Upgrade to 8.1

So, I may have mentioned (or you may have gathered) that I run on Windows. Windows 8, specifically, which we all know was a disaster. I've turned off automatic updates, and it turns out it was for good reason (well, you know, other than not having my computer restart randomly whenever I'm in the middle of something important. Gee, thanks for making my life "easier," M$).

Recently, I've been bothered by the prompts that ask one to upgrade to 8.1. I wasn't too bothered, since I could send them away no problem.

Even more recently, I decided it was time to update my system, since my tablet driver was freaking out. Unbeknownst to me, this downloaded two updates I would have rather not updated: KB287139 (a prerequisite for the 8.1 upgrade) and KB3008273 (which enables automatic, forced upgrade). Since then, I've been getting the prompting to download right now (or else). The first three times, it gave me the option to 'remind me later,' but not today.

In an effort to get the (stupid) update prompt to stop appearing, I edited the registry to keep it from popping up. But it didn't work.

I've decided that I really hate automatic updates.

If you uninstall the updates mentioned above (KB2871389 and KB3008273), it'll get rid of that annoying thing. Make sure to set these updates on hide after you restart, so they don't get downloaded again.

I need a new computer so I can use Linux as my primary OS *sigh* (I have photoshop on this, and my tablet works. I don't wanna lose that XD)

Anyways . . . what else was I going to say . . . ? Oh, right.

Why would I want to not upgrade to 8.1?

1. Anything that any company wants everyone to do makes me suspicious. The Skype update? What reason do they have to force us all to upgrade to the latest, "best" version? Same with this one.

2. Newer isn't always better.

3. I don't want to have to deal with the dumb store thing. I'm pretty sure I deleted everything connected to that. It irritates me enough that I can't change to a normal account (I have to look into that more. It mainly irritates me that everyone who owns a WindozeH8 computer has to sign in with a hotmail account. Again with the large companies forcing people to do things) without having to deal with that. I use desktop applications.

4. I've personalized my WindozeH8 to look like Windows 7 through certain applications that I bought. I don't want WindozeH8.1 to ruin that and waste a good ten dollars.

5. Why the heck would I want to "fix" something that's not broken? Or, well, I suppose it is broken, since it's Windows8, but how do I know that 8.1 isn't worse? Screw updates.

6. I hate M$.

7. I hate forced upgrades.


That's it for today!

Guessing Game

//So, I mentioned that I'd be in a programming class this quarter. I've written a few programs since. Here is the first one I've done on my own, without any prompting from my class! (I do hope I can use it for my next exam! XD)
//I wrote this program because I was bored.
//I use the IDE Code::Blocks to write and run these things.
//It's C++
//Here's the guessing game!
//...and yes, some of it is written in German. I wasn't planning on sharing. XD It helped me with my german homework (erste = first, zweite = second, so on and so forth).
//All the comments. You shall find none in the code itself.
//I am CERTAIN there's an easier way to choose something from a pre-created list, I just have no idea how to do it.
//This game is meant to display ten random numbers (between 1-100). The program will pick one of the numbers created. The user will try to guess which number was chosen. They will get 5 chances.

#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <time.h>
#include <cstdlib>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
    int erste;
    int zweite;
    int dritte;
    int vierte;
    int funfte;
    int sechste;
    int siebte;
    int achte;
    int neunte;
    int zehnte;
    int guess;
    int answer;
    char playAgain;

    do
    {
        srand(time(0));
        erste = rand() % 100 + 1;

        srand(erste);
        zweite = rand() % 100 + 1;

        srand(zweite);
        dritte = rand() % 100 + 1;

        srand(dritte);
        vierte = rand() % 100 + 1;

        srand(vierte);
        funfte = rand() % 100 + 1;

        srand(funfte);
        sechste = rand() % 100 + 1;

        srand(sechste);
        siebte = rand() % 100 + 1;

        srand(siebte);
        achte = rand() % 100 + 1;

        srand(achte);
        neunte = rand() % 100 + 1;

        srand(neunte);
        zehnte = rand() % 100 + 1;

        cout << "I've chosen one of the following numbers for a game we're going to play: \n";

        cout << erste << endl;
        cout << zweite << endl;
        cout << dritte << endl;
        cout << vierte << endl;
        cout << funfte << endl;
        cout << sechste << endl;
        cout << siebte << endl;
        cout << achte << endl;
        cout << neunte << endl;
        cout << zehnte << endl;

