Turkish Dogs - particularly Anatolian Shepherd Dogs

I ran into this amazing video a couple months ago.


I haven't run into any help files that allow me to stop the autoplay. What an amazing woman. I wish I could hear what she does, but apparently she can't hear what she plays, so much as sense it in other ways.


Got an email yesterday that advised a 'blue plate special' on some casual games at Sandlot. Only $5 a game. Not bad! And there's a pirate themed one called "Pirate Island", apparently a variation on 'match 3' with some pretty interesting graphics. :)

Also ran into a google ad for yet another Pirate-themed massively multiplayer web game called "Dogs at Sea III".
One of my goals this year is to at least try a MMORPG for a few hours. As yet, I haven't found one that has a theme that really appeals to me. Maybe I'm just not MMORPG material, but maybe it is just because I'm not sure what I want to see in such a game. I certainly won't be able to get involved with guilds/alliances and planned battles since I'm often away from the keyboard when things get interesting (speaking from recent experience with simple real time chat services!)

About Dogs of the Seas!
"Dogs of the Seas" is a browser based Massive Multiplayer game.

You start your adventure as an unknown pirate in the heart of the Caribbean. Battle and Trade your way to affluence and standing. Your armed battle ships that sail through the Caribbean shall make you famous and dreaded pirate! Find valuable treasures, or hunt for other dreaded pirates. Take missions from the local agents, and qualify for adventurous smuggler jobs, pursue other smugglers or take part in regular events. Handle and trade with rare goods or produce valuable and powerful ships or cannons. Wild computer pirates and peaceful dealers populate the Caribbean waters along with thousands of fellow pirates. Sink your opponents and plunder their vessels in real-time battles player vs player (PvP) or against the computer generated factions. Trade with alliances or friends on the high seas for valuable possessions. Create an alliance or join another to participate in the political turmoil of the Caribbean.

Lastly, this picture of a vast assortment of fresh lokum (Turkish delight) at an Istanbul market has been driving me nuts. Must go to Eve's Market and pick up a few boxes this week.

Labels: Food, games, Video

I got some fun pics of Helmut, the Beachboy in SoCal, enjoying the beach. I always get a kick out of these blackberry pics from Geno! This is one Anatolian boy that is sure getting a lot of socialization. :)

And here's one a bit so close, he didn't fit into the frame. Looks like he's having fun with a cute golden retriever.

Late at night, trying to sleep, I can't sleep and trying to keep out of range of hubby who is coughing up a storm (he's the one that got the flu shot!), I ran into a cool logic and problem solving game called World of Goo. Intrigued, I downloaded the demo to my bedside notebook and get a kick of it so far. The opening screens, the humor and some of the graphics are so weird! The game is designed primarily by two guys rather than a whole army of programmers. If you like what Wiki has to say about it in the first link, check out its homepage at http://2dboy.com/ and download the free demo there.

Must be the doggie person in me but when I saw these rugs over at Weburbanist, I was sure some of them would make great beds for a snoozy Anatolian shepherd. I just don't get the one that looks like the aftermath of a sheep shearing event but there's plenty of oddness to be had there.

Hat tip to Diane who shared a very interesting blog post about service animals, particularly the alternative ones. The movie showing Panda the minihorse being clicker trained is amazing! No captions but if you have some familiarity with clicker training, it's easy to see what is being targeted and how well Panda is doing in this training. The NYT article linked in post is a long and interesting read that might annoy some of my service animal associates but the whole matter is probably a 'do not miss' for most!

Not the least of it all, tonight while resetting a license for some publications I get from Zinio, I ran into Arabian Horse World! Check it out. If you like horsey eye candy, take a look at what is available. You can get the sample copy for only 99c (Nov 08). I was a long time subscriber of the paper version which was a very heavy, glossy paged quality publication that would fill up a rural mailbox in its cardboard box back in the mid eighties. Well, now you can see the stunning photography and beautiful horses but in lighter-than-air digital format. What's not to like? Check out the link.

Labels: behavior, compu-internet, games, Helmut, horse

Discovered some very useful (free) tools for maintaining my bookmarks across several computers. I also needed a temporary solution for password storage. Found it all here.

I was amused to learn that Denofrio [sic?] "retired his license to practice law to become a professional poker player".

In something that sounds a bit completely different in a casual game, there is "Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!" which you can read about at the link. What an intriguing name for a game. As is typical of most casual games, you can try before you buy. You get the first 60 minutes of gameplay for free, then you can choose whether or not to buy the game so you can have more time to complete it and replay as desired. :)

A bit from the description given in the review at Gamezebo:

As it turns out, high school girls in the 1920s got into about as much trouble as they do nowadays - they just do it with flapper-style flair and scratchy swing music playing in the background. The game does a superb job of immersing you in the Roaring '20s, and the biggest treat of all is the irreverent dialogue. This isn't one of those games that you can just click through on your way to the next puzzle. Each sentence is dripping with wit, and – parents be warned – healthy doses of innuendo. ("I lost my cigarette lighter. If I don't find it, I'll have to ask a boy for a match. Who knows what he'll want in return!" or "Myrtle is an ignorant amateur at the art of passion. Why, last summer in India, I satisfied a Raja, while remaining full flowered.")

That's all for now...

