I have one laptop I've nicknamed "Zombie," because instead of letting the thing die naturally when it sputtered out 3 months ago, I've resurrected it from the dead and brought it into a hellish life-beyond-death existence. (Mua ha ha ha)

The internal speakers are disconnected, as is the touchpad, and a good 70% of its screws are missing, but nonetheless this shambling wreck is here to do my bidding!

Now I just need something to do with it. I have it duel-booted XP and Xubuntu, and I'm looking for something else fun to do. What wild and crazy things can you do with a laptop if you don't care about bricking it?

Derek

I have one laptop I've nicknamed "Zombie," because instead of letting the thing die naturally when it sputtered out 3 months ago, I've resurrected it from the dead and brought it into a hellish life-beyond-death existence. (Mua ha ha ha)

The internal speakers are disconnected, as is the touchpad, and a good 70% of its screws are missing, but nonetheless this shambling wreck is here to do my bidding! Now I just need something to do with it.

I have it duel-booted XP and Xubuntu, and I'm looking for something else fun to do. What wild and crazy things can you do with a laptop if you don't care about bricking it?

Derek

So!

Long story short: I lost my Laptop XP operating system disc, and when I used my Netbook OS CD to restore my laptop to factory settings, things stopped working - the screen resolution is funky, and the netbook can't turn on its wireless card or detect LAN.

I figured that this was a drivers issue - the inside of netbooks are pretty different from laptops - so I used my laptops driver recovery cd to reinstall everything.It didn't work. I've updated the BIOS, the network drivers, everything that I think would be related to the wireless device - the machine can't see its own tech.

It's like I'm watching the mechanized version of "Big"! A little computer is stuck in a big computer's body and doesn't know what to do!

Any thoughts? It's such a hassle to order a new OS CD.

Thanks, fellow Gamespotters.

HP Pavilion dv2000
1.6 ghz Pentium dual core
2 Gigs RAM
160 GB Hard Drive

...I'm feeling old. There was I time that I thought anime girls were hot. When did that change?

Just recently I discovered that my mother is a closet gamer. Sure, during my Nintendo 64 years she never failed to turn her nose up at Mario and Zelda, but I think in the years since she's developed something of a passion. I picked up her cell phone the other day, and, surprise surprise! I discovered that she's played a simple bubble bursting game more than 1,300 times. And she's owned the phone for just 4 months.

So I began a campaign to get Mom into da vidja games. Here's the route I went.

1. World of Goo

I got her to play the demo on her computer, but this title is available for wii ware as well. Mom is HOOKED. She played the demo twice over Thanksgiving and bought the game for $20 bucks off 2DBoy's website. The game is challenging but doesn't rush her - she can take as much time as she needs to solve each puzzle. The balls are so cute and non-threatening, she's actually formed a bond with them. "C'mere, goo ball!" she sometimes mutters in the middle of a puzzle.

2. Wii Sports

Even if they leave the hard core audience wanting more, Nintendo at least knows how to make accessible, fun, titles for the older crowd. Wii Sports - particularly bowling - seems to play great with moms. I can't tell you how many times I've heard stories of moms playing their Wii exclusively for bowling.

3. Wii Fit

My mom has gone on a health spree. At 60 she's more flexible than her 23-year-old son, can out dance himandoutswim him (I'm not proud of this.) Wii fit by all accounts isn't a real fitness title, but it does have some fun running, dancing, and yoga games to play.

What other titles are mom-friendly, folks? Feel free to add to the list. My sister is looking to get something for Mom for the holidays. Any suggestions?

On April 18th, I will be participating in the Relay for Life, an event sponsored by the American Cancer Society in order to raise money to fight cancer. I am a part of the Suffolk University Honors Society team. At 6pm we will begin a walking relay around the BU track course and remain walking for 12 consecutive hours. The idea is to increase awareness for cancer patients in America and raise money to combat the disease.

It would mean a lot to me if I could tap all you friendly people of the Gamespot Community for Support. Please consider donating $5 to my team. Our goal is to raise at least $1000, and every contribution counts towards completing that goal.

Please click here to donate. Remember, Three Dog would approve.

Hello Everyone,

I hold a strong belief that games, as an interactive experience, have the potential to be one of the most powerful mediums of storytelling out there. Because of this I have founded a Union, the GameArt Society, in the hopes of stimulating coversation around the idea. It would be a very great pleasure for me get this ball rolling and invite you folks to become some of the union's founding members.

My plan is to publish an interesting article on a weekly basis, either written by a Union member or found on the internet. These articles will feature a variety of topics, mainly on the theme of:

1) Art found in games (visuals, music, story, character design, etc)

2) Art featuring games (webcomics, concept art, etc.)

3) Art Games (games that we as a community, the game developer, or the world at large hold to have artistic value.)

I think we could stimulate some real debate and discussion on these topics! If you are interested in becoming an officer, or even simply want to join the union, please feel free to private message me.

Thanks everyone. I hope to hear from you soon.

Salaam,