Posted on: Nov 20, 2009(0 ratings) Author: punkpriest
Luke 19:45-48: "Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; . . . .
Genuine Christian love is forged against the anvil of our selfishness and possessiveness ... It is important to remember that love is more than a feeling. It is active and transitive. The real test of my loving is not that I feel loving, but that the other person feels loved by me. Love is what I do to create this sense of feeling cared for.
- Morton T. Kelsey, from his book Companions on the Inne
Today has been a long day, a good day. It hit me that I get tired because I keep on going, and because I enjoy what I am doing--what I do is not really work to me, but what I enjoy doing. I spent the afternoon cooking and then served the meal with Ken on Polk. I took out 19 year old Dennis for his birthday. He was high on speed, and we spent forty five minutes, me primarily listening to him. After the meal I rested for a while and then went out and did outreach. As I moved among people talking, giving out socks and food, there was a sense of real neediness tonight. As I was walking up the street one guy, someone I had never met screamed at me: "You fucking scum bag." Another was angry because I would not give him money. Kelsey's quote speaks to me tonight, loving is not about feeling, but about caring, and I passed through still caring for those guys, wondering what kind of pain they must be in to react to me the way they did. It is like the woman on the street corner who refuses to speak to me because I gave her a pair of "used socks" one day. These guys go through their lives shutting people out, to the point they are totally alone. In many ways one sees that with our scripture tonight as well--I know people who desire to dwell in the temple of God, who desire to be close to God yet they feel so pressured to survive, and their appetite for money can so possess them that they find little space for Christ in their lives. Money becomes their god, survival becomes the god of the guys on the street, to point they shut out the help of those who can help them.
It has been a good day. Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God!
Posted on: Nov 19, 2009(0 ratings) Author: squabattack
Photo credit to Evenlynishere's Flickr Photostream
In a way, batteries make the world go 'round. They power our cell phones, MP3 players, laptops, watches, portable game systems, flashlights, electric toothbrushes, and cars. They allow us to bring our favorite things with us where ever we go (well, not so much me, considering I prefer books to cell phones and paper books to the Kindle), but if we don't dispose of them properly, they could affect us more negatively than you'd think.
Single-use batteries, though not the mercury-laden monsters of pre-1997, still contain trace amounts of toxic chemicals that can be released into landfills, the water, or into the air via incineration. (Not to mention that they also contain potentially recyclable metals, such as iron, zinc, and cadmium!) But the Energizers in your remote aren't the worst of it- the rechargeable batteries in your cell phone, MP3 player, and laptop are much, much worse. Rechargeable batteries contain even higher levels of toxic compounds and, on top of that, are prone to exploding when under heat, releasing more of the chemicals packed away within them. Let's just say that one place batteries certainly do not belong is in the trash!
Posted on: Nov 19, 2009(0 ratings) Author: biancar
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Posted on: Nov 19, 2009(0 ratings) Author: qanqian123
It's been a couple wow gold of weeks since the release of BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins, and while gamers and reviewers alike are still picking up wow gold uk their collective jaws off the ground regarding this terribly addictive RPG, you can always trust that there will be people who have beaten the game (twice!) and are already imagining just how much potential lies in the vast world of Thedas.
In particular, the first thing that popped into our minds here at ZAM was pretty much what we're always thinking of: wow gold MMORPGs. Of course, you could expect nothing less from a team that's devoted to the genre, so today we decided to imagine just what BioWare could do to transform Dragon Age to be one of the most potentially innovative MMOs wow gold eurin the industry (please note that this is pure speculation!).
A World Second in Multi-unit MMOs
If there's one thing that BioWare is mastering, it's the concept of the multi-unit combat style of RPG gaming. What I mean by multi-unit combat is when one user is able to control three to four characters at a time, giving commands to each unit aion kinah and tactically fighting battles while micro-managing all of his party members. While it's obvious that pausing the game will be taken out in an MMO version of DA:O, BioWare will certainly have to make sure that the responsiveness of their controls is top notch if they want to succeed.
As noted above, BioWare wow gold would actually not be the first developer of a multi-unit MMO, as developer IMC Games has already claimed this achievement in the form of their free to play MMO, Sword of the New World. Dragon Age, however,aion gold has obviously made huge improvements over Sword of the New World's dated and somewhat clunky controls. As well, characters in Dragon Age would have much more depth and customization over SotNW's playable characters.
One of the coolest things about multi-unit MMOs, of course, is the fact that you can make some very interesting teams to go out mashing baddies. Unless BioWare makes some serious balance tweaks, the most obvious 3x Blood Mage + a tank would probably be able to take on everything without breaking a sweat. Alternatively, if players teamed up to go dungeon running, it would definitely be interesting to create a "tank" group with a magic resistant Templar, a physically resistant Reaver and a hardy Arcane Warrior for tanking in any situation, backed up by a legion of Spirit Healer groups. Pre-established PvP Factions
Fereldans versus Orlesians! Hellspawn taking on everyone! The Chantry versus the Circle! One of the most prevalent features of any EA MMO title (ok, so we've got… two) is the concept of faction versus faction PvP. Mythic's Warhammer Online was built around the concept of Order versus Destruction, and SW:TOR is also confirmed to have Jedi wow gold versus Sith. As well, if BioWare is suitably impressed by Aion's attempts at PvPvE (the Abyss), then it's quite easy to visualize a widespread Fereldan versus Orlesian campaign with Hellspawn popping up to beat on both of them.
Either way, Dragon Age has set up some very distinct factions and cultures for players to experience, so you can see why PvP and, by extension, PvP factions would be one of the easiest transition points for a Dragon Age MMORPG.
More Voice Acting!
Voice acting has definitely been both a blessing and a curse for BioWare. While it does make the game wow gold paypal incredibly immersive, having so much voice acting in an MMORPG that's full of power gamers who constantly skip forward to get to the dialogue options (sometimes it's even difficult in an offline game!) may ultimately translate into thousands of work hours for a lost cause. On the other hand (and this completely applies to Star Wars: TOR), if their voice actors are anywhere near as good as Claudia Black's bitingly sarcastic Morrigan, a Dragon Age MMO sse gold might be the first game where players actually want to listen to their quest text. And finally… a Dragon Age MMO Would Build on a Massive Foundation
One of the greatest features wow gold 365 of Dragon Age: Origins is the sheer amount of history that the team has built up for the world and the races that inhabit it. BioWare has already made it abundantly clear that Dragon Age was intended to be their franchise foundation, and, much like World of Warcraft developed from the lore of Warcraft I, II and III, it's easy to see how a Dragon Age MMORPG could spin itself off from its offline parent. In addition to this, since the team has developed such an incredibly rich history for the game already, they can easily slip backward or forward in time to choose the perfect setting for a Dragon Age MMO that's rife with conflict.
The best choice, thus far,wow gold would definitely be the Tevinter Imperium: they had to deal with several of the Chantry's "Exalted Marches" (think Crusades), the first Blight, and Andraste marching on their capitals with an army that would eventually become the Fereldans. That's four factions right there, each with a massive amount of premade history stuffed into the Dragon Age: Origins' codex.
So readers, what do you think? Would a Dragon Age MMORPG developed in the same theme as Origins sink or swim in our current MMO industry?
