Archive for December 2007

Alvin Dean Kaplan (Meryl’s father), 76, passed away the morning of Dec. 25, 2007, from complications related to a severe stroke suffered on April 23 of this year.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Ethel and Max Kaplan, he played football in high school and he helped the family business by delivering milk. One summer, he was a “Good Humor Man,” selling ice cream to kids in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Serving in the Air Force during the Korean War, he spent 2 1/2 years in Japan and Korea. After his overseas service, he was stationed at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, where he met and married Karen Raimey. Al and his wife celebrated 50 wonderful years of marriage in November 2005.

Al was engaged in sales building a career in insurance and financial planning. He was a CLU and LUTCF, a member of the Society of Financial Service Professionals and had been president of the Fort Worth Association of Life Underwriters.

A yankee by birth, Al was a Texan by choice. He loved the Dallas/Fort Worth Spurs, the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Cowboys and still yearned for his once beloved “Brooklyn” Dodgers. When his kids were away at college, he’d take a “quick trip” just to see how they were doing, driving to Tucson, Ariz., College Station or Washington, D.C. Often these drives took longer than the actual visit with the kids.

During his life, he helped countless people through his donations and service to many local and national charitable organizations, as well as a multitude of personal acts of random kindness. He served as president of the Isadore Garsek Lodge of B’nai B’rith, of his congregation’s Men’s Club and the Fort Worth Association of Life Underwriters.

In his spare time, Al volunteered as an Ambassador at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and for Travelers Aid, formerly Airport Assistance. He was a founder of Ambassadors; his smiling photo appeared on Ambassador posters tipping his hat to countless travelers throughout the airport.

Known affectionately as the Mayor of Stonegate, Al took his daily morning walk around Stonegate, greeting everyone he saw and handing out dog biscuits to all of his four-legged friends. To children everywhere, he was known as Donald Duck with his uncanny ability to talk “duck talk” and to actually be understood. He was an avid collector of Donald Duck memorabilia, much of it supplied by his children.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, consideration of contributions to Jewish Family Services, Hadassah, or to a charity of one’s choice, in Al’s memory, is suggested.

Well, I had my 10 best casual PC games of 2007 all ready to go… then Ken Edwards from Blogcritics.org’s gaming section asks me if Peggle Deluxe is on the list. When I told him I hadn’t played it (I’d never get work done if I play and review every released game), he told me to check it out before posting the top 10.

Oi! Within minutes, I know this game deserves a spot in the top 10. But what unlucky game am I going to knock off the top 10 list?

Before digging into the world of Peggle Deluxe, let me tell you a story. My parents had a classic Pachinko machine with a door handle. It only worked some of the time, but I loved the noise when you hit a jackpot. Years later, Paul and I went to Atlantic City for the weekend and saw modern Pachinko machines with the round handles for sale.

So the first thing that I thought about when playing Peggle Deluxe was that it was a twist on the Pachinko. Sure enough, I found an article about PopCap’s creation of Peggle. Yes, it’s PopCap’s fault that many of us are addicted to several games… Bejeweled (originally Diamond Mine), Chuzzle, and now Peggle.

In Peggle Deluxe, shoot a ball anywhere and let it do the work. The goal is to clear all the orange pegs. After letting go of the ball, sit back and hope it hits lots of orange pegs along with a green peg for a power up and a purple peg for bonus points. Once it makes it through the jungle of pegs, hope that it lands inside the moving bucket that you can’t control. It simply moves side to side. It’s nice not having pressure to control the bucket on top of everything.

The game begins with a unicorn as your guide. Every guide has its own special powers that you earn when hitting a green peg. The unicorn reveals a guide so you can see where your ball goes next after it hits the first peg. I won’t mention the others as finding out their powers is part of the fun. Each character has its own theme that changes the pegs and background to match that theme.

The pegs often line up to look like an object or create a challenging shape. One level had three infinitys, another shows one of many animals, and still another has moving circles. Lots of variety! Impossible to get bored and almost impossible to tear yourself away.

