A medical student murdered two elderly women in Siberia so she could study their corpses for her doctorate, according to a report on 23 July. The 24-year-old Russian killed the women with an axe before returning to the scene of the crime two weeks later to document the decomposition of their bodies.
T.H.E.
When you hear people ask whether British students are as dedicated and resourceful as foreigners, tell them it's possible to have too much of a good thing.
For around seven months now I've had a Wordie list collecting the strange headlines the B.B.C. have come up with in their efforts to compress the essence of a story into the ridiculously limited space they allow themselves. Now that that list has spawned its own young spin-off, I think it's time to exhibit some favourites:
Canadian Search for Snow Missing
'Major Failings' at Abuse School
Debate Call for Source Protection
Past Report 'Irreparably Damaged'
Winter Deaths 'May Double' Worry
Regional Sheep 'More Vulnerable'
Kingfisher Hit By China Weakness
Stranger Kidney Donations Rising
First 'Healthy' Swine Flu Death
Deaths Not Halting Success - PM
Flashback Legends has been analysed elsewhere, so all I'll say by way of introduction is that after the developer went bankrupt an unfinished prototype build was leaked to the public. It turns out that the game's text is almost pure ASCII, readily viewable (and the offset tables are simple too; I was quite easily able to make an IPS patch); not surprisingly given the game's unfinished state, lots of it is unused. Below we discover how much schoolboy French I remember.
Save points, password entry and selectable difficulty levels (three, or possibly four given the ending text, which is why I haven't rendered 'Difficult' as 'Expert') aren't implemented in the prototype, and radar, grenades and an item to make you look like the enemy are nowhere to be seen. Specific mission objectives like planting bombs are also absent, but here we see traces of them, along with part of a plot involving cloning.
It seems from the ending text that Delphine were hoping to make more games in the series—as if the fate of this one weren't poignant enough...
| IL FAUT QUE JE RETROUVE LE COMMANDO... | I'VE GOT TO FIND THE COMMANDO... |
| ME VOILA A L'INTERIEUR... METTONS LA MAIN SUR LES EXPLOSIFS MAINTENANT ! | SO HERE I AM INSIDE... NOW LET'S GET MY HANDS ON THE EXPLOSIVES ! |
| VITE, ALLONS FAIRE SAUTER CETTE ANTENNE ! | QUICK, LET'S GO AND BLOW UP THAT ANTENNA ! |
| LE COMPTE A REBOURS EST ENCLENCHE, IL NE ME RESTE PLUS BEAUCOUP DE TEMPS POUR RETROUVER LA SORTIE ! | THE COUNTDOWN'S BEGUN. I HAVEN'T MUCH TIME LEFT TO FIND THE EXIT ! |
| BIEN, ME VOILA A NEW EDEN. ALLONS RENCONTRER YANN. | GOOD, HERE I AM ON NEW EDEN. LET'S GO AND MEET YANN. |
| CONRAD, QUELQUES MORPH ONT REUSSI A ATTEINDRE LE COEUR DE LA CENTRALE NUCLEAIRE ET SONT EN TRAIN D'ARMER LES EXPLOSIFS ! IL NE TE RESTE QUE 5 MINUTES POUR NEUTRALISER LES BOMBES AVANT QUE TOUT EXPLOSE ! | CONRAD, SOME MORPHS HAVE MANAGED TO REACH THE CORE OF THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AND THEY'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF ARMING THE EXPLOSIVES ! YOU'VE ONLY GOT 5 MINUTES TO NEUTRALISE THE BOMBS BEFORE EVERYTHING BLOWS ! |
| CONRAD, JE CAPTE LES SIGNES D'UNE PRESENCE HUMAINE A L'INTERIEUR DE CETTE BASE, TU DOIS TROUVER CETTE PERSONNE ! | CONRAD, I'M DETECTING SIGNS OF A HUMAN PRESENCE INSIDE THAT BASE. YOU MUST FIND THAT PERSON ! |
| CONRAD, UNE GARNISON DE MORPHS LOURDEMENT ARMES APPROCHE POUR SURVEILLERLE LANCEMENT DU MISSILE, IL NE TE RESTE QUE PEU DE TEMPS POUR QUITTER LE SECTEUR, OU TU ES CUIT ! | CONRAD, A GARRISON OF HEAVILY ARMED MORPHS IS APPROACHING TO OVERSEE THE MISSILE LAUNCH. YOU HAVEN'T MUCH TIME LEFT TO LEAVE THE SECTOR, OR YOU'RE TOAST ! |