Labels: compu-internet, Firefox, Freebies, games, humor

I had thought he was 1/4 Arab but apparently I was off by quite a bit -- :edit: 28Nov2008 IF that link doesn't work, try this one. The author of the page had used a tilde in the page name and it doesn't not resolve properly from some links. :)

Gamezebo has an article about a game where PeTA perpetuates its radical mayhem, apparently based on its favorite "Mommy".
Now, let's move on with some Free stuff!

A cool looking, free online game is Something Amiss, about a young woman named Alice, who wakes up on the table of an MRI machine and finds there's no one there around her. Apparently she is locked into this MRI room and with your help she will figure out how to get out of there and solve the other puzzles in the cascade of questions surrounding her situation. It's all played entirely in a browser window and you can click any key on your keyboard to get game help and tips. You move Alice around by mousing the crosshairs onto different objects and left-clicking when the crosshairs turn red and choosing from a menu.

November 21st (Friday) is the day that the launch for the public beta for another free online game. This is Elf Island, a fantasy world game with a cute homepage. Nice concept. It seems to be about teaching children about compassion and doing good for others. The registration page seems to be pretty straightforward that it is intended to be a nice game for kids and others who like this concept.

Both "Something Amiss" and "Elf Island" each have blogs linked each their homepages so you can learn more about the latest updates on each.

Now more along the line of things I actually make time for, cooking and recipes! There's a free, beautifully illustrated Bisquick recipe collection, which can also be downloaded and kept handy offline. Likewise, one for Diabetes, one on brunches, soups, holiday cookies, whole wheat baking and birthday parties. These are courtesy of Betty Crocker and General Mills and I think these magazines are typically sold as impulse items at the checkout stands. I just love freebies! (and uh... to someone who will not be named, No, I'm not really downloading the entire internet... I think? lol) Psst... to everyone else, is she gone now? Shhh... here's one more, a Kraft Food and Family Festive 2008 recipe collection.

There's more but I think this is enough for now!

Labels: Food, Freebies, games, Politics

Semavi Kale Shadow (Ruya's sibling pinto sister) caught on a picture after she ran in and rolled a puppy for unwanted behavior among Shadow's sheep. You can see from her expression as she leaves the crumpled puppy, just how she feels. Yeah, I know there are 'all positive' dog training advocates that argue that dogs don't do the 'alpha wolf roll'. I don't have time to argue with them. I don't think they've observed how large dogs keep order, which age ranges and the types of infractions - it is complicated and justice is administered 'to effect' - not at all like some sort of 'thug city'. Mama dogs teach their kids the law of the tooth and fang and normally one or two lessons can instill certain respect for the life of the given student. :)

Above type scenario came to mind when I saw this... it is a video showing some chickens disrupting squabbling ruckus from a pair of rabbits.

The hens are beautiful. I would love to have some Light Brahmas again some day. They are a really gentle breed despite what the video may seem to show. Pretty substantial in size, slow to grow, good layers, broody, good moms, light brown tinted eggs.


Just read that BoingBoing has a new game related blog starting up, Offworld. Might be kind of fun.

Labels: behavior, Chickens, games, Video

A couple days ago I discovered NASRN's blog. (National Anatolian Shepherd Rescue Network.)
I'll be adding their blog link to the Anatolian Blogroll whenever Blogrolling is back up again. Blogrolling is reportedly undergoing a rewrite so it might take a little time. Anyway, I'm linking to it here for now.

Unrelated: Note to self... get a replacement box of baking soda next to the stove to quickly put out cooking fires.


Okay, I ran into some really funny video a few days ago and the best part is that not only is it really hilarious stuff, but it is captioned!! :D

The Youtube homepage for this series of movies is WatchTheGuild, and they have Season 1 available here. I will embed the first clip of Season 1 below so you can get an idea what it's about. It really is hilarious. I haven't played any of these massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) but I know dozens and dozens of people that do, -- some with almost entire families in different locations around the world meeting and playing a game periodically. Some people really get into it (maybe too much!) and others play off and on. Being reliable with your group is important to the gaming and social success of a guild or group. For example, it may take a team of players with a wide variety of skills to kill a virtual dragon. This sort of game play isn't my thing, but the fun thing about these clips is how realistically they depict or parody real time social network individuals. If you like this clip below, head over to the homepage linked above and watch more as you find time. :) Fun!



A week ago, I mentioned a couple free anime styled MMORPGs. If you just want to check them out, go here for "Winterland Online" and also check out the drop down menu for a list of their other virtual worlds at the topmost right.

Labels: blogging, compu-internet, games, humor, Rescue, Video

Hope you all get out there and vote if you already haven't!

I've started playing around with Google adsense and other ads on this blog. The pages drawing the most visits are usually the game pages or special interests posts (like the python that swallowed a sheep, erk) or random stuff I have on science and genetics. Will be kind of fun to see what clicks generate for the site.


A really popular image on my site is this Sims 2 Space Port by SimMaster Ralph.

It's just too cool looking. Has UFOs hovering above the house, one of which UFOs is actually the main entry into this Sim household. There is a transporterlike 'stair' into the UFO from which your sim can then enter the house proper. I'm going on memory. I don't think I have taken a sim to that house in a couple of years now and other than a short visit to observe its coolness, I haven't actually played it! It might be interesting to see how Seasons affects it with the snow, ice and thunder storms... hrm.

