Abilityhub

Ares connecting to the network is once again getting to be a problem, causing much frustration to new users of Ares. The popular P2P filesharing program comes with a list of IP addresses to use for the initial connection. These are cnodes. Once the software has connected to the network for the first time, it gathers it’s own list of IP addresses of other users that are logged on and keeps that list to connect the next time you start Ares back up. Unfortunately, some of the older versions of Ares, like Ares Galaxy, have not been updating their initial list of cnodes. Some friends that are knowledgable about this tell me that the incidence of new users having problems with Ares connecting is skyrocketing. They say it happened in late 2006, and again in December 2007, but is even worse now. I found out when I installed Ares on my new laptop and couldn’t connect. Fortunately, they were able to point me to some of the newer versions of Ares that are constantly updating their cnodes. So like me, many other frustrated users of Ares Galaxy have been finding their way to Ares Vista and Ares Ultimate where they have better luck with Ares connecting to the network.

I’m quite a fast typist, and sometimes my words my fingers run away with themselves. It’s only when I get to the end of a sentence that I notice that I’ve spelt something incorrectly earlier on. If I’m working in word then I generally let auto-correct do a lot of the work for me; also if there’s no red line under the word then I tend to assume it was right. In this way spellings like Ares, Areas, Aries and Aires would all appear, to my quickly roving eye, to be correct.

Auto correct will often clean up after me, so if I were to type Aers rather than Ares it will notice that I’ve put the letters the wrong way round and, without a moment’s complaint, put them in the right order for me.

It is only when I get a word ‘properly’ wrong that I get the red mark and, accordingly, the reminder to go back and fix it. Without the built-in spell checker I’d not realize my mistake until it came to the point of proof reading (witch I all ways due rely thoroughly) that I would notice my mistake. Continuing the ‘Ares’ them, this would include the nasty errors like Aeres, Aris and Arez.

I find it hard to believe that Salvia is still legal when comparable drugs like LSD and mushrooms are illegal; yet if you’re in one of the many States where legislation over the drug has yet to be passed, it’s likely that you can buy, take delivery of, use, and even distribute Salvia without breaking any of your State’s laws.

Yet it is recognized by those of us that have taken to smoking Salvia that it is a most potent hallucinogenic with a very real effect. This stuff really messes you up in a big way. Fortunately the effects that come with smoking Salvia are very short lived – perhaps only a few minutes – and this is possibly the reason that it has escaped the legislator’s pen so far.

The effects felt when one is smoking Salvia are pretty much immediate. Starting with a slight tingling sensation in the legs, it soon moves to a whole-body experience. I feel like gravity is no longer having an effect on my body and I slide outwards, looking in at my soul. Objects blur, and only light and dark seem distinct. If all that sounds weird it’s because it is. Smoking Salvia is certainly not for the faint hearted.

The app store will shortly be coming to town. And what does the app store have in (ahem) store for us? Free software!

While this wasn’t the original plan of the Apple bunch, it is quickly becoming a reality if figures from an industry survey are to be believed.

Apple planned for the apps in the app store to sell for an average of $10 each. From this $10 sale they would take a $3 for their trouble. It’s not a lot when you say it like that, but when you say it like this: “there will be millions of downloads”, it soon takes on a different meaning.

So what of this free software then?

Industry analyst Gene Munster conducted a survey of 20 developers that planned to release software for the app store. These developers revealed that over 70% of those apps would be available to the grateful customer for free. Of the remaining apps for which a charge would be made, the price was looking to be settling on an average of around $2.29 – a far cry from Apple’s estimates.

Munster also discovered that half of those surveyed were working only on iPhone apps and half were working on apps for the iPhone and for the Mac environment.

Free software all around, then!

I never thought I would say this, and indeed I do not say it lightly, but Ares Galaxy is now officially past it. It’s a great little piece of software in its own right, but it pales in comparison to newer versions of Ares.

The newer versions – Ares Ultra, Ares Ultimate and Ares Vista are the shining lights here – have been able to learn from Ares Galaxy which was the original implementation; they have also been able to watch where the original made mistakes and to avoid them. What this means is that there are now three versions which were spawned from the original Ares Galaxy which now surpass it in many ways.

Not only are the new versions of Ares technically superior, easier to use, connect to the network quicker, and generally better, but they also offer customer support: something conspicuous by its absence in Ares Galaxy.

Not all new is good, of course, and to prove this point take a (brief and suspicious) look at Ares Gold and Ares Destiny. These versions of the software do not appear to have learned from the mistakes of Ares Galaxy at all; these are a step backwards from the original version. Not only are they inferior in so many ways, but these versions are actually bundled with adware which seems an odd choice of marketing technique! Avoid! There are many better versions out there.

There’s no doubt that Patong girls are a unique breed. When it comes to the whole scene in Patong, it’s clear that the girls are the ones in charge. The Phuket nightlife scene is a hive of activity that is focused primarily on go-go bars and seedy beer bars. It’s certainly not to everyone’s liking, but there are some people who think they have died and gone to heaven when they arrive in Patong. Why? It’s the girls, of course.

