LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Review - Inside Gaming Daily Blog

Developer:?Traveler?s?Tales / Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Played on: PlayStation 3 / Price: $49.99 / ESRB: Everyone 10+ [Cartoon Violence]

Bruce Wayne wins the Man of the Year award and, wouldn?t you know it, things couldn?t get any worse for the citizens of Gotham. The latest iteration of Traveller?s Tales? LEGO series of video games is more than most other titles in the series. Not only does LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes feature the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder, but it also has Superman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern, and plenty of other DC superstars as playable characters, each with their own set of powers and abilities. Couple the playable characters with a good, funny story and solid cooperative play, and LEGO Batman 2 is a hit for gamers of all ages.

Story

The Joker is up to no good yet again as he crashes the Man of the Year awards right after Bruce Wayne is given the prestigious accolade (much to the dismay of fellow nominee Lex Luthor). Before you can say holy Bill of Rights, Batman and Robin swoop in and save the day, returning the Joker and his cohorts to Arkham Asylum. Unfortunately for the dynamic duo, they won?t be resting easy any time soon, because soon after the aforementioned fiasco, Lex Luthor frees the Joker and just about every other super villain being housed at Arkham. Though reluctant to ask for help, Batman calls upon the aid of Superman to help him with the situation at hand. With Lex and the Joker teaming up, and dozens of evil doers terrorizing the citizens of Gotham City, Batman, Robin, and even Superman might be in over their heads. The story in LEGO Batman 2 is actually entertaining, hitting all the right notes as a super hero story, a Batman comic, and a LEGO video game should. Helping out greatly with this is the inclusion of voice actors for every character. Instead of the mumbles and gestures seen in past LEGO games, LEGO Batman 2 uses a full cast of voice actors to deliver a much more enjoyable experience. Humorous bits are mixed in to every scene: if you?ve played a previous game in the LEGO series you can expect the same type of comedy. The main story spans 15 chapters, each varying in length, with the whole story being over in around 15 hours.

Gameplay

The gameplay in LEGO Batman 2 remains largely the same as it was in the first LEGO Batman game (and for that matter most LEGO games made by Traveller?s Tales). Most of the story mode will have you playing as Batman or Robin. Both characters have a basic attacks and combos to dispatch foes, grappling hooks to reach high ledges, and Batarangs to throw at enemies. Each of the heroes also has special suits only they can wear to gain additional powers. Batman?s electricity suit allows him to walk through electric barriers, and his bat suit lets him glide from high altitudes as well as use a sonic gun to destroy certain objects blocking his path, just to name a couple. Robin, on the other hand, has an agility suit that he can use to climb up walls, and a magnet suit to attract and walk on metal surfaces. You?ll have to use these suits? special abilities to progress through many of the game?s stages, as you?ll be presented with a scenario where only one hero?s powers can allow for further progress. This type of gameplay makes playing the game cooperatively a much better method because it?s faster and more fun than having to constantly switch between characters.? If you?re at all familiar with past entries in the series, you?ll be a little disappointed with the lack of innovation in this respect.

Though the gameplay of the story mode borders on familiarly stale, it is outside of the story mode that the game shines. Completing a level unlocks free play for the specific level, which allows you to replay the stage as any character you have previously unlocked. Playing through the game as, say, Clayface instead of Batman can be very entertaining. Not only that, but there are collectibles like vehicles and extra characters to play as that you can only gain access to by replaying a level with a specific character. Perhaps the best part of the entire game is what you do between missions. After each stage you are taken back to a fully explorable Gotham City. Since the prisoners of Arkham have taken to the city (think Batman: Arkham City), there is plenty for you to get distracted with instead of stopping Lex and the Joker. I had thoughts of Grand Theft Auto while running around Gotham, beating up thugs, driving around in cars, flying as Superman to the tops of each building, and exploring every nook and cranny the city had to offer. You can easily play the game for hours just running through the city and not even play the next event in the story and be totally happy. There are 250 gold LEGO bricks to collect, dozens of characters to unlock, and over 20 vehicles to collect and build, meaning there is a ton to do in LEGO Batman 2.

Sadly, the same problems that were present in past games are still present here. It?s very easy to get stuck in an area and not know how to progress. In just about every level I played I came to a point where I couldn?t see what to do next, and had to run back through the level trying to figure out what the hell to do next. I also had performance issues when playing co-op with both players that were far away from one another geographically. When the game is autosaving you cannot control your hero, but you can still take damage from enemies around you. A couple odd glitches forced me to restart the level or, in one instance, restart my PlayStation 3.

Sound & Visuals

This is the first among the new breed of LEGO games to feature a voice cast. Voice actors deliver convincing performances, with Batman, Superman, Lex Luthor, and the Joker sticking out as the best of the bunch. The banter between characters is funny to hear, like Batman?s disdain for Superman, or Lex?s serious tone clashing with the Joker?s craziness. The soundtrack doesn?t stand out as much as the voices, but still has some highlights, like the main theme song. Overall the music isn?t memorable, mainly because the voice acting is far superior. By now the novelty of everything being made out of LEGO bricks has worn off. That doesn?t mean the game doesn?t still look good; it does, with high quality graphics that are among the best in the series. While playing in Gotham the game loads everything at one time, meaning there are no breaks in gameplay when traveling from one corner of the city to the other. On top of that there aren?t any instances of pop-in or hanging loadtimes to speak of.

