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Cheyney University Team Participates in Honda Challenge in LA
April 9, 2013
Cheyney University's 2013 Honda Challenge Team from left to right, Joshua Hughes, Keystone Honors Academy (KHA) Dean Dr. Tara Kent, Emmanuel Tyler, team coach Dr. Hazel Spears, Travonya Kenly, and Holland Culbreath
Congratulations to Cheyney University's 2013 Honda Challenge Team. Keystone Honors Academy (KHA) Dean Dr. Tara Kent and team coach Dr. Hazel Spears, traveled with the team to Los Angeles to participate in the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC). CU team members Holland Culbreath, Emmanuel Tyler, Joshua Hughes and Travonya Kenly played exceptionally well and earned two wins. The team also won a $3,000 grant for its performance, which goes to next year's program. The team will return to campus from Los Angeles late tomorrow night.
According to information provided by HCASC the fast-paced, suspenseful competition tested the students' abilities to quickly and accurately answer questions on a broad range of topics including world history, science, literature, religion, art, social sciences, popular culture and African-American history and culture. Morgan State University secured the top prize of $50,000 in university grants and all 48 schools were awarded grants. In total, Honda provided more than $300,000 in grants to participating schools.
Since 1989, HCASC has brought together the nation's best and brightest academic competitors from America's top HBCUs. Throughout its history, HCASC has been the only annual academic competition between the nation's HBCUs, touching more than 100,000 students and awarding more than $7 million in grants.


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The Knicks should play to win. Tanking does not guarantee a top 5 pick. Remember last year? The Knicks only won 23 games, and who got the #1 pick? The 33-49 Chicago Bulls. The Knicks need to just be as competitive as they can. As hard as it may seem to believe, there are plenty of quality players that can be drafted, even with the 10th, 15th, or 20th overall pick.
Examples: 10th overall-Brook Lopez(2008), 14th overall-Al Thornton(2007), 17th overall Danny Granger(2005), 15th overall Al Jefferson(2004), 18th overall David West(2003), 10th overall Caron Butler(2002), 19th overall-Zach Randolph(2001)
I do not feel the Knicks have any shot at making the playoffs this year, because they do not have enough talent to consistently win games, but that does not mean that the Knicks have to lose all of their games on purpose.

subset: commoncrawl


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" Brand: Amstrad / Type: Set Top Box "
* Prices may differ from that shown
We had been Sky customers since 2008, but around a year ago we were offered an excellent deal by their rival Virgin Media so we decided to switch over. When we rang up Sky TV to leave they offered us an even better deal to stay with them which included this brand new Sky+ HD box, so we ended up sticking with Sky and have been more than pleased with them.
A few weeks after sorting out our new contract a Sky engineer came out to set our new box up for us and put our old box in our bedroom. The engineer was efficient and the set up only took around half an hour, he quickly showed me how to use the new box before he left.
I really like the look of the new box especially compared to our previous silver one. The Sky+ HD box is mostly black in colour with a silver panel at the front, it looks sleek an modern and matches my black TV and Consoles well. It does occasionally get a little dusty or mucky but I find a quick wipe over with a damp cloth and its looking as good as new. There are a few buttons on the front, in the centre is a circle with a stop and play symbols inside, these light up during playback which looks really cool. There is also a red record button, play, pause, stop, forward and rewind button none of which we really use as we always just use the remote control. The stand by button illuminates green when on and yellow when off.
The menu is set out very well and it didn't take me long to get to grips with it. Along the top there are 9 tabs - Tv guide, planner, on demand, box office, search, radio, interactive, parental, options and settings. The date and time are also clearly displayed, plus there is the option of having a small screen in the left hand corner, so you can still watch your show whilst navigating the menu.
~TV Guide~
The TV guide is really easy to navigate and planning the weeks tv is really simple, again there are tabs along the top which make it even easier to find what you are looking for (eg. News, movies, sport). I tend to just use the "all channels" tab, but occasionally I will use the "HD channel" tab too. To record something you simply press the red R button on the remote control, you will be given the option to record once or record the series, I really like this function as it means I never miss my favourite shows as each episode will automatically be recorded for me. Only two programmes can be recorded at the same time.
~ Planner ~
This is where all the recorded shows are kept, there is a line along the top which shows the percentage of memory left which is really helpful, I don't think we have ever reached the full capacity and there really is plenty of room on there for our needs. TV shows and series are automatically put into folders, which keeps the menu nice and tidy as well as making them easier to locate. There is also the option of putting locks on recordings to prevent them getting accidentally deleted. Deleted recordings will go to the "deleted" folder and will automatically be deleted after a certain period.
~ On Demand ~
On Demand is basically "catch up TV" were you can access anything you might have missed, plus there are box sets of various TV shows to watch too. To get the most out of the On Demand services it is recommended that the Sky box is connected up to the router, either the router needs to be connected via an ethernet cable or a specific dongle can be bought. We have done neither, so our On Demand service is pretty basic, however I have found most of the content is available via the SkyGo app anyways.
~ Box Office ~
This is where the latest movies can be purchased from, prices start from 99p but the newest movies tend to be around the £4 mark . I have only purchased a movie once from the box office, it was a movie I had been dying to see, plus it was on offer at the time, so a little cheaper than the usual cost. Personally I find the Box Office a little expensive and I just wait until they are shown on Sky movies.
~ Search ~
I find the search function really useful if you are looking for a specific programme, its certainly easier than scrolling through the TV guide. Simply type in the title, genre or sub genre of what you want with the remote control.
~ Radio ~
This tab accesses all the guide for all the available radio stations, its really easy to scroll through.
~ Interactive ~
Games, Sky Bet & Sky Vegas can be accessed here, I've never really used any of these so cant really comment on what they are like.
~ Parental ~
With two small children we make good use of the parental settings. We have been able to set a PIN code and to watch anything rated 12 years + the pin needs to be entered. There is also the options to remove adult content from the guide, so no adult channels will be displayed in the TV guides listing. Any channels can also be manually locked and only accessed when entering the pin. On the whole the parental channels work well, however I think Sky could do a little better as occasionally content can slip through.
~Options & Setting ~
These two tabs are where all the general settings are, such as subtitles, a list of favourite channels, TV telephone numbers and customise options.
The box is HD ready, but a HD subscription needs to be purchased to access it. There are 78 HD channels in total, a large majority of which are for the Sky movies and Sky sports channels. I have found the HD channels to be brilliant, they are so much clearer, crisper and sharper. The box also has 3D capability, but as we don't have a 3D TV its not much use to us.
I have been really happy with the Sky+ box, especially considering we received it for free. We still have our old Sky box in our bedroom and I really do notice a huge difference between the two. Not only is the new HD box more sleeker and modern looking but it is also easier to navigate, it is faster and doesn't freeze like our old box does. It really is a great box and pretty much does everything we need it too. I do have a few minor niggles with it but on the whole I have been really pleased with it.
I had wanted to get Sky for a while and having moved to a smaller town in February last year I was unsatisfied with the Pubs in the area compared to where I used to watch Football in my hometown of Taunton. I had been thinking about Sky for a few months but was put off by the price so opted for making do with ESPN on Top Up TV. I then heard of several offers which Martin Lewis was mentioning on Moneysupermarket and I decided to have a look into it. Unfortunately there were only a limited amount of codes available so when I saw a status update on Facebook from someone who was in my Year at School who now works for Sky I jumped at the chance. I managed to get the whole TV Package at half price for 12 months which I thought was an excellent deal and was manageable financially.
**The Setup**
When you sign up for Sky they send someone round to install the Box and setup the dish if needed. As I am living in a flat which has a satellite connection already there was no need for another dish so setup was simple and only took ten minutes or so. You are sent out your card which they will insert into the box and then will go through the process with you in case anything happens that needs the process to be repeated. Anyway once this has been done and your box is connected to Sky you can now receive all the channels that you have requested in your package. It's also simple to upgrade to extra channels or take away a package via the internet connection or by phone.
**The Box**
I have always liked the look of the Sky+ boxes as they look stylish and sturdy and look nice with the other equipment you have may in your setup. The box is made by Amstrad. Sky have pioneered the way people watch TV as most people nowadays have some form of TV Recorder whether it's Sky, Virgin Media, Freesat or a freeview recorder. The box has 250GB of space to record which allows an amazing
185 hours of standard TV Or around 60 hours of HD TV. This will be enough for most people but if you need to have more storage you can get the bigger hard drives all the way up to an astonishing 2TB which gives Up to 350 hours of HD TV or up to a whopping 1180 hours of standard TV. The one I have is the 250GB one and that is more than enough for Sport, Music, Films etc.
**Using the Box**
An important aspect of any recorder of player is how easy it is to use and what the on screen menus are like. Well I'm pleased to report that you'll find some excellent navigation here with menus easily readable and simple to scroll through. Channels are a little trickier to remember especially if you watch a range of material but you can add channels to your favourites and also find them through your TV Guide with a press of a button and a quick scroll through the subjects menu which divides the channels into their genre ie Sport, Music, Documentaries etc. It's also easy to setup a programme to record and you can choose to record the whole series which keeps a reminder for future shows and will record them for you without you needing to set it up again.
