Electronics – Even In The Bathroom

It should come as no surprise that today, in addition to branded bathroom cabinets, the best bathrooms have integrated technology. Electronics, in the form of sound systems and computers, have a role in the bathroom. Consider wiring your bathroom with surround sound and hooking up your MP3 player, or installing a flat screen television with internet access to enjoy movies, music, and even a digital fireplace – all in the middle of your bathroom. Electronics do have their place in the bathroom.

Your Bathroom Can Be Advanced Too

Even if you don’t opt to install computers in your renovated bathroom, there are plenty of pieces of technology you can choose from. Consider installing touch operated fixtures, heated towel racks, or spa tubs in high quality bathroom suites. Even today’s shower enclosures have advancements like multiple shower heads and steam settings. Additions like these can take every bathroom to the next level and are often relatively inexpensive.

Today, creating the ideal bathroom space means technology. Whether you do it yourself or work with a contractor, adding the latest bathroom advancements or electronics, the renovation will add value to your home and help you create the best bathroom suite you can.

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Cell phones are probably one of the best “toys” for the electronic hobbyist. They are one of the most complex and intricate devices people use on a daily basis. Advancements in cell phone technology have made them a modern day wonder, and for some, an electronics addiction. If you’re one those people who loves to know how stuff works, the smartphone should provide hours of enjoyment.

The Smartphone Smorgasbord

As a DIY electronic hobbyist, you have always been the guy who can build a super computer in your bedroom. You’re the guy who can’t get enough from technology and electronics. With advancements in smartphone development, it’s not surprising that you’ll want to try out as many as you can. The best way to go is to invest in prepaid cell phones. That way you don’t have any long term contracts you have to meet. You can simply pay as you go.

As the smartphone becomes the standard in the consumer phone market, many companies will be introducing their version. The competition will be stiff, and that’s good for the hobbyist. Samsung, LG, Blackberry, and Apple are some common names, but you’ll find other players popping up, too. Although the general assembly of the circuit board would be similar from device to device, there will be differences in the operating systems.

Smartphone Operating Systems

A few hobbyists could chew up an afternoon comparing Smartphone operating systems. You’ll always have the Apple enthusiast, but the real discussion will be about Blackberry and Android. Since both work on multiple platforms, you’ll want to try both and get an expert opinion on each. In fact, without consumer “experts,” the smartphone market wouldn’t be nearly as advanced as it is today.

Of course, you can always search Canada 411 for local electronics stores. Buying off the shelf at a retail store puts you at the mercy of over-inflated prices. If you’re going to buy from a retail shop, wait until they’re having a sale. That way you’re at least saving some money.

Shopping online is another option that has quickly become a mainstream method of shopping. Without having to factor retail overhead into the prices, electronics purchased online are often much cheaper. By searching online, you can also compare prices and equipment to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal.

Online auctions are another great way to purchase low cost electronics, especially if you don’t mind purchasing something that is gently used. The major online auction sites are totally reputable, and the sellers there are trustworthy; otherwise, they’d risk their ability to sell through the site.

No matter how you choose to purchase your electronics, always pay attention to the price and the quality. Sometimes opting for a lower priced item will mean sacrificing quality, and that may end up costing you more in the future. If you’re purchasing online, watch the shipping charges; shipping charges can make the difference between a good deal and a not-so-good deal.

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Establishing a career as a successful event planner is a fun way to make money for those with the right personality traits. A person who is very uncomfortable in social situations or working with other people may want to pursue a different career path, since much of what an event or party planner does will involve maintaining relationships with others.

When making the first steps toward becoming an event planner, it is helpful to get some events into a portfolio. Many companies won’t hire a novice, so even coordinating events for friends or family members is a great place to start. Developing a website and providing plenty of marketing will pay off, since guests at these events may seek out the services for their own events.

Staying professional is a must, so individuals who can’t tolerate high stress levels may want to look at other career paths. Many issues can come up or go awry just before or even during an event, so a person who can think quickly and problem solve is necessary.

Most planners cover parties, business meetings, conventions, festivals, and/or or competitive events, so it can be helpful to determine which is the most appealing before setting up the website or printing hundreds of business cards. A person is usually more successful when focusing on one specific area, instead of trying to be an expert in all events.

Maintaining good relationships with vendors, hotels and venues, entertainment, and catering services is also crucial, because sometimes these companies can become good sources of advertisement. Success in event planning is tough, but can be a great choice for those who enjoy a fast-paced career.

The people that see electronics as a hobby may thrive on finding new or unique ways to incorporate them into every possible facet of their lives. This can include such things as having three or four electronic devices hooked up to one central unit so that they can follow the action on each one of their favorite sports betting sites at the same time.

Others who enjoy using electronics may employ the many ways they can be used to enjoy watching or keeping up with several offerings of their favorite sports at the same time. These people take advantage of such things as TVs with advanced electronics like direct tv that allow them to view one or more channels at the same time, or allow them to switch from one game to the other easily.

Those who work in the field of electronics, as well as extreme electronics hobbyists, may find themselves constantly searching for new information and developments in the electronics field. When they find a source that provides current, accurate information, they may become a frequent visitor to that site or subscribe to a specific publication that gives them the information they need.

As electronics continue to insinuate themselves in every area of our lives, sports enthusiasts will probably keep on thinking up ways that they can utilize them to enjoy their favorite pastime: eating, sleeping, and breathing sports. Those who aren’t so crazy about sports will likely find themselves thinking up ways that electronics can help tune the sports out.

