#which means you can only get through one average-length section before the little power light turns red

[peggycatrerr]

i genuinely do not know how this game’s script got greenlit

[solarlightsonline]

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[fandomluver-101]

Sweet Elite Chapter 8

So I have finally finished playing the last chapter! You would think I’d hate playing a game where I’m in school when IRL college is kicking my ass, but to each their own, LOL.

Anyways, I finished playing it and though I found it enjoyable, I’m not all that sure I truly enjoyed it. I normally don’t make my own reviews of the game and just leave comments on ones posted by others, but I decided to post it because why not! 

If you’re interested in a spoiler filled review, just click that “keep reading” below  ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

First off, I like to write my little fanfics for my enjoyment (I’ve never posted any of them, but I have them in existence via USB lol). I’m probably gonna reference what I’ve written for Tadashi’s arc for comparison, so don’t try looking for them!

When I play Sweet Elite, I also like to record my screen so I can keep track of my choices (and compare what happens to what I wrote). A single playthrough for the first time and this is the longest I’ve spent on a chapter, a whole 2 hours and a half! Not a bad thing of course considering it was a major arc and expected to be on the longer side. But I feel like for the length, I didn’t get much Love Interest interactions because you’re forced to spend fairly equal amount of time with everyone (I played on my Tadashi account first since I had the most AP on that one).

I shall start with things I liked about the chapter, which wasn’t much to be honest?

1 - Tadashi not knowing what the Grammy’s was is hilarious to me (and also kinda sad because that kinda shows how much of a childhood he lacked since the average person would at least know the name!). That whole interaction was nice to see since it showed TadAxel having a non-arguing conversation, but the “Granny’s” was a major highlight.

2 - Neha hinting once again that she might be a scholarship student (because mentioning that scholarship students don’t have to advertise that they’re one is a major thing to introduce and not expect me to run with). And I interpreted how she responded to Karolina supporting Tadashi despite the scandal more of her being a bit jealous because I can only imagine how she’d react if Neha actually is a scholarship student (though Tadashi becoming one himself might soften Karolina up into accepting that your parents’ money doesn’t make you almighty).

3 - Ellie just being Ellie. Lordy she’s adorably terrifying and those are the best short friends to have because they keep you on your toes (and are totally down to hunting for the obscure or raiding Area 451).

4 - Tyler basically being how I felt playing as Scholar because the whole “I’m not doing shit while everyone else is offering something major in their super-awesome ways” was easy to recognize with.

So my first complaint is the convoluted plan to get Tadashi proven innocent/uninvolved in Hiroshi’s yakuza crap. I get the whole lie to the dad to make him think he’s on his side thing since it would get him half of his money back. But what I envisioned in my head and wrote down centered around my Scholar recording the conversation between Tadashi and his dad (which Tadashi did himself, which still makes it a viable plot-point) and them using the script/email from the lawyer and the bank statements of his dad taking all of his money to show him as a victim?

The video idea wasn’t bad and was also something I wrote for my BCP Scholar fanfiction (she’s marketing and PR with her own little company managing social media accounts, so the idea and image control was her main addition to help out). So I don’t know if I’m just being my biased ass self and preferring my solution (release the proof of blackmail, show Tadashi is a victim, have Tegan hack Nakano Corp.’s CCTV/security footage to get timestamps of Tadashi not being present for mafia meetings, have him testify against his father).

None of what was shown in the video could have really proven any sort of innocence to be honest. Tadashi could’ve easily pulled whatever texts and emails he wanted, so unless he showed the one from the lawyer essentially extorting him to testify in his father’s favor, I don’t see how that on its own would have helped with anything. 

Adding the recording to the beginning of the video during editing would have been something to warrant all the positive response to the video. I know the recording is used to try and force Nakahoe Senior into giving Tadashi the rest of his money, but it was also the only logical way to prove Tadashi was without a doubt a victim too (and Tegan could easily get the money back himself or there could have been something about the mom, which I’m gonna talk about later in this post).

IRL, people would point out that Tadashi could easily be lying through his teeth about not being involved. So that’s kind of a plot-hole since getting the public to see Tadashi in a positive light is important to getting the school board to let him stay (which was incredibly dumb to me because are you really gonna tell me there aren’t students at the school with openly corrupt/mafia/mob/gangster parents using dirty money to keep their children in attendance???) (yes, Jack, I’m talking about your ass).

I could understand forcing him to step down as student body president since Arlington has the position kinda Anime styled where the president is the face of the school and has an absurd amount of responsibility and power (as proven by Ellie’s story of the previous president and the fact that Tadashi can veto someone getting academic amnesty). Them removing him from office was something I expected (though my fanfic had him helping pick a replacement for the rest of the year since that’s how it was done at my old private school). But not wanting him to attend school even though his family could easily pay for his tuition was very out there to me. I suppose having someone with a negative reputation could reflect badly on a top school, but I’m pretty sure private schools need justifications to expel someone and expelling them based on their parents actions seems very illegal to me.

But anyways, the super computer plot to hack Nakahoe Senior’s information was also very weird to me. I justified it by telling myself Scholar is in a school of super rich, super intelligent teenagers, so maybe the most simple approach doesn’t come to mind (I know first hand that smart people have a tendency to overlook the simple solutions without meaning to). It makes sense to make their own computer to not be traced overall, but the purpose it was needed for didn’t make much sense in the grand scheme of things (because they didn’t really use the information they found, so what was the point of finding it other than being a hundred percent sure on Hiroshi being corrupt?).

And then while I was playing and listening to my commentary, I again was reminded about how confused I was that calling Hiroshi in jail and keeping him on the line long enough to trace the transaction was necessary? Because I don’t think that’s how that works? If it was to track his location, then maybe, but I don’t think Tegan would need Tadashi to keep Hiroshi on the line to trace a bank transaction or get into Hiroshi’s accounts (but that’s me being nitpicky I think).

Then what they found, IE the gibberish in the calendar descrambling to “Yakuza” was a major asspull while I was playing. I wondered why Nakahoe Senior, AKA the Inglorious Bastard and Chessmaster of the arc, would make it so obvious? Let alone actually put that in his planer... If there was a meeting every Friday evening, I figured introducing this would at least lead to something where Tegan finds a way to prove Tadashi wasn’t present or active even phone call wise because he could get the call logs too. Yeah, the emails are important, but wouldn’t footage or flights be better at proving he wasn’t there?

Then Tadashi’s mother, who was never truly introduced, but teased really. It was set up in a way that my fanfic had Nakahoe Senior threatening to setup Tadashi for the fall if she didn’t convince him to testify in Hiroshi’s favor because Alistair mentions how protective she normally is of Tadashi and even Tadashi says that his mom was frantic over the phone. So I don’t know, I was hoping for something with her since she was brought up.

But my major complaint about the story was that Scholar has little influence on what goes on. At first, I thought there would be options based on your Department and maybe your choices during the Department Competition (you pick your concentration during the presentation). Essentially, I was expecting to be asked to pick a task I would do best in (in this playthrough’s case, I expected to be able to help with PR because for the competition, I picked Sociology which is essential in marketing research).

I also expected something similar for others. Business would get to come up with a marketing and PR scheme, utilizing Axel, Karolina, and Neha. Performing Arts or Fine Arts would get to help edit and fine tune the video or make a smear campagne against Nakahoe Senior with Tyler and Raquel. Pure and Applied would get to code with Tegan or build with Ellie. Health Sciences (or any department because you’re Arlington’s Sweetheart) would get to work with Alistair (who knows Tadashi best) and Claire to make Tadashi’s script and showcase him to the world as a victim (which he really is in this situation).

But that didn’t happen. The only things Scholar really does is buy computer parts and talk to Claire and ask her to help Tadashi (and suggest Tadashi ask Neha for help too). Which was a major asspull because during that section before where the group is talking about who should help him write something from the heart, I was expecting (and super hyped for) Scholar to finally have the chance to be useful. They weren’t, not even for Tadashi’s campaigning since all that they did was talk to a few students (which I know is good for campaigning, but not really helpful in the grand scheme of things) (especially because by default, Scholar isn’t good at these things even if you’re in a department that’s necessary). I got really happy thinking Scholar would do anything that justifies them being involved as “human resources.”

Then being thanked for not really do anything but being the spectator and emotional support friend kinda bothered me. I’m all for that and sometimes you just need that one friend that’s good at being a support unit (AKA the mom). But even though Tadashi says that Scholar was his main inspiration to defy his parents, that’s not really helping him do that? 

How was Scholar instrumental to anything going on? “Waste a couple hours finding pieces for a super computer, something anyone could search for because you can’t code or build things even if you’re in Pure and Applied,” “Go ask Claire to help Tadashi write his speech only for Tadashi to appear and ask her to himself because she would, by default, help anyways and you’re not good at writing a heartfelt speech (which Scholar technically isn’t, but should be if there were more options or at least acknowledged in this situation because why bring up the whole Arlington Sweetheart thing?),” “Get some rest, you deserve it even though you did absolutely nothing beside deliver the computer parts and suggest asking Neha to help.”

To be honest, Scholar may not be as static/pre-determined as most otome games, but Scholar doesn’t have much variety that actually impacts the story. What you’re good and bad at is already determined (like the essay and presentation; you’re automatically not good at it even if you’re Performing Arts or BCP and interested in things that, you know, require being able to give a good presentation).

I would prefer waiting longer to have more meaningful options than getting something quicker and not really being able to do much. Like during the competition where we eavesdrop on people and see the story unfold, that’s what this chapter pretty much was for me.

[motorizedbicy]

Best Electric Bikes for Every Kind of Ride

Around the country, bars, dining establishments, and also various other public spaces are shut or have actually restricted solution. Public transportation is becoming an extra iffy proposition, and cities are closing roads to provide pedestrians more room to move near their houses.

Go into: the electric bike. You do not require to be healthy to ride one. It gets you outside, lowers fossil fuels, decreases congestion, and also it's enjoyable. Over the past few years, we have actually attempted practically every type of ebike there is, from sturdy cargo bikes to premium mountain bicycle. Whether you're tooling around your neighborhood purchasing wood chips from the hardware shop or trying to trim a couple of miles off the trip for a socially distanced see, we have the very best ebike for you.

We will certainly be remaining to test and trip bikes throughout the summertime, so if you do not see one you like now, be sure to inspect back later. Once you get one, take a look at our favored biking accessories, too.

Have inquiries concerning electric bikes? Sign up with the conversation in the comments section below.

Updated for June 2020: We got rid of a number of older choices as well as included new ones, like the Propella 7-Speed.

The Very Best Bike

Specialized Turbo Vado SL Equipped

When I needed to return this electric bike (9/10, WIRED Recommends), I practically cried. The small, yet effective, customized motor as well as slim battery are integrated into the structure, so it doesn't even look like an ebike. The XS frame evaluates 33 extra pounds, just a couple of more than a normal steel bike. It has a hybrid structure with flat handlebars that make it simple to steer on a selection of surfaces, whether you're scooting along at 28 miles per hr or bumping through trees at your neighborhood park.

Specialized's Smart Control system suggests you don't need to readjust aid while you're riding, or bother with having sufficient battery to get house. A surprise shock in the head tube paddings the blow from any unforeseen fractures. Also the accessories are first-class, like long, adaptable custom-made fenders that sluice water down and also far from you in the rain. I place 40 miles on it in three days. It was so fun that it was hard to jump off.

The Very Best Affordable Bike

Propella 7-Speed (V3.4).

