I have written a few articles lately that have condemned the political candidates in this year’s elections. I have generally meant exactly what I have said about this being one very scary election with the threat of a bloodless take over by socialist and socialism that would shock anyone that has participated in the writing of the story that is America. From the founding fathers to the warriors and soldiers that stood up to dictators and communism, I think that there is a great disappointment over the fact that Obama was even allowed to make it this far and that the only answer put forth against is a McCain.
Have we forgotten the lesson of our past? Do we not recall what our forefathers worked so hard to establish? Did we even really know? Do we no appreciate what we have? I fear that we have no clue what we have done to ourselves.
In any case, I have heard rumor that the Obama campaign has enlisted the help of volunteers to search out blogs that speak poorly of their candidate and flood the comments with countering viewpoints. I have not seen any indications that that is the case. So in order to test this out I have added the above title in an effort to draw them in. No worries as this is still one of the least read blogs in blogosphere land but what the heck.
I do wish to understand what it is, or should I say how it is Obama supporters think. I know that there is the blind allegiance to party that can claim a large percentage of supporters. I know that there is the projection of a person’s personnel values onto the candidate’s platform whether true or not in an effort to believe that the candidate actually represents their views. Many turn a blind eye to anything that might cast the light of truth if it reveals their candidate for who they really are. It is easier to “hope” that things are different than to realize that reality falls far short of their ideals.
So why on earth would anyone be for Obama? I know he has used the traditional political illusions of being able to make everything better without actually offering an actual plan. Are you buying into them? Did you buy into the Clinton approach that everything wrong was someone else’s fault while taking credit for anything that went right even if was in spite of their actions? Is cause and effect that easy to manipulate? For some it must be.
So will anybody reading this respond? Is there really a program in the Obama camp that reads and responds to these blogs? If there are genuine Obama supporters out there that want to respond I will add any and all comments sent my way. That goes for McCain supporters also. Just keep the language clean. That is really the only thing I will edit on.
Maybe with a better understanding of what we are seeing out there and what we are wanting to see, we will be able to come up with better solutions to the common problems we all face and not have to rely so much on the windbags that continually sell us short.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
31 October 2008
Politicians promise scary Halloween
I have been hearing a lot of very scary things this Halloween. I understand there is an election going on where the very fabric of our Society is at stake. It appears that there is an attack on the core values that made America great, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (Property).
I also understand that we are down to two finalist, (were there really ever going to be any more than two?) and both our out to destroy your way of life. Our job is comparing too what degree of destruction we are willing to accept.
This nation struggled throughout its lifetime to obtain and maintain the values that have stood the test of time as being preferable to anything else the world had to offer. But, at this point in its history, all of those past efforts are threatened to become null and void by the results of one election.
The reason it is different this time, is that those that oppose American values have stacked the cards in their favor. Whichever candidate gets the nod this time is a move in their direction. They win, we lose. And whichever candidate wins, they will take it as a mandate for them to continue to pursue and implement their Socialist policies and agendas.
And of the two remaining candidates that are essentially running unopposed, by far the worst offender to grace the stage has to be Barrack Hussein Obama. Where McCain is an old hand Democrat and has worked hard to one up the traditional Democratic party by pandering to its traditional campaign plans, Obama has raised the gamut completely past that stage to full on socialism.
(Lest ye think otherwise, I have been warning of and calling the traditional Democratic party socialist for far longer than the recent use by host and pundits on the airwaves.) The warning extends now to this fact. The next step beyond Socialism comes when it is no longer able to be enforced by persuasions political correctness but needs to be enforced by force and that is usually representative of Communism, and Dictatorships.
So do I really think we are on the verge of destruction? Actually I am not sure. I do find it hard to believe that this nation has spent so much time and energy to defend and promote these two candidates and in particular Obama as he appears to be the furthest removed from traditional American values. Obama seems poised to ruin the fabric of democracy from the first day in office whereas McCain might take an extra week to get there. It really scares me that a seeming majority of America's citizens would actually embrace what these two are proposing. Once we have gone over the half way point is there hope of bringing things back?
Actually there is hope. I have talked to quite a few Americans that still believe in America, what it stood for and what it stands for. They still have America's core values at their core. They do not want to give up and will not give up. They are just struggling to know what action to take to try and help ensure that those American values are not threatened. They want to put their voice with others and be heard. They want to have something to vote for, but once again they have a contest of choosing what to vote against. If you have to vote against then by all means vote against, but be sure that you make your vote against the absolute worst possible scenario, then work like mad to make sure that next time really will be different, and work like mad to preserve real American values.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
I also understand that we are down to two finalist, (were there really ever going to be any more than two?) and both our out to destroy your way of life. Our job is comparing too what degree of destruction we are willing to accept.
This nation struggled throughout its lifetime to obtain and maintain the values that have stood the test of time as being preferable to anything else the world had to offer. But, at this point in its history, all of those past efforts are threatened to become null and void by the results of one election.
