Google adds music search features

by Marc Perton Dec 15th 2005

Apparently unbowed by recent moves by the music-publishing industry to go after companies that make it easier to find lyrics on the web, Google plans to make music info more readily available via searches. The new feature, set to debut today, will work much like Google's existing system for searching for stock quotes or news from within its core engine, bumping relevant info to the top of a list of search results. Results will include official sites for groups, sites that legally sell music and, yes, sites that offer lyrics and sheet music. So, music publishers, are you ready to take on Google, or are you going to keep on just bullying the little guys (or how about just packing it in and recognizing that there's nothing illegal about helping people find info that's already out there on the net)?

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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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