Who am I kidding? Unless you're already an ebike fanatic, you possibly desire one that's as close to $1,000 as feasible. That's a tough proposal if you want a dependable electric motor and also a frame that won't bend at 15 miles per hour. Propella's direct-to-consumer 7-speed (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the very best low-cost bike we have actually located. Reviewer Parker Hall noted that it has trustworthy elements like a Samsung battery as well as Shimano disc brakes, and cool accessories like a trendy suspension seat. At 39 pounds, it's likewise pretty light for an ebike! It ships straight to you, too, which comes in handy if you would love to stay clear of a bike shop now.

Best Utility Bike.

Rad Power Bikes RadRunner.

Regardless of which bike I recommend, many people I recognize directly buy this one. It has an apparently magic mix of affordability and also effectiveness. Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes ships its bikes direct-to-consumer, and also rather than working solely with business like Bosch and Shimano, it likewise establishes its own custom hub-motor drivetrains with a variety of different suppliers. Additionals like light weight aluminum pedals and added equipments are stripped off in favor of a big 120-pound back rack as well as huge, steady, custom-made Kenda tires.

Nearly any person can utilize the RadRunner (7/10, WIRED Review)-- whether you want a comfortable cruiser for coastline rides, a steady seat for your 4-year-old, or you simply want to ditch your gas-powered Vespa. If you have actually never gotten on a bike before, the Elby S1 additionally has a very easy step-through frame as well as costs trimmings, like Tektro hydraulic brakes. It's much more expensive, though.

Best Freight Bike (and My Fave).

Tern GSD.

The Tern GSD S10 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is my favored freight bike (of those I have actually examined), as well as it's the one I would purchase if I had the ka-ching. Tern utilized a number of creative design tweaks to make the bike easy to ride-- for example, tiny 20-inch and fat motorcross tires assist maintain the bike's length equal to an average roadway bike. The rear rack is likewise reduced for much better stability, as well as the battery and motor are under the shelf, instead of placed on the downtube.

You can likewise keep it standing up on its end. That remains in enhancement to an adjustable Bosch electric motor, which you can update to a double-battery system. My regional bike shops have trouble keeping it in stock. If you do not require such a long tail, Tern likewise released a much shorter HSD that can suit one child seat.

A Light, Budget Friendly Cargo Bike.

Bike Friday Haul-A-Day.

Bike Friday's Haul-A-Day isn't for every person. The majority of parents that desire a longtail cargo bike will certainly choose something heavier as well as more secure, like a RadWagon or a Yuba Boda Boda. As a brief moms and dad that has to deliver 2 kids, this is the bike I in fact have. It has a special telescoping tube that can shorten the bike to fit riders as short as 4' 6", and also it considers 44 extra pounds-- practically 15 pounds less than the Tern. It's also much more inexpensive, though this is understood by replacing a reputable, effective Bosch drivetrain with a Tongsheng one.

Ideal Minivan Alternative.

Riese & Müller Lots 60.

A year after checking it, my spouse and I still wistfully talk about how much far better our lives would be if we had our very own R&M Load 60 (8/10, WIRED Recommends). The full-suspension, double-battery Tons makes use of a Bosch system to power its bakfiets-style freight box around community.

You can customize the freight box with low sidewalls, harnesses, and a rainfall cover, or you can remove whatever off as well as get devices at the hardware store. It additionally comes with valuable additionals, like Tektro hydraulic disc brakes, an easily flexible seat, and also an integrated wheel lock that lets you lock the bike up while it's free-standing.

A Lot Of Versatile Bike.

Yamaha Wabash E-Bike.

A gravel bike is a functional choice for whatever from daily commuting to mild weekend bikepacking journeys. The Yamaha Wabash (7/10, WIRED Evaluation) is more budget friendly than the Turbo Vado SL, as well as I used it for every little thing from heading to my regional cafe to striking (some) routes on the weekends. Yamaha's custom motor and also absolutely no cadence trigger are effective enough to let me start up in the middle of extremely steep hillsides. It also has back shelf installs, an LED headlight, and a little bell. I did find its slim wheels as well as lack of shock absorption rather disconcerting on rougher roadways. Specialized additionally has an extremely wonderful gravel-ready electric bike.

Finest Electric Mountain Bike.

Specialized Males's Turbo Levo Comp.

While several communities have limitations on whether electrical bikes are also allowed on single-track (thin) tracks, reviewer Stephanie Pearson had a blast on Specialized's initial pedal-assisted mtb (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It has a rigid, crooked structure that's longer in the front to make pounding the downhills feel smooth and safe, along with a 500-watt electric motor with Smart Control, which means you don't need to adjust aid when riding. It really feels equally as enjoyable as a nonelectric bike.

Best Folding Ebike.

Gocycle GX.

Gocycle was founded by Mclaren Automotive designer Richard Thorpe, and also the GX (7/10, WIRED Testimonial) is its fast-folding bike. The streamlined light weight aluminum structure conceals a 300-Wh lithium-ion battery inside. As opposed to simply switching over from 4 fixed aid settings, Gocycle's application allows you play on a gliding range to call in various quantities useful in correlation with various degrees of pressure on the pedals, that makes it a dream to ride. You can rubber-band your phone to the handlebars to function as your console. It likewise has only 2 joints, that makes folding and unfolding very easy, as well as can be kept standing with the kickstand prolonged.

An Inexpensive Foldable Ebike.

Jetson City Foldable Electric Bike.

Ebikes are expensive, as well as we did review the Jetson City (6/10, WIRED Testimonial), which rings in at under a grand. It has most of the bells and also whistles that you need for a commuter ebike, like a 250-watt electric motor hidden in the crossbar, around 40 miles of variety, 3 levels of pedal help, a throttle, and also a horn. Nonetheless, in just a week of testing, I chipped off a part of the clamp that hooks the bike with each other, which doesn't bode well for the bike's long life over the long run.

Guidance to Bear In Mind.

Recognizing Electric Bike Specs.

Similar to any kind of bike, electrical bikes featured a ton of different technical specifications that you might or might not appreciate. Much more economical ebikes use hub motor drives, where the electric motor is in the center of the bike's wheel. A lot more costly mid-drive motors, like Bosch or Shimano systems, remain in the facility of the bike as well as transfer the power to the wheel by means of the chain. Mid-drive electric motors allow you move equipments and stabilize the bike's weight much better.

If you stay in an area that's wet or uneven, it's worth shelling out for an extra powerful 500-W or 750-W electric motor as well as a few extras, like hydraulic or mechanical disc brakes, which will help stop you as well as your freight from skidding right into website traffic. If you have a longer commute, you may also wish to search for a double-battery system, as the range on many ebike batteries is within 30 to 50 miles.

Ebike Classifications and Policies.

Examine Your Neighborhood Regulations.

Prior to you buy your electric bike, make sure you can really utilize it! Many cities as well as states have local laws managing when as well as where you can use an ebike. At least 22 states currently make use of the three-class system, and also may restrict when and also where different courses of ebikes might be made use of, depending upon if they have a throttle or can assist over 20 miles per hour. Cities might additionally have regulations about whether hill ebikes are enabled on single-track tracks. If your state identifies ebikes under the exact same regulations regulating motorbikes as well as mopeds, you might require a certificate to ride one. As well as regardless of what, always use a helmet.

[doomedandstoned]

Nicolas Perrault from Rage of Samedi Taps Deep Emotion in New Solo Effort

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By MelLie

NICOLAS "SCRIOS" PERRAULT -- some of you may have heard this name in the course of the German monster sludgers RAGE OF SAMEDI. German multi-instrumentalist, producer, live audio engineer, creative head in general, and bad-ass bassist of the aforementioned band. Often these artists are mostly referred to us in connection with the bands in which they play and we often know too little about their individual personalities and the solo projects they have to offer. Ashes on our heads!

After six years of walking the path of self-discovery and working on his authenticity as a solo artist, Nicolas has now announced the release of his first full-length album 'Shadows Cast At Dawn' (2020) on May 20th. That's why we should jump at this perfect opportunity to get a foretaste of the new album and take a closer look at Nick Perrault as "singer/songwriter" (a term that somehow doesn't entirely fit him).

With the song "Fires Within," Nick not only offers us a gloomy soul plough, but also a glance into his own soul. It is a gritty absolution punch, with abysmal soundscapes that deal with depression and anxiety. Emotional, melancholic, but in no way melodramatic -- a puristic and minimalistic-looking audio-active encounter with the emotionally frozen world and the breakout of those soul-damaging shackles. Like the Last Judgement runs Nick‘s throaty, heavy, powerful voice through the song and manifests itself like a memorial at the edge of the abyss into which the listener seems to look. This musical work is further underpinned by the impressive video-artwork, which was also created by Nick's own artistic hand.

I hope I have made you a little curious about the excursion into a border area of this heavy genre, which generally receives less attention here, and about the artistic work of Nicolas Perrault. Enjoy the ride through the abyss.

'Fires Within' music video

An Interview with Nicolas Perrault

By MelLie (Doomed & Stoned & Sunday's Heavy Tunes)

First of all, a warm "welcome", on behalf of Doomed & Stoned and our audience, Nick. It's only been a few months since you answered my questions as part of the gang of Rage Of Samedi! But this time, you are in the spotlight with your solo project! It‘s nice to have you here again!

It's an absolute honor to get to do this twice in a single year, so thanks for having me!

Nick, of course I have created my own impression of you in the process of preparing for this interview - at the latest now you still have the chance to escape! (laughs) How would you describe yourself? Who is this guy Nicolas Perrault?

I'm a multi-instrumentalist, tattooer, live audio engineer and producer and slightly sociophobic. So pretty much your average vegan straightedge dude who refuses to get a real job.

What made you decide to sell your soul to the "Devil Of Music"? In other words, how and when did you realize that you were burning with heart and soul to dedicate your life to music?

I've always played instruments, starting with the recorder, then organ and piano, bass, drums, guitar, bagpipes, and everything else. Way back when I joined my first band (a grunge/punk three-piece) and first picked up a bass, I realized I had a lot to say and music quickly became my outlet of choice. So about 18 years ago, but I didn't think of it in terms of a career yet, that only happened roughly six years ago, so I dropped out of university and started to work on my solo project.

You have left some very manifold and genre crossing footsteps on the pilgrimage through your personal music history: PTAH (doom), MOONSAIL (depressive pop-blues), and THRENODIA (black-metal) in former times are on my mind, current side projects are WILLE ZUR MACHT (avangarde) and you are the bass-riffer of Germany's blackened sludge doom monster RAGE OF SAMEDI! To what extent were these different musical influences and band experiences important for your progress as solo-artist?

I've spent a decade and a half working in bands, which would usually split up after a while, when the band became more serious and the others decided they'd rather pursue "real" jobs. So after a couple of those, I grew tired of waiting on the right people and just started working on my own. But every now and then I'd want to experiment with different genres, so I'd start a new project. The reason I'm now releasing under my actual name is that I didn't want to be stuck in one genre. I don't regret any of it, as they shaped who I am and the music I play now.

At the mention of your solo project, I could see the glint in your eyes. May 20th is the day! Let's light a sparkler for a minute! After three released EPs and six years of working as a solo artist, 'Shadows Cast At Dawn' will sail into the world as your first full-length album, which you even produced under the name of your own label Yew & Holly, right? What thoughts shoot spontaneously through your head right now?

Yup. I'm just incredibly excited to finally release this thing! It's been nearly six years and about eight different entire recordings, several changes to the track listing, heck- there are two tracks on the album that I only wrote this year! It's been a long, tedious journey and I'm glad for everything that happened along the way, because it made the final version of the album so much better!