The reason it is different this time, is that those that oppose American values have stacked the cards in their favor. Whichever candidate gets the nod this time is a move in their direction. They win, we lose. And whichever candidate wins, they will take it as a mandate for them to continue to pursue and implement their Socialist policies and agendas.
And of the two remaining candidates that are essentially running unopposed, by far the worst offender to grace the stage has to be Barrack Hussein Obama. Where McCain is an old hand Democrat and has worked hard to one up the traditional Democratic party by pandering to its traditional campaign plans, Obama has raised the gamut completely past that stage to full on socialism.
(Lest ye think otherwise, I have been warning of and calling the traditional Democratic party socialist for far longer than the recent use by host and pundits on the airwaves.) The warning extends now to this fact. The next step beyond Socialism comes when it is no longer able to be enforced by persuasions political correctness but needs to be enforced by force and that is usually representative of Communism, and Dictatorships.
So do I really think we are on the verge of destruction? Actually I am not sure. I do find it hard to believe that this nation has spent so much time and energy to defend and promote these two candidates and in particular Obama as he appears to be the furthest removed from traditional American values. Obama seems poised to ruin the fabric of democracy from the first day in office whereas McCain might take an extra week to get there. It really scares me that a seeming majority of America's citizens would actually embrace what these two are proposing. Once we have gone over the half way point is there hope of bringing things back?
Actually there is hope. I have talked to quite a few Americans that still believe in America, what it stood for and what it stands for. They still have America's core values at their core. They do not want to give up and will not give up. They are just struggling to know what action to take to try and help ensure that those American values are not threatened. They want to put their voice with others and be heard. They want to have something to vote for, but once again they have a contest of choosing what to vote against. If you have to vote against then by all means vote against, but be sure that you make your vote against the absolute worst possible scenario, then work like mad to make sure that next time really will be different, and work like mad to preserve real American values.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
25 October 2008
Heads they win, Tails we lose
I am sorry to report that it is turning out to be just that kind of presidential race yet again this year. The two most likely candidates as spoken for by the media have once again reduced this race to finding reasons why not to vote for the other guy (as well as providing plenty of reasons not to vote for themselves). And once again, we the people have no viable options.
A word of warning to many of you that live in these United States of America, besides the obvious fact that our founding fathers would be turning over in their graves if they knew what we have allowed our nation to become by having an election of socialist and none other, but this nation has not wholly learned how to be a good winner or a good loser.
That worries me some. Events in our not so distant past have shown us that many of our citizens are not the most civilized at demonstrations of celebrations or disappointments. I think that we will once again see claims of an illegal election (as we did in 2004) no matter what the outcome. They are already planning for it. Riots are expected to break out in several major cities. Heck, this even happens when the local team wins a national sports competition, why not a national political competition.
That is sad when you think about it because we are already losing so much in this election year; the last thing we need to lose is our dignity. As there are a lot of people who are upset with the way things are going, they will be looking for any excuse to act out on those frustrations. I hope that any incidents like that will be small and insignificant.
If big incidents arise, and cities create riots and havoc it could spill over into our ever day lives. This is one week when you want to have all your shopping done ahead of time. You might even want to have enough food on hand to last a couple of weeks just in case things really fall to pieces. I am not saying that they will, but the possibility is out there for some locations to have disrupted services. I really hope it doesn’t come to that.
And it shouldn’t. There is no valid reason for things to get too bad. I know this election has stirred up emotions in people on all sides and to an extent not seen in many years. Here will be the real test of our character.
Whatever the outcome of this election the coming years will demand more attention on or parts. Attention to what the legislative, executive and judicial branches actions will be going forward. Will they think they have a mandate from the people and try to implement policies that go against what has made this country great? You bet they will, that is how our government has worked for many years. That is also why it is of the upmost importance to take a more active role in voice our opinions on issues and letting our elective officials know of our thoughts concerning upcoming legislation. If there is one thing that will sway the actions of a politician, it is the voice of the people as expressed through polls, phone, and mail.
Politicians may not agree with your position on the issues, but they tend to quickly give up their own positions if it is countered by more than one voice from their constituency. If they think they are only hearing a lone voice in the wilderness though, you can forget that you even made a sound.
An example of this was the initial $700 million dollar bailout package. The House waited until the last minute to make its vote, waiting to see how the votes would be placed to see if their vote would make a difference and then voted how best they thought the folks back home would value their action. They will always try to play both sides of an issue if they think they can get away with it. They knew that people would be watching this one though so they weren’t about to stick their necks on the line. They had to go back home and try to get reelected. Now they can go back home and tell one group of voters that they voted against the bailout of corporate greed and they can also tell another group of voters that they voted for the bailout to save the economy and keep Americans working, and in their minds, technically they did.
