Facebook Games

Facebook unveiled a lot of changes last week, and, as usual, it's causing a lot of consternation and controversy. People within my Facebook, and on Google+, keep asking how to remove the ticker, and are trying, and mostly failing to make sense of the changes. I've decided to ...more

The first Phone Snap challenge has come to an end and we have a winner! Congratulations to Rob Sawyer, for his funny and creative spin on the infamous Play-Doh character, "Mr. Bill gone MAD!!!". Much thanks goes out to all who participated in the toy challenge. I was very imp ...more

ZUGZWANG n pl. -S a situation in chess that forces a disadvantageous move 81 points (31 points without the bingo) You may not ever get a chance to play zugzwang on the Scrabble board, since it requires two G tiles and two Z tiles (obviously one Z being a blank), but you've p ...more

BEJABERS interj bejesus (used as a mild oath) 69 points (19 points without the bingo) An oath is almost always associated with promises or sworn declarations, but it also has a different meaning as a profane or offensive expression used to convey anger or other strong emotio ...more

EUCAINE n pl. -S an anesthetic 59 points (9 points without the bingo) The first effective local anesthetic ever was cocaine, obtained from the leaves of the coca plant, and it's still legal for medical use. But cocaine tends to cause intense vasoconstrictor activity and some ...more

GUISARD n pl. -S a masker 59 points (9 points without the bingo) This is a pretty simple word to explain. Since the definition states guisard being a masker, then it's easy to tell where this word comes from—guise, which means to disguise, or more specifically to alter the a ...more

APOLOGUE n pl. -S an allegory 61 points (11 points without the bingo) An apologue (or apolog) is an allegorical short story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning or principle, typically a moral or political one. It's very similar to a fable, bu ...more

PHONEYS 64 points (14 points without the bingo) Definition: to phony, i.e. alters so as to make appear genuine [v] Phoneys (or phonies) is a word for altering something to make it appear legit, like turning a cheap handbag into a Louis Vuitton. It also simply means not genui ...more

LEVOGYRE 65 points (15 points without the bingo) Definition: turning toward the left [adj] The basic meaning of levogyre above is correct, since it comes from the Latin words laevus (left) and gyrare (rotate), but it's more common in organic chemistry, referring to a compoun ...more

ZEBRASS 68 points (18 points without the bingo) Definition: the offspring of a zebra and an ass [n] Didn't know they had a name for it, did you? Well, they do, and it's a nice looking portmanteau word that's exactly what it sounds like—a hybrid animal produced by breeding a ...more

BOVINITY 66 points (16 points without the bingo) Definition: the state of being a bovine [n] At first glance, the definition for bovinity seems a bit too obvious… the state of being an ox-like animal. But outside the world of cattle, it's meant more as a disparaging remark t ...more

RHYOLITE 64 points (14 points without the bingo) Definition: a volcanic rock [n] Rhyolite is an igneous rock, which is one of the three main rock types, aside from sedimentary and metamorphic rock. It's also an extrusive volcanic rock, which is formed on the surface through ...more

JUMBUCK 74 points (24 points without the bingo) Definition: a sheep [n] There are many different words for sheep—not sheep breeds, but words separating sheep by ages, sex, and by the use of the animal itself. Some of these words include buck, dam, ewe, ram, hogg, hogget, wet ...more

CYNOSURE 63 points (13 points without the bingo) Definition: a center of attraction [n] A cynosure is something or someone that strongly attracts attention and admiration from others by its allure, brilliance, and interest, and usually is associated with lustrousness and att ...more

POSTICHE 65 points (15 points without the bingo) Definition: an imitation [n] Not to be confused with pastiche, postiche simply means an imitation—a counterfeit of something. It could be anything, but most commonly it's referred to as false hair on the face or head, which in ...more

SHLEMIEL 63 points (11 points without the bingo) Definition: an unlucky bungler [n] Shlemiel is a Yiddish word that describes a clumsy, inept person by Jewish persons. The Yiddish language is a mix of German, Hebrew and Slavic languages, and was very common amongst Jews in c ...more

WANIGAN 61 points (11 points without the bingo) Definition: a supply chest used in a logging camp [n] The most common definition of wanigan (or wannigan) is a small chest which holds supplies for lumberjacks. Some will just call it a lumberjack's trunk, but if you want to ta ...more

DOTTREL 58 points (8 points without the bingo) Definition: dotterel; a shore bird [n] If you're familiar with the dotterel bird, you may think dottrel is a misspelling, but it's just another way of putting it. Hopefully, your opponent will think it's a misspelling, too. A d ...more

ALAMEDA 60 points (10 points without the bingo) Definition: a shaded walkway [n] For those on the west coast, alameda is not just a city in the Harbor Bay or a street in downtown Los Angeles, it's also a legitimate Scrabble word meaning a shady walkway. It's actually a Spani ...more