One thing to bear in mind about Patong girls is that while they may bat their eyelids and tell you how much they love you, they are usually after one thing: money. After money comes the security of marriage. You could spend a week in Patong and end up broke, married and divorced, all thanks to one girl.

So what is it about Patong girls that has Western guys so enthralled? Perhaps a large part of it is the fact that there are so many girls in Patong. You can’t walk 10 meters without finding some sort of bar or entertainment complex with an abundance of girls dancing away.

Highlighting how much time Patong girls usually have on their hands is the fact that these girls are experts in hustling punters in games such as Connect 4. So many times a cocky foreigner will walk into a bar and be challenged by a pretty face to a game of Connect 4. She will let him win one game – and then come the bets for drinks. The girl always wins and the foreigner always pays. It’s natural selection, surely.

Another game that Patong girls are keen on is hitting a nail into a trunk of wood with the wrong end of a hammer. It’s unclear from where this bizarre game originates, but it’s actually rather fun to try and whack a nail into a block of wood. The girls are experts at doing it just right, while foreigners inevitably end up missing the nails and buying the drinks.

Patong girls can be some of the most devious creatures on earth. If you’re planning on hanging out in Patong, you’re going to want to have your wits about you. The girls can smell a newbie foreigner with their catlike senses. If you go in all wide-eyed and curious, they will pounce on you and take you for a ride.

Apple’s new model iPhone games is expected to be unveiled in June at Apple’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference in San Francisco. It is altogether smaller and sexier.
One reason that everyone expects this announcement to be made soon is that there are very few iPhone games left in stock in brick and mortar shops; the online shop is completely out. This is Apple’s way of artificially increasing market demand on their product. When the new iPhone games is announced the floodgates will open the world, once again, will be a wonderful place.
And it is likely to be a wonderful place for those countries where Apple has recently agreed deals with telephony carriers. Singapore, India, the Philippines and Australia have been the subject of the latest talks.
Most interestingly Apple may be planning on waiving the plan which seems them sign exclusivity deals with just one carrier. This could be great news for iPhone games customers.

Salvia is the little herb with the big impact. This naturally occurring plant – a resident of Mexico – is a close brother of the mint plant. If the leaves of the Salvia plant are smoked or chewed they may induce hallucinogenic effects the users. The effect is generally quite mild and will not last long. The concentrated extract of the Salvia plant is much more potent – up to 60 times more potent than the plant itself – and is the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogenic known.

While Salvia is very much a legal drug under US federal drug law, several states have taken the legal steps to make Salvia banned or restricted in some way. Something like 20 other states are starting the legal process that will ultimately see the use, possession and sale of Salvia banned.

Experts and industry commentators calculate that, by 2010, federal legislators will ensure that laws are in place to see Salvia banned.

The backlash against Salvia is likely to have started when a Delaware teen’s parents blamed his tragic suicide on his heavy use of Salvia. Their outrage is perhaps understandable, as is their push to see Salvia banned. Salvia is now illegal in Delaware.

Ares Lite is the source of much confusion from user of filesharing software. Perhaps this is due in part to the misrepresentation to which the software has been subject.

Ares Lite got its name because was a cut down version on the original Ares Galaxy; the difference between the applications was limited to the number of ‘extra features’ available, namely an integrate ‘chat room’. Ares Lite also allowed less simultaneous network connections that its ‘big brother’.

Some ‘Entrepreneurs’ started to package Ares with ad serving software (and worse) in order to make money from downloads of the software. Ares Destiny (bundled with the horrible ‘Dealio’) is a case in point.

Possibly scarred from this negative experience, users then went looking for a version of Ares without the bundled adware. Misinformation across the Internet advised them, incorrectly, that Ares Lite was ‘Lite’ because it had no adware bundled. This is simply not true and there are many versions of Ares that do not include any adware of malware of any kind. Notable examples of ‘clean’ versions of Ares include Ares Vista, Ares Galaxy and Ares Ultimate. If you are in the market for an Ares download then you would do well to investigate these versions before any others.

What others are saying:
Ares Lite for reduced footprint
Ares Lite uses less resources

A recent trip to visit the Phuket gave me a bit of an eye opener in terms of the Phuket nightlife.

First I was tempted into a touristy club that served cheap booze and popular dance tunes. It was great fun and was full of Western vacationers here for a good time. This is pretty much what I expect from a club in a tourist area. There are clubs all around the island that cater to hip hop and dance music hits.

Next on my list of things to do was to visit the gold standard of the Phuket nightlife: the ‘traditional’ Thai club. These clubs are cantered around a group of friends, and table, a bottle of liquor and a local cover band cranking out the classics. There’s nothing wrong with this type of club at all but when it’s pretty much all there is to offer, it is easy to find it stale.

Except that this is no longer all the Phuket nightlife has to offer springing up with increasing regularity are the nightspots catering for heavier music from dance to electro and break beat. These new styles of music have not caught on in Phuket as well as in Bangkok, but it is easy to feel that it’s only a question of time before this changes; Phuket nightlife is all the better for some variety like this. Definitely recommended.