Source: Governor’s office. 2.9.2010 Governor Jim Douglas today released his recommendation to abolish 55 state boards and commissions and modify six others. The Governor s proposal would streamline bureaucracy and allow state workers to focus more time on their core duties. Regardless of our fiscal situation, we must always look for ways to make state government more efficient and save taxpayer money, said Governor Douglas. This is an important effort to modernize state government making it sustainable for the years to come.The recommendations are part of the Administration s Tiger Team response to the projected $150 million shortfall in the FY 2011 budget. This Team led the effort to take a fresh look the 300 state boards and commissions. The Tiger Team found many boards and commissions have been inactive for years, while others have overlapping missions and functions. The Governor s proposal calls for the abolishment of 45 boards and commissions through statute and 10 through Executive Order. Six others will be modified and otherwise consolidated. Some of the proposals will be difficult and meet resistance, but with such daunting fiscal challenges we cannot maintain the status quo, the Governor remarked.These recommendations represent a combined General and Special Fund savings of nearly $700,000. Of this amount, $171,000 was included in the Governor’s FY 2011 Recommended Budget. Additional administrative savings from not staffing and servicing these boards and commissions will be realized by Agencies and Departments. The Administration s Director of Budget Operations Otto Trautz briefed the recommendations to the House Government Operations committee this morning. I want to thank Otto for his tremendous leadership and hard work, and that of his Tiger Team, in identifying opportunities to streamline state government, noted Governor Douglas. “I also want to thank the House Government Operations committee for their continued interest and collaboration on this important work.”The list of boards and commissions recommended for abolishment and modification is pasted below and attached. read more
VR is changing the video game industry in a big way, and it’s time to get with the times or be left behind. That’s why you should seriously consider picking up an Oculus Rift along with its brand new Oculus Touch controllers when it launches next week.There’s a whopping 53 titles that will support Oculus Touch at launch, with several different games for you to try out and determine your favorite, including hilarious titles like Job Simulator or the harrowing The Climb. There’s a little something for everyone here, whether you prefer to be scared out of your mind or if you want to party with friends. Even if you’re not much of a gamer, there’s plenty here to try out and experiment with. The full list is below:Arizona Sunshine (Vertigo Games)Bigscreen Beta (Bigscreen)Carnival Games VR (2K Games)The Climb (Crytek)Cosmic Trip (Funktronic Labs)CRANGA!: Harbor Frenzy (HandMade Game)Dead and Buried (Oculus Studios)Dead Hungry (Q-Games)DEXED (Ninja Theory)Dig 4 Destruction (COLOPL, Inc.)Enigma Sphere (YOMUNECO)Fantastic Contraption (Radial Games and Northway Games)Final Approach (Phaser Lock Interactive)Fly to KUMA MAKER (COLOPL, Inc.)Fruit Ninja VR (Halfbrick Studios)Galaxy Golf (Liftoff Labs)The Gallery Episode 1: Call of the Starseed (Cloudhead Games)Gary the Gull (Limitless Studios)Grav|Lab: Gravitational Testing Facility & Observations (Mark Schramm)HoloBall (TreeFortress)Home Improvisation: Furniture Sandbox (The Stork Burnt Down)I Expect You To Die (Schell Games)Job Simulator (Owlchemy Labs)Kingspray (Infectious Ape)Medium (Oculus)Music Inside (Reality Reflection)NBA 2KVR Experience (Visual Concepts / 2K)Ocean Rift (Llyrap Cenydd)Oculus First Contact (Oculus Studios)Pierhead Arcade (Mechabit Ltd)PLANNES (Tricol)Please, Don’t Touch Anything (Escalation Studios)Pro Fishing Challenge VR (Opus)Proton Pulse Plus (Zero Transform)Pulsar Arena (Zero Transform)Quar: Battle for Gate 18 (Steel Wool Games)Quill by Story Studio (beta) (Oculus Story Studio)Rec Room (Against Gravity)Rescuties VR (mode of expression, LLC)Ripcoil (Sanzaru Games, Inc.)Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope (Croteam VR)Space Pirate Trainer (I-Illusions)Sports Bar VR (Perilous Orbit and Cherry Pop Games)Super Kaiju (Directive Games)Superhot VR (SUPERHOT Team)Surgeon Simulator: Experience Reality (Bossa Studios)theBlu (WeVR, Inc.)Toybox (Oculus Studios)The Unspoken (Insomniac Games)Viral EX (Fierce Kaiju)VR Sports Challenge (Sanzaru Games, Inc.)Windlands (Psytec Games Ltd)ZR: Zombie Riot (PlaySide VR)If you only play a couple of the titles listed above, make sure you nab Job Simulator, which is a hilarious rumination on human careers in various fields. You’ll be making copies, pressing buttons, throwing donuts and a whole lot of other bizarre things rather than actually performing tasks, however. Not only is is giggle-inducing, but it’s a great meter for showing off exactly what VR is capable of.It’s also worth trying Superhot VR, which takes an already excellent shooter and turns it into an expansive, transformative experience worth investigating. The game only moves when you move, making for some gorgeous minimalistic puzzles in a first-person space.The Oculus Touch controllers themselves are poised for launch on December 6, so if you’re interested in nabbing a few for yourself, you’ve still got a few days left. Hurry up and get it in! read more