Totally Retro Gaming

I just wanted to take this space to extol the virtues of DOSbox and abandonware. For those who don't know, abandonware is software that no longer has an active company defending its copyright, whether due to bankruptcy, being bought out, or just plain not renewing the copyright. This means that there is a large quantity of old games that are available free by dedicated communities online as shareware, perfect for the college student on a budget. The only issue is compatibility. Most of these games were written for Windows pre-95. That's where the DOSbox comes in. This program is basically an emalator/shell that simulates the extremely basic OS's these programs were written for. With very little effort, you too can be playing the great classics: Warcraft Orcs and Humans, System Shock, Civilization, and more. All it takes is a little diligence to find the gems among the games that were abandoned for one reason-they sucked.

The Usurpation of "America"

I was writing a letter to a friend in Nicaragua recently, and a random thought went through my head. Why does the United States have a monopoly on being referred to as "America?" The US, at 9158960 sq. km, is only 21% of the combined area of North and South America, and only contains 33% of the combined population. There are vast areas of land and throngs of people outside of the United States that are 'American,' but are never described as such. I realize that "United Statesian" is a bit of a mouthful, but we really are not doing the rest of the world justice by claiming to be the only true 'Americans.'

Break's Over, Back to Work

Sorry for the downtime, anyone who's been watching this blog for updates. This blog was originally a class project dealing with First Amendment issues, and now I feel is the time to expand the scope of the blog. Now I'll just be writing about whatever issues manage to catch my fancy. If you'd like me to cover a certain topic, let me know.