I often wonder how politicians can live with themselves or even get much sleep at night. Somehow they have convinced themselves that they are right no matter what it is they do. I don’t think their conscience works they way mine does. I tend to think that some politicians have lost their consciences a long time ago. That is why we need to step in and remind them that we haven’t lost ours. It is still a government of the people, by the people and for the people, and that means we have a responsibility that goes beyond one single Election Day. In the memory of our founding fathers, may we continue to make this ‘One Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.’
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
A word of warning to many of you that live in these United States of America, besides the obvious fact that our founding fathers would be turning over in their graves if they knew what we have allowed our nation to become by having an election of socialist and none other, but this nation has not wholly learned how to be a good winner or a good loser.
That worries me some. Events in our not so distant past have shown us that many of our citizens are not the most civilized at demonstrations of celebrations or disappointments. I think that we will once again see claims of an illegal election (as we did in 2004) no matter what the outcome. They are already planning for it. Riots are expected to break out in several major cities. Heck, this even happens when the local team wins a national sports competition, why not a national political competition.
That is sad when you think about it because we are already losing so much in this election year; the last thing we need to lose is our dignity. As there are a lot of people who are upset with the way things are going, they will be looking for any excuse to act out on those frustrations. I hope that any incidents like that will be small and insignificant.
If big incidents arise, and cities create riots and havoc it could spill over into our ever day lives. This is one week when you want to have all your shopping done ahead of time. You might even want to have enough food on hand to last a couple of weeks just in case things really fall to pieces. I am not saying that they will, but the possibility is out there for some locations to have disrupted services. I really hope it doesn’t come to that.
And it shouldn’t. There is no valid reason for things to get too bad. I know this election has stirred up emotions in people on all sides and to an extent not seen in many years. Here will be the real test of our character.
Whatever the outcome of this election the coming years will demand more attention on or parts. Attention to what the legislative, executive and judicial branches actions will be going forward. Will they think they have a mandate from the people and try to implement policies that go against what has made this country great? You bet they will, that is how our government has worked for many years. That is also why it is of the upmost importance to take a more active role in voice our opinions on issues and letting our elective officials know of our thoughts concerning upcoming legislation. If there is one thing that will sway the actions of a politician, it is the voice of the people as expressed through polls, phone, and mail.
Politicians may not agree with your position on the issues, but they tend to quickly give up their own positions if it is countered by more than one voice from their constituency. If they think they are only hearing a lone voice in the wilderness though, you can forget that you even made a sound.
An example of this was the initial $700 million dollar bailout package. The House waited until the last minute to make its vote, waiting to see how the votes would be placed to see if their vote would make a difference and then voted how best they thought the folks back home would value their action. They will always try to play both sides of an issue if they think they can get away with it. They knew that people would be watching this one though so they weren’t about to stick their necks on the line. They had to go back home and try to get reelected. Now they can go back home and tell one group of voters that they voted against the bailout of corporate greed and they can also tell another group of voters that they voted for the bailout to save the economy and keep Americans working, and in their minds, technically they did.
I often wonder how politicians can live with themselves or even get much sleep at night. Somehow they have convinced themselves that they are right no matter what it is they do. I don’t think their conscience works they way mine does. I tend to think that some politicians have lost their consciences a long time ago. That is why we need to step in and remind them that we haven’t lost ours. It is still a government of the people, by the people and for the people, and that means we have a responsibility that goes beyond one single Election Day. In the memory of our founding fathers, may we continue to make this ‘One Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.’
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
18 October 2008
Tips for playing in IWON part 4
When you open the game you may notice that sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. While typing this I have just managed to freeze up one of the free slot games. I have had more trouble of late because of the changes they have made to the flash players and I think that most of this is tied to Internet Explorer not being as capable or compatible with IWONs programming. I have written IWON to let them know of the troubles but with little notice or improvement. I have found that if you are having these problems you might be better off trying a particular game using Firefox as your browser. I know I have.
By the way, I had two games open in the background for reference in Explorer and I think they conflicted with each other and that caused the lockup. Reboot to explorer via the Task Manager and we will try again.
When playing any of these games you may like to try a little trick that I use all the time and that is to resize the window so that it only displays the game you are playing. This helps you focus on the game and not all the noise that is going on in the background. IWON again is ad driven but it is driving me mad with all the ads they throw at you. There is always one just below the game that not only flashes and winks at you but is changing every few seconds and it is very distracting so by putting it just out of view you are better able to focus on what you are doing. When you resize just remember to leave enough room on the right to remind you that there is a $3,000.00 jackpot to play for.
They have also added an IM chat feature to the games, again it can be a distraction but it can be fun. Throw out a line and visit with some of your fellow gamers. Just don’t get too distracted with the chat that you miss Word Pop dropping 3 letters in the far left column.