When an electrical charge flows, it is known as an electric current. For a current to actually exist within a conductor, you need to have what is known as emf or electromotive force or a potential difference between each of the conductor’s ends. Now, an electric cell, a generator and a photo voltaic cell can all be sources for this emf. A source of emf that has an external connector that is connected from one of the two terminals in the source to the other one is going to constitute what is essential an electrical circuit.

If you would like to create electricity then you are going to need a circuit. If you would like to create a circuit then there are two things that you are going to need. The first is a power supply and the second is a conductor. Usually a circuit is also going to have a switch and what is essentially just an electrical device.

The power supply is a battery, for example, and the conductor is a piece of wire. An example of an electrical device might be a light bulb, and then you would have a switch that would make it possible for you to both open and close your circuit so that you can quickly, easily and effectively start and stop your electricity flow as needed. Understanding how these four things work together is the next step to turning your individual pieces into a working circuit and the creation of electricity to light your light bulb.

Do you want to create a simple and basic circuit? Here is a basic science lab that will allow you to create your very own circuit at home. In order to achieve this, the first thing that you need is two D-cell batteries, 3 pieces of six inch long strips of aluminum foil that are 1/4 inches wide, two flashlight light bulbs and an entire roll worth of cellophane tape.

Now, the first thing that you are going to want to do is to connect a single battery to your bulb by using the strips of aluminum foil. You are going to want to tape one of the strips of the foil to your battery’s positive end, and then you are going to want tape another strip of the aluminum foil to the other end of the battery, the negative end. Next, you are going to want to touch the positive strip’s free end to the light bulb’s metal side just right below your glass and the negative strip’s free end to the tiny little tip that is at the very bottom of your bulb.

If you have done this correctly, then when everything is touching your bulb should light up. This is an example of a circuit that you have created between your light bulb and your batteries with foil and tape working as the conductor. This is just a basic example of how a circuit works, but it should give valuable insight into how interesting circuits really are.

Do you know what all of the electronics in your home have in common, from your flashlight to your digital clock and even the portable pocket stereo that you keep with you? All of these things run based on electricity, and in order for the electricity to work in the way that it is supposed to, it first has to travel through what is known as a circuit. It might benefit you to think of a circuit like a specific pathway through which the electricity will be able to travel. These circuits can be simple such as the one that allows your night light to light up, or they can be very complex like those found in computer chips. As different as they are, all of these circuits are going to work in much the same way.

For circuits to function the way they are supposed to, the electricity has to leave through one end of the power source and then return through the opposite end using a circle or an unbroken loop. When it comes to batteries, the electricity would leave through the negative end and then return through the positive end. In wall outlets there are positive and negative ends, and these are the holes where you can fit the prongs of an electrical plug into. Circuits were once all very simple, and they typically only followed through a straight line back in the days of Thomas Edison, but they are much more complex in this day and age depending on the use.

Safe meter usage is an important part of circuit safety. If you are working around circuits, electricity or other similar risks, then you definitely need to protect yourself as much as you possibly can, and safe meter usage is going to be an important part of that. Here are some things that you are going to want to know when it comes to safe meter usage:

First and foremost, a multimeter is a type of meter that is capable of checking for the current, the voltage and the resistance.

Because the voltage is always going to be relative between two different points, you can use a voltage measuring meter known as a voltmeter by connecting it to two different points within the circuit so that you can get a decent reading. You are going to want to take care not to touch any of the bare tips of the probes together while you are measuring the voltage because this is capable of creating a short circuit.

When you are testing with a multimeter, you are going to want to make sure that you are always checking both for the AC current and the DC current voltage. This is going to allow you to detect the presence of hazardous voltages on the circuit that you are testing. You are going to want to make sure to check for the voltage between all of the combinations of the conductors, including connectors between the ground and the individual conductors.

Safe circuit design is an important part of good circuit safety. When you design your circuits safely, then there is a greater chance that nobody is going to get hurt. Here are some things that you are going to want to consider when it comes to circuit safety and safe circuit design.

First and foremost, you are going to need to know that power systems typically only have a single side of their voltage supply that is connected to your earth ground, and the purpose of this is to make sure that there is safety at the point.

The conductor that is ground in the power system is generally referred to as being the neutral conductor. On the other hand, the conductor that is not grounded is going to be referred to as the hot.

Grounding in a power system exists primarily for personnel safety, not for the load’s operation. Electrical safety for an appliance or any other load is generally capable of being improved through good engineering like double insulation, polarized plug, three prong grounding plugs and so on. These are all distinct ways that you can maximize safety on your load side.

GFCI stands for Ground Fault Current Interrupter. These work by way of sensing that there is a difference in the current between the two different conductors that are supplying the power to your load. There shouldn’t ever be a difference in the current at all, at any point. If there is a difference, then this means that the current is either entering or exiting by way of some means besides the two conductors, and this is not a good thing. If there is a significant difference in current, then a disconnecting switch mechanism is going to be opened automatically, cutting off the power.

Circuit safety is a really important consideration, and you need to be constantly thinking about safety precautions and how you can protect yourself and be safe any time you are dealing with electricity. There are certain situations that happen to be especially common sources of hazard, and as such you are going to need to put extra consideration into these potential risks.

First and foremost, you need to be aware of the fact that wet conditions can significantly increase the risk of an electrical shock because they lower the amount of natural resistance in your skin.

