November 2006
Monthly Archive
General November 30th, 2006 by Marsha
5 Tips To Keep Your Woman Happy
All the guys always ask, "How do I keep my woman happy?"
Sit right down and take some notes because I am going to tell you!
1) Listen - This is the easiest thing you can do and it gives you the biggest benefits. Just listen when she speaks to you. Stop what you are doing (unless stopping would kill or maim you) and pay attention to her and what she is saying.
Woman communicate best through speech and they want to know that what they are saying is not going in one ear and out the other.
Also, no matter how good you are at multi-tasking you need to give her your full attention. Oh, and never act like your not listening and then rattle off, word for word, what she just said back to her.
2) If the trash is three quarters of the way full, empty it.
What can I say, taking out the garbage is still man's work, so do it!
3) Learn to read our body language - If your woman is lying on the coach half asleep don't go giving her sexy eyes expecting a response other than a boot to the head.
When you are busy working on a car and you are focused on getting that head gasket to fit just right we don't bother you. Well, sometimes we do, but you probably deserve it. Learn to read us so you will not when to ask for something is appropriate.
At the same time, if you see us with a bottle of wine and some sexy lingerie it does not mean we want you to go out with the guys. But, if you do decide to go out I'm sure we can always call an ex to come over.
4) We are not your mother - If I need to explain this one you are probably still single.
5) Be yourself - No matter what kind of person you really are be yourself. Let us see all the good and all of the bad. How else will we be able to judge whether or not we want to keep you?
We don't want to find out two years later that you were once an axe murderer! We want to know that now so we can decide if your cooking skills outweigh your killing skills!
If you pretend to be someone you are not you'll only end up disappointing both of us.
You'll be unhappy because you have to keep up the act and we'll be unhappy for wasting our time.
Social Bookmarking November 29th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
I’m In The Digg Top 500!
I was just checking my profile on Digg and I was surprised to see that I have jumped into the Top 500 users on Digg!
It's been a long haul getting this far but what really surprised me is the fact that you only need to get 12 stories pegged to the home page to be in the Top 500!
You can see my Digg profile here and I invite you to add me as your friend.
Now that I am in the Top 500 listing, does this mean my stories will hit the home page with less Diggs? My 12th story to make it to the home page did it with only 34 Diggs. This may be because it was in the lighter category of "Gaming News" rather than the Tech area.
The break points for each grouping are as follows (as of today):
13 stories = 438
14 stories = 397
15 stories = 369
16 stories = 340
17 stories = 309
18 stories = 296
19 stories = 269
20 stories = 254
21 stories = 240
22 stories = 231
23 stories = 224
24 stories = 217
25 stories = 207
26 stories = 201
27 stories = 194
28 stories = 182
29 stories = 177
30 stories = 172
31 stories = 164
32 stories = 158
33 stories = 153
34 stories = 148
35 stories = 144
36 stories = 135
37 stories = 126
38 stories = 122
39 stories = 119
41 stories = 117
42 stories = 113
43 stories = 111
44 stories = 109
45 stories = 107
46 stories = 106
47 stories = 104
48 stories = 103
49 stories = 101
50 stories = 99
51 stories = 97
53 stories = 95
54 stories = 93
55 stories = 89
56 stories = 85
58 stories = 83
59 stories = 81
61 stories = 80
62 stories = 79
63 stories = 77
64 stories = 76
68 stories = 75
71 stories = 73
72 stories = 72
75 stories = 71
76 stories = 70
77 stories = 69
79 stories = 68
80 stories = 67
81 stories = 66
87 stories = 65
88 stories = 64
90 stories = 63
96 stories = 61
Once you get past the 61st spot on the list the count gaps between home page numbers gets large. What you will quickly notice when perusing the Top Diggers List is that breaking into the Top 100 is hard enough, but climbing through the Top 50 is near impossible!
It's also interesting to note that the current Top Digg User has been befriended by 1192 users!