**Picture and Sound**
Sky are always raving about how good the experience is and the picture from this box is excellent, whether watching HD Sport or a SD episode of your favourite soap the picture will look excellent and deserves a Decent TV to show what it can really do. This Box will provide an excellent picture Whether or not you have a full HD TV. The movies look stunning on this box and the picture quality allows you to make good use of your whole package. The sound is also excellent and is ideal if you like the Music channels or want clear dialogue with the news channels. You can connect the box up to your Home Cinema Amp for even better sound quality.
**Recording and on demand**
This is a great part of the Box, You can view your recordings quickly and easily and can set reminders and record content from a variety of different menus. I have had the box for less than a month but have already recorded a fair few things and there's still loads of hours left. The on demand content includes Movies which change throughout the year. A great tool of this box is that when connected to a Broadband connection either connected to the router or through the sky wireless router you can view BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and Demand 5. This is a really great tool especially if you have a big TV Screen instead of watching Iplayer on a small PC monitor.
This is a fabulous piece of kit for a variety of reasons. It has masses of channels whether you opt for the extra packages or not and the Picture and Sound Quality really allow the Box to shine. With some decent deals out there for Sky packages it might be worth looking into if you like your Sports, Films etc or you just want to add extra channels compared to your freeview box. I wholeheartedly recommend this box as a great all round option for any TV Fan. Most people will be able to get the box free with setup too which is a real bonus.
When I joined sky just over a year ago, this was the SKY plus HD box I chose. So far I have not had any problems; in fact I really enjoy using it!
Design wise, this Sky box looks really good, especially when considered with the previous old Sky white boxes, as well as the competitor's set top boxes. It is a sleek matt black colour, but has a silver line across the front of it. The box is about 3 inches thick and around the surface area of an A4 Leaf of Paper.
The box has a very nice blue LED light on the front which can be customised, as to when you see it light up. There are a few buttons on the top of the box which allow access to the main features but usually I just use the remote control.
I will write about the actual SKY Service in another review in the next few weeks, but I'm going to focus on the actual box. It allows you to receive your Sky channels.
It brings over 60 High Definition channels on top of all the regular stations. The Sky Plus part of the name alludes to the excellent service available. When watching a live broadcast, you are able to pause and rewind, as well as record programmes. The capacity on the box is 250GB which holds around 200 hour long programmes. You can set it up to block record entire series of programmes.
It has a connection to your broadband router via Ethernet to allow you to watch a host of On Demand programmes. The download speeds are very good, and I have found personally that programmes download and are available to view in just a few seconds.
The box is very good and I have only experienced one technical problem, when the menus froze. To get around this, you do a soft reset by switching it off at the mains. It is a silent box, and even when on standby it does not bother you. The lights on the front can be as discrete and subtle as you like, so as not to encroach on your life!!
This box is basic and at times unreliable, we've had it a few years and it has done the job it's supposed to but I'm not overly impressed with it, it makes a constant whirring sound even when switched off on to Standby and sometimes vibrates which is very annoying, memory is not massive and sometimes when playing things back it gets stuck, shudders or restarts, it's annoying when recordings fail for no reason and it's very easy to delete things accidentally,
It's not bad, it's just not that great! If your looking for something basic than its fine, but don't expect too much from it, the styling is nice, it looks modern and tidy and is very easy to use, my young daughter uses it with no problems at all, overall, you get what you pay for I guess, it's good value for money, but not the best quality item out there,
==Amstrad DRX890Sky Plus HD Set Top Box==
I always said we would never get Sky but because of the deal where you get the internet, phone and extra TV channels worked out a lot cheaper than what I was already paying with BT for internet and phone I decided it was worth it (especially as I got £100 Marks and Spencer vouchers too!). Sky now gives you the Amstrad DRX890 Sky + HD Set top box when you order and I must say that we have been really pleased with the performance of this box since its arrival.
The box itself looks pretty slick and far better than the old white coloured ones which I assumed we would get. The box is not too big and has a slightly slimline design when compared to our old Freeview + set top box. The box was set up for us initially but because we still had our Freeview box installed we have since de-cluttered the TV unit and had to reinstall the box which because it is a simple HDMI cable that goes from the Sky + box to the TV this is very easily done and anyone could do it.
The box is available to buy without signing up to Sky just in case you need a replacement box but expect to pay a little over the £100 mark for one although you will also get the remote control and the HDMI cable which you will need in order for the HD aspect of the box to work well.
The box has a few buttons on top of the unit itself which enables the box to be turned on or off or the channel to be changed up or down. Because there are only a few buttons very limited actions can be performed from just using the box and the remote is an absolute must although I do end up using the power button a fair bit on the top especially when the remote control has gone walk about! As well as the few buttons on the top of the box there are a few more fairly inoffensive looking buttons positioned on the front left hand side of the box which do give you a few more options to record, fast forward, rewind and pause, mainly the actions for the plus side of the box. This is again handy for when the remote has disappeared (like it seems to do quite often!).
There are a few LCD lights positioned on the front of the box and the largest one is around the circular area in the middle of the box. This will illuminate blue and move around in a circular motion when playing something which has been recorded or when playing back live paused TV. There is a red LCD button in the centre of this which will illuminate to indicate when you are recording something and I find this handy to know especially when my little boy has recorded something accidentally (which does happen a lot). The other smaller LCD light is the power button which will glow green when the box is on and an amber colour when the box is sitting on standby.
The box has a good size 250 GB of memory which enables a good many hours of recording from the TV and this is used very often by the whole family although I am very good and will delete things once watched so we have as yet never used up all the memory as this equates to around 72 hours of recording time which is very substantial. This is more memory than my old Freeview plus box had as we forever seemed to be deleting stuff we were yet to watch because we had run out of space for the new programmes or film that we wanted to record. It is certainly nice to have a large amount of disc space to be able to have a lot of recorded things to choose from.
The HD aspect of the box is good too and because we have a HD ready LCD TV and we did initially sign up for the HD channels we did really notice the difference. Because you have to pay £10 extra on the Sky subscription we did cancel this aspect of our package within a few months due to cutting back and I can't say it was worth paying that much extra for. However the picture is super crisp and clear as is the sound and although I was fairly sceptical with this whole HD thing at first I could really see the definition in the picture when we were watching these HD channels.
The fact that this box enables you to pause or rewind live TV is a great aspect especially when watching those channels that don't have adverts and a trip tot eh toilet is needed and this aspect works really well too. The aspect of being able to record two different channels on this box really is amazing and although you can't watch another channel it is ideal to do when you are watching something already recorded onto the box. This means that we are able to watch the shows we want when we want and minus all the annoying adverts! I really can't rate it highly enough.
I was unaware until getting this box that Amstrad are a company who are actually owned by Sky and because of that fact these boxes have been tested again and again to work as well as they can with the Sky TV programmes and options. This box is far superior to the older style boxes which I was so used to operating but it took no time at all to get used to the way this box is set up and the way in which you can move around the options, planner and TV guide. I think if I was an old Sky user with one of the older boxes I would try and upgrade to one of these Sky plus HD boxes and as my mum has one of the older ones I am trying to get her to sort out getting a box like mine so she can make sure she never misses an episode of Corrie!
All in all I must say that this Amstrad box is really very good. So far we have never had any trouble with it crashing or needing to be re-started. It runs well and works excellently. The things that you are able to do on the box are really worth while in getting it and for that reason I have to award a top score 5 out of 5 stars and give it a very high recommendation. Although we were really happy with our last set top box which was a Freeview plus, this Sky plus box seems to our perform that in every way.
I do hope that this has been of some help/interest to you
Many thanks for taking the time to read.
4 years ago I thought I had no need for sky and just allowed the days to pass me by with a freeview box and a handfull of channels to watch each evening, now the worlds my oyster!!
I have the full hd package with sports and movies (6 months half price if you threaten to leave!) and you get literally hundreds of channels to watch, and although quite a few of them are just repeats you watched 5 years ago (on your freeview box) there are still a lot of good stuff to watch on sky, such as sky one (my favourite) which always has the latest series to watch!
As for the machine itself, whilst on standby it has always switched on instantaneously when using the remote control, but if you power off it takes a while longer. The picture quality on the hd channels (some free such as bbc hd) are outstanding, just like being on the set yourself!
I have the 500gb box and trust me, unless you are recording every hour you will struggle to fill this beast! 500gb is roughly around 500 hours of tv recording.
go shopping for the best sky deal, i recommend going through Topcashback.co.uk as they offer cashback as well
I have had this box for 6 months now and mechanically it has been sound but the software has been glitchy ever since initial setup. The box has a wierd lag when flicking through the planner when it's filled with recordings, normally at about 35% free space it starts to lag, and go crazy.
Not very helpful at all when deleting as this often results in me pressing the delete button over and over thinking its not recieving the remote signal or something, and it actually just lags, and then deletes however many programmes I pressed the button for. A bad mark where software is concerned but hardware has been mechanically tip top.
The setup is done by a bloke from sky who comes round to your house dressed for the occasion and spends about 15 minutes drilling holes and making a mess, it does look quite a faff to get it going but once the dish is up and the cables are in you can start watching TV. Sky + will need to switch on the HD and ability to record/rewind etc. they pretty much control everything about the box.