Next, you are going to want to replace any worn or damaged power tools or extension cords immediately. You will be able to prevent the innocent use of a bad tool or a bad cord by immediately cutting the male end of the plug off, but only when it is properly unplugged from the electricity. If the male end of the cord is missing so that you cannot plug it in, then you know immediately that you are dealing with a bad cord or a potentially bad tool and you can chuck it rather than risking injury by using it.

Keep in mind that power lines are extremely dangerous, and so you are going to want to avoid them at any and all costs. If you see that a line is going to touch down on the ground, then you should stand on just a single foot or you should run so that only one foot is touching the ground at a time. The reason for this is because it will prevent the experience of any voltage shock from the voltage dropped along the ground between the systems’ ground point and the line.

When it comes to circuit work and safety, there are a number of considerations that you are going to want to make in order to ensure that you are safe. Many of these considerations have to do with shock current path. The least that you need to know is that the electric shock is only going to be capable of occurring when a contract is made between at least two different points of a same circuit and where voltage is being applied across the body of a victim.

Power circuits are typically going to have one designated point that is designed to be grounded. This means that it is firmly connected to either metal rods or metal plates that are buried down in the dirt. The purpose of this is to make sure that at least one side of the circuit is always going to be at ground potential, meaning that there is zero voltage existing between the earth ground and that specific point.

It is also important that you understand what a ground fault is. What this is, is an accidental connection that exists between the earth or ground and a circuit connector.

You should take the time and effort to get special insulated mats and shoes that will help to protect you from any shocks coming from ground conduction. It is important also to consider that this type of gear has to be in a clean and dry condition in order for it to be effective in protecting you. Normal footwear is not going to be good enough in order to provide you with protection from the shock, because it may insulate you a little but is not going to insulate you enough from the earth around you.

Although it is apparent that dirt is generally a poor conductor, dirt is more than capable of conducting enough current that it would be able to seriously injure or even kill an adult human being.

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Circuit Safety: Shock Current Path

When it comes to circuit work and safety, there are a number of considerations that you are going to want to make in order to ensure that you are safe. Many of these considerations have to do with shock current path. The least that you need to know is that the electric shock is only going to be capable of occurring when a contract is made between at least two different points of a same circuit and where voltage is being applied across the body of a victim.

Power circuits are typically going to have one designated point that is designed to be grounded. This means that it is firmly connected to either metal rods or metal plates that are buried down in the dirt. The purpose of this is to make sure that at least one side of the circuit is always going to be at ground potential, meaning that there is zero voltage existing between the earth ground and that specific point.

It is also important that you understand what a ground fault is. What this is, is an accidental connection that exists between the earth or ground and a circuit connector.

You should take the time and effort to get special insulated mats and shoes that will help to protect you from any shocks coming from ground conduction. It is important also to consider that this type of gear has to be in a clean and dry condition in order for it to be effective in protecting you. Normal footwear is not going to be good enough in order to provide you with protection from the shock, because it may insulate you a little but is not going to insulate you enough from the earth around you.

Although it is apparent that dirt is generally a poor conductor, dirt is more than capable of conducting enough current that it would be able to seriously injure or even kill an adult human being.

The first thing that you are going to want to understand when it comes to circuits and electric currents is that an electric current is quite capable of producing both severe and deep burns in your body due to what is known as power dissipation across the electrical resistance of the body.

Tetanus is the name for a condition when your muscles contract involuntarily due to an external electric current passing through your body. When the involuntary contraction of the muscles that control your fingers causes you to be trapped and unable to release an energized conductor, this is known as being froze on the circuit.

Diaphragm muscles in the lungs and heart muscles are both affected in a similar way by the electric current when it passes through the body unexpectedly. Even currents that are not strong enough to induce tetanus can still actually be strong enough that they can interfere with the pacemaker neurons of the heart, which can cause your heart to weakly flutter rather than beating strongly as it is supposed to.

A direct current, also known as a DC current is going to be much more likely to cause tetanus in the muscles in comparison to an alternating current or an AC current. What this means for you is that a DC current is going to be much more likely to freeze up a victim in the event of a shock scenario. You need to be aware of the fact, however, that AC current is much more likely to cause the fibrillation of a victim’s heart, which actually happens to be a much more dangerous condition once the shocking current is no longer flowing, as it can cause serious harm to the victim on a longer-term basis.

Understanding how electricity can affect the body is essential when you are working with circuitry, as this understanding can protect you and even safe your life when put to good use.

Surely I am not the only one who suffers from this lack of technology; this intense lack of an email program’s ability to read the body of a message, see any form of the word”attach”, and prompt the sender to actually attach the intended document, picture, file, etc. BEFORE the message is actually sent. How difficult can it be? Has this magical feature been invented already? Did I somehow miss all the news and hype about this? Surely this would not require an overhaul of one’s PC circuits nor installation of complicated hardware.

Of course, demand is a huge driver. Many have been able to turn their brilliant idea into a sellable product – at least long enough to (hopefully) break even on the investment it took to get the product to market. I still recall my astonishment at the success of the “Pet Rock” back in the 1970s. Since then, there have been hundreds of other endeavors like that. Some successful and continuing (Facebook, YouTube, Google); some that were a flash in the pan, and not worth mentioning.

I’m no wunderkind. But in my travels on the road of life, I’ve had a few light-bulb moments for “new technology” products. I don’t have the engineering background, talent or skill to create these things. So I rely on time and others to realize the need for them, and to create them.

