It never seemed to work right. Ever. Then I read (in step 3) that you have to hit CTRL-SHIFT-R… If I do that periodically when Intellisense is acting up it works again. Whee.
Today, I started with my iPhone:
I’m looking forward to the new Picross 3D for the Nintendo DS, which comes out in a few weeks. I think Picross-like puzzle mechanics are underappreciated. It’s the dumbing down problem: swap-2/match-3 jewel games are instantly understandable, but a mechanic like Picross takes a bit to understand. Then again, Sudoku took off like wildfire a few years back, so I’m hopeful.
Picross puzzles are also known as Nonograms, as well as about 50 other names.
Here are some other Picross games worth a look.
- Picross DS. Great game, with downloadable content. I reviewed this game when it came out.
- Gemsweeper by Lobstersoft, for Windows. As I mentioned in my review, it’s almost too casual. I spoke with the developer about this and it’s related to what I said above, how to get people into the mechanic without confusing them. This game would be perfect for me if the difficulty ramped up a wee bit faster. Lobstersoft also has a number of off-the-beaten path titles that are worth checking out.
Online versions:
- Everybody’s Picross. This has a decent tutorial and contains 30 levels to get a feel for the game.
- Puzzle-nonograms.com. Super basic version with a metric ton of ads. But it’s in HTML and doesn’t require flash.
- Nonogram :: Paint by numbers. Has decent instructions.
Enjoy!
Mmm, BBQ.
It is true, and I just have to say it now cos Jonathan and Seth have been totally on point for at least the last two episodes of UYD.
I was having some issues with Firefox 3.6, and I noticed while doing a backup that there was a file called urlclassifier3.sqlite in the backup that was rather large.
Having once worked on both writing marginal almost-malware-adware, and also writing things that dealt with same, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t some kind of ad-targeting thing that was installed along with an extension or something.
I came across the article Make Firefox Faster by Vacuuming Your Database and it explains a bit about why this file exists, why it grows, and a way to potentially solve issues by opening up the Firefox Error Console and executing this command:
Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL("VACUUM");
This is hinting to me that browsers are getting way too complicated. I mean, as someone who has developed web applications since NCSA Mosaic was the only browser, it’s been readily apparent how this thing that was designed to show brochures on the nets has grown through a series of hacks to include scripting and a DOM to allow one to write “applications” using the browser.
The browser sucks for this. A lot. HTTP wasn’t designed to do half of what it does, the stuff that makes up a browser is like a crazy house of cards, and I’m going to stop right there and save this rant for another post.
Last week, the Detroit school board announced they are closing 1/4 of Detroit’s schools. The city is broke. Houses that sold for $250k in 2005 are turning over for $10k. The graph shown here is from a year ago on Seeking Alpha:
Detroit has been propped up for years by a variety of social programs, and now it’s defaulting. The city has collapsed. There is virtually no national news reporting on this, as always seems to be the case these days the media is complicit with government and is basically ignoring this major story. They used to blame automakers, but I suppose with GM being run by the government, they can’t really do that. The mayor is giving it a shot, but I can’t fathom a comeback from where they are.
Here’s an amazing set of images on Flickr showing the state of Detroit.
Is this the future of the US as a whole?
Let’s see, people bitched about insurance company greed and “big pharma” before. Today’s big market headline: “Drug stocks rise as healthcare bill passes.” And: Exchange-traded funds tracking health-care stocks were the best-performing sector ETFs on Monday after the House of Representatives approved a controversial Senate bill that would dramatically overhaul the industry. WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU, CHEERLEADERS?
The taxes and fees start right away, but many of the provisions of this thing don’t start for years. So tax increase now, and some battered down crap changed for 2-4 years goes into effect later. It’ll be 1/10th of what’s promised, cost more than anticipated, and the taxes and fees will stay and likely go up.
The ONE bank that’s going to get ALL student loans out of this (why’s this in a health care bill again?) will probably do well though.
And seriously, does anyone think that 2,000 pages that rebuilds 15%+ of the US economy, which nobody has read, put together according the whims of a couple hundred Democrats doesn’t represent an oppressive regime? They’re just as bad as the R guys.
Couple that with the Fed nonsense regarding the bailouts and banks, and things are pretty bleak.
WE ARE GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE POINT WHERE EVERYTHING THAT ISN’T ILLEGAL IS REQUIRED. Think about that. Think about it in terms of your daily life, and that about what it really means.
Can everyone go read ‘The Road to Serfdom?’ please? Cos we’re living it.
This is what happens when someone asks you to google “piano ass” while you’re hanging out.