Bottom Line

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is what you expect it to be: the newest LEGO game with a Justice League twist. The amount of recognizable DC heroes and villains you can play as will make you search out every last gold brick to unlock them. Though the gameplay remains largely unchanged from past games in the series, it still offers solid cooperative gameplay that is accessible by gamers of all skill levels. The inclusion of a fully voiced cast and the open-world setting of Gotham make this one of the most ambitious games in the LEGO series to date. If you only play one Batman game that comes out this year, ?it should definitely be LEGO Batman 2.

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Source: http://www.insidegamingdaily.com/2012/06/29/lego-batman-2-dc-super-heroes-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lego-batman-2-dc-super-heroes-review

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A Real Estate Q&A: Mostly Fact or Mostly Fiction?

Posted on June 28th, 2012

Let?s play a Real Estate ?Question & Answer? game. But instead of the typical ?Fact or Fiction,? this has a bit of a twist ? a ?Mostly Fact or Mostly Fiction? game?. And the reason I put it this way is because it seems in real estate that there is always an exception to the rule. This is often the result of the emotions and choices that buyers and sellers make that don?t always make financial or practical sense thus resulting in real estate transactions that don?t always proceed in the way in which we expect.

So here is a list of questions that are either ?Mostly Fact or Mostly Fiction,? and I can?t wait to see what you think. ?But before we start, just one last thing ? these answers are based on our current state of the market. We have not had our peak performing real estate years of late, and our economy is unpredictable and still has some instability, and so these questions and answers are coming from that perspective. And now, on to the game:

• Most of the time, the first offer is the best. Mostly Fact or Mostly Fiction? Mostly Fact. You have probably heard this countless times, and it is indeed true. Almost always the first offer is the best. ?This is due in large part to the fact that buyers discount homes the longer they sit on the market, and generally offers don?t come in within consecutive days of one another. There is usually a lag time between offers, which means buyers will continue to discount the price of the home as the days on the market accrue.

• Location is just as important as price. Mostly Fact or Mostly Fiction? Mostly Fiction. Location is certainly quite important. In fact, I?m sure you?ve heard that old adage over and over again, ?Location, location, location.? But the truth is ? price is hand?s down the most important factor when it comes to selling a home. Buyers need to feel, see and experience a perceived value in the home, and when they do, they buy!

• There?s no such thing as underpricing a home. Mostly Fact or Mostly Fiction? Mostly Fact. Or at least theoretically this should be mostly fact. If a home is underpriced, then multiple buyers will perceive such value in the home that they will all jump in to put in an offer. This will result in a bidding war, which ultimately forces up the price of the home to the ?real? market price. The problem with this question, however, is that you can?t really prove the hypothesis. ?Because once you?ve set a price, you don?t get a second chance to set another, higher price to see if you ultimately end up with the same sale price.

• A buyer who falls passionately in love with a house results in a higher price for the seller. Mostly Fact or Mostly Fiction? Mostly Fact. We don?t see this too much these days, however. Buyers are ultra sensitive about overpaying for a home today. They don?t want to pay more than they should and then be faced with the potential challenge of re-selling the home in the future when there is no way to predict how the economy and real estate market will be at that time.

• A seller ends up with more money if she initially prices her house at a higher price to test the market. Mostly Fact or Mostly Fiction? This is actually 100% Fiction. The best way for a seller to maximize her sale price is to price her house competitively from the start ? to follow the ?Price to Sell Strategy.? Buyers then feel, see and experience the?perceived value in the house and act quickly ? Mission Accomplished.

Finally as we like to say in our listing presentations, the rule of thumb, which also happens to be 100% Fact, is that the seller sets the asking price, but the market (one or more buyers) sets the selling price for the home.

And now back to you. Have you seen some of these real estate questions and answers first-hand? And what are your thoughts about this real estate Q&A game??I can?t wait to hear?.

For more information about the real estate market in?Weston, ?Wellesley, ?Wayland and the surrounding towns or if you are considering selling your home, please contact me,?Lisa Curlett (781-267-2844 orwww.homesalesbylisa.com), to answer any questions or for a complimentary home appraisal.

Source: http://www.homesalesbylisa.com/buying-a-home/a-real-estate-qa-mostly-fact-or-mostly-fiction/

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Rollyo.org - Art & Entertainment Then And Now - My Bookmark

?

Art and humanities is a medium which is liked by every person. And many of them bookmark that page or site. With the help of Rollyo.org anyone can find art and humanities related stuffs.

#Posted on Friday, 29 June 2012 at 1:12 AM

Source: http://nancymarshal443.skyrock.com/3099208657-Rollyo-org-Art-&-Entertainment-Then-And-Now.html

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Video: Walsh: Ephron wrote the soundtrack to our lives

Veteran campaigns to adopt bomb-sniffing dog

Former sergeant Logan Black and yellow lab Diego worked together in Fallujah, Iraq, from 2006 to 2007, sweeping for IEDs, ammunition, firearms, grenades and raw bomb materials. Now back home and out of the Army, Black is trying to adopt his old friend.

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Titan's tides reveal hidden ocean that could host life

Alien hunters take note: a global water ocean potentially bigger than all those on Earth combined, is sloshing beneath Titan's icy crust.

