Monday, October 2, 2000		Cyber kids

For some, computer is a professional item, whereas for others it is a source of entertainment. Chances are every PC-user either plays or has played computer games. A majority of computer-users are even obsessed with them.

Although there are millions of games available yet the most common computer game that people play are the default Windows games, which are loaded with the Microsoft Windows, and include Minesweeper, Free cell and Solitaire. Playing these games is fun and therefore they happen to be popular too.

All these games have score sheets where personal record is entered. In the case of Mine Sweeper, top three scores and their scorers are registered. Similarly in case of Free Cell – the card game, the score sheet is maintained in the form of a table showing the number of games played, number of games won and lost.

Although, a game should be played with a sportsman spirit yet if one believes more in scores and wishes to be among the top scorers, then here are some easy tricks:

Winning Free Cell always: Free Cell is a popular card game and involves strategic placing of cards and moving all cards to the home cells, using free cells as placeholders. To win, you have to make four stacks of cards on the home cells: one for each suit, stacked in order of rank, from lowest to highest, that is from Ace to King. It is normally believed that if played rightly then every game can be won. There is a way to convert loss into win. If you get stuck up somewhere while playing and feel that you are left with no more moves, then press Ctrl+Shift+ F10. A window "user friendly user interface" will open up on the computer screen, giving the options of abort, retry and ignore. Choose the abort option. Once abort button is clicked, the "User friendly user interface" window disappears from the screen. Now just double click on any card and within a fraction of seconds the stack in the home cell will be completed automatically and your win will be registered in the record.

Scoring best time in Minesweeper: While playing Minesweeper, one has to be alert and think each move could lead to defeat. In this game, it is important to sweep all mines in the least possible time and persons who sweep all mines in minimum time are winners and their name remains in the score sheet. In order to win, you have to think and in order to think, you need time. Now, how to get the time?

The answer is simple. Using an easy trick, you can stop the clock and play the game comfortably, without bothering for time. So, in order to win, start Minesweeper, click on any cell in the game screen. Keep Ctrl+Shift pressed and click anywhere in the game screen. Do not release mouse. Keep it clicked and you will find square box containing many cells pressed on your game screen.

Keep the cell, which you clicked with your mouse, pressed but release the Ctrl+Shift key Press the escape key. Now release the mouse and Esc key. You will find that the clock of the game has stopped. Play, as long you want now to sweep all mines.

— JAY