| MERCI DE M'AVOIR DELIVRE ! JE SAVAIS QUE LA MANDRAGORE NE ME LAISSERAIT PASTOMBER ! MAIS LE TEMPS PRESSE... AU COURS DE NOTRE MISSION NOUS AVONS REPERE DES MORPH FORÇANT DES INDIGENES A CREER UNE STRUCTURE METALLIQUE RESSEMBLANT A UNE ANTENNE DE COMMUNICATION, ET A LA TRANSPORTER DANS CE QUI SEMBLERAIT ETRE L'ENTREE D'UNE BASE AU FOND DE LA JUNGLE... LORS DE MA CAPTURE, LES MORPH ONT VOLE MON EQUIPEMENT QUI CONTENAIT DES SUPERS EXPLOSIFS... VOUS POURRIEZ PEUT-ETRE LES RETROUVER ET VOUS EN SERVIR POUR DETRUIRE LEUR ANTENNE! JE SUIS HELAS TROP FAIBLE POUR VOUS ACCOMPAGNER... MAIS PRENEZ CETTE CARTE QUE J'AI REUSSI A SUBTILISER AU GARDIEN, ELLE VOUS PERMETTRA DE PROGRESSER DANS LA JUNGLE ! | THANKS FOR SETTING ME FREE ! I KNEW THE MANDRAGORE WOULDN'T GIVE UP ON ME ! BUT TIME'S RUNNING SHORT... IN THE COURSE OF OUR MISSION WE'VE FOUND SOME MORPHS FORCING NATIVES TO BUILD A METALLIC STRUCTURE RESEMBLING A COMMUNICATIONS ANTENNA AND CARRY IT INTO WHAT WOULD SEEM TO BE THE ENTRANCE TO A BASE UNDERNEATH THE JUNGLE... WHEN I WAS CAPTURED, THE MORPHS STOLE MY EQUIPMENT, WHICH CONTAINED SOME SUPER-EXPLOSIVES... MAYBE YOU COULD FIND THEM AND MAKE USE OF THEM TO DESTROY THEIR ANTENNA! PITY I'M TOO WEAK TO GO WITH YOU... BUT TAKE THIS CARD I MANAGED TO FILCH FROM THE GUARD. IT'LL LET YOU GET FURTHER INTO THE JUNGLE ! |
| MERCI POUR CETTE CARTE ! J'AI TRANSMIS VOS COORDONNEES A UN VAISSEAU DE LA MANDRAGORE QUI NE DEVRAIT PAS TARDER A VENIR VOUS CHERCHER. BONNE CHANCE LIEUTENANT ! | THANKS FOR THAT CARD ! I'VE TRANSMITTED YOUR CO-ORDINATES TO A MANDRAGORE SHIP THAT SHOULDN'T TAKE LONG TO COME AND FIND YOU. GOOD LUCK, LIEUTENANT ! |
| BONNE CHANCE ! ET RESTEZ SUR VOS GARDES ! | GOOD LUCK ! AND BE ON YOUR GUARD ! |
| BONJOUR, JE SUIS YANN, LE CHEF DE LA SECURITE SUR NEW EDEN... NOUS N'AVONS PAS BEAUCOUP DE TEMPS, L'ENDROIT N'EST PAS TRES SUR... LES MORPHS ONT PIRATE LE SYSTEME DE CONTROLE DE LA POLICE ET ONT PRIS POSSESSION DE TOUS LES CYBORGS DE SECURITE ! | GOOD DAY. I AM YANN, THE CHIEF OF SECURITY ON NEW EDEN... WE HAVEN'T GOT MUCH TIME, THIS PLACE ISN'T VERY SAFE... THE MORPHS HAVE HIJACKED THE POLICE CONTROL SYSTEM AND TAKEN POSSESSION OF ALL THE SECURITY CYBORGS ! |
| EN EFFET, JE ME SUIS... `ENTRETENU' AVEC CERTAINS D'ENTRE EUX AVANT DE VOUS REJOINDRE... | ACTUALLY, I HAD A... `CHAT' WITH A FEW OF THEM BEFORE I CAUGHT UP WITH YOU... |
| UNE PERSONNE NOUS A CONTACTES POUR NOUS DELIVRER DES INFORMATIONS CAPITALES CLASSEES SECRET DEFENSE.. ELLE SE TROUVE SUR LE TOIT DU CENTRE D'AFFAIRES DE NEW EDEN... POUR Y ACCEDER, IL TE FAUDRA EMPRUNTER LES ASCENSEURS EXTERNES DE CET IMMEUBLE. | A PERSON CONTACTED US IN ORDER TO HAND OVER SOME CRITICAL DATA, CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET. SHE'S LOCATED ON THE ROOF OF THE NEW EDEN BUSINESS CENTRE... TO GAIN ACCESS, YOU'LL HAVE TO USE THE LIFTS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING. |
| OK, JE M'Y REND DE CE PAS. | OK, I'LL BE THERE RIGHT AWAY. |
| BIEN, JE DOIS VOUS LAISSER MAINTENANT... BONNE ROUTE, AGENT CONRAD! | WELL, I HAVE TO LEAVE YOU NOW... GODSPEED, AGENT CONRAD ! |
| CARD 1 | |
| CARD 2 | |
| CARD 3 | |
| CARD 4 | |
| CARD 5 | |
| CARD 6 | |
| CARD 7 | |
| CARD 8 | |
| GRENADE | |
| STONE | |
| STONE | |
| EMPTY CELL | |
| FULL CELL | |
| SHIELD | |
| PDA | |
| RADAR | |
| CONTINUE ? | |
| YES | |
| NO | |
| PRESS START | |
| NEW GAME | |
| PASSWORD | |
| OPTIONS | |
| MUSIC ON | |
| MUSIC OFF | |
| SOUND ON | |
| SOUND OFF | |
| EASY MODE | |
| NORMAL MODE | |
| EXPERT MODE | |
| CREDITS | |
| OK | |
| EXIT | |
| ----- | |
| INVALID PASSWORD | |
| HELP ON | |
| HELP OFF | |
| BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXZ0123456789 | |
| LEVEL 1 | |
| LEVEL 2 | |
| LEVEL 3 | |
| LEVEL 4A | |
| LEVEL 4B | |
| LEVEL 5 | |
| LEVEL 6 | |
| LEVEL 7 | |
| LEVEL 8 | |
| LEVEL 9 | |
