This is the Windows OS counterpart to my tutorial on how to burn the new XDG3 formatted games on Xbox 360. Microsoft invented a new disc format system to trump piracy, it's called XDG3. XDG3's standard is to burn a whole extra gigabyte of data to the disc, to allow more conten ...more
BANSHIE n pl. -S banshee 62 points (12 points without the bingo) The BANSHIE (or BANSHEE) is a female spirit from Gaelic folklore that wails unbearably loud as PRESAGE for someone's imminent death. Irish legend states her as being a fairy woman and messenger of death from th ...more
CUCURBIT n pl. -S a gourd 64 points (14 points without the bingo) Halloween is just around the corner, and by now most of you have already picked up a CUCURBIT to gut and carve scary faces into. Yes, that jack-o-lantern decorating your doorstep for all of the trick-or-treate ...more
UTILIDOR n pl. -S an insulated system of pipes for use in arctic regions 59 points (9 points without the bingo) UTILIDOR is a portmanteau word for "utility" and "corridor" used to describe a large enclosed and insulated conduit built either above or below the ground surface ...more
MIMESIS n pl. -MESISES or -MESES mimicry MIMETIC adj 61 points (11 points without the bingo) MIMESIS is just another term for MIMICRY in the world of zoology, but it's not just limited to the science of animals, it's used elsewhere as well. But no matter where you use the wo ...more
PLASTRUM n pl. -S plastron 62 points (12 points without the bingo) The PLASTRUM (or PLASTRON) is the ventral part of a turtle's shell, which is the almost flat part on the underside of a turtle or tortoise. It's one of the main two parts of the shell, the other being the CAR ...more
HEXEREI n pl. -S witchcraft 67 points (17 points without the bingo) HEXEREI is a word used in Pennsylvania Dutch dialects in lieu of WITCHCRAFT, usually related to black magic that's brought upon them and their farm as retaliation for some minor wrongdoing. A farmer who may ...more
FOVEOLET n pl. -S a foveola 64 points (14 points without the bingo) So, if a foveolet is a foveola, what's a foveola? It's a small fovea. Okay… what's a fovea? It's a shallow anatomical depression, which is basically a small pit or cuplike indentation in a bone or bodily org ...more
VERONICA n pl. -S a handkerchief bearing the image of Christ's face 63 points (13 points without the bingo) Veronica was the name given to the cloth veil that was supposedly impressed with an image of Jesus's face. The veil was given to Christ by Saint Veronica of Jerusalem ...more
HOOSGOW 64 points (14 points without the bingo) Definition: a jail [n] Actually, it's slang for jail. You may not believe that slang is allowed on the Scrabble board, but it most definitely is when the word in question is used by a good majority of the people out there. Mer ...more
YANQUIS 68 points (18 points without the bingo) Definition: United States citizens [n/pl.] By the way it's spelled, you might not even realize it's the exact same thing as Yankees, only with a QUI instead of a KEE. But wait… Yankees isn't a legitimate Scrabble word, so why i ...more
FEAZING 70 points (20 points without the bingo) Definition: fazing; disturbing the composure of [present participle of feaze] As mentioned, feazing is the present participle of feaze, which is a verb that means "to faze," which itself means "to disturb the composure of." In ...more
MACHZOR 73 points (23 points without the bingo) Definition: mahzor; a Jewish prayer book [n] If you ever get stuck with a rack like ZORCHAM, you might be prompted to lay something down like CHAM or CHROMA, which could both get you some pretty big points, but knowing this muc ...more
ISOPLETH 63 points (13 points without the bingo) Definition: a type of isogram [n] Okay... in order to know what an isopleth is, you first have to know what an isogram is... An isogram (or isoline) is a contour line on a map connecting points of equal value. In other words, ...more
He may be the oldest person to have invented an app for Apple devices, but 84-year-old George Weiss didn't originally intend on marketing his Dabble word game to the mobile crowd. He first came up Dabble back in 1958 when he was just 31. “A lot has changed since 1958, but peop ...more
Now that you have your two-letter words down and have practiced your skills, it's time to move on to another important part of Scrabble gameplay—the opening move. There's a well known adage that states, “The player going first will win 54% of the time—all other things being eq ...more
Most of the oddest games in the world are free web games. They may not always be well made, but low budgets (and consequently low risk) allow them to be as weird as they fancy. That's a big part of why they are so interesting. Prime examples such as Don't Take It Personally, B ...more
In a recent episode of The Big Bang Theory, character Sheldon Cooper designed a highly complicated three-person game of chess, with an odd-shaped nonagon board and two new pieces—serpent and old woman. Seemingly pioneering, in truth, three-player chess has been around since th ...more
In a previous post, I wrote about how controversy changed SCRABBLE, about how the SCRABBLE Dictionary evolved thanks to Judith Grad and her crusade to rid the world of derogatory and racist words. She won, at least in some manner, but the fact still remains, racist or not—word ...more
What do you guys think about all these "pleasant" ties? I'm so not cool with waking up to watch a game, only to fall asleep again. The lack of goals scored in these first few games is really discouraging and detrimental to new viewers and the growth of the sport in the U.S. Th ...more