The hard drive is limited to personal and anytime usage and you have absolutely no say about this. If it needs 150GB to download tons of HD on demand movies you don't want to watch then that's up to the box to decide. If you need that extra space to record your favourite TV show then tough luck I'm afraid, you can't do that.
Picture quality is superb though, full HD is immaculate, no latency issues with sound or picture and it generally has a great crisp and sharp image, even on the menu's. Sound is also very good and there is no distortion, stuttering or cutting out from time to time like other boxes I've had. In poor weather the signal cuts to a bright blue screen which if you have the TV brightness up does your eyes in after a while.
Overall a pretty rubbish box. It tells you what space you can have, glitches, responds only to its master (sky) where the rewind and record is concerned, and is pretty much just used by you, mostly controlled by sky. You must delete all you favourite nature programmes so you can download yet more Mickey Mouse episodes on the kids package that you don't have, and will never watch.
I've had sky t.v. for quite a few years now. Last year my sky + box broke and, although I lost all my recorded t.v., getting a new sky + HD box was brilliant. It's the nicest looking sky box so far as it's quite streamlined, much more so than the old boxes, and the colours are much nicer (black and silver). Not only is it the nicest designed box so far, it's also the best in terms of quality. The HD is really fantastic and it really makes a difference. There are quite a lot of HD channels on offer and they include entertainment, news, movies, music and sport. I don't watch the sport channels but I watch everything else and I enjoy watching t.v. much more now because of the incredible quality. Movies and nature programmes really highlight this.
There's a huge choice of channels and I'll never watch all of them but it's nice to have choice. The entertainment channels are, in my opinion, the best thing about the sky box. You'll never be bored, there's always something on, sometimes rubbish but usually good stuff. But no matter what you want, there's a channel for it - a huge range of sport, entertainment, movies, music, news, documentaries etc, even radio channels! (Although the radio channels have some DAB ones, it doesn't have all of them which is a bit annoying.)
The ability to record, rewind, fast-forward and pause t.v. is pretty much the best thing ever. And the sky HD box takes this to a whole new level because, not only is the quality excellent, the amount you can record is a lot. You can record up to 240 hours which is great not only when there's a lot of great stuff on but also if you go on holiday and don't want to miss something.
Features -
Anytime: this provides a varied amount of shows and movies which can be watched, as the name suggests, instantly. I usually find something on here that I want to watch.
Search: It searches by the name of the programme but sometimes it can be a bit picky about what it brings up so I usuall just search using the first 3 or 4 letters.
Planner: All the recorded programmes are here and it tells me what i've got series linked (another great time saver) and what's been viewed and what hasn't. The series link button will automatically record the next programme in the series which saves me doing it.
The sky box comes with a remote which has buttons for the t.v. guide, services, box office and interactive. It also has numbers and letters for searching or switching channels. It's relatively easy to figure your way around the remote and the box itself. There is some complicated stuff in the services part but it's unlikely, unless there's a problem, that you'd have to deal with that, even then the help guide has a lot of information.
Sky really changed the game in terms of television and it's still the best one to have for a reason. Other t.v. packages (Freeview and Virgin) can try to compete but they can't really match it in terms of quality, choice and service. Overall, it's the best choice for watching t.v.
When we moved into our flat a couple of months ago it hadn't really crossed my mind to get Sky. My Mum and Dad has Sky until about 3 years ago when they got rid of it as their TV had freeview built in anyway and they just couldn't justify the monthly payment. My partner was used to Sky though as her Mum and Dad had it in their house and was keen that we got it too. We had a look online and were offered the Entertainment Plus package, free Sky+ HD box, installation and £50 worth of M&S vouchers for £25 a month which is a lot better than the price I was expecting.
I was in on my own when the Sky was in put in so when the engineer left I had full reign to explore the different features of Sky. Initially I found the menu hard to navigate as I was used to the older version and there's the added '+' element which allows you to record and pause live TV. At the top of the TV there's options to looks at the main TV, Planner which is recorded programmes, Box Office and Radio as well as setting and parental controls, this is basically the main hub and then whatever you select is displayed below. It was a bit different for me but I found I picked it up quite quickly just by using it and finding out what did what.
Obviously the stand out features of the box is the HD, which is getting better and better. I was a bit sceptical if I'm honest, how different could it be? I was shocked by just how crisp and clear the picture was, it's noticeably different from the standard picture and I was very impressed. At the moment there's about 60 HD channels, and more are being added all the time, of this about 15 are either sports of movies which we don't subscribe to as it adds a considerable amount to the bill but for what we do get I've been very pleased. It's worth mentioning that just because a programme is on a HD channel doesn't necessarily mean its HD, sometimes they don't scale everything up. I'm not a fan of nature channels but I do find myself watching them now just because the quality of the picture is so good and I find it really fascinating.
The pause function on the TV is great, how often does the phone go in the middle of Corrie or there's a film on BBC with no adverts and you're gasping for a drink but don't want to miss out? I thought we wouldn't use this function much as I'd never had it before and never thought I was missing out but how wrong I was. It's become second nature to pause TV and pop off to do something else, it's irritating now watching TV that I can't pause and rewind whenever I want. Obviously another advantage is being able to record programmes, especially when it comes to films as we've got a collection stored in the boxes memory which is about 100 hours. We often record X Factor, with its many adverts and watch it half an hour after it started. This allows us to fast forward over all the adverts and filler; we do the same with the Sunday night elimination as really there's only about 15 minutes of the 1 hour show worth watching.
I know that we used to have a lot of trouble with Sky freezing at my Mum and Dad's or cutting to the annoying blue screen, especially in bad weather. Since we've had the Sky+ HD box it has never frozen once and we've had really heavy rain and never had any signal problems so this problem must have been solved.
Another important factor to me is the box itself. The Sky+ HD box is black and silver, it's very sleek, modern and I feel would fit into most living room, it fits into our perfectly and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb like the light grey ones used to. The box plugs into a HDMI port in the back of the TV to enable the HD quality images and then obviously into a wall socket. The remote matches the box and is again very modern, it sits nicely in the hand and enables you to make the most of all the services the Sky box gives you. We're getting a 3D TV later on in the month, and at the moment I wouldn't consider upgrading but as more channels use 3D I would definitely consider it if we also added the movies package to our subscription- it's all extra money though!
Overall, I've been really impressed with my use of Sky+ HD, the box looks good and after a bit of use everything is really easy to navigate. The picture quality it a step up from the norm and I think you can really tell the difference, it's great now that more channels are starting to convert to HD. The pause and record is a great feature and one that I now wouldn't be without. I'm looking forward to being able to record all bits of Christmas TV and then watching them back whilst eating my body weight in turkey. If you're considering getting Sky+ HD I'd definitely recommend it.
Sky Plus HD Digibox / HDMI, SCART, USB, e-SATA, Ethernet, SPDIF Digital Coaxial, Composite Video (1x Cinch), SPDIF Digital Optical


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What is Internet Explorer 7 up to since my ZAS Ver 6.5737.000
continually comes up with this message "Internet Explorer is attempting
to monitor user activity on this computer.If allowed it may try to track
or log Keystrokes(user input),mouse movements/clicks.websites visited &
other user behaviors". The module is iexplore.exe
If you tick "Apply this setting to all suspicious behaviors...." and the "Allow
box" ZAS still insists on pestering with this message.
Is there a security issue here? If not how do I turn it off.
Using Windows XP SP2 Media Center Edition.
Operating System:Windows XP Home Edition
Product Name:ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite
Software Version:6.5


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Thomas final addition to Detroit roster
Fourth outfielder lauded by Leyland; bullpen set at seven
By Jim Molony / MLB.com
"Unless somebody is injured our roster is set," Leyland said after the Tigers defeated Houston 10-0 at Minute Maid Park. "We're going to take Clete Thomas [and] the pitching staff is set with 12 pitchers."
Leyland informed Thomas and the two relievers who had been on the bubble, Yorman Bazardo and Aquilino Lopez, following Friday night's game.
"I told him to prepare yourself," Leyland said of Thomas. "I basically told him just to enjoy the ride, however long it is."
Thomas, 24, is batting .308 with a home run and six RBIs this spring. His presence became necessary when center fielder Curtis Granderson fractured a finger last Sunday.
Thomas had already left the visitor's clubhouse and wasn't available for comment.
"From what I've seen he's the best tools prospect that we have," Leyland said. "This guy's got a lot of ability."
Thomas will be the fourth outfielder on the Opening Day roster, joining Jacque Jones, Magglio Ordonez and Marcus Thames.
Bazardo and Lopez will be part of a seven-man bullpen that will also include Denny Bautista, Jason Grilli, Zach Miner, Bobby Seay and closer Todd Jones.
The rotation is set with Justin Verlander, Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis.
Ivan Rodriguez is the starting catcher, with Brandon Inge backing him up, who is also available for infield and outfield duty.
Rounding out the rest of the expected 25-man roster are infielders Carlos Guillen, Edgar Renteria, Placido Polanco, Miguel Cabrera, Ramon Santiago and Ryan Raburn and designated hitter Gary Sheffield.