In fact, all of the Top Ten Top Diggers have been befriended by at least 400 users, eight out of ten have been befriended by 500 or more!
Getting friend data is not so easy on Digg so I'm not about to do a big article on it, unless I break a leg and I'm stuck in the hospital or something along those lines!
Games November 29th, 2006 by Tom Vasel
Game Review: Venus Needs Men
Venus Needs Men! (Synelix Games, 2006 - John L. Velonis) sounds like the name of a really bad "B" movie, and the artwork on the box cover does nothing to dissuade one from that. But I'm always on the lookout for games in the space genre; and therefore, it wasn't hard to tempt me into a playing of the game. And I liked it, not despite the theme but because of it. The ideas were silly and humorous, yet the mechanics offered enough choices to make this more than just a simple, light game.
Each player controls aliens who are attempting to capture or eliminate a good portion of Earth's population - Venus is looking for slaves, Mars for brains, Ganymede for food, Titan for parasitic hosts, and Pluto for targets. Using a cards and dice, players manipulate their spaceships around, attempting to take large chunks of the Earth's population. The game has a basic and "enhanced" game; and while I find the basic game a bit mundane for my tastes, the enhanced game is an enjoyable romp of semi-role playing and light tactics.
I'll go over the enhanced rules, since they are only a small step up from the basic rules. As I said up above, each player chooses one of the five races attacking Earth thanks to a defense system being disabled. Alternatively, a player can play as Earth, attempting to rescue players rather than players taking spaceships of their colors (four through six, depending on race), and placing two on their home planet. The planets are connected via dotted lines to either space regions (numbered "1" through "10") or orbit around the earth. Earth itself is divided into eight land regions - each with a number of population chips on them. These land regions are connected via dotted lines to each other and to five different water regions. A deck of "Zap" cards is shuffled and evenly split between players, giving them a deck which they draw three from. Another deck of Technology Upgrade cards is shuffled with three placed face up next to the board. Players place the three Technology cards and one Special card specific to their race in front of them, and the game is ready to begin, starting with Pluto, if possible.
On a players turn they fill up their hand up to three Zap cards and then take one of the following actions:
- Build a spaceship. The player may take one of their reserve spaceships and place it on their home world. (Ganymede can build two; Earth can build them on land territories)
- Move action. The player can move each of their spaceships to one adjacent area, following the dotted lines, or going from Orbit to any land area on earth. (Titan can move two spaces, Earth ships cannot move into deep space, Pluto can warp to a random space zone, and Ganymede can use all movement for one ship.)
- Attack. The player can attack a spaceship in the same section, or any ship on earth from orbit, or any ship in an adjacent earth territory. A player rolls the number of dice listed on their weapon card, with some of the races having special abilities. If a ship is hit, it is removed from the board, although Pluto's ships need to be hit twice.
- Population. The player can collect one population chip with each of their ships in a land area that contains population chips. Pluto can collect (destroy) them from orbit; Ganymede can collect them from adjacent oceans, and Titan can infect them with parasites. There is a limited amount of chips on the board; when they're gone, they are not replaced.
- Research action. The player must discard one of the face-up Tech cards and replace it with the top one from the deck. They then choose one of the face-up cards that they would like to obtain and roll one ten-sided die to match or exceed the Upgrade number on the card. If they do so, they may take the card, acquiring any upgrade or special abilities it adds.
A player can play Zap cards at any time and use them for a variety of special effects, to help themselves and hinder the other players. However, a player can also discard up to three Zap cards on their turn, using each discard to add to the action they already took (for example they can move one ship one extra space). Once a player runs out of Zap cards, they can play no more; so players must use them with care.
The game continues until one player captures a plurality of the population on Earth wins the game immediately. The Basic game is similar to the enhanced game, but has no Technology, and fewer differences between the races.