There is a wonderful site that just launched with the youth sports community in mind. The site is http://YouthSportTravel.com , a collaboration of youth sports coaches and a major online travel brand. They offer arguably the best prices on hotel and motel rooms anywhere. For p ...more
What's the highest score you ever achieved in one SCRABBLE game? 500? 600? 700? I think Plantation, Florida resident Robert Kahn has you beat. On March 3rd at the Lauderhill, FL SCRABBLE Club #276, Kahn scored an impressive 801 points. Amazingly, he did not break the record f ...more
JUAREZ. PH33R. SUX0R. If you know what these mean, then you probably spend way too much time on the internet. If you're as bewildered as I was, these words actually mean something in leetspeak. JUAREZ n warez (pirated software) PH33R v -S fear SUX0R v -S the leet way to say ...more
Impress your friends by actually knowing what to do with those darts—other than winging them toward the wall—next time you're at a bar. You Will Need * A dart board * At least 3 darts * 2-5 players * A dart board * At least 3 darts * 2-5 players Step 1: Find a dart board Go ...more
GRAMARYE n pl. -S occult learning; magic 64 points (14 points without the bingo) Simply put, GRAMARYE is MAGIC, SORCERY, and in some cases, NECROMANCY. But overall, there is very little distinction between the terms. Magic is best described as an OCCULT art that can manipula ...more
CREMAINS n/pl the ashes of a cremated body 62 points (12 points without the bingo) Perhaps one of the creepiest portmanteau words out there, CREMAINS combines CREMATED and REMAINS to clearly describe the leftover ashes from a dead body that was burned. When you're grieving, ...more
REVENANT n pl. -S one that returns 61 points (11 points without the bingo) Frankenstein. Vampires. Zombies. These creepy creatures are all examples of the UNDEAD, living entities that are technically dead but still animate. Some of these 'walking dead' feed off blood, others ...more
BURKITE n pl. -S a burker 63 points (13 points without the bingo) There's no better time than Halloween to have the BEJABERS scared out of you, and no better way than with a slasher flick or horror movie about HEXEREI. To some, Halloween is a time for candy, costumes and cel ...more
COXSWAIN v -ED, -ING, -S to direct (a crew) as coxwain 70 points (20 points without the bingo) The definition for coxswain could be pretty confusing if you don't know what a coxwain is, but perhaps even more confusing is the fact that coxwain is not an acceptable word in Scr ...more
COLOSSUS n pl. COLOSSUSES or COLOSSI a gigantic statue 60 points (10 points without the bingo) A colossus is a huge statue with great size and proportions, but it could also mean a person or thing of immense size or power. It comes from the Latin word colosseus and the Greek ...more
Update 2: 1.9 Version3 is currently out. Click here to download and install 1.9 Version 3. Update: 1.8 is now officially out! It'll prompt you to update the next time you launch. Be sure to read the rundown of the new 1.8 features and share your thoughts in the 1.8 general im ...more
Listen up Scrabblers... you finally have something to brag about besides knowing what MUZJIK is, and if you think it's elevator music, put those tiles back in the bag and pack up your Scrabble board because this doesn't apply to you. You see those brains below? Well, guess wh ...more
In last week's guide, we covered the best places to purchase digital copies of computer games online. This week we'll cover another type of downloadable content: those available for video game consoles. Every major console out today either has or plans to have a DLC platform, ...more
Yes, I still put that hyphen in “e-mail.” Remember when e-mail meant “electronic mail,” and wasn’t all one word? I do, and I honor that time with a little hyphen. Also, it means that I can make up all kinds of names for things that have “e-” at the beginning. I’ve been playing ...more
Before last Sunday I hadn't been to a proper game store since I was in middle school. Over ten years ago. If you decide to stop reading right now because I obviously don't care enough about MTG to be writing this thing, I don't blame you. But I tell you, friends, as someone wh ...more
This German video is amazing. A joyously analog interpretation and deconstruction of the digital gaming experience. Malte Jehmlich is as primitive and inspiring as the the Vanuatu natives who devoted themselves to cargo worship after World War II! Try to imagine. It's 2010 an ...more
General Tips for Exercising in the Heat -Schedule workouts for the cooler times of the day. -Allow overweight, out of shape or unacclimated kids time to acclimate to the heat. -Schedule timed water and rest breaks every 30 minutes during activities. During these breaks, do ...more
If you've read Alex Long's last two articles in this series (Part 1 and Part 2), you know by now that making money rarely is risk free, and generally plays out to be a high risk-high gain/loss scenario. The best way to make money is to have money, so for this article, lets ass ...more
Yes, you read the title correctly. GameStop has problems, and if you're lax in morals, you can take advantage of them for free games and cash. I'm bringing you all yet another exclusive Null Byte that falls into the fascinating category of life hacking. If you do not like wha ...more
WonderHowTo is made up niche communities called Worlds. If you've yet to join one (or create your own), get a taste below of what's going on in the community. Check in every Wednesday for a roundup of new activities and projects. This week: mathematical sculptures, burning Xb ...more
