MetaZine Issue #4 
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               |\/|etaZine


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"Now It's Ok To Be Square"


VOL 1, Issue 4, November 25, 2000


Editor: Joshua Dickerson, editor@metasquarer.com


Coeditor: Michael Barnathan, webmaster@programmerfaq.com


Publisher: Joshua Dickerson


http://www.MetaSquares.com/metazine


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Surfing, eating, sleeping, chatting, having a start page,


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              IN THIS ISSUE


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  1. What happened to the editor?


  2. Poll: Free or paid host?


  3. NEWS FLASH!


	New version soon to be released.


  4. Article: The future of MetaZine


  5. The top 10 players


  6. Feature Article:


        The Latest Version Of Metasquarer


  7. Feature Web Site


  8. The Quote


  9. Subscription Management


  10. Contact Information





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1.  What happened to the editor?


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It appears that Joshua Dickerson, the editor of MetaZine has left us. I, Michael Barnathan, am writing in his stead, since the delay between issues has exceed two months already. We will let you know when and if Josh comes back.





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2. Poll


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New Poll: How do you like the new design for the website?





Couldn't be better  3  75.00%    Su*nyz*t*r@aol.com


compnut78@cs.com(Me)


l*v*y7*18@aol.com


 


Pretty good  0  0.00%    


Decent  0  0.00%    


Not so great  1  25.00%    Z*r*ok@aol.com


 


I can't stand it!  0  0.00%   





Stars added to protect the identity of the people voting.





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 version to be released!


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Build 6.0's not out yet, but just to get everyone excited, I've decided to post what I'm planning on implementing(so far) to the list so I can get criticism/suggestions about ideas. Build 6.0's going to feature:





An entirely new interface, with a different(Easier and less buggy) skin engine.


Avatars in the chat room. Express yourself with one of over 250 icons.


Support for different piece sets


Peeking that works well(I know, it's pretty much impossible to peek right now due to the bugs in the feature)


A new rating system tied in with a login system that makes cheating impossible and uses the server as the primary source of rating information(Ratings WILL have to be reset for this when 6.0 comes out... sorry)


Profiles for different users(More than one person per copy of squarer)


Web-based records of games played, lost, won, etc., as well as administration of features(Delete account, rename yourself, change password, make profile public to show yourself off to others, etc)


Support for proxy servers and firewalls


Network game support(Technically, you CAN do this now, but you need an IRC daemon on the machine everyone's connecting to)


Tying up of loose ends(Adding undo, redo, and whatever else I missed)


A more reliable way of using irc(Using a component I'm working on, irccontrol3.ocx)


Jesse and I are discussing a yellow box port, which will allow us to distribute on Macintosh, but nothing has come out of it yet.





Suggestions? Changes? Now's the time to make yourself heard.


Email suggestions@metasquarer.com to submit suggestions.





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4. Article:  The future of MetaZine


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This being only the 5th issue of MetaZine, I want to apologize for the delay in sending it out. I was hoping that our editor would show up. Since he hasn't shown up since August, I'm taking the burden of MetaZine on my own hands for now. MetaZine will remain a more or less bi-weekly e-zine, we will try not to have such delays in the future. I will try to adopt Josh's style, though I am NOT a good writer :). Hopefully, Josh will show up again and we can get the zine back to where it should be.





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5. The Top 10 Metasquarer players------------------------------------------------------------





Metasquarer Top 10 Players.





1.) madmeta


     140.54





2.) Matt


     127.12





3.) CatC1


     125.64





4.) Mudd


     121.67





5.) BullGator


     120.15





6.) gonesoon


     116.67





7.) there


     109.62





8.) build


     109.39





9.) Mikey


     108.64





10.) dragon


     107.41





Interested in becoming one of the Top 10 Metasquarers?


You can become one by downloading Build 57 or later of Metasquarer


at Metasquares.com or Metasquarer.com





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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: Email advertising@metasquarer.com.








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6.  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.  It is called "Metasquarer v.


5.5.59(Or build 59 for short)".  This article features the good and the bad of this


new program.








The Good...





Yes, it is finally here! You may now "peek" into games! In addition, since the last update of MetaZine, a computer opponent has been added(Build 58), as well as "Solo" support(Build 57 Rev. 2). Hostmasks are now constant, and in Build 58 and up, they are 100 characters in length. No more problems caused by other people having your hostmask!





The AI opponent is very challenging, and can defeat even the best of the 'Squares players. The bug where it moves for you in subsequent games after you play it once has been fixed in Build 59.





Have you noticed that in the older versions that your score


would reset quite often, even with the tolerance control?  This won't stop it from resetting, but when it DOES reset, it will reset to the rating on the server(Your top 10 rating).





The Bad...


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


that it should also display it's downfalls.





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.) Peeking will not always work. It may take multiple attempts to get a game list


4.) The person playing the game you're peeking into needs to also have build 59.


5.) The AI is TOO hard is most cases. Even on level 1, it's very challenging.





DOWNLOAD v. 5.5.59: http://metasquarer.com





Build 60 is going to have a very sleek look, a whole new design, and a much better experience overall. I hope to fix some bugs for that version also. True to the number(In this case, not always), build 60 will be Version 6.0 of Metasquarer





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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Scott Kim's homepage


http://www.scottkim.com





Remember Scott Kim? You may know him as the puzzlemaster. He was the one that came up with the idea of Squares, and worked with MetaCreations to help design it. He has a really great site on Squares, but not as detailed into the strategy of the game as Cubist's, even though he has more general game info.





Go there:  http://www.scottkim.com





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The MetaStore is finally open, and although we are just starting it, we currently have T-Shirts available. These t-shirts come in all sizes, and although the design is not on the page yet, it looks very pleasing to the eye. Sizes small-xlarge are $13. Larger than that is $16. 100% of the profit goes to helping Metasquarer.


We also offer mousepads and coffee mugs. Check us out at www.metasquares.com/store.html





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8.  The Quote


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"AOL had reportedly tried to talk MetaCreations into moving the game to the Premium games area, which currently charges members US$1.99 per hour over the $19.95 monthly membership fee to play. MetaSquares will not be available on AOL after September 1."





--- 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











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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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