The Best Computer Games Ever

What are the best computer games ever? There is no doubt: they are from the golden age of 8-bit computers - the 80's. OK, this is a bit biased, but hey - those games had as much gameplay as today's top blockbusters. Only graphics was usually 2-dimensional, made of 16-color blocky pixels... and the sound was not as rich as a cell phone... and they did not use bells and whistles such as the Internet ... so what? Regardless of that, they used to provide as much fun as today's the most sophisticated titles running on XBoxes™, PlayBoxes®3, and Weeee...Boxes (known as ウィー) or any other boxes - shoe boxes, cereal boxes etc.

Let me present my top 5 the best computer games ever:

River Raid - Activision (1982)



River Raid was one of the first computer games I have ever played. It was also the only game I hacked. But it was not a usual patch, giving an unlimited number of lives (or planes in the case of River Raid). In my patched version the plane could fly over all enemy objects without any collision. It could even fly over the terrain! The downside was that the game was no longer fun. You just flew anywhere you wanted, shoot to whatever you wanted, and got points. No challenge! I learned my lesson: WHEN THERE IS NO CHALLENGE THERE IS NO FUN.

"River Raid" was notable for one more reason. It was created by Carol Shaw regarded as the first female game developer.

One more thing. Did you notice the Activision logo at the bottom of the screen shot? This is the same logo you can see on the latest Guitar Hero. Amazing! Isn't it? River Raid - what a humble beginning and a bit of history.

Boulder Dash - First Star Software (1984)



Boulder Dash was probably one of the most frequently cloned games (along with Tetris and Arkanoid). On Atari alone I counted 25 versions.

I'm not surprised it was so popular. Who would not like Rockford - the main character of the game. He had his own personality. For example when the player stood still too long he got impatient and started to stamp his foot and blink his eyes.

Boulder Dash - lots of fun and plenty of gameplay.

Montezuma's Revenge - Parker Brothers (1984)



Montezuma's Revenge had one of the most catchy music featured at the beginning of the game.

The player had to go through a whole bunch of rooms (sometimes in a complete darkness) and open many doors - and there was a twist. The doors were colored and you could open the door using only a key having the matching color. It happened I had a monochrome (one-color) monitor. I could only recognize shades, but not the colors. It added to the challenge as I had to guess which key would open which door.

Montezuma's Revenge - hours of fun.

Mr. Robot and His Robot Factory - Datamost (1984)



Mr. Robot was a simple game, yet it used to deliver an enormous amount of gameplay. I liked this game because I knew what techniques they used to create visual effects. Additionally the game featured Robot Factory which was a level designer. The player could create her own levels and save them on a disk.

Moon Patrol - Irem / Williams Electronics (1982)



Moon Patrol was actually developed for arcade machines and then ported to the Atari systems. The idea of the game was somewhat surrealistic. The vehicle could shoot bullets up to the air and at the same time straight ahead and also jump. Flying enemy objects threw bombs on the vehicle and made holes in the ground. There were also other obstacles that added to the dynamics of the game.

Moon Patrol - a good old-fashioned shooter.

Steamed Potatoes

Steamed potatoes are prepared the same way as steamed asparagus. They can be served with other vegetables, fish, or meat. Below there are a few examples of dishes with steamed potatoes and a step-by-step procedure of how to prepare them.

Potatoes are baked in an oven but unlike the real baked potatoes they need some kind of liquid like water or chicken broth.

Steamed potatoes and carrot with yellow wax bean, olives, and stuffed salmon ring.

Steamed potatoes and carrot with cucumber and a chicken skewer.

Steamed potatoes and carrot with broccoli and baked fish in batter.

How to Steam Potatoes in Aluminum Foil

1. Spread aluminum foil over a baking container:


2. Peel a few carrots and dice them together with potatoes. Place the vegetables on the sheet of aluminum foil:


3. Add some liquid. It could be water but for richer flavor you can add chicken broth:


4. Tightly wrap the foil and put the container into an oven for 20-30 minutes at 400-450 K. The temperature and baking time may vary according to the amount of potatoes, their shape, and size.


There are plenty of things you can bake in aluminum foil.

Colors in mIRC (part 3)

In this part of "Colors in mIRC" I would like to present some designs I collected on the Internet. You can just copy the codes under the design and paste them into mIRC. A colorful "Hello" message should appear.