Jim Molony is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
" Word-related board game. "
* Prices may differ from that shown
Boggle is a fantastic game which is fun for all the family. I have a few different versions of the game and when I was younger I always took it to my nans house and we would play it for hours.
The original boggle includes 16 letter cubes, the base and lid and a sand timer.
The cubes are the same size as a regular dice and are white with black letters on. This makes the letters easy to read. There are different letter combinations on each cube so that as many words can be made as possible.
The base is an orange square with square spaces for the dices to fit in. The lid is clear and fits well on top of the base so it is easy to see if all the cubes are in place before taking the lid off. The cubes fit in the spaces well and are not tight so it is quick and easy to do. As the letters are placed randomly it does leave some letters facing the wrong direction. This doesn't really effect the game but you could turn them around if you wished.
The sand timer is made from a strong plastic, like the rest of the game, and lasts for one minute.
I have never broken or lost any pieces of the game as it is made to a high quality and fits back into the box after use.
The idea of the game is to find as many words as possible that others playing don't have.
To start the cubes must be shook in the lid and base and then shuffled around until all cubes are in a place in the base. When the lid is taken off and the timer is turned over the game begins. Players must find as many words as possible from linked cube faces. The bigger the word the more points you get. The words must be written down on a piece of paper each (pens and paper not included) and when the timer stops pens are put down.
One at a time the players each read out the words they have and if any other player has that word it is crossed off and worth no points. The words remaining are given points (1 for 3 letters, 2 for 4 letters, 3 for 5 letters etc.) and the person with the most points wins the round.
This can be repeated however many times. We usually play until we are fed up or have something else to do.
I recommend this game highly for any age. It is great fun to play and lasts a long time.
What can I say. Boggle is ridiculous. It's a fast paced wordgame aimed at the quantity of your words and not the quality.
The game is played by shaking a plastic container containing Dice with letters on the sides. Once someone has shaken the counter, you then flip the sand timer and it begins. What begins you say? Why, Boggle of course!
during the 3-minute game ( yes 3 minutes) you must try and write as many words as you can see in the container. Words can only be formed so long as each word is adjacent to one another. Words gain a certain number of points depending on their length, although you'll find that the majority of the time you will be finding 4 letter words and pluralized versions of other words already on your list.
The game is fairly easy to find in charity shops, and I bring this down to its replay value. After a few games a night, the game will tire. Its fast paced nature lends itself to fatigue and you will often find yourself looking for a slower game where there isn't such a competitive edge. As a time-filler however, this is highly ranked. At 3 minutes a game, there's no reason not to do a 'best 2 out of 3' game.
Whilst not the most thought provoking game (there's really no TIME to think) it can prove as a very effective ice-breaker and time filler.
Time for another classic game review. This time it's the turn of Boggle. This is a game that has been around for many years and is viewed as very popular still. Although not strictly a board game you do use a form of board when you play this and the game is based on word play. So now you know the basic concept, let me tell you a little bit about how the game actually works.
In reality there is no real limit to the amount of players who can take part in Boggle. It's get a little awkward if there are more than four of you, but you can squeeze round and play regardless. The game starts when all players have a pen and a piece of paper for writing words down. The little Boggle cube is then shaken and the sixteen dice inside settle down with a letter facing upwards, now the egg timer is turned over and the round begins.
The idea is to try and make as many words as you can from the letters in front of you. You must connect the letters together either vertically, horizontally or diagonally to form words and you can not use the same letter more than once in a word. When the timer runs out you must stop writing your words down. Now comes the scoring to see who did best.
You might think that the scoring is based on most words, but this is not true. You only get points for unique words. So the first player will read out their list of words and if any other player has the same word then this does not count and will not score points. You only score points for unique words. If you do have a unique word when everyone has read their list of words out, then you score points. The longer the word the more points you get. You can then play as many rounds of Boggle as you like and add your scores up after each round. Obviously the player with the most points at the end is the winner.
This is a game that requires a little bit of brain power to play. Boggle is aimed more at adults than children although it can be a good way of teaching children to spell and help them develop in their language skills. The game usually costs around £20 to buy brand new in the shops but there are lots of these knocking around online or you can often pick the game up in a charity shop for just a few pounds.
Although I'm not the best Boggle player around I do quite enjoy it. It causes some great discussions and arguments over words and can really get players involved in the game. There is always a great feeling when you come up with a really special word that no one else has though of as well. So overall Boggle really is a very good little game that has been played for many years and no doubt will be played for many more years in the future.
My oldest child is only five, so we are still slightly pre the age when child begin to be able to play board games. There are a number board games I had when I was a child which I have kept, including Boggle, which was one of my favourites.
Boggle is a great word game, good for helping kids spell and recognise words within letter mixes, but at the same time I played this game when we have had friends around for dinner, and it always go down well, even if the guys do start to get super competitive!
The Boggle set comes with a plastic box, the bottom part is where the letters sit and a lid. The letters are printed on sixteen cubes which sit in ridges in the base on the plastic box. You need the lid so you can shake the letter cubes up between each game. Nowadays I believe Boggle comes with an electric timer and each game is three minutes in length, although because I got my Boggle last century mine came with a three minute egg timer!
There is one letter on each side of each cube, with the exception of 'q' which comes paired as 'qu' otherwise it wouldn't be much use. The object of the game is to get as many words from the letter scramble as you can in three minutes. The longer the word the more points it is worth. To be a valid word the cubes must be adjacent to each other, either vertically or horizontally and the same letter cannot be used twice.
Points per word are awarded as follows:
3/4 - 1 point
5 - 2 points
6 - 3 points
7 - 5 points
8+ - 11 points
Obviously the one with the most points wins at the end of the game. The nice thing about Boggle is you can make the game as long/short as you like. It could just be one 3 minute round, or 10 rounds, you just keep going until you have had enough!
Boggle costs around £15, which I think is a good price for such a good game. It is recommend for kids 8+ which would be about right and it's a really excellent game for getting kids spelling.
Like word games? Yes? Well, then this is a must have. It's up there almost on the level of Scrabble.
Boggle is a fast thinking and fun game. It's a good educational tool for improving the English vocabulary. No foreign words or abbreviations allowed. Play from ages eight to any age upwards and each game only lasts three minutes.
Game Play:
There are sixteen lettered die in a plastic tray with a lid that looks rather like a dome shaped cake cover. Give it a good shake. Hear the letters rattle. Some people can go shaking on a bit too long with the build-up the beginning of the game. Usually, someone has to intervene before we are all deafened, with the shout, 'That's enough now.'
The aim is to produce a list of as many words as possible under the time limitation of three minutes. All letters in the word must be adjoining. Unlike, in scrabble straight horizontal lines and verticals do not have to be adhered to so long as the tips of the die are beside the required letter.
I'm always glad for the three minute egg timer being turned over and bringing the quiet. All that can be heard is the scribbling of the writing tools as lists of words are made on the paper and some sighs when things get tough.
We often play again and again. Each game provides different letter combinations. It's not boredom that stops play but things like bedtime. Even the sounds of the tiles rattling in the box speak of the excitement to come. It's shaken in much the same way as a drum roll leads to the main part of an event.
Minor problems:
The noise can get a bit much depending on the enthusiasm of the assigned Boggle shaker. This job is taken in turns before each new game to prevent arguments.
After shaking and placing on the board not all the die settle squarely into their assigned slots. This means turning them so they are set correctly. This part can make people cheat as they can turn the dice to the letter that seems to suit the board best to create more words.
The covering lid is clear plastic. All the letters are visible. Even if you use your hand to cover the letters from sight some will still be visible. I turn my head away but it can be guaranteed that people will angle their heads to view and peep at what's in there to get a head start! We lift the lid off to avoid light glaring on the game and obstructing views.
Like under exam conditions there will always be players trying to scribble extra words after the time has run out.
There are also cheats who try to steal words from under your nose. I find myself resembling the child me, back in primary school days, hiding my work with a cupped arm and a bowed head!
My timer kept getting stuck so I had to go back out to buy a new egg timer.
Next the lists are read out and everyone calls out, 'yes' or 'no' to the words read out. No duplications of words are allowed. Cross out shared words from the list. The words left undiscovered by the other players are the words that win points. The winner is the person with the most words.
Alone - play by yourself and improve your vocabulary.
Also improves spelling and all whilst having fun.
Great entertainment.
Like Scrabble this is a must have game.
Boggle is one of those games that I was bought up on, played throughout my teens and early adulthood, and now it's something I play with my older children and also with my partner and friends. It is one of those games that truly does transcend generations and it's strangely addictive. I prefer playing this to most other word games such as Scrabble and Lexicon - and that's not to talk those games down, it's more a matter of I really like this one. I have owned several Boggle sets over the years, but the current one is one that I bought from my local independent toy store for £7.99, but it is a game that you can pick up easily enough from places like Amazon.