| LEVEL 10 | |
| LEVEL 11 | |
| LEVEL 12 | |
| LEVEL 13 | |
| LEVEL 14 | |
| LEVEL 15 | |
| PAUSE | |
| CONTINUE | |
| QUIT | |
| RETROUVER LE COMMANDO DISPARU. | FIND THE MISSING COMMANDO. |
| DECOUVRIR L'ENTREE DE LA BASE MORPH. | FIND THE ENTRANCE TO THE MORPH BASE. |
| RETROUVER LES SUPER-EXPLOSIFS. | FIND THE SUPER-EXPLOSIVES. |
| PLACER LES EXPLOSIFS AUX 4 ENDROITS STRATEGIQUES DE L'ANTENNE. | PLACE THE EXPLOSIVES AT FOUR STRATEGIC POINTS ONTHE ANTENNA. |
| S'ENFUIRE DE LA BASE MORPH AVANT L'EXPLOSION. | GET AWAY FROM THE MORPH BASE BEFORE THE EXPLOSION. |
| RENDEZ-VOUS AVEC YANN, LE CHEF DE LA SECURITE. | RENDEZVOUS WITH YANN, THE CHIEF OF SECURITY. |
| SE RENDRE EN HAUT DE L'IMMEUBLE POUR RENCONTRER LE MYSTERIEUX CONTACT. | GET TO THE TOP OF THE BUILDING TO FIND THE MYSTERIOUS CONTACT. |
| NEUTRALISER TOUS LES SABOTEURS. | NEUTRALISE ALL THE SABOTEURS. |
| DESAMORCER LES QUATRE BOMBES. | DISARM THE FOUR BOMBS. |
| TRAVERSER L'IMMEUBLE DE LA POLICE POUR INFILTRER LA BASE MORPH. | GO THROUGH THE POLICE BUILDING TO INFILTRATE THE MORPH BASE. |
| RETROUVER LA PERSONNE DETECTEE PAR RAGHN. | FIND THE PERSON RAGHN DETECTED. |
| S'ECHAPPER DE LA PRISON MORPH. | ESCAPE FROM THE MORPH PRISON. |
| DELIVRER LES SAVANTS RETENUS CAPTIFS. | RESCUE THE SCIENTISTS BEING HELD CAPTIVE. |
| SABOTER LE SUPER MISSILE POUR EN EMPECHER LE LANCEMENT. | SABOTAGE THE SUPER-MISSILE TO PREVENT ITS LAUNCH. |
| S'ENFUIR AVANT L'ARIVEE DE LA PATROUILLE MORPH. | GET OUT BEFORE THE MORPH PATROL ARRIVES. |
| ESCORTER LE PROFESSEUR BROOKS JUSQU'A UN ENDROIT SUR. | ESCORT PROFESSOR BROOKS TO A SAFE PLACE. |
| EN ATTENTE D'INFOR-MATIONS | WAITING FOR DATA |
| ENGLISH | |
| FRANÇAIS | |
| DEUTSCH | |
| ESPAÑOL | |
| ITALIANO | |
| EN MAINTENANT LA PRESSION SUR LA TOUCHE `B' ET EN APPUYANT SUR LA CROIX DE DIRECTION VERS LE `HAUT', JE PEUX FAIRE UN PETIT SAUT QUI ME PERMET DE PASSER AU-DESSUS DE CERTAINS OBSTACLES. | NOW, BY PRESSING THE `B' BUTTON AND PUSHING `UP' ON THE DIRECTIONAL PAD, I CAN DO A SMALL JUMP THAT LETS ME PASS OVER CERTAIN OBSTACLES. |
| POUR S'ACCROCHER A UNE PLATEFORME SITUEE LOIN DEMOI EN HAUTEUR, IL ME SUFFITDE COURIR SANS MAINTENIR LATOUCHE `AVANT' DE LA CROIX DE DIRECTION, ET J'EFFECTUERAI UN SAUT AUTOMATIQUE! | TO HANG FROM A PLATFORM SITUATED HIGH ABOVE ME, ALL I HAVE TO DO IS RUN WITHOUT HOLDING THE `FORWARD' BUTTON ON THE DIRECTIONAL PAD, AND I'LL JUMP AUTOMATICALLY ! |
| JE DOIS MAINTENIR LE BOUTON `B' ET APPUYER SUR LES FLECHES `HAUT' ET `BAS' DE LA CROIX DE DIRECTION POUR FAIRE BOUGER CET ASCENSEUR! | I HAVE TO HOLD THE `B' BUTTON AND PRESS `UP' AND `DOWN' ON THE DIRECTIONAL PAD TO MOVE THIS LIFT ! |
| SI JE LA LANCE AVEC `L', CETTE PIERRE POURRAIT ME SERVIR A DETOURNER L'ATTENTION D'UN ADVERSAIRE VERS SON POINT DE CHUTE! | IF I THROW IT WITH `L', THIS STONE COULD HELP ME DISTRACT AN ENEMY'S ATTENTION TOWARDS THE PLACE WHERE IT FALLS ! |
| IL ME FAUT UNE CARTE MAGNETIQUE POUR OUVRIR LA PORTE... | I NEED A MAGNETIC CARD TO OPEN THE GATE... |
| UNE GRENADE ! EN LA LANÇANT AVEC `L', JE POURRAIS ME DEBARRASSER D'UN GRAND NOMBRE D'ADVERSAIRE D'UN COUP! | A GRENADE ! THROWING IT WITH `L', I COULD GET RID OF A LARGE NUMBER OF ENEMIES IN ONE GO! |
| VOILA UNE CELLULE D'ENERGIE... SI JE LA PLACE DANS UNE BORNE ELECTRIQUE, JE VAIS POUVOIR RETABLIR LECOURANT DANS UN INTERRUPTEUR... | HERE'S AN ENERGY CELL... IF I PLACE IT IN AN ELECTRIC TERMINAL, I'LL BE ABLE TO RESTORE THE CURRENT IN A SWITCH... |
| EN PLAÇANT UN OBJET APPROPRIE DANS CETTE BORNE, JE PEUX LE RECHARGER. | BY PLACING A SUITABLE OBJECT IN THIS TERMINAL, I CAN RECHARGE IT. |
| EN APPUYANT SUR LA TOUCHE `B' DEVANT UN INTERRUPTEUR, JE PEUX APPELER UN ASCENSEUR OU DESACTIVER DES PIEGES. | BY PRESSING THE `B' BUTTON IN FRONT OF A SWITCH, I CAN CALL A LIFT OR DEACTIVATE TRAPS. |