DIAPSID 61 points (11 points without the bingo) Definition: a reptile with two pairs of temporal openings in the skull [n] Diapsids are "double-arched" reptiles whose skulls possess two developed openings (temporal fenestra) behind each of the eye sockets (above and below) w ...more

WICKIUP 68 points (18 points without the bingo) Definition: an American Indian hut [n] It's shaped like an igloo, but wickiups aren't made of snow and ice, there made of arched wooden poles and some sort of roofing material, such as grass, brush, reeds, or cloth—basically, w ...more

URUSHIOL 61 points (11 points without the bingo) Definition: a toxic liquid [n] It may look like a funny word, especially since it's derived from a word meaning "lacquer" in Japan, but most of you are probably familiar with urushiol. Maybe not by name, but by its bothersome ...more

Two-letter words are one of the most important parts of playing Scrabble. If you don't know all of the small ones, then you're missing out on one of the easiest ways to score big. Check out How to Score Big with 2-Letter Words in Scrabble and memorize all that you can. Definit ...more

A recent study in Canada concluded that competitive Scrabble players are twenty percent faster than non-Scrabble players at identifying real words on a Scrabble rack. In light of this news, this week's challenge is actually just a game of Scrabble Sprint from Pogo.com. See ho ...more

Today, +Vic Gundotra made it official and announced the launch of games within Google+. It's starting to roll out, and Google+ members will eventually see a link to the Games button at the top of their streams. From here, you can control your game experience within Google+. + ...more

SCRABBLE: 14 points; GRAFFITI: 15 points; MARRIAGE: 11 points; YES: 6 points. When playing a game of Scrabble, those are the minimal amount of points for each of the given words (not including blank tiles). But for 28-year-old Jeff Gurwin, it's more than just 46 points on the ...more

I'm not much for politics, but I do like to keep tabs on our elected government officials from time to time, since I am a registered voter and believe that every one should vote (unless they're just voting to say they voted). This pretty much means I pay attention to my local ...more

Rovio's highly successful Angry Birds game has generated a slew of wannabe Angry Clones and dominated nearly every device and platform known to man—iPhone, Android, PSP, Xbox 360, Windows—and now, for the first time it's available for play directly on the web (for free). It wa ...more

Are you a well intentioned busy bee plagued by a lack of focus? Whether you've been diagnosed with a legit case of ADHD, or you've been plainly labeled "scatterbrain", Obtract may be just the solution for properly channeling your concentration. A newly released app for Mac us ...more

Eureka! I ve seen the future, and it is Friendly Game SimplifierFriendly Gaming Simplifier is an add-on to the Foxfire or Chrome browsers. You can download a version for either one here: http://rzadki.eu/projects/fgs/ You don’t have to play FrontierVille through Firefox or Chr ...more

When the much buzzed Facebook profile page redesign was released back in December, French artist and co-director of ad agency La Bande Originale Alexandre Oudin came up with an innovative way to maximize the visual possibilities of the page. His clever "hack" created a ripple ...more

FV Extender for Chrome This is an extension you can download for your the Chrome browser. At this time the extension only accepts and sends back gifts but may do more in the future. See developer's site for more information, and a quick video showing this feature in action. ...more

I've created this chart which shows you all the contents of each Mystery Egg that you can find in the FarmVille game. My personal ideas about which eggs are best to keep in your coop are in the following order, but be sure you check out the chart and decide based on your need ...more

Probably one of the coolest things I have seen on the net. That crazy guy at xkcd have made a visual map representation of the internet based on user activity. Click on the picture for a a better look because this map is huge! Wow at Facebook. I guess that's the type of of pr ...more

We all have friends and family who have added the FarmVille application at one point, played it for a while, then for whatever reason decided they didn't want to play it anymore. They may have hidden the feed posts and blocked the game requests, but we still see them on our gi ...more

This page dedicated to rainbow chicken and all it's rewards as we discover them! Ways to get her: Mystery game 9/14-9/21 for 16 farm cash, permanent animal in the market for 28 farm cash, rainbow mystery egg for free on the feed and on neighbors farms. Put her in your coop! ...more

Write about what you LOVE. EARN money for it. In this week's edition of Friday Fresh, we're doing a little something different. You may have noticed our banner touting our Love. Earn program, and a new section called New Articles By You. New articles on topics as varied as sn ...more

I will be adding the weekly mystery game/box/chest contents here with the newest on top for quick reference. 10/12 - 10/19 "Best of" Mystery game Mystery game: Swiss Manor, Breton Horse, Bouncy Castle, Ornate Carriage, Gray Fox Kit, Armadillo 9/7-9/14 Wild West themed items ...more