I like to collect oddball Sims creations, sort of like the way we all used to collect hundreds of fonts for computer word processors. I generally end up keeping all the fonts (lol) but some of the Sim 2 creations are just a brief curiousity and then they go byebye. If you have the game and want to check out the Space Port -- the link to it is on an old post here. The image on that page is scrunched. I don't know why I never fixed it. Oh well. The Space Port is suitable for all base Sims 2 (computer) games. You do not need to own hundreds of dollars in expansion packs to use it. :p You do need to have a registered Sims 2 game in order to download the house at the official EA Sims 2 homepage.

Much newer oddness, and FREE -- that I ran into a few days ago are a some online games where your character is in the form of a stylized Japanese cartoon art form called anime. The games are MMORPG - which is a multiplayer online format. Flexible, it can be a sort of interactive 'chat room' if that's all you want. Or you can go exploring or play it as a skill game -- be a warrior or whatever. You need to be able to download the main program tho. So if you're on dialup, that could be rather piggish since I think the file sizes are close to a half or 1 gig (I forget) but it comes with a pausable, resumable downloader if you are determined to try for it on a slow connection. The homepage screens are beautiful. See "Wonderland Online" or "Tales of Pirates" for examples. Or after landing on either page, just click on the Free Online Games menu at the far top right corner of the page where you can select other choices. The software is free and so is playing the free versions, but some of the more enhanced games in the menu require a paid membership if you decide to keep playing.

I keep feeling vaguely confused... daylight savings time changes sometimes do that to me. When I'm feeling really tired, I can't remember if we're supposed to "Fall forward and Spring back", or is it "Spring forward and Fall back"? I'm still looking forward to seeing Apple Hill and getting a bushel of fresh apples (I love Fuji, Braeburns and Winesaps!)... we haven't found time to do that yet. But soon... yes! Anyway, adios for now.

Labels: compu-internet, Freebies, games, The_Sims_2

Above, a Sim 2 creation with two of her Anatolian Shepherd Dogs.

No, The Sims 3 isn't out yet, but it's getting more interesting all the time so I just had to post! I still haven't found much time to do much of anything with my Sims 2 game in the past year or so, although I install the expansion packs as soon as I get a chance - just so I know the newest disks work. It's such a fine game if I can ever get back to it. Unfortunately, its not really a quick little game, like Tetris or Solitaire, because it is about families and little simulated people and their lives.

The simulated scene above shows a young lady who has just bought a house. She brought two Anatolian Shepherd Dogs created from the family creator in the game. The three are not really even familiar with each other yet, although the lady looks comfy to be with her dogs. They need more relationship points before they are close friends and the dogs need to learn basic obedience. My girl hasn't bought any furniture for the house yet, and it's a small one at that, since she didn't have a lot of money (simoleons) to get started. I'm going to have this Sim lady help me do a doggie tutorial eventually. She will probably have a big garden, grow all of her food, a pond where she can fish, and lots of space for her pets. Since her property will have lots of trees, for fruit and landscaping, she's likely to have some wolves as visitors. I like to think she'll be close to nature and I'd like her to meet and marry a rich celebrity Sim -- but since she's a family oriented girl, she might be happy with any compatible sim guy. Since neither she nor I know the neighborhood where she has just moved, she'll have to socialize in her town and maybe do some traveling. Hopefully, she'll fall for a great guy amd eventually have some great kids, some of whom may go to college. I can't remember what she wanted for a career (these are spontaneous and part of their "Life Time Wants", or goals for the game play). I'll have to check it out again some time. I really love The Sims 2!

With all the busy stuff in life lately, I have been avoiding peeking at anything about the next generation game. ...except for small doses. :)

In fact, I'm beginning to think that the next generation game, The Sims 3 will be out in the stores (next year) before I get anywhere with my Sim 2 families. And... and, and (sigh...) The Sims 3 is looking very promising indeed. (and resource hungry, I'm sure!)

So, I just saw an announcement with a link to a brief and humorous Sims 3 trailer showing a simulated brawl between two Sims 3 simulated VP candidates.

I really appreciate the detail that goes into animating these sims. Some of their actions are things you direct them to do with mouseclick menus, but many of the little details of things that sims do are spontaneous and you can't always tell what they are going to do next. It's a pretty deaf friendly game, although the sims do like to sing and dance. They don't speak English, but their own langauge which is called Simlish. People who can hear what they say can't know for sure what the words are, but like people who learn to speak Klingon, there are actually word patterns in their speech. However, hearing or not be you, they are very expressive with their hands and faces. :)

The kids btw are really cute. (and they get their genetic traits from their parents, as do the pets, which are breedable). Intriguing, eh? :)

Click here to see an avi video file, created by another Simmer (a Simmer is someone who plays The Sims) of her Sims 2 toddler child who is having a tantrum about getting out of her crib. The child's parents have taught her how to walk, and this unlocks interesting potential for her problem solving ability which you can observe in the clip. It's really cute. I like how she looks both ways to see if anyone has observed, before she makes a break for it. ;)

Labels: games, humor, The_Sims_2, Video

I read a NewsBlog on The-Scientist.com about a protein folding game called Fold It.
I thought that was mildly interesting at first and somewhat amusing, but particularly because it combines science, puzzles and games, I became intrigued had to check it out!