Most of the games come with the ability to shut off the sound (noise, music etc.) when you first start the game. This is a handy feature for some games as the accompanying sound can be quite annoying. On the other hand some of the background noises are clues in some of the games and you will want them there, just adjust the sound coming from the speakers to a reasonable level before you start to play.
IWON also comes with a search engine and you can earn points with each search. Unfortunately that is about all it is good for. They have teamed up with ASK.com previously Ask Jeeves, but it is a pretty lightweight search engine. Just try searching for this site and see what you get. Nothing, even when I put the exact address in. It is just plain weak. If I put in my name it will reference erectile dysfunction but it will not mention me. Too bad.
They have made a change recently so that their sponsored responses post front and first and they have made it hard to tell where the sponsored stuff ends and the real stuff begins. They have also rearrange the display page so it is much more difficult to navigate the page and look for real returns so I have pretty much given up on using it for real searches and strictly use the power engines of Google or Yahoo and such. Sorry IWON, but your latest edition of search like your latest edition of e-mail lost productivity for me so I can not recommend.
If you are looking for coins though, IWON gives 30 coins per search. This is not enough for a single entry in the sweepstakes and since you need at least 100 I will give you a hint. Enter something to search on that won’t return too much like “Farrwestview” and see what you get. Since it won’t find me it will be a short list and there won’t be any sponsored responses to clog up the page either. This means that the response will be fast. It will also have the box filled with the same search just waiting for you to hit the search button and do it again. This will quickly net you another 30 coins for the search. You can go on doing this several times until you get bored and are ready to move on to the next search or game. I know that there is a part of me that thinks that if I do this enough time that might actually think they should really do a search and look for me, but the odds are probably about as good as winning one of the sweepstakes.
There is a limit on the total amount of coins you can earn in one day or on one game or one daily searching. I do not recall what the totals are and I think they have changed over the course of the years to suit their fancy. You can probably find it out in their rules if you can search that far. I do know that if you are after the coins, learn when to say when because after you reach the total, there is very little use in playing anymore. I found this out the hard way on more than one occasion.
And the last thing to add is that most games have a ranking for the players. As near as I can tell, the game rank you receive is based on your personal high score for that game as compared to other players of the game. As you record a new high score your game rank will drop to a new lower level though it might not show until after you go out and come back in to that game. The game rank number you have today may not be the one you have tomorrow as other players will score will and move up in the ranks. Don’t be discouraged by your numbers, or how they compare to others, they will improve I promise. The important thing is to have fun.
There are lots of games and I know I didn’t begin to touch on many of them but this is a start. If you have any favorite tips you would like to add, please do through the comments section. If you are one of the few to actually win big money from IWON let us know that also. It might make us jealous but it would be good to think that some things are what they say they are.
I wish you all the best of gaming and may you always look for the win in everything you do.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
Click here to go to IWON Tips Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, and now Part 5, and Part 6 (SquareBob Spongepants Collapse)..
By the way, I had two games open in the background for reference in Explorer and I think they conflicted with each other and that caused the lockup. Reboot to explorer via the Task Manager and we will try again.
When playing any of these games you may like to try a little trick that I use all the time and that is to resize the window so that it only displays the game you are playing. This helps you focus on the game and not all the noise that is going on in the background. IWON again is ad driven but it is driving me mad with all the ads they throw at you. There is always one just below the game that not only flashes and winks at you but is changing every few seconds and it is very distracting so by putting it just out of view you are better able to focus on what you are doing. When you resize just remember to leave enough room on the right to remind you that there is a $3,000.00 jackpot to play for.
They have also added an IM chat feature to the games, again it can be a distraction but it can be fun. Throw out a line and visit with some of your fellow gamers. Just don’t get too distracted with the chat that you miss Word Pop dropping 3 letters in the far left column.
Most of the games come with the ability to shut off the sound (noise, music etc.) when you first start the game. This is a handy feature for some games as the accompanying sound can be quite annoying. On the other hand some of the background noises are clues in some of the games and you will want them there, just adjust the sound coming from the speakers to a reasonable level before you start to play.
IWON also comes with a search engine and you can earn points with each search. Unfortunately that is about all it is good for. They have teamed up with ASK.com previously Ask Jeeves, but it is a pretty lightweight search engine. Just try searching for this site and see what you get. Nothing, even when I put the exact address in. It is just plain weak. If I put in my name it will reference erectile dysfunction but it will not mention me. Too bad.
They have made a change recently so that their sponsored responses post front and first and they have made it hard to tell where the sponsored stuff ends and the real stuff begins. They have also rearrange the display page so it is much more difficult to navigate the page and look for real returns so I have pretty much given up on using it for real searches and strictly use the power engines of Google or Yahoo and such. Sorry IWON, but your latest edition of search like your latest edition of e-mail lost productivity for me so I can not recommend.
