Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2001 03:54:31 -0400
Reply-To: TOURBUS-Request@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Sender: The Internet TourBus - A virtual tour of cyberspace
Comments: Resent-From: crispen@netsquirrel.com
Comments: Originally-From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
Subject: TOURBUS -- 21 OCT 01 -- DX BALL 2 / RICOCHET / FBI HALLOWEEN HOAX
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TOURBUS Volume 7, Number 25 -- 21 Oct 2001
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\___/ \___/ T h e I n t e r n e t T o u r B u s \___/
SIX YEARS of Searchable Archives at http://www.TOURBUS.com !!
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
DX Ball 2 / Ricochet / FBI Halloween Hoax
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://www.longbowdigitalarts.com/dxball2.html
http://dxball.virtualave.net/dxdownloads.htm
http://www.reflexive.net/Ricochet/Screens.htm
http://www.reflexive.net/Ricochet/Game%20Demo.htm
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/101501.htm
Howdy, y'all, and greetings once again from beautiful Tuscaloosa,
Alabama, located at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela
rivers. :P
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On with the show ...
Today's post is a little different because our first two stops are at
extremely addictive PC games. The first game is free, the second
costs $US 10. Neither game manufacturer knows their games are being
mentioned in today's TOURBUS post (but they'll probably figure it out
after 100,000 TOURBUS riders crash their servers). :P
Why talk about games? Well, a few riders asked me to recommend some
fun, addictive, family-friendly games that can be downloaded over the
Internet. Here are two of my favorites.
By the way, I couldn't find Mac or Unix equivalents to either of these
games. I apologize. If you have any suggestions, let me know and I
will be happy to share them with everyone else in an upcoming post.
---------
DX Ball 2
---------
Y'all are going to *HATE* me for this one. >:)
About a kajillion years ago I told you about a free PC game called "DX
Ball 2." Do you remember that episode of Star Trek, the Next
Generation, where everyone on board the Enterprise (save Wesley
Crusher) is addicted to a computer game that reprograms everyone's
mind? DX-Ball is the real world equivalent of that game.
Yes, it is THAT addictive. :)
DX-Ball is combination of the arcade games "Pong," "Breakout," and
"Arkanoid," ... with stuff from the Amiga game "Megaball" thrown in
for good measure. The object is to use your mouse (or, in my case,
track pad) to keep the ball in the air and to blow up bricks.
What makes DX Ball 2 so cool, besides the fact that the game is about
as addictive as Johnnie Putnam's key lime pies, is that DX Ball will
much run on almost ANY Windows-based personal computer manufactured in
the past four or five years. According to the DX Ball 2 Web site, the
game "should work on any Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000 or
Windows NT 4.0 machine with Microsoft's DirectX installed (included
with Win95 OSR2, Win98, and NT Service Pack 3 or 4), a video card
capable of High-Color (65535 color) graphics, a Pentium 100 or better
processor, and 16 or more megabytes of RAM."
You can download DX Ball 2 at
http://www.longbowdigitalarts.com/dxball2.html .
Look for the words "Download DX-Ball 2" in yellow. The download is
2.06 Mb, so it should take about 10 minutes to download over a 28.8
modem connection.
DX Ball 2 is free and comes with 24 levels or "boards." Additional
boards can be purchased from Longbow Digital Arts, and rumor has it
that the free board editor at
http://dxball.virtualave.net/dxdownloads.htm
will let you create your own DX Ball 2 boards, but I haven't had time
to check that out.
Why haven't I had time to check that out? One word: Ricochet.
--------
Ricochet
--------
If you hate me for telling you about DX Ball 2, you are going to
absolutely *DESPISE* me for telling you about Richochet (and no, I am
*not* talking about the recently failed wireless Internet Service
Provider with the same name).
Ricochet is another Breakout-style, "keep the ball in the air and to
blow up bricks" game ... only better. It is kind of like playing DX
Ball but with bricks and backgrounds straight out of Myst. The
screenshots at
http://www.reflexive.net/Ricochet/Screens.htm
really don't do the game justice. You *have* to see Ricochet in
action.
Oh, and as hard as this is to believe, Ricochet is even MORE addictive
than DX Ball 2. In other words, kiss your free time goodbye!
The folks at Adrenaline Vault describe Ricochet best:
The basic gameplay is similar to [Breakout and Arkanoid], but
Ricochet adds more character and a lot more gameplay and visual
effects. Also, each of the four different and unique environments
in Ricochet are truly something to see.
http://www.adrenalinevault.com/pcrl/demo_temp.asp?game=ricochet
Because Ricochet uses state-of-the-art graphics, the game's minimum
system requirements are a little higher than DX Ball's. You'll need
at least a Pentium 2 with 32 Mb of RAM and Windows 9X to be able to
play Ricochet.
And, unlike DX Ball 2, Ricochet isn't free. You can download a demo
version of Ricochet from
http://www.reflexive.net/Ricochet/Game%20Demo.htm
but the demo version limits you to a little over 40 levels/boards and
a total of two hours of playing time. Once your two hours are up,
you'll be asked to purchase the game for US$9.99.
What I would do if I were you is to download Ricochet, install it, and
play it for two hours. After that, if you like it (and you will),
you'll happily pay the 10 bucks for the extra levels and unlimited
playing time. :)
[Again, neither Longbow Digital Arts or Reflexive know that I am
talking about their games in today's post. The *ONLY* reason why I am
recommending DX Ball 2 and Ricochet is that I *really* like these
games. I hope you will too.]
---------------
Halloween Saks?
---------------
Our final stop comes, word for word, from our friends at the United
States Federal Bureau of Investigation:
An anonymous internet electronic-mail (e-mail) message has been
widely circulated pertaining to an Arab male who warned his wife
not to fly on September 11, 2001 and not to go to any shopping
mall on October 31, 2001. The e-mail further states that the
Arab male disappeared prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The FBI has conducted an inquiry into the source of this e-mail
and determined that the alleged threat is not credible.
[Quote from http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/101501.htm ]
In other words, the 'don't shop on Halloween' story is yet another in
a long string of Internet hoaxes that have popped up since September
11.
That's it for today. Have a safe and happy weekend, and we'll talk
again soon. :)
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
DX Ball 2 / Ricochet / FBI Halloween Hoax
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://www.longbowdigitalarts.com/dxball2.html
http://dxball.virtualave.net/dxdownloads.htm
http://www.reflexive.net/Ricochet/Screens.htm
http://www.reflexive.net/Ricochet/Game%20Demo.htm
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/101501.htm
---------------------------------
TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE WEEK
---------------------------------
TOAD (verb). Past tense of the infinitive "to tell."
Usage: "I done toad you a million times ... git your washing machine
out of my front yard!"
[Special thanks to Matthew Koch for today's wurd]
You can find all of the old Southern Words of the day at
http://netsquirrel.com/crispen/word.html
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.~~~. ))
(\__/) .' ) )) Patrick Douglas Crispen
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