Nick, let's turn the spotlight on the background information for your new album now. How would you describe your it to someone who has never heard your music before and which instruments play a major role?

A genre defying journey through post-modern life in a capitalist reality, focussing on depression and anxiety. Almost all of the songs are two sets of drums, a minute string section of violin and cello plus baritone guitar and vocals, that together create soundscapes so vast you might mistake them for an assassin's creed map.

Listening a little deeper into your work, one does not miss your natural fondness for philosophical thinking -- correct me if I am wrong with my assumption. Where do you get your inspirations from? And is there a message you want to convey to the listeners?

Well, I did study philosophy way back when. I tend to use naval imagery to paint a lyrical picture of depression and bipolar disorder, as a means of sharing the way I experience the world. It's likely not the most accessible thing you will ever hear, but it's a sincere expression of myself and that's really all I can offer.

"Fires Within," btw. Also one of my personal favorites of your album - is the amuse-gueule for our listeners What is the meaning behind this song and what moved you, writing the lyrics for this song?

"Fires" is all about setting boundaries and tearing down unhealthy relationships. If you have people in your life that hold you back instead of supporting you, ditch their ass! They're not worth the time and will poison any creative endeavor. Everyone knows at least a handful of these negative feckers and so did I. I spent years trying to help them get through their shit, but whenever I needed them they'd be more interested in getting drunk.

It's an unburdening from dead weight we carry, a cleansing, if you will. The chorus says "look not towards time, it brings only decay and destruction " and I think this is key to ridding yourself from negativity. Focus on your ultimate goal, that transcends trends and mood swings, that lives beyond time, and let it guide you. Don't stray too much from the path, or these negative influences will be right there waiting to cut you down.

"Fires Within"

Call upon the wind To wipe the surface clean He brings the rain and with it Absolution To carry with it the dust And bittersweet memories lost

Look not towards time To save your soul from fires It brings only decay and with it Destruction The fires burn from within Feast on the sand and it's running thin

Turn away from everything you hold dear To keep yourself safe from despair Cause all they bring is but loss All that remains is darkness when they are all gone Darkness that stretches like shadows cast from a new dawn

I would like to make a short swerve to the album cover. It is the wonderful artwork of Maryland based illustrator Luke Martin (Suburban Avenger Studios) who counts some famous musicians among his clients (Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chili Pepper and others). How does the artwork relate to "Shadows Cast To Dawn"?

I've been a huge fan of Luke's work for years and a while ago he posted this picture to his Instagram. I was looking for something very specific to use as an album cover at the time. I needed it to evoke claustrophobia and a feeling of being safe inside whilst at the same time showing an outside, detached from the rest, just out of reach.

So imagine my jaw dropping as I saw this picture for the first time. It just struck me. So I wrote Luke, if he'd sell it. He had never sold a photograph before (plenty of awesome illustrations, though) so needless to say, I was very happy he did. He basically captured exactly what I had conceptualized -- that it's an actual photograph just makes it even better, as the concept is very much abstract but now has an actual physical representation.

The title "Shadows Cast At Dawn" was something that I had floating around in my head for ever. So when I began to work on the album that became the working title. Since I've worked on it for so long, that title has- in a way- effected everything I wrote, so it seemed to fit perfectly by the end.

Is there a special favourite place where you prefer to let your ideas mature? - a kind of soul-flyer place? I know you live in a small, rather idyllic place and not in a vibrant artists' metropolis! Whereby this way of living has advantages as well as disadvantages for an artist, right?

I love forests, oceans and mountains, so I'm pretty much alright with any surroundings, as long as I can escape civilization from time to time. Living out in the countryside allows me to focus, as you pretty much know where to find people, if you're looking for company but at the same time, you know where you are less likely to be found.

Sure, I need to travel a lot more to get anywhere and there aren't as many connections to be made face to face, but digitalization has granted us loners access to that aspect of life from the comfort of our homes, so I'd say it really depends on what you need to stay sane.

With the release of this album, you could now realize one of your dreams. Do we have another sparkler to light? What else do you have in the works? Are there any future plans that float in space? Or do you still carry around another big dream in your head?

I've already started recording for the next album, so fingers crossed that this time it won't take as long. Apart from that, I really want to tour the world, but circumstances aren't exactly ideal for that, at the moment. Apart from the music, I also tattoo and paint and hope to be doing more of that alongside music in the future. So if y'all wanna get some ink, hit me up!

Thanks a lot Nick, for giving us a deeper insight into your solo project and the things that move you! It's been very entertaining having this conversation with you here. We all will keep our eyes upon Nicolas "Scrios" Perrault in anticipation of your success!

Thank you very much, Mel, it's been my pleasure!

Leave Me To The Waves by Nicolas Perrault

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[ciathyzareposts]

Fantasyland 2041: Won! (with Summary and Rating)

Does that mean Guinevere is real?! Or have I just carried a robot out of the park?

        Fantasyland 2041

United States

Crystalware (developer and original publisher); Epyx (later publisher)

Released in 1981 for Apple II and Atari 800

Date Started: 9 October 2019

Date Finished: 19 October 2019

Total Hours: 9

Difficulty: Hard (4/5)

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

Summary:

Fantasyland 2041 is an epic adventure on non-epic hardware: a long, difficult game with primitive graphics and mechanics. Set in a Westworld-like future of holograms and animatronics, guests proceed through a series of adventure scenarios–Congoland, Arabian Adventure, King Arthur, Olympus, Captain Nemo, and Dante’s Inferno–and back again. Along the way, they must find certain items to rescue Lancelot or Guinevere from hell. They must also manage food and inventory, fight hostile parties, and solve a few light inventory puzzles. The interface is top-down, which often conflicts mentally with what looks like first-person graphics. The game’s scope and intent are admirable, but ultimately it’s too annoying and boring for the graphics, sound, and mechanical complexity of the era.

        ******

        The manual to Fantasyland 2041 takes pains to emphasize the length and difficulty of the adventure.

            [Y[ou may conclude that it is impossible to ever finish or win this game. We had to make it pretty tough. The average adventurer will probably never see the Throne of Lucifer or make it past the gates to the Underworld. We hope that just the experience of a single adventure will be sufficiently entertaining to satisfy our most critical hobbyists.

           I can sympathize. Players expected, as they do now, to get a certain amount of playing time out of a $40.00 purchase. Arcade games satisfied that time minimum by being repeatable, but for adventure games and RPGs, a lot of the mystery was gone after you won for the first time. Thus, the developer had to prolong that time. Eventually, they would do that with bigger worlds and more game detail, but those weren’t options in the early years of the microcomputer. (Less because of technology and more because of a lack of innovative templates.) So instead, they prolonged the games by just making them hard. Permadeath was a common solution. Fantasyland goes a different direction by allowing you to save anywhere but almost always rolling the dice against you.

There’s a seed of a good game in Fantasyland 2041, and part of me wishes John Bell had waited several years and then developed it under the influence of, say, the Ultima series. I would have like to experience it with more complex commands, more thoughtful puzzles, interesting NPCs, and tactical combat. Instead, game design is as primitive as the world it inhabits, involving a lot of trial and error before the player learns enough to make a successful winning run.

As we covered in the first entry, exploring the land is a very linear process. The Hall of Heroes leads to Congoland, which leads to the Arabian Adventure, which leads to King Arthur. These first three lands are all quite similar.

            Each one has individual enemies visible on-screen who chase you around the map and attack you. In Congoland, these are tigers and gorillas. In the Arabian Adventure, they’re samurai. In King Arthur, they’re Modred and the Black Knight.

           I’m not sure I remember this part of Le Morte D’Arthur.

            Each has packs of enemies who can attack randomly at any moment (while you’re standing still or moving) but are not seen on-screen. Across the three lands, these progressed from headhunters and Zulu warriors to Turks and scorpions to knights and archers.

Each has physical features that are dangerous to bump into, running the risk of losing equipment or companions. These include swamps, logs, mountain crevices, fallen logs, and cliffs.

                       Each has random environmental effects (earthquakes, sandstorms) that have the same effect.

Each has treasure chests to find and loot, and villages where you can buy and sell goods and companions.

Each has a special spellcasting enemy–witch doctors, genies, and sorcerers–who are necessary to have in your party to “solve” the area.

Each culminates at a door to the next world, where you must use the magic of one of your spellcasters to progress.

            Each land is made of blocks of roughly 8 x 8. It’s tough to count exactly because the screens continually scroll. Each block can have a particular type of terrain. The manual organizes these blocks into named sections (“Jungles,” “the Desert,” “Baghdad,” “Stonehenge”) and gives you clues about what you need to accomplish there.

King Arthur’s world changed the rules a bit by allowing parties of knights and archers to join you when you (G)reet them rather than attack. This sounds like a good idea, but the most difficult feature of the game is keeping all your companions fed. You can only carry a maximum of 255 of any item, including rations, and every companion eats a meal roughly two game minutes. If you somehow get 100 companions in your party, you have at most about five minutes before they start to starve to You can barely move between all the death notices and the need to constantly stop and drop equipment, so once characters start starving, it’s basically a reload.

            I don’t remember why this was here.

          Thus, resource issues discourage you from developing a large party, particularly since enemy parties just scale to your size anyway. However, the “individual” enemies on each map–Modred and the Black Knight on King Arthur’s map–all have high strength and need a large party to successfully counter, particularly if you want to minimize the chance that they’ll kill your spellcasters. Thus, you have to find the balance between logistical annoyance and combat effectiveness.

King Arthur’s realm features a dragon’s lair, with the dragon guarding the sword Excalibur. The dragon has 50,000 strength, which can only be countered by a very large party. To defeat the dragon, I hung out near his lair, let hundreds of companions join me, killed him, grabbed Excalibur, and then dropped the companions. Having Excalibur among my equipment made the rest of the game a lot easier.

          Fighting a dragon to get Excalibur.

           There’s also a second artifact to find in King Arthur’s territory: a Ring of Power. The manual makes a big deal about the importance of Rings of Power, but I only ever found two, and as far as I could tell, they just sat in my inventory. I never employed them. Also in King Arthur’s realm: Holy Grails (plural!) show up in treasure chests and can be sold for a lot of money.

King Arthur’s world culminates in Merlin’s Labyrinth, another maze. Getting past Merlin involves using one of the magic items you’ve acquired from the witch doctor, sorcerer, or genie. Once he’s gone, you can progress to Olympus.

I’ll pause here to note that (U)sing items is one of the more annoying parts of the game. Every time you hit the command, you have to scroll through multiple inventory pages before you get to the place you enter the item’s number. Since the “B” key also scrolls through inventory, the developers should have had “U” just take you right to the number, in case you already remembered it. A lot of items, like scrolls, feel like they should be useable but are not.

            Inventory eventually gets very unwieldy.

         The Olympus level changes the rules. You begin at Olympus itself, a town where you can buy and sell goods. You must buy the ship Argos, which appears off the “coast” to the west. To get to the ship, you have to buy a longboat and (U)se it at the edge of the Olympus screen. Once you’re on the Argos, you need a sail, an anchor, and oars to operate it. You have to (U)se the anchor to lift it, and after that you can either row with oars, which allows you to go any direction but consumes more food, or sail with the winds, which is a little harder to master.

           Sailing away from Olympus.

          The level is populated with numerous islands. I couldn’t figure out how to land on the Isle of Delos to the west. A northwest island had the Cyclops, who carried 2,000 gold pieces. A northeast island had the sorceress Circe, who carried the second Ring of Power. Finally, an eastern island, Thera, had the portal to the next land. I should mention that we get the only complex sound on this level, with a cycling shhhhh suggesting waves.

