE MOON MAIDEN

A celestial princess trapped in earth, a suitor trapped in drink, a vizier trapped in profit.

26/12 - 1/1 #dungeon23

An actual dungeon, this time! But also a pirate port and an underground lake? What can I say? I don't know how to write a dungeon.

Wanted to draw Princess Pall in full body lying on the lake's surface. But I don't have the necessary skill ... Also I am fortunate that the map looks so clean, with all my shaky pencil strokes erased. Thank the moon for erasers!

+

Now that #dungeon23 has begun to take the shape of a social-media trend, with people selling workbooks / worksheets for it; folks are talking about: "my dungeon23 project", like publishing is an inevitability---

The warm community spirit of Sean's initial ask seems to be giving way to the cold notion that a few "high-functioning creators" will have finished products by 2023's end, and others will be left out or burn out.

Social media is the market's handmaiden. And this turn in feeling is 100% the market exerting its pressure on us, to turn the things we love doing into work, into commodities.

+

I'm keeping my #dungeon23 with no plan and no outline.

I'm keeping it in my notebook. I am not digitising the text. It must remain uneditable. It must remain as sketches and notes.

This way it doesn't trigger my brain to go: "Okay, you are writing (ie: working) now."

For now, it remains un-instrumentalisable. Unseen and unable to serve the market. Once I'm done with it, who knows? But while I do it it remains play, a way for me to serve myself.

+

Interesting to track unconscious themes that develop over time.

Queen's Rest is turning out to be a town full of held beings, hoping for release: a locked-up parrot mutant; a demon used as an engine; an evil wizard kept at bay; a bunch of ghosts waiting for one last companion; an imprisoned moon fairy ...

Still having fun. One month down, eleven to go!

+

#dungeon23 thing I loved this week: The Cult Of The Burning Tire, by Victor J Merino.

It's a parking-garage dungeon, hell yeah.

[theinnocentwarrior]

[Bit late to warn of spoilers at this point, but... You’ve been warned.

See, this was my first thought seeing Eri as not only inhabiting a charm, but constantly connected to Miorine through that port thing in the base of her skull. Like, that has got to be hella awkward for Eri. Is there a way for the neck thing to be turned off? Does Eri have a way to retreat into the charm, so to speak? How sophisticated are those things, anyway, that they can hold a DIGITISED FUCKING HUMAN SOUL in them? Seems a little much for a phone charm to have that much computing power. I mean, it’s great because Eri didn’t deserve to die by a fucking space laser because of her mom’s vengeance, but it does beg some questions...]

"At least put me in the other room if you're going to do that" - by egakuning

Source

[fnlrndcllctv]

THE YEAR IN FIGHTING GAMES: 1994

As the original release of Street Fighter II turns 30 this year, we are taking a look at the landscape of fighting games between 1991 and 2021 on a year by year basis!

This week, Shaun Eddleston takes a look at 1994…

1994 was an eventful year for video games.

Nintendo was starting to wind down on its production of NES games, while celebrating the success of games such as Super Metroid and Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo. SEGA’s Sonic The Hedgehog series was going strong with Sonic The Hedgehog 3, and games such as DOOM II and Warcraft were making their way onto computers all across the world.

It was also a year where Germany placed Mortal Kombat II on its index of media works deemed harmful to young people by Germany's Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons effectively banning the game from sale in the country (and remained that way all the way up to 2005!).

Let’s take a look at 1994 in fighting games...

One of the more obscure Neo Geo titles, Aggressors Of Dark Kombat (known as Tsuukai GANGAN Koushinkyoku in Japan) was an interesting title that felt like a bit of an experiment in the genre. The game’s movement feels more like it would fit into your standard beat ‘em up game such as Final Fight and Streets Of Rage, and even drops weapons into the stage for fighters to use. 

The game also includes a fun comeback mechanic, the “GAN GAN attack”, which kicks in once a player’s health bar drops below a certain point, and their power bar is full. Once one of these mega attacks connects with an opponent, the player automatically wins the round.

Art of Fighting 2 continues the story that kicked off in the previous year’s entry, as we immediately learn that the identity of Yuri’s kidnapper, the tengu masked Mr Karate, is none other than Takuma Sakazaki, Yuri and Ryo’s father. This is all part of a much bigger criminal plot that ends up being spearheaded by a certain young crime lord from another popular SNK fighting title…

As for the game itself, almost every aspect of the Art Of Fighting experience was rebuilt and polished. The character sprites and stage art looked better, and a new “Rage” gauge mechanic was introduced into the mix. All of the game’s characters are immediately playable in arcade mode, and each have their own specific dialogue when interacting with other fighters.

The first 3D weapons-based fighting game was also one of the earlier releases on the Sony PlayStation, and was poised to be the game that would “outshine” the impressiveness of Virtua Fighter’s groundbreaking graphics.