| EN APPUYANT SUR `B' DEVANT CETTE BORNE DE SAUVEGARDE, LA PARTIE EST ENREGISTREE POUR LA DUREE DU NIVEAU EN COURS. | PRESS `B' IN FRONT OF THIS SAVE TERMINAL, AND PROGRESS IS RECORDED FOR THE DURATION OF THE CURRENT LEVEL. |
| VOILA UN ENDROIT QUI ME SEMBLE PARFAIT POUR POSERLES EXPLOSIFS... | HERE'S A SPOT THAT LOOKS PERFECT FOR LAYING THE EXPLOSIVES... |
| UNE CARTE MAGNETIQUE! UTILISEE SUR LA BORNE ADEQUATE, ELLE ME PERMETTRA D'OUVRIR UNE PORTE... | A MAGNETIC CARD! USED ON A MATCHING TERMINAL, IT'LL LET ME OPEN A GATE... |
| POUR CONNAITRE L'UTILITE D'UN OBJET, IL ME SUFFIT D'APPELER L'INVENTAIRE, DE ME POSITIONNER SUR L'OBJET ET D'APPUYER SUR LE BOUTON `A'. | TO LEARN HOW TO USE AN OBJECT, JUST CALL UP THE INVENTORY, POSITION ME OVER THE OBJECT AND PRESS THE `A' BUTTON. |
| POUR FRANCHIR DE GRANDS PRECIPICES, IL FAUT PRENDREDE L'ELAN EN COURANT AVEC LE BOUTON `B' ET MAINTENIR LA FLECHE DE LA CROIX DE DIRECTION VERS LE `HAUT' LORSQU'ON SE TROUVE AU BORD DE LA PLATEFORME. | TO CROSS LARGE PRECIPICES,TAKE A RUN UP AND DASH WITH THE `B' BUTTON, AND HOLD `UP' ON THE DIRECTIONAL PAD AS YOU FIND YOURSELF AT THE EDGE OF THE PLATFORM. |
| SI J'INSERE UNE CELLULE D'ENERGIE PLEINE DANS CETTE BORNE ELECTRIQUE, LE COURANT SERA RETABLI... | IF I INSERT A FULL ENERGY CELL INTO THIS ELECTRIC TERMINAL, THE CURRENT WILL BE RESTORED... |
| IL SEMBLE QUE CET INTERRUPTEUR NE SOIT PAS ALIMENTE EN ELECTRICITE; JE NE PEUX PAS M'EN SERVIR POUR LE MOMENT... | IT SEEMS THIS SWITCH ISN'T SUPPLIED WITH ELECTRICITY; I CAN'T MAKE USE OF IT FOR THE MOMENT... |
| RECHARGE DE L'OBJET TERMINEE. | RECHARGING OF THE OBJECT IS COMPLETE. |
| ZONE ELECTRIQUE DESACTIVEE. | ELECTRICAL ZONE DEACTIVATED. |
| FLAMMES DESACTIVEES. | FLAMES DEACTIVATED. |
| COURANT RETABLI. | CURRENT RESTORED. |
| EXPLOSIFS ARMES. | EXPLOSIVES ARMED. |
| SAUVEGARDE TERMINEE. | SAVE COMPLETE. |
| UTILISEE SUR LA BORNE ADEQUATE, ELLE PERMET D'OUVRIR UNE PORTE... | USED IN A MATCHING TERMINAL, IT LETS ME OPEN A GATE... |
| IL PERMET D'ABSORBER LES IMPACTS, MAIS IL FAUT PRENDRE GARDE A CE QU'IL NE SOIT PAS COMPLETEMENT DECHARGE ... | IT LETS ME ABSORB IMPACTS, BUT YOU NEED TO TAKE CARE THAT THE CHARGE DOESN'T RUN OUT... |
| UN CHAMP DE FORCE QUI OFFRE UNE PROTECTION SUPPLEMENTAIRE CONTRE LES IMPACTS | A FORCE-FIELD THAT OFFERS SUPPLEMENTARY PROTECTION AGAINST IMPACTS. |
| EN LE LANÇANT AVEC LE BOUTON 'L', LES ENNEMIS AURONT L'ILLUSION DE ME VOIR EN FACE D'EUX... | WHEN IT'S THROWN WITH THE 'L' BUTTON, ENEMIES WILL HAVE THE ILLUSION OF SEEING ME IN FRONT OF THEM... [Thanks to Simon for a correction here.] |
| ALLO? | HELLO? |
| SI JE LA LANCE AVEC `L', CETTE PIERRE POURRAIT ME SERVIR A DETOURNER L'ATTENTION D'UN ADVERSAIRE VERS SON POINT DE CHUTE! | IF I THROW IT WITH `L', THIS STONE COULD HELP ME DISTRACT AN ENEMY'S ATTENTION TOWARDS THE PLACE WHERE IT FALLS ! |
| LORSQU'ELLE EST CHARGEE ET QUE JE LA PLACE DANS UNE BORNE ELECTRIQUE, ELLE PERMET RETABLIR LE COURANT DANS UN INTERRUPTEUR... | WHEN IT'S CHARGED AND I PLACE IT IN AN ELECTRIC TERMINAL, IT'LL LET ME RESTORE THE CURRENT IN A SWITCH... |
| LES SUPERS EXPLOSIFS QUI APPARTENAIENT AU COMMANDO... | THE SUPER-EXPLOSIVES BELONGING TO THE COMMANDO... |
| EN LA LANÇANT AVEC `L', JE POURRAIS ME DEBARRASSER D'UN GRAND NOMBRE D'ADVERSAIRE D'UN COUP! | THROWING IT WITH `L', I COULD GET RID OF A LARGE NUMBER OF ENEMIES IN ONE GO ! |
| JAMAIS ON A VU JAMAIS ON NE VERRA... | NEVER HAS ONE SEEN, NEVER WILL ONE SEE... [Apparently this is from a nursery rhyme; it isn't implemented in the prototype, so I don't know what to make of it.] |
| PERMET DE CONNAITRE L'OBJECTIF DE LA MISSION EN COURS... LE PARFAIT COMPAGNON DE L'AVENTURIER! | LETS ME KNOW THE CURRENT MISSION'S OBJECTIVE... THE PERFECT COMPANION FOR THE ADVENTURER ! |
| LOCALISE L'OBJECTIF DE LA MISSION EN COURS... | LOCATES THE CURRENT MISSION'S OBJECTIVE... |