This is a word game - and the rules are very easy to learn. The game is made up of a series of 16 dice, with each face of the dice having a letter on. These dice sit in a grid that is 4 x 4 and then on top of this grid there is a plastic lid, which enables you to shake the dice altogether and then get them to settle randomly in the grid squares. The idea then is to look at the letters and make as many words (of 3 or more letters) as you can ensuring that the letters are adjacent to each other (horizontally, vertically or diagonally). For example, in the following grid:
So: you could have:
But you couldn't have:
There is a egg-timer which last three minutes that comes with the game and so this allows you to time it. Once the 3 minutes is up, player one reads her words out and if anyone has the same words then you cross them off. This goes on until all players have read their words off - and then the words that are left (that no one else has) are the words that are scored. You get scored according to how many letters are in your word - and the more letters, the higher the score. You usually decide how many games you're going to play in a row - and the winner is the one with the highest score.
I find this is a fun game and we get really really competitive with it. We have even had a Boggle League (sad I know!!). It's also a really good way to learn new words, and also for kids to be challenged on spelling words. Any fake words or mis-spelt words (courtesy of Mr. Dictionary) are discounted. It's easy to understand and I would say that kids from about 10 years old can play it fairly easily. Also it's a game you can play with up to about 8 people - but I prefer it if it's around 4 people. I recommend this to anyone who likes word games and hasn't tried this one!
Boggle is a 'word' game where you have to find as many words as possible whilst racing against the clock.
I received this game one Christmas when I was around seven years old; it instantly became my favourite ever game then and I would still consider it to be one of my favourite every games even now.
~ * To Play * ~
First of all using the 'pallet' and the 'lid' provided, shake the letters (which are like dices with letters instead of numbers) about in order to mix them up. Then take the lid off, set the egg timer and try and find as many words as possible in the allocated time. The person who finds the most words (they have to be real words) wins!
~ * Rules * ~
The letters can be straight across, downwards or neighbouring.
Words must be three letters or more.
According to the rules, if another team member has the same word as another member it cannot be counted for. However, when playing I never play to this rule.
Each word gives a different scoring;
Word Length
3 / 4 Letters = 1 point
5 Letters = 2 points
6 Letters = 3 points
7 Letters = 5 points
8+ Letters = 11 points
~ * What Do I Think? * ~
I think that this game is great. It is very educational for children as it can help improve their vocabulary and help them learn new words and improve their spelling. It is a fun way to learn words. I find this game to be exciting as you have to race against the clock and so I find that I do get quite competitive at times.
I like the fact that the game is very simple and straightforward and doesn't take too much 'fuss'. It's just a simple game which is very easy to set up - it only takes a few seconds to 'prepare' and then you're ready to go, unlike games which 'faff about' like Monopoly.
Another advantage of this game is that it is the kind of game which doesn't require a lot of players. You can also play it on your own (although minus the competition, obviously) and is a great way to get rid of boredom. As a child, I found that there was nothing worse than a game where you needed more than 2 players (especially when you couldn't find enough players). So this is great.
As for the rules, they are easy to follow and it doesn't really matter if you don't stick to them. I remember when I was younger, I just used to liked 'finding as many words as possible' in the 3 minutes allocated on the egg timer.
I like that each game is different as you end up with different letters each time - this can be extremely difficult if there are hardly no vowels present.
I would say that this game is suitable for players aged 7+ although it is a game that the whole family can play together. Also, one game only takes 3 minutes which means that you always have time for a game of Boggle. Due to it not having many 'pieces' (the letters are kept safe in the 'palette' with the lid and only an egg timer), the game is very easy to 'transport around'. Although you do need to have a flat service to put the 'palette' on so that the letters don't fall out.
I would definitely recommend this game!
Thanks for reading!
May 2012
Xdonzx / xd-o-n-z-x
Boggle is another board game from Hasbro. The pieces are well made, the box is sturdy and overall the game is good value for money as it lasts for years. I've had mine over 20 years and it still looks brand new. Granted, I don't play it all that much, but still it is doing well for 20 years old!
==How to play==
In Boggle, you get 16 dice with different letters on each dice. There is a board/tray for the dice which has cover on the top, much like a cake cover. You cover the tray, shake the dice and they fall into the slots. There is a timer, I think you get a minute or minute and a half to make up as many words as you can. The twist is, that you can't just pick any random letter, the letters have to be next to each other, whether that is opposite, adjacent, diagonal etc. that's fine, but they have to be touching in some way. It can make the game quite difficult.
The scores go like this:
3/4 letter word = 1 point
5 letter word = 2 points
6 letter word = 3 points
7 letter word = 5 points
8+ = 11 points (very difficult to score this many) - typically you will get lots of 3/4 letter words.
==Why I like it==
One of the main reasons I like it is that it is really compact and doesn't involve any fiddly pieces. It is easy to take on holiday and regularly goes camping with us and is packed in the "travel games" bag. It isn't as small as a traditional travel game but compared to most board games, it is small. The "board"/"tray" is about 12cm x 12cm so as you can see, quite small.
I also like it as it makes you think about the words you can make and it can be quite hard to get long words due to the rule that the letters have to be next to each other. I like a bit of a challenge when it comes to board games.
==Who might like it?==
Anyone who likes Scrabble would probably love this game, it is similar but different at the same time. I do like the fact that there is a timer as it encourages people to hurry up and think (I think Scrabble could benefit from a timer in my humble opinion!).
This is a good game for the family, I think 8-12 years olds would like this best and it might help them to develop their literacy skills. Good game for everyone though, I still like it and I'm nearly 30!
Edit to add: Azana the guide for Toys pointed out that "a consumer review about a 20 year old product can never be as helpful as it could be - quality of the game may have substantially changed - most games have". I do know that the game itself hasn't changed, nor have the rules. I can't comment about current quality of the game if you went out and bought it today but in terms of fun, I'm certain that won't have changed.
I have always had a soft spot for word games. I have loved playing Scrabble ever since I was a child and I also enjoy crosswords and any letter puzzles. I am not sure where I first came across Boggle, made by Hasbro, but a several years ago I added it to my Christmas list when I realised that it was a game I would probably enjoy.
The game is presented in a nice solid box which is reasonably compact at 20cm x27cmx6cm so it is easy and convenient to store. The box is blue with a bright orange and white design of tumbling letters which in my opinion is quite eye-catching.
Upon opening the box there is an orange plastic tray with a circular base which is about 12cm in diameter. The tray houses a 4x4 grid. There is a clear plastic dome which fits over the tray. The box also contains 16 letter dice which have a letter clearly stamped on each side in blue.
The box also contains a sand-timer which counts three minutes.
The box does not contain paper or pencils which I thought was a bit odd considering they are an absolute necessity to play this game. I know that most people usually have such things knocking around the house but it is nice if they are all conveniently stored inside and are ready to play on opening.
===How to Play===
The 16 dice are put on the tray, they are covered by the lid and then the whole unit is turned upside down and shaken before righting and then jiggling until each die falls into a square on the grid. The cover is then removed and the timer turned-over and each player has 3 minutes to write down as many words as they are able that can be formed using the letters in the tray. The words are formed by linking adjacent letters either horizontally, vertically or diagonally and each letter dice can only be used once.
When the timer runs out players take it in turns to read out their lists and the only words that score any points are ones that none of the others players have found. Words are then scored on length, 3 or 4 letters score 1, and this increases until words of 8 letters or above score 11 points.
===Thoughts on the Game===
As I previously stated I love word games but unfortunately this isn't a love shared by most of my family. My mother enjoys them too and will happily play Boggle with me but otherwise I struggle to find another player. My son is a good sport and sometimes he will agree to a game but I can tell he finds it boring and unfortunately since I always win he is never keen for a rematch. Although my husband will play Scrabble he draws the line at Boggle as he just finds it too "wordy". I do have a friend who I have found out recently likes playing word games so I am hoping to have some more challenging matches with her soon.
The game says that it is recommended for children aged 8 to adult. I think some children will play this but I am sure most would find it a bit dry and since all of the letters are block capitals it takes a while for them to become attuned to spotting the words as they seem more used to spotting words in lower case. It is a game that really needs to be played against a challenger who has a similar command of English to you. As an adult you will invariably beat a child unless you are cheating to let them win and my children always hated winning if they thought that I wasn't trying. I never used the rule about cancelling out words if all players had them and just let the children score all of their words as they were happier to lose if they had scored 15 and I had scored 20 rather than them not scoring anything at all (I was always able to lower my score without them noticing!)
Due to the fact that I do word searches and crosswords a lot I think I just find it easier to spot the words and groups of letters than anyone else in my family so therefore I find more words even though I wouldn't say my vocabulary was that much better than theirs.
When setting the game up the clear lid does fit securely on to the tray so even though my children have shaken it quite vigorously in the past it has stayed on although it is quite cumbersome to hold whilst shaking as the domed lid makes it quite deep. The letters fall in random directions so I always found it beneficial for my children if I quickly turned them so that they were all facing the right way so that they could see them more easily.
The W, M and Z have underscores so that they will not be confused with other letters. The Q is already printed with a U so that you can immediately start making words which shouldn't be possible if it didn't happen to land by a U. The selection of letters on each cube seems quite random but I presume they have probably been calculated using letter frequency in words. A few have all consonants whilst others have mainly vowels whilst the majority seem to have a mixture. We have never had any problem making a good selection of words with the letters that have appeared.
