Stuck in The Legend of Zelda

Stuck in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword? Hey, it happens to the best of us. The puzzles can be challenging if you’re new or just returning to the franchise. But before going to GameFaqs or YouTube, you should try this quick three-step checklist. One of the best parts of Zelda is that “a-ha” moment when everything just clicks and you don’t get that by giving up and looking for the solution online.

1. First and foremost, check the environment. Ninety percent of Zelda puzzles can be solved with careful observation. The clues are in paintings or on mosaics, even your map. You just have to know how to read the visual hints that the developers put in each level. Pay attention to even the tiniest details and that should solve most problems.

2. Experiment with the new item. Most dungeons are geared toward the use of the one tool found in its rooms. Aside from a new way to eliminate an enemy, the item is usually the key to crossing some gap or unlocking a door. In addition, it is vital to beating the dungeon’s boss.

3. Reading is fundamental. There are stone tablets scattered throughout Skyward Sword. Take a look at them. They almost always offer clues to the puzzles at hand. Don’t take them as riddles. In this edition of Zelda, the hints are clearer than that. If they tell you to look for a solution on the high ground, do that. If they tell you to look for a clue at the back of a palm, follow the directions to the letter.


Other useful Skyward Sword tips

1. Low on health? Use the stools. When Link is low on energy, taking a seat will replenish his hearts.

2. Having trouble fighting enemies, try swinging your sword in a different direction. Foes always have a weak spot. With the armored spider, Skulltula, try flipping it over with an upward swing to get it on its back. When fighting a giant Moblin, you can destroy its wood shield by swinging in the direction of the grain of the wood.

3. Don’t be afraid to use other items in order to defeat enemies. You’ll be amazed what a bomb can do to a giant blob or just about any blob really.

4. If you’re still having trouble with enemies, deflect their attacks with a shield slam. It will stun most enemies, leaving them open for sword slashes.

Potential gains of 1000% and more before likely acquisition.

The demand is steep for paid video services as well. As of Q2 2011, Netflix has more than 23 million paid subscribers—an increase of 50% from the year before. Hulu—with both a free and paid model—reported a 77% year over year increase in subscribers as of 2010, with more than 42 million.

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Raystream technology makes it possible to watch full load commercial television, live events, movies, sports—literally anything—in high definition on any device, from smartphones and tablets to internet ready televisions. Even better, Raystream’s technology works with any video player, so video developers—like advertisers, film studios, or your neighbor with a video camera—can convert video automatically, online, without any special equipment.

Sound impossible? It’s not.

This report details why Raystream has the opportunity to quickly and completely dominate the video conversion market. You’ll see that the company is pure upside for investors smart enough to recognize its value.

Baddeley and Day lament the point that got away

Greg Norman last night spoke to a distraught Aaron Baddeley as he departed the 18th green at Royal Melbourne and later counselled him in the International Presidents Cup team room after he and Jason Day threw away a two-hole lead to halve their opening foursomes match against American Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar.

Put simply, it was a point for the International team that got away. A half point was the only consolation. It all came down to Baddeley's tee shot on the 18th, where he took a three wood with the thought of safely positioning in on the closely cut turf. Instead, it was a shocker - a half drop kick, half shank, straight right into the ti trees, giving Day no other option but to chip out.

A bogey, bogey finish after leading two up with two holes to play handed the Americans the half.

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Asked had he spoken with Baddeley, International captain Norman replied: ''Well, I said it on the 18th green. I said, 'Just keep your head high, and it's not a one-round tournament, it's a four-round tournament. There's three days to go and it's very, very, early.

''In the team room, I said what I said five minutes earlier. Sometimes I know you feel worse than Aaron feels, because you know how he feels. You know he's carrying the weight of everybody else. I said, 'Just keep your head high. Just suck it up. It's over and done with. You could have shot 62 and lost a point, but it didn't work out that way'.

''Now he feels better. Now he's OK and he knows he's playing well. He hit one bad shot in 18 holes. If he looks back over it, all the great putts he made and all those great shots he hit, take all of those away from the day, don't take that poor tee shot on 18,'' Norman said.