        srand(zehnte);
        answer = rand() % 10 + 1;

        if (answer == 1)
            answer = erste;
        else if (answer == 2)
            answer = zweite;
        else if (answer == 3)
            answer = dritte;
        else if (answer == 4)
            answer = vierte;
        else if (answer == 5)
            answer = funfte;
        else if (answer == 6)
            answer = sechste;
        else if (answer == 7)
            answer = siebte;
        else if (answer == 8)
            answer = achte;
        else if (answer == 9)
            answer = neunte;
        else if (answer == 10)
            answer = zehnte;

        cout << "\n" << "You have 5 chances to guess which number I've chosen. What do you think it is? ";
        cin >> guess;
        cin.clear();
        cin.ignore(100, '\n');

        for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
        {
            if (guess != erste && guess != zweite && guess != dritte && guess != vierte && guess != funfte && guess != sechste && guess != siebte && guess != achte && guess != neunte && guess != zehnte)
                {
                    cout << "\n" << "That's not one of the answers, idiot. Try again. You have " << (4 - i) << " chance(s) left! Your guess: ";
                    cin >> guess;
                    cin.clear();
                    cin.ignore(100, '\n');
                }
            else if (guess != answer)
                {
                    cout << "\n" << "WRONG. Try again! You have " << (4 - i) << " chance(s) left! Your guess: ";
                    cin >> guess;
                    cin.clear();
                    cin.ignore(100, '\n');
                }
            else if (guess == answer)
               {
                cout << "\n" << "That's correct, you leg. \n";
                i = 4;
               }
        }

        if (guess != answer)
        {
            cout << "\n" << "You ran out of chances. I WIN, HA-HA. \n";
            cout << "Play again? (Y/N): ";
            cin >> playAgain;
            cin.ignore(100, '\n');
            cin.clear();
        }
        else if (guess == answer)
        {
            cout << " Play again? (Y/N): ";
            cin >> playAgain
            cin.ignore(100, '\n');
            cin.clear();
        }

        cout << "\n" << endl;

    } while (playAgain == 'Y' || playAgain == 'y');

        return 0;
}

Skype: Slight Glitch

Okay, so yesterday, my Skype totally flipped out and shut down (I'm using 5.10, remember). For the life of me, I could not get back in (it kept showing the irritating "Skype could not connect" error whenever I typed my password in). I uninstalled 5.10 and reinstalled it, but to no avail.

So, the first thing I did after that was run over to Services to check on the skype updater. To my horror, it was NOT disabled, like I had done to it over a month ago. I redisabled it, and tried 5.10 again. It still didn't work.

I removed Skype Click to Call (which was running version 6.21 for some reason). Still didn't make my Skype work.

Scratching my head at this point, I removed Skype from my computer and downloaded version 6.21. This time, it opened up without a problem. Irritated still, since I don't like ANY of the new features, I decided to try once more to reverse the problem.

I checked in the Temp folder (C:\Users\<your_username>\AppData\Local\Temp) and found that 5.10 was still the SkypeSetup.exe there, so I went and uninstalled 6.21, then reinstalled 5.10 from the exe.

To my surprise, Skype opened up with no problem this time.

So, I guess I would write out this procedure like so:

1. Check to make sure the Skype Updater is disabled in your services.
2. Remove Skype Click to Call
3. Remove your version of Skype
4. Download a more recent version of Skype, sign in.
5. Sign out, delete the recent version of Skype.
6. Redownload your version of Skype.
7. Hopefully, bask in victory.

I hope I don't have to repeat this process every time I log out of Skype or it crashes, but I will if it means getting to keep my 5.10!

Happy debugging, everybody!

Music Theory: Chapter One

I've been learning music since I was, like, five. At least since 2006. I remember taking my violin with me to Italy, claiming I was going to practice all the while long (yeah, right!). I wanted to learn piano, but my mother made me learn the violin instead, for some reason. My older-younger brother also learned the violin. 

Recently, I took a Music Theory class. It was both to satisfy a credit, get an A (which was harder than it sounds, truly), and learn how to compose music. I came out with all three, thankfully (although, the 'composing music' bit is still coming along). I bought my music theory book instead of renting it, so I still have it on hand. Half the book was stuff I already knew about music theory, since my violin teacher made me do theory non-stop, but I did come out learning things. 