ZEPHYRS n sing. ZEPHYR gentle breezes 74 points (24 points without the bingo) A few days ago, Cerek Tunca mentioned that a great seven-letter bingo word would be ZEPHYRS, because of the amount of points gained. He's definitely right, with it being more than 20 points by its ...more
SHAITAN n pl. -S an evil spirit 60 points (10 points without the bingo) For the closing of these Halloween-themed bingo words, there's no better word than SHAITAN, the evilest of all evils, which is present in all horror movie monsters and demons. Generally speaking, SHAITA ...more
Alas, today we continue on the journey to a more environmentally conscious way of being with part 2 of How to make your beauty routine more eco-friendly. Check out part 1 here. Greening your beauty routine is not actually a selfless decision. In fact, when you cut back on pla ...more
Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our tutorials, post to the Inspiration board, and come play on our free server! HELLO, FELLOW MINECRAFTERS. Pmaguire here, bringing you my favorite idea for a competition so far! I hope that you will come to love it as much as I do! Well, ...more
Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play with us on our free server. As of the 1.0 release, Minecraft has an end. That is to say, The End and the The End has Dragons. This guide is for those of who are want to visit The End and kill an Ender ...more
I don't know what I'd do without my computer. I can't do my job without the internet. I communicate with employers, friends, and family through emails, video chat and Twitter. I schedule meetings and plan deadlines. I bank. I shop. I read the news. I play games. I watch my fav ...more
Ok, so you've memorized the list of valid 2-letter words, but when challenged after playing one, can you smugly demonstrate your dominating intellect by spouting out the proper definition? If you're anything like me, chances are you'll find yourself babbling something defensi ...more
This is a Halo Interactive Strategy Game 'Tabletop' tutorial. We've seen this before. It's like Warhammer, but for Halo. With an accompanying DVD that's more Nightmare than Bungie. So, is this a good idea? With Halo Wars on the way and better board games on the market we'd hav ...more
Mr. Trailer gives instructions on how to play a fun game called Farkle. Players will need five dice. He recommends casino dice which come in a pack of five. First roll the dice to see who goes first. The objective is to get ones, fives, triples, or straights. You have to get 6 ...more
If you want to play some beanbag games try making your own cornhole board. With wood and a few tools you and your friends can enjoy endless fun with your very own homemade cornhole board. Now all you need are some beanbags. Follow these tips and you will toss your bags in no ...more
The Funny Thing About Dying - A Story of Coping With Loss I remember once as a kid someone fake-punched me in the nose. This older kid hauled off with his fist and pulled the punch just shy of ruining some great and prominent Italian cartilage in the making. Somehow I stood ...more
Augmented reality gaming startup Tilt Five is ready to reinvent old school Dungeons & Dragons-style games for the modern age with its augmented reality headset and tabletop game system. The company showed off the gaming headset, along with the wand controller and game mat tha ...more
Oh, Mario. The guy that's been a part of our lives since as long as we can all remember. Well, Adam Ringwood and his friends did something pretty cool with one of Mario's most exciting games at the HackIllinois event in February 2016—they hacked a Chevrolet Volt's steering whe ...more
If we were to assign a theme for the 2019 edition of the Next Reality 30 (NR30), it might be something along the lines of, "What have you done for me lately?" Many of the top names in the industry from the 2018 edition remain the same, but their positions have shuffled. The p ...more
A strange thing is happening: there are people, groups of people even, walking the streets day and night staring wide-eyed at their mobile phones and laughing like manic children. What are these people doing? Are they taking pictures? Are they participating in some new social ...more
Many tech insiders are waiting for augmented reality to go mainstream, but if you look around hard enough, you'll find that it's already gone as mainstream as possible, thanks to talk show host Ellen Degeneres. Degeneres and her partner, actor Portia de Rossi, recently teamed ...more
Mac laptops, especially the older PowerBooks, often can become very hot when doing processor intensive tasks like movie rendering, YouTube videos streaming, database lookups, or just gaming. Often just lifting the machine from the surface is enough to cool it down without the ...more
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has practically guaranteed that the virus, along with the phrases "social distancing" and "flattening the curve," will rank among the top search terms of 2020. USA Today combined the phrases in its latest augm ...more
Arcades have long faded away from popularity, but their legacy is being kept alive thanks to emulators and the avid fans who grew up loading quarters into all of those coin-op games. Although nothing beats an actual arcade environment, my favorite emulator from the early 2000s ...more
Puzzle games are a great way to kill time and exercise your brain in one fell swoop. They challenge you to think strategically and plan ahead, whether that's to create killer chain combinations for maximum points, or to plain old keep from getting killed. But with so many puz ...more