Combined with the cocktail of organic chemicals already known to exist on Titan, abundant water could make the moon prime real estate for life ? though more work must be done to determine the exact state of the ocean.

Previous studies have painted Saturn's largest moon as a trippy land, replete with lakes full of liquid methane and ethane. Theoretical models and measurements of the moon's electric field have suggested there is liquid waterbeneath its icy surface, too, but the evidence was not conclusive.

Now Luciano Iess of Sapienza University of Rome in Italy and colleagues have analysed measurements of Titan's gravity field taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during its six fly-bys of the moon between 2006 and 2011.

Inescapable ocean

When the team looked at how Titan's gravity ? and shape ? changes as it orbits Saturn, they found that gravitational tugs from the planet prompt Titan's interior to deform in a way that suggests it has a tidal ocean beneath its icy crust ? in a similar way that tugs from Earth's moon cause tides in our seas.

The team calculated the liquid's viscosity, and found it is consistent with water. "The conclusion that there is a liquid layer underneath the outer icy shell is almost inescapable," says Iess.

The ocean probably covers most of Titan, the team's calculations suggest. "This is likely to represent a habitat that is at least as large, if not larger, by volume than all the Earth's oceans," says Dominic Fortes, a planetary scientist at University College London, who was not involved in the study.

Fortes reckons that the ocean might contain organic molecules that are necessary for life. Titan's surface is covered in hydrocarbons and there is growing evidence of subsurface hydrocarbon wells .

Rocky bottom

However, Jonathan Lunine, one of the study's co-authors at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, points out that the best current theories of how life forms require water to be in contact with a rocky surface.

Unlike on Earth, Titan's ocean seems to completely surround the interior of the moon, so the only place this could happen is at the seabed. But Titan's ocean may be so deep that the pressure at the bottom is sufficient for a layer of high-density ice to form between the liquid water and the moon's rocky core, Lunine says, sealing off the water's access to the rock.

Where does that leave Titan in the alien life stakes? Another of Saturn's moons, Enceladus, and Jupiter's moon Europa are thought to have sub-surface oceans too.

"Europa's ocean is most likely to be underlain by rock, but unlike Titan we don't know if there are organics in the Europan interior," says Lunine. "Enceladus has organics and strong evidence for salty liquid water, but we don't know how long-lived its pockets of liquid are. So Europa, Titan and Enceladus are all candidates [to host life] with different plusses and minuses."

Journal reference: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1219631

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Maintain Hygiene For Home Improvements | Home Improvement On ...

Home improvement seems to be a very important thing for you. Remodeling a house can leave you the room dirt. Maybe you will think how to keep your home in a clean condition when the work is being done. Do you have to remove all the items in your home?. Of course not. Suppose you?re fixing the bathroom, you do not have to remove the carpet.

You can visit a variety of home improvement stores to get the plastic sheeting products. If you are dealing with a carpet, then you should choose the used plastic sheeting to protect carpets. They will help protect your carpet from the dust generated when doing home improvement.

You must be smart to choose a plastic tarp, because they had some kind. If you have small children, we recommend that you choose has the tarp adhesive. So your child will not stumble, and your carpet remains in clean condition.

Maybe you?ll spend up to $ 20 to get the plastic sheeting. They can be stored for future projects. After you are finished making home improvement, then you can immediately fold and store. Adhesive of plastic sheeting that will leave a residue. You have to clean it. The best way to clean it is to do the vacuuming of these residues.

Original Post In >> HomeImprovementBiz.com >> Maintain Hygiene For Home Improvements

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Google's Project Glass gets some more details

Google's Project Glass has been one of the most anticipated and hyped projects to come out of Google in quite some time. After a rather epic demo the company finally gave us a slightly deeper look at the wearable computer of our (supposed) future. Inside is the usual set of components you'd expect inside any mobile phone. There's a "powerful" CPU and "lots" of RAM (though, there was no mention of specifics) alongside an accelerometer, gyroscope and wireless radios for pulling in data. There's a mic for voice commands, a speaker and a camera, which can also be controlled by the touchpad that lines the side of the wearable device. All of those components sit off to one side, though Google says they're still well-balanced and actually lighter than some pairs of sunglasses. The tiny transparent display doesn't actually sit directly in front of your eye. It's slightly above your line of vision, so that it shouldn't interfere with your normal life.

Sergey Brin had three different prototypes on stage -- a light blue pair, a white pair and a black pair -- indicating that personalization and style were concerns. And that's a good thing since Glass is meant to be worn in public. Ultimately Google hopes that the project will be the next step in its quest to make information quickly and universally accessible. The ability to capture images from the first person perspective seems to be key to the device. In a new demo video, a new mother waxes about how hard it is to capture those perfect moments with her child. She "smiles at faces not devices" which makes sticking a D5 in the baby's face a bad idea.

If you're impatient and lucky enough to have been at IO (and live in the US), you can actually pre-order an Explorer Edition of the wearable computer for $1,500. The dev focused units will be shipping early next year. But, be warned, this is not a mass consumer item and will likely be more than a little rough around the edges.

Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012's opening keynote at our event hub!