If you are looking for coins though, IWON gives 30 coins per search. This is not enough for a single entry in the sweepstakes and since you need at least 100 I will give you a hint. Enter something to search on that won’t return too much like “Farrwestview” and see what you get. Since it won’t find me it will be a short list and there won’t be any sponsored responses to clog up the page either. This means that the response will be fast. It will also have the box filled with the same search just waiting for you to hit the search button and do it again. This will quickly net you another 30 coins for the search. You can go on doing this several times until you get bored and are ready to move on to the next search or game. I know that there is a part of me that thinks that if I do this enough time that might actually think they should really do a search and look for me, but the odds are probably about as good as winning one of the sweepstakes.
There is a limit on the total amount of coins you can earn in one day or on one game or one daily searching. I do not recall what the totals are and I think they have changed over the course of the years to suit their fancy. You can probably find it out in their rules if you can search that far. I do know that if you are after the coins, learn when to say when because after you reach the total, there is very little use in playing anymore. I found this out the hard way on more than one occasion.
And the last thing to add is that most games have a ranking for the players. As near as I can tell, the game rank you receive is based on your personal high score for that game as compared to other players of the game. As you record a new high score your game rank will drop to a new lower level though it might not show until after you go out and come back in to that game. The game rank number you have today may not be the one you have tomorrow as other players will score will and move up in the ranks. Don’t be discouraged by your numbers, or how they compare to others, they will improve I promise. The important thing is to have fun.
There are lots of games and I know I didn’t begin to touch on many of them but this is a start. If you have any favorite tips you would like to add, please do through the comments section. If you are one of the few to actually win big money from IWON let us know that also. It might make us jealous but it would be good to think that some things are what they say they are.
I wish you all the best of gaming and may you always look for the win in everything you do.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
Click here to go to IWON Tips Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, and now Part 5, and Part 6 (SquareBob Spongepants Collapse)..
Tips for playing in IWON part 3
Once the game is played, don’t forget to spin the jackpot game that goes with it. You will be given up to 10 spins depending on your score. With Word Pop I have been able to get my 10 spins after the first round so if that is what you are after, why play for more than the first round. The jackpot games are attached to the right side of most games offered. You hit the play now button and wait for it to come back and say try again or sorry and then hit the play button again until all your spins are gone. The jackpot amount starts low and builds to a maximum of $3,000.00 where it seems to stay for quite some time. If you are going to play for the jackpot, I would suggest only playing those games that have already reached their maximum total of $3,000.00. Anything less than that will mostly likely not pay off until reaching that total and probably won’t pay off until many weeks after reaching that total.
If you are playing the jackpot game you can start a fresh round of the game you are in and continue to play the jackpot spins, just be sure to finish your jackpot spins before you reach the end of the game you are playing or it will overwrite your spins with the new allocation and you will lose whatever spins you had remaining. You will also lose remaining spins on the jackpot if you happen to go out of the game to another page, even if by accident. No way to reclaim them if you do, as far as I know. If you have to go elsewhere, open another window, it’s safer that way.
Now is a good time to mention that with IWON there are free games and there are not so free games. Be careful to know this and know the difference. I only play the free games. I am a tightwad, spendthrift, cheapskate, whatever but part of the fun for me is to get something for nothing (and most times getting nothing for nothing but that is o.k.). As with anything on IWON don’t expect too much and you won’t be disappointed. There are plenty of games to enjoy and try out. Find some you like and enjoy. Try some new ones and expand your mind. As long as you’re having fun then that is what counts. Whatever you do, whether it’s free or cost some money, look for a return on your investment, and compare that return to other activities and see which has the greater return and invest in those things. Then you will really notice a payback. If I quit having fun with the games and am never seeming to win anything then the time to move on has arrived. Even free things cost time.
Having games that cost real money on IWON is relatively new and I am skeptic enough that I just stay clear. If it is asking me to open an account and load real dollars against it, I am totally against it. There are enough free casino games on IWON that I don’t need to pay to play. Besides, if the odds of winning anything are horrible on a free game, I can just imagine what they would be like on a game you had to pay to play.
Speaking of the casino games such as slots, poker and blackjack, I have played them some and you can pick up a few coins with them but don’t expect much. It is a quick way to get bored with them and maybe cure yourself of any urges to go to Vegas anytime soon so for that I guess it is worth a little time spent. Watch out for how the game loads coin totals. Some of the games will use your existing coin balance as the coins in play and that means that you can quickly lose many of those coins that you built up to enter the sweepstakes with. The better casino games start you out with a pre-stake amount of about 1000 coins. You can burn through that pretty quickly and then try the $3,000.00 jackpot that goes with it and start all over. Just be sure to notice if you are using your money or theirs.
Also, take note that IWON has been putting up lots of ads in places that are normally just IWON items and look like links to other IWON games but are in fact taking you off site to other areas that are collecting e-mail address and are pay for play sites or at least spam magnets. As with anything on the web, be aware of what you computer is doing at all times. If you are not afraid of these things, venture forth but use your new IWON e-mail account, it will be perfect for just this sort of thing.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
Click here to go to IWON Tips Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 (SquareBob Spongepants Collapse).