            The Argos waits offshore while the party picks up the Ring of Power from the slain Circe.

         There was a lot of inventory shuffling because to enter Captain Nemo’s world, you need a submarine, which you can purchase in Olympus, but it’s enormously heavy, so you need people without equipment to bear the weight. Once you choose to enter the submarine, however, your companion and inventory maximums drop precipitously, and you have to jettison a lot of people and stuff.

           Handling logistics for boarding the submarine.

           Captain Nemo’s world is all underwater, and running the submarine into any object causes it to fall apart. I think you can fix it with “spare parts,” but I had neglected to purchase any of these, so any time I accidentally rammed into a coral reef, I had to reload. There are treasure chests that you can send divers with diving suits out to retrieve, but only at certain depths. I found the whole level frustrating and thus wasn’t unhappy when I found Atlantis in the northwest corner and immediately transitioned to the final level.

         I never figured out anything to do in the City of Eelmen.

         Dante’s Inferno takes place among brimstone pits and rows of demons who just stand there until you run into them, at which point they kill your companions. The City of Dis in the northwest is the first place to buy and sell equipment and companions since Olympus. Demons and Nosferatu attack as you explore, although I found that around a dozen knights plus Excalibur made short work of them.

               At least they make me feel “welcome.”

            Rivers of fire funnel you to the north, where you have to use a plank (sold in Dis) to cross an abyss. Finally, in the northwest corner, you find Lancelot or Guinevere being guarded by Lucifer. As long as you have the two Rings of Power and a Signet Ring from Camelot (the manual warns you to buy it), he or she will come along with you immediately.

          All I did was walk up to him. This felt anti-climactic.

        At that point–much to my furor–you have to reverse your steps and make your way all the way back to the beginning, traversing each of the lands in reverse order. That took longer than it should have because I had gotten rid of a lot of the items needed for the ship and submarine, thinking I wouldn’t need them again.

Returning to the entrance gives you a brief message that “You made it back with Guinevere” and then a “Final Score” screen that summarizes your wealth, experience, and time. The screen encouraged early players to send their disks to Crystalware for a chance to win $1000, with the winner chosen from the highest scorer to solve the game before 1 December 1981.

           201 days?! How do people take that much time off work in the future?

         One outstanding mystery concerns, well, “The Great Mystery.” This is what the manual has to say about it:

           To win the prize, you must solve the Great Mystery and beat out your competitors in treasure and courage . . . The mystery is unlike any of the others. It is not an anagram nor is it found anywhere on the disk in basic or machine language . . . At the end of the game, if you make it, you will be prompted to send your disk in if you wish to enter the contest. Do not try to make a copy to send in; it must be the original. At our plant, we have a huge score board, with a list of all the fantasylanders and their achievements. The person to solve the mystery and score the highest will be awarded a trophy and receive $1,000 in cash.

             So there’s supposedly some Great Mystery that you have to solve to win the prize–but it’s not the same thing as winning the game by finding Lancelot or Guinevere, which you presumably have to do, too. More important, the instructions only mention sending in the disk. How will the developers know that someone has solved the Great Mystery, too? Is it somehow recorded on the disk? Did they assume players would know enough to include a separate note? What did they mean when they say the mystery “is unlike any of the others”? Any of the other what?

A re-read of the manual produces few clues. There are poems that suggest using the rings or perhaps scrolls on the “666” of King Solomon’s Temple, but nothing I try works. Messages just tell me that those items are “already in use.” I’ve inspected the disks, and I can’t find any text related to a bigger mystery, but then again the manual itself warned me that wouldn’t work.

           Here’s a scene from Dante’s Inferno. I have no idea what’s going on, or who that guy in the center is. Touching any of the figures around him causes your companions to die. Maybe this had something to do with the Great Mystery?

            Fantasyland 2041 isn’t much of an RPG. It lacks any character development (I don’t think the “experience” statistic does anything for you during the game) or personal inventory, and combat is as simple as a game of War. I give it an 18 on the GIMLET, with the best scores (3s) in coencounters and inventory. I still don’t know the purpose of half the stuff you can pick up. I don’t believe I ever used a rope, a shovel, a spotlight, citrus fruit (I assume it was there to stave of scurvy, but no one ever ate it), quinine, a compass, a magic carpet, a box of sand, mushrooms, a lute, squid ink, a wooden stake, or half a dozen other items that didn’t seem to be weapons, armor, or treasure.

We also leave the game with some out-of-game mysteries as well. Why did John Bell announce in the manual that this would be his last great fantasy? What happened to him and Patricia Bell after 1982, when the last Crystalware title was published? How did it morph into Crystalware Defense and Nanotechnology of the 2010s, and what did Bell do in the meantime?

I’ve been exposed to three Crystalware games at this point, and all of them are similar in their interfaces, mechanics, and suggestions that something deeper is happening beneath the game’s surface. I have four more on my list and will probably be a bit less forgiving about their statuses as RPGs under my rules. Nonetheless, it was fun to see another example of a developer who, in the area of five-and-a-quarter-inch floppy disks, dared to dream big.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/fantasyland-2041-won-with-summary-and-rating/

[tuff-flyfishing-blog]

Feeling energized after the previous evenings fishing’s and even though I had only managed to squeeze in 6 hours kip I was raring to hit the water and start throwing out casts but thankfully I managed to stifle my enthusiasm and sit and watch the water for wee while.   Difficult at 8.30 in the morning with bright blue skies above and the sun beginning to crest above the high tree covered ridge line and hills to the south east, the gnawing realisation that very shortly the brightness would shut the morning fishing window and put the fish down until the evening and restbite from the sun. I sat with wader clad legs and torso feeling like a boil in bag Scotsman as the air temperature climbed past 20 degrees Celsius, my legs hanging in the cooling waters of the famous River Spey offered some relief. And I know many readers will laugh at the notion of 20 degrees being too hot but trust me when you are used to the average temperatures of the frozen North beyond the wall 20 degrees is tropical, add the person sized condom like waders, it’s too hot for this Scotsman!

This middle River Spey beat was fast becoming one of my favourite beats on the river, I had spent a week fishing it with clients a year earlier and had got my first taste of its quality trout and fantastic surroundings. A group of experienced salmon fishers who were looking to augment the salmon fishing with a little trout action and a better beat you couldn’t find, so when the invite had land in my inbox to join again this time as a fisher I jumped on the offer and the opportunity to spend some time chasing the fantastic trophy trout that this beat can produce,  this time without clients. When you think of great Scottish trout fly fishing the main rivers that come to mind are rivers like the Don, the Annan, Clyde and Deveron but this famous salmon river that many salmon fishers have on their bucket lists, produce some of the finest trout fishing I have experienced and the dry fly sport make it a fly fishers nirvana.

Sitting watching the faintly peaty waters of the Spey spilling from the salmon pool above through the fast rocky turbulent pocket water,  both banks cloaked in birch in the first fresh flush of spring green and behind me pine trees gently swaying in the light wind, it’s a picture perfect location.  And with conditions to match it had me almost salivating, sitting expectantly; waiting to see what fish would show themselves.

For the past 24hrs a caddis hatch of Granom and black sedge almost biblical in proportions had been streaming in brown mist like clouds, the volume of biomass streaming from the surface of the river was almost beyond comprehension.  A hatch of such profusion would be expected to produce a rise of trout to rival it but strangely hardly a fish stirred, clearly most of the feeding was going on sub surface with the trout targeting the ascending pupa rather than the struggling emergers of caddis on the surface. I can only assume the brightness of the conditions was inducing this feeding behaviour but with the evening cool and gloom once the sun had sunk below the tree line, the feeding actively switched to the surface. There were however, exceptions under the blue skies; the hatch had phases of less intensity where it wained and these periods seemed to induce a change to surface feeding of the emerged caddis and that was my cue and opportunity, with the waning hatch the larger trout were drawn to surface taking pupa just below the surface producing the distinctive dorsal and tail rises.

As the Hatch easied I spied a couple of nice fish taking sedge from the surface, never in an easy spot are they!  Tight to the far side of a fast deep seam two thirds of the way across the river it was going to be a tricky wade across a very bouldered 3ft deep section of fast water to get in to a position to cast, to complicate there was also a freshening downstream wind.  But if it was easy it wouldn’t be fun!

fishing a barbless size 14 CDC Elk hair on a 16ft 5x tapered leader and a 4 weight 9ft Hardy demon rod.

I begin my slow wade across to the seam, the awkward lie of the trout meant I had a short window to present the fly before the current would induce drag and effect the flies movement. I position myself about 2 rod lengths below and on the opposite side of the seam to the rising trout. I make my first cast but the wind is playing havoc with the leader, no hope of the perfect presentation. I quickly retrieve and decide to shorten the leader removing 4-5ft of tippet and cast back out covering the steady rising trout but not a twitch…. I cover it once, twice, three times but not a hint of wanting it!

Another quick retrieve, standing waist deep in the cold Spey water tugging at my waders and legs, I stare at the fly…… blankly; the fly is right! But why no interest? The size! I go down to a size 16 – quick change, floatant and I mud the leader.

Anxiety building that the trout might stop rising, as I look up it sips again so it’s still mine for the catching.  A confident sip and with each rise it’s moving a bit of water,  suggesting it’s a good fish, hopefully about a couple of pounds. The fly lands 2ft upstream of the trout and just as the drag starts to act on the fly a brownie coloured nose pokes from the surface and my fly disappears……. I lift in to the fish, feel the weight and know in that moment as the rod tip bends over that its “fish on”! the trout realises its hooked and the next 15 minutes of give and take sport begins as this lump of a fish takes off like a run-away steam train straight downstream my 4wt Hardy’s tip bouncing as the trout fights and thrashes crossing from one side of the river to the other below me in the current. My wrist beginning to ache from the fight as I keep switching hands; this is a big fish, far bigger than expected, it dawns on me I won’t be able to net this one in the middle of the river I going to have to get it in the shallower slack water by the bank, which means I’ve got to wade back across this minefield like boulder strewn assault course of a river bed. The swearing begins, inching my way back to the bank fighting to stay upright against the current whilst playing this rather large and feisty trout that doesn’t seem to be tiring in the slightest! It’s not expending that much energy using the current to fight me – whose playing who?

      Half way back to the bank and something makes me look down, just as my McLean’s weigh net sweeps past me? Somehow it’s come loose from my back and its lanyard? (more swearing) it lands a few feet in front of me wedged between two rocks.  You have to be kidding me! (more swearing) My wrists are killing me, I am struggling to stand up in the current and now my bloody £80.00 net has decided to swim with the fishes! “RIGHT that’s it!” (more swearing) I need the net to land this fish inching forward crouching, bending, stooping down I reach and stretch through the cold mountain water desperately trying to get my fingers to the sunken net whilst fighting and playing this trout (more swearing) my shirt is soaked and water begins pouring in to my waders very quickly solving my overheating problem and making me gasp as the cold water hits part of my body it shouldn’t! Just as I feel like all is lost I make fingertip contact with the net and somehow I get a hold of the frame “YES got it” I yell to myself and the blue sky above as I wrestle it from its watery grave and manage to clip it to my belt. Half drowned, sodden and aching I finally make it to the slacker water thankfully still playing my prize, the trout relinquishes its battle and slowly I work it to the net aware that I have this monster on a size 16 barbless hook.  It slips head first into the net and it’s a monster alright, a deep powerful Spey brownie 5.25lb in weight, a slab of Spey Gold. I breathe a sigh of relief and lean back against the bank just as Bill and Roddy the Ghillie arrive, right boys get a photo of this I am “****ing knackered.” Quick photos are taken for posterity  and the adrenaline begins to ease as I kneel in the water and slowly release this beautiful slab of Spey gold with a huge smile and total exhaustion (me, not the trout!).

