12/4/2023 0 Comments Pixelmator pro automation![]() To address this issue, Smart Deband intelligently removes color artifacts and increases the color depth of your photos to 16 bits per channel – this is equivalent to the color depth of a RAW image. Since formats like JPEG compress images to retain perceived quality while keeping file sizes small, color artifacts are likely to pop up only during the editing process. For example, enhancing the blue in the sky might end up in patchy blue areas rather than a smooth gradient, even if the JPEG seemed perfectly fine before making the adjustments. By using Smart Deband, you’ll also enhance these smaller gradient areas, boosting the overall quality of your photos.Įditing photos in compressed formats like JPEG can also be tricky as even minor color adjustments can lead to unexpected color artifacts. While gradients in areas such as the sky are more evident, many subtler gradients in your photos might go unnoticed at first. The new Smart Deband feature effortlessly transforms these color bands into smooth gradients, keeping the rest of the photo detailed and sharp. This is commonly seen in low-quality photos with gradients, such as landscapes where the sky dominates the photo or portraits with vibrant gradient backgrounds. ![]() And, to celebrate the back to school season, for a limited time, you can get Photomator and Pixelmator Pro for more than 30% off.Ĭolor banding appears as distinct bands of color, transitioning abruptly from one shade to another instead of colors blending smoothly. This incredible new feature lets you seamlessly enhance your JPEGs or other photos shot in lossy formats to near-RAW quality. Photomator 3.1 introduces the advanced Smart Deband feature, which enhances photo quality by removing color banding and increasing color depth with just a click. ($39.99 new from Pixelmator and the Mac App Store, free update, 200 MB, release notes, macOS 10.5 days ago Pixelmator Team announces Back to School sale and brings one-click Smart Deband feature to Photomator Normally priced $39.99, Pixelmator Pro is currently on sale for $27.99. Pixelmator Pro 1.8 also now enhances the Repair and Clone tools to work non-destructively with raw layers enables you to reset all changes made to raw layers with the Transform, Repair, and Clone tools improves responsiveness and brushstroke start-up in the Repair tool enables you to disable the two-finger canvas rotation gesture fixes a bug that prevented editing text inside path text layers and ensures scrollbars work correctly when drawing shapes with the Pen tool. You can now write scripts using over 60 application-specific commands-together with all the standard AppleScript terms-and take advantage of automation-specific commands to detect faces, detect QR codes, and replace text. The Pixelmator Team has issued version 1.8 of its Pixelmator Pro image editing app, nicknamed Lynx, bringing support for AppleScript with an extensive and full-featured scripting dictionary created in collaboration with automation guru Sal Soghoian (see “ Sal Soghoian’s Automation Legacy,” 7 June 2018). #1669: OS security updates, ambiguity of emoji, small business payments with Melio, Twitter now X.#1670: Arc Web browser hits 1.0 release, “Do You Use It?” polls about Apple features.#1671: Apple Q3 2023 earnings, new Beats headphones and earbuds, Stage Manager adoption rate, do you use Spotlight?.1672: The hidden power of Google Sheets, Launchpad usage levels, Emergency SOS via satellite in the Maui fires, do you use proxy icons?.1673: macOS 13.5.1, watchOS 9.6.1, copy data from Web tables, what Spotlight is used for, do you use Apple’s Weather app?.
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12/4/2023 0 Comments Rescue the perishing![]() The headmaster of the school, however, wanted her to give up her poetry, regarding it as a frivolous thing to spend time on. She was also able, while there, to learn the piano and organ and the works of Longfellow and the English poets inspired her own gift of writing poetry. She went, and thrived on the literature, history, philosophy and science she learned at the school. But Fanny was adamant she so wanted an education. Poor Mrs Crosby struggled with the idea of letting her 15-year-old daughter go and live away from home. ![]() Then someone told her mother about a school for the blind which had been established in New York. She stored in her mind long portions of Scripture – even as a child she was able to repeat most of the New Testament, the Pentateuch, Ruth, many of the Psalms and parts of the Prophets.īut she yearned to go to school and learn like other children. She had a believing grandmother, who described the birds and the stars, and also read her the Bible. But as she grew older, she began to write poetry about the Lord Jesus, and the way we must see Him with eyes of faith. When she was 5 her mother took her to New York City to see a doctor who told her Fanny would never be able to see. Mrs Crosby would draw word-pictures for her, and in this way Fanny developed a love of nature and a way of describing things in words. But it seems that Fanny was a happy and content little girl even so: she would sit with her mother in the countryside, and ask her to describe the things she could not see. A second sadness was that Mr Crosby died when his baby daughter was only one year old, so Fanny’s mother had the responsibility of caring for her blind child alone. He gave her poultices, which was a tragic mistake – their effect was to remove her sight permanently. She consulted an