Baddeley and Day played as seasoned veterans, and without fear against Johnson and Kuchar. Norman hadn't inked a victory over the Americans but it looked as foregone as any conclusion can be.

Such was the confidence, and matching up of shots by the Australia pair in the seldom-played alternate-shot foursomes game of golf. It can be a harrowing game as players are not in control of their own destiny.

Your partner's shot dictates your next shot, but the general rule is that you don't say sorry in foursomes golf, no matter the rubbish you might put your partner in.

The ''sorry'' word didn't need to be spoken between Day and Baddeley when it all came to an end with a half against Johnson and Kuchar, ranked respectively at No. 6 and No. 10 in the world. It was a loss despite the half point that went on the scoreboard.

The Americans were surrounded by their teammates including a beaming Tiger Woods whose backside was, figuratively speaking, surely still sore after the kicking he and Steve Stricker received from Adam Scott and Korean K.J. Choi.

The faces of Day and Baddeley told the thousand thoughts they and their teammates surely had.

Three up with seven holes to play is by no means game over in foursomes, or any matchplay for that matter, but the manner in which the Australians kicked off proceedings gave cause for confidence in what lay ahead.

It wasn't that the two pairs were throwing birdies at each other but rather clutch golf where the Australians holed their putts and the Americans didn't. The marble-top greens of Royal Melbourne are not for the faint-hearted or an aggressive approach.

For two class players - Baddeley has won on the PGA Tour this year while Day finishing second in the first two majors of the year - to lead two up with two holes to play then finish bogey, bogey to hand the Americans a halved match was particularly disappointing.

Just one last - forlorn - chance remained on the 18th after Day chipped out. Baddeley put their third shot on the green inside the Americans second shot and on the same line. Kuchar eased the putt down for a simple two-putt, and Day missed.

Match halved. It surely was the one that got away.

Ex band manager guilty on 87 teen sex counts

A former band tour manager stalked and harassed dozens of Australian teenagers on the internet and coerced some into having sex with him, a court has heard.

Melbourne-based John Raymond Zimmerman, 26, would capitalise on the band's popularity by promising the teenagers free tickets to gigs and the opportunity to go backstage, in exchange for sexual favours, the Victorian County Court has been told.

Zimmerman has pleaded guilty to 87 charges, including sex and child pornography crimes, relating to 55 victims he met via online social networking sites.

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The victims were girls aged between 13 and 17 from states including Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and NSW.

Zimmerman, who faced a pre-sentence hearing today, contacted the victims through two MySpace and three Facebook accounts between 2006 and 2010, the court heard.

Prosecutor Louisa Dipietrantonio said Zimmerman, who also worked as a Melbourne sales assistant, would lure the girls by calling them affectionate names like "babe", "bub" and "gorgeous".

Feeling flattered, the girls would chat with him online with some agreeing, reluctantly, to meet up with him at isolated locations around Melbourne, including schools, car parks and the airport, where Zimmerman would have sex with them.

The teenagers were often pressured to meet Zimmerman after he threatened to distribute naked pictures of them either sent to him, or captured by him on his computer's webcam, to their parents or schools, Ms Dipietrantonio told the court.

If the girls refused his advances, online or in person, Zimmerman would threaten, manipulate and verbally abuse them, calling the girls slut, whore, fat or disgusting, the court heard.

He told one reluctant victim he would "treat you like you are living the rock star life" if she agreed to meet him, the prosecutor said.

One 14-year-old victim who pointed out that Zimmerman's advances were illegal said she felt scared to go to school or to sleep after receiving threatening messages from him when she refused to reply, the court heard.

In one instance, Zimmerman posted the word "Dead" over one of her photos from her social networking page and sent it to her.

When another victim discovered Zimmerman had been arrested she asked him why he was pursuing young girls, to which he replied it was the first time he had "gone so young" and it was "part of promotion for the band".

Zimmerman has pleaded guilty to charges including rape, sexual penetration of a child, indecent acts, possessing and making child pornography, stalking, and using a carriage service to harass, procure or groom a child for sexual acts.

The pre-sentence hearing is continuing before Judge Richard Maidment.