While it didn’t quite beat out SEGA’s franchise, Battle Arena Toshinden still had a couple of interesting aspects to it that are still worth mentioning today. 

First of all, it is arguably the first “true” 3D fighting game, as it included the ability to side-step or dodge roll during a fight. This meant that the act of avoiding projectiles now had more options outside of blocking the hit or jumping over it, giving the game a little more depth (both mechanically and visually).

Thanks to the newly opened up 3D movement, ring outs are also possible in the game, where players can lose a round by simply falling off the side of the stage. This is an element that many gamers see as a bit of a cop out during a fight, but I personally see it as a fun way to humiliate opponents and even bring overly confident fighters back down to earth.

Capcom’s massive success with Street Fighter II was one of the most important moments in video game history, and the game was still going incredibly strong since its release 3 years prior (including this year, which we’ll touch on later in the article). There was a big question that lingered though; what non-Street Fighter fighting game would Capcom bring to the table next?

That game was Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors.

Darkstalkers wasn’t a million miles away from Street Fighter II in terms of gameplay. It utilised the same six-button L/M/H attack layout, and even used a Super Gauge that would be shared with the series.

The main strength of Darkstalkers that set it apart from its more famous older cousin, and that was its characters and theme. Instead of a tournament of worldwide fighters that many 2D fighting games utilised, Darkstalkers took inspiration from classic horror movies from the Universal era and offered a cast of 10 fighters that range from werewolves, sasquatches and vampires to Egyptian mummies, zombies and a Frankenstein’s monster for good measure. 

A spooky cult favourite!

1993’s Fighters History was a controversial entry in the fighting game genre. Not necessarily because of any violent content or especially iffy storyline, but for just how similar the game was to Street Fighter II. It was so similar, in fact, that Capcom attempted to sue Data East for just how much of a shameless ripoff the game was.

Capcom wasn’t successful with the lawsuit, and Data East went forward with a sequel, Fighters History Dynamite.

The game, perhaps more commonly known in some places as “Karnov’s Revenge”, added more characters (including the game’s boss fighters, Karnov and Clown) to the playable roster and spruced up the game's stage backgrounds.

Other than the slightly expanded range of fighters, and a hilarious hidden character to discover, not a lot else has changed from the first title, and still feels like it can’t shake off the original comparison that it got into trouble for.

Many 2D games up to this point were trying to mimic Street Fighter and Fatal Fury’s cartoonish graphics, there wasn’t really anything outside of Mortal Kombat’s digitised graphics that truly felt “next-gen” going into the middle of the decade.

Enter Killer Instinct.

While Rare as a developer was having a fantastic year already, with the success of Battletoads and Donkey Kong Country leaving long lasting impressions on the industry, their fighting game was a revelation in arcades, bringing a mix of 2D gameplay on 3D stages, strong bloody violence and a ridiculous new combo system to the table.

The characters were memorable, the animated FMV sequences were jawdropping to watch, and witnessing the game announce blare out “ULTRA COMBO!” whenever someone nailed a particularly savage sequence of hits just felt right.

Why not check out our thoughts on the game’s “killer” soundtrack?

Inspired by the popularity of Ryo Sakazaki (Art Of Fighting’s main protagonist) and his appearance as a guest character in Fatal Fury Special in 1993, SNK decided to go all out and start a crossover fighting series that brought together characters from their library of past games.

The game, named after the fighting tournament in Art Of Fighting and Fatal Fury, allows players to choose from a selection of 3-member teams that have been designated to different countries of the world, and matches revolve around an elimination system. In addition to a selection of original new characters, KOF ‘94 mixed together the Ikari Warriors, Psycho Soldier, Art Of Fighting and Fatal Fury franchises to fill out one of the largest fighting game rosters around at this point.

The game’s music is the subject of our very first entry in the Soundtrack Sunday series, so check it out!

Of the slew of games that took direct inspiration from Mortal Kombat, very few actually left a lasting impression.

One of the exceptions to this was Primal Rage, which saw stop motion dinosaurs and prehistoric apes duke it out for supremacy in the new “Urth”.

The game, which also took inspiration from Taito’s Dino Rex from 1992, caused its own controversy with one of its fatalities. In 1996, a woman from Arizona said that her 11 year old son had bought the game, and used a strategy guide to execute the “Golden Shower” fatality (in which, as the title suggests, the character Chaos urinates all over the corpse of an opponent). She flipped out and started a grass-roots campaign against Primal Rage, which resulted in some US stores withdrawing copies of the game, including the already-censored SNES version, which didn’t even contain the offending move.

The game was also successful with its merchandise, and saw a line of toys and a board game to accompany it.

The first Samurai Shodown game was, and still is, one of the finest fighting games of the early 90’s, so SNK had a huge task on their hands when it came to creating a sequel.