apothecary (precursors to our modern chemists). When she was only 6 weeks old her mother noticed that her eyes were sore and red-rimmed, and that she cried a good deal and tried to rub them with her little fists. Her Early Blindness ⤒ □įanny Crosby was born in 1820 in the countryside of New York State. Knowledge of Fanny’s songs and their context helps us learn some very useful things about the history of revival songs, and where that tradition has led us today. The second reason is that her particular form of songwriting is part of a long tradition of revival music in America. Fanny was blind, and meeting this challenge shaped her life, her faith and her life’s work. She is interesting for two reasons, the first of which is her unusual life. Fanny Crosby is one of the best-known women hymn writers of the nineteenth century. ![]() In October 2011 Webroot launched a new generation of their products, using Prevx cloud technology. The SecureAnywhere products launched on October 4, 2011, and the mobile security offerings were expanded to include the iOS mobile operating system. ![]() The app is designed to protect against viruses from apps, threats delivered via web browsing and against the threats created when mobile devices are lost. Webroot Mobile Security for Android was launched on Apfor smartphones and tablets, with a free basic version and a paid premium version. In September 2010 Webroot opened a regional office in Leidschendam, The Netherlands which is primarily aimed at distributing Webroot's enterprise security-as-a-service (SaaS) products to businesses. In July 2010 Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was released, including antivirus and antispyware protection, firewall capabilities, online back-up, password management licensed from LastPass, protection against identity theft and credit card monitoring for US customers. In May 2010 Webroot announced plans to open its international headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. In August 2009, Webroot appointed a new president and CEO, former CEO of Wily Technology. The international release of the security suite followed in early 2009. In October 2008, Webroot launched its first consumer security suite, Webroot Internet Security Essentials, in the United States. Webroot entered the enterprise market in 2004 with the launch of Webroot Spy Sweeper Enterprise, which combined Spy Sweeper with technology that enables IT administrators to deploy antispyware protection across an entire network. In October 2007, Webroot AntiVirus with AntiSpyware and Desktop Firewall was released with added firewall protection feature. The company introduced antivirus protection with the launch of Spy Sweeper with AntiVirus in 2006. In 2002, Webroot launched a spyware blocking and removal product called Webroot Spy Sweeper. Investors include venture capital firms such as Technology Crossover Ventures, Accel Partners and Mayfield. Webroot was founded on 5 July 1997 when Steven Thomas and his girlfriend Boulderite Kristen Tally launched Webroot's first commercial product, a trace removal agent called Webroot Window Washer. The company was founded in Boulder, Colorado, US, and is now headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, and has US operations in San Mateo and San Diego, and globally in Australia, Austria, Ireland, Japan and the United Kingdom. is an American privately-held cybersecurity software company that provides Internet security for consumers and businesses. ( June 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. ![]() A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. 12/4/2023 0 Comments Linguistic anthropology definition![]() In circumventing the constraints of the written word, such communities seek alternative ways of transmitting ideas, both orally and through other technologies (Finnegan 2012 Turin et al. However, there are communities for whom literacy can be a less integral, sometimes even inappropriate, means for documenting and communicating language (Debenport 2015). Literacy is often presented as an ability with such transformative potential that becoming literate leads to a fundamental redefinition of an individual’s identity (Riemer 2008 Ahearn 2004). Scholars have highlighted how, for many of us, literacy represents an essential pathway to development and personal liberation that has the power to cure almost any social ill (Bialostok & Whitman 2006: 382-3 Street 1997: ). Literacy is such a central part of most people’s everyday lives that its ubiquity can be taken for granted. The increasing prevalence of digital technologies in all aspects of daily life have challenged earlier notions of literacy, inspiring anthropologists to investigate how people draw upon multiple modalities to encode and decode meaning, thereby fundamentally reshaping our understanding of what it means to ‘read and write’. Coming to recognise the marginalising power of standardised literacy, anthropology turned its attention to education.