That said/admitted, here is one of my favorite ideas that I hope to see soon:

The “Time Bank Register”: A type of game where you can enter the amount of time you spend doing innocuous things like standing in line at the grocery store, waiting on hold on the phone to speak to a human being, sitting in a massive traffic jam. I suspect many would be surprised at how much time is spent on these value-less activities. Like a bank checking account, you could deposit this wasted time, and make withdrawals for the activities you REALLY want to spend your time on: a few more days of sunning on the beach, a few more hours with a loved one, a few more minutes of that precious commodity known as sleep. Perhaps it should be called the “Reality Time-Check” game.

Morrowind is the kind of game that just does not come out all that often. The quest lines, the variety of monsters and the beautiful, exotic architecture of the in game world all give it an ambiance that you just do not find with most games. And when you add in the fact that you can actually add in your own custom content (through a utility provided by the game’s maker, the venerable Bethesda Softworks), the game takes on a special quality which may never be repeated.

From the moment you first step off of the boat in the little ‘back end of nowhere’ town of Sedya Neen to the time when you have destroyed an evil god and claimed your rightful status as the reincarnation of an ancient king (and really, even beyond that point), you will feel like you really have stepped into an ancient, mostly uncivilized world where your skills will be tested to their utmost level at every turn. If you have what it takes and want a great experience, find a used copy of Morrowind on the cheap, and kick it old school.

Before we get to how incredible the game is, remember that it does have a few limits to it. For one thing, the architecture does carry a sort of bland, “yeah, it’s basically England” vibe to it. And there is a strange sense that, considering that this is an empire which essentially rules the entire world, it still lacks the funding to explore and police the ruins of ancient civilizations within walking distance of its cities (where its population could very well be vulnerable). And considering that any thief or assassin can become Archmage of the Mage’s Guild, there are moments where it just doesn’t make sense.

But once you get past a few puzzlers like those, you realize that Oblivion is still incredible. The graphics, which can be made even lovelier, are pretty incredible looking. There is ample variety in the enemies you can fight, and there are a decent number of challenging quests you can undertake. And if you want to loot dungeons, you could turn that into your character’s full time job and never be able to keep them all cleared out. When people produce custom downloadable content, the game becomes even better still.

A few years ago, the Nintendo Wii introduced the world to a whole new type of gaming controller in the form of its Wiimote. While a few other game controllers had previously tried to put people “in the game” in the past, this was the first time that a game company had really committed to making the interface and the number of games which the people could play as robust and easily accessed as humanly possible. The simple fact is, while this kind of control had been played with in the past, Nintendo was the first company to really get serious about it.

But just when you thought they might be unbeatable, out came Microsoft with their Kinect. Not only does it completely free up the player from having to hold any peripherals (which is a nice change, considering that the Wiimote and the Nunchuck tended to get tangled up a little bit). While Nintendo had started the ball rolling with being serious about this type of gaming apparatus, Microsoft threw its hat in the ring with more than a little bit of vigor about it. Now that these two compete, it is seriously now anybody’s game.

A perfect example of what can happen when two companies are really competing against one another is that beautiful duopoly of Rock Band and Guitar Hero. While at first they may seem to be pretty much identical to one another, on any kind of a closer examination you can easily see that these two products, between the songs they offer, how customizable they are and the peripherals which come with them both, are both designed to be just a little bit better than “the other guy” is. After all, it would be a truly rare gamer who has the money (and even the space) to possess both games, so they both need to bring their A game to earn your patronage.

And earn it they most certainly do. While both games deal with “rocking out” in a video game sense (the controls are simpler than actually playing the songs), the difficulty can get pretty high up there. And as if that were not enough, you can even upload your own songs. And this does not even take into account that you can now move beyond just the guitars, to sing and to play the drums. This competition stuff is great.

Guitar Hero and Rock Band both have fake, easily played musical instruments which are meant to be used as game controllers. In both of these games, you play as the band, and you get a chance to suspend your disbelief just long enough to feel as if you really are a band up on stage, playing for a throng of screaming fans who came out just to see you. While you are obviously just playing a video game, the feeling of being a star is very powerful. And the fact that these companies compete to have the best experience makes both of them just that much better.

Kinetic gaming has become a way of life for a whole lot of people. Instead of just sitting there flapping your thumbs, you have the capacity to make your body do the things that make a game work properly in the game (which is what a lot of people have always done anyway). With the Wiimote and the Kinect as the guiding forces, locked in fierce competition against one another, you can do more and more with your body. If they did not compete against one another, the games wouldn’t be this great.

I tried scrapbooking a few years ago; got all excited to start a book for my then only child, but after completing only 3 pages in 2 years, I took the hint that scrapbooking probably isn’t the best hobby for me. Every once in a while I see a beautiful page a friend made, or a magnificent layout at the craft store, and I think about pulling my scrapbooking supplies out and giving it another try. But, by the time I get home that thought in my mind was replaced by something else.

Just that one attempt to scrapbook set me back a pretty penny. Scrapbook supplies are not cheap, and you need a good amount of various materials, adhesives, and fancy cutters in order to make anything worth keeping. For the serious scrapbookers, these tools are worth the investment, but for people that just want to try it out, or just makes a few pages or a book or so a year, may find it not worth it to buy so many scrapbook supplies.

Enter the world of digital scrapbooking. Page design is done online and the final decorated product is printed out page by page on a home printer. Some online photo specialty sites and retail stores can professionally print the finished scrapbook into a more traditional book-like binding.