The game compels you to cheer and whoop when you hit that last orange peg thanks to its cool close up slow motion effect. The view zooms in to the last orange peg, which slows down like a dramatic moment in a movie. Now, sometimes you might miss, but when you hit it — Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” plays with booming enthusiasm like a running back scoring a touchdown.

Would you believe that one of the best features — “Ode to Joy” — was originally a placeholder? That’s what the previously mentioned article says.

Occasionally, you’ll be amazed by a move. Watch it again with the “Instant Replay,” that does exactly that… replays the last move. After you play through the quest and conquer all the games with all of the characters, you unlock more game modes including Quick Play for playing a previously played puzzle using any character you want, Duel (to play against someone or the computer), and Challenge that contains 75 puzzles.

Each level comes with a specific amount of balls. The fewer balls you use to clear the orange pegs, the higher the bonus. You can also earn free balls by scoring a specified amount of points or dropping the ball into the bucket.

Just try it — play Peggle Deluxe for at least 15 minutes and you’ll love it.

System Requirements

• Windows Vista, XP, 2000, ME, 98
• 256 MB RAM
• 700 MHz or faster processor
• DirectX 7.0 or later

• Design of Desire: On Thanksgiving, my daughter was talking to a family friend about her interest in psychology as a college major. We learned from one of the relatives that she knows a psychology who works at a major retailer who studies buying motivations. Fascinating!
• Best cell phone deals from Consumer Reports: I’m ready to terminate my cell phone service as my provider’s data coverage is unacceptable. This article covers options for those who want to terminate early plus other advice.
• The 56 geeks
• Fimoculous lists for 2007: I’ve looked forward to checking out this site every year for the past few years.
• WOWIO: Free books + free minds. Not obscure stuff either. Edgar Allan Poe, Dr. Seuss, Vonnegut, 20,000 Leagues… The books are legal copyrighted ebooks from publishers.
• 15 cool word illusions: Exercise those peepers.
• The Toys of Our Childhood

The previous post looks at companies that help those that already have stuff on the Internet they want to go away, be deleted, be erased from the memories of man and machine.

Being proactive is always better than being reactive, so keep your name free of mud with these tips in mind whenever posting anything online — that includes comments and forum posts. These tips apply to writing emails and letters, and leaving messages.

1. Expect everyone to read it

That includes a potential employer and even your mom or some other family member that you don’t like to share with. But then again, if you don’t want them reading it, do you really want others to read it? Postings also reveal insight into a person’s personality (see #4).

I was going to post an experience on my Bionic Ear blog to give people insight in how a deaf person feels in a situation. But I opted not to share the experience. Though the blog aims to show the public what it’s like to be in a deaf person’s shoes, some experiences might be too personal to share and don’t belong online.

2. Wait 24 hours

If you’re mad, frustrated or sad, let time pass before responding to avoid regretting anything. Obviously, don’t post while drunk or on specific medicines, but who thinks clearly during these situations?

3. Run it by someone else

When you’re not sure about something, ask a trusted friend, colleague or family member to read it first.

While it’s best to resolve problems and uncomfortable situations in person or on the phone, it’s not always possible. In these situations, I ask a family member to read my note before sending.

4. Think of the future

Before writing a complaint, consider you could someday interview with the company or person you complain about. If not an employer, then remember that complaints can reveal how a person thinks and reacts to situations that bother him. Discussing an issue logically gets a different response than one that sounds like whining.

When I was unhappy with a company’s handling of an issue, I waited until things calmed down (#2). It was worth sharing since others might benefit from the experience. So I used a generic name instead of the company’s name.

5. Respond wisely

In some cases, someone could write something negative about you or your company. Rather than ask the person to remove the content, prepare an appropriate response.

Simply accepting responsibility says more. Try, “I’m sorry you had a bad experience. We’re investigating the situation to see how we can do better. Can we offer a free replacement?” While something negative is out there — mistakes happen to everyone — it’s how you respond to those mistakes that make a difference.

