Sudoku – The Hottest Puzzle Craze Since Rubik’s Cube

Written by Jacqui O'Brien


Sudoku isrepparttar addictive number puzzle that has takenrepparttar 147083 UK by storm and is now taking overrepparttar 147084 rest ofrepparttar 147085 world. Since it first appeared in The Times in late 2004 its popularity has grow so that it appears in most UK newspapers and has spread to countries from India to Canada, Australia to South Africa. So what is Sudoku all about? Sudoku is played on a nine by nine grid which is divided into nine smaller squares. The object ofrepparttar 147086 puzzle is to fill inrepparttar 147087 digits from 1 to 9 so that it appears only once in each column, row and small three by three square. You are given some ofrepparttar 147088 numbers and you have to use logic and deduction to findrepparttar 147089 position ofrepparttar 147090 other numbers. Simple? Well, it depends! A Sudoku puzzle can vary from easy to absolutely fiendish. Certainlyrepparttar 147091 more numbers you are given to start off with,repparttar 147092 easierrepparttar 147093 puzzle, but it also depends on which onesrepparttar 147094 puzzle setter offers. Traditionally there should be no more than 30 numbers given. Sudoku first appeared in a US puzzle magazine inrepparttar 147095 late 1970s, but was then picked up by Japanese publisher Nikoli who dubbed it Su Doku or ‘Solitary Square’ andrepparttar 147096 puzzle-hungry Japanese loved it. From there it was discovered by The Times andrepparttar 147097 rest is history. Sudoku is solved simply by logic; there is no maths required. You may at first be able to fill in a couple of numbers where it appears in every column and row but one. Next you may need to mark up possible candidates inrepparttar 147098 empty squares until only one possibility remains. Like so many puzzles there will be times when you stare hopelessly and others whererepparttar 147099 answers jump out at you.

Batman Begins VS the Fantastic Four. What Next?

Written by Dave Gieber


Well, it looks like Hollywood keeps it continual pot of revenue filled with, guess what, comic book heroes. Batman Begins and The Fantastic Four are about to duke it out on Hollywood and Vine. An age-old comic book company rivalry is yet renewingrepparttar heat this year. I guess all of us comic book aficionados always wonder who would winrepparttar 147027 battle between such and such superheroes.

Well at least inrepparttar 147028 next few months one way to keep score is to watchrepparttar 147029 revenues generated betweenrepparttar 147030 recently released “Batman Begins” andrepparttar 147031 soon to be released “Fantastic Four”, which were both childhood fascinations of mine. Not only are there superhero “what ifs” going on here, but which comic book company will stand to gainrepparttar 147032 most economic substantiation? Batman punchesrepparttar 147033 daily time clock at DC Comics andrepparttar 147034 Fantastic Four wasrepparttar 147035 brainchild of Stan Lee and crew at Marvel Comics.

And don’t tell me there is a small comic book hero market. Batman Begins claimedrepparttar 147036 number one spot in gross revenue on its opening weekend. It is going to be very interesting to see whatrepparttar 147037 Fantastic Four does. Hollywood is definitely increasingrepparttar 147038 thickness of its silver lining these days with comic book hero movies. Batman took in almost $49 million it’s opening weekend. How many mint condition old comic books would you have to sell to make that kind of dough? Are we inrepparttar 147039 wrong end ofrepparttar 147040 comic book world (ha ha)?

The rivalry between Marvel and DC used to be a major dividing line amongstrepparttar 147041 tight knit group of comic book collectors. When comic book interest started to decline inrepparttar 147042 1970s, this issue became largely irrelevant. But now as video games, online role-playing games and major motion picture productions are spreading acrossrepparttar 147043 globe,repparttar 147044 classic Marvel-DC conflict is springing back to life.

Superman is coming back to life onrepparttar 147045 big screen as well as Wonder Woman. Marvel has been riding high off their major successes withrepparttar 147046 X-men and Spiderman. They are now digging deep into their catalog of characters and are working on screen adaptations of Iron Man,repparttar 147047 Submariner, Thor and Silver Surfer, among others. Have we entered a new comic book age that will have to be defined around major motion pictures? Maybe it could be callrepparttar 147048 “Greenback Age”. Do you have another definition?

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