Gallery: Project Glass In-Depth Preview

Google's Project Glass gets some more details originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Earth 7.0 for Android brings new, super-detailed 3D maps for some cities (update: video)

Here's a bit of a surprise that slipped under the radar during the Google I/O keynote: Google Earth for Android has been updated to 7.0 to take advantage of the new 3D map technology it unveiled at another special event just a few weeks ago. As a refresher, the visuals are automatically created from 45-degree aerial imagery and can pick up 3D elements as subtle as trees. Before you go racing to your hometown to see how it looks in 3D, be aware that just a handful of cities and regions exploit that dimension. Besides San Francisco Bay, the full coverage extends to Boulder, Boston, Charlotte, Lawrence, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, Santa Cruz and Tampa in the US, with Rome being the lone international hotspot. If that's too few places to visit, there's always the addition of guided tours. Android users can head over Google Play to get the update today; iOS users shouldn't fret, as they'll get the new maps soon.

Update: Google now has video, if you'd rather not (or can't) install the app to try it yourself.

Continue reading Google Earth 7.0 for Android brings new, super-detailed 3D maps for some cities (update: video)

Google Earth 7.0 for Android brings new, super-detailed 3D maps for some cities (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gene therapy curbs nicotine addiction in mice

Forget patches: gene therapy could suppress cigarette cravings by preventing the brain from receiving nicotine. The treatment is effective in mice, but with gene therapy still not fully tested in people, human trials and treatments are a long way off.

For drug users who really can't quit, vaccination might one day be an option, and several groups have attempted to develop such treatments.

But nicotine vaccines have mostly flopped. This is because nicotine is a very small molecule, so the immune system has difficulty recognising the drug and making antibodies that bind it. Physicians can inject antibodies directly into a patient, but this treatment quickly becomes expensive because the antibodies don't last long.

Ronald Crystal of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and his team decided to bypass that problem by putting the gene for a nicotine antibody right into the body.

They selected the strongest antibody against nicotine from a mouse and isolated the gene that produced it. They then placed this gene into a carrier called adeno-associated virus (AAV), which is widely used for gene therapy.

When the researchers injected the virus and its cargo into nicotine-addicted mice, the rodents' livers took up the virus, began making antibodies and pumped them into the bloodstream. The researchers injected two cigarettes' worth of nicotine into AAV-infected mice. The antibodies were able to bind 83 per cent of the drug before it reached the brain.

Different response

Without their drug, the mice's behaviour changed. Nicotine usually causes mice to "chill out", Crystal says, but the researchers found that the treated mice stayed active and their heart rates stayed normal when they received nicotine.

Eighteen weeks later, the mice's livers were still making the antibody, suggesting that the therapy might render nicotine useless to smokers for long periods.

Jude Samulski at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who was part of the team that developed AAV as a gene therapy vector, says he's "ecstatic" that the vector has come so far. He calls the research "a gorgeous piece of work" that has "leapfrogged" the difficulties faced by vaccines.

But he has doubts about whether gene therapy is well-tested enough to be used to treat nicotine addiction. So far, AAV has been clinically tested in people with HIV or terminal cancer where potential benefits far outweigh the risks. "It's ahead of its time. In 10 years there may be enough safety data," he says. "Quitting smoking might be easier."

Thomas Kosten of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, shares those doubts. Unlike patients with terminal diseases, "smokers are normal people with decades of life ahead of them", he says, and gene therapy can be risky. He believes that a better, safer vaccine will be developed by the time this system passes safety tests.

Crystal agrees that human studies are many years away: the next step is to test the vector in primates. In the meantime, he says, the same model could be useful to develop gene therapies for methamphetamine, cocaine or any addictive drug.

Journal reference: Science Translational Medicine, DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3003611

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The Stoner Channel: Captain Picard Does Hamlet, High Times Picks a Winner, and Quick Cure Builds a Better Bud Rack [Video]

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Japan's PM faces intraparty revolt over tax hike

TOKYO (AP) ? A battle between rival blocs in Japan's ruling party escalated Monday ahead of a tax hike vote that is threatening to split the party and weaken Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's hold on power.

The legislation expected to come before Parliament on Tuesday includes a doubling of the current 5 percent sales tax. Noda says it is needed to fight Japan's swelling national debt, but the political maneuvering has overshadowed economic debate on the bill.

Media reports Monday said more than 50 ruling party lawmakers plan to vote against it. That would not be enough to kill the bill, because it also has opposition party backing.

But the reports also said dozens of lawmakers are considering leaving the ruling party altogether in protest. If 54 or more do so, Noda's party would lose its majority in Parliament's lower house and he would be vulnerable to a no-confidence vote.

Noda, who took office last September, has said he's ready to stake his career on the tax bill. Public opinion seems to be split between those who believe action must be taken to shore up the economy and those who are more concerned about how it will affect their own personal finances.

The revolt is being led by Ichiro Ozawa, Noda's biggest rival in the ruling Democratic Party. Opponents of the plan to double the sales tax over three years say that it will stall economic growth and reduce consumer demand.

Ozawa helped create the Democratic Party but has since fallen out with its leadership and been embroiled in allegations of corruption. He has threatened to bolt before, and his 1993 departure from the party that previously ruled the country helped set the stage for the Democrats to rise to power.

