#gpea

Storing Private Identity Information During the Verification Process: Goals & Means

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KEY TOPICS

Regardless of the approach used, the objectives remain the same: verification of identity, effective authorization, and comprehensive accountability for all actions taken against sensitive information and critical systems.(More…)

To prevent the risk of unauthorized access via recording devices, voice recognition systems will ask users to repeat random phases which are…

After a battery replacement, we finally picked up Crystal again. In about an hour, we plowed through Sprout Tower, Falkner's Flying Gym, and Union Cave. I'm in a strange position in my game, ever since we agreed to call off our Nuzlocke.

I know Whitney's Miltank looms over the horizon -- that's right, I called the cow fat -- so I need to prepare my starter (currently a Lv. 14 Quilava named "Carver") or something with a Fighting move. Instead, I've obsessively spiraled into my "Gotta catch 'em all" mode again. I'm not being as exhaustive as I was with Pokemon X, refusing to move from a route until I'd caught everything. But I've caught enough that it makes leveling up more complicated. I'm trying to uniformly train an entire party, keeping them all at comparable levels, which is terribly time-consuming.

I'll have to make a choice before I hit Goldenrod City: do I focus on a couple of heavy-hitters, or invest the time to level up the whole party? I've got another gym in Azalea Town to defeat before I decide.

Meanwhile, Chelsea doesn't seem as interested in Crystal, so I offered her an escape rope. Once we beat the Elite Four, she can move on to Ruby and Sapphire, while I hang out in Crystal's post-game Kanto quest. She hasn't made her choice yet either.

Mean-meanwhile, we probably should have played more Crystal last night, but we bugged out to do the Pokemon X post-game Mega Stones quest instead. Now I've got a Mega-Ampharos, which is something I didn't know I've needed since playing Gold for the first time. Ampharos was one of those magic, unfamiliar Pokemon I discovered while playing Gold in Japanese -- and it's been a mainstay in my Generation 2 line-up ever since. Usually you can catch its earliest evolution stage, Mareep, just before you hit Union Cave. I expected to encounter one last night.

I really hate technology sometimes.

Our copies of Red, Blue, and Yellow worked perfectly, despite being the oldest game cartridges. But Chelsea's copy of Crystal won't retain her save file. The battery probably needs to be replaced. We tried to switch back to Gold and Silver, but our versions of those games have the same problem. When you turn on the game, even after you've saved, the only option it gives you is "New Game."

I guess all Gameboy Color cartridges needed that battery? Or maybe it's just Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal? The technological advancements of second generation Pokemon are cool, but it's a bummer that those advancements diminish the longevity of the cartridge.

My adventure through Johto begins.

The first time I played Pokemon Gold, the game hadn't been released in America yet. I downloaded an emulator and the Japanese ROM, then used a walkthrough to navigate the story. Since I wasn't able to read any of the text during that first game, I still associate this generation with a sense of wonder and discovery. As of this generation, Pokemon is suddenly in full color. The battle sprites have more shading and texture, and therefore seem more realistic and tangible. And, of course, there are 100 new Pokemon and a wealth of new techniques to discover.

So far, Crystal -- which enhances Gold/Silver the way that Yellow enhances Red/Blue -- carries that same sense of discovery. But with the added intensity of this Nuzlocke challenge.

I think Chelsea already regrets the decision. There's a lot of grinding and frustration ahead for us.

We're about to enter Falkner's Flying Gym, and my line-up's looking ...okay:

Cyndaquil, Lv. 12 ("Carver")

Rattata, Lv. 10 ("Rouse")

Spinarak, Lv. 10 ("Braschi")

Poliwag, Lv. 10 ("Irving")

Continuing my trend of naming Pokemon after things Chelsea hates, the second generation is named after postmodern authors. Since this is a Nuzlocke, I don't plan to catch 'em all.

Our marathon continues! We opted to skip Gold and Silver, because Chelsea wants to see animated sprites and choose the gender of her character -- options only available in Crystal.

We've also decided to play this generation as a Nuzlocke. In case you're unfamiliar with Nuzlocke challenges -- I wasn't -- here is a handy article from the Pokemon wiki. 

For our game, we've adapted the rules listed in that article: