I The Behrend Beacon
First date fashion-forward tips
By DeAdra Walker
fashion columnist
duw I 03 0 psu.edu
In the wake of the very Hallmark-ed and com
mercialized day of hearts, roses and chocolate cov
ered anythings, the world of romance is on com
plete overdrive and first romantic outings are as
abundant as snow in Erie seven months out of the
year. Firsts of any
kind, whether they
are impressions or
meetings, hold a
very heavy weight.
There is only one
first time for every
thing, so it is imper
ative that one makes
that first count
First dates are no
different.
First dates can
make or break
romantic situations.
They have the abili
ty to open up doors
to new relationships
or remind individu
als why they
stepped back from
the dating scene to
begin with. Either
way, no one enters
these situations
expecting the worst. Thus, we as human beings
attempt to control the situation in any way that we
can. The simplest way to do this is by making
attempts to "dress to impress."
There is nothing wrong with wanting to look nice
for your date. As a young woman, I think that I
would appreciate a well dressed gentleman on a din
ner date. This in my mind would show that he put
some thought into his presentation before the out
ing. However, if the gentleman looks stuffy and
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Gaming for lunch, anyone? Take a
A "lunchbreak" game is a browser-based game that a user only has
to devote a few minutes a day to play. Most likely designed for peo
ple who are bored at work, these games have a story or goal. Here are
my top five roleplaying lunchbreak games.
5. Popomundo.com - Popomundo is a game where the user raises a
pop star. The pop star can age, and if it is that time of the month, and
the character's behavior can set to be promiscuous, little pop stars have
Erie, PA 16510
(Down the road from tielirencl)
Michelle Vera Suroviec
photography editor
misl2l@psu edu
r'lr
,::::)
uncomfortable in his pleated khaki pants, loafers,
buttoned down white shirt and sweater vest, then
there are some problems. If one prepared far his
date by raiding his father's wardrobe, that is not too
impressive. On the other end of the spectrum, com
fort does not mean pants so big that the waist falls
past your knees. No one needs to see your Scooby
Doo boxers. Belts have a purpose, but while you
are using one, it's nice if it matches your shoes.
Young women do not get off easily in this aspect
either. Girls like to
feel pretty. Wear
your lacey roman
tic top. Try out that
rise jeans with
thongs hanging
over the waists send messages that are received
quite loudly.
The point is, if you do not appear comfortable,
then that will show to whomever you are on your
date with. With comfort comes confidence.
Confidence. not to he confused with cockiness, is a
highly attractive quality. You can't be confident
when you are tripping over your jeans or stumbling
around in stilettos. Play it safe, and enjoy your date.
However, if you
stumble like a tod
dler in those new
stilettos, leave
them at home.
Either practice
walking in them
before your date,
or pray that you
saved your receipt
so you can at least
get some store
credit for them. In
addition, ladies,
classy is not trashy.
Simply remember
that micro-mini
skirts and ultra low
a chance of being born. Pop stars can go shopping, get a job to sup
port themselves when they are not making money from record con
tracts, buy multiple houses across the world and more.
4. Nationstates.net - Ever thought you could make the world a bet
ter place? Ever wanted to be a dictator? With Nationstates, a user cre
ates a country and makes decisions that affect the outlook of that coun
try. Players can also affect other countries by joining the United
Nations.
3. Kingdomofloathing.com - Kingdom of Loathing is a comical
RPG where a character can choose from character classes such as Seal
Clubbers or Pastamancers. The game features many different loca-
Defragmenting your desktop
By Logan Stack
technology columnist
Iv 18 0 r,u.edu
Dear ASCII,
What is del-ragging')
J-Hay
Dear J-Hay,
Defragging is a process that optimizes how your
computer opens files. Windows doesn't store files
in a way you'd expect it to. When you initially
start writing files, Windows just writes them to the
free space on the disk just after all the space
you've filled up with the Windows installation.
But when you delete a file, it doesn't move all the
other files "down" to fill in the empty space. The
empty space just sits there. Then, when you save
another file, it may be put into that space.
But if you deleted a one megabyte file and are
trying to save a three megabyte file, only one
megabyte will fit in the space of your deleted file.
So, Windows writes the first megabyte of the file
there, and the other two megabytes elsewhere.
That new three megabyte file is "fragmented" -
I lehrend l Biographies
...,,:...,.:: .....„..:,:::,.:::.: :.:.:.
:~:'.
Name: Jim Burns
Age: 19
Semester: 02
Current major: Division of Undergraduate Studies
Possible future major: Architecture (University Park)
Reasons for choosing major: "I like it, and I took an architecture class in high school
What do you want to do when you graduate: "I'm not sure yet."
Name one thing you like about Behrend: "I like how I know everyone."
Name one thing you don't like about Behrend: "The winter is pretty long.'
What do you like to do on the weekends: "Sometimes I go to parties, and sometimes I stay in
the dorms and just hang out."
Are you in any clubs and/or organizations: "Actually, no I'm not."
Do you have a favorite class: "Yes, visual studies."
Do you have a favorite professor: "No, not yet."
Do you have any other interests: "Yeah, I snowboard and I like to play guitar. I have a Fender
Stratocaster."
If you could be any animal, what would you be: "I'd want to be a bird or a hawk so I can fly
around or something."
Yrni
1 1 rll
broken into bits. When you defragment. Windim s
finds all the parts of the fragmented files and
writes them together somewhere. Reading the file
is much faster this way because your hard disk
only has to read from one place. rather than jump
around the entire disk looking for parts of your
Defragmenting is not a process you need to do.
But, if you do it once a month or once a Week.
your computer will run faster. It often takes hours
to complete a defragmentation, and Windows rec
ommends you not do work on your computer
while defragmenting. So, make sure you've got
plenty of time before starting a defragmentation.
You may want to set it up to run at three in the
morning some day of the week. The more often
you defragment, the less time it takes to optimne
the disk.
Macintosh and Linux store their files different
so they can never become fragmented. It ou'r
not running Windows, you don't need to worn _
about defragmenting.
Do you have a computer question? Then
ASCII! Send an e-mail to mailto:ASCl I (o psu. edu.
and you may see your question answered in nest
week's column.
bite out of these
tions to battle monsters using weapons such as the Amulent of
Extreme Plot Significance. Players also get rewarded for mixing
drinks. The fancier the drink, the more extra turns are given.
2. Projectßockstar.com - In Project Rockstar, the player manages up
to ten bands towards stardom. Players choose a musical style, pick
and train band members and schedule gigs. Venues and recording stu
dios can also be developed, offering contracts to other members.
1. Neopets.com - Neopets is a very popular game featuring virtual
pets. Players can take care of up to four pets, entertain them, and the
good news is if you forget to feed them, they don't die!
Friday, February 17, 2006