This is my kind of hobby, it’s just like creating flyers. There is no big mess because there is no cutting, hole punching, gluing, or anything of the sort. I already have a digital camera, a computer, and a printer so I don’t need to spend a small fortune to buy special supplies. I’m not wasting paper by printing photos to only cut them up and throw half away. And, I do not need to be a good drawer to make fantastic digital scrapbooks.

If you had a computer during the early 1990s, then you may have had the pleasure of playing Widget Workshop. While it was something of an “educational” game (which usually connotes a lot of boredom and that the game would only be interesting to really nerdy people), it was still a lot of fun, especially when you got into making your own custom displays and puzzles. But of course, you could keep yourself occupied for a good long time trying to figure out and finally solve the “vanilla” puzzles that the game came with. But let’s back track a little bit, and describe Widget Workshop in some more detail. Basically, you played a mad scientist whose goal was to solve puzzles using visually interesting little props.

You could connect switches (from a light switch to a an “If-then” logic gate) to various types of displays (from a light bulb or a picture to a color screen), and put together solutions to problems that the game would pose for you. And if you ever got bored with that, you could make your own musical instruments (by connecting the push of a certain key on your keyboard to a particular sound), or make a color show (by hooking up the hearts of gerbils to random number generators, and then hooking those up to color screens- it isn’t as weird as it sounds).

All in all, you had a whole lot of different things you could do. For instance, how much would you weight on the Moon? How much would you weigh on Jupiter? You could set up a little “widget” which would let you input your weight on Earth, and find out the other two numbers (as well as those for the other planets in the solar system) with just a click of your mouse. Overall, Widget Workshop is the kind of game they ought to make more of. With today’s hardware, they could do even better.

However, at one point someone finally realized that in nearly every circuit board which has ever been made, there was actually some gold which could be harvested and recycled for a bit of profit. Of course, this was slow, tedious work which tended to only yield a fairly small amount of gold. And by “a fairly small amount,” remember that gold is rarely less than $300 per ounce- and often, all of the gold which could be harvested out of a single circuit board would amount to a few quarters on the resale market.

However, another wise person whose name has been lost to history finally figured out (in a brilliantly blinding flash of the obvious) that amongst all of these circuit boards, there was actually still a lot of useful hardware. Since the logic gates which govern circuit technology are reasonably universal, often times they can be reused for more than just what their mineral components may be worth, and placed into new or refurbished pieces of technology. Once that has occurred, this technology may be resold and the ultimate profit for the technology’s salvage becomes reasonably high. So while gold is great, technology is even better.

For the first few rounds, all you will be doing is pressing a few colors. And each color presents itself in a slow, gentle way for your easy remembrance. However, in time the colors begin to get faster and faster, which is basically guaranteed to tax not only your memory but also your observational skills. It can be all too easy for you to think it was red-green-green-blue-yellow-red-blue, when it reality it was red-green-green-blue-blue-yellow-red-blue instead. And if you did not notice the difference within this sentence, your chances of doing well without a lot of practice are slim and none… and slim left town awhile ago.

The neat thing about Simon is not just in the fact that it trains your mind without turning into an “educational” game. And aside from the mental gains it can help you make, both in memory and observational skills, it is also pretty good for the coordination between your eyes and your hands. While just about anybody can see the order of the lights, actually putting them back down properly can be a seriously challenging endeavor, even for a pretty nimble individual. Over all, considering Simon is a pretty good deal at only a few bucks.

There are a lot of ways that different people like to unwind after each day earning their paychecks. Some head straight to a room, preferably with a bit of dim lighting, to play a few hours of Acheron’s Call online with pals dotted across the country. This game can be played for hours and hours, and, unlike a traditional competitive game, seems to ultimately never have a ‘winner.’ So, it’s easy to engage in, and enjoy, whilst becoming ever more competitive but never quite the top dog, or most skilled player.

Interactive video games are sometimes like that – they are entertaining but seem to disregard common notions of victory. Points may be earned and extra lives gained, but towards what end? Generally, these things go towards extending one’s time play! So a lot of interactive, online video games are great time drains.

More traditional games, for example, ones in which players sit around poker tables, betting, folding, raising, and bluffing, seem to build a better social scene than the instant message style of communication that accompanies the (fake) blood splattered scenes that accompany many video games. In a room in which a hand of poker is being played, one can feel the tension level rise with each round of wage increases. The dialogue may not be thick with witty repartee while everything is on the line, but much is said with each ‘tell’ or nervous tic by different players.

When it’s not down to the next card dealt making or breaking the game, the environment around poker tables is usually cordial and friendly. While this may mask the ultimate in learning the opponent’s behaviors, it is generally a pleasant social interaction. This is true especially when one’s paycheck isn’t on the line, but rather, a few dollars has been declared as the maximum bet. This helps to keep the game social rather than wildly competitive.

The best part of this is the low amount of time you will spend and with a one stop insurance provider, you can request the information you need with just a few clicks. You no longer have to browse through several companies to get the various insurance you require because companies such as 21st Century Insurance will provide you with a single quote that can include your home, auto, and your belongings. You spend a lot putting together the best technology and machinery that are available for your convenience, so why not protect them with insurance that will come in handy during those hard times?

Look at it in the form of savings since you will not only save your time, but you will also save a great deal of money with bundle insurance from one company. With the additional money you have the ability to upgrade your gaming console or even purchase something new that you have wanted. So take the few minutes out of your busy schedule and look up some of these insurance companies. You will have a quote in minutes and before you know it, you can get back to your game with a feeling of security.

