morbidity affray: February 2013

Thursday, February 7, 2013

New guide will allow electric utilities to develop Green Button Web tools

Public release date: 7-Feb-2013
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Contact: Chad Boutin
boutin@nist.gov
301-975-4261
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

A new guide for Web developers recently released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will make it easier for electric utilities and vendors to give customers convenient, electronic access to their energy usage data with tools and applications developed as part of the new "Green Button" initiative.

Green Button aims to provide electricity and gas consumers with their own energy usage information in an understandable and computer-friendly standardized electronic format via a "Green Button" on a utility's web site. Consumers armed with this information can then use an array of new Web applications to make more informed energy decisions and to verify that their energy-efficiency investments are performing as promised. To help utilities and vendors create Web services and applications that communicate and handle Green Button data appropriately, NIST created a special Software Development Kit, which the new guide will help developers use effectively.

"The User Guide is a playbook for implementation of the Green Button Software Development Kit," says David Wollman, the NIST lead for Green Button and program manager for smart grid standards and research in NIST's Smart Grid and Cyber-Physical Systems Program Office. "All the different technical innovatorsWeb designers, entrepreneurs, utility expertswill find the help they need inside."

Included in the new guide is information on:

The composition of Green Button data and how it fits together
How to make Green Button data accessible to users via XML style sheets, which render the data comprehensible to the consumer; and
Sample source code showing what data to begin with, as well as examples of finished data sets
The User Guide, which is freely available via the website, contains all the lessons learned since the announcement of the Green Button Initiative in September 2011 and the release of the Software Development Kit the following month. It provides a good overview for those utilities not yet using Green Button, Wollman says.

For more information on Green Button, please visit www.nist.gov/smartgrid/greenbutton.cfm

The User Guide for the NIST Green Button Software Development Kit is available at https://collaborate.nist.gov/twiki-sggrid/bin/view/SmartGrid/GreenButtonSDK and includes a link to the NIST Green Button Software Development Kit source repository.

It was produced with the technical support of Marty Burns of Hypertek, Inc., a contractor to NIST.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

New guide will allow electric utilities to develop Green Button Web tools Public release date: 7-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Chad Boutin
boutin@nist.gov
301-975-4261
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

A new guide for Web developers recently released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will make it easier for electric utilities and vendors to give customers convenient, electronic access to their energy usage data with tools and applications developed as part of the new "Green Button" initiative.

Green Button aims to provide electricity and gas consumers with their own energy usage information in an understandable and computer-friendly standardized electronic format via a "Green Button" on a utility's web site. Consumers armed with this information can then use an array of new Web applications to make more informed energy decisions and to verify that their energy-efficiency investments are performing as promised. To help utilities and vendors create Web services and applications that communicate and handle Green Button data appropriately, NIST created a special Software Development Kit, which the new guide will help developers use effectively.

"The User Guide is a playbook for implementation of the Green Button Software Development Kit," says David Wollman, the NIST lead for Green Button and program manager for smart grid standards and research in NIST's Smart Grid and Cyber-Physical Systems Program Office. "All the different technical innovatorsWeb designers, entrepreneurs, utility expertswill find the help they need inside."

Included in the new guide is information on:

The composition of Green Button data and how it fits together
How to make Green Button data accessible to users via XML style sheets, which render the data comprehensible to the consumer; and
Sample source code showing what data to begin with, as well as examples of finished data sets
The User Guide, which is freely available via the website, contains all the lessons learned since the announcement of the Green Button Initiative in September 2011 and the release of the Software Development Kit the following month. It provides a good overview for those utilities not yet using Green Button, Wollman says.

For more information on Green Button, please visit www.nist.gov/smartgrid/greenbutton.cfm

The User Guide for the NIST Green Button Software Development Kit is available at https://collaborate.nist.gov/twiki-sggrid/bin/view/SmartGrid/GreenButtonSDK and includes a link to the NIST Green Button Software Development Kit source repository.

It was produced with the technical support of Marty Burns of Hypertek, Inc., a contractor to NIST.