If you are playing the jackpot game you can start a fresh round of the game you are in and continue to play the jackpot spins, just be sure to finish your jackpot spins before you reach the end of the game you are playing or it will overwrite your spins with the new allocation and you will lose whatever spins you had remaining. You will also lose remaining spins on the jackpot if you happen to go out of the game to another page, even if by accident. No way to reclaim them if you do, as far as I know. If you have to go elsewhere, open another window, it’s safer that way.
Now is a good time to mention that with IWON there are free games and there are not so free games. Be careful to know this and know the difference. I only play the free games. I am a tightwad, spendthrift, cheapskate, whatever but part of the fun for me is to get something for nothing (and most times getting nothing for nothing but that is o.k.). As with anything on IWON don’t expect too much and you won’t be disappointed. There are plenty of games to enjoy and try out. Find some you like and enjoy. Try some new ones and expand your mind. As long as you’re having fun then that is what counts. Whatever you do, whether it’s free or cost some money, look for a return on your investment, and compare that return to other activities and see which has the greater return and invest in those things. Then you will really notice a payback. If I quit having fun with the games and am never seeming to win anything then the time to move on has arrived. Even free things cost time.
Having games that cost real money on IWON is relatively new and I am skeptic enough that I just stay clear. If it is asking me to open an account and load real dollars against it, I am totally against it. There are enough free casino games on IWON that I don’t need to pay to play. Besides, if the odds of winning anything are horrible on a free game, I can just imagine what they would be like on a game you had to pay to play.
Speaking of the casino games such as slots, poker and blackjack, I have played them some and you can pick up a few coins with them but don’t expect much. It is a quick way to get bored with them and maybe cure yourself of any urges to go to Vegas anytime soon so for that I guess it is worth a little time spent. Watch out for how the game loads coin totals. Some of the games will use your existing coin balance as the coins in play and that means that you can quickly lose many of those coins that you built up to enter the sweepstakes with. The better casino games start you out with a pre-stake amount of about 1000 coins. You can burn through that pretty quickly and then try the $3,000.00 jackpot that goes with it and start all over. Just be sure to notice if you are using your money or theirs.
Also, take note that IWON has been putting up lots of ads in places that are normally just IWON items and look like links to other IWON games but are in fact taking you off site to other areas that are collecting e-mail address and are pay for play sites or at least spam magnets. As with anything on the web, be aware of what you computer is doing at all times. If you are not afraid of these things, venture forth but use your new IWON e-mail account, it will be perfect for just this sort of thing.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
Click here to go to IWON Tips Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 (SquareBob Spongepants Collapse).
Tips for playing in IWON part 2
If your goal is to obtain as many coins as possible in order to make as many entries into the sweepstakes as possible then your best bet is to get good at the word games. The one I have had the most luck with is Word Pop. It pays off well. It can eat up a lot of time though and the biggest drawback is that there is no pause button; once you start, you play to the end, which may come soon if you need to take a bathroom break in the middle.
The key to this game as to many of the other word games is to get familiar with it then read the rules to see how the scoring is done. Word Pop does not list scoring in its rules but it acts like many of the other word games in that it gives more points the bigger the word. And it gives significantly more points for significantly bigger words. The smallest words are three letters long and there is a cap of the longest words accepted but I can’t remember what that is set at for this game, 8 or 9 letters I think. It doesn’t matter much as it almost takes too long to click on that many letters and then find out that you are missing the second ‘n’ to complete the spelling.
Speaking of spelling, they have a pretty inclusive dictionary so you might think you are making up a word and it will work anyway. Use this as a vocabulary building exercise and then you can justify your game play as educational. I have noticed that all games do not use the same dictionary because some words will work in one game that will not work in another. This is a matter of trial and error. As you play the word games you will notice that you can get very good at certain strategies. Build on them and then build from them. Hang in there and your hi scores will grow.
For example, in Word Pop start simple by going after as many three letter words as possible, building on speed in recognizing the three letter words and using hand eye coordination as quickly as possible to select each letter, completing the word and moving on to the next word. Some three letter words are easy to spot because the letters are close together while some are spread across the page. Get in the habit of looking across the whole board often. It is too easy to get stuck in one section of the puzzle and then miss all the letters that dropped down on the other side ending your round.
By the way, Word Pop likes to drop letters on the ends so be sure to work at keeping the end columns lowered first then work with the middle. You may notice that the letters drop from the top in a back and forth motion working from one end to the other, and you can also work back and forth following the letter drops and generally keep up the new letters as they drop.
Once you have three letter words down pat start looking for four letter words. Many three letter words can be made into four letter words by making them plural, as simple as adding an “s” at the end. In fact, adding any common suffix to many words is an easy way to get the bigger letter count. Look to adding “s”, “es”, “ed”, “ing”, “ful”, etc. to any of your basic words and you have instantly increased your point tally.