Īnthropologists and educators have become partners in research dedicated to developing pedagogical practices that draw upon the unique linguistic resources and practices that students bring with them into the classroom to cultivate inclusivity and empowerment. This movement sought to understand how cultural logics and norms informed the development of localised literacy practices, thus creating variations of ‘literacies’ which were themselves embedded within ideologies and structures of power relations. Initially dominated by technologically deterministic assertions that literacy was a tool for sociocultural and cognitive development, anthropology would later embrace the more culturally relativistic perspective advanced by the New Literacy Studies movement of the 1980s and 1990s. This entry tracks the development of literacy as a concept. Understood to be both a technology and a social practice, literacy has been the subject of anthropological inquiry since the late nineteenth century, with protracted debates about its effects on human consciousness and social life. Send us feedback about these examples.Literacy is a linguistic innovation characterised by the encoding and decoding of language into a system of visual signs whose relevance to daily life in most societies cannot be overstated. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'anthropology.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 21 July 2023 See More Laura Groch, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 July 2023 Professors of history, African American studies, anthropology, sociology, chemistry, English, art history, psychology, statistics and religion were among the signatories. Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, Students pursue courses, degrees and certificates in child development, economics, history, political science, anthropology, psychology, social ![]() Simon Romero,, 26 June 2023 Desert Sun Citing a budget shortfall, UC Berkeley was set to close the book on its anthropology library. ![]() Jeff Goodell, Time, 6 July 2023 Bernardo Arévalo, a professorial lawmaker with degrees in philosophy and anthropology, won 12 percent of the vote, with 98 percent of votes counted in Sunday’s first round, the electoral authority said Monday. Amanda Yeager, Baltimore Sun, 18 July 2023 Kevin Hunt, a professor of anthropology at Indiana University who studies human evolution, believes bipedalism likely evolved gradually, over a million years or so. in the 1980s to pursue a master’s degree in anthropology at Stanford University, is accustomed to the cultural exchange. Mary Hudetz, ProPublica, 20 July 2023 Stein, who moved to the U.S. Callie Holtermann, New York Times, 25 July 2023 Two decades ago, an anthropology professor at the University of Utah asked the National Science Foundation to fund research on Native American ancestors to determine when the cultivations of crops like corn first became prevalent in their cultures. Recent Examples on the Web The practice’s many adaptations - and its commercialization - can easily veer into the territory of being appropriative, said Fred Myers, a professor of anthropology at New York University who specializes in Indigenous groups in Western Australia. 12/3/2023 0 Comments Youtub studio![]() If you need these video editing features, you may need MiniTool MovieMaker, which is your best choice. Unfortunately, YouTube used to provide other video editing features in the past, such as rotating video, editing colors, adjusting lighting, etc., but these features have been terminated. When you’re done, click Save and then click Return to YouTube Studio. Click Edit beside Blur faces or Custom blurring.īlur Faces: The app will scan for faces and add blur automatically.Ĭustom blurring: You choose area to blur, and YouTube will move the boxes around the screen to continue to cover the object even if it moves within the video.Ĥ. Uploading may not be available with supervised experiences on YouTube. Use the instructions below to upload your videos from a computer or from a mobile device. YouTube will open the old Video Manager, since this feature hasn’t yet been implemented in YouTube Studio.ģ. You can upload videos to YouTube in a few easy steps. Open the video you want to edit in the YouTube Studio.Ģ. You can also use YouTube Studio to blur elements in the video like faces or license plates.ġ. How to Blur a Person or Object in the Video In the bar at the bottom of the screen, click Preview to see the change.Drag the blue bars to the right and left edge of the video timeline to set the start and endpoint of the video.Click the title of the video you want to edit.Click your profile at the top right of the screen and choose YouTube Studio.Īfter finishing the above steps, it’s time to edit your video. The official YouTube Studio app is the best way for you to understand and connect with the people in your community using the device that you always have with you. Navigate to YouTube in a browser and log in to your YouTube account.Ģ. Other features: Find other channel-level features that are still being redesigned in YouTube Studio.ġ.Monetization: (If eligible) Update merchandise and memberships settings.Comments: View and reply to comments on your videos.Analytics: Monitor the performance of your channel and videos with metrics and reports.Videos: Show an overview of your videos and livestreams.Dashboard: Get a high-level overview of recent activity on your channel, along with what’s new on YouTube.YouTube Studio is replacing Creator Studio and brings many changes and new features, which are divided into the following six sections. Here, you manage your channel, get insights that help you grow, and keep up to date with the latest news. YouTube Studio is the new home for creators. ![]() It offers a few simple video editing tools, like video trimming. If you don’t own a video editing program, you can do some simple editing in YouTube’s own video editor, called YouTube Studio. So how to make a compelling video? Use a video editor. With about 300 hours of new video content uploaded to YouTube every minute, it’s hard to stand out