I messed up a client task. Immediately, I e-mailed the client admitting my mistake, apologized, and provided a discount on my next invoice.

I can’t imagine what kind of information I might have posted on the Internet had it become mainstream when I was a teen. Kids do stupid things. They don’t necessarily regret them since it’s a part of childhoold and growing up. But when if a prospective college or employer finds such things online?

Pew Internet and American Life Project reports that 47 percent of Americans use a search engine to look up themselves while 53 percent look up information about people in their lives, both for personal and business reasons.

Knowing that a prospective client or employer could do a search on me, I monitor what I post in my blog. While it’s important to be honest and genuine when blogging, there’s a line a blogger doesn’t want to cross that could affect his reputation.

A few companies see this as an opportunity to help people whose names or companies have been tarnished online, but are they effective? This Wall Street Journal story explores companies that help with their clients’ online reputations.

Reputation Advisor, a blog focusing on managing online reputation, points out two lessons learned from the WSJ article as well as problems with the article.

However, the Rip-off Report shares one person’s negative experience with an online reputation management company. These companies can only control so much. One example from the WSJ article references a blogger who would not remove a person’s name.

This Seattle Times article discusses the topic and offers the perfect quote regarding online reputation management, “‘Sometimes you’re out of luck, you’re going to have to live with it,’ he (Michael Fertik) says of Internet nastiness. ‘There is no silver bullet, no button you can push.’”

I don’t plan to play the full version of Mystery in London. The hidden object game has a 360-degree views where players explore around the room, up and down. I’m sensitive to this kind of movement. But other than this problem, Mystery in London is worth a try.

The story ties in with Jack the Ripper. I’m not sure how as I don’t get far enough in the game to see where it goes. The game takes you around London to its famous landmarks where you can view them in a panorama.

Mystery in London is similar to the Travelogue series.

• Visual Dictionary Online
• The 10 biggest technology belly flops of 2007: Re: #7 — way to go, Wall Street Journal!
• Mint: Manage your money
• Sharpbrains: Exercise your brain.
• Steampunk Flat-Panel LCD Mod: I LOVE this old style monitor and keyboard. Steampunk can put old-style images on different things. Easiest thing to do is look at the photos.
• Advice to the wanna-be freelancer before quitting the day job: As always, Freelance Folder produces another top-notch article for freelancers. Even those already enjoying the full-time freelance life will benefit.
• This Year in Blogs: The Definitive Posts of 2007

Playing sports was my thing while growing up, but it was mainly team sports like softball, basketball, volleyball, and soccer. However, I took a few classes or lessons in single player sports like gymnastics, golf, and tennis. Golf just didn’t fit me as holding a club felt awkward. Maybe it was because it was too different from holding a bat. But one golf game that I played numerous times was the card version.

I couldn’t believe I never got bored playing basic solitaire golf that came with Windows in the mid-’90s. I even loaded the game on my Palm handheld and played that for a long time. Since then, I got too busy to play the solitaire game.

Furthermore, after becoming a game reviewer, I didn’t have the luxury of sticking with a game for a long time. Whenever I played a game past my bedtime indicated a sign that a game was a hit and I blamed Fairway Solitaire for my recent tiredness.

The basic game isn’t good enough today. Most of your favorites probably have newer versions containing power ups, trophies, and other bonuses. Solitaire golf receives the same treatment.

The power ups show up in the golf shop. As you play each hole, you earn bucks to use in the golf shop for power ups. For a female golfer, buying a skirt provides her with the ability to x-ray a card to see through it.

The set up cards also contain hazards and bonuses. Because of these, you may not play golf the way you would when playing old-fashioned solitaire golf. Different situations call for different strategies, and that could mean sacrificing a long drive for a short one. A long drive occurs when you pick up at least six cards in a row without drawing a card from the pile, which drives up the multiplier and money pot.

