After becoming increasingly irritated with how much I pay my local phone company versus how little I actually get out of it (I don't talk on the phone that much), I think I finally found a way out. That way is Vonage.

Instead of signing up online, though, I called 1-VON-AGE-HELP instead because I wanted answers to some specific questions. On top of getting answers, I was also offered a 14-day trial period plus free second month. So, I jumped on.

The 14-day trial period is somewhat bogus, because they didn't get a phone adapter into my hands until 10 days into the trial period.

But, so far, everything is good. I experienced two short semi-outages, where I was unable to make outgoing calls, but was able to receive incoming ones. Both resolved themselves within 5-10 minutes.

Another beef I have with them is the fact that even though they say you can change your phone number anytime you want, and make it all sound so easy, they don't say that it cost around $10 every time you change it, including when transferring my old telephone number over.

In light of the monthly savings, however, these are small points. Only time will tell....

This is simply a re-release of the beta 7 package with an updated version (0.2) of the Freeciv Server application.

I got a hold of some down time where I was able to put some more work into the Freeciv Server application. Instead of waiting for the next beta or the final release of Freeciv release the new version, I thought I'd pass it along sooner.

To upgrade:

1. Download the Freeciv Server.zip archive
2. Double-click on the archive in the Finder to extract the new application
3. Replace the old version (0.1) with the new one (0.2)

Here's a list of what's changed, and is probably non-exhaustive:

• Added an icon for .civgame documents
• Fixed bug where hosting multiple games concurrently would crash the application
• New Game dialog now remembers settings you last used
• Save item from the File menu now works
• Added Launch Game Client item to the File menu

Known issues / things to do:

• Double-clicking on a .civgame document doesn't work in most cases
• Add Save As... functionality
• Add help
• Use better-looking icons

I am sure there are other issues and possible enhancements that I could work on. If you spot something or have a suggestion, please send it my way. Thanks!

Another week, another Freeciv beta....

Aside from being built using the beta 7 source code, my Panther package also sports a new Freeciv Server executable.

This is a Cocoa application I wrote that wraps around the civserver executable. Basically, it allows you to run one or more instances of the game server without lauching the Terminal application.

Furthermore, I am introducing a new file format that organizes saved game files under one or more .civgame documents.

I've tested things as much as I could, and the application along with the new file format seem to work okay. Do keep in mind that this is a work-in-progress application. I will make improvements to it over time, and your feedback is welcome.

Enjoy!

Well, my new car is here. I picked it up from the dealership two weeks ago, and traded in my old car of 14.5 years and 195,000+ miles in the process.

Fuel efficiency is the primary reason for buying this car. The first tank got me around 42.5mpg, already better than my old car, which got me around 36mpg when it was brand new. With the second tank, I am getting around 49mpg. So I am getting better at driving my new car. Since I do a lot of combination driving (city and freeway), the ultimate goal is to get the advertised 55mpg.

I read an article recently where the owner of a silver Prius named it Silver Bullet. I think I shall name mine ... White Shadow.