With Samurai Shodown 2, they absolutely knocked it out of the park in pretty much every aspect. All of the sprites of the characters who reappeared from the first game had been completely remade, a bunch of new characters had been added in, everyone got amazing new moves and a number of new game mechanics were also introduced to make the game feel much more balanced and fun to play.

One of these new mechanics was the “Weapon break” system, which meant that if a player got hit with a particularly powerful attack, there was now a chance that it would knock their weapon clean out of their hands, leaving them unarmed until it was recovered. The sheer panic of scrambling to pick up your sword while the opponent is slashing away at you is a thrill that still feels as effective today as it did back then.

Street Fighter II’s reign as king of the arcade fighting games was starting to wind down by 1994, so the game saw a final upgrade in the form of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which added more game speeds, new animations and moves for all of the characters, a new “SUPER” gauge system and the introduction of  a hidden character that would quickly become one of the franchise’s most recognisable fighters; Akuma!

While many more casual players may not have felt the real impact of these changes (this was the third update in as many years since the original release), it remains as the “definitive” version of Street Fighter II, and is still used in tournaments to this day.

Developed by Namco (and ported to PlayStation in 1995), Tekken took the 3D fighting style that was pioneered by 1993’s Virtua Fighter, and added its own spin on things in regards to the control system.

Instead of using the traditional fighting game inputs that corresponded to the strength of the attacks, Tekken utilised a system that dedicates a button to each individual limb of the fighter. In doing this, the game became more of a learning process for players that wanted to do special moves and combos. This departure was so innovative, that experienced players could now figure out special moves by studying the fighters limb movements during their animations.

Known briefly as “RAVE WAR” during its beta test stage, Tekken quickly found itself as one of the most popular PlayStation games in history, and became the first game to sell over a million copies for the console.

Take a look at our thoughts about the game’s soundtrack!

Virtua Fighter was an incredibly important moment in gaming, so following up with a sequel that lived up to its predecessor was absolutely vital for SEGA.

Luckily, with Virtua Fighter 2, they managed to not only surpass the first game in the way it looked, but how it played too. Improved movesets ramped up how authentic each individual martial arts/fighting style felt, and with things running at 60FPS in the arcade version, the game felt like it was miles ahead of its competition.

The third entry in the World Heroes series was yet another improvement on the games that preceded it, but considering the sheer amount of solid competition it was facing in 1994, it still fell to the wayside.

The game added two new fighters and added a brand new boss to face off against, but things were starting to feel somewhat dated with the series now, and it suffered as a result.

While there were many action-adventure and side-scrolling beat-’em-ups based on characters from the Marvel universe, it wasn’t until the early 90’s until we got a fully fledged fighting game. It only made sense that Capcom, one of the heaviest hitters in the genre at the time stepped forward to fix this.

Released in arcades in late 1994, X-Men: Children of the Atom established what would become a beloved and fruitful relationship between Capcom and Marvel, and laid the foundations for the successful “Vs.” series that fighting game fans have played for nearly 25 years now.

The game is loosely based on 1993’s “Fatal Attractions” storyline, in which Magneto and his Acolytes return to confront the X-Men, tempting Professor Xavier to cross a moral line to stop them. It’s a pretty insane storyline with some fairly gnarly imagery (one such example sees Wolverine getting the adamantium ripped out of his skeleton!), and the good vs. evil dynamic lends itself perfectly to the setting of an arcade fighting game.

1994’s entries in the genre saw developers starting to take full advantage of the new 3D graphics that SEGA introduced with Virtua Fighter in the wake of a new console generation, while 2D fighting games kept on coming hard and fast to try and best Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat’s popularity.

Join us next week as we take a look at the games of 1995!

Did we miss anything from 1994 that’s worth mentioning?

Let us know in the comments below!

[finnlongman]

Update: Kuhns provides a transcription of RIA MS 23 G 21, which isn't digitised, and which also contains this line. It's an Ó Longáin manuscript, i.e., it's from Cork. It's from 1796 so it's between my early two and my weird late 19th century one, but there we are, this is a Cork tradition, that seems extremely clear to me. Case closed! Well, that part of it, anyway...

These are all part of her "Group 1" of manuscripts (O'Donnell II, being 19th century, isn't included). I haven't had a chance to look at TCD 1376, but I guess that's going to my next port of call for this specific question. I may need to see if I can get a research assistant (i.e. a friend in TCD) to go and look at it for me so that it doesn't have to wait until next year...