For reference purposes I included the color codes table here:




2,16·*2,16“2,15“2,14“2,1“5,14,1“7“8“9“11“12“2“14011 Hello 2“12“11“9“8“7“4“5“2“2,14“2,15“2,16“*·


9,0æ0,9æ3,9æ9,3æ1,3æ3,1æ1,1.18Hello1,1.3,1æ1,3æ9,3æ3,9æ0,9æ9,0æ


7,1>4>5>1,1.15,14<1>15,14<1>15,14<1>4,1[1,1.9Hello1,1.4]15,14<1>15,14<1>15,14<1>1,1.7,1<4<5<


8,0<0,8>7,8<8,7>4,7<7,4>6,4<4,6>8,6 Hello 4,6<6,4>7,4<4,7>8,7<7,8>0,8<8,0>


1,1.1,5æ4æ5,4æ7æ4,7æ8æ7,8æ0æ8,0æ0,0.2Hello0,0.8æ0,8æ7æ8,7æ4æ7,4æ5æ4,5æ1æ1,1.


13¶1,8:) ¶1,8:) 2¶1,8:) 9¶1,8:) 6¶1,8:)1,0 Hello 15¶1,8:) 12¶1,8:) 11¶1,8:) 4¶1,8:) 3¶1,8:)


1,0<0,1>3,1<1,3>9,3<3,9>8,9<9,8>10,8 Hello 9,8<8,9>3,9<9,3>1,3<3,1>0,1<1,0>


1,8:)1,12:)1,4:)1,13:)1,11:)1,9:)1 Hello 1,9(:1,11(:1,13(:1,4(:1,12(:1,8(:


4,4__8,8__4,4__0,1 Hello 4,4__8,8__4,4__


1¸12,3ø6¤11°7`11°3¤1ø5,1¸6¸10,4ø7¤1°4`3°13¤5ø3,12¸3¸ 1 Hello 1¸12,3ø6¤11°7`11°3¤1ø5,1¸6¸10,4ø7¤1°4`3°13¤5ø3,12¸3¸


8,8h7,7h4,4f9,9g3,3f2,2d12,12d0,6 Hello 12,12h2,2k3,3d9,9h7,7h4,4f8,8d

That's all for now. Have fun with mIRC colors.

The Real Tuesday Weld

My latest discovery is The Real Tuesday Weld - a band from UK.
There are a few samples of their jazzy cabaret-style music below:

"Kix" - The Real Tuesday Weld

Click to watch on YouTube

"Kix" - lyrics

I don't get my kicks out of you
I don't feel the way I used to

I know it's bad
After what we had
But I'm just not the angel you knew

I don't get my kicks out of you
You're just too good to be true
The booze and pills, the cheapest thrills
They mean more to me now than you do
I don't get my kicks out of you

I don't get my kicks
I don't get my fix
I don't get my kicks out of you
No, I just don't get my kicks out of you

I don't get my kicks out of you
You gave me wings, so I flew
You used to be a God to me
But God help me, What could I do?

I don't get my kicks
I don't get my kicks out of you

I don't get my kicks
Can't get my fix
I don't get my kicks
out of you
No, I just don't get my kicks ... out of you

"Apart" - The Real Tuesday Weld and The Puppini Sisters

Warning: Do not watch this clip during dinner! It's a little bit sick, but funny.



"The Show Must Go On" - The Real Tuesday Weld



"The Ugly and the Beautiful" - The Real Tuesday Weld



"Someday (soon)" - The Real Tuesday Weld
Unfortunately there is only a fragment of this song on YouTube and the original CD has a different, slow version.

Colors in mIRC (part 2)

In the previous part of "Colors in mIRC" you may have noticed a funny character generated by typing Control+K. The character allows mIRC to interpret the subsequent numbers as color codes. There are more such special characters. They are called "control codes":
Control+B - bold text
Control+R - reverse text
Control+K - colored text
Control+O - plain text

They work as switches. For example, typing Control+B bolds all the following characters, up to the next Control+B:

When you type:


You will get:

Potato Pancake & Steamed Asparagus

This is a dish with my favourite asparagus. I don't have a steamer, so I wrap asparagus into aluminium foil and add some water. Then I bake it. This way asparagus is kind of steamed. It is good with some olive oil or another dressing. Some people say Italian dressing is the best for asparagus. I have never tried that one. I could not find it in a store. I guess I was not looking hard enough. Maybe next time.

Besides asparagus there is a potato pancake topped with some Balkan-style natural yogurt. The pancake was not bad, but asparagus was better.

There is also sliced carrot. It should be boiled very quickly - just a few minutes. This way the carrot stays tender and keeps all its flavour and nutrients which do not have time to dissolve in water.