I've been having a lot of fun playing checkers with my distant friend via MSN Messenger lately, and thought it would be cool if we could do that during the commute.
Well, wouldn't you know it? Spb Software, a maker of Windows Mobile applications, announced on Wednesday the release of its Spb Online Games, a separate suite consisting of four online games.
(Credit:
Spb Software)
These games include two versions of checkers (yes!), plus Hexagon, and Reversi. They allow you to play against real people from anywhere in the world, in real time.
The games, of course, require a Windows Mobile phone, such as the ATT Tilt, with an Internet connection, via cellular data, Wi-Fi, or ActiveSync. All these games are designed to launch fast (within 30 seconds or less) and players can continue from the spot were they left off.
Apparently, according to Spb, each of the games has been available separately, and each is getting more and more popular. The Wednesday release marks the company's effort to offer thousands of its online mobile game players a suite so that they can meet all of their gaming needs in one place. This also includes better management of game profiles: avatar, name, type of handset, and so on. Just like gaming via MSN Messenger, you can also further taunt your opponent through real-time chatting via typing or using preselected messages.
If this is new to you, like it is to me, you can just download the software, and try it free for 15 days. After that, the games cost $14.95 each. Existing registered users of Spb Online can get the games through an automatic "push" update to Spb Online version 1.1.
Spb Online Games is compatible with Windows Mobile 5 and later, and supports qVGA, VGA, Square QVGA, and WVGA screen resolutions, which basically covers almost all of current Windows Mobile smart phones. I do have one problem though--I sold out and bought myself an iPhone 3G a while ago.
According to a U.K. report, some 150,000 motorists a year disregard color coding and signage to pump their vehicles full of the wrong type of gas. The result is expensive repairs and probably a Homer Simpson-like "doh!"--or worse. Thus, the aptly named Fuel Checker was born.
The Fuel Checker determines if drivers have chosen the correct gas nozzle.
(Credit: Fuel Checkers)The European gadget made its appearance at the London 2008 Motor Show last week. According to the company, it can be permanently affixed to the inside of a car's fuel door or it can be held in hand. The device comes in petrol (regular gasoline) and diesel, and the hope is that consumers can at least get that purchase correct.
After drivers pull up to the pump, they can be assured that they chose the right nozzle by pressing it against the sensors of the Fuel Checker. Flashing red lights show they've chosen the wrong nozzle, while green means go. Although it's unclear from the product site how the device registers the type of gasoline, it has been deemed safe to use around flammable vapors.
Currently, the gadget is only available for European fuel nozzles but it could make its way to the U.S, retailing for the equivalent of $40. However, it begs the question: if you aren't reading the signs on the gas pump, are you reading the signs on the road?
First, let me go on record as saying I didn't realize one could attain the title of "grand master" for playing checkers. I wish I knew such an exalted position existed for the relatively simple game of checkers back in my college days, when my chess-playing roommate would disparage me anytime I suggested we play checkers instead of engaging in yet another game of chess that would inevitably end with my resounding defeat.
That checkers grand masters walk the earth was a surprise, so imagine my shock to discover that since I was a junior in high school, hundreds of computers have been running in an effort to solve the game. Yesterday, in the journal Science, it was reported that computer scientists at the University of Alberta had solved the game, after their program, Chinook, had finished analyzing the 500 quintillion (that's 18 zeros, or a billion billion) possible checkers positions. Running since 1989 (with a four-year break from 1997-2001), Chinook has proved that checkers is a "draw game," meaning that if both players play perfectly, the game will always end in a draw. It's being called a major step forward for artificial intelligence, which may lead to advances in medicine where programs could help determine the course of treatment for a patient, for example.
Checkers is the most complex two-player game to be solved. It's a million times more complex than Connect Four, which was solved two decades ago. (After many long car trips where I was separated from my brother in the backseat of our station wagon by a miniature, travel version of Connect Four, I would like to think I may qualify as a Connect Four grand master.) Checkers is roughly the square root of chess in terms of complexity, however. While IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer famously beat chess grand master Gary Kasparov, it has yet to solve the game. Researchers say we're still a long way off from a program that can solve chess. Chinook was able to solve checkers by focusing on the end game, where there are eight or fewer pieces on the board.
You can play checkers against Chinook here.
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