###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/nios-ngw020713.php
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Friday, February 1, 2013

Review: 'Ni no Kuni' an epic adventure with charm

Tokyo's Studio Ghibli is the creator of beloved animated feature films like "Princess Mononoke," ''Spirited Away" and "Ponyo." It hasn't made many forays into video games, although its influence is all over popular Japanese series like "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest."

So "Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch" (Namco Bandai, for PlayStation 3, $59.99), a collaboration between Ghibli and Fukuoka, Japan-based developer Level-5, is something special. Every frame of it feels suffused with Ghibli magic, to the point where it overcomes any resistance you might have to its old-fashioned gameplay.

Level-5 makes for an ideal partner. It's known for "Dark Cloud," ''Dragon Quest VIII" and the Professor Layton series, games whose animation and character designs have always displayed the Ghibli spirit. "Ni no Kuni" takes some familiar Ghibli themes ? parallel worlds, missing parents, humans turned bestial ? and turns them into a sweeping role-playing adventure.

The tale begins in dark territory: A boy named Oliver is heartbroken when his mother dies of a heart attack. When Oliver's tears soak his favorite toy, Mr. Drippy, it springs to life. Turns out he's a fairy from the alternate world, where Oliver's mom is a powerful sage. ("Ni no kuni" translates to "second country.") If Oliver can stop a dark conspiracy that threatens Drippy's world, he might be able to save Mom as well.

Oliver's journey takes him through a succession of lushly drawn towns, including the bucolic Ding Dong Dell, the sandy Al Mamoon and the industrial Hamelin. There's a lively populace of human and animal characters: the Arab-flavored Al Mamoon, for example, is ruled by "Her Moojesty Cowlipha," while the people of Hamelin dress in pig disguises. Even when exploring the gloomy Tombstone Trail, you'll encounter a few droll corpses.

The areas outside the towns are stuffed with comically named monsters, like the "crashing boar" and the "sillymander." Oliver is initially equipped with little more than a wooden stick, but he can rally "familiars" to do his fighting for him. During any battle, he can switch among three different familiars; the other people who eventually join his crusade can do the same.

This means you can take control of 12 different characters during combat, and it is chaotic at first. Stick with it, though, and you'll quickly get the hang of switching among the humans and familiars who are best at attack, defense, spell-casting and healing. Many of the monsters you encounter can be recruited to your cause, adding a "Pokemon"-like collect-'em-all challenge to the adventure.

Younger players are likely to be attracted to the colorful graphics and cute monsters, but beware: On the normal difficulty setting, some of these battles are quite challenging, and kids may find them frustrating. Within its dungeons and castles, save locations are sparse, so you run the risk of losing an hour or so of progress if you bump into the wrong creature. Even adult players may feel the need to switch to the easy setting every now and again.

Beyond the main story are dozens of side quests. Some are typical fare, like slaying a monster or retrieving a treasure, but others are weirder. Throughout the game you'll meet "heartbroken" characters who've become immobilized by fear, anger, doubt or other negative emotions. To save them, you have to find people who are so positive that they're overflowing with feelings like courage, kindness or belief. With your magic locket, you can grab chunks of positive feelings and use them to repair the heartbroken.

There's also a deep alchemy system (hosted by a genie named Al-Khemi) that lets you craft your own potions, armor and weapons. And you can even gamble with ghouls, playing slots, blackjack and an original game called Platoon in the Tombstone Trail casino.

Namco's localization team has done a spectacular job translating the comedy from Japanese into English. And the music by Joe Hisaishi, who has composed the scores for most of Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki's films, is lovely and at times stirring. Overall, "Ni no Kuni" is one of the most satisfying games to come out of Japan in years, deftly combining the charm of Studio Ghibli's movies with the rewards of a meaty role-playing epic. Four stars out of four.

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Online:

http://ninokunigame.com/

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Follow Lou Kesten on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lkesten

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/review-ni-no-kuni-epic-adventure-charm-135000176.html

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