So, I thought, why not make a blog post series about it, since I still have my book (though I could do it from memory)? This motivation mainly comes from talking to people about music theory and they having no clue what I'm going on about. It's like speaking German to an only-English speaker! (Oh. I should do some German blog posting. That would be fun. Did I mention anywhere that I'm learning German?) I don't like it when people don't understand me when I'm talking about music, so I'm going to try and shove knowled--gently teach some people along the path. 

Here we go! I may skip things in the book that aren't relevant (or things I don't think are relevant. Buy the book if you want to read it all. XD) 

Hopefully, no one sues me for teaching from this book online. I bought it! and I credit the author, Ronald J. Gretz. I do not subscribe to the belief that everyone must pay $100 for a textbook to learn things (though I think this one was more like $20). Most of what I write will be straight from the book, often just paraphrased. Pls don't be suin' me. 

So, I guess, this is a Reader's Digest version of Music: Language and Fundamentals. With fun pictures!

Chapter 1: The Notation of Pitch

The musical language has an alphabet of only seven letters:

A B C D E F G

It's beneficial to know those backwards: 

G F E D C B A

The seven letters of alphabet represent seven different pitches (regular vibrations). These pitches are placed on a staff. The modern staff is five, parallel lines. The staff alone shows only the relationship of pitch: high (top) or low (bottom). 

Pitches are represented by notes on the staff. 

 A clef is placed on the staff to identify the letter name of the pitch. The placement of notes depends on which clef is used. We use three different clefs: the Treble clef, the Bass clef, and the C, or Viola, Clef. (We're only going to talk about the Treble and Bass here for now.)

See how the treble clef noms that second line from the bottom with its swirlyness? That's G. This also identifies all the other lines and spaces.

(Note: D before E at the beginning, F after G on the end. Too lazy to go back and draw 'em in.)

If a letter is on a line, it will be on a space the next time it appears (an octave: the distance in pitch between a note and the next repetition of its letter name. (e.g., E-E or F-F in "Note Names")). 

Ledger Line: an extension of the staff above or below the usual five lines. Ledger lines are equidistant from the staff and long enough for only one note. Only use as many ledger lines as are necessary to notate the desired pitch. 

The Piano Keyboard

There are 52 white keys and 36 black keys (88 keys total) on a piano. They have a repeating pattern (I feel like this book thinks you've never seen a piano before).

Learning the keyboard will help you visualize pitches and their relations. If you have one handy, or a virtual one, you can also use it to help you with chords, since it is capable of playing pitches simultaneously. 

The grouping of black notes helps us identify white notes. To the left of any group of two black notes is always a C, the middle the D, and, to the right, always an E. 

 For three black notes, the white note on the left will always be F, the middle two G and A, B on the right.

Clefs are used to show specific locations of a pitch on the keyboard. High pitches are on the right, low on the left ("Talk to me like I'm five." / "Oh my gosh, where are your parents?!"). Thus, treble clef represents those on the right, bass those on the left. 

On the wood directly above the keyboard, you should see the name of the maker of the piano (Yamaha, Steinway, Bach, etc.,). Directly under the name, there is a group of two black notes. The C of that group is called "middle C" and is written below the staff on a ledger line in the treble clef, or above the staff on a ledger line in the bass clef. 

Location of sind viele (many many) notes can be shown by a Grand Staff, which is actually two staves combined. 

Why have ledger lines? So you can do stuff like this: 

This also works for the bass clef. Ledger lines are used to write pitches higher and lower than the staves, and to simplify notation.

That's all for chapter one!

Practice the above knowledge here: 

Note Identification (You must turn off accidentals in the 'customize' sidebar (upper right hand corner, left of the piano symbol))

Reverse Keyboard Note Identification (You must turn off accidentals for this as well)

Keyboard Note Identification (There is not a quick and easy way to turn off the accidentals for this one, unfortunately, so this will be harder to use. The black keys are accidentals, which are sharps (#) and flats (b), so you could have a stab at this. We'll get into more of that in chapter two.)

Some helpful mnemonics:

Sources:

Music: Language and Fundamentals by Ronald J. Gretz. 2nd Edition. Published by McGraw Hill, 1990-1994.