| EN ORBITE AUTOUR DE LA TERRE, LE VAISSEAU MERE DE LA MANDRAGORE VEILLE PAISIBLEMENT SUR LES HABITANTS DU MONDE LIBRE, MAIS LA SITUATION A BORD EST LOIN D'ETRE AUSSI TRANQUILLE... | IN ORBIT AROUND THE EARTH, THE MANDRAGORE MOTHER SHIP SERENEL YKEEPS WATCH OVER THE INHABITANTSOF THE FREE WORLD, BUT THE SITUATION ON BOARD IS NOWHERE NEAR AS TRANQUIL... |
| `NOUS AVONS PERDU LE CONTACT AVEC UNE UNITE SPECIALE... ELLE A ETE ENVOYEE SUR TITANIA SUITE A UNE ALERTE DE CLASSE B DONNEE PAR UN DE NOS SATELLITES DE SURVEILLANCE...' | `WE'VE LOST CONTACT WITH A SPECIAL UNIT... HE WAS SENT ONTO TITANIA FOLLOWING A CLASS B ALERT FROM ONE OF OUR SURVEILLANCE SATELLITES...' |
| `DIVERSES INFORMATIONS REÇUES DEPUIS CONFIRMENT LA PRESENCE DE MORPHS DANS LE SECTEUR... DE PLUS, ON SIGNALE DE NOMBREUX FOYERS DE REBELLION PARMI LA POPULATION INDIGENE... LE DERNIER MESSAGE RADIO AVEC L'UNITE REMONTE A 2H/TU... LA LIAISON A ETE BRUTALEMENT INTERROMPUE... LES COORDONNEES RELEVEES LES SITUENT AUX ABORDS DE L'ANCIENNE USINE D'ATMOSPHERE.' | `VARIOUS NEWS RECEIVED SINCE CONFIRMS THE PRESENCE OF MORPHS IN THE SECTOR... MOREOVER, IT INDICATES A NUMBER OF OUTBREAKS OF REBELLION AMONGST THE INDIGENOUS POPULATION... THE LAST RADIO CONTACT WITH THE UNIT DATES TO 2H/UT... THE LINK WAS BRUTALLY DISCONNECTED... THE RECORDED CO-ORDINATES ARE SITUATED AT THE APPROACH TO THE OLD ATMOSPHERE FACTORY.' |
| `MESSIEURS, JE NE VOUS PRESENTE PAS LE FAMEUX AGENT CONRAD... C'EST LE SPECIALISTE DES MISSIONS SENSIBLES. IL A ORDRE DE RETROUVER LA TRACE DU COMMANDO DISPARU. | `GENTLEMEN, THE FAMOUS AGENT CONRAD NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION... [That's my best guess, anyway.] HE'S THE SPECIALIST IN SENSITIVE MISSIONS. HE HAS ORDERS TO FIND THE TRAIL OF THE VANISHED COMMANDO. |
| BIEN JOUE CONRAD, UNE MENACE DE MOINS DE CE COTE DE LA GALAXIE! MAIS PAS LE TEMPS DE SE REPOSER, TU DOIS TE RENDRE SUR NEW EDEN POUR RENCONTRER YANN, NOTRE CONTACT. ETANT LE CHEF DE LA SECURITE DE LA VILLE, IL A DES INFORMATIONS IMPORTANTES A NOUS TRANSMETTRE DE TOUTE URGENCE. | WELL PLAYED, CONRAD. ONE LESS MENACE ON THIS SIDE OF THE GALAXY! BUT NO TIME TO REST, YOU HAVE TO GET TO NEW EDEN TO MEET YANN, YOUR CONTACT. BEING THE CITY SECURITY CHIEF, HE HAS IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO TRANSMIT TO US WITH ALL URGENCY. |
| SUR NEW EDEN ? TRES BIEN, JE M'Y REND TOUT DE SUITE ! | ON NEW EDEN ? GREAT, I'LL BE THERE RIGHT AWAY ! |
| EUH BONJOUR, C'EST VOUS L'AGENT CONRAD? JE SUIS LE PROFESSEUR SALISBURY. JE CHERCHE A ENTRER EN CONTACT AVEC LA MANDRAGORE DEPUIS UN MOMENT DEJA, MAIS LAISSEZ-MOI PLUTOT VOUS RACONTER MON HISTOIRE: JE TRAVAILLAIS DANS LE SECRET POUR UN LABORATOIRE PRIVE SUR UNE EXPERIENCE DE GENETIQUE QUI AVAIT POUR BUT DE MELER DE L'ADN HUMAIN A CELUI D'UN MORPH... TERRIFIE MAIS A LA FOIS FASCINE PAR LE PROJET, J'AI FINALEMENT REUSSI A LE MENER A BIEN EN UTILISANT MON PROPRE ADN, ET J'AI AINSI OBTENU UNE CREATURE HYBRIDE DU NOM DE RAGHN-47, UN CLONE QUI NE COMMUNIQUE QUE PAR TELEPATHIE. DEVANT LA REUSSITE DU PROJET, CEUX QUI TRAVAILLAIENT AVEC MOI TOMBERENT LEURS MASQUES, DEVOILANT AINSI LEUR TERRIBLE NATURE: DES MORPHS! PRIS DE PANIQUE, ET NE VOULANT PAS QUE MA CREATION TOMBE ENTRE DE MAUVAISES MAINS; J'AI REUSSI A M'ECHAPPER AVEC L'HYBRIDE GRACE A SES DONS PEU COMMUNS ET A SA LOYAUTE ENVERS MOI VENANT DE MON PROPRE ADN | UH, HELLO, ARE YOU AGENT CONRAD? I'M PROFESSOR SALISBURY. I'VE BEEN LOOKING TO GET IN CONTACT WITH MANDRAGORE FOR A WHILE ALREADY, BUT LET ME TELL YOU MY STORY FIRST: I'VE BEEN WORKING IN SECRET FOR A PRIVATE LABORATORY, ON A GENETIC EXPERIMENT WITH THE AIM OF MIXING HUMAN DNA WITH THAT OF A MORPH... TERRIFIED BUT AT THE SAME TIME FASCINATED BY THE PROJECT, I FINALLY SUCCEEDED IN BRINGING IT TO FRUITION USING MY OWN DNA, AND SO I OBTAINED A HYBRID CREATURE NAMED RAGHN-47, A CLONE THAT COMMUNICATES ONLY THROUGH TELEPATHY. PRIOR TO THE PROJECT'S SUCCESS, MY COLLEAGUES DROPPED THEIR DISGUISES, REVEALING THEIR TERRIBLE NATURE: THEY WERE MORPHS! PANIC- STRICKEN, AND NOT WANTING MY CREATION TO FALL INTO EVIL HANDS, I MANAGED TO ESCAPE WITH THE HYBRID THANKS TO ITS UNUSUAL GIFT AND ITS LOYALTY TOWARDS ME, COMING AS IT DID FROM MY OWN DNA. |