      Spey Trophy Trout Feeling energized after the previous evenings fishing’s and even though I had only managed to squeeze in 6 hours kip I was raring to hit the water and start throwing out casts but thankfully I managed to stifle my enthusiasm and sit and watch the water for wee while.  

[deepbirdtriumph-blog]

It just works: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition Linux Ultrabook audit Dell's significant interest in making a useful Linux Ultrabook pays off.

I've been unpleasantly inquisitive about the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition since we initially canvassed it back in November. This is an alternate mammoth from the flippy-touchscreen-prepared XPS 12—this Ultrabook contains zero touchscreens. Be that as it may, it comes preloaded with Ubuntu Linux, and Dell has invested a considerable measure of energy and exertion in guaranteeing that it works—and works well.In an exertion initially known as Project Sputnik, Dell committed assets into doing Linux on a Ultrabook "right"— composition code where fundamental (and contributing that code back upstream like a decent FOSS resident) and focusing on the whole client encounter as opposed to just dealing with parts in a vacuum. The outcome is a superbly practical Ultrabook with a couple of additional instruments—that "Engineer Edition" moniker isn't only for show, and Dell has included some devops flavors in with the general mish-mash including this portable PC that ought to revive any designer's pulse.

Dooming Linux with acclaim

Linux is not yet "prepared for the desktop," and I'm far fetched it will ever be—at any rate not as in a normal individual could utilize it full-time with no help. I've battled before with utilizing Linux as my full-time working condition both at work and at home. I did it for a considerable length of time at work, yet it was never fully as simple as I needed it to be—on a more seasoned Dell portable PC, keeping double screen bolster working effectively crosswise over updates required unending fiddling with xorg.conf, and regardless of whether it was Nvidia's blame was absolutely superfluous to swearing, reviling Past Lee, attempting urgently to get his screens to show pictures so he could make his 10am telephone call without resorting to running the meeting on the little tablet screen.The surprising thing about the XPS 13 Developer Edition is that it's so unremarkable—it has Ubuntu 12.04 LTS introduced out of the crate, and it basically works. The trackpad does two-finger looking (with idleness!) without adding some irregular insane person's PPA and introduce additional bundles. It gotten my Wi-Fi arrange and went along with it without obliging me to do something besides supply the passkey. It just worked.

It's a great accomplishment, and it's additionally a miserable remark on the general suitability of Linux as a customer confronting working framework for ordinary individuals. I don't think anybody is contending that Linux hasn't earned its place in the server farm—it unquestionably has—however it is extremely unlikely I'd feel comfortable introducing even novice well disposed Ubuntu or Mint on my folks' PCs. The XPS 13 DE demonstrates the level of usefulness and clean conceivable with additional exertion, and that exertion and clean together means this sort of Linux combination is something we won't see all the time outside of boutique OEMs.

Making a plunge

The XPS 13 arrives in a pretty black box. Pressed in alongside the PC is a guarantee card, brisk begin control, and a little power block and link. There are likewise some cool "Venture Sputnik" stickers, which is incredible in light of the fact that stickers are awesome.The Developer Edition XPS 13 is remotely indistinguishable to the normal one accessible by means of Dell's site. The clamshell cover is aluminum, and the tablet's base surface is covered in delicate checkerboard designed plastic. The palm rests and zone around the console are additionally plastic, however they feel practically rubber treated—it's not in any manner unpleasant.The left half of the tablet has the attachment for the power connector (which sparkles white when connected to), a USB 3.0 port, and an earphone jack. The correct side holds another USB 3.0 port, a little DisplayPort for an outer screen, and, attentively, a light-up meter to provide details regarding the strength of the 47 watt-hour battery.The trackpad isn't glass, but instead more rubber treated plastic. The whole surface discourages when clicked, however there is a little space at the base to separate the left and right catches.

The console is sadly light, much more than I discovered agreeable. Key travel is short, however the keys don't hit rock bottom with anything moving toward specialist, and the keypress exertion is excessively light for me. On the positive side, however, the chiclet-style island keys are illuminated. I've developed so used to utilizing an illuminated console that I'd now think of it as a prerequisite for any portable PC or Ultrabook (it's quite recently extremely convenient on the events that I have to take a gander at the console—like when writing a complex password).The screen is polished, which I like, a decision that will probably evoke a prompt "I HATE THIS AND WANT TO THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW" reaction for many individuals. Along the top edge of the bezel is the incorporated 720p camera flanked by a couple of receivers. The aluminum of the clamshell's top is unmistakable looking around the edge of the screen, giving a diagram of all the dark plastic and glass.The whole visual impact of taking a gander at the opened XPS 13 is exceptionally satisfying, and the dark screen fringe combined with the matte dark console and trackpad and palm rests makes a basic, monochromatic, mess free face that supports engagement. I was particularly glad to see that the palm rests were not gunked up with the average irritating blast of kaleidoscopic stickers—except for a white-on-dark Intel Core i7 sticker (which really looks very pleasant!)— so there's nothing to outwardly occupy you from working.

My greatest objection with the XPS 13 is that its cover isn't exactly sprung and adjusted for one-gave opening. You can snare the edge of a finger under the edge of the shut bezel and lift, yet the entire PC accompanies your finger, shockingly; I needed to do a touch of shaking or wiggling to make the base drop far from the top. It's a seemingly insignificant detail, however it's certainly a region where somewhat more building exertion could have been spent.Making with the Linux

On the off chance that you've introduced Ubuntu some time recently, then you definitely recognize what the setup strategy for the XPS 13 DE resembles. The SSD-prepared tablet took around 10 seconds to boot the first run through and showed an agreeable Ubuntu introduction motion picture—with sound. Is it terrible on the off chance that I say that I was inspired that sound worked appropriate out of the container?

From that point forward, the procedure was standard Ubuntu. I was provoked for my favored dialect, then I needed to consent to the EULA, and after that I was given the Wi-Fi organize picker. The trackpad—another frequently broken fringe under Linux—worked consummately all through setup and even had two-finger inertial looking over empowered as a matter of course. The Wi-Fi picker discovered my WLAN and acknowledged my watchword, and I dashed through whatever is left of the setup.One prominent contrast between the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS preinstalled on the XPS 13 DE and the present form of Ubuntu is that 12.04 doesn't give the client the alternative amid setup to empower full-circle encryption since this wasn't added to the installer until 12.10. You can encode your home registry amid setup, yet not the whole plate—in any event not without deserting the guided setup handle and doing it without anyone's help.

There's nothing strange here (expecting you can acknowledge Unity as "customary"). Since it's Ubuntu 12.04, there's no terrible shopping interface kludging up the Unity Dash. Everything is precisely as it would show up in a vanilla 12.04 establishment.

The show itself is very decent. When I initially secured the XPS 13 DE back in November, the equipment was set to accompany a 1366×768 show; this was expanded significantly to 1920×1080 around the time the equipment saw an European discharge in February. The model sent for me to survey had the bigger show, and it was sharp and fresh. Pressing that numerous pixels into a 13.3-inch screen yields a pixels-per-inch (ppi) estimation of somewhat more than 165. That is not exactly what Apple would call "retina" determination—the retina 13-inch MacBook Pro has a 2560×1600 pixel screen and 227 ppi—however it's pretty darn sharp. When utilizing the tablet at what I'd consider a typical survey remove, around my work area or on my lap, content and graphical components were rendered with no obvious pixelation or jaggies.Taking a look at the plate's parcels, the 256GB SSD is separated up into a 236GB root segment, a 16GB swap segment, and a 4GB recuperation segment which contains a processing plant working framework reestablish picture and the instruments important to reboot into it and play out a computerized framework reestablish. I went through the reestablish and it worked precisely as publicized, taking under ten minutes to recover the XPS 13 to production line new. The XPS 13 doesn't accompany real reestablish media, however it doesn't generally need to; dissimilar to an OEM rendition of Windows, you can simply go and redownload Ubuntu (or whatever other Linux distro gets you going). The estimation of the recuperation segment is that it returns Ubuntu 12.04, as well as the additional Dell touches that make the XPS 13 Developer Edition work so well. We'll get into these momentarily.My objections about inside the OS are generally insignificant. It feels like there is a little piece of information slack on the trackpad, which made snatching Unity's razor-thin window edges an activity in shouting dissatisfaction—it would some of the time take me 10-15 seconds to get the cursor situated over the single enchantment line or section of pixels to give me a chance to resize things.

Since the XPS 13 is develop equipment, I didn't do any complex benchmarking. Battery life for a steady reproduced stack normal of around 1.3 was precisely three hours, which isn't terrible, yet it isn't especially incredible. The Ultrabook fared better under a genuine workload of light Web perusing, messaging, and composing, yielding around five-and-a-half hours of time spread over a day of work. This incorporated a couple moves from home office to Panera Bread (or as we Ars editors jump at the chance to call it, "the other office").

The XPS 13 effortlessly took care of over and again being put to rest and stirred without tossing a part freeze or generally detonating.

[readbookywooks]