Along the way, you can pick up irons and use mulligans. An iron has a number between one and nine. How a iron works: If there’s a card with an 8 on the board and the golf bag contains a 7 iron, pull it out so you can grab the 8. Mulligans let you undo the last move. Beware that the game only lets you use one mulligan at a time.

Cards that contain a water hazard appear with a light blue shade. When you play these cards, the animation and experience match the feel of a water hazard. Cards in a sand trap won’t flip over until you find the wedge. So instead of making a long drive, you target the cards blocking the wedge to open the sand trap cards.

Although a tutorial explains the game and the different types of cards, it may not click right away. The best way to learn the game is just play it. A hole ends when you either clear the board or run out of cards in the draw pile.

When you begin a round, a positive number appears in the box on the lower left corner of the screen. As you remove each card from the board, the number shrinks. Just like in the game of golf: The lower the number, the better the score. Thankfully, a game with a par 7 goes onto the scorecard as par 5 (the maximum). When the score falls below par, it means more cash.

The end of a hole shows the statistics for that hole including the longest drive, time taken, long drive multiplier, and the cash earned. The scorecard tracks the score for all nine rounds. Players earn bonuses for low scores and successfully completing courses, which unlocks more courses and there are 70 courses available.

As for the Wild Shot mini-game, I wouldn’t call it that. The mini-game is too mini (oxymoron?). You can either play the shot or drop it and lose $200. Playing Wild Shot could lead to either good or bad results. Select “play” to flip the images and select “stop” to stop the images. What happens next depends on whatever image appears. You could lose cards, try to put for a hole-in-one, lose or win money, or gain an extra mulligan. Though I’m not crazy about Wild Shot, it surprisingly contains many possibilities. After playing the game for a couple of days, I continue to discover new possibilities. This is the only handicap of Fairway Solitaire.

Well, the game may have one other mini-game, if you call it that. An optional course appears every few course. Rather than playing it like the others, it’s timed play. If you clear the board before time runs out, the game awards bonus points. A long drive also adds a few seconds to the clock. It makes me cuckoo, but it’s also a nice change of pace.

As a package, Fairway Solitaire offers everything for a grand old time including great cartoon-style graphics, lively music, and addicting play. That’s why it earns fore and one-half stars. Lousy golfers like me have a chance to be winners in golf using cards instead of clubs as our weapon.

Typically after completing a review, I move on to the next game. Not this time. I must play more Fairway Solitaire!

Download and try Fairway Solitaire.

System Requirements

• Windows Vista, XP, 2000
• 800 MHz minimum
• 256 MB RAM
• DirectX 6.0 or later
• 54 MB hard drive space

I love this word that has the honor of being Merriam-Webster’s word of the year: W00t! It is fun to type and not easy to say (at least, not for me). And of course, we love it when woot.com has its woot off.

Oxford’s choice doesn’t have fun interjected. Its word of the year is locavore. Oxford also lists runners-up.

Webster’s New World new word of 2007 is grass station.

Dictionary.com selects a word of the month, you can see all 12 words of the month for 2007.

On the other end, Lake Superior State University identifies its banished words of 2007. One of those being combined celebrity couple names like TomKat and Brangelina. The Office’s Michael Scott, in his unwanted toast at his employee’s wedding, announced if you combine their names, they’d be Phlob (Phyllis and Bob Vance).

The following books that I read this year are my favorites — they didn’t necessarily come out this year.

Fiction: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Cliche’, but it was a great book and I was happy with the way Rowling finished the series. It was nervewracking because we didn’t want her to be too predictable yet we didn’t want certain characters to die.

Business: The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness and Beyond Bullet Points

Though I have an iPod, I’m not passionate about music (explanation) and MP3s like the average person. However, this book drew me in and kept my attention throughout. The Perfect Thing looks at culture and history while Beyond Bullet Points is a how to do presentations that don’t bore.

Writing: The Writer’s Coach and Plug Your Book!

These are different books. The Writer’s Coach focuses on improving writing while Plug Your Book! provides guidance on marketing your book (post-writing phase).