Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Spend an unforgetable visit to our chat room

You have joined room: Lobby
Eagle Season 2008 is getting into gear. Are you watching an eagle cam? Want someone to share the excitement of what you see?...Stop by...and stay for a while, perhaps you will find another eagle fan to enjoy the cams with here.
glo: Hi Vicky are you here
glo: we must have come in close to the same time as it said 0 when I hit enter
PV: Hi Glo
glo: how are you tonight
PV: that's what it said when I came in
glo: ha ha
PV: I'm fine, and you?
glo: well at least we didn't hit each other with the door
glo: I am good
PV: right,
glo: saw you new thread ont he eagle chat links blog
glo: I was surprised to see it there
PV: ?
glo: the tree
PV: oh
PV: been ages since I changed it
glo: that was the joint blog we were going to try to do
glo: well go look I added something too
PV: oh?
PV: gosh now I'm puzzled
glo: http://linksvisitedbyeaglecamchatters.blogspot.com/
glo: I set it up for team blogging
glo: it is you iris and myself
glo: I had invited RJ but she didn't respond for ages and then seemed so confused
glo: guess she isn't alone on that one
glo: but 3 of us do have a team blog out there
PV: guess I'm as dumb about it then too,
PV: so how does a team blog work?
glo: well you made a post to it today I think
PV: I did?
glo: looks like it and I made a comment to your picture
glo: yes did you follow the link I jsut put on here
PV: I do not recall being on any other blog but nctc's
PV: where did I comment?
glo: you didn't comment
glo: you just put your tree on it
glo: I made the comment under your thread
PV: 4:57 a.m.???
PV: how did I do that?
glo: well girl I have no idea here I was getting excited thinking you were actually going to team blog
PV: now that's an accident cause I sure don't know how or what I did to get that in there
PV: well get excited for me too cause I sure don't have a clue how I did that
glo: well I did see you had it listed under Blog for your profile
glo: ha ha
PV: I never put that there either
glo: well guess it won't be happenign too often then
glo: ha ha
PV: I'm curious now,
glo: wonder if Iris has one by her name too
PV: bet she does,
glo: well a long time ago we did set up a tam blog
PV: ok, we did ?
glo: and the 3 of us are doign it together
PV: lol
glo: Wanda foudn it once and made a comment on it actually
PV: girlfriend I have slept since then obviously!
glo: yes we did and it is at that link I gave you
glo: so any time you do want to make a new post there have at it
glo: just click new post and off you will go
PV: well I'll be checking it out from now on
glo: when you loaded the page did you see new post in the upper right hand corner
glo: go take a look at the link
PV: that says Sunday Sept. 7th
glo: you have to be signed in to blogger to make a post though just like when you go to NCTC
glo: no that was Iris's last post
glo: kk let me get just the regular link without your post on it
PV: k
glo: http://linksvisitedbyeaglecamchatters.blogspot.com/
glo: that it
PV: why does my pretty tree shine in there and not on the regular nctc blog?
glo: then you will see my post for today
glo: yours for today and Iris's for sept 7
glo: well because this is the Blog posting place not the comment place
glo: it will take much bigger pictures than just an avatar
PV: ok, trying to let this go past the blonde hair dye,
PV: so you put frogger in there I see
glo: yes long long time ago
Iris has joined.
PV: Hi Iris,
glo: Here come the rest of the team L O L
Iris: Sorry, I was proofreading a sermon
PV: come clear the mud for me
Iris: Hi glo, Hi Vicky
glo: Iris go here http://linksvisitedbyeaglecamchatters.blogspot.com/
Iris: wow, is that cool or what?????
glo: well that is our team Blog
glo: but yes I did just add that tonight
Iris: jwhat does that mean?
Iris: our team blog?
glo: I thought Vicky had ogne there and intentionally added something so I figured Ok guess I will use it too
PV: lol,
PV: thank you Iris!!!!!
glo: yes you added something on Sept 7
glo: scroll down its there
glo: and I have left you a comment
glo: this is a great blogging team
PV: I have not a clue when I did that Iris!
PV: I can just see Glo's face about now!!!!
Iris: ah yes the black Lark
glo: I am laughing
glo: see its coming back to here now
PV: keep recalling Iris,
PV: keep talkin girl
glo: L O L
PV: clear the fog Iris,
Iris: hmmmm I am not even sure how I got there to tell the truth... but I do remember the Black Lark... did I get there from the Nctc Chat???
glo: L O L
PV: this is so funny
Iris: hey the fog is so thick here it may never clear
glo: yes it is
PV: only in here can this happen, lol
PV: well I have the same problem Iris,
PV: and I did my entry today mind you
glo: I sure can pick me a blogging team
Iris: really?????
PV: hey captain, don't give up on us now
glo: no I won't
glo: this is hilarious
Iris: what the heck is going on??? maybe I need another sermon to proofread
PV: thank you!
glo: Another chat transcript to copy for posterity
PV: no Iris you're in the right place, L O L
PV: that it is Glo,
Iris: are you sure?
PV: is this April Fools
Iris: close I think
glo: no its our team blog and you both do in fact have an entry that you did make on that blog
glo: Vicky's is from today no less
PV: well I'll be
PV: which makes this worse,
Iris: The Black Lark is M. yeltoniensis... my mother's maiden name was Yelton
PV: I recall clicking on Iris and Glo under my blogs
PV: roaming around but didn't know I stopped and made an entry
glo: well things are looking up sort of
Iris: I thought I made that entry on my page while I was in the N C T C blog
glo: well what can I say
glo: I am happy to see it on the team blog
glo: I do think a team blog would be a lot of fun
Iris: I don't know....
PV: well I'll ponder more on that Glo,
PV: now how do I enter something on it????
Iris: I think I copied that photo from a picture for sale on e-bay actually
glo: well we already have a team blog obviously
glo: ha ha
PV: how did I do it?
glo: you have to have hit new post once you were signed in to Blogger
glo: and put the photo url in the the site and hit publish
glo: only way it could get there that I know of
PV: amazing,
Iris: hmmmmmmmm
Iris: I'd best get to bed.... I am surely nuts
PV: Bofus Iris bofus
PV: got my laughing now though,
PV: I did more than I thought today obviously
glo: and here I thought you had surprsied me
glo: well actually you have but the surprise is a little different than I originally thought
PV: for sure,