There's also another TCD MS in this group, one where the scribe doesn't seem to have a direct connection to the same part of Cork as the others. I will need to look at that further too 👀

Of the ones I've looked at, G 113 is the only one that has Láeg go back, kiss Cú Chulainn's body, and say goodbye to him. This is the one written by Uilliam Mac Cartáin, a poet known for his laments, and his "sincerity and depth of feeling". Seems plausible to me he would have added this detail because he wanted us to feel extra sad, if he's big on laments. Sob. Thank you Liam you're doing God's work

Guess who just found a SECOND manuscript in which Cú Chulainn dies with "his hand in the hand of Láeg mac Ríangabra"??

WELL HELLO THERE

[RIA MS 23 M 25]

It's beginning to look a lot like an actual tradition and not a one-off 👀 This MS was probably written in the late 17th century, maybe in the 1684 for this section? and seems to have been written while the scribe was travelling in Cork and Kerry... given that the other MS was a Co. Cork one, I'm wondering if this is an actual Cork variant of the story!

[sky-blaze]

Restart And Try Again

Summary:

Sam has found Rinzler, and is trying to turn him back into Tron, but thirty-year-old code requires an expert touch. Enter Alan Bradley, who ends up unexpectedly attached to his creation.

---

“I need your help.”

Alan turned to see Sam in the doorway of his office at ENCOM. His godson looked unusually agitated, despite the faux-casual pose he had assumed, leaning against the doorframe, the way his leg jiggled with barely-suppressed nervous energy gave the game away.

“Hello Sam,” Alan greeted with exaggerated formality, “Nice to see you.”

There was the barest twitch of guilt that he was abandoning politeness, but even Alan’s subtle admonishment didn’t deter him, “It’s… Dad’s… uh… project. I need your help with something.” Sam blurted, the words coming all in a rush, making him sound like the awkward teenager Alan remembered with a mixed amount of fondness. The words, however, made Alan raise an eyebrow.

“I was under the impression,” Alan said slowly, “That you and Quorra were handling that.”

“We are… mostly. But there’s one thing that needs your...uh...personal touch.” Sam said, his eyes darted around warily, and Alan understood that this was not something Sam was comfortable discussing in the ENCOM officers, where just anyone could listen in.

After only a moment of hesitation, Alan grabbed his keys of his desk, “Lead on, then. I can’t promise anything, but I can take a look.”

Sam’s answering smile was full of relief.

-

Neither Kevin nor Sam had revealed the full details on Kevin Flynn’s ‘project’. The closed system hidden in the basement of the arcade was still largely a mystery to him, Lora and Roy, but Sam had at least told him about Kevin’s ultimate fate; saving the system, The Grid, by reintegrating himself with his rogue program, CLU. Alan was torn between being impressed at what his old friend had accomplished and wanting to raise him from the dead so he could strangle him for being so reckless.

A prickle of apprehension crawled up Alan’s spine when he saw the digitising laser; so familiar from those early days at ENCOM. It looked so incredibly incongruous sat there in front of a workstation terminal. Alan took a deep breath of the dry, stale basement air and looked at Sam, who shuffled uncomfortably.

“Would you care to explain?” Alan asked carefully.

Sam looked at his shoes for a moment, taking his own deep, fortifying breath, “You gave a copy of your security program to Dad for his project, right?” Sam began.

Alan frowned, “Tron. Yes, I did. What does this have…” Alan’s eyes widened, “Is he still..?” Alan had often found it difficult to reconcile the work he did every day - coding, compiling and upgrading software - with the ideas that Kevin had espoused about programs being like real people, living within the machine, but Tron had always been… different. Special. There was a connection there that Alan had never been able to explain. Thinking Tron was… gone had been unexpectedly and inexplicably painful.

Sam looked uncomfortable again, “Sort of. CLU got to him. He… repurposed him. Turned him into an attack dog, renamed him Rinzler. I don’t know how, but something in him must have… fought back. Towards then end, before the reintegration, Rinzler turned on CLU - tried to attack him.”

Alan frowned, his brows drawing tightly together as apprehension congealed into worry, “But you found him?”

Sam nodded, “Yeah but… his code is a total mess. I’ve tried to help him, but some of his core kernal is… well, its beyond me.”

Alan blinked, “And you think I can help?”

“He’s your program.” Sam said softly.

“Sam, in case you forgot, I wrote it – him – in the eighties. Its been a while.” Alan replied, anxiety rising in his chest, tension making his shoulders ache as he stared at the laser and the darkened terminal.

“You’re his best shot,” Sam insisted, “You’re his user. He’s… well, he’s been asking for you.”

Alan couldn’t help but stare, “Asking for me?”

Sam sighed, “He’s not completely conscious, but whenever I try to work on his code, he pushes me away and says ‘Alan1’ over and over.”

“My old username at ENCOM.” Alan said faintly. He sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose, “All right. You’ve convinced me. I’ll give it a shot. What do I need to do?”

Sam nodded at the seat in front of the terminal – the one with the laser pointed ominously at it, “Sit right there. I’ll handle the rest. Oh, and don’t worry when you get there, I’ll be right behind you.”

