Is Guitar Hero too tame for you? Too mainstream? Try Accordian Hero!
Accordian Hero II
Everything you loved in the first game, but more of it, ja? Features a new Practice mode, and 65 new songs. Polka your way up from Der Rathskeller to Oktoberfest in Munich!
A key to communicating effectively is to know your audience. In terms of written work you may hear of things like the Fleischman Kincaid system which rates text on a "grade level". In theory, the average seventh grader should be able to read and understand your work, in practice comprehension and coherent meaning often depends on subject matter as much as the words you choose.
For whatever they are worth, readability scores are at least helpful in determining the complexity of your vocabulary. For years, I've used the readability feature in Microsoft Word which seems to take into account grammar and sentence structure. It is by far not a hard fast rule for easy reading but I like to think that every little bit helps.
That is why today's Goof Off is the so-called "Blog Readability Test". At first glance, it does not seem to be as sophisticated as MS Word, but it's terribly convenient and only requires a destination URL before it does its magic. I can't agree with all of the determinations but it seems to have a general idea about reading level. As such, I'm proud to announce that even an elementary school kid can understand this blog, according to the test. Incidentally MS Word claims this entry is on a tenth grade level.
The Louis Vuitton Cup winner has been decided all eyes have turned to the main event, a challenge by Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron against America's Cup defender Alinghi and the Société Nautique de Genève. On June 23rd the fun begins and it's sure to be a tough match up.
It's easy to understand the national pride and desire to win the cup. On the other hand it's fairly difficult to understand the rules and tactics of modern yacht racing. Luckily there is hope for the aspiring skipper.
Launched in conjunction with the 23rd America's Cup challenge is a game called Virtual Skipper (5). Aside from the flashy graphics this game features all the realism you could expect from a seafaring race game. You'll need to run through the tutorials so you can familiarize yourself with the boat and the rules of the race. Afterwards you can try two short races against a computer-controlled challenger. If you've learned your lessons well you'll be rewarded with victory, but it's not a simple task.
The playable demo is available through the Virtual Skipper website. The game requires the latest version of Direct X 9, which can be downloaded from Microsoft. Aside from this dependency the game installs and runs flawlessly.
What really makes this game fun is that it gives you an up close and personal introduction to yacht racing. I never really understood the basic rules but this game taught me. It also teaches you that while the margin of victory is very small the potential for screwing up is quite large. It's really a very challenging simulation. Perhaps not worth the $44.99 but the free demo is definitely worth the download.
What would the holidays be without some sort of annoying singing animal? Several years ago it dogs and cats sang jingle bells, then it was a large mouth singing bass. You can now consider your holiday experience complete when you watch my video of Deer Ride! Buck, the Animated Trophy has been strapped to the top of a redneck jeep, but that doesn't keep him from singing such memorable tunes as Low Rider and Sweet Home Alabama.
This particular monstrosity has graced our office for a few weeks. It turns out the boss's kids love this thing. I assume that's why the truck ended up at the office and not on his living room floor. Little do the children know, but their mom managed to find the actual Buck Animated Trophy on sale. He's not just a gaudy plastic deer head; he's actually a fully functional karaoke machine. Merry Christmas, and God help us all!
Fun 