Some Figures

A MOMENT LATER we were seated on a couch in the lounge, cigars between our lips. The captain placed before my eyes a working drawing that gave the ground plan, cross section, and side view of the Nautilus. Then he began his description as follows: "Here, Professor Aronnax, are the different dimensions of this boat now transporting you. It's a very long cylinder with conical ends. It noticeably takes the shape of a cigar, a shape already adopted in London for several projects of the same kind. The length of this cylinder from end to end is exactly seventy meters, and its maximum breadth of beam is eight meters. So it isn't quite built on the ten-to-one ratio of your high-speed steamers; but its lines are sufficiently long, and their tapering gradual enough, so that the displaced water easily slips past and poses no obstacle to the ship's movements. "These two dimensions allow you to obtain, via a simple calculation, the surface area and volume of the Nautilus. Its surface area totals 1,011.45 square meters, its volume 1,507.2 cubic meters-which is tantamount to saying that when it's completely submerged, it displaces 1,500 cubic meters of water, or weighs 1,500 metric tons. "In drawing up plans for a ship meant to navigate underwater, I wanted it, when floating on the waves, to lie nine-tenths below the surface and to emerge only one-tenth. Consequently, under these conditions it needed to displace only nine-tenths of its volume, hence 1,356.48 cubic meters; in other words, it was to weigh only that same number of metric tons. So I was obliged not to exceed this weight while building it to the aforesaid dimensions. "The Nautilus is made up of two hulls, one inside the other; between them, joining them together, are iron T-bars that give this ship the utmost rigidity. In fact, thanks to this cellular arrangement, it has the resistance of a stone block, as if it were completely solid. Its plating can't give way; it's self-adhering and not dependent on the tightness of its rivets; and due to the perfect union of its materials, the solidarity of its construction allows it to defy the most violent seas. "The two hulls are manufactured from boilerplate steel, whose relative density is 7.8 times that of water. The first hull has a thickness of no less than five centimeters and weighs 394.96 metric tons. My second hull, the outer cover, includes a keel fifty centimeters high by twenty-five wide, which by itself weighs 62 metric tons; this hull, the engine, the ballast, the various accessories and accommodations, plus the bulkheads and interior braces, have a combined weight of 961.52 metric tons, which when added to 394.96 metric tons, gives us the desired total of 1,356.48 metric tons. Clear?" "Clear," I replied. "So," the captain went on, "when the Nautilus lies on the waves under these conditions, one-tenth of it does emerge above water. Now then, if I provide some ballast tanks equal in capacity to that one-tenth, hence able to hold 150.72 metric tons, and if I fill them with water, the boat then displaces 1,507.2 metric tons-or it weighs that much - and it would be completely submerged. That's what comes about, professor. These ballast tanks exist within easy access in the lower reaches of the Nautilus. I open some stopcocks, the tanks fill, the boat sinks, and it's exactly flush with the surface of the water." "Fine, captain, but now we come to a genuine difficulty. You're able to lie flush with the surface of the ocean, that I understand. But lower down, while diving beneath that surface, isn't your submersible going to encounter a pressure, and consequently undergo an upward thrust, that must be assessed at one atmosphere per every thirty feet of water, hence at about one kilogram per each square centimeter?" "Precisely, sir." "Then unless you fill up the whole Nautilus, I don't see how you can force it down into the heart of these liquid masses." "Professor," Captain Nemo replied, "static objects mustn't be confused with dynamic ones, or we'll be open to serious error. Comparatively little effort is spent in reaching the ocean's lower regions, because all objects have a tendency to become 'sinkers.' Follow my logic here." "I'm all ears, captain." "When I wanted to determine what increase in weight the Nautilus needed to be given in order to submerge, I had only to take note of the proportionate reduction in volume that salt water experiences in deeper and deeper strata." "That's obvious," I replied. "Now then, if water isn't absolutely incompressible, at least it compresses very little. In fact, according to the most recent calculations, this reduction is only .0000436 per atmosphere, or per every thirty feet of depth. For instance, to go 1,000 meters down, I must take into account the reduction in volume that occurs under a pressure equivalent to that from a 1,000-meter column of water, in other words, under a pressure of 100 atmospheres. In this instance the reduction would be .00436. Consequently, I'd have to increase my weight from 1,507.2 metric tons to 1,513.77. So the added weight would only be 6.57 metric tons." "That's all?" "That's all, Professor Aronnax, and the calculation is easy to check. Now then, I have supplementary ballast tanks capable of shipping 100 metric tons of water. So I can descend to considerable depths. When I want to rise again and lie flush with the surface, all I have to do is expel that water; and if I desire that the Nautilus emerge above the waves to one-tenth of its total capacity, I empty all the ballast tanks completely." This logic, backed up by figures, left me without a single objection. "I accept your calculations, captain," I replied, "and I'd be ill-mannered to dispute them, since your daily experience bears them out. But at this juncture, I have a hunch that we're still left with one real difficulty." "What's that, sir?" "When you're at a depth of 1,000 meters, the Nautilus's plating bears a pressure of 100 atmospheres. If at this point you want to empty the supplementary ballast tanks in order to lighten your boat and rise to the surface, your pumps must overcome that pressure of 100 atmospheres, which is 100 kilograms per each square centimeter. This demands a strength - " "That electricity alone can give me," Captain Nemo said swiftly. "Sir, I repeat: the dynamic power of my engines is nearly infinite. The Nautilus's pumps have prodigious strength, as you must have noticed when their waterspouts swept like a torrent over the Abraham Lincoln. Besides, I use my supplementary ballast tanks only to reach an average depth of 1,500 to 2,000 meters, and that with a view to conserving my machinery. Accordingly, when I have a mind to visit the ocean depths two or three vertical leagues beneath the surface, I use maneuvers that are more time-consuming but no less infallible." "What are they, captain?" I asked. "Here I'm naturally led into telling you how the Nautilus is maneuvered." "I can't wait to find out." "In order to steer this boat to port or starboard, in short, to make turns on a horizontal plane, I use an ordinary, wide-bladed rudder that's fastened to the rear of the sternpost and worked by a wheel and tackle. But I can also move the Nautilus upward and downward on a vertical plane by the simple method of slanting its two fins, which are attached to its sides at its center of flotation; these fins are flexible, able to assume any position, and can be operated from inside by means of powerful levers. If these fins stay parallel with the boat, the latter moves horizontally. If they slant, the Nautilus follows the angle of that slant and, under its propeller's thrust, either sinks on a diagonal as steep as it suits me, or rises on that diagonal. And similarly, if I want to return more swiftly to the surface, I throw the propeller in gear, and the water's pressure makes the Nautilus rise vertically, as an air balloon inflated with hydrogen lifts swiftly into the skies." "Bravo, captain!" I exclaimed. "But in the midst of the waters, how can your helmsman follow the course you've given him?" "My helmsman is stationed behind the windows of a pilothouse, which protrudes from the topside of the Nautilus's hull and is fitted with biconvex glass." "Is glass capable of resisting such pressures?" "Perfectly capable. Though fragile on impact, crystal can still offer considerable resistance. In 1864, during experiments on fishing by electric light in the middle of the North Sea, glass panes less than seven millimeters thick were seen to resist a pressure of sixteen atmospheres, all the while letting through strong, heat-generating rays whose warmth was unevenly distributed. Now then, I use glass windows measuring no less than twenty-one centimeters at their centers; in other words, they've thirty times the thickness." "Fair enough, captain, but if we're going to see, we need light to drive away the dark, and in the midst of the murky waters, I wonder how your helmsman can - " "Set astern of the pilothouse is a powerful electric reflector whose rays light up the sea for a distance of half a mile." "Oh, bravo! Bravo three times over, captain! That explains the phosphorescent glow from this so-called narwhale that so puzzled us scientists! Pertinent to this, I'll ask you if the Nautilus's running afoul of the Scotia, which caused such a great uproar, was the result of an accidental encounter?" "Entirely accidental, sir. I was navigating two meters beneath the surface of the water when the collision occurred. However, I could see that it had no dire consequences." "None, sir. But as for your encounter with the Abraham Lincoln . . . ?" "Professor, that troubled me, because it's one of the best ships in the gallant American navy, but they attacked me and I had to defend myself! All the same, I was content simply to put the frigate in a condition where it could do me no harm; it won't have any difficulty getting repairs at the nearest port." "Ah, commander," I exclaimed with conviction, "your Nautilus is truly a marvelous boat!" "Yes, professor," Captain Nemo replied with genuine excitement, "and I love it as if it were my own flesh and blood! Aboard a conventional ship, facing the ocean's perils, danger lurks everywhere; on the surface of the sea, your chief sensation is the constant feeling of an underlying chasm, as the Dutchman Jansen so aptly put it; but below the waves aboard the Nautilus, your heart never fails you! There are no structural deformities to worry about, because the double hull of this boat has the rigidity of iron; no rigging to be worn out by rolling and pitching on the waves; no sails for the wind to carry off; no boilers for steam to burst open; no fires to fear, because this submersible is made of sheet iron not wood; no coal to run out of, since electricity is its mechanical force; no collisions to fear, because it navigates the watery deep all by itself; no storms to brave, because just a few meters beneath the waves, it finds absolute tranquility! There, sir. There's the ideal ship! And if it's true that the engineer has more confidence in a craft than the builder, and the builder more than the captain himself, you can understand the utter abandon with which I place my trust in this Nautilus, since I'm its captain, builder, and engineer all in one!" Captain Nemo spoke with winning eloquence. The fire in his eyes and the passion in his gestures transfigured him. Yes, he loved his ship the same way a father loves his child! But one question, perhaps indiscreet, naturally popped up, and I couldn't resist asking it. "You're an engineer, then, Captain Nemo?" "Yes, professor," he answered me. "I studied in London, Paris, and New York back in the days when I was a resident of the earth's continents." "But how were you able to build this wonderful Nautilus in secret?" "Each part of it, Professor Aronnax, came from a different spot on the globe and reached me at a cover address. Its keel was forged by Creusot in France, its propeller shaft by Pen & Co. in London, the sheet-iron plates for its hull by Laird's in Liverpool, its propeller by Scott's in Glasgow. Its tanks were manufactured by Cail & Co. in Paris, its engine by Krupp in Prussia, its spur by the Motala workshops in Sweden, its precision instruments by Hart Bros. in New York, etc.; and each of these suppliers received my specifications under a different name." "But," I went on, "once these parts were manufactured, didn't they have to be mounted and adjusted?" "Professor, I set up my workshops on a deserted islet in midocean. There our Nautilus was completed by me and my workmen, in other words, by my gallant companions whom I've molded and educated. Then, when the operation was over, we burned every trace of our stay on that islet, which if I could have, I'd have blown up." "From all this, may I assume that such a boat costs a fortune?" "An iron ship, Professor Aronnax, runs 1,125 francs per metric ton. Now then, the Nautilus has a burden of 1,500 metric tons. Consequently, it cost 1,687,000 francs, hence 2,000,000 francs including its accommodations, and 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 with all the collections and works of art it contains." "One last question, Captain Nemo." "Ask, professor." "You're rich, then?" "Infinitely rich, sir, and without any trouble, I could pay off the ten-billion-franc French national debt!" I gaped at the bizarre individual who had just spoken these words. Was he playing on my credulity? Time would tell.

[totallymotorbikes]

