Sometimes it's hard to keep up with the news on a day to day basis. Here are the highlight from the Neopets news page for this month...

Directly from the news page:

(January 11, 2005)

Auction Update Neopets has changed the way auctions work slightly to prevent last minute auction sniping. Now rather than the exact time remaining, it will say Very Long, Medium or Short for the time left, rather the exact minutes remaining. (January 12, 2005)

The Tax Beast has been added to the How To Draw section. (January 25, 2005)

There is a new Neopedia article all about Hannah. (January 31, 2005)

Special Days for these months were:

• Jan 3rd - Aisha Day
• Jan 11th - Festival of Buzz. (Buzz Day)
• Jan 14th - Sloth Appreciation Day
• Jan 16th - Elephante Day
• Jan 29th - Kacheek Day

Pets are painted at the Rainbow Pool (on the Main Shops page) with special magic paint brushes. Click here for a list of all pets and their available colors.

v      Aishas can now be painted Checkered and Grey. (January 3, 2005)

v      A funny thing happens to Chias when they eat a Grape Chia Pop... (January 4, 2005)

v      Whoever said Bori can't fly has obviously never heard of the Faerie Bori. (January 10, 2005)

v      Buzzes can now be painted Royal. (January 11, 2005)

v      Buzzes can also be painted Snot and Pink. (January 11, 2005)

v      The Ghost Koi is now available. (January 12, 2005)

v      You can now be the proud owner of a White Bori. (January 13, 2005)

v      Trust a Uni to make the Robot version look snazzy and color coordinated. (January 13, 2005)

v      Elephantes can now be painted Snow and Pirate at the Rainbow Pool. (January 17, 2005)

v      The Tyrannian Korbat is now available. (January 18, 2005)

v      Peophins can be made ultra groovy with the aid of a Disco Paint Brush. (January 20, 2005)

v      Whoever thought Blumaroos were silly and cute had obviously never seen a Tyrannian Blumaroo. (January 21, 2005)

v      You can now own a Baby Bori. (January 21, 2005)

v      If you own a Bori, you can now paint them Starry. (January 24, 2005)

v      Don’t overlook the new Baby Koi. (January 24, 2005)

v      You can now paint your Blumaroo with the Disco Paint Brush. (January 25, 2005)

v      You can now paint your Kacheek Ghost or Grey. (January 28, 2005)

v      Korbats can now be given a rather regal new look with the aid of a Royal Paint Brush. (January 31, 2005)

For those of you looking for the Petpet Puddle, it is part of the Rainbow Pool. When you are on the Main Shops page, click on the Rainbow Pool. At the top of the next page is the link to the Petpet Puddle. Click here for a list of all petpets and their available colors.

q        Lyins can be painted Plushie, Pirate, Ghost, Fire and Purple at the Petpet Puddle. (January 4, 2005)

q        Sauropods can be painted Green, Rainbow, Blue and Island with the right petpet paint brushes. (January 6, 2005)

q        Erisims can now be painted Red, Green, Faerie and White at the Petpet Puddle. (January 13, 2005)

q        Magarals can be painted Rainbow, Snow, Fire and Pirate. (January 18, 2005)

q        You can now paint your Harris Pirate, Disco, Grey and Island at the Petpet Puddle. (January 26, 2005)

q        Peopatra has found three new species of Petpet to go on sale in her Shop - Turtmids, Crystacats and Ettaphants.

(January 27, 2005)

q        If you are passing by the Petpet Puddle you can now paint your Babaa, Angelpuss, Nuranna and Buzzer Spotted. (January 31, 2005)

January is a time for new beginnings, so several older pages were given updates and makeovers. A few pages were discontinued altogether. I'll be doing a bit of behind the scenes updating for a while. These won't be uploaded until everything is finished with them.

One change was giving avatars a page of their own.

The Game Reviews page has been updated and I finally got to get rid of a bunch of those product placement games.

The Magic Cooking Pot page is currently being both updated and redesigned. It will have multiple areas to make searching easier. A snag in the design has slowed thing down on this project. The list is current, but the format has been stripped down until the snag can be fixed.

Work continues on the upcoming museum. This project is rather large, but at least you can get a quick look at it here. Note that these pages are still very much under construction. If you have anything you’d like to contribute, please send it to: Naomi_Tran@baylor.edu

Avatars have a broad based appeal that touches almost every aspect of life in Neopia. These are the avatars that were added this month. For a complete list, drop by the avatars section of the Chat FAQs. If you know of one that is not listed, simply fill out the automatic comment form.

Games on Neopets are in a constant state of change and these changes are often not listed in the news. Here are the changes for this month:

Here are the new games that were added this month:

a    New Game - Meerca Chase II That's right, the snake-style game just got a makeover. Click Here to give it a try. At least it’s not another product placement game… (January 3, 2005)

a    There is a new sponsor game for you to try out - Toontown Cannon Shot. (January 19, 2005)

a    They have another new sponsor game based on Nickleodeon's new cartoon - Avatar. Click here to play Avatar: The Last Airbender. (January 25, 2005)

a    New Game - A new stall has been set up in the Lost Desert selling all kinds of new scratchcards including Geb Gajillionaire, Sutek's Riches or Bagguss Bonanza. Are you feeling Lucky? Lost Desert Scratchcards has also been added to the Stock Market with the ticker symbol LDSC. (January 27, 2005)

a    Son of Mask: Turn & Burn Tim Avery, his son Alvey, and his dog Otis must keep the Mask from Loki. Avoid him at all costs, and don't let him get the Mask! (January 30, 2005)

a    New Game - The Coconut Shy and Test your Strength game have some new competition. A new Bagatelle stall has opened up for business in the Deserted Fairground. (January 31, 2005)

These games were taken off the site this month:

Ø       A Search for Christmas

Ø       Are You Toon Enough?

