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Monday, February 9: How to Cheat at Solitaire

Morgan Webb

We all like to win, but why do we bother when we're competing against ourselves? Man's battle against himself is the noblest form of competition, but it's often debased by our wish for the easy victory. We must ask if it is human nature that makes us revel in this self-deception. We must ask if we merely crave some visceral satisfaction that comes from achieving even a conspicuously empty victory. The moral questions involved, however, are yours alone to answer. I merely give you the tools you need to cheat at Solitaire.

Solitaire Cheat

  1. Open Solitaire. Go to Game and then Options, and choose to draw three cards.

  2. Any time during gameplay, if you hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift while you click the deck, you will draw one card rather than three. High scores will be yours every time!

Freecell Cheat

  1. When you get stuck in Freecell, hold down Ctrl+Shift+F10.

  2. When the user-friendly interface appears, choose Abort.

  3. Make any move, and you will automatically win the game!

Bonus: Freecell includes some hidden games. Press F3 or choose Select Game from the Game menu; where it asks you to select a game number between 1 and 32,000, enter –1 or –2. You get two strange new Freecell games to play.

Site of the Day: 3D Tetris

The classic puzzle game enters a new dimension of fun. (http://www.andre-michelle.com/old_studies/tetris3d.htm).

Do Video Games Fry the Brain or Sharpen the Senses?

Josh Lawrence

Ever since kids started pumping millions of quarters into Space Invaders stand-up arcade games in the 1970s, worried parents and pundits speculated on whether electronic games were going to turn their brains into action-addicted sludge.

Surprisingly, many have claimed that video games are beneficial to players' brains. Dr. Margaret Chotton suggested in the now out-of-print Computer Addiction? that video games increase a player's manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination, and speed up the activity of neural pathways.

So when you or someone you know sits down to play a video game, what do you think is the main effect? Do you believe that brain cells are being challenged and enhanced, or simply being boggled and blasted into stupor?

Do video games fry the brain or sharpen the senses?

Fry the brain 18%

Sharpen the senses 82%

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