Update from empowr

Happy New Year from empowr!

Happy New Year from empowr!

We hope you and your family are doing well, despite the crazy year (2020) that just passed.

It's been a very busy year for us, as we prepared for the global empowr beta launch.

We are holding an exclusive call (Zoom) for empowr alpha users only:

On the call, we'll give you a full update, and instructions on how to secure your very own territory: Alpha users only will be provided with their very own piece of the platform.

Go here to register to attend the live call

NOTE: In the first hour, already over 500 spots have been reserved - so hurry to secure your spot on the call before we reach Zoom's limit.

NEXT:After you use the above link to secure your seat on the call, visit https://update.empowr.com for additional details.

Looking forward to seeing you and catching up!

JC and Brian

www.empowr.com

Unsubscribe

Merchant.College 501 West Broadway, Suite A182 San Diego, California 92101 United States

My List Of The Best Games Played This Year, And A Small Reflection For 2020

On the last post of this year, I decided to make a list of the best games I played during 2019. Curiously, during the process of this ranking, I found myself reflecting on the content of Jesper Juul's new book "Handmade Pixels" (2019).

In his new book, Juul discusses how independent games became a historical movement that borrowed the term "independent" from film and music while finding its own kind of independence. The reading of Juul's book makes me reflect about how truly independent games that I played this year are, and what makes an indie game a really independent product.



Well, I'm still reading the book and I'll make some considerations about it soon. It's a really interesting content for game design and game studies classes.

For now, I want to share the list with the best 10 games that I have experienced in 2019. Important: 1) some of them are a little bit old, but I only played them this year; 2) they aren't listed in a scale "from best to worst", I just put them together.

  • Baba is you
  • What remains of Edith Finch
  • Blasphemous
  • Return of the Obra Dinn
  • Cuphead
  • Gris
  • Gorogoa
  • Katana Zero
  • Hue
  • Resident Evil 2 (remake)

Hope you enjoy it! See you next year!


#GoGamers



Reference:

JUUL, Jesper. Handmade Pixels: Independent Video Games and the Quest for Authenticity. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2019

Gaming In The ATL - 5Th Best In The US

This is a good article highlighting Atlanta as a great place for game play and development.

Platic Crack?

Here is a little something I have been waiting on for a bit over six months…. A proof of concept in plastic from another manufacturer.

I am stoked! The quality looks good, the price is right and the turn around time will be good. So why did it take six months then? Because it was free, a test mold and test shots arranged by my old account manager at WGF who has struck out on his own. He asked if I could send him the original files to split and use as a non-retail sample to show other clients. I agreed and after some waiting they arrived! This is only two of the five pose options... As a free test mold we were limited to a single sprue.

No doubt Wai Kee and the old WGF makes incredible plastic, but his shop is always jammed with production, this makes it pretty much impossible for me to look at that as a viable resource for future production or Kickstarter's. I had my doubts that anyone could get close, but I am reeealllly happy with these shots, and as this opens up the door again I am eyeing another Kickstarter.

I am still pulling together all the costs and if it appears to be a real option, I am more than happy to give it a go. This time would be FAR more focused. One kit at a time, with true costs, the molds and production would need to be funded in full for that 'episode'? But if it works, another would be on the heals of the last… Ferals? then StuG? then Shadokesh vehicle or walker… then whatever sounds fun.

With this kind of Kickstarter there would be a very focused goal, drive and costs… We are not so much looking at the typical song and dance hype train. The product would make it or not on its own merits, and cover its true costs.

Soooo what do you think?

Would you like to know more?









Insurance (Tradecraft)

A nuts and bolts post? Sure, why not.

A business requires insurance. At the minimum, you need liability insurance. There are other types of insurance though. I've got liability insurance, workers comp insurance, key man life insurance, and for years we had vehicle insurance on our van. Insurance is one of those things new store owners don't always think about.

My second year in business I went to a seminar where a store owner had someone drive through their front window into their store. Twice. He was the likely guy to give a presentation on business insurance and for many, needing such a thing was an eye opener. When I started I had a home and assets and made sure the store was incorporated and insured and far away from my personal life. For most young people without a pot to relieve themselves, that might not be a consideration. 

So how do you get insurance? Find a human. I'm not sure if you can get business liability insurance online, but if so, it's a bad idea. You want to talk to a human about your particular business needs and exactly what you do and where you do it. For example, my store went from a regular retail environment to an improved, two story monstrosity in need of rebuilding if it burned down. It probably wouldn't be rebuilt there, but they'll pay to rebuild it somewhere.  If I had just gotten regular liability insurance, I would be left with no protection and a ton of outstanding loans for a burnt out shell. 

