This is a really fun game! Hold the “A” key to switch. Hold the “S” to bounce. Hit the space bar to reverse.
Swing and bounce from dot to dot to progress through each level. Your goal is to get to the bright star. Avoid enemies and obstacles!
There are two ways you can play:
1) Hit as few of the dots as possible on your way to the star.
2) Be sure to hit all of the dots on your way to the star.
Save the access codes to jump back in the game at the level where you left off!
For many game lovers, this may ring a bell: A spin off of a game that allows players to form words in order to score points was made. When RealNetworks, one of the many companies that have claim on Scrabble, tried to introduce an online Scrabble on Facebook, its attempt was overshadowed by that of an existing version of the game. The popular, yet unauthorized Scrabulous.
RealNetworks is quietly introducing a version of Scrabble on Facebook, despite pledging to save Scrabulous, the wildly popular, unauthorized online version of the board game.
In recent weeks, Gamehouse, a division of RealNetworks, introduced “Scrabble by Mattel” on the social networking site Facebook. The game, an online version of Scrabble, is technically available only to players outside the United States and Canada, though it relies on users to be honest about their location to make that distinction.
The rights to Scrabble are owned by multiple and competing companies, a situation that seems to be hobbling the game’s introduction to Facebook and other social networking sites, and complicating negotiations with the creators of Scrabulous.
Hasbro owns the rights to Scrabble in North America, and Mattel in the rest of the world. RealNetworks of Seattle has signed deals with both companies for electronic rights, but Electronic Arts of Redwood City, Calif., also has a deal with Hasbro.
As of Sunday, the official Scrabble game had attracted fewer than 2,000 daily Facebook users, in contrast to more than 600,000 on Scrabulous.
Scrabulous’s popularity attracted the attention of Hasbro and Mattel earlier this year, and they threatened legal action to shut it down. The game companies’ actions spurred tens of thousands of Scrabulous players to sign petitions and join online clubs supporting the unauthorized game, and many have pledged to stop buying Mattel and Hasbro products if the companies shut Scrabulous down.
RealNetworks said in early March that it was working with the creators of Scrabulous to save the game. The introduction of a competing game on Facebook seems to indicate an about-face in strategy.
RealNetworks would not make an executive available for an interview for this article, but the public relations manager, Ryan Luckin, said in an e-mail message that the company had been “working with Mattel for a few months now on a version of Scrabble for Facebook.” Scrabble by Mattel is “in beta,” the message said, meaning it is still being tested.
RealNetworks said that “it is important to remember that even if we reach an arrangement with the Scrabulous owners, both Hasbro and Mattel must approve” any Scrabble-related game.
Rajat Agarwalla, one of the brothers in Calcutta who developed Scrabulous, said that he could not comment on the status of discussions with Mattel, Real Networks or Hasbro. Rajat and his brother Jayant have recently introduced a version of chess for Facebook, and Wordscraper, a Scrabble-like game in which players make up their own board configuration.
Facebook Scrabble takes a long time to load, it does not always update quickly to show recent moves, and the words the game will accept do not reflect the Tournament World List Scrabble dictionary. In a recent game, for example, Scrabble by Mattel accepted “feen.” Right now there is no way to challenge opponents’ moves, and no way to play commonly used words like “zen” that are not officially sanctioned Scrabble words.
So far, Facebook users’ response to Scrabble by Mattel has been split. One user wrote that it had “a few bugs, but over all it’s excellent,” while another said, “Beta Testers: View the Scrabulous site; see how well it works; and build your beta off of that.”
Sorry that is has been such a slow month but I finally have a new article to post. It’s about a great website that I have learned about called Freerice.com. This website was first created by a man in Indiana who wanted to help his son study for his SAT. So he created a website to help him study his vocab. But now millions of people are visiting the site everyday to study their vocab, or just for fun. But the best part about the website is that when you get a word correct, the website donates 20 grains of rice to a country that is in need of food. And with millions going to the website each day, there is tons of rice being donated to needy countries. So if you’re one of those people who like to help the needy, or you just need to study for a test, go to www.Freerice.com
New research in computer science has shown that information is always being lost on the web. Some of the loss of information can be attributed to problems with the server or end host. However, these cyber black holes have been found to be a common occurence. Read the rest of this entry »
I almost thought it was a joke when I first heard about this! However, this a true story. France Sony BMG got caught using pirated Microsoft software on its servers. That isn’t the worst part though. Guess how Sony got caught? They actually called Microsoft tech support and gave them their illegal key. Can you believe these fools at Sony BMG? After they install root-kits on peoples computer and crack down and P2P and music-sharing college students they use pirated software on THEIR OWN servers. Stupid French. However they only got a fine of $450,000 which is like pocket change to a massive corporation like Sony when they are charging college students $5,000 for sharing a couple of songs.
I have two words for Sony BMG:
EPIC FAIL!
This is a 17 minute talk from TED (Technology, Education, Design), an annual conference where speakers share their ideas with many important individuals.
This particular talk is by Jeff Bezos and outlines several analogies towards the internet, comparing it to the California Gold Rush and the beginnings of electricity. It is very interesting, but ultimately he comes to a conclusion that we are in the beginnings and things will only increase from here.
You can find hundreds of talks like this on TED.com.
Here is a cool RSS Feed icon. Download and enjoy. There is a flattened PNG, Fireworks PNG, PSD, and Ai file in the zip. License in zip file.
Demo image:
Fun Stuff!
Finally, Microsoft has honored their promise of SP1, and it ushers in a startling amount of changes. I would have posted the release notes here, but they are several pages long and can be found here instead. The pack, weighing in at 434.5MB (or 726.5MB for the 64-bit version), rolls in 23 security updates and 550 hotfixes. Apparently the update is taking its sweet time showing up, and if you cannot wait to download it, here are the direct links:
Back in October, Hulu was launched as a joint venture between Fox and NBC. The site was to offer free, ad-supported videos of popular TV shows and movies. Back then and until a couple of days ago, it was still in private beta. I managed to get an invite a couple weeks ago, and I have been enjoying the service greatly (thanks again Alec.) Read the rest of this entry »
There will be cake.
Feed Yourself