New Year's Resolutions

I don't usually make these things, but I've got one for this year: blog more! I'm awful at blogging. The fact that this blog is the third I've made, but the first to get past more than two posts, says something, I think.

I've collected a few possible things to blog about:

Games (Card, mostly)
How to Linux (once I download it on something or fix the GRUB error on the drive I already have it downloaded to. It'll be Xubuntu, by the way, unless otherwise stated.)
What [Media] Teaches Me
How to TiddlyWiki (the internet needs more of these)
Help With Writing (Writing and Editing)
How to Crochet?
Help With Art (A request)
How to Music Theory (And some 'This Might Be How to Music I'm Not Sure' posts, because I am an amateur (like really really amateur) composer.)
Programming and Debugging notes (it's going to happen; I'm taking an intro-to-programming class next quarter)
Flash Fictions
How to Internet
Miscellaneous
Etc.,.

I hope to make several of these a series. I might even set up a schedule sometime! No one really reads my blog right now other than a few I link some posts to, so I feel at liberty to do really whatever I want XD

That is all~

Card Games: "May I?"

Card playing is a big thing in my family. Whenever it's a big holiday, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's, we play hours of card games. I've come to notice, however, that when I look up the rules of some of these games, they are often different variations on what we play.

So, I've decided to put some of our rules up here! I hypothesize that the cause of mutation is caused by a lack of a physical record; we teach each other card games orally, instead of reading from something written.

Our favorite game to play is a Rummy variant, called "May I?" I looked up some other variants (one which I shall dub 'EVIL "May I?"'), none of which were played the same as ours.

*I apologize in advance if some of the symbols for cards I use are not the same as standardized rules. I will also be using 'she' as the preferred pronoun throughout this series, since I usually game with other women. XD

"May I?" (Honsvick Style)

Objective: 

Be the player with the least amount of points by the last round. The best way to achieve this is try to be the first one to go out each round, or at least down. 

Setup: 

We usually play with 4 or 5 people, but it can be played with 3-6+ (more than 6 starts to get painful, but possible. More than 2-3 decks are required for more.). We start out with two standard decks, with the Jokers (which are Wild Cards), but add in a third deck around 10-12 cards, depending on how many people there are. 

Each person is dealt the required amount of cards each round. The dealer begins with the person to her left and ends with herself; make sure everyone has their respective pile of cards (or else the luck is screwed up. Don't mess with the luck). 

When the person to the dealer's left is ready to begin, she picks up the top card from the deck and turns it over. 

Rounds: 

There are seven rounds. For each round, there is a different amount of cards needed, as well as different combinations of cards to win. 

A set: (at least) three cards, all of the same value. (e.g., Seven, Seven, Seven.)
A run: a sequence of (at least) four cards in the same suit. You cannot bridge the gap with a run: no King, Ace, Two. A234 and JaQKA are fine.

1. 7 cards: Two sets

2. 8 cards: One set, one run 

3. 9 cards: Two runs 

4. 10 cards: Three sets 

5. 11 cards: Two sets, one run 

6. 12 cards: Two Runs One Set

7. 13 cards: Three Runs

Theoretically, this pattern could continue endlessly. Two sets == 6 cards, which is one less than 7. One set, one run == 7 cards, which is one less than 8. So on and so forth. However, at 14 cards, you have two choices: 2 runs, 2 sets, or 3 sets, 1 run. We never play past 7 rounds for this reason.  

Note: A player cannot lay down more than the required sets/runs. 

Play of Cards:

A player begins her turn by drawing the top card from either the deck or the discard pile. A player ends her turn by discarding to the discard pile. 

Going Down: When a player has all the cards she needs for that round (e.g., Two Sets for Round 1), she may lay her cards down face-up on the table. This must be done during her turn; she cannot lay her hand down in between turns or during someone else's turn. 

Going out: A player wins a round when she gets rid of all her cards . She can do this by laying either on her own cards (adding to a set or extending a run), or by laying on someone else's (who is also down) cards. 

Her last card must be discarded; in this version, a player cannot play-out (which makes it easier, really). 

If a player is not down, she cannot play on another, already-down player's cards. However, if another player has a Joker in their laid-down sets/runs, any other player (whose turn it is) may replace the Joker with the proper card and take the Joker. 

