The James Logan Courier

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune (MCT)

Three chapters into a series that began as a straight-faced "Grand Theft Auto" wannabe, "Saints Row: The Third" commences by almost immediately giving you a reaper drone as your first weapon upgrade and letting you call in (and control) missile airstrikes at will from that moment forward.

And with that — and following an opening sequence in which you lead a bank robbery that somehow culminates in an airborne shootout that includes skydiving into and through the windshield of a crashing airplane — we are off to the races.

Before we get carried away with how out of control this fable gets, it's worth stopping and emphasizing how solid "SR3's" underpinnings are. The game's third-person shooting controls are far more versatile than what "Grand Theft Auto IV" produced, and the driving (and, eventually, biking and flying) controls are what you expect — loose and arcade-y, but with enough weight that driving a sports car, street sweeper and tank (yes, there are tanks) are markedly different experiences. The graphics aren't always easy on the eyes, but they certainly suffice, considering how big, busy and free of load times the open world is.

By Daniel Vasquez
Sun Sentinel (MCT)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Students are finding clever ways to take a bite out of the cost of going to college, many getting help from local companies and the latest Web-based technologies. Some are doing so before they even settle on a school.

After choosing the path to higher education, the biggest decision for college-bound students — and parents — is what campus to select and how to pay for it.

Some students earn A-pluses for using the Web to cut down on time spent selecting colleges as well as costs for applying and attending — from travel expenses to book fees.

From wikipedia:
Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was a famed American aviator, the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits. His Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae, was on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center from 2003 to 2011. On August 15, 1935, Post and American humorist Will Rogers were killed when Post's aircraft crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow, in Alaska.

Read more about Wiley Post, free from acepilots.com.