Adobe and Yahoo - bringing us even more ads

Traffic makes the web go round

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Ads, ads, ads... Everywhere you go, you see ads. Every website you visit has ads in it (well, not really, but i'm emphasising how many ads do we see). Ads are a way for companies to promote themselves, show people that they are there to serve their needs. And really, what good is a company without visitors or, even better - customers? Customers exchange their money for various products or services being offered to them. This way we get what we need while companies grow, expand and dominate.

Yahoo bringing us more ads

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Good or bad - you decide. Nevertheless, two popular companies: Yahoo and Adobe (well known for their free program - Adobe Reader) are working in unison to bring a whole new way of advertising to us. Well, not exactly new, but it's never been done before, so at least it's unique. They made it possible to integrate ads into PDF format files. The ads show up in a side panel, so they don't change the document in any way.

The concept

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The basic idea goes like this: a reader downloads an e-book about the topic he's interested in. Because of the integrated ads, the e-book is now free. So he opens the e-book and starts reading. Yahoo checks the ad spaces, the topic of the e-book, and starts advertising websites with similar subjects.

This innovation is still being beta-tested. The ads are promised to be static - no flash movies, no shiny pictures, only plain text. <

Swashbucklers: Blue versus Grey

Published by: 1C Company
Developed by: Akella
Genre: Action Adventure

Swashbucklers: Blue versus Grey

The action takes place during the American Civil War, as the United States of America are fighting against the Confederate states. We take up the role of captain Abraham Gray, who is known to be a schizophrenic, meaning he has split personalities. Although the background is the civil war, captain Abraham is more like a cowboy from Texas, than a notorious privateer. The game has a few advantages over it's competitors, for example: you can add a steam engine to your ship, that greatly enhances the ship's speed while holding the shift key. Also, a special weapon slot will be availible on most ships. As you may have guessed, you can mount an extraordinary weapon to this space in order to wreak havoc on your adversaries. So, without further ado, let me present you with my run at this game.

The beggining

First things first. When i load the game, a pretty nice intro fills me in on the situation at hand: the United States and the Confederacy are fighting for their beliefs. The US dominates by having a strong navy. The Confederacy, on the other hand, develop privateering. Official letters are given out to brave captains, who decide to fight and die for those, who pay the most. One of these captains is Abraham Gray. His story stars vaguely.

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A short cut-scene, showing how Abraham is greeted by a drunkard and then some bandits, plays, but nothing significant happens. In the taver, that the captain entered, his inner voice starts talking to him! This fellow plays the role of a tutorial in a sort of comedic way. After learning the basics, Abraham exits the tavern. To our misfortune, the bandits returned - sober and ready to kill. Without hesitation, they attack. Here the inner voice steps in again, telling us how to fight. You can have two types of on-shore weapons: swords and guns. Guns are really simple and easy to use. After killing the bandits, the big-shot sheriff arrived, arresting me.

Frightened, but not demotivated

Luckily, an eye witness testified that i was not guilty, as the bandits attacked me first. The sheriff agreed on releasing me if i do him a favour: deliver some escaped convicts back to their city. I have no choice, but to agree. After leaving the serrif's office, i see the city view for the first time. Not exactly what i expected, but the game is more about ships than towns, right?

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So i rush off to the port, get on my ship (which apparently has a steam engine allready put in to it!) and sail away! Again, my inner voice fills me in on the view and what i can do while on the sea map. I've hired some sailors back in the tavern, and cannonballs are unlimited, so i should be all set for my first fight.

My first ship battle!

I found a random ship, got close to it and attacked. The fight screen appeared. So did the inner voice fellow. After getting through another painful conversation, it was time to shoot and smash. The ship could be steered with the WASD keys, R to accelerate, F to slow down. SHIFT unleashed the power of steam! Soon, cannonballs started flying between our vessels. I was clearly superior, battering the opponent's ship to pieces. After a great deal of damage has been done, i'm offered a chance to board their ship! Who could resist such an opportunity? Well, i couldn't...

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So, the boarding began. To my surprise, i was ALONE! No crew, no nothing. Well, the enemy's crew was right there and i had to fight them all. Well, no biggie. Luckily, i had around 120 bullets handy. Shooting everyone back to hell was pretty fun. After 3 levels of attacks, i had to duel the ship's captain. This duel was not just a hack&slash like the rest of the fights. I had many options of moves here: high and low attack, high and low block, two special attacks. It required some thought to win. Now, the ship was mine for looting. I scavenged many bullets and bread, even some whiskey! After character items, i looted the trading goods to my ship and auctioned the captured one. After some time, i received money for it.

Conclusion

Well, i'm certainly not going to rate this game. That's not what i do. I gave you information and hopefully, helped you evolve and opinion about it.

Hold the button

How Long Can You Hold It? My time was somewhere around: 2 minutes!

Okay, so this is a stupid game. Basically you just press the button and hold it for as long as you can. It says that the longest time someone held the button was around 7 days! Well, there is a cheat: if you press the button, then right click and leave the browser, the button will still be clicked. If you want to brag about your records or tell everyone how stupid this is, do so in the comments or the shoutbox.