EveryJoe |
- Roguelikes: A Taste of the Retro
- Hot Links: Her Point of View
- Graco Recalls 1.2 Million High Chairs
- Chicks of the Day: Blackhawks Ice Crew
- March Madness Begins with Upsets
- Stargate Universe Returns for Season 1.5
- Mean Green Love Making Machine
- 5 Awesome Brain Foods
- Get Into The Sims 3
| Roguelikes: A Taste of the Retro Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:57 PM PDT Imagine playing a game in which your character is represented by a "@" sign and your opponents by the various letters of the alphabet: a "k" represents a fierce kobold and a "d" a vicious hellhound, for instance. If you're not disgusted by the notion of such Spartan graphics, there are plenty of Xbox and PS3 titles that you could try; for the rest of us, the endless fun and shocking depth of the roguelike genre vastly outweighs the primitive graphics.  Image: www.roguetemple.com Roguelikes have been around since Rogue, the venerable grandfather of roguelikes and of graphical gaming in general, was coded back in 1980. Rogue featured graphics consisting of letters and symbols and a basic control scheme that allowed players to accomplish a wide variety of actions. The goal of Rogue is to fight your way to the bottom of the dungeon, retrieve a magical amulet, and return to the surface. This may sound easy enough, but in comes another feature of the roguelike: permadeath. That is to say, once you die in Rogue or in (most) other roguelikes, your character is gone forever. This means that roguelikes require an immense amount of tactical thought, as you can't just blunder your way through the dungeon without carefully planning your actions. Roguelikes are turn-based, which means that you can think forever about each of your turns without worry. As important as Rogue is to the genre (which, of course, is named after it), it has actually become rather outdated when compared to the most popular roguelike games. Nethack, for example, takes the basic premise of Rogue and adds everything including the kitchen sink – no, for real: you can actually find and use kitchen sinks to your advantage. ADOM, the abbreviation for Ancient Domains of Mystery, is another roguelike phenomenon that provides a huge, fiendishly difficult quest for the player. You shouldn't approach most roguelikes without putting yourself into a certain frame of mind. To put it bluntly, you will fail to make significant progress over and over again – your first character will die of hunger, your second to a hungry bear, your third to a pitfall trap, your fourth to poison… you get the picture. The magic of the roguelike genre appears when you finally manage to reach a significant milestone in the game, or even beat the game, but the road to success will be lined with the grisly corpses of your previous attempts. Here are some great websites to look at if you're ready to see what all the fuss is about: www.roguetemple.com provides a lot of information about most every roguelike out there, as does roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org. Once you find your roguelike of choice, there's most likely a thriving community of players somewhere on the Internet. Post from: EveryJoe Roguelikes: A Taste of the Retro |
| Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:54 PM PDT Today, we have a rundown of articles on sex and relationships, from the female perspective.  Image: sxc.hu
Image: sxc.hu Post from: EveryJoe |
| Graco Recalls 1.2 Million High Chairs Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:49 PM PDT Graco Children's Products Inc., a unit of Newell Rubbermaid Inc., has issued a recall for 1.2 million high chairs due to complaints of children falling out of the chairs. According to a statement made by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, screws have come loose in the legs, causing the high chairs to tip over.  Image: istockphoto Needless to say, this issue can cause the child to fall out of the chair, leading to potentially serious injuries. Graco decided to establish the recall after receiving 464 reports of screws loosening or falling out, 24 of these situations leading to injuries ranging from bumps and bruises to the head to a hairline arm fracture. The recall applies to high chairs made between November 2003 and December 2009. This recall applies to chairs sold at retailers including Wal-Mart, Toys "R" Us, Target, and Burlington Coat Factory. Those who have purchased the affected high chairs can order free repair kits by calling (877) 842-3206, or by visiting gracobaby.com. Post from: EveryJoe Graco Recalls 1.2 Million High Chairs |
| Chicks of the Day: Blackhawks Ice Crew Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:49 PM PDT Football isn’t the only sport that has hot chicks. Check out the Chicago Blackhawks Ice Crew of the NHL.  Image: Blackhawks Ice Crew I’m not sure much more needs to be said. View more pictures of the Ice Crew on the Blackhawks website. Post from: EveryJoe Chicks of the Day: Blackhawks Ice Crew |
