Coffee Klatch

Here’s an interesting website that I StumbledUpon. There’s a big grid and you click any disc to turn it 90 degrees. Every time one of the stripes touches another one, that disc turns 90 degrees. The object is to create the biggest chain reaction possible.

It’s not very complicated or “game-like,” but it is interesting. And addicting. You start seeing patterns and figuring out how to make it work, so I guess it is helpful in developing your pattern recognition or thinking skills or something. My high score was 2516 (that was by alternating patterns every other row and then clicking the corner–try it!).

(BTW, if you want to regularly get a high score (say, over 500), “Reset” is not your friend! It can make it easy to get one high score if you get a lucky arrangement, but I think the board allows you to create patterns that can systematically generate chain reactions that otherwise depend more on luck than logic.)

Update: Okay, looks like I forgot the URL. Here it is: http://files.deviantart.com/files/f/2004/188/8/7/gridgame.swf. (This link has been modified and should work now.) I also found a game that’s basically the same but with a different look. And as a bonus (and as an apology), here’s another site with lots of funny free games.

Many bloggers forget that blogs are still websites and that there are design rules that help define quality sites. Some think that their software program takes care of all that for them, but even if the layout is fine, there are still blogging guidelines that can make your blog better (or, therefore, worse). Jakob Nielsen put together an excellent “Top 10″ list for blog design misakes. I’ve listed them below, but please visit his site (click his name above) to see explanations and descriptions of these mistakes, as well as tips on avoiding them.

Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes

1. No author biographies (meaning, you NEED them)
2. No author photo (same as above–enhances credibility)
3. Nondescript posting titles
4. Links don’t say where they go
5. Classic hits are buried
6. The calendar is the only navigation
7. Irregular publishing frequency
8. Mixing topics
9. Forgetting that you write for your future boss
10. Having a domain name owned by a weblog service

Again, be sure to visit http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html to get details on the whys and wherefores of these misakes.

Current music: Taproot, by Michael Hedges

By the way, I’ve replaced my guest book with a program that’s hosted on my own server through DreamHost, so I can have better control of the contents and spam, etc.

If you’re a regular (or even occasional) reader of Pfitz’s Miscellany, I’d really appreciate a note in the guest book, just so I can see who some of my readers are. So, please, click the “Sign my Guest Book” link and leave a note. Grazie mille!

Today begins the first trial of Saddam Hussein. I was hearing on the radio this morning how they were planning on running the trials, and I find it interesting. They’re beginning with the more minor charges. The reason? Their law requires that the defendant be present at the trial, so if they found him guilty on a major charge, he could be executed, but then he wouldn’t be able to stand trial for the other crimes. In fact, with these first cases, they’re making sure that the death penalty is NOT offered, so he’ll (hopefully) still be able to stand trial for his other crimes.

Interesting, eh?

Current music: Skywatching, by Michael Gettel