My first laugh... It was amusing to find that they chose a domain name of FOLD with the country code (IT) of Italy. But you know how geeks can be. :D

Proteins are complex molecules in long chains that spring themselves into curly folds... and look like messy jumbles of utter chaos. The thing though, is that proteins operate like hardware or software in the body, depending on what the protein is and how it is folded, as well being affected by its environment. It is this manner in which proteins are structured that gives them the ability to react variably in their environment and do such things as keep us healthy, to make us sick, or to cure us of something. :)

I haven't tried the game yet but the ideas behind it are intriguing - as you can see from the beta version of game and site icon at the left.
"Solve Puzzles for Science".
Hrm...

"We're hopefully going to change the way science is done, and who it's done by," said Popovic, who presented the project today at the Games for Health meeting in Baltimore. "Our ultimate goal is to have ordinary people play the game and eventually be candidates for winning the Nobel Prize."

Hey, that Nobel Prize sounds a little far fetched but there is truth in the fact that some of us are strong on various types of puzzles. Some people are pretty genius at recognizing abstract patterns immediately in bundles of chaos and others have different strengths in problem solving, which together can crystalize innovative approaches. I see that the game is online and free. Apparently they are keeping track of how the game and its puzzles are played by its players.

The homesite for Fold It is here and more about the science of the game can be read in a FAQ. Here's a question from part of the FAQ...

How does my game playing contribute to curing diseases?

With all the things proteins do to keep our bodies functioning and healthy, they can be involved in disease in many different ways. The more we know about how certain proteins fold, the better new proteins we can design to combat the disease-related proteins and cure the diseases.

A short YouTube movie showing the game in action.


Last minute add, a writer on Gamezebo mentions how games can be more directly helpful in healing and therapy.

Labels: compu-internet, Freebies, games, genetics, Science

A Paint Shop Pro creation featuring two of my favorite games. (yeah, I did that PSP in a hurry and you can tell although I might just get around to fixing that)

Above, a Sims 2 family guy, playing Big Kahuna Reef 2 - Chain Reaction on his free gaming computer. (Sims 2 Free Time features new hobbies that Sims can have, including gaming! ...a sort of "infinite picture", game creations playing a game)

Recent days without much internet access, various stressy issues and an ailing family member have me turning to my very useful and portable laptop for communication aid (nextalk.net deaf relay), ways of keeping myself from going nuts or being utterly bored in quiet moments, and if I have a space of time with no interruptions, some momentary stress relief in the form of DVD movies or casual games. Beats TV to death, as I have never been one to just turn it on and veg.

Tonight, I learned of a study documenting that computer games give stress relief ...and it even comes with a slide show. Check out the title, I love it! "Study: Casual Video Games Demonstrate Ability to Relieve Stress, Improve Mood: Potential Clinical Significance Highlighted. First-of-Its-Kind 6-month Research Project Establishes Effects of Puzzle and Word Games on the Human Body and Mind" :)

Methodology

The study was conducted between October 2007 and April 2008 and included a total of 134 subjects. Thirty-one subjects served as members of the control group, tasked with surfing the Internet looking for journal articles. The experimental groups consisted of 31 subjects who played Bejeweled 2, 29 subjects who played Bookworm Adventures, and 36 subjects who played Peggle. The study included the collection of physical data (based on Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measurements) and psychological data (based on POMS (a profile of mood states pre- and post-activity) and electroencephalography (EEG) measurements) during a 5-minute baseline period and 15 minutes of game playing or (in the case of the control group) Internet surfing.

I haven't played the three games featured in the study but anyone that is curious can get them as free downloads from any number of places including the creators site, Pop Cap games. Once you have them, you can play them offline. The trials are usually for an hour but if you like to play longer, offline and not buy the game, you can try the Wild Coins method of game trialing and playing. The way it seems to work is that Wild Games gives you any game you want as a freebie game which you can play for up to a 24 hour period with periodic 20 minute breaks. If your break gets too long, then if you want to resume the game, you will need to insert virtual coins, called Wild Coins. Depending on the complexity of the game, the number of coins varies and can be four to six coins for the fancier games. The coins can be bought in different plans or even acquired by purchasing other goods from magazines to coffee and fashions and other things. Some games are completely free however, and I get a kick out of Crickler which you must be online to play.

I didn't know anything about Wild Coins until I got my "new to me" refurb Gateway notebook which included a download for games, "Gateway Games". My nephew clicked on it (after asking of course) and I was so impressed with the graphics in the game of Fate he was playing and how quickly he learned the game, I had to learn about the game system that Fate was offered on. It's cute. The little guy battles bad guys and has a little dog that reminds me of a small spotted Terrier. I haven't played it yet but it might be the first game of its genre that I try.... eventually.

Had to stick this Sims 2 video on. I wish I could hear Natasha Bedingfield sing in "Simlish" but the video is beautiful (a nicer high res version is on youtube and you have to select it on the rating meter that has the stars).

Labels: compu-internet, Freebies, games, The_Sims_2

Here's some odd stuff from a few days ago that I didn't have time to post...

Doggy panda bear politics.... Chinese police dog may teach pandas to fight. Conservation with an odd twist? I'm not sure what is involved with this but alarms go off in my head.
Other oddness, this link was in Yahoo's category of "Seriously strange- zany stories of 2007". One quoted below :D

The Chinese capital Beijing began a campaign to improve its signposting in English ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games. Among signs in need of correcting were ones for "Pubic Toilets," and "Deformed Men" -- the latter indicating facilities for the handicapped.

