Uncategorized – Something of Interest

Candy Crush update

Dave — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 15:04:05 +0000

Okay, this didn’t really turn out to be a hot bed of Candy Crush updates, just one more of my many failed web ventures. But I still waste an inordinate amount of time on this game. I’ve long ago abandoned the original CC and now play Soda and Jelly versions. Now that the games award you boosters on a regular basis for free, I’ve also quit trying to only finish a level without any help. Anytime I spend more than a few dozen times on a level, or if I come near to the end of my moves with only one or two elements to finish, I’ll use those boosters to knock it on out.

Sometimes democracy fails: RMS Boaty McBoatface fiasco

Dave — Thu, 19 May 2016 15:22:34 +0000

When a UK environment research group wanted to name their multi-million dollar vessel they thought they might ask the crowd. What could go wrong…? Some things just don’t need to be up for a vote.

Popular Mechanics Story

Not the real ship, see story for picture

Candy Crush Soda Saga Level 390

Dave — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 15:39:39 +0000

This level took a few days to get through. Although it appears to be simple at first glance with the number of moves you are allotted, the hard honey at the very top is what will keep you from completing it. I finally ran a level that supplied a number of deep purple cough drop explosions, two or three paint explosions (one in which every candy is painted to deep purple.) Still, I finished with only one or two lives remaining. My advice is to concentrate on busting up the honey, since that’s the only way to get the soda bottles needed to raise the liquid level. UPDATE: Strangely, replaying this level to get the screen shot, I finished with 12 moves remaining! Weird!

Candy Crush Diary Des[s]ert

Dave — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 15:11:48 +0000

Okay, so I have not fulfilled my objective to post an ongoing series; in fact, I’ve failed miserably. I pretty much abandoned the original Candy Crush Saga and focus completely on Soda Saga. Currently I’m on level 390, a good number of the levels are difficult and I spend many days on them before completing them. Not sure if I’ll fulfill this goal, but for now here are my notes I began taking for this series.

