MetaZine Issue #1 
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               |\/|etaZine


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"Now It's Ok To Be Square"


VOL 1, Issue 1, August 08, 2000


Editor: Joshua Dickerson, editor@metasquarer.com


Coeditor: Michael Barnathan, compnut78@cs.com


Publisher: Joshua Dickerson


http://www.MetaSquares.com/metazine


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              IN THIS ISSUE


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  1. Words From The Editor


  2. Poll: New Name


  3. NEWS FLASH!


	New Host


  4. Article: Top 10


  5. Feature Article:


        The Latest Version Of Metasquarer


  6. Feature Web Site


  7. The Quote


  8. Subscription Management


  9. Contact Information





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1.  Welcome From The Editor


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Welcome fellow Metasquarers.  This is the ezine for all 


Metasquare & Metasquarer information.  We hope to send this 


ezine bi-weekly.  On time. Packed with information.





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2. Poll


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New Poll:  NO NEW POLL(S)


mail:  compnut78@cs.com to suggest a poll








Results From "How much(if anything) do you think Metasquarer


should cost until we get Fusion?"





Free	   25%


$1 once    8.33%


$5 once	   33.33%


$10 once   16.67%


$10 a year 16.67%


(choices with less than 1% will not be displayed)











To participate:


In order to participate in the poll you have to be a member


of Egroups (http://egroups.com).  Then you have to join


MetaSquares Newsletter (http://metasquares.com).  Upon


logging into your egroups account, there will be a link


for the poll.  Go there and vote.








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3. NEWS FLASH!:  New Host


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Due to problems between Metasquares creator, Michael


Barnathan, and metasquares host, Morris Bryan, 


Metasquares.com & Metasquarers.com will no longer be hosted


with MorrisBryan.com.





This has come after much downtime and arguing between the


two parties.  





Mike is currently searching for a host that can support his


site and the programs.  Anybody that can contribute any


money or bandwidth at this time would be of great help.





Metasquares.com will be releasing an article on the new site


as soon as the site is up and running.





If you have any thing to contribute or know someone that


does, please contact mike at compnut78@cs.com





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4. Article:  Top 10


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There is a new feature that comes with Build 56.  It works


with the website and the game.  It gives the Top 10 highest


ranking players credit for their games.  Right now I am just


going to list the current Top 10 Players and their ranks.


In the future I plan to write more about the players, their


strategies, and whatever else there is to write.





1.)  madmeta      140.54


2.)  Spillage     110.16


3.)  Mike         106.20


4.)  DewmanJR     104.19


5.)  sonnybru     102.40


6.)  Aurorus      101.69


7.)  TongueMan    101.65


8.)  Fegary       101.48


9.)  MadCow       101.37


10.) Pappy56      101.17





Interested in becoming one of the Top 10 Metasquarers?


You can become one by downloading Build 57 of Metasquarer


at Metasquares.com or Metasquarer.com





PS: The above information is from Michael Barnathan.  It is


    not exactly current.  Since the site is down, we are


    unable to get the correct Top 10.





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GO THERE: http://metasquares.com/metazine/adinfo.htm








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5.  Feature Article


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The Latest Version Of Metasquarer





If you have been to the new metasquares.com lately, you would


have noticed that there is a new site and that there is a new


version of Metasquarer.  Mike is calling it "Metasquarer v.


5.5.56".  This article features the good and the bad of this


new program.








The Good...





The first thing that you will notice upon installing is a


notice that says "Thanks to Fusion, you may use the updater 


again".  This takes care of "irccontrol2.ocx" bug.  Thank You


Mike.  We are all ecstatic to hear that there should not be 


anymore crashes caused by this bug.





Next is the updater.  You may have noticed that the updater


does not work to update TO Build 56.  However, it does


update from Build 56 to the future versions.





I love this.  Mike has incorporated a Top 10 script into


the website and the game.  Now you give your email address


when you first start the game.  Then it will register your


score every time that you play.  This feature is optional.


(I came up with the idea and Mike put it to work)





Have you noticed that in the older versions that your score


would reset quite often?  Me too.  This has been fixed with


a tolerance control for the rating system.