Another distraction... iGoogle (your very own google start page), now features tabs and among those tabs is a gadget page for casual games! Yeesh. You are given a menu of tab topics and some default links & mashups are preset for you in categories such as News, Humor, Cooking (yay!), Art and Technology. I liked the default cooking ones well enough but have not tweaked. The game ones would have to be tweaked majorly if I were going to make use of it (eventually?). :)

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas Day. :)

Labels: games, strange

A kitten vs puppy picture that's been circulating. :)
My caption? Dis is wut ve pupsters do to kitties dat stalk waggy tails!
The kitten reserves the right to disagree!

Free Games!

These cool little thingies are called Gadgets and there's so many to choose from. If the formatting doesn't cause problems with Blogger, I'll leave a few inserted here. These are a few from the game selection area of Lab Pixies but there are other interesting gadgets as well.

I like games that are about logic, strategy and memory type things.

While I do like big, involved, beautiful graphics-hungry strategy games, little gadget games like these below are quick, crunchy, potato chips. You can start them in a moment, finish them off quickly or just plain abandon them when another more productive project is ready to roll. :)



This game is almost like Tetris! You want to get at least three in a row of same color, to make rows disappear. This one is addicting. Not exactly a quick distraction. haha :)

You use the left and right arrow keys to make the string of beads go left or go right. You use the UP arrow key to shuffle the order of the beads. Use the DOWN arrow key to kerplunk it right to the bottom.



Memory games are supposed to be good for everyone to help with mental sharpness. Not that clarity of recall rubs off on anything as soon as you're done playing. But above game is small and painless enough for random bursts of concentration, or reckless abandon. You can choose from a variety of picture collections by selecting a new 'theme' at the top. :)




Picture puzzle games are cute. In this game, click on the picture to begin the game. Then you have to find the blank spot and click on a nearby piece to get things moving. If you don't like the picture, you can choose others with the 'new game' option.

I actually like jigsaws better than these sliding type puzzles but I used to love those party favors that had numbers on them that you slide to new positions to make new patterns. Actually I still like them better than these. I don't know why! Maybe the hands on, double thumb strategy is more my thing.





As to Sudoku above, at the time of posting, I haven't actually played this version of the game yet.
When I first saw Sudoku, I wondered how these puzzles were played but wasn't even half curious enough to find out. A year later (already man, yep I'm sloooooooww!), I ran into this site called Sudoku Daily and bam, after seeing the 2x2 puzzle and playing it once, the game totally made sense and I momentarily became interested about the wide variety of online versions of the game. For those who can't be bothered to read pages of tutorial or a manual, the link at Sudoku Daily functions as an instant tutorial "A-HA!". :)

A free (tip-ware) version of Sudoku is at this link. If you like the game, tip the author. :)

Labels: games

The little guy at the left could well be me or anyone else trying to deal with stress, dilemmas, and General Pandemonium (...the latter guy whose uncle must be that famous fellow by the name of Murphy).

I got a just got a chuckle out of a recent Doug Savage Savage Chickens comic. If you're not familiar with it, it's a daily comic which is drawn on a square, yellow, sticky note. I get a kick out of it since I'm quite fond of chickens, humor, sticky notes, and Doug Savage's Savage Chickens. :) Check out the Wednesday, August 08, 2007 comic called Jigsaw. While it probably isn't a political cartoon, it struck me as being rather apt in characterizing bad political "solutions" to various problems. When one or more problems with the "solution" is pointed out by the opposition, you often get flocks of adamant "chickens" with a narrow perspective, who persist with their arguments that their solution is the ONE right solution. Of course, the issues of California AB 1634 come immediately to mind but I'm sure that all of us can certainly come up with many more examples inside and outside of politics and personal lives.

Check my label's links below for misc related topic including some free jigsaw puzzles for the PC.

Labels: animal_control, games, humor, puzzles

Okay, not really on the subject line, at least not from me -- but I thought this piece by Geoffrey A. Landis was entertaining and has elements of truth! See it here:
Everything I really needed to know about life I learned from playing Tetris

My favorite free Tetris game is called "Bricks 2000" as seen in the screenshot.

I have a older version for download from this previous posting (which includes other free games) but you can also get a free copy of an updated version of just the tetris game right here.

Labels: games

A few more puzzles to add to the cache.

A 221 piece puzzle of my favorite movie poster of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).

Boris Vallejo, 132 pieces, Hieroglyphic Egg.

I love the color in this one.
Fancy Oriental Fish were a near constant part of my childhood in Asia. And not so oddly, have symbolic meaning in my dreams to this day.


Boris Vallejo, 117 pieces, Britorgan.

There's some fantastic twisting tale that goes with this piece. But I thought a winged unicorn, a dragon and a dragonslayer make for a lot of colorful interest for this puzzle.


Boris Vallejo, 96 pieces, Tattoo.

Rather monochromatic for a puzzle, so fewer pieces. This is just here so I can admire the ...tattoo, of course. ;)


See my other post- "Free Anatolian Puppy Jigsaw Puzzles With a Side of Shrimp!" for info on these jigsaws.

Labels: games, puzzles

In short bursts, I've had a little fun with a jigsaw puzzle program that Josephine MorningStar shared with me several months ago. She made several (numbers of pieces) versions of a puzzle based on Coco's photo. She has a website which has some of her art available here.