| ? | ? |
| TU AS MONTRE UNE BELLE DETERMINATION, MAIS L'HUMANITE N'EST PAS SAUVE POUR AUTANT. IL RESTE ENCORE TROP D'ENNEMIS. TU DOIS RECOMMENCER EN MODE `NORMAL' | YOU'VE DISPLAYED A FINE DETERMINATION, BUT HUMANITY ISN'T REALLY SAFE. THERE ARE STILL TOO MANY ENEMIES LEFT. YOU MUST RESTART ON `NORMAL' MODE. |
| TU ES L'AGENT LE PLUS DOUE DE LA CONFEDERATION. TU ES LE HEROS DE MILLIARD D'INDIVIDUS... LA MENACE EST STOPPEE, MAIS POUR COMBIEN DE TEMPS ? UN MESSAGE DES MORPHS A ETE INTERCEPTE. IL DEMANDAIT DES RENFORTS IMPORTANTS AU CAS OU LEUR PLAN ECHOUERAIT... UNE ARMADA MORPH EST DONC EN MARCHE, MAIS ELLE N'ATTEINDRA PAS NOTRE SYSTEME SOLAIRE AVANT QUELQUES ANNEES! IL Y A PLUSIEURS FAÇONS D'ATTENDRE LA SUITE... SOIT ATTENDRE SAGEMENT LES NOUVELLES AVENTURES DE CONRAD, SOIT RECOMMENCER LE JEU EN MODE DIFFICILE... DANS LES DEUX CAS: BON COURAGE... | YOU ARE THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED AGENT OF THE CONFEDERATION. YOU ARE THE HERO OF A BILLION INDIVIDUALS... THE THREAT IS STOPPED, BUT FOR HOW LONG ? A MESSAGE HAS BEEN INTERCEPTED FROM THE MORPHS. IT CALLED FOR CRITICAL REINFORCEMENTS IN CASE THER PLAN SHOULD FAIL... SO A MORPH ARMADA IS ON THE WAY, BUT IT WON'T REACH OUR SOLAR SYSTEM FOR SOME YEARS! THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO AWAIT THE FOLLOW-UP... EITHER WISELY AWAIT THE NEW ADVENTURES OF CONRAD, OR RESTART THE GAME IN `DIFFICULT' MODE... IN THE SECOND CASE: BON COURAGE... |
| MERCI DE VOTRE TENACITE. NOUS ESPERONS QUE VOUS AVEZ PASSE DES BONS MOMENTS. A BIENTOT POUR DE NOUVELLES AVENTURES! | THANKS FOR YOUR TENACITY. WE HOPE YOU'VE HAD A GOOD TIME. SEE YOU SOON FOR NEW ADVENTURES! |
| INCROYABLE, QUELLE DEXTERITE!! LA MOTIVATION EST UN FACTEUR ESSENTIEL POUR SE SURPASSER N'EST-CE PAS ? A BIENTOT POUR DE NOUVELLES AVENTURES! | INCREDIBLE, SUCH DEXTERITY!! MOTIVATION IS AN ESSENTIAL FACTOR IN SURPASSING YOURSELF, ISN'T IT ? SEE YOU SOON FOR NEW ADVENTURES! |
I agree, of course, that the latest version of the State's mania for vetting adds insult (and risk) to injury, but it chimes wrongly with me that this gets presented as something new, a break with how things were done until recently:
The main result of mass vetting is to turn good people away from helping children: it breeds suspicion and erodes the informal relationships that are so key to children’s happiness (and indeed, their protection). As [Philip] Pullman says, mass vetting 'corrupts a child's view of the world', making children think that 'the basic mode is not of trust but suspicion… It assumes that the default position of one human being to another is predatory rather than kindness.' What kind of adults will these children become?
The way I remember it, getting on for two decades ago children's education about personal safety was based on the convenient coincidence that 'stranger' rhymes with 'danger': in short, a presupposition of suspicion, albeit a touch less extreme and rather less State-mediated. The current generation of officials is promulgating the idea that people are dangerous until cleared through investigation because it's basically what was drilled into them during childhood; presumably children just aren't expected to be able to grasp anything more epistemically nuanced than a safe/dangerous dichotomy. We've been corrupting children's views of the world for so long that some of them already aren't children anymore.