The other thing you can do after playing the game for awhile is notice what words you see and use a lot of, then think of what bigger words you could create if you just added a letter or two. Then the next time you played look for those extra letters when you come across your commons words. That way if you are always seeing “and” then look for “band” or “sand” and after that look for “brand” or “strand” and always remember to add a suffix and make “brands” or “stranded”.
One last thing to know about the word games is that some letters are more common than others and you will get too know which ones are which as you play. There are many times I have wanted to spell what I thought would be a common word but would be missing one of the letters to complete it and I would have to stop, clear the word, and start on another. There are also many tricky letters thrown in with the hopes that it will stump you. “Q” and “X” are two that come to mind but if you have some quick words at the ready you will not be stumped. There is usually always something you can do to play them.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
Click here to go to IWON Tips Part 1, Part 3, and Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 (SquareBob Spongepants Collapse).
The key to this game as to many of the other word games is to get familiar with it then read the rules to see how the scoring is done. Word Pop does not list scoring in its rules but it acts like many of the other word games in that it gives more points the bigger the word. And it gives significantly more points for significantly bigger words. The smallest words are three letters long and there is a cap of the longest words accepted but I can’t remember what that is set at for this game, 8 or 9 letters I think. It doesn’t matter much as it almost takes too long to click on that many letters and then find out that you are missing the second ‘n’ to complete the spelling.
Speaking of spelling, they have a pretty inclusive dictionary so you might think you are making up a word and it will work anyway. Use this as a vocabulary building exercise and then you can justify your game play as educational. I have noticed that all games do not use the same dictionary because some words will work in one game that will not work in another. This is a matter of trial and error. As you play the word games you will notice that you can get very good at certain strategies. Build on them and then build from them. Hang in there and your hi scores will grow.
For example, in Word Pop start simple by going after as many three letter words as possible, building on speed in recognizing the three letter words and using hand eye coordination as quickly as possible to select each letter, completing the word and moving on to the next word. Some three letter words are easy to spot because the letters are close together while some are spread across the page. Get in the habit of looking across the whole board often. It is too easy to get stuck in one section of the puzzle and then miss all the letters that dropped down on the other side ending your round.
By the way, Word Pop likes to drop letters on the ends so be sure to work at keeping the end columns lowered first then work with the middle. You may notice that the letters drop from the top in a back and forth motion working from one end to the other, and you can also work back and forth following the letter drops and generally keep up the new letters as they drop.
Once you have three letter words down pat start looking for four letter words. Many three letter words can be made into four letter words by making them plural, as simple as adding an “s” at the end. In fact, adding any common suffix to many words is an easy way to get the bigger letter count. Look to adding “s”, “es”, “ed”, “ing”, “ful”, etc. to any of your basic words and you have instantly increased your point tally.
The other thing you can do after playing the game for awhile is notice what words you see and use a lot of, then think of what bigger words you could create if you just added a letter or two. Then the next time you played look for those extra letters when you come across your commons words. That way if you are always seeing “and” then look for “band” or “sand” and after that look for “brand” or “strand” and always remember to add a suffix and make “brands” or “stranded”.
One last thing to know about the word games is that some letters are more common than others and you will get too know which ones are which as you play. There are many times I have wanted to spell what I thought would be a common word but would be missing one of the letters to complete it and I would have to stop, clear the word, and start on another. There are also many tricky letters thrown in with the hopes that it will stump you. “Q” and “X” are two that come to mind but if you have some quick words at the ready you will not be stumped. There is usually always something you can do to play them.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
Click here to go to IWON Tips Part 1, Part 3, and Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 (SquareBob Spongepants Collapse).
Tips for playing in IWON part 1
Tips for playing in IWON part 1
Since I have noticed that there are others out there that have an interest in the IWON web site I thought that I would pass on some of the insights that I have come across as a user myself and maybe pass along some tips that I have picked up in the many lost hours spent trying to actually win something on IWON. As I write this the IWON website claims that there are 2,195,042 registered users so maybe one of you will find this interesting.
First of all, if you have a slow computer or a slow connection to the web, don’t even bother. IWON is a power hog. It will use whatever you throw at it and still want more. It continually updates (though I am not sure that is the true term for it) its pages and each update seems to require more resources than the last. They are continually looking for ways to through ads in your face so just be aware of that going in.
If you do decide to register the first thing I would do is set up one of their free e-mail accounts first then you use the e-mail account to register your IWON game account with. Be forewarned though, the e-mail account in the old days was pretty good and useable but they have made changes that have turned made it a pain to use. Remember those ads I was talking about. They have managed to use up a lot of available space on your screen leaving very little to actually read your e-mail with. Also note that their spam detector is not very great, and then couple in the fact that just selecting the e-mail from the list opens a preview pane which is equivalent to opening up your spam and publishing your e-mail address is like asking for one bloated e-mail account.