Both sides held talks Monday and jockeyed for an advantage as the vote in Parliament neared. Several newspapers reported Ozawa would fall short of the 54 mark. That would still be a major setback for Noda, who has struggled since taking office to deal with the economic impact of last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Associated Press

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IK Multimedia iRig MIX review: a mobile mixer built for iDevices

Accessories, iOS has them. Not many devices can boast the same rich and dazzling array of add-ons that the iPhone or iPad enjoy -- from keyboards to docks, arcade cabinets to battery packs. Today's offering? A mobile mixer. The iRig MIX from IK Multimedia, to be precise. It's essentially a mini DJ tool, designed to work with such iGadgets, and brought to you by the same serial audio-accessorizers behind the iRig MIC Cast and AmpliTube. If you think you've seen this fella before, then you likely have, as this got its first glimpse of sunlight back at CES. Now it's here for real, auditioning for your affections as if it were on "American Idol."

While it's easy to dismiss some of the more ambitious accessories as as trying to push the limits of iPad / iPhone functionality to the extreme, it's also worth remembering that accessory X isn't always about replacing object Y. No one ever bought a USB webcam thinking it'd turn them into Spielberg, now did they? But, they might have gotten one thinking it would give their PC some skills it never had before. So it's with this short, preemptive missive in mind that we turn on the iRig MIX, plug in and rock out. Hopefully.

Gallery: IK Multimedia iRig MIX review

Continue reading IK Multimedia iRig MIX review: a mobile mixer built for iDevices

IK Multimedia iRig MIX review: a mobile mixer built for iDevices originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Subway work unearths ancient road in Greece

Workers of Metro's construction company are seen at the ancient ruins in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki on Monday, June 25, 2012. Archaeologists in Greece?s second largest city have uncovered a 70-meter (230-foot) section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was city?s main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago. The marble-paved road was unearthed during excavations for the city?s new subway system that is due to be completed in four years, and will be raised to be put on permanent display for passengers when the metro opens. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)

Workers of Metro's construction company are seen at the ancient ruins in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki on Monday, June 25, 2012. Archaeologists in Greece?s second largest city have uncovered a 70-meter (230-foot) section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was city?s main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago. The marble-paved road was unearthed during excavations for the city?s new subway system that is due to be completed in four years, and will be raised to be put on permanent display for passengers when the metro opens. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)

Archaeologists and employees of Metro's construction company present to the media and public the ancient ruins in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki on Monday, June 25, 2012. Archaeologists in Greece?s second largest city have uncovered a 70-meter (230-foot) section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was city?s main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago. The marble-paved road was unearthed during excavations for the city?s new subway system that is due to be completed in four years, and will be raised to be put on permanent display for passengers when the metro opens. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)

A worker of Metro's construction company holds a fragment of old pottery in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki on Monday, June 25, 2012. Archaeologists in Greece?s second largest city have uncovered a 70-meter (230-foot) section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was city?s main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago. The marble-paved road was unearthed during excavations for the city?s new subway system that is due to be completed in four years, and will be raised to be put on permanent display for passengers when the metro opens. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)

Workers of Metro's construction company are seen at the ancient ruins in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki on Monday, June 25, 2012. Archaeologists in Greece?s second largest city have uncovered a 70-meter (230-foot) section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was city?s main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago. The marble-paved road was unearthed during excavations for the city?s new subway system that is due to be completed in four years, and will be raised to be put on permanent display for passengers when the metro opens. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)

Archaeologists and employees of Metro's construction company present to the media and public the ancient ruins in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki on Monday, June 25, 2012. Archaeologists in Greece?s second largest city have uncovered a 70-meter (230-foot) section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was city?s main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago. The marble-paved road was unearthed during excavations for the city?s new subway system that is due to be completed in four years, and will be raised to be put on permanent display for passengers when the metro opens. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) ? Archaeologists in Greece's second-largest city have uncovered a 70-meter (230-foot) section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was city's main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago.

The marble-paved road was unearthed during excavations for Thessaloniki's new subway system, which is due to be completed in four years. The road in the northern port city will be raised to be put on permanent display when the metro opens in 2016.

The excavation site was shown to the public on Monday, when details of the permanent display project were also announced. Several of the large marble paving stones were etched with children's board games, while others were marked by horse-drawn cart wheels.

Also discovered at the site were remains of tools and lamps, as well as the bases of marble columns.

Viki Tzanakouli, an archaeologist working on the project, told The Associated Press the Roman road was about 1,800 years old, while remains of an older road built by the ancient Greeks 500 years earlier were found underneath it.

"We have found roads on top of each other, revealing the city's history over the centuries," Tzanakouli said. "The ancient road, and side roads perpendicular to it appear to closely follow modern roads in the city today."

About 7 meters (23 feet) below ground in the center of the city, the ancient road follows in roughly the same direction as the city's modern Egnatia Avenue.

The subway works, started in 2006, present a rare opportunity for archaeologists to explore under the densely populated city ? but have also caused years of delays for the project.

In 2008, workers on the Thessaloniki metro discovered more than 1,000 graves, some filled with treasure. The graves were of different shapes and sizes, and some contained jewelry, coins or other pieces of art.

A massive excavation project also took place during the 1990s in the capital, Athens, before the city's new metro system opened in 2000.

Thessaloniki's new subway is already four years behind schedule, due to the excavation work as well as Greece's financial crisis. Thirteen stations will operate initially, before a 10-station extension is added later.