For the first time since Sam had arrived at Alan’s office, Sam flashed one of his bright smiles. Alan wasn’t sure if it was meant to be reassuring, but since that same smile was often on the face of both father and son right before some of their more outrageous stunts, Alan decided he was correct to be concerned.

–

Arriving in the Grid was just as disorienting as Alan had feared. He materialised – for lack of a better term – to almost total blackness. The only faint white light in the small, closed-off room was… himself. His shirt glowed with a faint white radiance, while his suit pants and jacket had gone from dark grey to jet black. His face felt… odd. He reached up to touch his glasses, but once his fingers made contact with the frames, there was a spark of white across the lenses and his vision suddenly came alive with a host of information, scrolling across like a military-style heads-up display.

“Huh.” He said.

A column of light coalesced beside him, and in moments Sam had arrived, wearing some of sort of… armoured black suit covered in glowing white circuitry patterns.

“Nice outfit.” Alan commented dryly when Sam had fully materialised.

Sam grinned back, “Nice glasses.”

“I appear to have come equipped with an augmented reality display.” Alan said, “I can’t say I don’t appreciate the upgrade.”

“Advantages of being a User in a computer, I guess.” Sam shrugged.

“Apparently.” Alan’s gaze sharpened as it fixed on Sam, trying to ignore the little pop-ups of information on the heads-up display, which described Sams’s clock speed, code integrity and power level, “Where is he?” Alan asked softly.

“This way.” Sam said, leading Alan out of the darkened room and into the city streets.

The city was something of a revelation for Alan, who was almost mesmerised by the colour, the angles, the beauty of it all, especially with his glasses providing him with helpful information on each point of interest, right down to its code composition, if he so chose. Getting control of the flow of information was a challenge; Alan was a programmer, and the beauty of this place, not just on a physical level, but on the level of pure code, was almost too much to resist. Only the knowledge that someone – that Tron – needed his help, let him keep his focus.

Sam led him through the neon-laced streets, up into a glowing tower. Quorra greeted them at the door, the usually perky ISO oddly subdued. The room Alan was guided into was comfortable, decorated in muted shades of white and pale blue. It almost like a high-end hotel, except with more glowing parts.

A figure lay motionless on the plush-looking bed. Dressed entirely in black, an opaque helmet covering his face, the glowing circuitry lines were strangely truncated, pulsing an ominous dark orange. The most distinctive marking was the set of small squares near his throat, set in a T shape.

“Tron.” Alan breathed. The figure on the bed twitched, and made a rattling moan. It was a ragged, pained sound, like a fan with a worn bearing, or a failing hard drive. Either way, the noise worried him.

“Here.” Sam said, handing him… a disk? It looked like a hollow Frisbee, its edges its edges pulsing the same malevolent, fiery orange as Tron’s circuitry. Alan’s glasses promptly displayed information telling him how to bring up a code overview from the disk. Helpful. He was starting to wish he had something like it in the real world.

He sat down on a sinfully comfortable chair and watched as the code spiralled up from the disk, appearing in a splay of holographic light. He examined it for a few long moments, turning it this way and that, marvelling at the 3-D representation that revealed data structures, variable arrays and other things that Alan usually had to keep track of in his head, all presented clearly but… something wasn’t right. He dug further, finally finding something familiar. He wasn’t usually one to blow his own trumpet about his programming prowess, but the core of the original code he had written looked remarkably elegant next to what appeared to be hastily hacked-in patches with more recent timestamps.

After further investigation, Alan sat back with a scowl, “Who wrote this additional code?”

Sam looked up from where he had sprawled on a sofa, “Uh...why?” he asked.

Alan scowled harder, “Because I’d like to punch them in the mouth.”

“It was probably CLU,” Quorra said, almost making Alan jump. She’d been so still and quiet he’d almost forgotten she was there, “Well, either CLU or Dyson.” She continued, “They’re both… gone now.”

“Hmph.” Was Alan’s only reply. He spent another few moments staring at the butchery that had been made of his creation, trying to fight down anger on Tron’s behalf at what had been done to him. The new blocks of code emphasised obedience, and violence. To have this done to Tron, who was created to be self-sufficient, to protect, not attack, it felt like nothing so much as torture and brainwashing.

“I think I can fix this.” He said finally, “But it’s not going to be quick. I’ll need time, and access to my usual suite of programming tools.” He gestured to the swirling holographic code, “This is lovely, but its not what I’m used to. It’ll be quicker and easier for me to use a normal workstation.”

Sam nodded, “Yeah, I get it. Programming in the Grid is… different.”

A thought occurred to Alan, “Is it even possible to transfer data to this system? I didn’t see any ports, except the I/O and display port, and the operating system is bound to be completely unique.”