Candy Crush Soda Saga Levels 152 – 325 notes and tips

level# | notes, tips
152 med. fill all the soda first create fish in center square to help
153 tough, had to get a lot of free action to complete, took awhile
154 easy completed within 10 try’s. open a spigot and continue to harvest the pop bottles.
155 really tough, had to buy 5 extra moves to finish, fish may be the key to complete
156 easy fish key
157 med vertical stripes & fish key
158 probably need a color bomb stripe combo to complete, was able to finish with two package to stripe combos.
159 super tough, used a candy hammer to complete
160 easy to med difficultly got a pack stripe cobo right off activate 2 color bombs
161 med fish are key
162 get rid of licorice at top for easier second screen. fish are key to finish second screen
163 easy finished second try
164 easy just need three bears third try
165 med fish are key to get bottles
166 easy introduces bubblegum 1try
167 easy
168 easy 1 try
169 easy
170 2 try’s easy special candy combo helps
171 easy to med activating the package candy in the center of the three gum globs is key
172 1 try pretty easy
173 first try easy
174 med get rid of licorice asap to get to bubblegum
175 tough, need at least 20 moves on last screen, then fish to unlock there layer honey bears, two fish together will give you 3 fish to hit all bears at once.
176 easy first try
177 fairly easy 2nd try
178 med difficultly, save as many moves as possible for last screen, double fish will help free bears, or candy combos, 20 moves helped me
179 easy to med -weird movement hurts planning, a special candy combo helps finish or free action
180 super tough, was able to finish w/o booster but only by lucky last minute special candy. may need to boost through this one if you are not patient enough.
181 easy, pretty much plays itself. I’ sure that was on purpose after the last super tough level.
182 fairly easy, fish of course are key, a fish with a vertical stripped candy is best but you have to wait for enough soda bottles to drop for this to be effective.
183 not terribly hard, bubblegum is problematic but a few favorable special candy combos will help, getting rid of licorice early also key.
184 first try and three stars, not much of a challenge.
185 medium, hard honeycomb at bottom impedes advancement, horizontal stripped candy with fish can help knock out lower rows.
186 appears to be difficult but some lucky breaks will finish this one, you get a two package candy combo right off the bat every time, this will help clear part of the first bear, bear positioning changes each play, so favorable positions help also.
187 only a couple of tries to complete. of course fish are key
188 another multi screen, med difficulty, helps to keep the licorice spigots from pouring out at the end, not sure how I accomplished that.
189 super tough, two bears at the top and two at bottom, special candy is hard to come by, you absolutely have to get a color/paint bomb stripped candy combo at some point to help complete. vertical stripes help as long as they are in the right column.
190 bubble gum level is med difficulty, a color bomb with stripped near the end will finish it off fairly easily.
191 easy one try hard
192 not too bad, need about 15 to 20 moves for the final screen
193 easy second try, get as much soda as can before licorice drops.
194 patience and luck easy
195 med. concentrate on the bottom icing where most of the Bears are, fish are a waste on this level.
196 easy or just got lucky, first try
197 fairly easy, get rid of one side of chocolate early helps
198 not bad
199 not bad patience wins this one
200 fairly easy again, last screen may have you making useless combos in the middle.
201 easy and fun, lots of free action
202 took a few try’s, but not bad, although bears are on each side (need to check) of icing block still helps to get it out of the way
203 another fast growing dual chocolate level, this time all mixed together so it makes it difficult to get rid one one to concentrate on the other, but fee action helps clear this one rather easily. if you have a bomb or special candy close to the chocolate use it quick or it will be eaten.
204 easy, get the bubble bear to the bottom as quickly as possible to get to the soda bottles, then work back up, get rid of as much licorice as possible on the way up, will get in the way at the top, fish are not very helpful, they do not go for the licorice you want them to get.
205 dual chocolate again, free action helps here, once again getting rid of one chocolate helps conquer the other. white chocolate grows twice as fast as dark so try to hit that before dark
206 got lucky or easy, one try
207 lucky breaks win this one, more dual chocolate
208 tough, concentrate on creating fish, get honey out of the way since fish will go to that before licorice, horizontal stripped candy helps with licorice, limited number of soda bottles will fall, so moves are precious.
209 easy or lucky
210 another dual chocolate level, growing can get out of hand, free action helps complete
211 introduces fish package, easy
212 three fish packs, easy
213 easy, don’t worry about left and right icing, break the fish packs
214 you’ll need a few major combos to get through the hard honey at the bottom with the number of moves you have, this ones semi tough but luck helps, got a nuclear combo early to help finish this one
215 not bad, licorice is a pain, thank goodness the bear is not held back by licorice.
216 free action saves this one, get some colr bomb combos to clear the board, easy
217 one try easy, fish with horizontal stripes take out bears in hard honey
218 med, luck will give you several matches on the bottom before you start opening the fish packages, getting most of the jelly on top before opening will help the fish track to the bottom rows instead of the top. a fish with a horizontal stripe would go nice.
219 easy first try
220 couple of try’s, luck helps, but you know what you have to do
221 lucky one try, fish are advantageous
222 this ones tough, special candy are hard to come by since it’s narrow with hard honey pillars, which do not block bears but are simply in the way. you’re gonna need a couple of color bomb stripped combos to really get through.
223 spent a long time on this one, really tough. you absolutely can not finish this one without at least two or three color bomb special candy combos along with a lot of free action.
224 tough bubble gum level. special candy are hard to come by, which is what you need to clear the bubblegum. Only got through this one after a paint bomb and package candy combo, which helped clear most of the board.
225 they stuck the Bears in evil corners, just to make you sweat this one. you’ll need at least one good colr bomb special combo to complete.
226 introduces ice cubes, six bangers, easy level
227 med difficultly, what makes this tough is the gum is under ice cubes in a narrow hole, makes it problematic to get to the bottom corners before you run out of moves. two hidden color paint bombs can help but you must use precious moves to get them free. I completed this level without them, just got some lucky breaks early on.
228 only took three try’s, if you can eliminate the middle ice quickly, should be no problem to complete with a number of moves left. fish help get the bottles.
229 med. get rid of center column of ice and you are golden
230 not bad, got lucky with a color/paint bomb combo which wiped everything, had 30 moves left. get a fish vertical stripped candy to help get rid of ice columns, takes 6 or 7 hits to knock out ice cubes
231 med, not bad
232 easy or lucky
233 another med, if you can get some lucky breaks quickly
234 you’ll need a few color bomb special candy combos to punch through the hard honey comb on this one. maybe color/paint bomb fish combos may be better since they go directly to the Bears, but you’ll still need a lot of them since they are incased in hard honey.
235 thought it would be harder but one try,
236 multiple screen level, interesting layout, when you get to the horizontal screens with the ice cubes, make as many fish as possible before the screen scrolls right or left, much easier to make them when the screen is wide.
237 easy, not much more to say
238 spent many days on this one, as with the previous dual chocolate levels, getting rid of one kind first really helps. clearing the ice will also help gain a larger screen to get more combo options and free action. tough.
239 took a few times but not hard, key is to get multiple color/paint bomb combos.
240 relatively easy, combos on last screen make short work of honey.
241 easy finished second try, interesting movement, what’s the color bomb in the middle for?
242 free action will knock this one out
243 med, took a few times. 55 moves and lots of explosive action here. you’ll need to get as many soda bottles as fast as you can, you tend to run out moves near the top where the ice is denser, so combos help.
244 easy one try
245 tough, you need to get the right side busted open rather quickly to get to the hard ice in the center
246
247
248 not bad, you’ll have to wait for a lucky setup. concentrate on the end of the chain where the Bears are, free action should open up the rest but watch for special candy that can slide up to where you need it. most frustrating part are games when matches are slim at the top.
249 not bad, fish and stripped candy of course are key here, a color bomb and a fish will help knock it out.
250 three screens, you’ll need at least 20 moves for the last screen, fish are helpful on it since they will always hit the ice above the bear.
251
252
253
254 super tough, only 35 moves and a tight area to work. special candies are hard to come by, and when you do break thru the first layer you,ll be lucky to get any matches at the bottom. a fish with a horizontal stripe is the best combo here. took me a few days to finally get a lucky break.
255 fairly easy even though it was similar to the last one. you get a lot stripped candy behind that row of honey.
256 this level introduces jam, very easy
257 corners are tough, jelly covered fish are handy as are stripped and packaged candy combos, not bad level
258 easy, weird twist motion,
259 this has some tough corners, clear out the licorice as fast as possible then use fish to fill in the hard to get corners
260 jelly is hidden, once you get the jelly started concentrate on the bottom honey, the jelly will take care of itself
261 medium difficulty, just need to get the columns between the cakes to jelly but removing information them is almost mandatory. not much free action in this one and color/paint bombs are hard to come by. fish can be helpful near the end to fill in random holes, but not much early on. sending a vertical stripped candy down the column is the best way to paint it with jelly but they are hard to line up.
262
263
264 med difficult, tough to get through the ice in the center with enough moves left to finish. a well timed color bomb with after breaking the middle helped me get thru this one.
265 – 313 lost interest in journal
315 this is a doozy, spent at least two weeks on this one, only completed it by getting a paint/color bomb combo early on. otherwise this one is almost undoable.
316 a breeze
317 easy
318 strange multi screen level, seems easy but it took me four times to finally finish, ended three games needing only one ice block. most will probably finish in one turn.
319 seemed easy one turn
320
321 medium hard, need to get the spigots open asap. tough ice
325 need a color bomb stripped combo early to complete