Associated Press

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Military contractor claims it can read fingerprints from 6m

blog.al.com

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama ? Forget the key card to your office building? Just wave your hand at the door, and you?re in. ?You don?t have to stop at a station. Nobody checks your ID. You just walk through,? explains Clemson-educated physicist Joel Burcham of his new?Huntsville company called IDair.

IDair makes a machine that Burcham says can photographically capture a fingerprint from as far away as six meters in enough detail to match against a database. Add facial and iris-recognition technology, Burcham said, and you have the basis for a good biometrics system that can control access to any building or room within a building.

Who needs this level of security? ?Sooner, rather than later, we?re all going to need it,? Burcham said in a recent interview at his office at Huntsville?s HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.

HudsonAlpha, known for human genome and other biological research, gave Burcham a desk for his startup company ? ?one desk,? he said ? because Burcham plans to expand to latent print imaging, a process that involves biological questions of the kind routinely investigated at HudsonAlpha.

Currently, IDair?s customers are military. The system can be used, for example, to tell the difference between friendly locals and potential terrorists while soldiers stay safe behind blast walls.

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Dry weather puts late U.S. soy plantings in jeopardy

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Kelly Robertson jammed a screwdriver into the hard, dry ground on his farm in southern Illinois, carved out six inches of soil and could not find any moisture.

Because of the dry conditions, Robertson, who grows corn, soybeans and wheat near Benton, Illinois, did not begin planting soybeans until last week, fearing the seeds would not have enough moisture to germinate.

"We sit here and wait for a rain. More correctly, we sit and wait on multiple rain events because one rain ... is not going to be enough," Robertson said in a recent interview.

Dry weather is impeding late soybean planting, a factor that may limit any increase from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's March soybean planting intentions figure of 73.9 million acres.

USDA's March soy figure came in below trade expectations and, if realized, would represent the fewest acres planted to soybeans in five years. The government is scheduled to release updated acreage figures on June 29.

Some private analysts, such as Informa Economics, have predicted that USDA will raise its soybean plantings figure by more than 2 million acres next week to account for historically high soybean prices that may have encouraged farmers to plant more than they intended in March.

In particular, analysts expect a jump in so-called "double-crop" soybeans, which are planted as a second crop on winter wheat fields shortly after the wheat is harvested.

But others are more pessimistic about a soy acreage increase, citing farmers like Robertson who have struggled for weeks with parched conditions.

"I think we've probably lost 40 to 45 percent of the potential increase already, with more coming if we don't we don't get rains by the end of the month," said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics in Lafayette, Indiana.

"Clients in Kansas and Indiana -- any areas that are dry right now (who) would be double-cropping after wheat harvest -- are holding back," said Zuzolo.

"This weather is starting to impact the beans with almost a multiplier effect because of the acreage and the yields both being hit," Zuzolo added.

Every bushel will be crucial for global soy supplies because drought has slashed soy crops in Brazil and Argentina, the No. 2 and 3 global producers, leaving farmers in the United States, the world's top soybean grower, to fill the breach.

Most of the U.S. crop is already in the ground. The USDA stopped reporting soybean planting progress after June 10, when it said 97 percent of the crop had been seeded. But planting of the last soybean fields can continue until mid-July.

"If you stay dry for another two or three weeks, it becomes too late to double-crop the beans after wheat," said Mark Schultz, analyst with Northstar Commodity in Minneapolis.

"They need moisture in next three weeks, or double-crop beans on those acres could be at risk of not even being planted," Schultz said.

MOST DOUBLE-CROP ACRES SINCE 2008?

Double-crop soybeans have comprised between 3 and 9 percent of total U.S. soybean acreage for the past 20 years, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. USDA estimates the amount of double-cropped soybeans once a year in its June acreage report, deriving its number from farmer surveys.

The recent high was 2008, when farmers planted approximately 6.8 million acres to double-crop soybeans, representing 9 percent of all U.S. soybean planted acreage -- the highest percentage since 1996, and the most outright acres since 1984.

Spot CBOT soybean prices were near current levels in the spring of 2008 and touched an all-time high at $16.63 per bushel that summer. CBOT November soybean futures settled Friday at $13.75-1/2.

Analysts from Citigroup, Doane Advisory Services and Newedge USA expected double-crop soybeans in 2012 to comprise 7 to 8 percent of overall plantings, at close to 6 million acres. But others cautioned that the final total might fall short, regardless of what USDA projects next week.

"The (USDA) survey was taken as of June 1st, before a lot of the weather concern hit us, so farmers were likely still talking big double-cropping," ABN AMRO analyst Charlie Sernatinger said in a note to clients.

"But the revisionist theory of world history," Sernatinger said, "is that a half million of those double-crop acres will never go in the ground unless the skies open up and pour forth moisture."