Some comments on the game…
1.) Components: I'm fairly satisfied with the components, but I did have a few problems. The biggest problem was that every single card in the game has the same back, which makes them extremely difficult to sort and keep separate. I did like the look of the cards, which are black and white, with some silly, retro artwork. The ships are generic plastic ships in different colors; and a few ten- sided dice are included with the game, as well as a pile of chips for population. These small poker chips are decent, although they don't stack too well. The board is very well done and includes great artwork as well as very clear territory delineations. Everything fits into a sturdy box, and the entire game has a very retro feel about it.
2.) Rules: The rulebook is only four pages long and is actually only decent. For one thing, you have to really read carefully to see the differences between the Enhanced and Basic game; it should have been formatted better to more easily distinguish which rules applied to which game. Also, the rules are in a bit of a whacky order, and I found myself perusing around several times - almost missing critical rules because they are only mentioned quickly once. Still, once I taught the game to others, I found it very easy going; and most players caught on quickly. The cards are rather helpful to remind players what their special abilities are, and a nice card is included for each player that gives them a short description of the abilities of the other aliens. Teenagers had no problem with the game; and while I would have preferred longer, clearer rules, it wasn't hard to understand.
3.) Races: At first, you may assume that every race is more powerful than the one you are playing. Some of the races do seem overpowered, but I've seen them all have good results (except Earth - perhaps that one needs to go to an experienced player?) Each of them has just a bit of flair - such as Mars stealing other player's ships, or Venus with their extremely unpredictable gun, or Titan attempting to infect the entire earth population. Players tend to get into character, which is almost essential for a game such as this, and use the special abilities of the races to best win the game. This is another reason why I'm a fan of the enhanced game, as it allows the races to have larger differences, giving the game more flavor.
4.) Zap: The Zap cards are an interesting beast, as they can be used either for their text or to extend one's turn. In the games that I've played I've seen them used about equally for both purposes. The cards are NOT balanced, as some of them are certainly more powerful than others, but none of them are game-breakers either. They add a bit of chaos to the game that isn't there otherwise; yet I enjoy using them, not simply because they increase the interaction, but because give the players one more choice to make when deciding what to do on their turn.
5.) Strategy: Obviously, a player's main goal is to simply fly to Earth and start collecting as many people as they can, since that is the ultimate goal of the game. Yet with technology and racial abilities, some players have a slight advantage here; and since not all land areas are created equal, a player with a ship in China has a much bigger pool of people to collect from than say, one in Australia. The counter to this is the ship-to-ship combat in the game. Some players may get caught up in the combat, which is admittedly fun; but if you can destroy a couple of your opponent's ships at the right time, you can cause a major setback to them, since it takes time to rebuild ships and send them back down to earth.
6.) Diplomacy: I'm not a huge fan of multi-player war games, as players often tend to get ganged up on, but it works fairly smoothly in Venus Needs Men! Players can point out who is winning and adjust their strategies accordingly, but an all out offensive on one player is difficult and is often a waste of players' times. No trading is allowed, so very few deals are made other than "Let's all attack Pluto's ships this turn, since they are so far ahead!"
7.) Fun Factor and Luck: Any game that uses ten-sided dice for combat will certainly have a decent amount of luck in it. Combat is quick, simple; and some races do quite a bit better at it. However, since collecting population is NOT random, the game rises above the rolling of the dice and playing of the Zap cards. Venus Needs Men! is fun because of its theme and interesting gameplay. It's fun to try and get new technology to enhance your race. It's fun to destroy your opponent's ships or use a Zap card at the right time!
8.) Time: One can adjust the time needed to play the game by adjusting the starting population markers in each country. This is a VERY effective way to increase / decrease playing time (although I found that the starting number seems to be the best and easiest) and usually causes the game to last just about an hour, which is perfect for this type of game.