Sam nodded again, more slowly this time, and Alan heard Quorra take a sudden, sharp breath, “It… is…”

“I hear a ‘but’ at the end of this sentence.” Alan said.

Sam gave a slightly forced chuckle, “Yeah, okay. It is possible, but you kinda need to use yourself as the data storage medium.”

Alan blinked, “What?”

Sam chuckled, sounding far more natural this time, “It’s okay. I’ll show you when we get back.”

Alan’s gaze went back to the figure lying so still on the bed, seeming almost lifeless if not for the dull pulsing of the circuitry, and the scrolling information on Alan’s heads-up display. “Will he be all right?” he asked.

“Quorra’s staying with him.” Sam replied. Alan caught the look that flickered between Quorra and Sam, suddenly understanding that it wasn't just a case of keeping Tron company; it was making sure that that awful ‘Rinzler’ code-butchery didn’t cause him to hurt himself or anyone else. Quorra was more guard than nurse. The thought made his stomach knot up. 

Without thinking, Alan reached over to pat Tron on the arm, “I’ll be back, and I promise I’ll help you.”

Tron made a noise, that odd grinding sound, but softer this time, sounding almost like a purr, and then, a barely audible rasp, “Aaalaan onnneee…”

“I’ll be back.” Alan reassured again, feeling a lump in his throat. He forced himself to let go, ignoring the odd look Sam gave him as he marched out of the room and heading back towards where the laser had dropped them, not really knowing why he felt like crying.

–

Less than a week later, Alan found himself back in the basement beneath Flynn’s Arcade. True to his word, Sam had taught him how to port code to and from the Grid. It was something of an involved process, and needed one of the obscure ‘floptical’ storage systems to interface with Flynn’s ageing, custom-built computer system. It had taken almost as long to find the right storage system as it had to actually rebuild Tron’s code.

Now, he loaded the disk caddy into the semi-hidden drive slot and loaded his own ‘profile’ on the workstation and hit ‘import’. Sam then took over and loaded the laser digitisation program.

“Ready?” Sam asked.

Alan shifted, feeling both impatient and anxious, “Yeah, let’s go.”

The dizzying sensation overtook him and he once again found himself in that darkened room inside the Grid. This time, however, there was significantly more light – still coming from himself. The sensible suit he had worn before was replaced by a long black overcoat, decorated with glowing white circuitry lines. His shirt was still softly glowing white, but he could feel the weight of an ID disk on his back.

“That’s new.” Sam said, frowning, “You okay Alan?”

“Yeah,” Alan smiled, “I think it’s due to the extra data I had to import into my profile so I could help Tron.”

Sam chuckled, “Looks good on you. No fair you get a cooler outfit than mine, though.”

Alan couldn’t help but smirk, “And the cool glasses.”

“Yeah, rub it in why don’t ya?” Sam lightly smacked his godfather on the arm, and once again led Alan through the twisting streets to where Tron lay.

It looked like Tron had barely moved, but when Alan stepped through the door, Tron made that painful-sounding grinding noise, his arms twitching. “How has he been?” Alan asked Quorra.

Quarra shrugged, “About the same. He twitches sometimes, and calls out for you. If anyone else tries to touch him, though, he tries to get away, despite how damaged he is.”

The bluntly spoken assessment chilled Alan, and he took a deep breath, reaching over to the program laying motionless against the plush blue bedcovers, “Tron? It’s me, Alan. I’m here to help you, but I need your ID disk. Is that okay?”

The grinding noise grew louder, and Tron’s body twitched almost violently, “aaaa...aaaa.” Tron rasped, trying again to move. It took Alan a few moments to realise that Tron was trying to roll over, to expose his ID disk at his User’s request. The display of trust made something in Alan’s chest twist.

Reaching down, Alan helped his program to roll onto his side, noting almost absently as he did so that where he touched Tron’s circuits, the orange faded into bright blue, just for a second, before it bled back to orange.

As gently as he could, Alan disengaged Tron’s disk from the port, and reached to his own back to pull off his own disk. Praying silently to whatever gods looked after programmers, he slowly brought the two disks into contact.

Holding his breath, Alan watched as the white light of his disk slowly melted into the orange, and wherever it touched, the light changed, transforming from deep orange into blue. When the process finally completed, Alan felt like he could breathe again, but the knot in his stomach still remained, a reminder that it wasn’t quite over.

Carefully pulling the two disks apart, Alan clicked his own back into place before leaning down and carefully, almost reverentially, placing Tron’s disk back in its port.

The change was immediate. The blue light flowed like water from the disk port, spreading across the circuitry lines. When it reached Tron’s neck, the mask dissolved, revealing a face that looked precisely like Alan himself had thirty years ago. Tron’s eyelids fluttered and he blinked open his eyes, looking unerringly at his User, eyes full of wonder and joy.

