ok converter box works better than I thought

I can put it to pass-through if I hold the button and wait long enough. There is a delay.

Also if the vcr is set to go to an analog channel and the convertor has no setting. For some reason it doesn't turn on and screw up the signal after all. Odd because it does do that when the tv is on.

So perhaps waiting till June to lose NBC is ok

turing spades

So I've been playing some of the games that come in XP where it matches you to (an)other player(s) on the net.

I especially like Spades. It's an old favorite game I rarely get to play with others. I hadn't previously played partners before, I like it, at least when my partner isn't playing like a moron. Starting to think I might actually really like bridge if I got a chance to play that.

A few things odd about it. You are playing with 0-3 other real people. The game starts with 4 real people, and if any drop out they get replaced with a computer player. Drop out rates vary.

I think the people who drop out as soon as they or their partner takes a trick on a nil (-100 points) are silly. The best games I've played that's happened to both sides and there is a lot of back and forth to who is ahead.

I like playing with real people better than computers for the most part. Because they don't absolutely follow the algorithms of the computer players. They can pull out surprises. If you end up with a game where 2 humans are playing 2 computers, the humans will win if they actually know how to play. (I play on 'expert' so most do play ok, but it's self-selection so some people are total fools or jerks.)

Playing against people, especially when my partner is a real person, I feel obligated to play the best I possibly can. I get really offended when my partner bids double-nil (nil without looking at the cards +/-200 points) under most circumstances because there is a greater than 25% chance that they have cards that make it actually impossible to go nil. Or if they bid nil with too many spades or really high ones.

All you know about the people is what language their OS is. There is a dropdown list of things you can say. I understand the reasons they want to keep it that anonymous and communication limited, but it is odd to have to try to express what you mean from the list. It's missing many things I'd like to say. Sometimes it's a little interesting to see what you can do with what is there, but somethings are just missing. With no tone of voice to make clear when you resort to sarcasm, only context might explain it.