I'm not sure that Venus Needs Men! will win any strategy game awards for an elegant play style. Yet despite a few rule and components problems, I enjoy the game tremendously. Part of that is certainly due to the theme, which is humorous and enjoyable; but I like how the game allows one action per turn, as it keeps the game moving quickly and smoothly. It's an hour game that allows some strategy, as players decide whether to build, move, fight, or capture humans. Venus Needs Men! has just enough variety to keep it interesting, with enough tactics to keep it from being just another pretty game.
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com
You can buy this game directly from their website.
BoardGameGeek entry for Venus Needs Men
General November 28th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
Weird Al
Home November 28th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
This Small House
I mentioned before on this blog how I am getting ready to put a major addition onto my home. I thought I should take a few moments to show all of you just how small my home currently is.
This house is just about 800 square feet. The basement has a low ceiling and is not as big as the house above it. Parts of the foundation are filled in with dirt while other areas are accessible.
The yard is large but there is a slope that turns into an eight foot drop over ten feet about 25 feet behind the house. I'm hoping to take advantage of this by putting on a 25x25 foot addition with a walk-out basement.
My wife and I have gone back and forth about the basement. She wants to just drop a slab in place to save money but I want a room I can use for a shop without bumping my head on the ceiling. I also feel that because of the drop in the back we can't just use a simple slab, we will need to have some sort of retaining wall built under the slab where the slope is.
A 25x25 foot expansion will go a few feet past the existing bulkhead. This will allow me to get rid of the water problem we have with the bulkhead. It's not the doors but the blocks themselves that have leaking problems. I've used Dry-Lock on them and it did meditate but not fully remedy the water problem.
We will also put a small upstairs on with the addition. We will not raise the entire roof but the area above the addition and part of the existing roof will be raised. We may have to raise the chimney as well. After we get the pricing estimates (and add out assumed 15% to them) we may just raise the whole roof, it all depends on the cost.
Our main goals are:
Master bedroom with bath upstairs.
Dining room and laundry area on the main floor.
Shop for me in the basement.
We have not drawn up a specific floor plan and I will be meeting with a builder next week to go over the basics and get some rough estimates on cost.
Now, I know most people are used to seeing the home shows on TV where they tear the whole place down and don't even talk about the budget. I'm all about the budget! I'm not made out of money so I have to watch my nickels lest I go broke before the job is complete.
I hope to impart what I have learned to all who read this blog.
Only time will tell if this becomes a "do as I do" story or a "don't do what I did" story. I hope for the "do as I do" type because this is directly affecting me!
Games November 28th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
Session Report: Arkham Horror
Every other Monday I get together with my friends for game night. This week it was only Dan and I so we took the opportunity to play Arkham Horror with the Curse of the Dark Pharaoh expansion.
One of the chief problems with Arkham Horror is that it can take a large block of time to play. Last time we played it took us over four hours to win the game. This time we had a three and one-half hour block of time to play and we felt confident that the game would either end on time or it would end early with the great old one being victorious!
We could have just played the standard game without the expansion but we decided to go for broke and went with the version where you shuffle all of the cards together.
After three and one-half hours we called the game. We had sealed five gates and would have sealed the sixth one for the win but we did not have enough time left.
Here is a short list of the things we learned in our two player game:
1) When playing with only two players the outskirts often fill up and the terror track moves fairly fast.
2) Clue tokens can really build up at locations.
3) Those same clue tokens can quickly vanish if you don't seal gates!
4) Being delayed or lost in space and time has a much greater effect on the game when there are only two players.
5) The CotDP Mythos cards have a lot of "lingering" effects.
6) The exhibit items were interesting but not unbalancing.
7) Some of the other worlds cards are deadly as you may have to fight an elder god, on your own!
8) Seal every gate. The locations that were "stable" are no longer stable.
We had a good time playing but we did reach a point where we knew we would not lose and that did affect our game play.
Early on I had an opportunity to seal the Independence Square location but I held off thinking it to be a stable location, it wasn't as two more gates opened there during the course of the game!
