FIA to rule on F1 race in Bahrain

MADRID (AP)Formula One's governing body will decide Friday whether toreschedule the Bahrain Grand Prix for later this season, with somedrivers and team officials saying the race should be scrapped,ドラクエ10 RMT.Bahrain organizers say they are ready to host the race, whichwas to open the season but was postponed following anti-governmentprotests in February that eventually left at least 30 deadfollowing a brutal crackdown.The Bahraini government lifted emergency rule on Wednesday,maplestory RMT. TheFIA's World Motor Council will decide on rescheduling when itgathers in Barcelona on Friday.Local organizers are hoping for a date around the Nov. 13 AbuDhabi GP,arado rmt, which could push the season into December. F1 boss BernieEcclestone is in favor of the proposal.

NFL draft weekend When hello means goodbye

The NFL draft weekend is a time for entrances both grand andquiet. On the first night, the phone rings, the television lightsgo on, the players ascend the stage in Radio City Music Hall, andthe path to professional football is wide open.By the third day, the phone calls are taken on the living roomcouch, but the players are just as excited to receive the news.Some team somewhere liked them and they are on their way, ready toprove they belong."It's a dream come true," linebacker Casey Matthews saidSaturday afternoon after the Eagles took him with the 19th pickof the fourth round. "They drafted me and now I'm just lookingforward to getting out there."You could cut that quote and paste it onto a couple of hundredplayer reactions from the three-day span. A lot of dreams cametrue. A lot of guys were just happy for the opportunity. A lot ofguys tried not to have too many expectations, but now that wasover, well, it was great to be a team-name-here.The draft is a time for exits as well as entrances, although theexits are never announced and hardly celebrated. Teams select newplayers they hope will jump over incumbent disappointments orreplace departed players, some of whom are not yet officiallydeparted. The smoke signals usually indicate whose career isdrifting away with the wind.While the drafting binge heralded the start of a new chapter forthe team, it might have also officially closed the book on AndyReid's greatest season with the Eagles. By drafting a safety in thesecond round and a kicker in the fourth round, the Eagles kept sawing through thesplintering limb that held veterans Quintin Mikell and DavidAkers.Mikell and Akers were the last remaining members of the SuperBowl team, the final links to the Eagles' greatest days under Reid.Some of the others fell away quickly after the 2004 season, somehung on for quite a while before departing,RMT. And now it seems Mikelland Akers are about to join them.As usual with the Eagles, and with the other 31 NFLteams that operate as a business, it is about the money as well asthe football. This offseason, with uncertainty as to the rules thatwill be in place when the league finally resumes operation, teamsare trying to cover every eventuality.Mikell is a 30-year-old unrestricted free agent, which means theEagles probably weren't going tokeep him regardless. He'd like a long-term contract, but understoodthat is unlikely here. It got a lot more unlikely when the Eagles chose to ignore more apparentneeds on the defensive line and at cornerback and used their firstdefensive selection to take safety Jaiquawn Jarrett fromTemple.Reid said Jarrett reminded him of Brian Dawkins - "If you goacross the middle, he'll blow you up" - and did everything but slotJarrett as the strong safety of the future, perhaps the very nearfuture. According to Reid, the Eagles haven't really focused onwhether Mikell will be back, which is probably a littledisingenuous, but it's not the sort of answer he's ever going togive.As for Akers, the handwriting has been on the wall in bold sincethe ugly end of last season. The Eagles placed a transition tag onAkers, which - if the tag even exists in the future - gives themthe right to match any offer he receives. But that isn't going tohappen.Akers has played 189 games for the Eagles, a record at his position,but he missed two field goals in the playoff game against Green Baylast season, a game the Eagles lost by five points."We can all count. Those points would have helped," Reid said.It was an uncharacteristic slap under any circumstance, but when itcame out that Akers was playing while his young daughter facedimminent cancer surgery, the bond between player and team wasobviously torn,カバル RMT."It's been a nice run. It's not really the way I wanted to goout as an Eagle," Akers said that day, a valedictory that waschiseled in stone when the Eagles drafted kicker Alex Heneryfrom Nebraska on Saturday.If a team cuts a fourth-round pick, the player is owed about$450,000, so kickers are not selected lightly that high. Henerywill make the team,pso2 RMT. He was the best college placekicker in thecountry, making 63 of 65 field goals inside of 50 yards over hisfour-year career."It's not coming in to replace [Akers.] It's coming in to do myjob this upcoming year, is really how I look at it," Henerysaid.The new guys come in. The old guys go out, or perhaps just fadefrom the roster without fanfare. Those are the changes that thedraft set in motion. This year, the last on-field links to theSuper Bowl are among the exits, and their replacements seem to beamong the entrances.It was time for a new Super Bowl year, anyway. At least that'sthe way it seems.Contact columnist Bob Fordat bford@phillynews.com and read his blog atwww.philly.com/postpatterns