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by David Gregorio)

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Key moments in trial of Norway mass killer

FILE This Monday, April 16, 2012 file photo shows Anders Behring Breivik gesturing as he arrives at the courtroom in Oslo, Norway. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

FILE This Monday, April 16, 2012 file photo shows Anders Behring Breivik gesturing as he arrives at the courtroom in Oslo, Norway. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

FILE - This is a Monday, April 16, 2012 file photo of Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, who is facing terrorism and premeditated murder charges, reacts as a video presented by the prosecution is shown in court, Oslo, Norway. Breivik, who confessed to killing 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting massacre went on trial in Norway's capital Monday, defiantly rejecting the authority of the court. (AP Photo/Heiko Junge, Pool)

FILE - In this July 25, 2011 file photo, Norway's twin terror attacks suspect Anders Behring Breivik, left, sits in an armored police vehicle after leaving the courthouse following a hearing in Oslo. (AP Photo/Aftenposten/Jon-Are Berg-Jacobsen, File) NORWAY OUT

FILE - This is a Tuesday April 17, 2012 file photo of defendant Anders Behring Breivik. left, discusses a matter with his defence lawyer Geir Lippestad during the second day of proceedings in the courtroom in Oslo Tuesday April 17, 2012. The anti-Muslim fanatic who admitted to killing 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting massacre took to the stand in his terror trial Tuesday . Anders Behring Breivik will have five days to explain why he set off a bomb in Oslo's government district, killing eight, and then gunned down 69 at a Labor Party youth camp outside the Norwegian capital. (AP Photo/Lise Aserud/Scanpix Norway, Pool)

Anders Behring Breivik, the confessed gunman who killed 77 people last year in a bomb and shooting rampage, center, reacts in court as prosecutors deliver their closing arguments in the court in Oslo, Norway Thursday June 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Berit Roald/Scanpix NTB POOL)

OSLO, Norway (AP) ? A trial that has riveted Norway for 10 weeks came to an end Friday. Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik must then wait a month or two for a ruling by the Oslo district court.

Since his guilt is not in question ? Breivik admits he killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting massacre on July 22 ? the key issue is whether the self-styled anti-Muslim militant will be ruled insane. If so he cannot be sentenced to prison but will be committed to compulsory psychiatric care, possibly for the rest of his life.

Here are some of the key moments in the trial, which started on April 16 in a courtroom built specifically for the trial in Oslo's district court.

KILLER'S TEARS:

On the first day Breivik cried. It's the only time he showed any emotion during the trial. The tears rolled down his cheeks when prosecutors showed a YouTube video he posted online before the attacks, outlining his perception that Muslims are colonizing Europe and that Christian Europeans will rise up in armed revolt. Breivik's defense lawyer Geir Lippestad said that the 33-year-old Norwegian was moved by being reminded of his self-imposed mission to "save Europe from an ongoing war."

DEFIANT SALUTE:

For the first two days Breivik greeted the court with his own version of a fascist salute. He stopped after his lawyers told him that the victims' families found it offensive. On the penultimate day, after prosecutors asked for an insanity ruling that he rejected, the salute was back. Defiantly, Breivik thrust out his right arm with a clenched fist. This time he directed it straight at the prosecutors.

HORRIFIC TESTIMONY:

Survivors of the bombing in Oslo and the shooting massacre on Utoya island gave harrowing accounts of Breivik's rampage. But the most gruesome testimony was from the gunman himself. Sparing no detail, he took a shocked courtroom through his killing spree on Utoya, victim by victim, bullet by bullet. His voice never cracked. His facial expression remained blank. Breivik's utter lack of emotion and empathy was seen by some psychiatrists as a symptom of a deep mental illness. Breivik said he had prepared himself to keep his composure through meditation.

SHOE-THROWER:

It was the only outburst of anger during the entire trial: An Iraqi man whose brother was killed on Utoya took off his shoe and tossed it at Breivik on May 11, hitting one of his defense lawyers. The hearing was briefly suspended as the man was led out of the court, crying. Besides that incident, the relatives of victims kept remarkably calm, saying they wanted to respect the judicial process. Some said Breivik must not have any opportunity to claim he didn't get a fair trial when it's all over.

PSCYCHIATRIC FEUD:

The last weeks of the trial focused on Breivik's mental state. Two teams of court-appointed psychiatrists presented clashing views. Other experts were called in to give their opinion. Prosecutors finally said there was enough doubt about whether Breivik is psychotic that Norwegian rules required them to call for an insanity ruling. Breivik, who claims he is a political militant, said during the trial that being sent to an insane asylum would be the worst thing that could happen to him and accused Norwegian authorities of trying to cast him as sick to deflate his political views. His defense lawyers rebutted the insanity claim Friday.

WHAT'S NEXT?:

The five-judge panel has not set the date of the ruling yet but it's not going to be before July 20. If the court agrees with the prosecution's assertion that Breivik is insane, they cannot impose a prison sentence but will commit him to compulsory psychiatric care. If declared criminally sane he would likely face the maximum prison sentence in Norway: 21 years. However, he could be held longer under a provision designed to keep violent offenders locked up for as long as they are considered a menace to society. Breivik has said he would not appeal if given a prison term.

Associated Press

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Contempt vote sign of 'broken' Washington? (CNN)

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Investors want strategy shakeup at BP

(Reuters) - BP's shareholders want to see some radical management action to help the company turn the page on U.S. oil spill litigation and the quarrel with its Russian partners.

Both issues have dragged on the value of a company that was once Britain's biggest, but which now languishes in sixth place with a tainted reputation in the two countries that together account for half its oil output.

A move to jettison the refining, petrochemicals and fuel retailing businesses that distinguish an "integrated" oil and gas company from one that just finds and produces the stuff is one potential step.

Another might be a bold takeover deal to deliver the big blocks of future output the larger players in the industry are struggling to find.