Candy Crush Soda Saga Diary

Dave — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 16:16:08 +0000

My game of choice (at the moment) is Candy Crush. It’s simple and entertaining; a good puzzle game. I understand that the object of the game is to frustrate you to the point that you will open up your pocket book and buy your way through a particular level. Well, being a bit of a skin flint and wanting to complete the level with little help, I forsake the easy extortion and plough on, sometimes spending weeks attempting to complete a level without any extra moves. So, when I do come across a particularly difficult level, I sometimes turn to tip web sites to get some help. There are also a plethora of videos showing someone completing the level. But the one thing missing from these videos was some commentary on the specific aspects of the level and tips on possible strategies, they only show someone finishing the level. Since, for the most part the starting candies are random, each game is a little different, these videos only show either someone very good at seeing and planning moves, or lucky. They really didn’t help me complete the level, they only proved that a level could be completed. So I’m adding my two cents into the fray with these difficult level analysis and discussion. The new Youtube channel is “Cursing Candies.”

Everybody needs a good laugh

Dave — Thu, 10 May 2007 17:01:12 +0000

A.M. & P.M. What do they stand for?

Dave — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 12:08:42 +0000

My son asked me the other day what a.m. and p.m. mean. Of course I could tell him what they mean, but what do those letters stand for. Turn’s out they’re Latin of course! My first guess for p.m. was close, “post meridian” but couldn’t come up with the a.m. A.M. is ante meridiem (a.m., from Latin, literally “before midday”) and post meridiem (p.m., “after midday”).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12-hour_clock

Other great time related info courtesy of the US government
http://time.gov/exhibits.html

Restaurants appear to be a modern enterprise.

Dave — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:43:56 +0000

While dining out last night my 5 year old son asked where the first restaurant was, which made me wonder about where the restaurant concept originated. From what I’ve gleaned, it appears to have originated in France around the late 1700s, which makes since since ‘restaurant’ is French word. The Wikipedia entry also credits 13th century China.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant