Results and summary of World Superbike race 1 at the Motorland Aragon circuit:
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Sunday, June 19, 2011
Duke Nukem Forever ? review
PC/PS3/Xbox 360; �49.99; cert 18+; 2K Games/Gearbox Software
In a world where we've now got 70-year-old rock stars, 40-something gamers were inevitable. They're the clear target audience for the return of the vest-wearing, ass-kicking, shamelessly inappropriate Duke Nukem because, while this first person shooter ? some 15 years in the making ? scores on the nostalgia stakes, it's hard to see modern gamers responding to an, at best, average game.
And even the nostalgia ? and bad taste humour ? can't make up for the frustrating load times. The game sets its stall out early. Literally: it opens in a toilet, with Duke facing the bowl, and an instruction to press RT to piss.
After a basic pre-credit tutorial, the game proper then kicks off with Duke receiving a (thankfully offscreen) blowjob from twins. Sensitive souls need not apply. Having lived a few years in peace, Duke is the king of all he surveys ? or Vegas as we know it. Girls want to be with him, guys want to be him and interaction with the locals (plus assorted objects) will boost your ego, the Duke Nukem take on the life meter.
However, the aliens are invading and they've made it personal by abducting women and, somewhat inevitably, nothing stands between Duke and his babes. It is "time to kick ass and chew bubble gum ... and I'm all outta gum."
However you dress it up, Duke Nukem Forever is Doom with added political incorrectness, or "same old, same old" as far as the character is concerned. That's not necessarily a problem ? the old adage about things not being broken is one many developers could pay more attention to ? but what do you get for 15 years of patience?
Not much at all. Visuals are grainy (perhaps a deliberate throwback to older Nukem titles?), aiming is clunky and there are occasional frame rate issues and buggy moments.
There are fine touches ? a shrunken Duke zooming around on a remote controlled car for example ? and nostalgia and bad taste jokes help you overlook some shortcomings, but fond memories only go so far while the gags just get repetitive.
And then there's the load time. The game is tough ? a good thing ? and you're regularly thrown into hard-fought battles with multiple enemies and rampaging bosses. You will die, frequently, and often after only 30 seconds or so of action ... And you then have to wait some 45 seconds or so to have another go. If you think the Duke's pissed off, see how you feel after 20 minutes of that.
A mark for nostalgia then ? it's the Duke, after all ? and one for the game. If this was 15 years in the making, it makes you wonder what they did for the other 14 years and 10 months.
? Game reviewed on Xbox 360
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LCR Honda CBR1000RR ? If LCR Honda Made a Honda
MotoGP race team LCR Honda has been caught dabbling with one very trick Honda CBR1000RR. While we’re having a hard time believing the rumors that LCR Honda intends to use the bike as claiming-rule team (CRT) entry in MotoGP, the LCR Honda CBR1000RR is an exercise on what one can do with enough money and access to HRC’s secret stash of motorcycle racing parts. Raiding the HRC parts catalog, Lucio Cecchinello and his crew have ...
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U.S. Trade Commission Gives The Green Light To Microsoft?s $8.5 Billion Cash Takeover Of Skype
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said today that it has approved Microsoft's $8.5 billion cash takeover of voice and video-over-IP provider Skype. Microsoft officially announced its intent to acquire Skype back on May 10 and, since then, users have been taking to Twitter to blame Microsoft for Skype's intermittent service. The criticism, at least in that sense, has been a bit preemptive. At least, it seems, until today. Now, with Reuters report that there has been antitrust approval of the deal, users shall soon be able to turn to Microsoft when asking questions of Skype's sometimes-spotty service.
As The 2012 Campaign Heats Up, President Obama To Start Tweeting From @BarackObama
You're about to see whole lot more Tweets from the President. President Obama's Twitter account, @BarackObama, has been around for sometime, accumulated 8.6 million followers but he was rarely sending any Tweets himself-his staff did. Today, the President's campaign posted a message notifying the public that his 2012 presidential campaign staff (Obama for America) will start managing his Twitter and Facebook accounts (as opposed to the White House staff). And Obama will be Tweeting regularly from @BarackObama, with the signature "-BO." Apparently both Facebook and twitter accounts will be posting daily updates from the campaign trail, from Washington, and more. 