This game is also suitable for playing solo. You simply challenge yourself to make the more words than on your previous turn. I have tried this a few times but I have decided that I prefer playing it on the computer against an imaginary opponent than playing it by myself as sometimes 12 words will be good and other times 30 words would be mediocre simply depending upon the letters that have appeared. This is also not a quiet game, it really rather noisy when you shake the letters.
Although I really enjoy this game I could only recommend it if you know you have people who would like to play it with you. My game hardly ever comes out of the cupboard and I now tend to rely on playing on versions on the internet if I fancy a game. The concept is simple and the pieces are well-made and seem durable although mines has not had enough play to really evaluate how much it would stand up to regular wear and tear. I was hoping my children would enjoy it more when they were a bit younger as I think word-games are educational but unfortunately neither of them has ever been particularly impressed with it. I do think the lack of pens and paper is a bit mean and could easily have been incorporated. Overall I think that the idea for this game is great but I can understand why many people would find it boring as there are no exciting twists to the gameplay at all.
This was bought years ago as a present for my gran who loved doing crosswords and playing
word games such as Scrabble with us when we were kids. Somewhere along the line the Boggle
game found it's way into my mums attic to be rediscovered by my 11 year old nephew earlier this
The game consists of 16 dice which have a letter on each side and a plastic tray divided into a 4 x 4
grid with a lid so you can shake the dice without losing them. The dice land within the grid with one
letter showing on the top side of each dice and the object of the game is to make as many words as
possible before the 3 minute sand timer runs out. The letter Q is represented by Qu on the dice
thankfully or it would hardly ever get used unless you were lucky enough to get a U next to it.
In the proper version of Boggle you should make words from letters that are adjacent to each other
vertically,horizontally or diagonally and each letter can only be used once in a word. Each player
writes down their words and when the timer stops each player goes through their words and any
word that another player has is discounted before scoring.
The scores are then calculated by number of letters in the words
The Qu tile still counts as 2 letters even though it's only one tile.
1 point for 3 or 4 letter words
2 points for 5 letter words
3 points for 6 letter words
5 points for 7 letter words
11 points for 8+ letter words
As we usually always had kids playing the game we always played a simplified version of the game
depending on the age of the kids playing as the real game gets a bit frustrating for the kids and
probably some adults too if we're honest.
If the kids playing are the younger ones we just let them make up words from the tiles available
without the need for the tiles to be connecting but to even things up the adults and teenagers
words have to be connecting as they would be in the proper game rules this means that the kids
have a fair chance of beating the adults and frequently do.
When it comes to scoring we don't discount the words others have and any real word gets scored
by the points system detailed above.
One of the great things about this game is any number of people can play at once or you can play
alone and try to beat your own score. The game is ready to play in seconds (or minutes if like us
you've got noisy kids who like shaking it for 5 minutes) just shake the dice turn over the timer and it's ready to go there's no batteries required or complicated set up all you need are pens and paper and
the game itself.
The games are short and fast the timer only last 3 minutes so it's a frantic scribble to find and write
down the words and there's added entertainment value from the silly made up words and squabbles
over whether the word exists. I think this is a great game for kids as they are building up their
vocabulary and improving their spelling without realising it because they are having fun at the same
time and the chance of making the adults look stupid by winning adds to their enjoyment. Get the
kids to count up the scores and they're also improving their maths as well although our lot do have a tendency to add a few points here and there to their score and subtract a few from any unsuspecting adult. I'm dyslexic and found games like Boggle and Scrabble seemed to help me when I was a kid
which is probably the reason we played games like this so often when I was younger.
We've played this several times over the holidays and it was good to get together for a change
and play a game everyone could join in rather than just relying on the Playstation or Wii for
entertainment as we usually do.
The Boggle game costs £12.99 and is suitable for age 8 upwards.
I am the queen of Boggle. Not much of a claim to fame, admittedly, but everyone's got to be bizarrely good at something and my special talent is for finding words on dice. So much so, in fact, that my idea of a really cracking night in is a nice dinner, a few episodes of Jersey Shore to gaze at in appalled fascination and many rounds of this word finding game. I have been known to make my long suffering boyfriend play for _hours_ at a time and no doubt I'll whip this board game out before the turkey's cooked on Christmas day.
So what is it about Boggle? Well, I love pretty much all word-based games but Boggle holds a particular appeal due to how fast-paced and competitive it is. And the fact that I win about 99% of the time also plays a part, I suppose.
The game is played using lettered dice that fit onto a 4x4 grid. A clear plastic dome fixes on top of the grid, you shake the game to shuffle the letters around, settle the dice back into the grid and then turn the timer over to start 3 minutes of word spotting. Pretty simple and straightforward, but then the best games always are. As each player finds a word they write it down on a piece of paper kept hidden from the other player. When the time is up players read their list of words, discounting any that other players have also found. Words that seem dubious can be checked in an agreed dictionary. After that words are scored according to how many letters they have, with 3 and 4 letter words scoring 1 point, 5 letters scoring 2 points and so on. When I play, though, we score words corresponding to number of letters, so a three letter word scores three points. Doesn't make any difference to who wins and loses but it does make the overall scores sound pleasingly impressive.
We have played variations where I allow the other player a head start and see if I can catch them before the timer's up or you can choose to only allow three letter words or words that are 4 or more letters. Mostly, though, we just play the game in the usual way and anyone with a decent vocabulary will find it surprisingly addictive. However, anyone with dyslexia, word-finding difficulties or visual memory problems is likely to find it a form of torture.
Some of the 'updated' Boggle sets offer added extras such as a 5x5 grid or a version which involves players making the words with their bodies on a lettered mat. The newer version also has a playing board that doesn't need to be shaken: the dome is spring-loaded and you press it down to shuffle the letters. Personally, I think one of the best bits is the loud rattling noise you make with the dice, so I'll be sticking to my old-school edition (although if Santa brought me the edition with the 5x5 grid, I'd be a very happy girl).
This is also one of my games that I take into work and use it to help consolidate and extend children's knowledge of CVC words. For this I don't use the timer unless the children are particularly capable and we tend to play just for three letter words and progress to 4 letter words as the children extend their vocabulary and spelling ability. With this in mind I'd say that the manufacturer's guide of suitable for ages 8 and up is about right, although particularly literate younger children are likely to enjoy it. The game is perfect for taking to work or on trips as the timer and dice can be packed inside the grid with the domed lid keeping everything in place. Just to make sure it doesn't come apart in my bag I put a bit of sellotape or a couple of elastic bands around it.
The version I have is available on Amazon for the frankly outrageous price of £34.99, but can be found for under a tenner on the marketplace or at car boot sales. I bought my set for a fiver from eBay and despite being much used by me and the person I bought it from, it still looks in very good condition. Short of one of the cats eating the dice (which is not something I'd necessarily rule out, given how thick Jellybean is) I would expect this game to last for many years to come.
I have always loved crossword and word games so was pleased when I was given this for my birthday a few years ago. Scrabble may be classed as a more educational game but I prefer Boggle as it is possible to set up quickly and there is a fairly rapid countdown before each level ends.
There are 16 dice like cubes but they have letters on the sides rather than numbers and the idea is to make as many words as possible in a short period of time. After the tray has been shaken it sets the letters out in rows of 4 x 4 cubes and words have to be made up of letters that are touching each other. You do have to concentrate because when you first look at the letters, words jump out at you but if the letters that make them up don't touch each other the word is not valid.
I normally find that 3 minutes is long enough as the obvious ones will be found quickly and the idea is to look for the unusual words and write them down. Once the scoring starts any word that is found by more than one player is eliminated and points given just for the unique ones. It took me a while to get used to this as I tried to write down all the words when it was obvious other people would get them as well.
So far the dice have not been lost but I am not sure what would happen if we did lose one as they are not the sort you would find in the local games shop. I have not gone as far as to look for a local Boggle club and get involved in tournaments but it is a good game when there is a spare hour. You should be able to play 10 rounds in that time so there is plenty of chances to win a few rounds and be the overall winner. The longer the unique word the more point allocated so I now try and find one or two long words rather than a few shorter ones. Not that I am competitive at all!!
It is a good way to help children learn how to spell and for a while my nephew played and he did seem to learn new words, as if anyone got one he did not know he would ask what it meant.
When you consider the sort of games children like now it seems very basic so will not be suitable for those who like state of the art toys but as a little extra is will be a good way to stretch their vocabulary - plus there is no reason why you should not improve your own.
The game is produced by Hasbro and is recommended for 8 year olds and older. I believe that it cost £8.99 5 years ago.
Boggle is yet another variation of a word game. This time it is quite a different set up to any other word game but just as much fun to play.
You have a small board with 16 square compartments in it making a four by four pattern. You then have 16 dice like pieces but instead of dots or numbers on them you have letters on all sides. Then you have a lid that goes on top. The lid is quite high so that once you put the letter cubes inside the base you can hold the lid on and give it a good shake up.
The idea is to make up words using the letters that are face up in the container. If when you have shaken them some are not quite in the holes you need to do a bit of wiggling about so that they all lay down flat.
To make up a word you start at one letter then have to use a letter that is next to this one (can be left, right, up, down or in any diagonal direction) and so on. The words have to be at least three letters long but you can use as many letters as you want as long as you don't use the same cube face more than once per word.
