iMesh relaunches as legit service

Filed under: Audio, Windows, Commercial, Freeware

iMesh relaunches as legit service

by Marc Perton Oct 25th 2005

P2P service iMesh is back, and is billing itself as the first legal P2P provider. However, the new iMesh is less a P2P service than a front-end for a Windows DRM-based subscription service similar to Yahoo Music Unlimited or Real Rhapsody. Although file-sharing is possible, you can only share with other registered members, all of whom will presumably be paying the same $6.95 monthly fee to access the service. As of now, however, iMesh is offering a free trial of an unspecified length (Beta News says the trial is "one or two" months) and, unlike most other services, no credit card info is required during the free trial. Music downloaded via iMesh can be played in other PlaysForSure-compatible programs, including Windows Media Player, though the license on such files will presumably expire once the free trial ends. In an usual move, iMesh also continues to allow access to P2P networks such as Gnutella, despite claims that the service is now "100% legal." Looks like the service is still evolving, and these links may disappear before all of the free trials end. In the meantime, it this may be a chance to enjoy a couple of months of freebies, both via the DRM'd files and the "100% legal" files out on the P2P nets.

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Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

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