I liked the puzzle program so much that I went ahead and purchased it, made some gift puzzles with Anatolian photos from friends - with their own dogs featured. Josephine has the best ideas! :D

Gift puzzles are stand alone versions that don't have all the features of the full game but are still lots of fun. The full featured game allows you to modify puzzles or create them as gifts.

FREE Puzzle Samples!
Here are a few puzzles that use either my pix or public domain photos.

Here is a yummy photo from http://www.pdphoto.org/, where you can get some public domain, gorgeous FREE photos that can be used any way you want. Did I mention that the pics are free? :)
-- Download this 104 piece shrimp polenta puzzle.Photo courtesy PDPhoto.org

Another yummy photo decadent shrimp foodies (like me) can enjoy, from pdphoto.org.
-- Download the 221 piece Kung Pao Shrimp puzzle.Photo courtesy PDPhoto.org

I had also downloaded some of Jon Sullivan's (owner of PDPhoto.org) other pics, including Mexican food pics (food pics are relaxing!) and travel scenery photos, from which I made a few other puzzles for personal use.


Anatolian Puppy Jigsaw Puzzles!
Click on the puppy names to download the specific puzzle.

A 104 piece puzzle with two Anatolian Shepherd Dog puppies, Jasmine and her brother 'T' relaxing in the grass under an old picnic table.
Aren't they cute? :)


A 110 piece puzzle with my puppy Coco.
This is one of my favorite puppy photos of this little monster her.

No actually, she is a sweetheart and a character! :)
First time I'd ever had a rough coat or a chocolate puppy in a litter.
Lately she sometimes lines up with my walker and keeps along side. Maybe a service dog in the making.




A 110 piece puzzle of gorgeous girl, Jasmine sunning herself on a warm wooden ramp.


How-tos for enjoying your puzzle!
First download to a location that you will remember. I made a folder called Puzzles and saved all of them into that folder.

Once you have your puzzle(s) in your folder, then open your new folder and click on the name of one puzzle.

A window will open and have this menu bar... (see below)


To get started... maximize the window for the open puzzle.

Note the crayons icon. Next to that are puzzle pieces.
Use the puzzle pieces icon to change the size of puzzle pieces. Bigger pieces make the puzzle larger than many computer screens, so you can adjust to make it fit.
The puzzle pieces icon can also alter shapes called FUN PIECES -adding cute cut outs of butterflies and kittens in the selection, try it by clicking directly on the arrows in the box.

While playing, if you need the puzzle enlarged or shrunk, just click on the puzzle piece icon above and adjust!

Another tip to help you get started - use the square outline of squares. That will put the flat sided edge pieces around the edges of the screen where you can see them more easily.

You can save your progress or just leave the puzzle running in the background while you do the 'real work' you're supposed to be doing. ;)

Funfun!!

Depending on individual photos, some are really fun when they have over 300 pieces. Photos with poor clarity and too many objects or too much of the same colors are so much harder! I made one one of these harder ones that 400 some pieces before starting taxes and it took me almost a month to finish. It was a much needed break (and now time for something totally different) & distraction from doing taxes. :( I've associated that puzzle so much with doing taxes, I had to delete it when I was done. LOL

Best part of it is, the pieces never get lost, even if your dog comes to help with the puzzle! :)

The website for the game has free puzzles to play, and if you buy the program, there are free downloads to add to your gameplay. If you like professional, very high quality photos of different subject matter, there are collections that you can purchase to add to your game. For the collections go here and the freebies are at the bottom of the page.

For more puzzles on this blog, click on 'puzzles' below.

Labels: games, puzzles

From About.com-
8 Top Windows Antivirus Software

Internet Security Suites can sometimes burden older systems and cause conflicts for gamers. Standalone antivirus scanners (used in conjunction with a firewall) are a viable alternative.

Here's a list of the top 8 standalone antivirus scanners for Windows.

Speaking of games, I wonder if I'm ever going to find time to play The Sims 2 any time soon.

Labels: compu-internet, games

I had to laugh when I saw this. :D

I think pugs are odd and cute (in their own way...) as it is, but the image at the left is shown as the representational offering one gets for pre-orders of the game from Amazon.com -- "... the exclusive, unlockable Purple Pug ..."

I found the original link here. There is a 'bandit cat' given as a preorder bonus at Gamestop and CompUSA at the same link.

Labels: games, The_Sims_2

One more month to go before this expansion pack comes out!

There's a Sims 2 Pets Training Paper (Newsletter) on the Official Sims 2 site. The second edition is out now. Let me quote from it briefly! (Owners of real pets could take heed!)

Learned or Reinforced Behaviors
Start with the basics. There is no point trying to teach Prince to play dead if he isn't even potty-trained. Teaching Sim pets acceptable behaviors is the first step in helping them get along with their Sim families. These behaviors include where to relieve their bladders, what foods to eat, and more.

Just Say No
When Sim pets are up to no good (digging in the yard or chewing on something that they shouldn't), your Sims have the option to scold their pet. No pet loves to be chastised, so a few firm words can go a long way toward teaching Sim pets the manners they need to get along in their Sim families. Make sure your Sims praise their pets for good behavior to balance out the necessary reprimands and their relationships will benefit in the long run.

Take It Outside!
Encourage your Sim pup to piddle outside. Your Sims might still have a puddle to clean up, but if the pet chooses the sidewalk as their preferred spot, it will be much better than inside on your Sims' living room carpet.