“Alan1.” Tron said, his voice almost...worshipful, which was deeply embarrassing, but at least it was at last free of the awful grinding growl.

Alan felt tears in his eyes, “Welcome back, Tron.” he said, reaching out to take his creation’s hand.

Tron frowned, “I… so much has happened.” Sorrow filled the program’s face, “I...I failed. I did terrible things. I’m so sorry, Alan1.”

“Shhh,” Alan soothed, perching next to Tron on the edge of the bed, unable to tear his gaze away from his creation, “It’s all right. You did everything you could. You fought back against CLU. I couldn’t be any prouder of you.”

The awestruck wonder was back in Tron’s face, his fingers curling tightly around Alan’s own, apparently totally unwilling to let go. Alan gently touched the circuitry on Tron’s arm, marvelling at the colour – it wasn’t quite the electric blue of Quorra’s lines, it was paler - closer to ice blue, and Alan wondered at the reason for that difference, if it had any particular significance.

The sound of someone clearing their throat startled them both, both Tron and Alan apparently forgetting that Sam and Quorra were in the room. Sam looked somewhat embarrassed, “Uh, so yeah. Me and Quorra have… stuff to take care of. We’re gonna head out, okay?”

Alan rubbed at the back of his neck with his free hand, feeling his own embarrassment climb up his cheeks, “Uh, sure.”

Tron tugged on his hand, “You’ll stay with me, Alan1?” his face and voice full of hope.

Alan couldn’t help but smile, “Of course, Tron.” he said, and Tron shuffled over on the bed to make room, not once letting go of his User’s hand.

Alan lay down next to his creation, the security program he had coded with his own hands, trying not to melt under said program’s adoring gaze. Without really thinking about it, Alan brought Tron’s hand up to kiss his knuckles, wondering exactly how this had become his life.

Once he turned to see the joy shining in Tron’s face, free of the pain he had suffered, Alan couldn’t bring himself to mind.

End of Line.

[onetechavenue]

Dltledgers’ breakthrough technology creates digital Bill of Lading to link Ports of Singapore and Rotterdam

Dltledgers’ breakthrough technology creates digital Bill of Lading to link Ports of Singapore and Rotterdam

PHILIPPINES, 3 May 2021 – dltledgers, the leading independent blockchain platform for trade and supply chain digitisation headquartered in Singapore, announced today their key role in the trial of an electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) between two of the world’s busiest international ports. Backed by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the trial marked a milestone towards the transformation…

[miloscat]

[Review] Sayonara Umihara Kawase (PC)

I’ve been meaning to check out this series of cult classics for a while. Let’s swing!

The Umihara Kawase series started on the SNES, and kept the same basic premise over three entries. In a surreal world of floating blocks covered in nostalgic Japanese iconography (vegetables, school supplies, vending machines, etc), the 19-year old Kawase—a traveling sushi chef, according to the localisation—uses a fishing lure on a bouncy line to hook and swing around, avoiding/capturing fish with legs. They’re puzzle-platformers with an emphasis on the physics of grappling, gravity, and elasticity.

The games have always been low-budget but full of charm and an odd atmosphere. On the SNES it was all pixel-based, with backgrounds made form digitised photos. Fidelity improved for the second entry on PSX, with 3D graphics for the play field but 2D sprites for the characters. This third entry, originally released on 3DS but enhanced for Vita then ported to PC, has a fully polygonal world but is still blocky and strange.

Another big factor in the reputation of the series is its tough-as-nails challenges. There’s many advanced tricks you can do with Kawase’s springy grapple, and as you explore the breadth of the game’s many rooms, they become more useful or even required. I never managed to ascend a vertical wall or do a rocket jump until this third instalment: they seem to have improved the controls here, making it much more accessible. Ledge grabs seem to have a bigger window as well, and in-game tutorials do a more thorough job explaining the mechanics.

That’s not all though. Sayonara completely rethinks the structure as well. Previously a run started at Field 0 or 1, and you would find the door to the next field (possibly accessing one of the many alternate branching paths through the web of levels) until you ran out of lives and started all over again. Now, there’s a menu screen between each level, there’s no lives, and completing a level permanently unlocks the next one. It’s so much more friendly, and on top of that there’s a time stop button for tricky mid-air manoeuvres, and alternate characters, some of them with a mid-stage checkpoint ability.

That’s not to say challenge has been removed. I certainly found it more doable but ran into roadblocks after clearing about two thirds of the fields, and had to give up before frustration ruined my positive feelings for the game. I had seen the credits three times by this point; the branches end with various boss fights, which are a bit more fleshed out in this instalment. On top of this, many levels have difficult-to-reach backpacks; previously extra life tokens, they’re now collectibles that unlock gallery items. And there’s a survival mode which mimics the structure of the previous two games.