Other considerations include insuring Magic singles. My policy has a "fine art" clause that includes those. What you don't want are surprises. Insurance companies are all about taking as much money from you as they can and paying out as little as possible. It's better to be up front, find angles to cover everything necessary, and avoid surprises. Look at your lease and see what you're responsible for.  Plate glass insurance is often inexpensive, but if someone breaks all your windows, you could be out thousands of dollars. Over time, revisit your policy and up your limits when you add inventory or fixtures.

Who is that human? I have a customer who jumps from job to job, and one of his latest was insurance agent. He was an agent for about four months before he moved on. Do not use a green agent. Find someone experienced. I had a new agent misclassify my company for my workers comp policy, thinking I didn't need to be covered as an owner, when in fact it was necessary. A company audit revealed the mistake, and rather than admitting their agent error, they charged me $3,500 in back premiums. Insurance companies exist to do two things: take as much money as possible while denying your claims. 

Personal insurance agents tend not to handle commercial insurance, so you probably won't be able to use your Aunt Kathy's agency to handle your commercial needs (my Aunt K does my personal insurance). Attempt to find a well regarded commercial agent who has been doing this for a while and lay all your cards on the table.

Classification is tricky as there is no "game store" category for liability insurance. You might be classified as a toy store, a book store, a hobby store, whatever is close, and the cost between agencies and within each agency could be enormous. As long as you don't get cute, something reasonable should be fine.

Avoid buying a policy based entirely on price. Ask what's not covered in your case. Have a good heart to heart with the agent. These policies are really cheap compared to what could happen. I once transitioned between agencies and in a 30 day overlap period, someone broke into my store, doing a lot of damage and stealing a lot of cash (foolish me).  I talked to my new agent who walked me through my old coverage, which sucked, and my new coverage, which was great. I filed a claim with the better coverage, and yeah, they canceled me exactly a year later, but I saved $900. 

Make sure you have extensive business interruption insurance, which is usually standard. Knowing that my store could burn down and I have months to find a new place while paying employees allows me to sleep at night. When you get bigger, losing all your employees can destroy your business as easily as fire. 

What's a Good Company? I don't know! They're all terrible! I can't even remember who I have now. Let me check: Travelers for liability, State Farm for key man life insurance, and AP Intego for workers compensation insurance (pay as you go). Farmers burned me on that workers comp policy I mentioned, so maybe avoid them. 


Procedurally Generated Annotations

Imagine exploring this dungeon:

Dungeon map
Procedurally generated dungeon map

But that's not what watabou's One Page Dungeon generator produced. It produced that dungeon with a title, Underground Lair of the Cursed Lich: For several centuries the lair of the Cursed Lich was considered lost, until recently was rediscovered by a gang of gnolls, and also with text annotations on some of the rooms:

Dungeon map with annotations
Procedurally annotated dungeon map

Big difference! The text sparks curiosity and imagination in a way that the map by itself does not. Is that bard good or evil? Did the bard and cleric know each other? How did seals kill the gnoll?! What does the magic gem do? This type of text is missing from many procedural generation projects, including mine. I love what watabou did here.

Let's look a map from Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator:

Continent map
Procedurally generated continent map

But that's not all Azgaar generates. He also generates country names, borders, icons, and other annotations:

Continent map with annotations
Procedurally generated everything

Look at how much more interesting that is!

Zoomed in, the map looks nice, with regions, rivers, and bays:

Region map
Procedurally generated region map

But look how much more interesting it is with town names, roads, and trade routes:

Region map with annotations
Procedurally generated everything

It doesn't take much annotation to make the magic! Just a small amount triggers our curiosity and imagination. Our minds see patterns easily, even when they aren't really there ("apophenia"). This is something I'd like to explore the next time I'm making a procedural map generator.

(Note: this is an expanded version of what I posted on twitter)

DEFINATION OF HACKING

DEFINATION OF HACKING

Hacking is an attempt to exploit a  computer system vulnerabilities or a private network inside a computer to gain unauthorized acess.
Hacking is identifying and exploiting weakness in computer system and/ or computer networks for finding the vulnerability and loopholes.

Related posts


Linux Command Line Hackery Series - Part 4




Welcome back to Linux Command Line Hackery, hope you have enjoyed this series so far. Today we are going to learn new Linux commands and get comfortable with reading text files on Linux.

Suppose that you wanted to view your /etc/passwd file. How will you do that? From what we have learned so far what you'll do is type:

cat /etc/passwd

And there you go, but really did you see all the output in one terminal? No, you just ended up with last few lines and you'll have to cheat (i,e use graphical scroll bar) in order to see all the contents of /etc/passwd file. So is there a command line tool in linux with which we can see all the contents of a file easily without cheating? Yes, there are actually a few of them and in this article we'll look at some common ones.