So why get an e-mail account from IWON? Because everyone should have at least one throw away account and this can work for that purpose as well as being a useable interface with IWON themselves. They tend to send out a fair amount of stuff on their own, but if you do actually win something this is a good way to be notified of it. If you do sign up, be sure to uncheck many of the boxes concerning your interest in your preferences setup or they will see that as an open invitation to send you e-mail.
As far as the winning of prizes is concerned, please don’t get your hopes up too high. They claim to have given away over $72 million dollars worth but that number has not changed much in the last few years. I recently noticed that the prizes they do give out are getting smaller and less frequent, if at all, with an IWON water bottle being the latest addition.
Just be aware that the odds are strongly against you winning anything. I have been a player since Oct 1999 and only recently won three $10 Amazon gift certificates. If you spread that out over the time spent it might work out to about $0.0000001 per hour. Don’t view this as a part time job or count it towards your retirement plan. It will give many of you a good appreciation for what the odds of winning a lottery are without having to drop real money. Trying playing the sweepstakes with any strategy you wish and in as many ways possible. If you win, share your secret, but if you are like the great majority of us, fill grateful you weren’t using hard earned dollars.
You may have noticed from the above that I have not discovered the secret to winning the daily, monthly or annual sweepstakes so I can’t pass on anything there. I still play but what else are you going to do with all those coins. What are the coins you ask? Well, as you play the various games on IWON you can win and earn coins. Save up 100 coins and you can make one entry into one of the sweepstakes. It is not too hard to earn some coins but it does take some time. It takes a lot more time than it used to in the old days when compared to making the equivalent number of entries into the sweepstakes. In fact I don’t think you can make in one day the number of total sweepstakes entries you used to get in the past.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
Click here to go to IWON Tips Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 (SquareBob Spongepants Collapse).
Since I have noticed that there are others out there that have an interest in the IWON web site I thought that I would pass on some of the insights that I have come across as a user myself and maybe pass along some tips that I have picked up in the many lost hours spent trying to actually win something on IWON. As I write this the IWON website claims that there are 2,195,042 registered users so maybe one of you will find this interesting.
First of all, if you have a slow computer or a slow connection to the web, don’t even bother. IWON is a power hog. It will use whatever you throw at it and still want more. It continually updates (though I am not sure that is the true term for it) its pages and each update seems to require more resources than the last. They are continually looking for ways to through ads in your face so just be aware of that going in.
If you do decide to register the first thing I would do is set up one of their free e-mail accounts first then you use the e-mail account to register your IWON game account with. Be forewarned though, the e-mail account in the old days was pretty good and useable but they have made changes that have turned made it a pain to use. Remember those ads I was talking about. They have managed to use up a lot of available space on your screen leaving very little to actually read your e-mail with. Also note that their spam detector is not very great, and then couple in the fact that just selecting the e-mail from the list opens a preview pane which is equivalent to opening up your spam and publishing your e-mail address is like asking for one bloated e-mail account.
So why get an e-mail account from IWON? Because everyone should have at least one throw away account and this can work for that purpose as well as being a useable interface with IWON themselves. They tend to send out a fair amount of stuff on their own, but if you do actually win something this is a good way to be notified of it. If you do sign up, be sure to uncheck many of the boxes concerning your interest in your preferences setup or they will see that as an open invitation to send you e-mail.
As far as the winning of prizes is concerned, please don’t get your hopes up too high. They claim to have given away over $72 million dollars worth but that number has not changed much in the last few years. I recently noticed that the prizes they do give out are getting smaller and less frequent, if at all, with an IWON water bottle being the latest addition.
Just be aware that the odds are strongly against you winning anything. I have been a player since Oct 1999 and only recently won three $10 Amazon gift certificates. If you spread that out over the time spent it might work out to about $0.0000001 per hour. Don’t view this as a part time job or count it towards your retirement plan. It will give many of you a good appreciation for what the odds of winning a lottery are without having to drop real money. Trying playing the sweepstakes with any strategy you wish and in as many ways possible. If you win, share your secret, but if you are like the great majority of us, fill grateful you weren’t using hard earned dollars.
You may have noticed from the above that I have not discovered the secret to winning the daily, monthly or annual sweepstakes so I can’t pass on anything there. I still play but what else are you going to do with all those coins. What are the coins you ask? Well, as you play the various games on IWON you can win and earn coins. Save up 100 coins and you can make one entry into one of the sweepstakes. It is not too hard to earn some coins but it does take some time. It takes a lot more time than it used to in the old days when compared to making the equivalent number of entries into the sweepstakes. In fact I don’t think you can make in one day the number of total sweepstakes entries you used to get in the past.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
Click here to go to IWON Tips Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 (SquareBob Spongepants Collapse).
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