In the world of video games, it used to be that when it was time for an addition to a particular video game, the game was released as a new version and gamers—or their parents—had to buy a new game to get new adventures and improved functions. With the evolving and growing technology in video games these days, that is no longer the case. While new games are always being released and the purchases will not slow down anytime soon, there are new ways for updating existing games and adding more fun or fixing glitches without buying a whole new game.

Many video games have software patches that fix problems or add additional adventures to the games. Gamers can go to specific websites and download these software updates, if the game is PC based. For those video games that are on game consoles such as Nintendo and Playstation, there are new ways to download software updates via online connections that are available options. This is a newer feature that is being further developed. This software enables users to enjoy furthering the game and prolonging interest as well as the life of the game. This is fun and saves money as well. Even if the updates require a small fee—which many do not—it is rarely even close to the price of a new game.

With video games and the resulting software becoming increasingly popular and the game consoles becoming more intricate and able to go online wirelessly and so forth, updating via software online will likely continue to increase. Software has changed so much in recent years, it is next to impossible to keep up with all the updates and changes, with video games and all other programs as well. Technology is amazing and is growing by leaps and bounds every minute, it seems.

When you combine the fun and intensity of video games with the popularity and creativity of Marvel comic book characters, there is a something divine that happens. If you grew up reading comic books, the video games based on those characters help the story and the heroes and villains come to life. Following is a list of three of the best video games that have been based on a character from Marvel Comics.

The Incredible Hulk
This game for the Sega Genesis was great for two reasons: It had great villains and it gave the player the opportunity to switch back and forth between the Hulk and Bruce Banner. While this may not seem like a useful tool, it was because you could switch to the human counterpart and slip by some scenes unnoticed and then get back to the green rage that made everything fun and exciting.

Captain America and the Avengers
Superheroes just don’t get much more popular than Captain America and the Avengers. Whether you are a little kid or a grown adult, you will get pumped up every time you play this game and here Captain America shout, “Avengers Assemble!” You might even get goosebumps a time or two. This was an arcade game at first, but you may be able to find it on a video game disc for your gaming system if you look hard enough. If not, you might find a vintage video game website that allows you to play online.

Marvel: The Ultimate Alliance
This Marvel video game is unique because it allows the storylines of the various characters to crossover during the game. You can choose to be one of your favorite characters, including Captain America, Spider Man, Wolverine or even Iron Man. As you play, you can add characters to your team and move through various storylines while fighting the villains. As the title implies, this is one of the ultimate games for you to play if you are a fan of Marvel Comics and you enjoy the intensity of gaming.

Video Games Lead to Increased Teen Violence
We’ve all heard the “fact” that violent video games lead to violent teens. However, if you look at the statistics surrounding juvenile crime in the country, you will see that the rates are at the lowest they have been in three decades. In fact, studies show that the people who are in prison for perpetrating violent crimes viewed less media than the people who are free and walking the streets. The main contributions to teen violence are the individual teen’s home life and their mental stability, not video games.

Video Game Makers Target Children in Their Marketing
While many video games are made for children, this is not the main market that video game companies think of when marketing their products. Most of the video game players are adults who grew up playing games and continue to do so into their adult years. More than 60 percent of the market for game consoles is over the age of 18. That is also why so many of today’s video games have an “M” rating, meaning they are for mature audiences. Unfortunately, many parents do not consider this and they let their kids play the games anyways.

Video Games Isolate People Socially
Many of today’s games are very sociable. In fact, it’s one of the favorite pastimes for friends to do when they get together. About one-third of the people who play games,  like online casino games,  playwith a brother or sister and a large number also play with parents and spouses. Most games are also designed for multiple players and you can even play hundreds of games online and talk with people from around the world who are playing the same game.

It’s easy to get excited when playing video games. Unfortunately, that excitement often results in spilling your snacks or soda all over the couch, the floor and even the video game controllers. Luckily, it is not a total loss if you get soda or other liquids in your controllers. Here are some things you can do to clean them.

Take it Apart
It might seem like a daunting task to take your video game controller apart to clean it, but what have you got to lose? If you don’t take it apart, it’s probably ruined so at least you have a chance to salvage it by going inside the controller to clean it. Most controllers have a bottom piece that screws on so you can start by loosening the screws and removing it. Be sure to keep the screws in a safe place so you don’t lose them once you have taken them out of the controller.

Remove the Parts
Once you remove the bottom plate of the controller, you will see many parts. Remove the circuit board, the cable, the contact parts, the plastic buttons and any other parts inside the controller. Make a mental note of how they are arranged so you can get the controller back together once you are finished.

Wash the Shell
After removing all the parts, wash the remaining shell with warm soapy water. Use a small scrub brush (like a toothbrush) to clean the small spaces. You can also use a cotton swab for the tiny places that the bristles on the toothbrush cannot reach.

Clean the Small parts
The plastic buttons can be cleaned in a bowl of warm soapy water while the rubber parts should be cleaned with a dry cloth and compressed air. Dry each part with a soft cloth and set them back on a flat surface so they can air dry. Clean the circuit board with rubbing alcohol to ensure it is clean as well.

Put it Back Together
Now that everything is clean and dry, put it back together and see if it works. If it doesn’t, at least you tried.

Use a Soft Cloth
To clean your discs of any dust, oil or dirt, the best thing to use is a dry soft cloth. This can either be your t-shirt or a cloth specifically made for cleaning discs. Bathroom towels, paper towels and other materials are too rough for disc cleaning so never use these materials as they may scratch your discs rather than clean them.