Command: more
Syntax:  more [options] file...
Function: more is a filter for paging through text one screenful at a time. With more we can parse a file one terminal at a time or line by line. We can also go backward and forward a number of lines using more.

So if we're to use more on /etc/passwd file how will we do that? We'll simply type

more /etc/passwd

now we'll get a screenful output of the file and have a prompt at the bottom of terminal. In order to move forward one line at a time press <Enter Key>. Using enter we can scroll through the file one line at a time. If you want to move one screen at a time, you can press <Space Key> to move one screen at a time. There are more functions of more program, you can know about them by pressing <h key>. To exit out of more program simply type <q key> and you'll get out of more program.

Command: less
Syntax: less [options] file...
Function: less is similar to more but less has more functionality than more. less is particularly useful when reading large files as less does not have to read the entire input file before starting, so it starts up quickly than many other editors.

less command is based on more so what you've done above with more can be done with less as well. Try it out yourself.

Command: head
Syntax: head [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Function: head command prints the head or first part of a file. By default head prints out first 10 lines of a file. If more than one file is specified, head prints first 10 lines of all files as a default behavior.

If we want to see only first 10 lines of /etc/passwd we can type:

head /etc/passwd

We can also specify to head how many lines we want to view by using the -n flag. Suppose you want to see first 15 lines of /etc/passwd file you've to type:

head -n 15 /etc/passwd

Ok you can view the first lines of a file what about last lines, is there a tool for that also? Exactly that's what our next command will be about.

Command: tail
Syntax: tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Function: tail is opposite of head. It prints the last 10 lines of a file by default. And if more than one file is specified, tail prints last 10 lines of all files by default.

To view last 10 lines of /etc/passwd file you'll type:

tail /etc/passwd

and as is the case with head -n flag can be used to specify the number of lines

tail -n 15 /etc/passwd

Now one more thing that we're going to learn today is grep.

Command: grep
Syntax: grep [OPTIONS] PATTERN [FILE...]
Function: grep is used to search a file for lines matching the pattern specified in the command.

A PATTERN can simply be a word like "hello" or it can be a regular expression (in geek speak regex). If you aren't familiar with regex, it's ok we'll not dive into that it's a very big topic but if you want to learn about it I'll add a link at the end of this article that will help you get started with regex.

Now back to grep say we want to find a line in /etc/passwd file which contains my user if we'll simply type:

grep myusername /etc/passwd

Wohoo! It gives out just that data that we're looking for. Remember here myusername is your username.
One cool flag of grep is -v which is used to look in file for every line except the line containing the PATTERN specified after -v [it's lowercase v].

Take your time practicing with these commands especially grep and more. We'll learn a lot more about grep in other upcoming articles.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression
http://www.regular-expressions.info/
Awesome website to learn Regular expressions - http://www.regexr.com/

More articles


JoomlaScan - Tool To Find The Components Installed In Joomla CMS, Built Out Of The Ashes Of Joomscan


A free and open source software to find the components installed in Joomla CMS, built out of the ashes of Joomscan.

Features
  • Scanning the Joomla CMS sites in search of components/extensions (database of more than 600 components);
  • Locate the browsable folders of component (Index of ...);
  • Locate the components disabled or protected
  • Locate each file useful to identify the version of a components (Readme, Manifest, License, Changelog)
  • Locate the robots.txt file or error_log file
  • Supports HTTP or HTTPS connections
  • Connection timeout

Next Features
  • Locate the version of Joomla CMS
  • Find Module
  • Customized User Agent and Random Agent
  • The user can change the connection timeout
  • A database of vulnerable components

Usage
usage: python joomlascan.py [-h] [-u URL] [-t THREADS] [-v]
optional arguments:
-h, --help              show this help message and exit

-u URL, --url URL The Joomla URL/domain to scan.
-t THREADS, --threads THREADS
The number of threads to use when multi-threading
requests (default: 10).
-v, --version show program's version number and exit

Requirements
  • Python
  • beautifulsoup4 (To install this library from terminal type: $ sudo easy_install beautifulsoup4 or $ sudo pip install beautifulsoup4)

Changelog
  • 2016.12.12 0.5beta > Implementation of the Multi Thread, Updated database from 656 to 686 components, Fix Cosmetics and Minor Fix.
  • 2016.05.20 0.4beta > Find README.md, Find Manifes.xml, Find Index file of Components (Only if descriptive), User Agent and TimeOut on Python Request, Updated database from 587 to 656 components, Fix Cosmetics and Minor Fix.
  • 2016.03.18 0.3beta > Find index file on components directory
  • 2016.03.14 0.2beta > Find administrator components and file Readme, Changelog, License.
  • 2016.02.12 0.1beta > Initial release




