Encaustic pinxit

Encaustic – A painting medium in which pigment is suspended in a binder of hot wax.

Pinxit - Lettering on a print that denotes the original artist of the work for, or from, which the print was made (from Latin Pinx, meaning "he painted it")

Two art words! That's a change. Anyway, to start off, I found this the other day, and while it is kind of old news, so I wouldn't be surprised if some have seen it already, it's kind of funny. Well, maybe not funny, but it reminds me of all the times that someone has asked me "if you could have one wish, what would it be?" to which I, or one of my friends, would generally reply unlimited wishes. While the concept is funny, though, in actual fact, it's kind of sad how someone would destroy the Make a Wish Foundation like that. Wishing away the foundation's legal team was pretty smart, though…

Today, 49 years ago, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker of the Progressive Conservative Party cancelled the Avro Arrow program. That was a sad day for Canada. The Avro Arrow could have become the fastest plane in the world. It could have become a great defense for Canada, especially with the constant threat of Soviet bombers at the time. It could have given Canada something to really brag about. But, no. Instead, it became a $400-million pile of scrap metal. It may not look like much (especially since this is the Arrow without many of the features that were intended to be included in it), but you can watch its maiden flight here. I think it looks pretty cool. I'm really not an expert on the subject, so go to Wikipedia if you want to learn more about it.

Warning: do not click on the following link, unless you have a fair amount of time on your hands. It is far too addicting. Which is probably why it's on addictinggames.com. Anyway, you have been warned.

Filler is a very good game. Basically, the goal is to fill at least two thirds of the game screen with circles, while avoiding the evil bouncy balls. When each level starts, the bouncy balls start bouncing around, and then you have to place your circles so that, while they are growing, they do not touch a bouncy ball. When you hold down your mouse, a circle starts growing around where you clicked, and it stops when you either let go of the mouse, the circle you are making touches another circle you already made, or the circle touches a bouncy ball. In the latter case, you also lose a life. Each level, you only get a certain amount of circles and lives to place, though. If you run out of lives, you lose, obviously, and if you run out of circles, you can continue to place more, but each takes a life from you.

You now know enough to skip the game's introduction and play on your own! You should get used to it fairly quickly, so don't worry if you don't understand everything. The last couple days, I played this game a lot, and, as I am so nice, I'll give you a few pointers to make it, at least, to level 50 (though, my best so far is 76).

1. Don't bother rushing. You have lots of time each level, and plus, if you run out of time, it doesn't matter. You just lose a few bonus points. Try to spend more time optimizing the size of the balls. That being said, though,
   
2. You generally have many more balls than you need for each level. Don't wait too long to make your move, as you could probably easily pass the level with 5 or 6 huge mistakes, even more past level 15.
   
3. Use gravity to your advantage. As far as I can tell, all circles seem to weigh exactly the same, no matter their size, so, for instance, if you have one really big circle on screen, you can push it over with a few small circles, and clear up some space to place two or three decently-sized circles, in most cases.
   
4. Try placing circles in the top left corner. Placing them in a top corner is good, because then when they fall, they move bouncy balls that are below out of the way, clearing space for you to make another circle. However, the top right corner is bad, because when a bouncy ball gets trapped by your circles against a wall, then is squished, it teleports to the top right corner, which can be annoying when you are in the middle of making a big circle there.
   
5. Lastly, try catching the bouncy balls in small spaces, so that they aren't bothering you wherever you are placing circles as much. Usually, you do this by accident anyway, and it is somewhat hard to do when you are trying to, but if the opportunity arises, go for it.
   

I'm wondering if there is any space at all once you get to, say, level 100, so if anyone manages to get there, let me know. Anyway, that is all for now, so à la prochaine!