May I-ing: In between turns*, if a player (P1) sees a card she needs, she may ask the player whose turn is about to begin (P3), "May I?" If P3 does not want the card on the discard pile, she will say, "You may." (If P3 does want the card, she gets it, no questions asked.) P1 then takes the top card from the discard pile AND the top card from the deck. 

However, if P4 wants the card on the discard pile and also asks, "May I?" (and P3 agrees), then P4 gets the card instead of P1, because P4 comes in the rotation before P1. 

Each player has only two May-I's (per round). May-I's make it harder to go out, for each adds two cards to a player's hand. A player can keep track of her May-I's by counting her cards (e.g., Round 1: 9 cards means 1 May-I. 11 cards means 2). A player who is down has no need (and should not want) to May-I.

Multiple May-Is in a row can occur. If P1 wanted the top discard card and May-Ied it, then P2 wants the new top discard card, she may May-I it. 

*We always play that a player cannot May-I during someone's turn, but I'm told this is a rule the group needs to decide before the game begins. Can you May-I during someone's turn? 

Scoring:

Points are tallied at the end of each round and accumulate.

She who goes out receives 0 points for that round.

All who lay down count only what they are still holding (i.e. their cards on the table don't count towards points.)

Those who do not lay down might ragequit (or just weep quietly), depending on how many points they have in their hand.

2-9: Face value

10-K: 10 points

A: 15 points

Joker: 25 points

It IS possible to never go out and win the game, generally by collecting all low cards and discarding all one's high cards. It makes other people want to strangle you, however. 

Something else a player can do, if she wants to troll the other players, is collect all the cards everyone else needs. This is generally a bad tactic for winning, since high cards are often included, but it gives a player who never wins the satisfaction of cackling throughout the entire game. (One of my aunts does this.) 

Adding A Player In: 

Players can jump in mid-game (at the beginning of a round, of course). However, they must adopt the losing score as their own; they don't start at 0 points as everyone does at the very beginning of the game. 

"May I?" (EVIL Style)

This is one of the variants I found online. (First post). It makes our variant seem like we're playing Nerf. As my sister says, this one would involve "twice the crying." It's slightly modified, since some of the rules don't make sense. (How are you supposed to lay down 12 cards when all you have is 11? Theoretically, it is possible, since when you draw, you have one more card than you were dealt, but I feel like you shouldn't just lay down to go out.)

Objective:

Be the player with the least amount of points by the last round. The best way to do this is to go out each round. 

Setup:

Shuffle three standard decks together. Game for 3-6 players. 

For the first four rounds, deal 11 cards to each player. For the last two rounds, deal 13 cards to each player. The dealer begins with the person to her left and ends with herself; make sure everyone has their respective pile of cards.

When the person to the dealer's left is ready to begin, she picks up the top card from the deck and turns it over. 

Rounds: 

There are six rounds. For each round, a different combination of cards is needed to win.

A set: (at least) three cards, all of the same value. (e.g., Seven, Seven, Seven.)
A run: a sequence of (at least) four cards in the same suit. Aces CANNOT be used as 1 in this version; they can only be used after a K. 

1. One set, one run. (7 cards to lay down)

2. Two runs. (8)

3. Three sets. (9)

4. Two sets, one run. (10)

5. Two runs, one set. (11)

6. Three runs. (12)

A player cannot lay down more than the required sets/runs.  

Play of Cards: 

A player begins her turn by drawing the top card from either the deck or the discard pile. A player ends her turn by discarding to the discard pile. 

Going Down: When a player has all the cards she needs for that round (e.g. Two Sets for Round 1), she may lay her cards down face-up on the table. This must be done during her turn; she cannot lay her hand down in between turns or during someone else's turn. 

Going out: A player wins a round when she gets rid of all her cards . She can do this by laying either on her own cards (adding to a set or extending a run), or by laying on someone else's (who is also down) cards*. 

Her last card must be played on either her own cards or on someone else's; in this version, a player cannot discard-out.

If a player is not down, she cannot play on another, already-down player's cards.

*Jokers may be replaced in a run and will move “up” in the run unless there is already an Ace at the top, then they will move down. They will stay with the run and may not be replaced once a run is full. 

