[Bball] Daniel - there is hope for you

[Michael Chen]

Love-struck hacker proposes using 'Bejeweled'

   - Story Highlights
   - Ring and marriage proposal show up when girlfriend reaches certain
   score
   - Tammy Li says, "I do"; marriage set for Labor Day weekend
   - "I thought it was pretty cool, in a nerdy way," says programmer
   Bernie Peng
   - "Bejeweled' players score by swapping gems to form vertical,
   horizontal chains

*JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (AP)* -- Hiding a ring in a bouquet just wasn't
enough when a computer programmer decided to pop the question.

Bernie Peng reprogrammed Tammy Li's favorite video game, "Bejeweled," so a
ring and a marriage proposal would show up on the screen when she reached a
certain score.

Li reached the needed score -- and said yes.

The word of the romantic feat last December filtered out after Peng, a
financial software programmer, posted details on his blog. The reprogramming
was a tricky task and took him a month.

"I thought it was pretty cool, in a nerdy way," Peng told The Star-Ledger of
Newark.

The couple plan to marry over Labor Day weekend, and PopCap, the Seattle
company that makes "Bejeweled," will fly the couple to Seattle as part of
their honeymoon.

"Most video game companies would frown on people manipulating their games,"
said Garth Chouteau, a spokesman for PopCap.

"But it won him a woman. As a bunch of geeks we have to say, 'Bernie, hats
off to you."'

The company is also supplying copies of "Bejeweled" to hand out as favors to
the wedding guests. In the hugely popular game, players score points by
swapping gems to form vertical and horizontal chains.

Copyright 2008 The Associated
Press<http://www.cnn.com/interactive_legal.html#AP>.
All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten, or redistributed.

     Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/15/bejeweled.proposal.ap/index.html
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