if your video doesn’t have characteristics. How to Blur a Person or Object in the Video.If you need more editing features, try MiniTool MovieMaker, a free YouTube editor released by MiniTool. YouTube Studio beta lets you edit YouTube videos in very basic ways, such as trimming the start and end points of a video as well as blurring faces and other objects. ![]() “I’ve not personally lost someone in such a violent way but I, and so many of my close friends, struggle with suicidal thoughts. I try to not think too much about the level of violence against trans people in both the UK and worldwide because it takes such an emotional toll when it’s hard enough just to live as an out trans person day to day. TDoR is set to take place on Saturday 20 November so the LGBT+ Network is raising awareness of the issues surrounding violence and intolerance towards transgender people in our local communities, across the country and internationally.Ī member of staff from UHMBT said: “It’s terrifying to think of how many of my trans siblings from across the world have been taken from us too soon. The LGBT+ Network at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) is marking international Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) by raising awareness of anti-transgender abuse. So, on Trans Day of Remembrance, whilst thinking of those trans and gender-diverse people who have died in the last 12 months, let us not forget the impact that their passing has had on us all.Content warning: Contains discussion of transphobia, murder and suicide. Discriminatory behaviour does not just impact negatively on the person on the receiving end, it has the capacity to tarnish society as a whole. For example, a higher proportion of trans respondents felt discriminated against at work in 2019 (36%) compared to 2012 (22%). ![]() In some areas of daily life, discrimination had reportedly got worse over the previous 7 years. According to a 2020 report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (‘FRA’), trans and intersex people reported experiencing hate-motivated violence and harassment more commonly than other LGBTI people. The report focused on results from a survey of LGBTI people across 30 European countries in 2019, including the UK, and included comparisons with a similar survey from 2012. In a 2017 survey, for example, 41% of trans people and 31% of non-binary people from across England, Scotland and Wales reported having experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in the last 12 months. Research has shown that many trans and gender-diverse people face discrimination, harassment and violence in their daily lives. When a life is taken, particularly when the person killed is from a marginalised community and the crime is motivated by hate, humanity is lessened. There is value in celebrating our shared humanity and the intrinsic worth of each person’s life. The nature of our existence in this world is relatively fragile. One person’s death is not just a personal loss on some level it affects us all. The message of Donne’s words is not so different. When those are unlawfully breached, we are all diminished. ![]() Considering what the world has been through over the past two years, including the Covid-19 pandemic and extreme weather events linked to climate change, the intertwined nature of our lives feels more prescient than ever.Īs lawyers working for a firm that specialises in protecting human rights, we understand that there are certain inherent rights and fundamental freedoms that everyone deserves, for example, the right to life. The underlying message of his words is, however, a salient reminder of the one thing that unites us all – our common humanity. Donne’s references to man and mankind may feel out of step with more inclusive contemporary terminology. The language used in the early 17th century does not always sit comfortably to readers in the 21st century. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee.” Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. ![]() If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. “No man is an island entire of itself every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. In 1624, John Donne, a metaphysical poet, published the following thoughts: Whether they were known to us or not, however, we are all impacted by the untimely deaths of those people being remembered on Saturday. For others, they may be commemorating the lives of people who they never met but whose passing has affected them. Perhaps a partner, family member, friend, colleague or neighbour. It is a day when, across the world, people will be remembering and honouring the lives of the trans and gender-diverse people who were reported murdered in the previous 12 months.įor some, they will be mourning a loved one who has died. This Saturday, 20th November 2021, is Trans Day of Remembrance. 