May I-ing: In between turns, if a player (P1) sees a card she needs, she may ask the player whose turn is about to begin (P3), "May I?" If P3 does not want the card on the discard pile, she will say, "You may." (If P3 does want the card, she gets it, no questions asked.) P1 then takes the top card from the discard pile and TWO cards from the top of the deck. 

If more than P1 says, "May I?" it is she who said it first who gets the card. If it is a close call as to who said it first, a loud disputation will settle the matter, with P3's word being final. 

Each player has only two May-I's (per round). May-I's make it harder to go out, for each adds two cards to a player's hand. A player can keep track of her May-I's by counting her cards (e.g., Round 1: 9 cards means 1 May-I. 11 cards means 2). A player who is down has no need (and should not want) to May-I.

Scoring: 

She who went out scores 0 points for that round. 

Those who do not go out might ragequit (or just weep quietly), depending on how many points they have in their hand. (This version says nothing about people who go down getting freebies.)

2-7: 5 points

8-K: 10 points

A: 20 points

Joker: 50 points

Other Variants: 

Variant one: 

1. 2 decks. Each round gets 10 cards.
2. NO Jokers, NO wild cards.
3. Begin with only two sets for 6 cards to lay down. 
4. Remove 'three runs' round. 
5. Players may use May-Is as much as they would like, only drawing one card from the deck. Players can May-I multiple times at once. (May-I the top card, then May-I the next top card.)
6. You can only discard-out.
7. Aces are only worth 15 points and can be used both low and high (a 14 card run is possible, if there were such a thing). Bridging is not allowed, however.
8. In the last round (Two runs, one set) NO ONE may May-I a card unless it is her WINNING CARD. She does not draw a penalty at this point, either, but goes out immediately.

Variant Two: 

1. No Jokers; Twos are wild.
2. Two rounds are added (to the Evil Style): Three runs, and an abnormal round: One set, one run of 7 
3. "You cannot have an out card." I have no idea what this means. Do you?

Variant Three: 

This version of May-I combines many of the rules from all the versions. Reading it may also make reading my guide easier to read, by the way; I've never explained a card game before in writing. A few terms are different--contract, melding, laying off, etc.,--but the idea is the same.

1. Dealing is the same as the Honsvick Style
2. There are no Jokers; Twos are wild. (Variant Two)
3. The round combinations are the same as the Honsvick Style.
4. It has an alternate version of the last round; Two Sets, One Run and no discard, instead of Three Runs. The round ends immediately after 'melding' all the cards (a.k.a. going down) (Variant One, sort of). 
5. Play ends if all the cards run out and there is no winner. (That sucks. Just add another deck in in our version. XD)
6. The person that asks for a May-I first gets it (Evil Style).
7. You cannot take a deuce from the meld it is a part of (Evil Style). 
8. Number cards are all face-value, except for Twos, which are 20 points. Face cards are 10 points, and Aces are 15. 
9. Aces can only be played as high. (Evil Style)

Variant Four: 

Another guide I found online with the variant name "Contract Rummy." Good to know. This uses some of the same language from the other guide. 

1. Three to five players; optimum four. 
2. Two decks WITH Jokers.
3. There should be one less Joker than there are players; three players play with 106, four with 107, five with 108. (Interessant!) 
4. Seven rounds; in the first three rounds, players recieve 10 cards each. In the last four, they receive 12.
5. No discard on last round (three runs). 
6. You may not lay off (play off) other people's cards on the same turn you lay down.
7. You must discard-out for every round except round 7.
8. Play ends if all the cards run out.
9. If several people want to May-I a card, it goes to the player earliest in rotation. 
10. There is no limit on May-Is, but one player cannot successively take more than one card from the discard pile.
11. Jokers gained by stealing from someone else's meld MUST be played THAT TURN. It cannot be saved for play later.
12. Contigious sequences (or runs) are not allowed; no runs of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, 6, 7, 8. There must be a gap, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, and  3, 4, 5, 6, or 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, 7, 8, 9.
13. In round seven, one of the sequences must be longer than four cards.
14. Numbered Cards are their face value, Face cards are 10, Aces 15, Jokers 15. 
15. There is no rule stating whether Aces are high or not. 
16. A variation: No Jokers.
17. Liverpool Rummy is another game similar to Contract Rummy. 