| March Madness Begins with Upsets Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:39 PM PDT On the first day of March Madness, we already have a handful of upsets and a group of possible Cinderella teams. In other words, March Madness got off to a great start. Without upsets and Cinderellas, this is just another basketball tournament. The biggest upset of the day was 14th seeded Ohio beating 3rd seeded Georgetown. Ohio was just 22-14 on the season and won only seven of their 16 games in the MAC, yet they slayed the Big East giant. Armon Bassett had 32 points and DJ Cooper had 23 points for Ohio, who connected on 12-of-23 three-pointers and turned the ball over just 11 times in their 97-83 victory. Murray St. was another team that pulled off an upset when they beat Vanderbilt in the final moments. Murray St. was a 13th seed, while Vanderbilt was a 4th seed. Isacc Miles had 17 points and six rebounds to lead his team to a 66-65 victory. Two 11 seeds won on the day — Old Dominion over Notre Dame and Washington over Marquette. Day 2 of March Madness is on Friday with 16 games on tap.  Murray State Danero Thomas celebrates a game winning shot over Vanderbilt (Image: Zuma Press) Post from: EveryJoe March Madness Begins with Upsets |
| Stargate Universe Returns for Season 1.5 Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:38 PM PDT Stargate Universe (SGU) is returning for season 1.5 on Friday, April 2 at 9/8c on Syfy. The case includes Robert Carlyle, Louis Ferreira, David Blue, Ming-Na, Elyse Levesque and Lou Diamond Phillips, among others. If you missed the show the first season, here’s a brief synopsis:
If you tune in, leave a comment here and let us know what you think. You can also watch previous episodes of SGU and other Syfy shows online at Syfy.com. Check out some stills from the show below.  Image: Syfy  Image: Syfy  Image: Syfy  Image: Syfy Post from: EveryJoe Stargate Universe Returns for Season 1.5 |
| Mean Green Love Making Machine Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:34 PM PDT You gotta love drinks with a catchy name — and this cocktail definitely has one. The Mean Green Love Making Machine gets its green color from Midori, but also features Blue Curacao.  Image: skyy.com Ingredients:
Method: Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker, shake, and serve over ice in a highball glass. Also check out a very simple recipe with another cool name — Thug Heaven. Ingredients: 2 oz Alize liqueur Method: Fill cocktail glass with ice and mix the two ingredients. Recipes courtesy of drinksmixer.com. Post from: EveryJoe Mean Green Love Making Machine |
| Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:13 PM PDT Do you ever feel like you are having trouble concentrating or your brain is getting foggy around midday? Look at your snacking habits. By picking the right brain foods as snacks, you can stay focused and alert. Skip the vending machine, here are five awesome brain foods that you should incorporate into your snacking routine.  Image: istockphoto Blueberries Dark Chocolate Grape juice Hard boiled eggs Beef Post from: EveryJoe |
| Posted: 18 Mar 2010 05:20 PM PDT If you haven't heard of Maxis's long line of Sims games, you may have been living under a rock for the last ten years. The Sims and its two sequels have become incredibly popular among almost everybody, from hardcore gamers to those who don’t play games often at all. There's plenty of reasons why, not the least of which including the engaging and satisfying gameplay and the delightful graphics.  Image: IGN The Sims 3 is the latest entry in this hugely popular series, released in 2009 to overwhelming critical and commercial success. While The Sims 3 improves on almost every aspect of its predecessor, it also manages to inject plenty of new features to give the whole Sims experience a welcome and refreshing touch-up. The premise is simple: create a Sim or family of Sims and help them live out their lives in whichever way you choose. Creating a Sim is easy and fun, as you can tweak everything from your hair style to the exact color of your socks using the game's accessible Create-a-Sim feature. You sometimes might feel limited by the amount of options you have in perfecting your Sim, especially if you're trying to get the Sim to look exactly like someone in real life, but the process is engaging and fun. Once you've made your Sim, you then get to choose where your Sim lives. You will be presented with a variety of pre-fabricated houses and empty lots and have the ability to choose, depending on your funds, exactly where you want to live. If you select a pre-existing house, you have the option to buy it furnished; otherwise, it's up to you to get your house ready for habitation. The game is set in the idyllic town of Sunset Valley, a thriving community that feels bright and alive. One of the main features that sets The Sims 3 apart from the rest of the series is that your Sim can explore the rest of the town without the need for any load screens, giving the game a seamless feel that greatly enhances the experience. Your Sim can easily go to the pool to socialize with friends, stop by the book store to learn some new guitar compositions, and pick up some groceries on the way home, all with refreshing fluidity. The Sims 3 masterfully walks a fine line: it is fun and appealing to everyone in the family without alienating hardcore gamers, who will also find plenty to enjoy. It is one of those rare, feel-good games that provide a very positive experience. If you've somehow managed to avoid this title for this long, do yourself a favor and check it out. Post from: EveryJoe |
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