JUNE 2005

Volume 24, No. 11, June 08, 2005

TECHNO-CORNER

• AIM
• The next generation of computer gaming

AIM

by S. B.

Although AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) has its advantages, being used by a great majority of Day students for talking to their friends, it also has huge privacy problems.

Strangers can abstractly message anyone, unless certain options are chosen in the preferences menu. However, few people set the specific privacy preferences, and many do not even know that they exist.

When using AIM on Windows, privacy settings can be changed by selecting “My AIM” on the buddy list, and then clicking on “Edit Preferences.”

On Macintosh, under the “Settings” menu is an item labeled “Privacy” under which one can alter certain settings, including limiting those who can contact only people on one’s buddy list.

One can also choose to have a pop-up dialog appear when someone who is not on one’s buddy list tries to contact one.

The next generation of computer gaming

By Z. G.

The internet has become a port for all kinds of computer activities; from e-mail, to AIM, to online radio. But with broadband connections becoming widely available and more affordable, the internet has become a port for gamers from all over the world to meet online.

This goes beyond basic internet gaming activities. Online games played in a web browser (like Runescape and Neopets) seem crude in comparison. This is full screen online interactive entertainment.

Gamers in the United States can play against others on the other side of the globe, and for some games people can even talk to each other in their native tongue thanks to real-time translation programs.

The possibilities are endless. Several players can play on a team against computer opponents, or play against each other. Newer games can have up to 32 players pitted against each other, or against computers.

These games aren’t going to work well on a 56k (modem) connection, but now broadband is almost the same price as a modem connection. Consoles are hurting from this too. In a multiple computer house, it is becoming ever more possible to play against each other.

Newer games, such as “Age of Mythology”, have already taken advantage of this technology. In the multi-player mode of the game, one has an option of playing against certain people, such as friends, or nobody in particular.

One can even play multi player on maps that are created using the editor, and send them to other players automatically. This game even has a rating system so that one only plays with others that are roughly the same skill.

Some games still have “lag”, but with new technologies coming out nearly every day, the lag is becoming less and less common.