12/3/2023 0 Comments Disney brave birthday cakes![]() The Supreme Court upheld the Act in Eldred v. The American copyright status of "Happy Birthday to You" began to draw more attention with the passage of the Copyright Term Extension Act in 1998. In the European Union, the copyright for the song expired on January 1, 2017. By one estimate, the song is the highest-earning single song in history. In February 2010, the royalty for a single use was US$700. Warner claimed that the United States copyright would not expire until 2030 and that unauthorized public performances of the song are illegal unless royalties are paid. In 1988, Warner/Chappell Music purchased the company owning the copyright for US$25 million, with the value of "Happy Birthday" estimated at US$5 million. The Summy Company registered a copyright in 1935, crediting authors Preston Ware Orem and Mrs. None of the early appearances of the "Happy Birthday to You" lyrics included credits or copyright notices. The combination of melody and lyrics in "Happy Birthday to You" first appeared in print in 1912. The sisters used "Good Morning to All" as a song that young children would find easy to sing. Patty Hill was a kindergarten principal in Louisville, Kentucky, developing teaching methods at the Little Loomhouse her sister Mildred was a pianist and composer. ![]() Warner Chappell Music had previously claimed copyright on the song in the US and collected licensing fees for its use in 2015, the copyright claim was declared invalid and Warner Chappell agreed to pay back $14 million in licensing fees. The song is in the public domain in the United States and the European Union. Hill in 1893, although the claim that the sisters composed the tune is disputed. The melody of "Happy Birthday to You" comes from the song " Good Morning to All", which has traditionally been attributed to American sisters Patty and Mildred J. ![]() The song's base lyrics have been translated into at least 18 languages. According to the 1998 Guinness World Records, it is the most recognized song in the English language, followed by " For He's a Jolly Good Fellow". " Happy Birthday to You", also known as " Happy Birthday", is a song traditionally sung to celebrate a person's birthday. Candles spelling "happy birthday", one of many types of birthday cake decorations that accompany this song 12/3/2023 0 Comments Cheese cutting board kitBefore that, he worked for seven years at a restaurant called Prune in New York City. He teaches classes at The Pantry in Seattle, classes about cooking with Filipino flavors and knife skills and how to roast a Peking duck. So I talked with a friend of mine who's a professional chef, and I asked him how he would respond to someone who stood in his face and was like, I hate salads. But I get that salads are not everyone's cup of tea. I like to make a big salad on Sundays and then eat it throughout the week. I went to see a health professional for some help, and one of the things we did was study my diet to find more ways to eat vegetables, which led me to salads. NORRIS: I got into salads because I've been struggling with my sleep. He's got ideas for salad haters and for salad enthusiasts who want to up their game. SEGARRA: On this episode of LIFE KIT, Kyle is going to teach us how to make a better salad. And then I actually can get the herby smells - cilantro and parsley. NORRIS: That, like, hit of the green onion, that, like, mellow intensity of that oniony smell. SEGARRA: Kyle is here to tell us that salads can be nutritious, affordable, easy to make, tasty and, dare I say, complex. It's red for some bright pop, and I love the crunch and the taste. I'm going to chop up this half a bell pepper. That was about half of a head of the red cabbage. NORRIS: And I'm going to chop up my cabbage. SEGARRA: But he has recently found himself enthusiastically making salads. ![]() ![]() My name's Kyle Norris, but my name should be Kyle Cheeseburger Norris because if you opened up my heart, you'd find a cheeseburger inside. Kyle Norris, who's a radio producer, would tend to agree with me. I don't know about you, but when I'm hungry, that is not what I'm fantasizing about. I'm thinking it was iceberg lettuce, maybe some shredded carrots from a bag, possibly a couple cherry tomatoes and, like, ranch dressing. ![]() I want you to think about the last time you got a side salad at a restaurant. 12/3/2023 0 Comments Muse headband review 2018The Muse 2 is designed for meditation, and you can use it during the day to relax your mind while meditating. Then, it offers insight into what all of this activity means, helping you meditate or sleep more effectively. You wear the headband, and it uses sensors to track your heart-rate, breathing, and brain activity. Muse is a multi-sensor meditation and sleep device offering real-time feedback based on various biological information. You can also add an annual subscription to your purchase to enhance your experience. Muse provides just enough encouragement to help me meditate regularly, so I can rediscover meditation’s rewards: reduced anxiety and increased focus.Muse is available in multiple models, including the Muse 2 ($250) and Muse S ($400). But showing up with my fellow students on a regular basis to earn a little college credit was also a game. It may seem silly to make meditation a game–gathering points and advancing though levels by doing something as simple as sitting in quiet contemplation. If I let my praise go, the birds come back again. Of course if I start to think, “Right on, now there are birds, good job,” then the birds fade away and the waves pick up again, which is exactly what should happen. If I manage to keep up a long stretch of quiet meditation, the soundscape plays the sound of birds chirping in the distance. Finally, I let go of apologizing to myself, and – reward! - the waves return to gentle lapping at the shore. I let go of my frustration and the waves get even quieter. So Muse creates a calming feedback loop: I recognize the trap, calm down, and the waves get quiet. If the waves start to pick up, and I berate myself, “Oh, no! I’m thinking about work now? I’m so stupid!” The waves get louder. And stops my self-bully dead in its tracks. This is very effective at keeping me focused. If I get distracted, the waves get louder. The calmer my mind is, as measured by Muse, the quieter the waves. So I could meditate to the sound of waves. After a brief introduction, I chose a background soundscape. I listen to it through the speaker phone or headphones. It’s connected to my iPhone via Bluetooth. I donned the sensor strip headband that makes me look like a high-tech hippy and monitors my brain activity. I am so bad at this!” This is, obviously, distracting. First I fall for a distraction like adding items to my shopping list or getting a great idea or thinking, “Wow! I am meditating!” But as soon as I realize I fell in a trap, I’m brutal, “Look, I fell for a classic distraction. Muse is somewhere between these two schools.