The Sims 3 is made with the same idea as the games before it. The player controls their own Sims in activities and relationships in a similar manner to real life. The game play is open-ended and has no limits. Sims houses and neighborhoods are in one huge map. The developers stated, "What you do outside your home now matters as much as what you do within." The game includes an optional feature called "Story Progression", which allows all Sims in the neighborhood to continue on their own as if the player were controlling them, such as grow up, get married, get jobs and promotions, have children, and build or buy their dream house while the player is not playing. The Sims 2 used a reward system called Wants and Fears. This is replaced with a new system called Wishes in The Sims 3. Completing a Sim's wish helps the Sim's Lifetime Happiness score and mood. Some wishes, such as "Go to the Park", may add little points to their lifetime happiness while "Have A Baby Boy" may add thousands of points. In The Sims 2, Wants and Fears also contributed to a Sim's "Aspiration" meter, the same to current self-esteem. In The Sims 3, Aspiration is removed entirely, replaced with "Moodlets", which contribute good or bad values to the original Motivation meter. Moodlets can be inspired by physical events, such as having a good meal or comfort from sitting in a good chair, as well as emotional events like a first kiss or a break-up. Most moodlets last for a set amount of time, but some bad Moodlets can be cured (such as the one caused by a need to use the bathroom) and some positive ones rely on the Sim's surroundings and traits.
Brad Delson
Bradford Phillip "Brad" Delson (born December 1, 1977 in Agoura Hills, California) is the lead guitarist of alternative rock band Linkin Park.
Brad went to Agoura High School with fellow member of Linkin Park Mike Shinoda.
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He had many big roles, such as playing Moses in the movie "The Ten Commandments", astronaut Colonel George Taylor in the movie "Planet of the Apes", the dystopian 1971 "The Omega Man" and 1973 "Soylent Green". Heston played Judah Ben-Hur in the Academy Award-winning "Ben-Hur".
He was born in Wilmette, Illinois on October 4, 1923. He was raised in St. Helen, Michigan. Heston studied at New Trier High School and at Northwestern University.
Heston was also known for his politics. When he was young he held liberal views and marched with people such as Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil rights in the 1960s.
It was rare for a Hollywood actor to be for such causes at that time. Later in his life, he was for conservative causes such as gun rights. He was president of the National Rifle Association, a group that is for the rights of gun owners, from 1998 to 2003.
In July 2003, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House from President George W. Bush.
Late in his life, Heston had Alzheimer's disease. He died of pneumonia, aged 84, in Beverly Hills, California.
Ambush marketing
Ambush marketing is a form of marketing. Many events, especially in sports have sponsors. These sponsors pay money, which makes it possible to hold the event. In return for this, they get publicity and media coverage. Ambush marketing is a name given to marketing campaigns that are also done around the event, but where no money is paid for the event.
There are many very important events where one company will pay money to become the "exclusive sponsor" of the event (or in a category of the event). This creates a problem for other brands or companies. These other brands then find ways to promote themselves in connection with the same event. They do not pay the sponsorship fee. Even if they wanted to, they could not, because one brand is the exclusive sponsor. They also do not break any laws.
For the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the 2015 Cricket World Cup, New Zealand is planning to make laws to combat ambush marketing, according to former Sports Minister Trevor Mallard.
Al-Mustansir II of Cairo
Al-Mustansir II of Cairo was an Abbasid Caliph of Cairo, Egypt, for the Mamluk Sultans between 1261 and 1262.
University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is a public university in El Paso, Texas, United States. It has about 20,000 students enrolled and it was founded in 1914.
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire, or "Achaemenid Persian Empire", (550–330 BC) was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of Greater Persia (or Iran). It followed the Median Empire as the second great empire of the Iranian peoples. At the height of its power, the Achaemenid Empire had about 7.5 million square kilometers and was territorially the largest empire of classical antiquity.
The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great. It spanned three continents, including parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan; parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace; much of the Black Sea coastal regions; Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria; and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. The empire was the foe of the Greek city-states in the Greco-Persian Wars. It freed the Israelites from their Babylonian captivity, and instituted Aramaic as the empire's official language. Because of the Empire's vast extent and long endurance, Persian influence upon the language, religion, architecture, philosophy, law and government of nations around the world lasts to this day.
The empire began as a tributary state of the Medes but ended up conquering and enlarging the Median empire to include Egypt and Asia Minor. Under Xerxes, it came very close to conquering Ancient Greece. The Achaemenids were overthrown by the conquest of Alexander the Great in 330 BCE.
Vexilloid
A vexilloid has the same functions as a flag but it looks different. Vexilloids are characteristic of traditional societies and ancient empires (Flags did not come into general use until medieval times.). A "vexilloid" consists of a staff held upright with a cloth banner that hangs down vertically on the staff and on top of the staff is an emblem, such as a carved animal.
Whitney Smith, "Flags Through the Ages and Across the World",
The Dark Knight (movie)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 British-American superhero movie directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the movie is the second installment of Nolan's "The Dark Knight Trilogy" and a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins", starring Christian Bale and supported by Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman. In the movie, Bruce Wayne / Batman (Bale), Police Lieutenant James Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart) form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City, but are menaced by an anarchistic mastermind known as the Joker (Ledger), who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and throw the city into anarchy.
Nolan's inspiration for the movie was the Joker's comic book debut in 1940, the 1988 graphic novel "The Killing Joke", and the 1996 series "The Long Halloween", which retold Harvey Dent's origin. The "Dark Knight" nickname was first applied to Batman in Batman #1 (1940), in a story written by Bill Finger. The movie was the first mainstream feature to partially utilize IMAX 70 mm cameras, with Nolan using them for 28 minutes of the movie, including the Joker's first appearance. Warner Bros. initially created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screenshots of Ledger as the Joker. Ledger died on January 22, 2008, some months after he completed filming and six months before the movie's release from a toxic combination of prescription drugs, leading to intense attention from the press and movie-going public.