Continuing with my series on computer games that can be downloaded from the internet, we could have a look at jigsaw puzzles. Most allow you to set the level of difficulty and also use your own photographs to create new jigsaws. But finding a free program that works well is impossible. If you want a good jigsaw program on your computer, you will have to pay a small amount at least.

My own favorite is Jigs@w Puzzle Platinum, a shareware program that gives you 60 minutes of playing time to decide whether you like it or not before buying. It costs only $19.99 and, to true jigsaw addicts, it is well worth the price.

As well as doing everything expected of such software, creating new puzzles, allowing you to decide how many pieces are in a puzzle, it has a very smooth interface and a gallery where you can hang your completed pictures. I used it for years before it ever became “platinum” and it never crashed or faltered.

The alternative to owning a program is to play online. There are many sites that provide jigsaws free of charge but they do have their drawbacks. Most use either Java or Shockwave to create the puzzle and, on my machine, that makes them jerky in operation. If you are determined to play for free, however, they are usable, at least.

The sites I looked at are:

Free Jigsaw Puzzles

Jigzone

Puzzle House

Again, you can choose how difficult you want the puzzle to be, although this means picking the picture that contains the right number of pieces. The puzzles tend to be very simple, however; probably not quite what the real jigsaw devotee wants. But, as they say, you get what you pay for!

Gina Lollobrigida has been dating the same man for 22 years. Javier Rigau, 45 and Gina, 79, met at a party in Monte Carlo more than two decades ago and have been together ever since.

Gina and her beau, 34 years her junior, were set to wed until recently when pressures from the media together with sizzling stories and gossip began to fly. Both Gina and Javier have threatened legal action against the press, but for now, the wedding is cancelled.

December 11

Betty Grable had been working in Hollywood for nearly a decade, starting as a chorus girl and dancing for $50 a week. She had nearly given up on the dream of success. But after ten years of hard work, Betty finally got some breaks and made some news. One of these breaks came on December 11, 1939.

It was on this day in 1939 that Life Magazine featured Betty Grable and her million dollar legs on its cover.

In 1943, this photo of Betty Grable made its way into the hands of millions of GIs fighting WWII and became for them the symbol of “back home”. Wholesome and beautiful but sexy, for them she represented what they were fighting for.

The old song says, “No, they can’t take that away from me” and that is certainly true for Les Loken, a 94-year-old World War II veteran. He has been recording his memories on video and putting them up on YouTube.

YouTube is one of those new-fangled things on the internet, essentially a library of all kinds of videos that people can add to and others watch. It is the latest thing with the young, of course, but Les has shown that it’s for older people too.

His series of videos deals with his early life, the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, the war in the Pacific and the occupation of Japan. As eye witness accounts, they are both interesting and revealing, as well as being a potentially rich source for historians. In fact, so interesting are Les’ videos that young people have found them and begun to respond in videos of their own. There is still some respect for the past, it seems.

If you have a broadband internet connection, I recommend that you click on the links below and enjoy Les and his memories.

Les Loken - Part 1 (Pearl Harbor)

Les Loken - Part 2 (War in the Pacific)

Les Loken - Part 3 (Occupation of Japan)

Les Loken - Part 4 (Friendship with Namikawa)

Les Loken - Part 5 (Occupied Japan)

Les Loken - Part 6 (Earliest years)

Les Loken - Part 7 (The Great Depression)

Les Loken - Part 8 (Military career)

Les Loken - Part 9 (More WWII experiences)