Having now played all three of the games in the original style (the latest game, Fresh, is a more radical departure with an open world and RPG elements), this is the most accessible to newcomers, and recaptures the feel and mechanics of the previous games plus some expansions and quality of life features. And it’s on Steam for Windows! Playing the older games is helped by savestates under emulation, and the DS release has the first two classics with a suite of bonus stuff, but I’d recommend starting with this one.

[corkcitylibraries]

Genealogy Series | Part 1

A step-by-step guide to researching your family tree by Senior Library Assistant, Johnathon Fehily

This is a four-part series, appearing every Thursday for the month of January.

Genealogy is the study of family history and origins. The word genealogy comes from two Greek words, one meaning ‘race’ or ‘family’ and one meaning ‘theory’ or ‘science’. Genealogy as a study and past time has grown exponentially in recent years with the natural yearning to understand one’s roots. Irish Genealogy has been no exception and its growth can be naturally attributed to the wide and varied diaspora which makes up ‘Irishness’ and the ‘Irish race’. Yeats stated that ‘We can only begin to live when we conceive life as Tragedy’. In the spirit of this quote genealogy as a study is more often than not conducted long after the main actors involved have passed on. Genealogy is often an oral tradition passed down word of mouth through generations and form a core identity of an individual. Emigrants pass down nuggets of information of their past life such as family, history, place, and occupations to name but a few. It is through a combination of spoken word and official documentation that we may explore our past.

Cork City Libraries has placed a great emphasis on the promotion and distribution of various sources and materials to aid in the location of family history. One of the major responsibilities of our Local Studies department is Genealogy with a great diversity of sources available on our website: www.corkpastandpresent.ie. Cork as the major Irish trading port on the Atlantic has seen untold numbers of Irish people leave this Island for a mixture of reasons, in search of a better life, escape from religious persecution and in search of freedom and adventure to name just a few. Cork and in particular Cobh were often the final point of contact with many people with the land of their birth. Cork’s importance as a port trading city led to a diverse population with segments of society including Norse to Gaelic, British; Huguenot and Jewish to name but a few. The following guide will attempt to help those interested to locate their own family background through a rich selection of sources.

 Step One

Your first step in tracing your family history should be to ask members of your family and friends to tell you what they know (or what they think they know) about the family. Try to get approximate dates of births, marriages and deaths as these will be very important for your future research. Find out what they know about more distant relatives. Ask how second cousins are related to you, for example. Getting a 'feel' for the network of family relationships will help you when you are drawing up your family tree. Ask especially about personal names and place names, places and dates of births, deaths and marriages, occupations, sporting achievements and military service. When you have been given information, WRITE IT DOWN! Do not trust your memory, record any information given to you as soon as possible after getting it.

 Step Two

After consulting with family and friends, see if you can find any documentary evidence about the family in old family bibles, albums of photographs or scrapbooks. Take a look in the graveyards where your deceased relatives are buried to discover any gravestone inscriptions. All possible sources of information available to you should be investigated. You never know when a seemingly irrelevant piece of information could turn out to be an important clue to a family relationship. It is vital to establish WHERE a particular family came from. A number of Irish surnames are very common. Fairly obvious examples are Murphy, Kelly and O'Sullivan. Your chances of finding information on someone who had a common surname without knowing, as precisely as possible, where he/she came from are vanishingly small. Imagine trying to find records concerning a Julia O'Sullivan if all you know about her is that she came from West Cork!

 Step Three

Once you have your preliminary research done your next step should be to visit the Local Studies Department. Staff in the department will be able to advise you on which sources you should consult next based on the information you have gathered already. They will also be able to tell you what sources are available in the library itself and in other local repositories.

Always remember the golden rule in genealogy: Work back from what you know to try to establish links between persons named in the various sources you have consulted. Do not guess that a connection exists between your family and a name you have discovered if you cannot establish a definite link. An example will help clarify this point. Suppose you know that one of your great-great grandfathers was Patrick Murphy who worked as a baker somewhere in North Cork. If you then find a baker named Patrick Murphy listed in a directory for the middle of the 19th century who was a baker in Kanturk, you should not assume that he was your great-great grandfather. Of course, he MAY have been, but you need to find documentary evidence proving the link. If you follow the golden rule you will not waste time running up blind alleys.

Step Four

By this stage you should be ready to consult the main sources of genealogical information. These are: parish records of baptisms and marriages, civil records of births, marriages and deaths and census records. Many of these records have been digitised and are available to people from the comfort of their own home. Sources such as Newspaper articles and postal directories are also important and are once again well digitised to allow for a more efficient search. Cork City libraries holds subscriptions with a wide variety of sites with find my past being a prime example to allow for the search of rare records such as military or travel records.

Next Week: Learn how parish and religious records can help you research your family tree - Thursday 14 January 2021

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