Classic DOS Game: Romance of the Three Kingdoms II

Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2 is published by Koei and can be considered as one of the longest historical simulation series. The first version is too difficult to play, therefore I will start straight into the version 2.


Besides improved graphics, Romance 2 comes with good soundtrack too. The soundtrack with chinese motive is very pleasant to listen.


We can play Romance 2 in different characters, including creating a fiction one. My favorite mode is to create a fiction character to play the game.


In Romance 2, a general can lead 10000 soldiers rather than 100 in earlier games. To succeed in battle, general and training play the most important role.


One unique part in Romance 2 battle is, before going into real war, those general with high strength will challenge enemy's party for duel. If enemy's part reject, their number of soldiers will be reduced by almost 10%.


If you are lazy to complete the game, just load the "JOHN" saved game. I purposely save it to enjoy the ending.


This is the last screen of the game. Quite a long journey indeed.



Feel want to pull back your old memories of those days?
Download it here.

It requires DOSBox to run.

Yahoo-Microsoft battle bolsters Google

Microsoft Corp.'s attempt to take over Yahoo Inc. has become so tortured it may help Internet search and advertising leader Google Inc. grow stronger, undermining Microsoft's main reason for pursing the deal in the first place.

This to be a very advantageous situation for Google. The longer this gets dragged out, the better for Google. Yahoo signaled it is bracing for a protracted battle late Wednesday when an announcement and a media leak provided a glimpse at its labyrinthine search for alternatives to Microsoft's bid of more than $40 billion.

The options include an experimental advertising alliance with Google that could lead to a broader partnership and, according to published reports, a combination with the online operations of Time Warner Inc.'s AOL. Google also owns a 5 percent stake in AOL.

As part of the AOL deal, Time Warner would get a roughly 20 percent stake in the merged entity in return for a substantial sum of cash that would help Yahoo buy back some of its stock at a price well above Microsoft's offer, which was initially valued at $31 per share.

This is the first time that we have seen real feasible alternatives that could derail the Microsoft deal.

Some other analysts doubt Yahoo will succeed in thwarting Microsoft but believe it could force the world's largest software maker to raise its offer as high as $35 per share, or about $50 billion.

For its part, Microsoft has indicated that it may lower its offer if Yahoo doesn't accept the current bid by April 26.

But Microsoft made that threat before the details about Yahoo's alternatives with Google and AOL emerged.

Although Microsoft has plenty of money to up the ante on its own, the company may draw upon another deep pocket.

Under this reported scenario, News Corp. would contribute the Internet's top social network, MySpace.com, and some cash in a Yahoo takeover. The proposed deal would put three of the Web's most popular sites -- Yahoo, MySpace and Microsoft's MSN -- under the same umbrella.

In another ironic twist, Google could benefit if Microsoft and News Corp. buy Yahoo because it already has a long-term contract to show ads on MySpace.

The reported negotiations to bring together some of the world's largest Web sites underscores the Internet's maturation as a business sector. As consumers spend more time online, the smart money is following them -- and now there's a mad scramble to latch on to the prime properties in this promised land of future profit.

The most likely outcome here is that a few players will become more and more dominant on the Internet.

The stakes are so high that News Corp. and AOL might decide to join forces if their latest negotiations with Microsoft and Yahoo don't pan out.

Google has emerged as the Internet's most profitable company so far, primarily by showing relevant text-based ad links alongside the billions of search results that it churns out each month.

Propelled by its success in search, Google built up a vast computer network that hosts a wide range of free services -- many of which threaten to make Microsoft's software less vital to consumers and businesses.

Microsoft believes Yahoo's franchise will give it more weapons to retaliate against Google and reverse the losses that have plagued its online division.

But it's looking less likely that Microsoft will be able to realize its goal of completing the Yahoo deal by the end of this year.

If Yahoo continues to resist, Microsoft probably will have to take its bid directly to shareholders -- an acrimonious process that is typically settled at the target company's annual meeting. Yahoo doesn't have to hold its annual meeting until July 12.

And a deal done that late in the year isn't likely to emerge from antitrust regulators' purview until 2009, according to experts.

