After breezing through the hour demo of Cake Mania, I am hooked.

One appealing aspect of the game is that you can buy upgrades for your kitchen from the profits that you make from selling cakes. I think because I enjoy The Sims so much that I see some simple game elements that remind me of it. Cake Mania does have a storyline. Each round of play is a month in the years, so each month your goal increases as well as your customer base. In the summer you have a lot more kids for instance.

I was disappointed when the demo ended because I was really into the game. You can play online but don’t get to shop for upgrades to your kitchen. After an hour, I already had three ovens, three icing stations, and one speciality cake topper station. I bought a microwave to make cupcakes for customers when it’s busy so they stay happy and don’t leave.

Cake Mania is a lot of fun and addicting. If you don’t have much free time, then it’s best to stay away from Cake Mania.

The Internet is constantly changing not only how we shop and get information but how we spend our free time. The rise of bulletin board systems and later forums creates great virtual spot for like-minded people to share their thoughts, give advice, or just hang out.

If you want to learn more about something, find a community devoted to that topic, sit back and read. You can find hints to your favorite video game or even tips on how to become a better poker player by finding the right spot in cyberspace.

Some of the best game tips, cheats, and other useful information has come straight from forum postings. The evolution of the web by the creation of social networking sites only makes it easier and quicker to find the advice or information you are looking for.

You can find plenty of game tips if you are stuck on a level, or if you keep losing your shirt at poker then you might can find some tips to help your gameplay. People are very willing to share their knowledge on the Internet and taking part in a social network can expose you to a wealth of information.

Brought to you by Poker Junkie.

Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst will test how observant you are. Think of Where’s Waldo for adults. Ravenhearst is listed as the top game for Big Fish and after spending a couple of hours playing the online demo, I can see why.

It’s a fun game, and it definitely makes me use my brain. Maybe I can go back and forth from Brain Age to Ravenhearst for workouts. It took me way too long though to figure out the last free puzzle of the online demo game. Ofcourse, after figuring it out, the answer is right there in the clues.

I downloaded the demo and can’t wait to play it. This may be one game I have to buy.

I’ve been contemplating the idea of adding podcasts about casual games. I’ve started to do some research on what will all be involved and how long it’ll take me to do a podcast. I use to be in radio so the idea of doing a weekly podcast is something really appealing.

I recently found My Podcast, which is a free podcast service. You can create an account, and they will host your podcasts for free. I had thought of hosting them myself but I can save my bandwidth by going with My Podcast.

Hopefully within a few weeks I’ll have all that I need to begin podcasting about casual games.

Brought to you by My Podcast.

You can vote on your favorite casual games for 2006. The Zeebys will be honoring casual games in 6 categories including Casual Game of the Year.

Besides the People’s Choice winners for the six categories, there will a set of craft awards given to recipients from the Casual Game Association. The voting continues until January 31st. Winners will be announced at CGA Europe West: Amsterdam, on February 8, 2007.

As was recently pointed out to me, flowers might be a good choice of a Valentine’s Day gift. Flowers might even be expected and if they aren’t given, the lack of flowers might put you in bad graces with your significant other.

Rose are usually the Valentines Day flowers of choice, whether they are pink, red, yellow, or white. Carnations are also a nice job but don’t last as long as roses. Dot Flowers has a selection of gift baskets, flowers, and other special gifts for Valentines Day. You can order online and get same day delivery. Don’t fight the crowds at the florist, and shop online.

So, there are some gifts that you can give for Valentine’s Day that aren’t flowers, but they might not be received as well. I guess it really depends on your sweetheart as to what the best gift will be this Valentine’s Day.

Did you know that there is a misspelling on the board game Monopoly? Before you contact Parker Brothers, they are aware of the error.

Apparently, the inventor of Monopoly misspelled the community Marvins Gardens. It should be Marvens Gardens. This error went to print and has never been changed. In fact, Parker Brothers apologized to the citizens of Marvens Gardens for the oversight in 1994.

It’s amazing what you can learn on Wikipedia. I was searching for something else and ran across that bit of trivia. I would never have guessed that Marvin was misspelled. I guess we do learn something new everyday.

Yahoo! Games named Cake Mania as the best casual game of 2006. After playing the game for a short time, I can see why.

Although gameplay may not be original, Cake Mania does have a backstory and a lofty goal for your character. You have just returned from culinary school and learn that your grandparents have closed their bakery. Now it is up to you to rebuild the business.

You take orders from customers, make the right cake, and then place icing on the cake according to the order. I haven’t made it very far in the game, but it looks like it can become a real juggling act. Cake Mania looks to have all the element to be a fun and entertaining casual game.

We are planning on vacationing this year. We really haven’t been anywyere since our honeymoon many years ago. It would be nice to somewhere we have never been before.

I have never been outside of the country, but my husband went to Mexico on a band trip in high school. It’d be nice to experience another culture. There are many gorgeous places to travel to in Mexico. Vacations.net lists some wonderful Puerto Vallarta all inclusive resorts. Just looking at the images at Vacations.net makes me want to pack my bags tonight. If we do decide to head out of the country and to a beach location, I’m sure we can find the right resort for us.

We will definitely utilize the Internet when planning our trip. It’s fun to plan our vacation now. It makes work more bearable to know you are working towards a lot of fun in the sun.

Forget about candy and flowers, give her something she’ll use. How about shopping for personalized flash drives instead.

You can give her a flash drive in her favorite color with a personal message from you. This way everytime she uses it, she’ll think of you. I love my flash drive as it is compact and an easy way to port files from one computer to another. My husband uses his flash drive to store music on to listen to it at work. With free laser engraving, a personalized flash drive will be a lot cheaper than roses.

Brought to you by Pexagontech.