"The integrated model isn't delivering best value to shareholders. You look at Shell and Total and ENI - no-one has demonstrated that the integrated model works particularly well," said Stephen Thornber of Threadneedle Investments, a top 20 investor in BP.

"I would favor a much cleaner, much more upstream focused business which can utilize BP's exploration, development and production skills and reduce its exposure to the dilutive refining and petrochemical business."

U.S.-based ConocoPhillips this year spun off its refining and marketing arm to become the world number one pure exploration and production (E&P) company. Smaller Marathon Oil has done the same.

TOUGH COMPETITION

Refining assets - the main part of BP's business outside the dominant E&P or "upstream" side - can provide a temporary profit counterweight when crude prices are falling, and together with marketing they offer cost saving opportunities.

But many older refineries are distant from supplies and face competition from bigger, modern ones that are closer. In Europe and the United States in particular, where most BP refineries sit, players face regulatory and planning issues that make it tough to compete with new plants in India and the Middle East.

BP's "downstream" - refining, petrochemicals, lubricants and fuel retailing businesses - is profitable, but its 16 wholly and partly-owned refineries alone tie up $44 billion of capital.

The business is shrinking already and has been for over a decade. BP hopes to sell this year its Texas City refinery, another blot on its U.S. reputation after a 2005 explosion killed 15 people. It also plans to further reduce its 21,800 road fuel stations to help squeeze out $2 billion of cost savings this year.

Analysts estimate BP's refining business is worth about $20 billion, with marketing, lubricants and petrochemicals worth a further $14 billion - although in the current tough refining environment a buyer might be hard to find.

Another $25-$30 billion could become available if BP sells out of the Russian joint venture, TNK-BP it entered in 2003, as has said it is considering.

Such a move is by no means a certainty. BP's partners in the venture, a group of oligarchs whose uneasy relationship with the powerful Russian government and differing strategic vision for the business have hamstrung its activities, are not easy partners for any potential buyer.

BP has 29 percent of its production tied up in the business, and even if it does sell its 50 percent stake, there is every chance the cash will be ploughed back into Russia, the world's biggest oil producing country and number two exporter behind Saudi Arabia.

"If I was going to bet, I would say BP won't be leaving Russia," said a former BP executive with Russian experience. "Either there will be a new partner or it will get out (of TNK-BP) and recycle its investment elsewhere in the country."

CLOSURE

On the other side of the financial equation stands a compensation settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over the 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 people and triggered the United States' worst offshore oil spill from the Macondo well in the U.S. Gulf.

The parties are about $10 billion apart on a figure, with BP wanting to pay $15 billion and the DoJ holding out for $25 billion, according to a recent Financial Times report.

BP has already put aside about $3.5 billion, so a worst-case scenario has the company needing to find a further $21.5 billion.

But closure for BP on the oil spill episode would take a lot of pressure off its share price.

Thomson Reuters data shows BP shares trading at 5.2 times earnings per share. A recovery to the 6.7 times earnings, where European peers Shell and Total trade, would add $36 billion to its $125 billion market capitalization.

Analysts who base their discount on tracking relative market value to pre-spill days say the potential for a value recovery could be much higher, at up to $70 billion.

TAKEOVER OPTION

If, as expected, the DoJ and BP hammer out a deal on spill compensation before U.S. presidential election in September, BP has a lot more money to play with.

Shareholders love a special dividend, but they love capital growth more.

"It's not going to be welcome as a buyer in the deepwater U.S. Gulf after what happened," said Robin Matthews, of JMW Energy Advisers, a division of auditors Deloitte.

"Onshore, you are looking at shale investment, and that's not the kind of high margin stuff they really want to be in. Where else can they really put that kind of money to work effectively?"

The answer could be in M&A, and what better fit than BG Plc - a gas-focused exploration and production company.

BG has the opposite problem from that of BP - plenty of projects and opportunities to pursue, but not enough funds.

The group has been shedding assets and issuing hybrid bonds in an effort to keep its best developments funded without stretching its balance sheet, and its long-serving chief executive, Frank Chapman, is due to retire in 2013.

"I am sure BG will be linked with them. They have some fabulous assets," said a second shareholder from among BP's 15 largest.

"The issue for BG is having enough cash to develop them all. So yes, I have heard sillier ideas. You do wonder whether Frank Chapman is looking for a big exit."

BG has been pitched as a takeover target ever since it was spun out of a former British state gas utility at the turn of the 21st Century but its high valuation could be difficult for a buyer.

In an industry where size means a lot, BG is in the small half of the Dow Jones oil and gas global titans index <.djteng> with a market value of $65 billion. But its shares trade at 13.6 times earnings - one of the highest in the index.

Whatever BP decides to do on the M&A front and with its downstream business, and whatever its fate at the hands of U.S. and Russian officials, shareholders want to see some action from Chief Executive Bob Dudley, the Russia veteran who took over after Tony Hayward fell on his sword for the oil spill.

"It's definitely true they are lacking strategic direction and they are running out of time to clarify that," said a third shareholder.

"If you have great assets, even if you make some appalling strategic errors - you'll most likely end up fine. So when Dudley can put Macondo and the Russian sale to bed, he will absolutely have the ammunition to create something brilliant."

(Editing by Anna Willard)

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