Yahoo may be able to rally support from its shareholders by pointing to the possibility of a long-term partnership with Google, which some analysts believe could boost Yahoo's cash flow by 25 percent to 35 percent.

Google, too, could make more money from the alliance. Anything that Google can do to keep Yahoo from going to Microsoft is good for Google.

If Yahoo turned over all its search-driven advertising to Google, it would face intense regulatory scrutiny that would be difficult to overcome, analysts predicted. Google controls 59 percent of the U.S. search market followed by Yahoo at 22 percent and Microsoft at 10 percent, according to comScore Media Metrix.

For now, Yahoo is allowing Google to show advertising links alongside no more than 3 percent of its U.S. search results and only for two weeks.

Microsoft already has signaled that it will strenuously object to antitrust regulators if Google sells search ads for Yahoo on a full-time basis. But a regulatory review might hurt Microsoft more than Google because it could mean waiting even longer to own Yahoo.

If Microsoft is able to pull off the Yahoo takeover, melding the two organizations will be difficult, especially if the deal is hostile or includes a third party like News Corp.

The more complicated a deal gets, the more difficult it becomes to satisfy all parties, and the more complicated the (post-deal) integration gets, the more it favors Google.

After Bahrain...

Bahrain had one color on Sunday afternoon, and that was red.

Massa really needed this victory, and he barely put a wheel wrong in achieving it. His Ferrari had all the pace it needed, and he could control the race. His only problem was ensuring that there was no repeat of Malaysia. Raikkonen was quick, but not quick enough to challenge his team mate. Taking the lead in the world championship for drivers’ points table was adequate compensation as Ferrari dominated, however.

gOS Space 2.9

Good OS (gOS) and Everex introduced the limited edition MyMiniPC running "gOS Space 2.9", a special version of gOS Linux made for MySpace users, featuring brand new MySpace Apps just weeks after the MySpace API launch. The MyMiniPC targeted MySpace users with it's glossy white case, 3D desktop, and a media center dock stacked with MySpace and Web 2.0 folders for News, Photos, Videos, Music, TV and Movies, and more. All in a system one and half inches tall and weighing two pounds.

gOS 2.9 Space is however also a generic Linux distribution, and is a debugged and extended version of the older gOS V2 Rocket. It can be downloaded as an .ISO that can be burned on a DVD (it's slightly too large for a CD), or can be put on another external boot-able medium like a memory stick, or a Secure Digital card reader acting as an external USB drive, with enough capacity. The DVD will also soon be sold from The Good OS store on their web-site.

gOS space is loaded with new MySpace features, but all the old Google applications can still be used too. As a Linux distro 2.9 is much more complete than 2.0-beta, and less buggy. gOS Space is less "light" (using a small amount of memory) than older publicly available versions, as its based on a combination of Ubuntu 7.10 the Gnome windows manager enhanced with Compiz fusion and the Avant Window Navigator, a Dock like launcher, that has been enhanced with Stacks. According to Good OS there is also Enlightenment (window manager) code used, but it's still unknown for what. In any case gOS Space needs about 384MB of RAM to work reasonably, the same amount as straight Ubuntu 7.10.

The gOS Space dock shows off some of the newest MySpace Apps: “Super Mood,” “Super Graffiti,” “Super Quotes,” and “Current Time.” With Super Mood, users add super sized emoticons and personal updates to their MySpace profiles; with Super Graffiti, users draw pictures on their friends’ MySpace profiles; with Super Quotes, users select fun quotes to display on their profiles; and with Current Time, users add digital clocks to their pages that display their local times in different colors. These MySpace apps can also be found at http://www.pimpmyapps.com.

In addition to MySpace Apps, the gOS Space dock introduces expandable icons: “MySpace,” “News,” “Photos,” “Videos,” “Music,” “TV and Movies,” “Work,” and “Fun.” Clicking the MySpace icon expands to shortcuts for the entire MySpace navigation bar, similar to (if not exactly like) the MacOS X 10.5 (Leopard) Dock and Stacks.

Tech Titans: Before and After the Boom

MSFT - YHOO - GOOG