Bad Dog?
If your Sims reinforce certain pet behaviors (like digging in the yard or sleeping on the bed) by praising the pet for these actions, the pet will repeat these acts. If a pet has been encouraged to behave a certain way (or wasn't discouraged either!), they aren't misbehaving. There is no such thing as a Bad Dog, only one that wasn't trained properly.

I had to highlight that last line! It's sweet how much the game is working to protect these cute critters and teach good things too. Of course, I'll always be convinced that a certain cat which used to hang out here ten years ago was a confirmed curmudgeon, if not truly evil and mean! :p

From YouTube, here's a copy of an official video (I wish it weren't so dark!) showing the importance of training to create well behaved pets! Right at the end there's a funny demo of how to train a sim doggie to play dead. Too funny!


Cracks me up how much that kitty is ripping up that chair while the two sim people appear nonchalant during this demo. Sure brings back memories of how much work new pets can be!

The Sims 2 Pets Training Paper also features lists of breeds that are being added as ready made pets forms. Ocicats and Shiba Inu are among several newly added breeds on the current list. :)

Related Links
The Sims 2 Pets Training Paper Issue II
Previous Blog post

Labels: games, The_Sims_2

Very cute, from YouTube.

Labels: games, The_Sims_2

Release date for The Sims 2 pets is still over a month away. I am so curious how the pet generator will work and how easy will it be to create some Anatolians. I saw this movie over at Gamespot and found a linkable version on YouTube. The movie is embedded below.

The first part of the movie shows a sim playing with their kitty. Then just outside the window, there's a dog that fetches and the camera goes to check on that too. Love the cute expression after the last retrieve. I think many of the animations really capture the personalities of pets. I don't think I'll be teaching my user created Anatolians to fetch unless I can't avoid giving them that skill in order to make them have other benefits in the game (unlock other necessary actions and rewards).

Love that curly tail in the breed morpher. I hope it can be tweaked to do lesser or greater curl.
Toward the end of the clip, a Samoyed look-alike is impressive! S/he chases his tail and generally looks so cute. :D

From the Gamespy Preview: (see the rest at the link below)

As you'd suspect, Sims 2 Pets allows your Sims to adopt or breed cats and dogs (as well own birds or little rodents). But what threw us for a loop was just how much personality these little guys have. We watched as one of our Sims tried to teach her new dog to roll over: Our puppy looked up at her with glossy eyes, one ear cocked, her furry head following every movement of her owner's hand. It doesn't take long to form an attachment with the onscreen animals.

The cats in the game are really awesome in some of the pictures I've seen on testers sites. If you want to see more sites with both dog and cat pics, do go to Snooty Sims! (link below) It's my favorite Sims 'newspaper'. :) or start here with this lovely Golden Retriever at Gamespot



STILL haven't found time to play my game, so it's vicarious "playing" for me just to read about the pets and go on anticipating this upcoming expansion pack for my current sim families. B)


Related Links:

• Gamespy Preview on Pets here.
  
• Sims 2 Official Pets page.
  
  • Lots of pics
    
  • Info on breeds available so far (you can create your own)
    
  • Pet Trainer newsletter
    
• Gamespot Preview on The Sims 2 Pets.
• Snooty Sims - go here for all the latest!
  
  • Check out the PETS tab on the left hand side too.
    
• Previous Sims blog post
• Blog post: Naughty Pets
• Official Pet Training Movie!

Labels: games, The_Sims_2

Checking my mailboxes generally includes making a visit to my.yahoo.com to dig through whatever mail is there and stick it into one of several assorted priority categories depending on how overwhelmed I am - and today I saw the cutest little chicken icon

...so having a general interest in chickens and chicken related oddities & humor, I had to click peck on it and landed on this page and read the following.

In the first chapter of the Chicken Invaders saga, you defended earth against an invasion of intergalactic chickens seeking revenge for the oppression of their earthly brethren. Just when you thought it was safe to eat chicken again, the chickens have returned with an organized invasion to take over the entire solar system! Journey to each planet and fight your way through to save the world again! Advance through waves of invading chickens, avoiding falling eggs and collecting power-ups to boost your spaceship's firepower. Fast-paced arcade action for one or two players.

no credit card required for free trial

Bwahahahaha!!! :rotfl:
Wish I had more time. Although I definitely don't have that much interest in "fast-paced arcade action", I am so buzzed about the graphics. They must be hilarious! I'll have to at least download the free trial sometime and give it a peck and a cackle or two!

Labels: Chickens, games

The Sim 2 Pets, Oh boy!! I've updated my original posting with the details: The Sims 2 - Pets ARE coming!!
It can't get more official than the EA Store having the EP available for preorder! So I've added the link to that post.




L-R: Ruya & Zor (the girls), Boone (da boy!)

I hope I can create and breed Anatolian Shepherd Dogs in my game!

A breed creator and pet genetics are included. Sim genetics doesn't necessarily follow complex rules for polygenic, additive, epistatic & hypostatic traits, etc., but it is just a game and experiments will be cute or interesting. And of course, it's all for fun and a little surreal! :)


Boone, an Anatolian Shepherd Dog having fun!

Well, finding the time to play the game is yet another thing too :D

See the link above for my original post, the current update, and some background on the game!