...news comes that Parliament is pretty keen on it right now—predictably, in practically the least democratic form possible.
Anne Begg said: "The choices local and national political parties make as to the candidates who will represent them at the next election will be central to shaping what the next House of Commons looks like, and the extent to which it is genuinely changed.
"Increasing the diversity of MPs - having more women MPs, more black and minority ethnic MPs and disabled MPs, who can speak in our debates with the authority of lived experience - would make the House of Commons a more legitimate, credible and effective legislature.
I take it as basically obvious that (on procedural grounds independent of the desirability of any possible composition of the legislature) this is an insult to meaningful electoral choice, etc.—what I want to zero in on this this strange usage of the word 'legitimate'. Your standard conception of political legitimacy in a democratic system, as I understand it, is something of an all-or-nothing affair: either an authority has it, by virtue of being put in place by the free consent of the governed, or it lacks it, irrespective of all other considerations. You don't get to be more legitimate than a merely elected authority by being elected and having politically interesting experiences to draw on. (I'm aware that such a conception of 'representation' exists, but there's no reason to consider the demos beholden to prioritise it. The whole point of a free, democratic election is that you don't get to turn around and tell the electorate they got it wrong.)
So the notion of legitimacy is being undermined here—but I wonder what work it's actually supposed to be doing in the first place. Governments exist; Hobbes goes to considerable lengths to contend that anarchy is an unstable state of affairs, and it's possible to read him (if we employ a conception of the 'natural' amenable to the social sciences, which perhaps would best fit with his materialism) as saying that sovereignty emerges naturally from the State of Nature: like the bureaucracy in Lieutenant Kizhe, in which not even the Tsar really knows what's going on, political authority simply subsists as an emergent feature of human behaviour. (Leviathan then just does the work of explaining why it's rational to submit to the Sovereign.)
On this basis, we end up with something most closely resembling an expressivist account of legitimacy: to say the government is legitimate is to say you don't think it should be deposed. 'Democratic legitimacy' then looks like an anti-legitimist theory, because it asserts that the populace can change the government for whatever reason it pleases; and I wonder whether getting rid of the notion that we confer 'legitimacy' upon our legislators like an archbishop anointing a monarch might actually be good for political practice. (How could a natural outgrowth rule legitimately? How could it rule illegitimately? Who cares?—if people dislike it enough they'll hit it until it coalesces into some other form.) No wonder Begg seems confused about legitimacy.
Barely a week after a conference on cultural heritage in Durham, news coincidentally gets out that the city will be bidding to become 'U.K. City of Culture', raising the alarming spectre of even more tourists replacing the undergrads. during the Summer. We're threatened with 'a completely transforming effect', although it seems the actual idea is to prevent economic transformation in the form of job losses, so maybe there would be positive aspects. It would have been nice to see a less thoroughgoing focus on culture as an economic engine exhibited in the article, though; I doubt the builders of the famous Durham Cathedral ever thought of it as a Mammon machine.