I'm sure there's more out there, but there's what my initial search pulled up. I think if I search "Contract Rummy," I'd get all sorts more rules. Whee!

What's your favorite version of "May I?"

Skype

I remember it almost as it was yesterday. I was sitting in my chair, drinking herbal tea, Skyping my friends, and then suddenly--disaster struck.

Skype closed.

Immediately, my heart spiked as a window opened up, prompting me to download the latest version of Skype or I would never use it again. I had knew this was coming, ever since Microsoft bought Skype out (blasted M$).

Reluctantly, after battling Google for an answer to keep my beloved 5.10.0.116 version, I finally downloaded the latest version of Skype.

Since then, I have been plagued by automatic updates without my even knowing, sometimes: I would open up Skype to see a small notification saying, "We've downloaded the latest version of Skype so you have the latest improvements and bug fixes!" ("We're doing this for your own good, Mariah. You don't know what you're doing. Just let us help you. You'd like that, wouldn't you? Imagine a world where happiness abounds . . . all because you let us handle your updates. You don't even have to worry about it . . .")

My Skype continued to get weirder, shinier, and more "user friendly," (no doubt, since that's what M$ is all about). And I hated it.

Today, however, was the last straw. With the upgrade to Skype 7.0, Skype almost stopped working every time I switched over to type in something (correction: It DID. It would either lag incredibly, or it would freeze and show "Skype (Not Responding)").

So, to Google I went, praying desperately for a solution. And I found one--now I'm sitting pretty on version 5.10.0.116 of Skype (*cackles maniacally* Take that, M$!).

So, you want to downgrade Skype? Here it goes. (Note: I'm not talking to you like you're five, I'm just trying to be clear)

Step One: Remove Skype

Gotta get rid of the newest version to replace it with an old version. 

1. Go to Control Panel 
2. Go to Programs and Features
3. Find Skype
4. Uninstall

Step Two: Download the Setup of the version of Skype you want. 

M$ has blanketed over almost everything I pulled up today; I think I actually had the setup for 5.10.0.116 already stored on my computer. I think there's a way to search in the Skype files for the old versions, but I don't know how; Google is your friend if you want to look into that. I have a few lying around: 

5.10.0.116

6.21.0.104 or 6.21.0.104 (File Hippo)

Have fun looking for other versions (and I hope those 6.21 versions don't go out of style for you).

Step Three: Replace the SkypeSetup.exe with the SkypeSetup.exe You Want

Now that you have your beloved version, you must trick Skype into thinking it's updating all the way. 

1. Navigate to C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Temp
2. Scroll down to SkypeSetup.exe (Ignore the Skype folder)
3. Delete the SkypeSetup.exe and the other Skype files surrounding it (I had three things; the SkypeSetup, Skype Toolbars, and some other Skype setup thingy I got rid of just in case, since it 'contained all the information and data needed for version 7.0').
4. Copy your SkypeSetup.exe version that you like (probably under the name of "SkypeSetup_<version>.exe"; I renamed it to "SkypeSetup.exe") into the Temp folder.
5. Right-Click on the File and go into Properties
6. Check the 'Read Only' button
7. Apply

Step Four: Download Your Version of Skype

1. Download your version of Skype from the SkypeSetup.exe (I had a copy on my desktop I downloaded from; I don't know if you can download from the Temp file, but probably)
2. Open Skype and bask in your victory.

Step Five: Disable the Skype Updater.

This gets rid of Skype's ability to check for and download updates automatically.

1. Go to Services (Start > Run > Type "Services.msc"; search your computer for it; go through the Control Panel; Task Manager > Services > Open Services)
2. Find 'Skype Updater' 
3. Right click on it and go into Properties. 
4. Under "Startup Type," select "Disabled."
5. Apply.

(Optional) Step Six: Block Ads

Does your version still have ads? These ad-blocking techniques never worked for me (at least not for the newer versions), but apparently they work for everybody else. XD So, here's what I've heard:

1. Go to Control Panel > Internet Options > Security > Restricted Sites > Sites
2. Add http://apps.skype.com/ (this blocks your entire home page, seemingly . . . that's never happened for me, so maybe my computer is trolling XD) and http://g.msn.com/ . 
3. Bask in your victory and in your ad-free pages. 

Hope this all was helpful! Fight the automatic, involuntary updates, everybody! Have fun debugging.