Ø       Angler Action

Ø       Backyard Skater

Ø       KND: B.E.S.T. Code Buster

Ø       Kangaroo Jack Drive and Chase

Ø       Lil Bratz

Ø       Reese's Puffs Runaway Subway

Ø       Spyro Power Blast

Ø       Tamagotchi Connection

Ø       Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie Pair Compare

Ø       Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD

Changes to existing games:

The final three evil coconuts have been released. If you are lucky, you may win yourself one at the Coconut Shy. (January 6, 2005)

For the latest Random Contest they are asking you to send in the best idea for a random contest competition. The 10 best ideas will be chosen as real contests. Neopets says the winners will be announced this time next week and a new contest will begin. (January 13, 2005)

A Babaa bleats, a Gruslen skips along and a well-oiled gate swings in the breeze without making a sound. A Kacheek carries a basket of AARGHGHG! It was all a horrible dream. A big monster appears and devours the Babaa, Gruslen and the Kacheek and smashes the gate in half, and with a growl drags another game into the Game Graveyard...Say farewell to Meerca Chase. (January 19, 2005)

You can now choose from ten different backgrounds when you play Meerca Chase II. (January 21, 2005)

Two new locations have been added to Kacheek Seek. Now you can play in Meriacres Farm and Roo Island. (January 28, 2005)

Two new companies have entered the Stock Market. Now you can invest in The Neopian Times (TNPT) and Achyfi Enterprises (ACFI). (January 31, 2005)

Hi I'm Maydeemouse, I just finished making my guide for Dice Escape. Accurately done it guarantees at least the Dice Escape Avatar (900+ points) and if done fast enough gets you about  1600+ points (800+ NP) and just might get you a trophy (if done very quickly and with the luck of a few 25 point coins). Feel free to email me with any questions. ANYWHO, here you go, feel free to post it on the site. This guide is exact and has no room for error. The only way you should go for a coin is if its 25 and its very close to you but you have to backtrack after that. Also if your at the last level and still have all 3 lives(which you should) you should go straight for the coin twice then to the level as shown. Or, you can go straight for a 25 point coin somewhere in the came restart the level and play it like normal (you can do that twice) that's up to you.

ok so,

L = left
HL = hard left (hold down the button til your dice stops)
R = right
HR = hard right
U = up
HU = hard up
D = down
HD = hard down
and of course, the number (if any) in front of the letter means to push that button that many times.
Anything together like "UL" or "UR" etc. are just to simplify things if you’re doing that move repeatedly (ex. UL UL UL)

So here you go Levels 1-24 walkthrough:

Level 1- HU
Level 2- HU HR DL
Level 3- 4U R HU L
Level 4- HL HU HL
Level 5- 2L U R 4U HL U
Level 6- 5L U L D U D 2R 2U 3R U R HU L
Level 7- R D R U L U
Level 8- D HR HD 2L HD
Level 9- HL UL UL UL HU
Level 10- U 3R HD R HD HR
Level 11- R 2U L U HL
Level 12- U D
Level 13- U 2L HU L 2U HR D
Level 14- 2U L HU 3D HL D 3R 4U HR HU 2L D 3L U L
Level 15- HL U 4R U R HU D 2L U
Level 16- 4L HU 2L HU HR
Level 17- U 4L D HL U R D L UR UR UR
Level 18- R L 2U HL R D HL
Level 19- HR U 2L U D R D L HU 3L 3U L U
Level 20- 3L U 2L U D R U 3R 3L 3U HL U
Level 21- U 5L D L
Level 22- UL UL U
Level 23- R 2U L HU
Level 24- 3U LU LU L

Congratulations you just completed all 24 levels! Now play again to build speed. Remember: the faster you go the more points you get! But remember, accuracy before speed!

Special Guest Article: Getting rid of the top banner ads

Rather than write a separate help article for this month, I’m going to share an article I found. If you are like me, you are tired of the insanely large product placement banners at the top of the Neopets pages and cringe at the thought of having to pay to have it removed. Good news: GOGFD has the answer! The following article is posted on GOGFD's petpage, be sure and send a hearty "Thank you!" to hubrids_mansion, GOGFD's owner:

As always, play safe and have fun!

~StaggPub~

Name: Deluxe Chocolate Fondue
Available: From the Main Food Shop
Neopet’s Description: Delicious with anything (especially gummy things and marshmallows).
TNE’s Description: This is a great party food for those winter night get-togethers

Ingredients:

·         1 large bar of semi-sweet chocolate

·         1 package semi-sweet chocolat chips or chunks

·         3/4  cup heavy cream

·         Items to dip*

Directions:

Melt in double broiler, microwave, or over very low heat stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Should be very creamy, but not soupy. Serve in fondue pot, crockpot, or similar setup.

*Suggested items to dip: Angel food cake, pound cake, or any firm cake (cut into bite-sized cubes), Strawberries, Apple or bannana slices, Pineapple (chunks or slices, drain well), Orance sections, Lady fingers, etc.

If you are an avatar or chat fan, you’ll really like this site. In addition to just the avatars and how to get them, you’ll find handy charts such as ALT codes, and Webdings as well as User lookup/ Guild tricks/tips like how to remove the banner in guilds or how to remove the neoclock. Of course, it has the wonderful feature of being Popup free, too!