The C.E.C.H. conference was pronounced a success, by the way, with the only real downside being the awful weather. (A good thing, since the grapevine has it that some people on the Board of Studies think the Philosophy Dept. is too diverse. The threat can probably be fought off, since diversity is a distinctive selling point of Durham philosophy, and moreover the Dept. is having a good year, accounting for most of the research funding awarded within the entire faculty—and being a participating department in a successful conference can only help prevent any chinks emerging in our armour.) Since I was speaking in the same time slot as the rather better established Associate Professor Cornelius Holtorf, my select audience consisted almost wholly of philosophers and mostly of Durham philosophers, but the paper was well received and I got some good questions.
If you know the title screen of the final version of SaGa Frontier, you'll notice that this one from a pre-release demo is somewhat different:
There's been speculation on GameFAQs that the demo's RegionMap might have traces of deleted regions, but while there are differences from the final version...
...I regrettably have to report that there are no signs of lost regions, although a comparison of TIMs between versions shows that RB-3 was originally called what I think is 最終兵器—'ultimate weapon', or at any rate that's how it was translated for Saikano. The reason the demo's REGION.OUT file is larger is that although it's missing a few textures present in the final version, it does include several graphics that aren't actually used in either version but seem to have been intended for Baccarat.
I wonder whether this happens elsewhere, or whether Sunderland has an especial taste for misery memoirs: the branch of W.H. Smith there has a shelf header reading Tragic Life Stories, while Waterstone's favours Painful Lives.
Back when it was Ottakar's, that shop had a shelf header saying Erotica/Astronomy, which I always found a rather beautiful piece of accidental poetry. Painful Lives isn't really an adequate successor.
Strange and sinister conceptions of 'professionalism' are apparently taking root:
Recent research at Durham University proposed a new method of measuring students' fitness to practise called the Conscientiousness Index.
The study, published in the journal Academic Medicine, outlines criteria against which students are scored to indicate their level of professionalism.
The index, which was tested on 200 medical students at Durham, allowed students to pick up points for activities such as following instructions at registration, submitting Criminal Records Bureau checks to the university on time and attending classes.
Points were lost for handing in assignments late and reading but failing to respond promptly to emails from academic staff.
The researchers evidently forgot not only any more elvated sense of what a professional ethos might look like, but also that other thing about professionals: that by definition they work for remuneration. Testing on students rather warps the whole idea, unless you measure variations in response with the handsomeness of financial incentives on offer.
Mario Tennis: Power Tour has debug rooms reminiscent of the first Golden Sun's, although they seem to have been partly disabled.
Using Atrius's TLA editor reveals a couple of strings in English that refer to a debug menu; I don't know whether they mean the rooms or a menu that has yet to be found.
There's also a weird background that looks either highly incomplete or plain glitchy; maybe it's lacking the proper tile data.
The significance of this case lay in the fact that the matter in question was wholly written... Given the extreme difficulty of achieving a successful prosecution of the written word under the [Obscene Publications] Act, the prosecuting authorities have for many years fought shy of bringing such a case.... Had this prosecution succeeded, we might have been looking forward to a world in which bookshops were stripped of titles deemed obscene by the police and the prosecuting authorities, and in which anyone based in the UK and seeking to publish an erotic story on the Internet would now be doing so in a state of considerable anxiety.
John Ozimek and Julian Petley, writing a few days ago
Insert the following new Clause—
Possession of extreme pornographic writings
(1) It is an offence for a person to be in possession of extreme pornographic writing...
Proposed amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill presently tabled in the Lords
Not the most likely amendment to get through, not least because of the intake of breath it would incite among respectable publishers, but a very sickly one which I should love to be able to believe was intended as a reductio...
A couple of days ago I got the timetable for the inaugural conference at the C.E.C.H. (formerly D.U.C.E.A.C.H. when it was in the planning stages; I'm told University Executive Committee thought the word 'archæology' threatened to tie the Centre too closely to the Archæology Dept.). It seems there won't actually be that many philosophers (or at any rate, people who identify themselves academically as philosophers) speaking: James Young as a keynote speaker, Emeritus Professor Cooper on the preservation of ruins, Janna Thompson as part of a panel discussion on human remains, and Proctor and myself from the Durham postgrad. cadre, meaning that unless some philosophers just aren't marked as such in their institutional details, we're 3/5 homegrown; though at any rate Cooper always lends an air of distinction, and Young and Thompson are both people whose work I make use of, so I'm not grumbling. [Update: as it turned out, once philosophers not explicitly listed as such were taken into account it was more like 3/8.] Archæology seems to be the most numerous discipline (Lord Renfrew is giving a guest lecture, which I gather is something of a coup for the Centre), followed by law, and then we have various people from other backgrounds, such as curatorship and environmental sciences. In interdisciplinary terms it should be a decent mix.
Right now I'm working on my paper (not much that hasn't previously appeared here in note form; I'm largely returning to my social epistemology topic). I've just about recovered from my first experiences of marking exam scripts, and marvelling at how few people have legible handwriting. The oddest script I got ended with a drawing of a cat's face and the word 'end' in Japanese, French and English on the final leaf, with a huge arrow on the opposite to make sure I didn't miss it; that was also the script that sought to explain Aristotle's conception of perfect friendship in terms of Xena and Gabrielle. Meanwhile, I hear this year's Durham-Bergen Conference will be even more cash-strapped than last; I'm frankly glad I'm not involved in organising this one.
With impeccable timing, the C.E.C.H. conference opens not only soon after the Acropolis Museum, but even sooner after news that the Heritage Protection Bill has dropped off the parliamentary schedule again...