Labels: games, The_Sims_2

UPDATE: Friday, July 21, 2006 - It's OFFICIAL!
Preorder The Sims 2 Pets at the EA Store!

---

Oh, my goodness! I am really excited about this! Up until now, my Sims in The Sims 2 have only been able to paint their pet Anatolians or other critters -- and unlike the Sims in the previous version, they couldn't actually own any.

Well, thanks to a brief Sims 2 =teaser= in the midst of a much longer EA games feature clip which was shown at E3 2006, it became apparent last week -- that pets really are at least in the drawing stages for The Sims 2!

I know pet lovers who play Sims are pretty excited about this. The Pets feature from the EA presentation has been very briefly and cautiously expanded on by many Sims 2 fans that were lucky enough to go and see E3. The BIG news for me is that it seems definite that The Sims 2 will be having Pets! As of now, there really is no official word on it. Ah the suspense!



Found yesterday, at left, here's a picure capture (it is fuzzy since it was animated and taken at an angle) from a very brief video preview (a must see!) at
TheSidDog Machinima: E3 2006 Coverage, Day 1 - The Sims 2: Pets.


I've never been much of a computer gamer aside from the occasional solitaire, tetris or mahjongg game, but when the original series of The Sims was out, my interest in the world of Sims was piqued when I saw an expansion pack called "The Sims Unleashed" on Amazon.com. I then found the cutest little pictures showing pet dogs and cats from the game. I still had no idea what the game was about then, nor even what the hey an expansion pack was -- but nevermind I still wanted to experience some of that! Thus I got my start on the The Sims via Unleashed. So much fun. The collection of breeds didn't include Anatolians, but I recolored a few pups so I'd have a flashy red fawn, a regular =and= a white brindle, as well as classic yellow fawn. It turned out that I had arrived on the Sims scene just as a new series called The Sims 2 was being released. Essential game elements are similar but there are way better graphics, beautiful 3D animation AND you really need a great graphics card, plenty of memory and a fast CPU for The Sims 2.



"The Sims 2" is a beautiful, flexible and creative game, and for many people who can find the time, rather "addictive". You can direct, build and challenge yourself in so many ways. You don't even have to play the game per se if you like building beautiful, strange or futuristic houses that Sims (and their pets) could live in or perhaps you like creating fashionable Sim people with custom clothing designs.

I'm sure I'm going to have the Pets version and will be finding some way to make some of my Sim doggies as Anatolian.

UPDATE: 17 July 2006 - Apparently there is going to be a sort Sim pet Generator or "Create A Pet" option where certain types of premade breeds of different species will be selectable to combine into customized pets. See ongoing specific pet related updates and pics at SnootySims.com Pet page. It may be easier to make my own Anatolian Shepherd Dog (and other pets) than I previously imagined!

UPDATE: 30 Sep 2007 - This page gets a lot of hits for the SpacePort by SimMaster Ralph. Those readers who would like a Captain Jack Sparrow download good for any installed game of The Sims 2 might be interested in my other Sims 2 postings for other comments and downloads, also listed below as a 'label'.

Related Links:
Snooty Sims (check this for lots of Sims 2 related news)
E3 - Electronic Entertainment Expo
EA at E3 Media Center
SimMaster Ralph's SpacePort
The Sims 2 Home
Order it at EA

Labels: games, The_Sims_2

I've always loved logic problems and for years, I used to buy those Logic puzzle magazines by Penny Press about as often as they would come out.

A random Stumble while waiting for dinner to cook brought me to a page called Open Mike Night on Logic Problems at Puzzles.com -- and oh man, just look at it!! Yes, I had to drop everything and solve that logic problem right then and there!

I love the macromedia format of the clickable boxes. Much tidier than the pencil, marker, and ball point 'X' marks I used to make in the paper versions. (Okay I've even used Crayola Crayons and wax china pencils normally used for marking glass microscope slides in the micro lab when the lab was having a slow one on "field day"!)
Alas, playing and finishing that one has whet my appetite for more.

Labels: games

The other night, while talking to some friends about computer games, the subject of Mahjongg came up. I happen to have several Mahjongg games, but my favorite is a wonderful game called Mahjongg XP Championship which allows you to customize the tiles with pictures or other art you want to use. You can also customize the background. Since I have tiles and a background that are Anatolian related, it seems apt enough for my Anatolian Blog! :)



When I find time to play the game, I usually use a pastel background, or mountains and quiet blues. I have the game customized to open exactly on the relaxing style I love. But custom templates can be made. Just for fun and just because this blog is about ASDs... here's Ruya as a one year old puppy, pictured on a stylized background (made in Paint Shop Pro). Her headshots are also on a few of the tiles among photos of some other favorite Anatolians.


The game can be played on networked computers with another person and features a memory game and other styles of Mahjongg type games with the cool 3D and 2D appearance, :)

Information about the numerous features of this Mahjongg game can be found here. Free trials of the game are also available all over the 'net. I got my copy of the game brand new for less than ten USD, so good bargains are out there to be had.

Labels: games

I've been pretty swamped lately but figured you've been checking for updates, so here's a treat. I put some little freebie games online.

UPDATE: 13JUL05- Games include chess, scrabble, tetris and a few other goodies. I've included screenshots. Check them out here.


I can't do tech support for games I didn't write, but this fun stuff really is free of viruses and spyware. And I've had some of them for a long time as stress reducers. Enjoy! :)

Labels: games