Roblox

Roblox, stylized as RŌBLOX, is a massively multiplayer online game created and marketed toward children and teenagers aged 8–18. In the game, players are able to create their own virtual world, in which they or other members may enter and socialize within the blocks of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. Games on Roblox can be scripted using a sandboxed edition of Lua 5.1 to affect events that occur in-game and create different scenarios. The company's main source of revenue comes from players buying Robux, the main virtual currency in the game, and from players buying "Builders Club" access, a status which gives virtual benefits to users. Players who have created an account may purchase either Builders Club, Turbo Builders Club, or Outrageous Builders Club, otherwise known by users as BC, TBC, and OBC, respectively.

History and development

Roblox was created by founder and co-founder David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and officially launched into its beta version, titled "Dynablocks" in 2004. Soon, "Dynablocks" was renamed to ROBLOX in 2005 and the website was officially launched in 2006. It was named after a portmanteau of the words robots and blocks. Roblox is still in the beta stages today.

.hack

.hack (pronounced "dot-hack") is a Japanese multimedia franchise that encompasses two projects; Project .hack and .hack Conglomerate. Both projects were primarily created/developed by CyberConnect2, and published by Bandai. The series is mainly followed through the anime and video game installations, and has been adapted through manga, novels and other related media.

Project .hack

Project .hack was the first project of the .hack series. It launched in 2002 with the anime series .hack//Sign in April 2002 and the PlayStation 2 game .hack//Infection in June 2002. Project developers included Koichi Mashimo (Bee Train), Kazunori Ito (Catfish), and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, (Gainax). Since then, Project .hack has spanned television, video games, manga, and novels.

Games

Eduard Hackel

Eduard Hackel (born March 17, 1850 in Haida, Bohemia – died February 2, 1926, in Attersee, Upper Austria) was an Austrian botanist. His father was a veterinary in Haida. He was married and had one son.

Hackel studied at the Polytechnical Institute in Vienna, and became substitute teacher at a high school in St. Pölten in 1869. He became full professor of natural history there upon obtaining his teaching certificate in 1871 and remained in this position until his retirement in 1900. He published his first papers on grasses in 1871 and soon became known as a world expert on the grass family (Poaceae). While he himself undertook only a single collecting trip – to Spain and Portugal, he was charged with working up collections of grasses mainly from Japan, Taiwan, New Guinea, Brazil and Argentina. Apart from systematics, Hackel also contributed to the morphology and histology of members of the grass family.

The genus Hackelochloa (Poaceae) is named for him.

Important works

Hack (falconry)

Hacking is a training method that helps young falcons reach their hunting potential by giving them exercise and experience. This technique is used to prepare the falcon to become an independent hunter. The sequence of the procedure includes captivity, releasing, flight, and either the falcon will be recaptured for falconry or released into the wild. This has also been adapted to other raptor species to preserve the population. Generally, falconers agree that hacked falcons are better and more preferred in the field. Hacking is beneficial, not only for the falconers, but for the bird itself and the species; however, there are some criticism and restrictions that come along with this method.

Procedure

Captivity

Hacking sites are usually large tracts of land. These areas have to be similar to the natural surroundings of a wild nest. The young raptors are put in a “hack box,” boxes that contain a nest inside that protect them from predators and are usually placed on a high site, e.g. cliffs, atop poles. Eggs are either captive bred or taken from wild nests and the chicks are placed in the boxes a couple of weeks before they reach their fledge age of six weeks. Until then, the birds are closely looked after and provided food without too much human contact.