Eagle Point Park DuBuque IA

This beautiful statute is near the entrance of the park..Click to see it enlarged.

Photobucket

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Game Time

There's a lot to love about LightForce Games in Athens, Greece. Nick Kouvaris, and his wife Helen, develop Flash games as a hobby and make them available to play on their LightForce Games website. The site makes it very easy to find and navigate to any of their games. Best of all, in the true spirit of sharing their Flash game programming knowledge with others, each game features a link to the .fla source file used to create it. [Edit: this is no longer true, unfortunately]



Most of the games are clones of classic puzzle games, and yet all of them are presented with a simple and consistent style. From puzzle to platformer, many games feature their own graphics that are rather plain and ordinary, however the programming consists of solid implementations. It is evident a lot of love was poured into these little gems, and there is certainly enough to keep anyone busy for a rainy afternoon.



Highlighted here are a couple of noteworthy games that I particulary liked:



LightForce: BlixBlix is a block-matching puzzle strategy game in which the player shifts rows in either direction to create columns of the same color. Simply click one of the six (6) orange buttons to shift a row horizontally in that direction. Each column matched is eliminated from play and adds 100 points to your score.



You begin with only four (4) moves. Additional moves can be earned by clearing more than one column in a turn. Each turn costs two (2) moves, but you break even if you also clear a column. Each additional column cleared in a single turn increases your moves left by one (1).



Blix is a very simple and enjoyable game with a very pleasing appearance and soundtrack. Click.



LightForce: ZnaxA puzzle strategy game against the clock, Znax is about eliminating entire groups of squares by finding four (4) same-colored corners of any rectangular shape.



Simply click on each corner to highlight it. Once the fourth corner is selected the entire group of squares disappears and your score is increased relative to the number of squares removed. You have only five (5) minutes with which to find all the rectangles you can. Znax is another delightfully simple Flash puzzle game. Click.



LightForce: FroggerHere is one for the classic game section. Frogger is a solid remake of the classic Frogger arcade game designed by Konami in 1981 and released in the US by Sega.



This Flash version of the game features the same classic gameplay along with appealing pixel graphics and arcade sound effects. Another solid Flash implementation by Nick and Helen of LightForce Games. Click.



There are many more games available on their website, including puzzle games, platformers, driving games, and flying games, too. And if you enjoy creating games as much as you do playing them, then you will appreciate the source code offered to each of their creations as well. The LightForce Games site is an especially valuable resource for anyone just getting started with game programming in Flash. Click.



Update: Some of the above games disappeared from the Lightforce website, so we are mirroring them temporarily until we can find out why they vanished.



Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Hummingbird Migration Map

For those who enjoy other birds as well such as Hummingbirds, here is a link to their migration map as Spring spreads its warmth across the ocuntry