īut neither style keeps me safe from my biggest mental trap: beating myself up. I memorized a short passage and spent thirty minutes a day reciting it silently. (Who isn’t?) There is also passage meditation, which is what I did in class. ![]() There’s the “Empty your mind of all thoughts” school, which is hard if you are inundated with stimulation. Now - twenty-something years later – Christina asked me to review a technology designed to turn meditating from obligation to game: Muse: the brain sensing headband. ![]() Eventually this knowledge made me so anxious I took a deep breath and let go of meditation. Then I worried about my failure to meditate. But when the class ended, so did meditation. ![]() I took a meditation class in college, hoping it would reduce my anxiety. 12/3/2023 0 Comments Ephemeral fantasia gallhin![]() Unfortunately, like almost everything else in the game, it's all timed, so if you screw up you have to wait for the next week before you can try it again. There are a number of characters that you can have join your group, and the methods to gain them range from the relatively simple (find them at a place and time, do some basic tasks) to the complex. Xelpherpolis is the Bad Guy, and you've got to stop him before he does Evil Things to the people of Pandule. Soon enough you'll discover the core conceit of the game, a time loop that keeps playing the same five days over and over again. Once you meet them, you can tell that there's something wrong going on Loreille is much colder than you'd think a bride-to-be would be. A man named Xelpherpolis (where do they get these names?) invites Mouse to the island to play music for his upcoming wedding to the Princess Loreille. The storyline is actually rather intriguing. Add in an atrocious mapping system which requires you to find pieces of the map and you have yourself a hindrance to the gaming experience from the start. The city is one huge maze, which makes exploration frustrating, not to mention trying to make appointments on time wandering around the world map can be an aggravating experience. Indeed, much of the game takes place in the center city, which sprawls across most of the island. The game takes place on the island of Pandule, a smallish plot of land that may remind you of any fantasy seaside resort. It's hard to get into character when you're never really sure just what's going on with them. Unfortunately, while the sorts of things that Crono tended to say were simple enough to divine from his actions, Mouse is an attempt at a more complex hero, and his silent status only makes it that much more frustrating. He also happens to have a talking lute named Pattimo, which basically provides us with a voice for the main character, as Mouse is as mute as Crono. The few glimmers of light that you'll find scattered around the title don't make up for its core flaws, which is a shame, because you can definitely catch a glimpse of just what EP could have been.ĮP casts you in the role of Mouse, a world-renowned musician who also happens to be a master thief. That doesn't keep Ephemeral Fantasia from being an almost universally unenjoyable game. I can even appreciate it the concept of melding a free-roaming world with traditional RPG elements is intriguing, and should definitely be explored more in the future. I can see where Konami was going with Ephemeral Fantasia. I'd comment on the voice acting, but there isn't any considering the translation, though, that may be a good thing. ![]() The sound effects are strictly standard RPG fare, with clangs and booms and swirly-whirls that will do absolutely nothing for you. Of course, the audio quality depends quite a bit on your skill as a lutist, so be forewarned. A notable exception to the mediocre music is the guitar solos that you get to play yourself, which range from good to fantastic. The pumped-up battle theme is nice enough, but it doesn't have quite the same amount of pull as many other themes from the genre. The tunes you'll hear while you wander around are passable, but they're not particularly memorable. Add to all of this a bad case of both jaggies and polygonal seams and you've got a game that, while you can see the potential, never really gets off the ground in the visuals department. ![]() And even Mouse and crew look a little strange, as their facial textures never seem to be quite right. The character models fare slightly better, but the enemies are oftentimes cartoonish in their simplicity. ![]() The world is blocky and nondescript, with muddy textures and a camera that takes way too long to pan around the screen. I'm not entirely sure just where Ephemeral Fantasia's graphical design got started, but it's fairly evident that it wasn't on the PS2. |
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