Continue reading


  1. Pentest Tools Subdomain
  2. Hack Rom Tools
  3. Hacking Tools Software
  4. Nsa Hacker Tools
  5. Pentest Tools Android
  6. Install Pentest Tools Ubuntu
  7. Ethical Hacker Tools
  8. Hackrf Tools
  9. Bluetooth Hacking Tools Kali
  10. Hacker
  11. Pentest Tools List
  12. Hack Tools Download
  13. Hack Apps
  14. Underground Hacker Sites
  15. New Hacker Tools
  16. Pentest Tools Kali Linux
  17. Hacking Tools And Software
  18. Hak5 Tools
  19. Hacker Security Tools
  20. Pentest Tools Website
  21. Hacker Tools For Ios
  22. New Hacker Tools
  23. Underground Hacker Sites
  24. Hacks And Tools
  25. World No 1 Hacker Software
  26. Pentest Tools Open Source
  27. Hacker Hardware Tools
  28. Bluetooth Hacking Tools Kali
  29. Pentest Tools For Android
  30. Hacking Tools Windows 10
  31. Hacks And Tools
  32. Hacker Tools For Windows
  33. Top Pentest Tools
  34. Usb Pentest Tools
  35. Hacking Tools For Mac
  36. Pentest Tools Website
  37. Hacker Tools Github
  38. Best Hacking Tools 2020
  39. Hacker Tools For Mac
  40. Hacking Tools Windows 10
  41. Hack Tools For Pc
  42. Hacking Tools Download
  43. How To Install Pentest Tools In Ubuntu
  44. Ethical Hacker Tools
  45. Pentest Tools For Windows
  46. Hack Tool Apk No Root
  47. Pentest Tools Nmap
  48. Pentest Tools Apk
  49. Hacking Tools Kit
  50. Hacking Tools For Windows
  51. Hack Rom Tools
  52. Hacking Tools Usb
  53. Hack Tools 2019
  54. World No 1 Hacker Software
  55. Hacking Tools Windows 10
  56. Hacker Tools Online
  57. Pentest Tools List
  58. New Hacker Tools
  59. Pentest Box Tools Download
  60. Pentest Tools Bluekeep
  61. Android Hack Tools Github
  62. Pentest Tools For Ubuntu
  63. Hacking Tools For Beginners
  64. Hacker Hardware Tools
  65. Hacker Tools For Windows
  66. Hacker Tools 2020
  67. Kik Hack Tools
  68. How To Install Pentest Tools In Ubuntu
  69. Hacks And Tools
  70. Pentest Tools Kali Linux
  71. Hacker Tool Kit
  72. Blackhat Hacker Tools
  73. Usb Pentest Tools
  74. Hacking Tools For Pc
  75. Hacker Tools Apk Download
  76. Pentest Tools For Windows
  77. Pentest Tools Free
  78. Hack Tools For Windows
  79. Top Pentest Tools
  80. Pentest Tools Nmap
  81. Hacking Tools Hardware
  82. Hack Apps
  83. Nsa Hack Tools
  84. Android Hack Tools Github
  85. Pentest Tools For Mac
  86. Nsa Hack Tools
  87. Best Pentesting Tools 2018
  88. What Is Hacking Tools
  89. Hack Rom Tools
  90. Hacker Tools Software
  91. Pentest Tools Linux
  92. Hacker Tools Github
  93. Hacking Tools Online
  94. Blackhat Hacker Tools
  95. Black Hat Hacker Tools
  96. Hacker Tools Windows
  97. Hacking Tools Name
  98. Hacker Tools List
  99. Pentest Tools For Ubuntu
  100. Hack Website Online Tool
  101. Pentest Box Tools Download
  102. Hack Tools
  103. Physical Pentest Tools
  104. Ethical Hacker Tools
  105. Hacking Tools Usb
  106. Ethical Hacker Tools
  107. Pentest Tools Nmap
  108. Wifi Hacker Tools For Windows
  109. Hacking Tools Pc
  110. Hack Apps
  111. Free Pentest Tools For Windows
  112. Hacking Tools And Software
  113. Hack Tools Pc
  114. Pentest Tools Linux
  115. How To Install Pentest Tools In Ubuntu
  116. Hack Tools For Ubuntu
  117. Hack Tools For Pc
  118. Pentest Tools For Ubuntu
  119. Github Hacking Tools
  120. Hacker Tools Hardware
  121. Hack Tool Apk No Root
  122. Growth Hacker Tools
  123. Hack Tools Github
  124. Usb Pentest Tools
  125. Hacker Tools For Ios