Welcome to battlelogs.com

Commenting. Regular features. Kotaku culture. If you are new to the site, there's a lot to absorb. It would be great if somebody condensed everything into one easy to follow guide. Somebody did.

Reader deanbmmv did. His guide explains the star system, profile pages, the hashtag system and even how to view a NSFW-free Kotaku. There are nuts and bolts things like how to do things in comments like embed images, put HTML and link to other comments. There are also housekeeping bits like how to submit Comments of the Week, a breakdown of special posts and a refresher on general etiquette.

This is the guide that we should have made, but never did. Like we said, Deanbmmv did. And for that, you should thank him.

We also thank reader bakagaijin for nominating deanbmmv's comment for Comment of the Week — we just did one better and decided to give...

You know, for all the talk of this being the "HD generation", we've got our suspicions that many of you are still toiling away on standard definition TV sets. It's time to turn those suspicions into science.

Below you'll find some polls. The second allows you to select multiple options, since there may be more than one factor contributing to your decision. We'd be ever so grateful if you could respond (honestly!), and help give us an idea of the breakdown between HDTV ("High Definition Television) and SDTV (Standard Definition Television) users out there among our readership.

By participating, you'll be contributing to science. And who knows. We may even be able to do something useful with all this data...

Do You Own A HDTV?(trends)

0(survey software)

...

As seen inside the retail copy of Dante's Inferno for the Xbox 360. (Likely to be found in the PS3 version as well)

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Illinois is moving to reform the way DNA evidence from sexual assaults is processed after a Tribune review found that many rape kits were being placed in police storage untested, robbing the state of opportunities to solve crimes and exonerate the wrongfully convicted.

The changes -- some put forward in proposed legislation, others crafted by a working group of state and local law enforcement officials -- come as the scope of the problem widens.

After reporting that police were not submitting many of the kits to the Illinois State Police crime lab for testing, the Tribune found that even when kits are submitted, the lab sometimes refuses to analyze them. For example, since 2007 the crime lab has returned at least 88 kits to the Chicago Police Department untested, according to the department.

The crime lab now has agreed to analyze DNA from sex crime cases that were previously rejected. Also, under legislation drafted by the attorney general's office, po...

Shortly before she vanished in October 2007, Stacy Peterson told a divorce attorney that she thought her husband was mad at her because he believed she told his son he had killed his ex-wife, the attorney testified Monday.

She also wondered if she'd be able to extort money from Drew Peterson if she threatened to go to police, the attorney said.

Harry C. Smith, who had represented Drew Peterson's ex-wife, Kathleen Savio, in their divorce, said Stacy did not seem afraid of the former Bolingbrook police sergeant during their two conversations, saying she told him she had "so much (expletive) on him at the police department, he couldn't do anything to her."

Smith's testimony came on the 14th day of a pretrial hearing to determine whether 15 hearsay statements will be admitted into trial against Peterson, who has been charged with Savio's 2004 drowning death.

Smith said Stacy Peterson had called him because she was seeking a divorce from Drew Peterson.

...

By Alex Daley and Doug Hornig, Casey Research When the folks at a private equity firm gather at the holiday party refreshment table to talk about “vintage,” they aren’t commenting on the Château Pétrus. The world of private equity financing doesn’t have high visibility, but it is big business behind the scenes. Unlike venture capital outfits – which provide startup money to very early-stage companies – those who play this game grab existing private companies, often through leveraged buyouts (LBOs). Each year’s investments are referred to as vintages, with some being more highly drinkable than… Source: Jutia Group | Published: 8 Feb 2010, 11:30 pm

An employee at a Joliet cell phone store was shot and wounded Monday night during an armed robbery by three masked men, authorities said.

The employee, described as a man in his 20s, wasn't seriously injured at the shooting that occurred at about 9 p.m. in the 2500 block of West Jefferson Street, Joliet police said. The victim was taken to an area hospital and treated for his wound, police said.

At about the time the business was supposed to close, the three masked gunmen entered and demanded merchandise, Joliet police Lt. Dennis McWherter said. The robbers were able to flee with some merchandise and money, though police weren't sure exactly how much.

Joliet police detectives remained on the scene late Monday, McWherter said. Police didn't immediately have a description of the robbers.

--William Lee

Source: Chicago Breaking News | Published: 8 Feb 2010, 11:04 pm

As yet another Chicago alderman admitted to being a crook, Mayor Richard Daley dusted off a 20-year-old idea on Monday and proposed giving the city's inspector general the power to investigate City Council members.

When Daley created the inspector general's office in 1989, aldermen overwhelmingly voted to exclude themselves from being investigated by the new office. The inspector general can investigate any part of city government, aldermen said, except aldermen.

Daley said Monday he decided to act now after his council ally, Ald. Isaac "Ike" Carothers, pleaded guilty in federal court last week to accepting bribes for aiding a developer, becoming the 29th alderman convicted of crimes since 1972.

"I think after the Carothers issue, people are losing confidence in government," Daley said. "It broke the camel's back."

Daley's proposed ordinance is sure to rankle many aldermen -- concerned over an incursion by an already powerful mayor and worried about politi...