There is a new look for the main screen.  It offers a


"quit button" (like we didn't know where it was ;-);


preferences so that you can change the sounds, your


connection, the appearance; a link to the Top 10; a one-click


link to the help which is very important for all the newbies.


Personally, my favorite feature is the Top 10.  You can see


more than just the Top 10.  You can select the number of


users that you wish to see.


There are also more options to choose from on the menu.  A


link to the rules, some info, and a peek into other people's


games which will not be ready until the next build.





Help now launches your default .chm file viewer, 


regardless of location.





Added 300wins plugin, after noticing 500wins wasn't 


possible in many games.  This was a big problem.  This plugin


will let you play past the 150 points.  When using this plugin


you can play up until 300 points.  You can access it when you


go to challenge a person to a game.








The Bad...


Sorry Mike, since this is an ezine for MetaSquares, I thought


that it should also display it's downfalls.





It has increased it's size.  It went from 2.32 mb to 2.33.


This makes me laugh because it is such a small change and it


is unnoticeable.  I am sure that no one cares about this but


I figured "what-the-heck".





Just like Microsoft. When something new comes out it has more


bugs that need to be fixed.  Since it takes a lot of money


and time to fix these things I will not "rag" on Mike for it.


However, I will still list the current bugs.


1.) If you are disconnected by the server, then attempt to 


    reconnect, the client may crash.


2.) Metasquarer has not been tested on Windows 2000, nor on 


    machines behind a firewall.


3.) Metahost is not always hidden, however, he is usually hidden


I am not sure of other bugs, but these are the ones that are


known and I sure that there are more.





Skins don't work on the new version.  Since there is only one


skin in the archive and Build 57 should have this working


again, no one should get upset over it.





Everybody is waiting for a chance to play against the computer.


How come we can't play against the computer.  I have been


waiting for this ever since I was introduced to the game.





DOWNLOAD v. 5.5.56: http://metasquarer.com








HOLD ON!!!


Immediately after releasing Build 56, Mike released Builds


57 and 58!  Information on these Builds will be released


in a special notice due out later today (or tomorrow).








How did I do for my first "Feature Article"?  Tell me.


email:  editor@metasquarer.com





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6. Feature Web Site


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Cubist's Metasquares Page


http://members.aol.com/Cubist





Could someone say detailed? This site is the most detailed 


when it comes to information about playing the game. It 


doesn't have much about bringing it back, but it's a really 


good site to brush up on your game.





Go there:  http://members.aol.com/Cubist





Interested in becoming a feature site?  Want to get tons of


visitors?  Just link back to our site and mail Joshua @


editor@metasquares.com with the subject: Feature Website.


Include you site name, a description of your site (no


longer than the one shown above), and the url of your site.


If we choose your site than the only way that we will tell


you is through the ezine, so keep on lookin'.








------------------------------------------------------------


          Advertisement


------------------------------------------------------------


This could be your ad!


Yes that is right.  This could be your ad.  Are you


interested in reaching a wide audience at a low cost?  Do 


you have a business to promote?  Well, now you can promote


it here.  We offer lots of different styles of ads.  You 


can reach the entire subscription base!





GO THERE: http://metasquares.com/metazine/adinfo.htm








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8.  The Quote


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"MetaCreations wishes to apologize for the thoughtless way in


which our loyal fans and followers were notified about AOL's 


decision, not ours, to discontinue the MetaSquares game area


for approximately 80,000 Mac and Windows-based subscribers"


  --- Press release from www.gamespot.com





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7.  Subscription Management


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To SUBSCRIBE or join this Newsletter:


Go To Metasquares.com/metazine





To UNSUBSCRIBE or be removed from this Newsletter:


Go To Metasquares.com/metazine











------------------------------------------------------------


8.  Contact Information


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Thank You


Joshua Dickerson (eye-say.com) - editor@metasquarer.com


Michael Barnathan - webmaster@programmerfaq.com








You can find Joshua on MetaSquarer.


Nickname: Groundup





You can find Mike on MetaSquarer.


Nickname: Mike





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