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Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

AutoPatcher is back

AutoPatcher
Once upon a time, AutoPatcher was the go to program for downloading and installing Windows Updates without connecting to Microsoft's servers. Say you've got a bunch of PCs that you need to update and you don't want to take the time to connect each to the internet and download updates one by one. Just use AutoPatcher, download the latest updates, burn the results to a CD and carry it from computer to computer.

But a few months back Microsoft effectively shut down the AutoPatcher project, saying that you could only install Windows Updates from Windows servers.

Now the AutoPatcher team is back, with a new utility that downloads updates directly from Microsoft's servers. AutoPatcher Updater is still in early beta, but it appears that the developers are getting around Microsoft's objections by requiring you to download updates on on the machine which you are updating. You can't make those updates portable by burning them to a CD for carrying from PC to PC. Once you've downloaded the updates, you can run AutoPatcher.exe to install them. While this might all sound a lot like the built in Windows Update utility, the new AutoPatcher at least gives you a bit more control over your updates.

[via gHacks]

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Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

CiviballsI 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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