Codewheels are used by software publishers to thwart piracy. It's a great system, assuming nobody can read or write. With any form of writing, it's possible to transmit the specs for the wheel along with the game. Wheels of cardboard are lined up according to keywords on the screen, to reveal the password on the wheel. When I wanna play a game, I wanna play NOW. So spending a few minutes figuring out the password from the docs is too long. I spent 15 minutes making the wheel instead, which will save time in the long run and was fun too. Here are some construction tips: Paper plates make great code wheels. They're stiff enough to last awhile, and easy to write on. Plastic is tough to write on, and cut. If you make the circles (where the words go) all the same size, it will line up right. To do that, draw them with a compass or use one pencil to point the center, with the other held still. Spin the paper while holding the pencils still. You also have to devide the "pie" into sectors. If the docs have 12 columns, you make 12 equal pie slices. 360 degrees (circle, remember?) devided by 12 columns is 30 degrees ea. Can't guess 30 degrees? Devide a 90 deg into thirds. If you cut each wheel (bottom, mid, top) just a little smaller than the last, you have a little room for the keyword, at top of column. By drawing the sectors first, and labling the columns, you can figure out where the windows get cut. After cutting the windows, use them to write the codewords in the right places. You can't mount them permanently till they're finished. Use a nail or something to fasten the bottom plate, which I leave whole, to the second. Fill out the code words through the window in the second, so you know they'll line up. Then do the same with the third wheel on top. Just copy off the docs the Pirate included. Now you have to fasten the three finished wheels together. you can use a tack or a pin. But to really look slick, find a pop-rivet tool, and use the biggest pop-rivet you can find. Pop-rivets hold the wheel together tightly, while letting them rotate. And it looks great. The bigger pop-rivet spreads the stress over a larger area and lasts longer. A smaller screw or rivet is OK if you use metal or fiber washers. It cost a dozen paper plates to perfect this technique. But I can spin them up quick and cheap now. X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven & the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845 Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766 realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662 Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699 The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674 Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560 "Raw Data for Raw Nerves" X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X