Everyone needs to write down as many words as they can find while the egg timer that comes with the game is going. Once the time has run out you need to stop writing. Then you go around the table and the first person reads out their list of words. If any one else has the same word then it is crossed out on everyone's list. You do this with everybody who is playing until all you each have left is a list of unique words to that player. Then you score each word that is left, for a three or four letter word you get 1 point per word, five letters gives you 2 points, six you get three pints, seven you get five points and eight or over you get 11 points. Then you add up all your points and someone keeps a score sheet showing how many points you each have.
You can keep playing for as long as you like but it is best to have a set limit like may be play for an hour and then highest score wins or may be have first to reach 200 points is the winner.
It is also a good idea to have a dictionary handy as then if someone says a word isn't right you can look it up and see if its spelled correctly or not.
The game is very easy to play and once you get started it is a very satisfactory game to play. I love trying to make up words using the diagonal directions as well as the other ways. Sometimes you can be sitting there thinking you can't find anything then all of a sudden a big word with come into your head and you just hope no one else has the same word.
I found that this game is better played with more grown up children as the younger ones do find it hard to follow the letters to make the words but its not a bad idea to let them have a play about and see if they can do it or not. You can keep one amused on their own by giving them the boggle and getting them to shake it up and then write down as many words as they can and then you checking them, bit like a spelling test at school.
The game is very robust and made to last as long as you don't lose one of the cubes as then you wouldn't be able to play any more.
I looked on Amazon and they have some independent sellers selling the game for £4.25 but you would have to pay pp on top of this. On Toys R Us they have a newer version called Boggle Reinvention for £14.99 which from what I can make out is now an enclosed capsule thing that has the cubes inside and you just shake it up the same but you can't take the cubes out which would stop you losing them. (Amazon have it for £11.99 with free delivery!)
Copied to Ciao under username Harveydog52
Boggle is a really interesting word game, much like the quiz in the Sun newspaper, it provides you with 16 letters and asks you to make as many words as you can with those letters within a set time period.
The letters are based on cubes and at the start of each turn, one player shakes the boggle cube containing the 16 dice cubes, when they finally land in their squares you start choosing words based on the letters which are available. You have to make as many words as you can within the time it takes for the sand timer to run down.
All you need for the game is a pen and pad for each player and somebody who can judge that people aren't cheating. Although I would also recommend a dictionary for when disputes develop and that the 'somebody' is a person who is entirely impartial and doesn't have any vested interest.
The game is great fun for all the family, but can also be played alone and is excellent for people planning to expand their vocabulary. I've had it since my 9th birthday and we still play it now, it can be bought on Amazon used for £3.50 which is great value as the game is different every time you play it, its fun, challenging and really tests your vocabulary and ability to find words quickly.
It can be played by a number of people, the instructions are easy to follow and it is satisfying and a great thing to play with the kids, i'd definitely recommend this simple but addictive game to everybody. With 16 letters it offers a challenge to get as many words as you can and can create serious competitiveness amongst normally placid friends and family members.
Released in 1972 Boggle is an incredibly simple game that has made it to the puzzle pages of many national newspapers.
What you need
Basically, Boggle is a word game for up to 7 people, the box recommends that players are 8 years or over as a necessity of the game is having a good knowledge of words. Boggle is a 16 space board with dices within, you have a cover for the board, shake it and then make sure that a letter faces up from each position. All players then have 3 minutes to make words from letters next to each other, words must have at least 3 letters and points are gained for the size of the word and whether it has only been used by you.
For the game you need a pen and paper, the board and the dice and the timer and you have a game right there.
Available for a tenner on Amazon, I bought my box for 7.99GBP in Woolworths many years ago, it has served me well and is small enough to easily fit in a bag for long train or coach journeys, its a good game as it allows lots of people to play and it also stretches your brain a little bit which I find enjoyable.
The concept of the game is incredibly simple, there are various rules for Boggle in different countries, but I like to keep it simple and just find as many words as I can within 3 minutes. When I was younger I would play alone to improve my word skills and I think it worked. The game is easy to play, cheap and fun for all of the family. Its well worth a purchase and while its not in the premier league of board games it is definitely worth a 4 out of 5.


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He highlights the need for improvements in operations and maintainance, as well as technology, in order to make offshore wind generation competitive.
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Catherine Crawford
About the Author
Catherine Crawford is a contributor to Droolicious on Babble.com, and the parenting website What They Play, where she conceived of and has written the Mothership column. She has appeared on CBS and Fox to discuss issues related to balancing work and motherhood. She lives with her husband, writer Mac Montandon, and their two children in Brooklyn.


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Thomas P. O'Neill III, son of Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, reminds us of the relationship between his father and former President Ronald Reagan. After describing some of the bruising political battles between the two, he writes:
"Historic tax reforms, seven tax increases, a strong united front that brought down the Soviet Union — all came of a commitment to find common ground. While neither man embraced the other's worldview, each respected the other's right to hold it. Each respected the other as a man.
"President Reagan knew my father treasured Boston College, so he was the centerpiece of a dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel that raised $1 million to build the O'Neill Library there. When Reagan was shot at that same hotel, my father went to his hospital room to pray by his bed.
"No, my father and Reagan weren't close friends. Famously, after 6 p.m. on quite a few work days, they would sit down for drinks at the White House. But it wasn't the drinks or the conversation that allowed American government to work. Instead, it was a stubborn refusal not to allow fund-raisers, activists, party platforms or ideological chasms to stand between them and actions — tempered and improved by compromise — that kept this country moving."
Have Something to Say?
"A Commitment to Find Common Ground"


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Hi. Thanks for reading this. In my application I would like to see if a bitmap on a static control is the same as a bitmap I load in a loop. It looks like this:
Inside the 'for' loop containing the 'rsrc' of type 'int' is where I need to compare the two. I am making a level editor in MFC for a game I was working on a while back. How would I check to see if the 'hBitmap' object is equal to the bitmap loaded with the resource ID 'rsrc'? Please help if possible.Code:HBITMAP hBitmap; // Handle to current tile's bitmap object FILE *pFile = fopen("myMap.txt", "wb"); // TODO: Loop through the tile vector objects and write // them to the specified file for (int current = 0; current < m_wndTile.size(); current++) { hBitmap = m_wndTile[current]->GetBitmap(); // Get current tile's bitmap data for (int rsrc = 131; rsrc <= 132; rsrc++) // Loop resource bitmaps { /* This section will check for a matching */ /* resource id. if one is found, it will */ /* write the tile data to the file */ } } fclose(pFile); // Close the file
Matt U.


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Festivities begin at 4 p.m. with a pumpkin carving contest. There is no entry fee, but the pumpkins must be purchased from the museum. Pumpkins go on sale at 10 a.m. and are $6 for small and $10 for large.
"This is an event the whole family can enjoy," Pam Scarver, president of Pope County Historical Foundation, said. "Kids especially love the pumpkin-carving contest."
The audience will judge the pumpkins, with first- and second-place winners receiving a trophy.
At 6 p.m., the museum will host a re-enactment of the 1926 "Santa" robbery of the Citizen's Bank, in which an armed assailant donning a Santa Claus suit entered the bank and reportedly said, "Stick 'em up; this is a hold up." The teller, thinking it was a joke, reportedly laughed and told the robber, "I'll be with you in a minute."
The robber made off with more than $3,000 and was later apprehended in Oklahoma.
Immediately following the re-enactment, night tours of the museum by lantern will be given, ending with ghost stories of the Ozarks in the attic.
"The ghost stories aren't too scary," Scarver said.
Beginning at 7 p.m., the museum will build a campfire with refreshments including s'mores, hot dogs and apple cider available for a fee.
All proceeds from tours, refreshments, and pumpkin sales — which will continue the following week until sold out — will go toward having the inn painted and correcting structural issues.
"It's important to support [the museum] because it's a history not just of Pottsville, but of the whole county," Scarver said. "We need to preserve it and keep as much of it alive as we can for future generations." For more information, call the museum at 968-8369.


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(The underlined link above will take you to the website of the Square Dance Foundation of New England, where you can download a copy of Barden's booklet.)
Square & Contra Dance Figures & Definitions was an early effort to present organized definitions of the various figures in use in square dance communities. Barden, a caller in Lebanon, NH, wrote the first edition of his book in 1957 (with a revision in 1960 that included 8 additional pages of figures that had been created in those intervening years.) At 62 pages in length, it's a fairly complete glossary of calls as they existed at that time; Jim Mayo has described it as "an early version of Burleson's Square Dance Encyclopedia." (Burleson's collection went on to describe more than 5,000 figures!) As such, Barden's booklet provides a good look at the square dance vocabulary in use before the floodgates opened.
(For another look at the proliferation of calls, see the presentation on "Call Evolution" by Clark Baker and Don Beck at CALLERLAB 2011.)
Barden's son, Nelson, writes: "I think Barden's Barn started around 1950 when I was still in high school. I remember Neil spending a year practicing calls in the evening, and by 1952-56 when I was away at UNH they were going strong. There may have been advertising for the Barn, but I don't recall any. I think my folks thought word-of-mouth was the best publicity. It's amazing how many people danced at Barden's Barn. For years, Neil and Isabelle ran dances five or six nights every week for hundreds of couples. After the dance craze petered out, Neil converted the barns to pottery studios and the crowds kept coming."