Rub from the Inside Out
Many people make the mistake of cleaning their video game discs in a circular motion. While this may look like it makes sense, this can cause damage to the disc. Instead, start at the center of the disc and rub in a straight line to the outer edge. This will help remove any dust and oils without damaging your disc.

Fill In Scratches with Toothpaste
As weird as it sounds, toothpaste is a great way to fill in the scratches on your game disc. Spread a thin layer of plain toothpaste over the entire playing side of the disc and then wipe it clean with a damp soft cloth. Allow the disc to dry and the scratches should no longer be a problem. If the scratches are deep, however, the toothpaste may not fix it.

Keep the Disc in the Case
It’s tempting to leave your video game discs lying around so they are easy to get to. But by doing this, you leave it vulnerable to dirt and dust and scratches. Take the few extra seconds to put your disc in its case after each use to avoid any major problems with it in the future.

If you are shopping for a laptop that is going to be primarily for playing video games, you should be using a different criteria than if you were shopping for a laptop for other purposes. Gaming laptops have to be more of a high performance model because of the quick graphics and drain on the system’s resources. Here are four tips to help you choose the best laptop for your gaming purposes.

Know Your Games
In order to choose the best laptop for playing your video games, you will need to know the demands of the games you want to play. Games that you can play on your computer will typically have a list of minimum requirements on the back, such as processing speed and RAM so you know if your laptop is capable of running the game efficiently. Know what you can download such as a driver update to save you some time when checking out the systems. Always choose a laptop that has more than the minimum requirements in order to make sure there are no lags or pauses while the computer tries to catch up with the game.

Screen Size
Larger screens are better for playing games on your laptop. With today’s graphics, you won’t want to miss a single detail. Your laptop’s screen should be at least 15 inches to enjoy your games and their graphics. Also, if the games you play are in high definition or if you want to watch hi-def movies on your laptop, the resolutions should be at least 1366×768 pixels.

USB Ports
Your gaming laptop should have several USB ports and Firewire connections. You will want to plug several components into your laptop to play your video games so the more ports you have, the more things you can plug into it. You may also want to consider a separate mouse and keyboard for extra control.

Tapered Keys
Many laptops have tapered keys while others do not. You might not even notice this feature unless you are looking for it. Non-tapered keys create a flat keyboard which makes it difficult to know what keys your fingers are on unless you are looking down at the keyboard.

While video games seem to be a time consuming activity for many teens and adults, there are some benefits to playing these games occasionally. Here are some of the benefits you can reap by taking some time a few days each week to play some video games in your spare time.

Cognitive Abilities
One of the main benefits that adults achieve as a result of playing video games is an increase in cognitive abilities. In fact, some studies have shown that adults who play video games perform about 20 percent better in cognitive activities than those adults who do not play video games regularly.

Problem-Solving Skills
Many people complain about how video games are a waste of time, but then they will sit and watch TV for hours on end. Video games are more of an active experience than watching TV and it actually involves problem-solving skills. By playing video games, gamers build up their skills and keep their minds active whereas watching TV is a passive activity that does not help develop the mind.

Hand and Eye Coordination
Adults who play video games often have better hand and eye coordination than people who only play occasionally. In fact, a study of more than 300 surgeons showed that the ones who played video games that required spatial skills were significantly quicker when performing drills that tested these skills.

Distraction from Overeating
One of the things that adults benefit from when they play video games is that they are distracted from overeating. In one study of 2700 gamers conducted by Real Games, nearly 60 percent of the subjects snacked less than they did when they weren’t playing video games. More than 40 percent of smokers studied also said they smoked less often when they were involved in playing video games regularly.

With all of the video games on the market to choose from, it may be hard to narrow your list down to fit within you budget. One way to find the ones that you will enjoy the most is to read reviews of various games and choose the ones that seem to be the most popular. Here are three popular video games that you can play on your computer for hours of entertainment.

Mafia II
This is the latest in the Mafia series of video games and it was just released on August 24, 2010. It involves a story of Vito Scaletta, the leading man who lives a life full of murder, betrayal and more. As for the gaming aspect, there is a great deal of hand-to-hand shooting and combat that is satisfying for the gamer who loves action. The setting also has impeccable details that takes you back to the time of gangster wars combined with involved plots and lifelike characters that help bring the game right into your living room.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
This computer video game, which was released in July 2010, has the ideal blend of traditional playing and fresh graphics and ideas. The choices give gamers the idea that they are a part of the game and the great acting by characters helps move the plot along in a realistic way. There are several levels of play so beginners can break into the game easily as they work their way up to expert status.

Elemental: War of Magic
This strategic game of war and wizardry is great for the gamers who like to develop strategies for winning. There are a number of tactical battles to play to keep things interesting and pass the time away. Graphics on this video game are decent and the storyline helps draw you in for even more fun.

Brian Hampton, a Sergeant First Class, is one of those people. As a member of the military, he knows video games are fictional. But, he says, the details included in some game are just too familiar for him to be comfortable. Some games have realistic weapons, uniforms and military bases which are very true to the war the American soldiers have been fighting in Afghanistan for the last several years. Hampton says playing these games brings back too many traumatic memories of the actual combat.

One of the reasons for the extreme details in the new Medal of Honor is the fact that the video game producers worked closely with the United States military when creating the game. Some have claimed that these games have encouraged teens to sign up for the military when they turn 18 because of the lifelike combat they experience just by playing these types of military-based video games.