P!nk Catches Falling Skier ... With Her C

A skier in Mammoth,ダークブラッド RMT, Calif. hung off a ski lift while being photographed by the P!nkarazzi,カバル RMT.P,pso2 RMT!nk took time out from hitting the slopes with on-again, off-again, on-again husband Carey Hart to help snap pics of the unfortunate skier.Facebook. Tag me.

Age of Conan Unchained After The Switch

By Vincent Haoson, OnRPG JournalistAge of Conan is one the latest titles to shift from the purely subscription based MMO titles to a “hybrid” business model where the game is playable for free while giving bonuses for subscribed players. The hybrid system also introduced the in-game cash shop system to AoC where players both free and premium can buy items in exchange for cash.In theory, the business model seems to be a solid change since the trends these days is that a lot of premium based titles are now shifting to the F2P system with the inclusion of an in-game shop. But did it work for AoC? The answer, based on my observations, is yes, yes it did.One of my gripes in AoC prior to Unchained is that the game lacked players. This was especially true on the low level cities and areas. Even with the 14 day free trial, the game’s early content can barely attract anyone new even with all the “innovations” they implemented into the genre.However, now that I have returned to AoC with a new character – I see a lot of people lounging around cities or running around trying to finish a quest or two. From my previous trial of this game I only saw one or two players running errands. These players are now leading entire teams around the world as large questing parties have become the norm. The higher level areas are now more populated too.Of course having more players is not without its downsides. The more pronounced downside is that there seems to be an influx of rude and uncouth players running around. While it’s not as much as I normally see in F2P games it is still shocking to get told off by some low-leveled newb. In retrospect, this may be a good thing as well since it does provide a more “barbarian” feel since the world of Conan isn’t as nice and proper as the other worlds out there. Of course one of the biggest issues games must consider when altering their model is the “fairness” between those who are playing for free and for those who are willing to shell out for their characters,アラド戦記 RMT.Personally, I really don’t see why this should even be an issue,arado rmt, since people who actually pay to play Unchained expect bonuses for their patronage since they are investing on the game itself via-paying for the subscription. So free players can just suck their thumbs and cry for mommy because those who paid get &ldquo,DQ10 RMT;better” service.Also, I believe that the F2P system is more of a gauge at least for those who are coming in late to AoC to see if it’s worth their time. As I mentioned, the 14-day free trial before wasn’t enough to truly experience AoC and my engagement with Unchained hasn’t changed my initial impressions. You need to spend more than a month to truly enjoy playing AoC.Most of the locked-out features are for players who are really planning on investing more time and actual money on the game. Free players are definitely shortchanged with their “AoC experience” as the game follows Turbine’s approach and keeps the best dungeons and end-game content available only to paying players. Previous subscribers can rejoice in this since they still have bubbles of premium world to call their own.The Hybrid business model introduced the in-game currency system for all players where players both free and premium can spend more money to buy weapons, mounts, boosts and vanity items for their characters.There is not much difference between most F2P game’s premium shop and AoC’s since it offers all the same conveniences you would expect.In essence AoC hasn’t really changed in terms of gameplay and looks. The fact that the game is now more accessible to people is all in itself good. Comparing the pre Unchained days to what I see now, I can say AoC feels more alive than ever. On the other hand, the in-game store is a win-lose situation. For veterans it’s definitely a minus since weapon buying from the in-game store is like an insult to the many hours they spent farming gear on their subscription game. However, new players looking to spend can enrich the end-game PvP environment by gaining an advantage in gear to catch up to veteran players.The Hybrid system so far is a good enough system that makes the games a little less daunting for new players. There is one thing that I noticed. Even if the hybrid system “dumbed” the game down a bit, the learning curve is still steep. That should be enough comfort for veterans that at least the hours they spent playing AoC wasn’t in vain. I imagine the old veterans will be stomping new players into the ground in PvP into the foreseeable future.