Have you ever sat there in your computer science or multimedia class and wanted to fire up a multi-player game but school rules forbid you to play them? I’m going to show you how I did, and you could convince your teachers to let you play games on the network.

Step 1: Find a charity!

No network administrator is going to allow you to play games on the network, you need a reason behind it. My school was fund raising for Adopt-a-Family where we raise money and buy presents for families that are not as fortunate as our own. We put a small entry fee on the LAN, in our case it was $4 for the whole lunch hour and we filled up 30 machines.
Step 2: Pick a game!

The game is what the entire LAN is going to be based around. You’re going to want something that will be compatible with the computers you are using and it should run smoothly and legal. For my schools LAN party, we picked Starcraft. Starcraft works on older machines, its fun, and seriously who hasn’t had fun playing Starcraft! With Starcraft you can ‘spawn’ copies of the game that can play with original copies. You get 7 spawns per CD and our class was able to get several original CD’s. Also Starcraft’s space in total is under 150 megabytes (80 without the expansion) so its a quick easy install or if your network doesn’t allow installs? Install it on a home machine and burn the C:Program FilesStarcraft folder to a disk and click and drag it over.

Step 3: Advertise!

You need people to come because what fun is a LAN party without people to kill?! Get some posters up, read an announcement over the intercom. Stereotype Warning: You and I both know theres the group of kids who kind of look like they are computer geeks (if not your probably in the group) walk up and talk to them about it!

Step 4: Get it ready!

Before the actual event you need to make sure you have everything ready and tested. Are all the games installed? Can everyone play with everyone? Get a cash float to prepare for some large bills (depending on how much the entrance fee is). Make sure you state the rules if any apply; No Food in the lab, no running around like an idiot etc.

Step 5: Let the games begin!

This is kind of self explanatory

Conclusion:

Your now finished and your LAN party has been a success (hopefully)! You finally got to play games on the schools network legitimately and your feeling good about yourself because you have raised $60-$100 (depending on your entry and people attending) to a less fortunate family (in my case) or a charity. Depending on your success you might be able to convince your teacher to do it next week!

I awoke to my alarm clock screaming a Green Day song at me at 8:00 AM. Today is the day of my oral surgery, I am getting four wisdom teeth removed. A few months back when my radial x-ray’s came back, I learned that I had my four wisdom teeth and another extra set behind them, eight in total. It is a little weird and all of the dentists were laughing at me and apparently they had never seen this before. So today I was getting my bottom four wisdoms removed. I dragged myself into the shower and forced myself to not swallow the warm and soft water falling from above because I had to have an empty stomach for the surgery. I climbed out of the shower, dried myself off, put clothes on, didn’t eat breakfast and went out the door, climbed into the passengers seat of the car and my dad drove us downtown.

I enter the building with him, climbed into the elevator, rose to floor 3, entered the office, told them my name and received a health questionnaire, filled it in, then sat down and waited. About five minutes later the nurse called my name and I follow her to a small, two meters by two meters white room with a typical dentists chair. I sit down in the chair and and she attaches a blood pressure band onto my arm and a pulse indicator on my finger. I laugh a little inside because its connected to a stereotypical operating room heart monitor beeping every second or so. She puts the bib around my neck and tells me the doctor will be here in a few moments. I wait a bit and look around the room. To my right is a counter with a syringe and some tubes and to my left is that machine just beeping away. The doctor enters.

Hello Kyle, how are you doing?

Good yourself?

Just good. Has anything changed, health or allergy wise?

No

Okay, I’m going to start you off on some painkillers now, later I will numb your entire mouth.

The doctor takes a think blue rubber band and wraps it around my wrists and flicks the veins on my hand.

I usually go for this one on the right, it is very strong.

He is satisfied with it and takes a tube with a sharp needle on the end and says this will tingle a bit. He sticks the needle into my vein and I feel a sharp stinging sensation and I like it because it takes my mind off of whats going to happen in a few minutes. Blood fills the tube and he says we are ready. He tapes the tube to my hand then takes the syringe filled with an anaesthetic from the counter and connects it to the tube. He slightly pushes the end of it and I feel a calming liquid fill my vein and up my arm and throughout my body. A few minutes later he pushes it again and I feel the same thing again.

My eyes open and I feel helpless there is a bright light and there are people around me, am I drunk at a party? Then a calming liquid fills my vein and up my arm and throughout my body.

My eyes open and I feel helpless again and there is a bright light and people around me and a person wipes my face. Then a calming liquid fills my vein and up my arm and throughout my body.

I don’t remember my eyes opening but I am being led out of the room, there are four beds and I take one and I taste blood and I fall asleep.

Kyle, Kyle…

I want to sleep mom.

It isn’t my mom it is the nurse and she pulls the bloody gauze from my mouth and puts new ones in and I go back to sleep.

The nurse wakes me up and I taste blood and I can feel again. I am dizzy and I want to sleep. My lips are chapped and huge and my tongue feels weird. I stand up to leave with the nurse and she holds upright. I can feel the stitches in the back of my mouth each time I swallow.

I don’t remember anything that happened during surgery, but I hope I cooperated with the doctor and did not give him a hard time. The worst part is when the painkiller wears off and I am left with stitched up, bleeding holes in my gums screaming for attention.