I acquired an item that would allow me to gain sanity, health and clue tokens when other players died...
Strangely, when I went to outer worlds I would draw cards along the lines of, "make a check and something good happens, fail and something not quite as good happens." Whereas Dan would draw cards along the lines of, "make a check and something bad happens, fail it and something even worse happens!"
We had a few problems with powerful monsters roaming the streets of Arkham in gangs. It became a case of, "should I fight the Dhole or that grouping of a witch, vampire, elder thing and a hound?"
We did not draw any of the feared "put two tokens on the doom track" mythos cards but we did draw enough of the mythos cards targeting normally stable gate locations. There were also a few times where we would stay in a location that is normally unstable and not have gates open there, ever!
Dan was banned from one of the locations... shortly after he was banned clue tokens began to appear in that section of town!
I picked up a "local guide" card while in another world. The -1 to my movement became an issue as areas were just out of my reach!
Because we only had two players we hardly ever cashed in out monster tokens and gate tokens. It just was not worth it to us. We had to keep closing and sealing gates and spending a turn on a location while trading in tokens just was not worth it.
We hope to play again soon with a bigger group.
I have also heard that the Dunwhich Horror expansion is out.... I can't wait to get it!
You can buy these games directly from Funagain games.
Games November 28th, 2006 by Tom Vasel
Game Review: Margin for Error
On the onset, Margin for Error (Sagely Games, 2006 - Dean Seiji) looked rather unassuming. It's a trick taking game with rather plain looking cards in a plain looking box. Reading the rules didn't really do much more for me, as it looked like an unimaginative, typical trick-taking game. But I've seen games that didn't look like much before become rather good, and I'm always in the mood for a new trick-taking game, so I gave it a shot.
And I have to say that with four players, Margin for Error is a well-executed, clever trick-taking game. It has elements of other games, notably Hearts, and despite its simplicity allows for some bluffing, some interesting partner communication, and is rather satisfying. I enjoy trick-taking partnership games; and although I think the five player version is slightly odd, I enjoy the four player game tremendously.
The deck of cards is made up of four suits (blue, yellow, green, and red), numbered from "1" to "14". For each round of the game, these are shuffled, and fourteen cards are dealt to each of the players. After looking at and sorting their cards, the dealer decides whether he wants to be the Captain, or pass. If he declines, the next player in clockwise order gets to decide, and so on. If all four players pass, then the dealer MUST be the Captain. The Captain decides which of the four suits will be the point suit for the round and then decides on his strategy.
The Captain is either going to attempt the High Goal (gain ten or more point cards) or the Low Goal (gain four or less point cards). He chooses from the two corresponding cards and passes it to his partner, to alert them what the goal is. The Captain then passes three cards to his partner, who after looking at them, passes three different cards back. The other pair does the same thing but with two cards. The round is then ready to begin.
The player with the Green "1" leads off, unless Green cards are the point cards, in which case the Blue "1" leads off. In this trick, as in all following, players must play a card that is the same color as the card that is led. If they have no card of the leading color, then they may play any card they like. The winner of a trick is the player who plays the highest card of the suit that was led (there is no "trump"). That player then plays the leading card of the next trick, etc.
No player may lead off with the point trick, unless it is "broken" - a player plays it as a following card in another trick. After either five point cards have been taken by one partnership or seven tricks have been played, the Goal card is turned over and revealed to their opponents, after which the round is played out. At the end of the round, if the Captain's team met their goal, they receive fifteen points. If the round ended in a tie (The Captain's team takes five point cards with a low goal, or nine cards with the high goal) then neither team receive points. Otherwise, the opposing team scores ten points.
The next player becomes the dealer, and another round begins. The game continues until one team has sixty points, at which point they win. Rules for the five player game are similar, except that a single player can win, since partnerships change each round.