2017 Triumph Street Scrambler First Ride Review 2017 Triumph Street Scrambler Editor Score: 84.0% Engine 16.5/20 Suspension/Handling 13.0/15 Transmission/Clutch 8.5/10 Brakes 8.0/10 Instruments/Controls 4.5/5 Ergonomics/Comfort 9.0/10 Appearance/Quality 9.0/10 Desirability 8.0/10 Value 7.5/10 Overall Score 84/100 How many new Triumph Bonnevilles are we up to now anyway? The Street Twin came first, just about a year ago. We liked the sweet little runabout instantly, and it proceeded to come out on top of every comparison test we threw at it, usually by quite a lot. Wait, Maybe it was only this one: Retro Roadsters Gaiternationals The Street Twin uses the 900cc “High Torque” Twin (instead of the 1200 Twins that go in the T120, Bobber and Thruxton), and that’s the engine Triumph decided to use in the all-new Scrambler. It’s a great little motor (that’s actually 900cc) that cranked out just about 53 rear-wheel horsepower in the Street Twin, which isn’t all that much but feels like way more thanks to the 58 pound-feet of torque it also produces at less than 3000 rpm. 2017 Triumph Street Scrambler Video Preview That grunt means it’s well-suited for off-road use even if other parts of the bike really aren’t. Triumph tells us it’s in the exact same tune as the Street Twin, which is fine by us. A single throttle body feeds both 450cc cylinders which keeps mixture velocity high; fueling is impeccable, exhaust gases are lower than Euro4 regs, and in normal use 60-plus mpg is, well, normal. (Not magazine testing use, where we stop and start constantly, ride like maniacs and make 80 photo passes.) They stuck the catalytic converter between that front black cover and the cylinder head. It was no problem on my chilly ride around Seville. Engineer David Lopez says it’s not one on hot days either, but this is not the bike for shorts and flip-flops. Triumph stresses it wants these bikes to be accessible to everyone, the opposite of intimidating – and it succeeded again with the Scrambler. Even 5-foot-8 people like me can touch the ground with both feet thanks to the 31.2-inch seat height, which is 33mm lower than before and a spec which actually reinforces the Steve McQueen ’60s look. I’m convinced McQueen would’ve quit riding if he’d lived into the era where dirtbikes constantly remind you how short you are. In fact, the new Scrambler reinforces the whole idea from that era that you can ride any bike off road if you have enough talent, whether the bike likes it or not. I only got to ride this one “off-road” (fire road, anyway) for maybe 20 minutes, and it’s definitely capable, but with 120mm of suspension travel at both ends and not a lot of ground clearance (you can’t have a lot and a low seat), you wouldn’t want to stray too far off the beaten path. I wouldn’t, anyway. Comes with actual bash plate ready to be bashed. It’s plastic, but it’s better than nothing. The budget slide-type front brake is the highest-effort control on the bike, but it does have good power given a stout two-finger squeeze. To get the right Scrambler geometry using the same frame as the Street Twin, Triumph bolted on longer shocks at the rear, then used 21mm-longer fork tubes up front. With the 19-inch wire-spoked wheel up front, you’re looking at a shallower rake angle and a longer trail figure to aid stability: 4.3 inches (109mm). To further aid stability, those longer shocks get stiffer springs and slightly increased damping in both extension and compression. But there’s still only 120mm travel at either end, 4.72 inches. The new Scrambler does feel like a big improvement over the previous one. Triumph specs a dry weight of 454 pounds. When we put gas in our Street Twin last year and put it on the official MO scales, it weighed 39 pounds more than Triumph’s claim. Using the same correction factor on the Scrambler should yield a 3.2-gallon gassed-up weight of about 493 lbs – which is still portly but 25 pounds less than the outgoing model. The giant Rio Tinto Mine outside Seville served as our own little Erzberg. Phoenicians first began mining copper and tin here to make bronze. The river that flows through it has a pH of like 2.5, but contains recently discovered bacteria that makes scientists think there could be life on Mars. Triumph Engineer David Lopez knows a lot of stuff… Along with that lightness (relatively speaking), the new Scrambler just seems to have more structural integrity than the old one; hitting potholes and rocky sections doesn’t have the bike squirming or loudly complaining like the old one. If you’re close to my size, the wide handlebar is in a good place whether sitting or standing, the new bike’s a bit skinnier between your knees. That big chunk of low-rpm power is really useful in lower-speed off-road use, and again, perfect, instant fueling makes the bike easy to control: So do the light-pull slip-assist clutch and effortless five-speed gearbox. For off-roaders of questionable skills such as myself, the addition of traction control is a good thing. Skilled ones can easily switch it off and perform lurid Mert Lawwill slides until their luck runs out. The ABS is also switch-offable. Back on pavement, the Metzeler Tourance dual-sport tires have enough grip to let you skim the Scrambler’s footpeg feelers now and then. It doesn’t steer as quick as the Street Twin, of course, but it’s still plenty quick diving into apexes and good fun roaring up to them with that blattiful pair of high pipes on the right side. Again, it feels like more than 54 horsepower. Like an old Ducati, this one prefers to be left in a higher gear where you can ride the torque wave out of corners instead of revving it out (which is a good thing since it only revs to 6500 rpm). It even quacks sort of like a Duc with the 270-degree crank. Toggle with the little “I” button atop your left thumb to find the ABS and Traction Control functions; you can turn both of them off if you so desire. TC will turn itself back on when you restart, ABS will not. It’s not really a street racer or a dirtbike, though, it’s a Scrambler, designed to be a stylish, easy-to-keep all-purpose daily runabout, and for that it could be a hoot. The wide handlebar and upright seating position make it easy to pick your way through inner-city traffic (and pick off the occasional mirror, oops…), and the seat you’re positioned upon is flat, broad, and very comfortable. If 120mm suspension travel is on the low end for off-road riding, for around town it’s ideal, and the 19-inch front tire’s nice for hopping the occasional curb as well. Nice rack: This comes with the bike and bolts right up instead of the back seat when you’ve got stuff to carry. There’s a USB port under the seat too. And though it looks like the classic ’60s Triumph Scramblers – one of which Evel Knievel failed to jump Caesar’s Palace fountain upon – it’ll be a lot easier to live with. Triumph says the oil only needs changing every 10,000 miles. I don’t think I could do that to a brand new motorcycle. Then again, the new bike’s not really on the cutting edge of high performance like the old Scramblers from the ’60s, is it? This is a kinder, gentler Triumph for the post-toolbox era, which Triumph is even trying to engage by already having over 150 bolt-on accessories standing by, many of which they say don’t require much mechanical skill or even a garage. Smart… The only complaint I can find is the bottom line: The Street Twin we heaped praise upon last year is an $8,700 bike. The new Scrambler starts at $10,700 for black, and from there “it’s a short walk” in PR-speak to matt green or red: Personally, I’m not sure I’m seeing where the extra $2000 went. But money is such a personal thing. If the Street Scrambler pushes your buttons, you won’t be disappointed. Swell detailing includes a brushed aluminum foil Triumph decal, which is almost as cool as an aluminum tank. 2017 Triumph Street Scrambler + Highs Feels way lighter and more structurally solid than the last one Like the Street Twin, super easy to ride for all skill levels and comfy too Great factory options including Fox shocks and heated grips… – Sighs Not the best bike when it’s 38 degrees The price has crept up into real money territory There’s tubes in them tires 2017 Triumph Street Scrambler Engine Type Liquid cooled, 8 valve, SOHC, 270° crank angle parallel twin Capacity 900cc Bore/Stroke 84.6 x 80 mm Compression Ratio 10.55:1 Maximum Power 55 Hp (40.5kW) @ 6000 rpm (claimed) Maximum Torque 59 lb-ft (80Nm) @ 2850rpm (claimed) Fuel system Multipoint sequential electronic fuel injection Exhaust Brushed 2 into 2 exhaust system with twin brushed silencers Final drive X ring chain Clutch Torque assist. Wet, multi-plate clutch Gearbox 5-speed Frame Tubular steel twin cradle Swingarm Twin-sided, tubular steel Front Wheel Spoked Steel Rims. 19 x 2.5in Rear Wheel Spoked Steel Rims. 17 x 4.25in Front Tire 100/90-19 Metzeler Tourance Rear Tire 150/70 R17 Metzeler Tourance Front Suspension KYB 41mm forks. 120mm travel Rear Suspension KYB twin shocks with adjustable preload. 120mm travel Front Brake Single 310mm solid disc, 2-piston Nissin floating caliper, ABS Rear Brake Single 255mm disc, Nissin 2-piston floating caliper, ABS Instrument Display/Functions Odometer, Rev counter, Gear position indicator, Range to empty, Fuel level, Average and current fuel consumption, Clock, Two trip settings, Service indicator, Traction control and ABS settings Length 85.7 in (2178 mm) Width (Handlebars) 32.7 in (831 mm) Height Without Mirrors 44.1 in (1120 mm) Seat Height 31.2 in (792 mm) Wheelbase 56.9 in (1446 mm) Rake 25.6º Trail 4.3 in (109 mm) Dry Weight, claimed 454 lbs (206 Kg) Fuel Tank Capacity 3.2 US Gallon Fuel consumption 61.9 US mpg (based on the EPA exhaust emission test procedure) Standard equipment Riding Modes, Switchable ABS, Switchable Traction Control, Torque Assist Clutch, LED rear light, Immobiliser 2017 Triumph Street Scrambler First Ride Review appeared first on Motorcycle.com.

[totallymotorbikes]

