Game review: Natalie Brooks: Secrets of Treasure House

In Natallie Brooks: Secrets of Treasure House, you play Natalie Brooks. Her recently deceased grandmother left a house to Natalie, who now has to unravel all of the secrets around it in order to save it from being taken by the bank. This is another hidden object game that has taken gameplay to another level. Each location has a list of objects you need to find but, in order to find the big object in each location, you need to find other objects that will open a drawer or something along those lines. It changes the game from a hidden object game to more of a role playing game (RPG) much like King's Quest or Zork back in the day. The only difference is that you don't have to travel to different locations to get the items you need. They are all right there in front of you. You just need to find them.

This is one of the few games that I actually enjoyed the storyline. Most of the time, I just skip past the cut scenes because they are boring and don't add anything to the gameplay. However, I found the story here to be rather compelling. I wanted to know what grandma was scheming before she died. Treasure House is definitely a game I'd recommend to anyone.

Weekend Downtime

As you probably noticed, we had some downtime over the weekend. The building that houses our server had a power outage. Unfortunately, we were not able to get into the building to turn the server back on once the power returned. Everything is fixed now so posting will be back to normal.

Friends don't let friends browse bored.

In case you can't tell, I'm a little bored today. When I get bored, I browse online stores for ridiculous things. Today's crazy search? A shower stool. We had these back when I was in college and living in the dorm. They came in very handy to set your basket of shampoo and soap and other shower things on instead of using the dirty floor because, really, who knows what goes on in dorm showers? In my house, however, I have a bathtub/shower combination, which doesn't leave any place to put a shower stool. Maybe when I get rich (hey, I can dream), I'll get a separate shower stall just so I can have a stool. Then again, if I had a separate shower, I'd probably have one of those really deep tubs and I'd use that more anyway. That would be so nice!

Pretty houses should be for me

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I were just driving around the countryside. On the way home, we passed this huge apartment-type building. I desperately looked for some sort of sign to tell me what this gorgeous building was. Finally, I found the sign saying it was an addiction treatment center. Why does it seem that the addiction centers are always so gorgeous? I joked that I needed to get myself addicted to something so I could live there. Of course, it probably costs a couple thousand dollars a day. Then again, I can't imagine that addicts have that sort of money available. They must have some sort of government assistance or something. So unfair.

The World Is Yours Now

I've been slacking on the Website of the Week feature and I apologize for that. However, while this isn't an official Website of the Week, there is some pretty interesting information at The World Is Yours Now. There's a few articles on how to make money with your blogs but I think the one that is currently helping me the most is the one on tools for freelancers. Even though it's not an extremely in-depth post, it is a start in the right direction. I'd like to see a little bit more on the topic along with some links for freelance writers.

As a whole, it is a pretty good blog with some decent information on making money on the internet. There are also some fairly helpful links as well. I'm looking forward to reading new information on how to make my blog better and bring in additional readers. Hopefully, The World Is Yours Now will be an asset to everyone.

Game review: Lex Venture: A Crossword Caper Game

Every once in awhile, I get the urge to try a different genre of game. The hidden object and time management games get boring after playing them for too long. So I decided to give the childish-looking Lex Venture: A Crossword Caper Game a go. I do my best to not judge a game by its graphics. There are a few 'childish' looking games that I enjoy playing. However, this game was terrible. It's not really a 'crossword' game in that you aren't trying to solve a puzzle with clues. It's a 'crossword' game in the sense that the words literally cross each other.

Bullies have stolen pieces of a machine and it is your job to retrieve the pieces. You start on a square in the corner of the board. Using 3 or more letter words, you need to get your character to the other side of the board while picking up objects on the way. You can create any words you want to as long as you have the letters available and you need to use a letter from the previous word. Kinda like Scrabble.

This game was so annoying to play. Mostly because it was fairly difficult to get the words to line up with the objects you need to pick up so you spend a lot of time roaming around the board. In the higher levels, there are dogs that move those objects making it even more difficult. I'd rather just play Scrabble or a good crossword puzzle. Leave out the objects, they are unnecessary. The childish graphics would have been fine if the game itself was enjoyable. Sadly, that is where it is lacking.

Flash Drives For Backup?

I'm thinking about buying a usb flash drive in order to back up the family pictures. Though I'm not sure if that would be a good idea. Supposedly flash drives last longer than hard drives since there aren't any moving parts inside them. I don't know. I'm don't have a lot of faith in something so tiny and portable. It seems like they'd be easy to lose or step on or something. Has anyone ever had any experience with flash drives beyond an mp3 player?

Music review: Live - Pillar of Davidson

Artist: Live Members: Ed Kowalczyk (lead vocals and guitar), Chad Taylor (lead guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass guitar) and Chad Gracey (drums) Album: Throwing Copper Release date: 4/26/94 Video link

Lyrics: Warm bodies, I sense Are not machines that can only make money Past, perfect, tense Words for a feeling and all I've discovered I'll be along son With medicine supposed to, designed to Make you high I'll be along son With words for a feeling and all I've discovered

Old, bad eyes Old, bad eyes Old, bad eyes

On loneliness comes Go see the foreman, go see the profiteer On loneliness drives We're takin' our time movin' shit for this holy slime

Old, bad eyes Old, bad eyes Old, bad eyes, almighty fear

The shepherd won't leave me alone He's in my face and I The shepherd of my days And I want you here by my heart And my head, I can't start 'til I'm dead About the song: Live comes from a fairly small town not too far from my house. Like many small towns, York, Pennsylvania is a blue-collar town. This song is about the people working hard in a crappy job to support their family. It's a pretty powerful song with a hard drum beat and a steady bass line that give the song a dark feeling. You're left feeling sorry for the people forced to live these sorts of backbreaking jobs just so they can put food on the table.