Page 2      Diablo Blue      August, 2000

Like most 12 year olds, my son Jason is quite content to hibernate in his room and play computer games for days on end. Even food takes a second to the fun of playing his games. [Naturally he does come out to occasionally torment his sisters--he is a normal kid after all!]. His latest favorite game is Blizzard's Diablo II. He enjoys playing Diablo II but he loves playing it over the Internet through their game servers called Battle.net. (Go to www.battle.net to learn more about this phenomenon). Gazillions of players log on from all over to play the game in all its graphic splendor over the net. It's free and it's fun. They can play in teams or individually as they work through the game. On our cable modem, the latency or lag is not a problem. What can be a problem is playing the game through a proxy server.
Our networked computers communicate to the Internet through WinProxy by Ositis. At first we were having some problems connecting to the BattleNet servers. Thanks to the excellent support at Ositis we were able to get the game working. The help files at Battle.Net were useful to identify the ports we had to map. These ports are normally closed as a result of our firewall, so we had to grant access to Battle.net for Jason's computer. An alternate method from mapping the ports would be to use the transparent proxy/network address translation built into WinProxy. This would mean I wouldn't have to map the ports.
When I have some time (???), I plan to try it. One thing I found interesting in speaking with Darryl at Ositis was that if we had a dynamic address as opposed to a static address with our cable modem, we would have a far greater problem. Perhaps much greater than Jason's when he goes after the ugly monster in Diablo! So, if you have a choice, it would seem that a static IP address might be preferable here as well.

Announcing: bit by bit: an "all digital" visual exhibition of "on-screen" art that aspires to recognize, promote and reward the best creative and expressive digital work being produced around the world today. This juried gallery exhibition will be installed on large format monitors in the Main Gallery of the Business of Art Center in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
Entries for the show are being accepted online through September 15th at the exhibition's website at www.bitbybitdigtal.org.
The gallery installation will open on Saturday, October 15th and run through November 18th, 2000.
Computer artists of all levels are encouraged to participate by visiting the website and uploading entries in one of three categories: still, dynamic, and interactive.
Who should enter?
Fine artists - former artists - future artists - photographers - editorial illustrators - technical illustrators - print designers - web designers - designers - students - teachers - ceo's - filmmakers - painters - poets - animators - programmers - sculptors - software magicians - rocket scientists - visionaries - inventors - directors - experimentalists - 21st century netizens - and of course: you)
Prizes (including a $1,000 best of show award) will be awarded to artists based on quality, skill and originality. Additional prizes will include cash awards, hardware, software and services. Current sponsors include: firesale.com, Corel, castlewood, scip.net, and ARTIS Software.
bit by bit is proud to announce that Graham Nash and Mac Holbert of Nash Editions will be participating as jurors for the show.
Visit the exhibition website to enter artworks at www.bitbybitdigital.org.
ALSO: a printable "Call for Artists" flyer to post in classrooms or bulletin boards is available online (440KB), at www.bitbybitdigital.org/bxb-call4artists.pdf.

www.bitbybitdigital.org - make great stuff