Some comments on the game…
1.) Components: Even though I enjoyed the game, I'm still not terribly impressed with the components. The small blue box is rather mundane, and the cards themselves simply have the numbers on them in the color of the suit, as well as a word (i.e. "blue") that states the color. I don't think that there needs to be a huge pizzazz involved with a game's production; but since the game is awfully close to a regular deck of cards (only a difference of four), I would think that there would be a bit more involved. Still, the cards are functional and easy to tell apart.
2.) Rules: The rules are on eight small pages, and clearly and quickly explain how to play the game. I understood how to play after only a quick reading, and it was fairly easy to explain (although the players kept asking "Just like Hearts?", etc.), as I went. It actually took a round for some players to finally understand, but it's a fairly simple game.
3.) High Goal / Low Goal: It certainly seems to me that the Low Goal is much more attainable than the High Goal. When you have a handful of cards in one color, it's easy to pick the High Goal; but just because you have very few cards of a color doesn't make the Low Goal accessible, since your partner may have all the cards needed. Once we figured out exactly how the game went, the Low Goal was very rarely picked. Still, it's possible, and the opponents are still left guessing.
4.) Guessing: Which goal have my opponents picked? This is my favorite part of the game, as both sets of partners jab back and forth, with the Captain and his partner trying not to reveal their goal too early, and the other set of partners attempting to figure it out. The Captain's opponents should "break" the point suit early, attempting to see if the Captain and Co. will take the cards or not. Halfway through, the goal card is revealed, but that might be too late for the opponents. This makes the game considerably different from Hearts, because a player may attempt to either take points or give them to the others. It makes for an interesting dynamic and separates Margin for Error from other trick taking games.
5.) Fun Factor: Much of the fun in this game comes not from completing the goal, but from spoiling the goal of the Captain - at least for me! I enjoy first trying to figure out what the goal is, then trying to mess it up. This was such an enjoyment that players often passed on being the Captain. In fact, the burden of the game lays on the Captain and his partner, and players will often pass the ability unless they are completely confident they can do it.
6.) Passing: There is a bit of communication between partners in the cards that are passed. The Captain's partner can tell the Captain how many cards they have of a certain color, etc. At the same time, the cards passed can perhaps rid a player of one color (allowing them to "break" the point suit faster) or give high cards to their opponents.
Margin for Error is a simple game, and one that will most likely appeal to those who play trick-taking games. I'm not sure it's the best introductory game for the genre, but it is enjoyable and easy to learn. The guessing of the goal and then trying to complete/foil it is the best part of the game, and this sets Margin apart from other card games.
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com
You can buy this game directly from Funagain games.
BoardGameGeek entry for Margin for Error
Internet November 27th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
A quick way to increase your AdSense CTR
The higher your CTR the better the ads Google AdSense serves you.
Want to know how to increase your CTR in one easy step?
It's very simple:
Remove AdSense code from any page which does not generate clicks.
Yup, it's that simple!
Many people put AdSense code in their navigation area or at the bottom of every page. This may work to increase your number of impressions but it will not help you make money.
The AdSense system sends the best ads to those who have the best CTR (Click-Through-Rate) and if you put your AdSense ads all over the place you are only hurting yourself.
Take a look at this blog. There are only two AdSense spots. One at the top and one at the bottom of each article. Some articles also have Amazon and other affiliate links but those only pay when someone buys something.
If I had an AdSense spot in my navigation area it would show up as an impression every time someone came to my blog. I know I get a good amount of traffic every day that starts on my main page and then leads to the articles.
This would cause every visitor to generate at least one extra impression just by visiting.
What about those people who do not use RSS and instead visit the blog's main page multiple times per day? They just keep giving me impressions which lowers my overall CTR!
So, if you are using AdSense please be sure to only put the ads in places people are likely to find relevant:
At the begining of your post - If they don't like the first few lines they may leave via an ad.
At the bottom of your post - After reading, they may leave via an ad.
That's it for now.
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