Backtrack Tuesdays - 2005 Honda XR650L - Long Run Test Published in: Bikes Part 1: The First 500 Miles It stared at me from the trailer, one eye, never blinking, in the rear-view mirror. The brilliant red statuesque bike sparkled in the sunlight as it was transported from Honda North America back to DSN HQ. Its bright red shiny plastic reflected the sun. It was calling to me. “Let’s go riding” it said. “Damn right.” I thought. Shortly after unloading the long term test bike I affectionately nicknamed it The Red One. It wasn’t long before the bike was put into service as a DSN errand machine. Thus begins our long term test. The XR650L is a tall, rather thin machine. With a stated seat height at 37 inches my concern was that getting on and off the bike would be a bit awkward, if not uncomfortable, for frequent stopping around town. Indeed for the average 32 inch inseam person, the bike is a bit tall. However, over a few days of casual errand running, the charms of this bike’s performance and handling began to sink in. After some miles, I tended to forget about the stretch to touch-down at stops. However, mounting and dismounting remained slightly out of my comfort zone. A longish kickstand emphasized this, as it seemed to hold the machine nearly vertical when parking. These factors were the only disappointments I found during the first 500 miles of riding the machine. The XR650L is simply a treat to ride on the street. There are a number of reasons we can point to for this. One is the cockpit configuration, and how it influences the bike's handling. Relative handlebar, seat, and peg positions remind you of a motocrosser; everything is close in. With subtle application to the controls you experience deliberate predictable results at the bike's extremities. Well engineered and tuned suspension is one reason for this, especially when the machine has 11 something inches of travel. Another reason is the solid frame with proportions determined from years of offroad endurance and racing experience. A deliberate power source, with extensive torque is yet another. Throw in well tuned/engineered brakes with plenty of feel, and you're beginning to get the picture. It was now time to venture with the XRL off road. I loaded up the bike and decided to take it on a run with some buddies who were riding the Barstow to Laughlin this year. Still not quite broken in, I unleashed the bike out in the Mojave. Our crew was early to start. First we hit pavement for twenty miles, then the route turned off into the outback. We trekked our way along powerline roads for about an hour before the route led us into some deep, soft sandy washes. It took me a little while to feel the bike's desires as the terrain changed. Before long though, the bike began happily tractoring through the deep loose sand. We angled down a wide wash that untangled its way out of the mountains and, depending on our path, we'd run upon various densities of loose rock. Sometimes we'd be plowing, almost like sledding down the loose sandy trail. Then we would come to a rock section with varying degrees of length. With my weight over the rear tire, as long as I kept my hand in the throttle, the front tire would absorb the conditions gracefully. At times when the trail turned and narrowed, particularly on the downslope, we'd occasionally catch an edge or two, but this was normal. Several qualities impressed me about the machine. For one its weight, scoffed at by some, actually seemed to favor the bike when traversing these conditions. The terms 'tractor', or 'sledding' aren't too inappropriate here. Indeed, the bike's weight aided in its ability to blast through larger silty berms, which can often be a real advantage. Another feature, the long well tuned suspension, made for what might be considered a caddy-like ride. It’s downright luxurious by old school dirt standards. To enhance these qualities, a well-fit very responsive cockpit and controls, and a barrel full of torque put the icing on the cake. We tackled about 220 miles of powerline roads, trails, washes, and tarmac the first day, and the second day was even more fun. Day two, though only about 160 miles, featured more rugged terrain and some climbing and outlooks to throw in the mix. It was on this day the bike really caught my favor. One point in particular was while we wound up on some very loose rocky trails. By any standard, though not steep, these trails had grit. Anything from potholes, to gravel, to loose one foot rounders were strewn on the trail, and the bike bombed through it wonderfully. Torque and suspension made the work easier, and once again, the bike's responsive handling provided sure-footed, predictable trail riding. Finally, and for a second time, we hit a tarmac stretch heading back to the barn. Thirty something miles of highway with the XRL seemed no particular chore. I had committed to memory the fact I was running a 14 tooth sprocket, one below stock. This wasn't particularly a drawback for the bike on the highway; in fact it might be a necessity. Overall it's easy to understand why the bike, when working so well as an in town run-around machine, could easily be shod as the offroad warrior and lead a respectable charge. During this first 500 mile period with the bike I'm really quite pleased with its performance. As I look forward to the long-term test of this machine there are a couple items I've become quite curious to learn more about. For one, though its height is an issue, I'm curious to research some possible aftermarket answers for a change there. And, perhaps more importantly, I'm itching to know how well this bike might perform when used more as an adventure tourer. I will be looking into these things and more as the long term test of the 'Red One' continues. Stay tuned... Part 2: The Next 250 miles - Trails So far this machine has proven itself to be a treat on the street while running around the city and during commuting. On the trail, more of the Honda XR650L’s features are put to the test, revealing a greater depth of character. The cockpit of the XRL is rather close-in. Seat, handlebars, and pegs relationships are quite similar to what you find on motorcross machines. While wonderfully suited for most kinds of off-road riding, this usually means compromised comfort on longer rides or pavement. So far, within a couple hundred mile range it has been acceptable. During off-road riding, the benefit to this configuration is that it permits exceptional control. Since controlling the bike happens within a small proximity, whether standing or seated, the rider may respond to a surprisingly wide variety of terrain changes quite easily. Here, a rider can easily influence the bike to do all the work. Minimal exertion and minor extension effectively and predictably maneuver the bike through ever-changing trail nuances. Actually, considering the bike’s weight and dimension, maneuvering is surprisingly easy. One nearly missed benefit to this bike’s close-in cockpit is that it permits you to let the bike’s front or rear wheels rise or fall surprising distances. Hence, you can let the bike rock underneath you to more effectively ride over rougher terrain. I noticed myself tending to dismiss larger sized whoops and obstacles that I normally would have slowed down for on other machines. While great suspension, wheel diameter, and good tires played significant roles when negotiating rugged trails, to my surprise, I felt the rocking motion of the bike further enhanced the bike's ability to ride over rougher terrain. This could be the one 'something special,' an inherent 'best of ability' I look for in all machines. Another aspect of cockpit configuration, controls, influences trail enjoyment as well. Hand controls ideally should be at the proper angle of rotation on the handlebars. Furthermore, levers should not angle too far forward from the bars nor have excessive throw or slop. They should transmit a certain amount of feel so that the rider can sense by touch when, and to what degree, brakes, throttle and clutch are applied ...or not. These characteristics all seemed fine with the Honda. To add, hand levers have nicely well rounded smooth surfaces allowing fingers to pull without kinking, thus inhibiting fatigue. Foot controls need similar qualities, and their rest positions should be level with the pegs. On the XRL the distance from toe pads (both shift lever and brake) to foot pegs is rather short - fine for aggressive riding, but otherwise a bit tight. While trail riding I took note of two additional features, hand guards and turn signals. Like many plastic only hand guards, the XRL offers two rather unsupported ones. Though these provide some light brush protection, major limbs and branches will find their way through the guards to tag your levers or fingers. Turn signals have a nice component however. They are mounted on some of the most flexible rubber posts I've seen anywhere. In terms of being able to absorb impacts without breaking, the XR650L has excellent turn signal posts. With its specified height at 37 inches, and a ground clearance of 13 inches, this bike is no cruiser. By inference, one would think, these statistics should point to some sort of trade off of course... and indeed it does. While the tall XRL with its 11-inch nicely tuned suspension excels upon virtually all open, moderate (read cow trails), or woods type trails, its long legs are a bit of a stretch, literally, for black diamond (read goat trail) situations. On advanced technical trails sometimes the bike is too tall. Ideally a trail rider likes to be able to slip off their bike seat, to one side or another, and plant their foot on a perch from time to time. This prior to the bike leaning too far, so one can make the intermittent 'save' we occasionally do - without falling off a mountain, or into a cactus for instance. The XRL is so tall, it is likely the bike will be farther than halfway down before a rider could catch it. If this machine were to be used as a dedicated trail machine its height should be lower. To address this, some aftermarket companies offer lowering links. This is something I will address later on in the long-term test. Even when burdened with smog equipment, this air-cooled single four-stroke has plenty of power and a gradual roll-on throttle. Though some XRLs have been reported to backfire, our bike has only exhibited minor backfiring a few times. This occurred when decelerating rapidly from high rpm's on whoop filled downhill trails. While an extreme off roader might dismiss this bike as being inferior either weight wise or power wise for off road riding, I believe the margin between this bike and its race counterparts isn't a world away. When counting the wide variety of duties this machine will happily perform in and adding to that its quotient for OEM dependability, the scales begin to favor it. As a reminder, our test bike came equipped with a fourteen tooth (one less than stock) primary gear in the drive train. This change is a must, in my opinion, for trail riding and probably for all but long distance dual sport riding. In cases where this bike would mostly be used for trailing, even a lower primary might be considered. Otherwise, the gearing spread of the XRLs five-speed transmission seems well suited for thoroughly enjoying this bike in a wide variety of ride conditions. With a weight of 324 pounds, the Honda XR650L is not a featherweight. On the other hand, the machine is still of a lightness that translates into more fun than work on the trail. For instance, when necessary, you can grip its tank between your legs and easily throw it about should sudden inspiration strike. When considering the bigger view, this bike is about as light as you'd want when it comes to not being easily tossed around by crosswinds on the freeway ... at freeway speeds. Generally, I think this bike's weight is in a range which I believe might be ideal for a bike of many uses. The XR650L is a surprising trail machine. There are a number of reasons for this. For one, well tuned long travel suspension does an excellent job of absorbing the greater part of rough terrain. Full size rims, 18 inch rear and 21 inch front, also help to smooth the trail. While the bike's close-in cockpit provides for wonderfully responsive off-road maneuvers, it offers one additional unexpected surprise. That is, it allows the rider to let the bike rock, while using foot pegs as fulcrums, so the bike can further absorb even rougher terrain. The XRL's big four-stroke single provides plenty of torque throughout and its 5 speed transmission is spread so that fun seems to be on tap everywhere. On a rating of one through ten I would give the big thumper a nine in terms of all around off-road fun. Thus far our test bike has performed well during short range city driving and when off-roading. Next we will look at how the bike likes longer distances. Part 3: In the Long Run Having looked at commuting and off-roading aspects of the XR650L, now we learned how the bike performs in a longer venue. Miles 750 through 1,500 were run on freeways, two lane highways, and through twists. In order to find what this bike could be, in terms of longer range capability, I first outfit the bike with a number of aftermarket items. Rather than outfit the machine with full on touring gear I chose a short range rigging on the XR650L. I chose to fit a lighter array of gear on the bike to see how it would act as a medium range tourer... say up to 2,000 miles. From this point I figured its longer range performance might be estimated. The gear I chose included the following: Clarke 4.7 gallon natural color plastic fuel tank, Saddleman seat, Cee Bailey's windscreen, Renthal Vintage Hi-Desert Bars, Renthal Medium Diamond hand-grips, bar risers by Formatech, lowering link by PerformanceDesign, OSR side rack protectors and luggage rack from Happy-Trails, FMF Q Series exhaust, and Aeropack II saddlebags by Chase Harper. I will discuss more about this gear and the bike's outfitting in Part IV (the conclusion). Now we turn to performance. Thus far, in stock form, the XR650L appears to be a true 50-50 dual-sport. This is true of course in the shorter term venue, say up to about 200 miles of pavement in a day. On a rigorous days route one might travel 100 miles, go trail riding for say 50 to 75 miles or more, and then turn around and ride 100 miles home. All of this can be done with enjoyment. Both on and off road riding are fun within this venue with the XR650L, and in my view there aren't many bikes, of any kind, that can boast that. Outfitted with the gear chosen our XR650L begins to act as a somewhat of a different pony. Suddenly, with a new minimum range of approximately 150 miles, the Clarke tank permits longer treks before having to refuel. The Cee Bailey's windscreen and Chase Harper saddlebags, along with a Saddleman seat make longer distances more realistic. The Renthal bars and Formatech risers help tune the cockpit to fit this rider better for long static position riding. For the most part this medium range outfitting of the XR650L was successful. One step farther with fine tuning of various items ultimately honed the bike to completion. 'Riding there is everything' is the line that came to me after several hundred miles of long, straight open highway with this machine. The experience has further solidified my view that the 650 sized machines, overall, seem to be just fine for all venue riding. While this bike was slightly more fatiguing than say Dakar 650s by BMW or the KLR 650s by Kawasaki for example, it sure outshined them both when hitting the trail at the end of the stint. For solo riding, especially when not overloaded with tour gear, the XR650L steadily pulled long straight uphill grades, this with nearly any flow of traffic. When trekking through high winds the bike was pushed around some. However, this was marginalized when carrying more cargo. With a light load the bike is just heavy enough not to feel tossed around when drifting around huge trucks on the freeway. With well balanced pairs of Avon Gripsters, and later TKC 80 Continental tires, vibration was acceptable, in my view. In the twists, performance was quite proportionate with a load. The lighter the cargo, the greater the seat of the pants fun. Fully loaded the bike handled acceptably in a long distance context, but a bit encumbered for the weekend canyon romp scenario. It is no surprise to me when I hear about more and more riders choosing this size machine for round the globe treks. Even without water or oil cooling features, for someone with rugged terrain in their destination, this bike could make it through certain places where others would get very stuck. Excellent suspension and overall lighter vehicle weight are two of the bikes more important features here. This could be quite reassuring when thousands of miles from home. Even without the longevity providing features of oil or water cooling, this bike's motor seems to keep ticking along without hesitation. After 700 miles of steady trekking on pavement, and 1,500 miles over a few month period, the machine won my confidence. This was in spite of a float sticking once, after a several week sit. I give the Honda the thumbs up for long distance pavement riding when outfitted correctly, especially for those who really want to do some off-roading along the way or at their destination. In conclusion, one of the biggest secrets in dual sport riding are the 650 thumper size machines. They offer lighter weight, greater suspension, greater economy, and an upright ride position that is most comfortable and arguably most positive when maneuvering. In this category we find the Honda XR650L as a shining example of a machine that has been refined over years of off-road competitive experience... and if a bike handles off-road well, guess what? Yep, it works quite well on pavement too... This bike is of a weight and powerband that lets it do a lot of everything, and do it predictably and dependably. If you want a little adventure in your life, add one of these to your stable!Part 4: Conclusion On snap judgment hard critics of the off-road oriented crowd might dismiss the XRL as being inferior to today’s high-end off-road machines. And by contrast, the exclusive minded sport bike or cruiser pilot may look at this beast, only to draw a blank. Gentleman, look again! Find one of these machines and test ride it for an honest moment. You may discover a machine whose features invite ride fun in far more ways than just blipping throttle. In a power, weight, and suspension class that I believe is perhaps best for doing it all, it’s no wonder we find owners modifying the XR650L to do everything from supermoto to global adventure. It is true that from the factory, one need not add much to this bike in order to enjoy it in a variety of settings. After eight months and over 2,000 miles, the bike has offered little to criticize. The biggest gripe, the hand grips, tend to leave the palms of hands (of gloves) black from the rubber which apparently rubs off them. Another shortcoming is long range comfort of the seat. As a third complaint, it seems Honda might have devised an easier method of adjusting the headlight height. Currently, removal of the front shroud is required. Finally, after several weeks of sitting, the bike developed a stuck float. Other than that, so far we're running assured. In the last part of our long-term look I outfitted our XRL with a number of aftermarket items in order to assess how the bike might be suited for longer range. Overall, the results have been positive. I have provided an evaluation of our accessorizing of the XRL at the end of this article. I've also included some thoughts on possible alternative setups for the bike. What I can say is I highly recommend this bike. For fun and dependability, for economy and versatility, the XR650L has to be one of the greatest bang for the buck bikes the market has to offer. No it won't haul you two-up to Bolivia as cushy as a beemer... so get another one for the missus. No it won't GP like a full-on race motard. But it will easily ensconce you into the arena of big fun in both of those venues, and everywhere in between. {gallery}ARTICLES/Bikes/2005-Honda-XR650L/Gallery{/gallery} http://ift.tt/2j1dJ7t