Several of the players confess to becoming addicted

I'm glad to say that none of these guys were top prospects, so none of this was too disheartening. In fact, I'd say Corona and Nova have increased their stock this year.. PARIS, Feb 3 (Reuters Life) - Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux may have won the gruelling Vendee Globe solo yacht race last weekend, but for thousands of armchair sailors all over the world the real action happened online. Lifestyle FranceIn cyberspace, over 300,000 Internet surfers have been battling to win the three-month long online yachting game Virtual Regatta, and on Tuesday celebrated victory when a software developer surnamed Hughes was declared the winner.Virtual Regatta (), which offers a 10,000 euro ($12,860) prize, gives players a taste of competitive sailing without the risk of getting wet. It has also drawn in over ten thousand times the number of participants than the real-life Vendee Globe.Created by French firm ManyPlayers, players sign up for free and can "sail" the same route as the Vendee Globe, with actual weather conditions on the course recreated in cyberworld."The game allows the players to get into the skin of the skippers ... the Internet is a way of turning people from spectators into actors," said Philippe Guigne, founder of ManyPlayers and himself a winner of the 1997 Tour de France sailing competition.Players use a Web page showing an interactive map which shows the actual weather conditions and wind speed at specific locations as well as boat speed and compass directions.The main advantages of ManyPlayers' approach lies in the high quality of the games which are based on big-name events, and lack of technological barriers such as time-consuming downloads, Guigne said."There's also a sense of community a lot of players sign up just because their friends did and they want to compete against each other," he added.The recipe has proved popular: the number of Virtual Regatta players has ballooned to 320,000 since its start on November 9.Riding on the success of its formula, ManyPlayers is also exploring a range of capital-raising possibilities to fund expansion, Guigne added.Several of the players confess to becoming addicted."It's like having a secret life ... Design & Lifestyle Book Provides Tips to Create 'Home-cation' DestinationAround Pools, Spas and Outdoor SpacesBook Encourages The Al Fresco Lifestyle To Enhance Mental And PhysicalWell-Being LAS VEGAS, Feb.

3 /PRNewswire/ Design and lifestyle book, The Al FrescoLife: Pools, Spas, Bars, and Kitchens provide readers with tips to createinviting outdoors spaces around one's home, resulting in the perpetual"home-cation" destination.Pool builder Joe Vassallo, CBP and photographerMary Vail, OSG both of Las Vegas collaborated on the hardbound, coffee tableedition. The publication is now available from Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., and at major book stores with proceeds from the sale ofthe book benefiting public school Title-1 homeless education programs. The duo introduces numerous new design concepts for pool builders, designersand homeowners to ponder when considering exterior areas. One will learn aboutAquaTekture, Comfort-scapes, and special treatments such as a Pixy Pool,Infinity edge, Wet-Flame, or a Liquid-window."Whether one is starting from scratch, investing in a renovation or simplylooking to spruce up an existing space, The Al Fresco Life is an excellentresource of inspiration," states Vassallo, president of Paragon Pools in LasVegas. The book showcases pool and spa projects across the Las Vegas valleyexclusively from the Paragon Pools portfolio and captures designs of varyingtastes and lifestyles.The Al Fresco Life is divided into informativechapters with culinary and beverages contributions from Austrian bornCertified Master Chef Gustav Mauler of Spiedini Ristorante and MixologistShawn Barker of Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill - MGM."The economy may force many to forgo their leisure travel," remarks Vail."However, people still desire and need time away to rejuvenate their spiritsand enhance their mental and physical wellbeing. Homeowners can recreate thatretreat experience in their own backyards in the form of a 'home-cation' anyday of the week."The Al Fresco Life: Pools, Spas, Bars and Kitchens ISBN:978-0-7643-3188-6Format: 8.5" x 11" - 144 pages - 340 color photos -hardcoverPrice: $39.99Available now: the Authors.Joseph M. Vassallo, CBP is the founder and president ofParagon Pools, .Mary Vail, OSG is an independentpublicist and photographer.Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), clickappropriate link.Joseph Vassallo, CBP Paragon Pools PoolsMary Vail, Publicist, 1-702-289-2225, , for Paragon Pools.

) Anyone familiar with the current, endlessly divisive POWR-RNKING!! of college football conferences knows where the critics like to put the ACC these days above the Big East, adrift in a murky Atlantic fog, far away from the powerhouses and frontrunners. Aside from their obligatory autobid in the BCS, the ACC is routinely trotted out as the conference that does the least with the most middling talent; that they routinely underwhelm; and that they won't field a BCS contender outside of the autobid for the foreseeable future.But if we take the opening weekend of college football, and the most recent clash on Thursday night, as indications, the competitive level in the ACC is definitely improving, if in some admittedly unorthodox ways.Consider first the Alabama-Virginia Tech game last Saturday By the numbers, that game shouldn't have even been close. Alabama brought speed, played with reckless abandon, dominated Tyrod Taylor on defense, allowed 155 yards of offense in total and were still losing in the fourth quarter.To say that in spite of being behind, they would eventually triumph is, in my opinion, taking the result of that game as far too inevitable. Two late Mark Ingram touchdowns sealed the game against what must have been a gassed VT defense. But to paraphrase Bobby Knight, Virginia Tech was in a position to win in the fourth quarter.VT forced turnovers and was almost unerringly successful in scoring off them when in Alabama territory. They held off two Tide drives deep in their territory, again by way of forced fumbles.