Jim Mayo writes: "Neil Barden was an important early dance hall owner. Many groups made the Knothead trip to there because it was a convenient 100 miles from Nashua and other Southern NH areas (even though I-89 didn't exist). Barden's Barn had most of the significant traveling callers of the time on the schedule."


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DETROIT — In the offseason of 1998-99, following their winningest season of all time, the Yankees faced a significant decision: Who would be their third baseman going forward?
They could re-sign free agent Scott Brosius, their World Series Most Valuable Player and a 1998 All-Star. Or they could promote their top prospect Mike Lowell, who proved himself that year at Triple-A Columbus.
You know the direction they chose, and you know that Brosius was the starting third baseman for a team that qualified for the World Series each of the next three seasons — after which point he retired.
But what if the Yankees had gone the other way? If they had bet on Lowell, they would've had an above-average third baseman through at least 2004, which means that they would've passed on … wait for it … Alex Rodriguez, when A-Rod became available in the 2003-04 winter. Instead, Lowell excelled with the Marlins, who acquired him from the Yankees for three young pitchers who flopped.
There's a lesson to be learned these many years later, one which the Yankees have learned and applied better more recently and to which they must adhere once again. They can't make forward-thinking decisions if they overemphasize what they see in the postseason.
"These guys are better than this. And you've seen it, and we've seen it," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said yesterday, before the Yankees and Tigers American League Championship Series Game 4 at Comerica Park was postponed by rain. "It is just a very poor short sample. We have a lot of guys that got cold at the wrong time, and it looks bad. But … this is not a reflection of who they are."
The Yankees have become more attuned to dissecting and projecting than simply grasping to postseason results. Remember in 2009, when Hideki Matsui won World Series MVP honors and Johnny Damon played great? Cashman let both of them go, and three years later, both are out of baseball. In the interim, neither player came close to matching what he gave the Yankees in '09.
Robinson Cano broke a mind-blowing, 0-for-29 slump with his ninth-inning single in Tuesday night's Game 3. He has been brutal in the postseason. But exercising his $15 million team option for next year is a slam dunk, trading him is unthinkable and it wouldn't be a surprise if the Yankees still engage Cano on a long-term extension to keep him out of free agency a year from now.
Nick Swisher? He'll be a free agent this winter, and you can bet on him playing elsewhere in 2013. However, if his fourth straight terrible postseason has done anything, it has lowered his market value — because some anxious owners probably would have been excited over a great October — and increased the likelihood, still slight, of Swisher returning to the Yankees.
Alex Rodriguez? There's plenty going on there, as always, yet there's reason to think, based on his 2012 regular season, that he can still provide some value (if nowhere near what he'll be earning) next season.
Curtis Granderson? His benching last night had as much to do with his erratic 2012 season as a whole, replete with homers and strikeouts, lacking in walks and doubles, as his shaky October. He might be a trade candidate this winter, once the Yankees exercise his $13 million team option for next year, although he for sure won't be sold low.
With each player, his October performance will be among the last factors the Yankees examine.
After conceding his many hitters' struggles, Cashman said, "But these are also the guys that got us the best record in the American League and put up … one of the highest run totals in our league. So they're also the reason for a lot of good that's taken place. … Is that a true snapshot of what their contributions are and who they are as player? It's not."
Cashman will keep that in mind as he moves forward this winter, blocking the emotion out of his evaluations and trying to make the best decisions for the future. Losing in the postseason isn't fun. But if you make decisions based on postseason results, then you'll wind up missing October altogether.


text: Course description: The course teaches modern standard Polish used by college-educated speakers in Poland. We will practice reading, writing, speaking and oral comprehension. The focus will be on continuation of learning both grammatical patterns and building of vocabulary. Since language is also an expression of culture, the course will emphasize cultural correctness, for example, Polish norms of courtesy.


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McAfee Inc. has thrown down the gauntlet in its dispute with
Microsoft's decision to lock down the core of their Vista operating system. The
security software vendor has a
full-page ad in today's Financial
Times which berates Microsoft.
McAfee argues that Microsoft is making its upcoming Windows Vista operating
system far more difficult to protect by locking non-Microsoft processes out of
the kernel. Symantec had a similar beef with this move by Microsoft which was reported on recently by Windows IT Pro:
Symantec has also complained about a new security feature
called Kernel PatchGuard that prevents software--malicious or otherwise--from
altering the Windows kernel at runtime. In the past, security companies have
been forced to patch the Windows kernel because so much malicious software does
so as well. That process will not be possible in Windows Vista, which should
make the system more secure. Symantec wants it removed.
Microsoft claims that this will keep Vista more secure by
allowing only certified programs to access vital components of Windows, but
McAfee openly mocks this in its advertisement by challenging:
"Microsoft is being completely unrealistic if, by locking security
companies out of the kernel, it thinks hackers won't crack Vista's kernel. In
fact, they already have."
A Microsoft representative dismissed this accusation, citing a close
relationship with security partners during the development of Windows Vista. On
the other side of the coin, vendor Trend Micro currently has a beta release of their
anti-virus software available for Vista, which may have prompted other
companies to suspect preferential treatment.
A scan of the article was unavailable at the time of this posting.


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It was January 2006, and this was a column I wrote asking readers to take a quiz and find out what kind of basketball fans they were. It occurred to me that with the way the Lakers' upcoming schedule is, it's a decent time to put it out there again if you missed it the first time …
Seems like a good time to find out a little more about just what kind of NBA fan you are. Play along, and all will become clear in a few minutes …
1. Which approach would you prefer to see from an NBA player?
A) Always work hard, but enjoy free time
B) Live it up, then take the games seriously
2. It being the crucial time in the NFL season, whom would you rather watch as a hoopster?
A) Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme, because his daring and skill would make him an exciting, gritty gunner
B) Pittsburgh running back Jerome Bettis, who'd be a Charles Barkley-like power source with surprising agility to awe and inspire
3. What's the main reason to respect LeBron James?
A) Michael Jordan-esque work ethic to make what is already great into the best
B) Magic Johnson-like power to be a solo star dedicated to team ball
4. What's the main reason to root for Mark Madsen (besides hoping he wins another championship so he'll bring back those memorable dance steps)?
A) Truly a good-hearted, nice guy
B) An underdog making the most of what he has
5. Which is the cooler accomplishment?
A) Inspiring a home crowd and celebrating with your team
B) Silencing a road crowd and celebrating with your team
6. Which is more important?
A) The first three quarters
B) The fourth quarter
7. Which better summarizes your take on the NBA dress code?
A) Players should get to wear whatever they want and not be forced into being serious
B) A willingness to be professional is just part of the maturation process that can never happen too fast
8. Which is the better approach to working with teammates?
A) Congratulate or berate them right when stuff happens
B) Joke around or give gifts to foster team harmony
9. Which was more embarrassing to you?
A) Not winning the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics
B) The Pacers brawling with Pistons fans
10. Which is worse?
A) Missing free throws
B) Missing open teammates
The scoring: For questions 1-3, give yourself one point for every A response and three points for every B response. For questions 4-7, three points for every A and one point for every B. For questions 8-10, one point for every A and three points for every B.
Once you have tabulated your score, read on.
# # #
Let's assess the results using the concise terminology of those close to the Lakers in recent years: If you scored 10-to-19, you are "a Kobe guy." If you scored 21-to-30, you are "a Shaq guy." The closer you are to 10, the closer you are to No. 8). The closer you are to 30, the closer you are to No. 32.
And if you scored 20, you are stuck in between … and your name is Phil Jackson.
No, seriously, the point of this exercise is to address the reality that many local fans are torn over what happened to the Lakers and the split of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. It's especially true when games like Heat-Lakers on Monday night roll around, and difficult for those who would score the biggest numbers on this quiz in support of the Big Fella.
One might argue that if you're a deep-seated Shaq guy, you should just adopt the Clippers. They're decent now, and you're never going to love the Lakers like you once did with Bryant as their darling.
But consider Jackson. He was a Shaq guy, one would say – though not as unswerving as some might think — and has turned with the tide and become a Kobe guy. It is possible to be one while respecting the other.
Which is exactly what happened for a good stretch there in 2001-02 when Bryant and O'Neal were friends. They respected what was different about the other and actually used it to make themselves more whole.
It was wonderful to see O'Neal finally reach out to Bryant before the game. Maybe the wall can start to crumble now the way Jackson hopes it can.
I asked Jackson, a clear opponent of the O'Neal trade at the time, before the season if it had occurred to him that should he win a title with Bryant and Lamar Odom, it would only validate the Lakers' decision to get rid of O'Neal.
"Yeah," Jackson said. "That would be the obvious justification for the move."
He didn't have any more to say about it. It is what it is, and it was what it was.
After our little test, you should know definitively on which end of the court you stand. It's up to you whether you're now further fired up to throw more spitballs at that other camp or you decide to appreciate the good qualities of the other — as perhaps Bryant and O'Neal are starting to again.
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