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Blog Post: Get high on vacation
There’s more than one way to get high on vacation. You can ascend physically, spiritually or even chemically as your adrenaline levels go through the roof.
Here at Bing Travel, we’ve picked 16 destinations that allow you to physically rise above it all, which can of course lead to other kinds of ethereal heights. Our new slide show, Get High on Vacation, gives you a chance to enjoy a virtual, earthbound visit before you ascend to a higher plain.
Take Meteora in central Greece, for example. Monks have lived in monasteries atop the 1,800-foot-high rocky outcroppings here since the ninth century. In 2004, I huffed and puffed my way up the stone stairs to reach the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron. It is the oldest and largest monastery in Meteora and provides a dazzling view of the surrounding plain.
Years ago, I drove to the top of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, where silvery observatories have an unobstructed view of the cosmos. It is odd indeed to be able to drive up a volcano, and your body lets you know this the minute you step out of your vehicle. If you’re not lightheaded from the sudden rise to 13,796 feet, you will surely be breathless watching the giant shadow that Mauna Kea casts on the ocean at sunset.
Piz Gloria in Switzerland is another place to elevate. This revolving restaurant at 9,744 feet on Schilthorn Mountain near Mürren starred in the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” Bond skied down the mountain to escape from his arch enemy Blofeld, but I chose instead to simply enjoy the top-of-the-world view over the Swiss Alps.
What’s your favorite place to get high on vacation? Post a comment for other travelers below.
Robin Dalmas is a travel writer, editor and producer for Bing Travel. She is the former Travel Editor for MSNBC and looks forward to getting high again soon.
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Apps, accessories and more for Father's Day
It's close to Father's Day here in the US. Hopefully you've got the perfect gift planned. Perhaps you splurged on the ideal man cave, or you went less extreme and bought an iPhone, iPad or new Mac for the awesome father in your life. If, however, you're still scrambling for gift ideas, here are a few of our suggestions.
iPhone
There are several apps and accessories geared toward outdoor sports. The GPS Kit iPhone App (US$19.99) was just featured in Time Magazine and has a number of excellent outdoor uses, especially if Dad's into hiking, biking or geocaching. Bikers can pair it with an iPhone bike mount, such as this one from Bracketron ($39.95).
For the golfer, pair a golf bag mount with Golfscape GPS Rangefinder (currently on sale for $9.99). Golfscape just won an Apple Design Award and allows you to view distances on more than 37,000 golf courses around the world. You can see the distance to the front, center and back of the green and up to 40 mapped targets per hole. The golf bag mount ($29.95) is coming soon, so you'll have to give Dad an I.O.U. for that part of the gift.
If you've got a new father on your list (or know a busy parent), pzizz sleep is now a very affordable $5.99. Our own Dave Caolo swears by it. "Software like pzizz can let you take a restful nap that you know you'll wake from in a timely manner," he said. "That's important (re: bus pickups). Short naps can be effective stress relievers and re-energizers. pzizz is a tool that helps you achieve that." There is also pzizz energizer to provide said energy boost.
iPad
My father-in-law, like my husband, prefers to stay at home as much as he can. And while the women in their lives can coax them out shopping, both would probably prefer one of the many catalog apps that have sprung up for the iPad. We reviewed Catalog Spree and Catalogue for iPad recently, and both are worth adding to see which one your father prefers.
For car lovers, Ferrari has released several official cases for iOS devices. Only one is in the Ferrari store at the moment, costing a little more than $93.
In the retro gaming world, ThinkGeek has both the $99.99 iCade arcade cabinet or the just-released iPad Arcade Stick ($24.99 for one, $39.99 for two).
Mac and others
You can't go wrong with a good digital photo frame, and we like The Kodak Pulse frame, which allows you to add photos to the frame wirelessly. The 7-inch model is currently going for under $100 on Amazon.
To spruce up a suit or tux, try a pair of these open-source electronic cufflinks. iCufflinks from Adafruit ($128.99) look like a Mac's startup button and pulsate with a soft light for up to 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Feral Interactive Ltd. just brought Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga to the Mac App Store for $29.99, for dads who are gamers. Civilization V: Campaign Edition from Aspyr Media is also available for $49.99.
If you're still stumped for ideas, check out our past recommendations for that extra spark! Of course, you can never go wrong with an iTunes gift card, which are sold pretty much everywhere.
Apps, accessories and more for Father's Day originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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