But this newest game is causing quite an uproar because of its attention to detail and realistic combat simulations. In fact, stores on military bases are refusing to sell the game. One of the main reasons for the controversy is one part of the game that lets a player choose to fight for the Taliban and kill American soldiers.

Some are heralding the decision as a favorable one as they see no humor or taste in releasing a game that lets players shoot American troops. Others say the decision borders on censorship and is against what the troops are fighting for in the first place. A spokesperson for the video game company said the game’s intent was to support the role the American soldiers played in the war in Afghanistan. He went on to say that the company respects the decision of military bases to refuse to sell the game.

Gourmet Chef
With the popularity of the Food Network and cooking shows on TV today, it’s only natural that the video game industry jump into the fray. Gourmet Chef, from Nintendo DS, is an innovative game that will teach you how to cook like the best of them with more than 70 French recipes. The game consists of an interactive cookbook and a series of tasks that teach you the basics of gourmet cooking. Imagine learning how to cook with a video game and then putting those skills to use to impress your family and friends.

Portal
If you enjoy solving problems and thinking when you are playing your video games, Portal is the game for you. It follows Chell, a protagonist who goes through a series of chambers. A disembodied voice guides you through the chambers and there are puzzles and problems to solve to move to the next room. The twist is that you have to decide if you should listen to the voice because it does not always have the character’s best interest in mind.

Wii Fit Plus
Few gaming systems have made an impact on the video game industry like the Wii Fit. With the Wii Fit Plus, you can get in shape while playing video games and having fun. With the many accessories and activities to play, you will never tire of finding ways to play your Wii so you can get in better shape.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Although this was one of the more controversial games on the market, the plot is quite interesting. It involves the story of Carl Johnson, a former gang member who comes home to find that his mom has been murdered. Soon after, a corrupt police office harasses him. Over the course of the game, the players are taken through three major cities helping Carl return his gang to supremacy. However, the story is not over. The corrupt cop is there at every turn to stop Johnson and his fellow gang members. Eventually, Carl becomes a wealthy man and one of the town’s most admired citizens.

Portal
This intense game opens with the main character waking up in a chamber that is only furnished with a radio and a toilet. A voice helps guide you though the various chambers in the game as you try to solve problems and puzzles in order to get to the next level. However, after a few successes, the player finds out that the voice may not always be guiding you along the right path. There is scribbling on several chamber walls and other things that keep the player confused to make for a truly intriguing game of fun and problem solving.

Fallout 2
This futuristic game begins in the ruins following the nuclear showdown between China and America. The main character is the offspring of a vault dweller that tried to save people following the war. The plot plays on the idea that a nuclear holocaust is totally plausible and the aftermath is a mystery.

Are you looking for video games that your kids can play that will help them learn something as they play? If so, you’re in luck. There are many educational video games on the market that are ideal for kids of various ages. Here are a few of those games and some of the things they will help your kids learn when they play.

Lifeboat to Mars
This educational video game is for children who are at least eight years old. It is a fun and exciting way to learn about biology and it was developed by PBS Kids Go. It offers two types of simulations dealing with the biological world, including one where the player controls microbes and another in which the player controls a plant and animal ecosystem. The game gives children a set of goals and ways to achieve those goals during the game and it is mainly built upon a trial and error method so kids can spend hours having fun and learning at the same time.

Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom
This fun-filled game is ideal for young children at least four years and older. In addition to being fun, it adds some educational elements so kids are learning as they play. There are even opportunities for parents to join in the fun when the game reaches its more challenging stages. The plot involves Dora and her friend, Boots, trying to save the Crystal Kingdom from losing its glamour by saving the colored crystals that have been stolen by the king. The bright colors are ideal to keep children interested and the method for controlling the characters movements couldn’t be easier.

Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy
Created for ages nine and up, this mystery game is ideal for girls. Nancy Drew is in a new school and she has to make friends as she solves the mystery involving a series of accidents at the school. If you like this one, there are 20 more Nancy Drew video games available for young girls to play and learn various skills as well.

Have you ever looked at the ratings on a video game and wondered what they meant? Usually, the ratings simply consist of a couple letters with little or no explanation. So how do you know if you are getting an age-appropriate video game? Here is a quick guide to the ratings on video games and a short description of what each one means.

EC – This is an abbreviation for “Early Childhood.” This means that the game is ideal for children who are at least three years old. If you see this rating, you should expect the game to appropriate materially for your toddler.

This one-letter abbreviation stands for “Everyone.” This means that the content in the video game is appropriate for anyone over the age of six. There may be some violence and mischief committed by the characters, but it is overall mild and safe.

T – If you see a “T” as the rating on a game, it is appropriate for ages 13 and up. The game probably contains some violence, strong language and suggestive themes, but it is kept relatively mild compared to the next rating.

M – You’ve probably seen this rating on many video games lately. That’s because it stands for “Mature” and more and more video games are being geared toward adults. Games with these ratings often include intense violence, sexual scenes, foul language and more. It would be like going to an R-rated movie in many cases except for the fact that you don’ get to play along during the movie.

AO – This rating stands for “Adults Only” and it would be equivalent to the NC-17 rating for movies. Games in this category tend to be very graphic in their sex scenes, depictions of gratuitous violence and language. These games are not intended for any gamers under the age of 18.

RP – The “RP” rating means that the rating is still pending. If you are unsure of its content, you should wait until it has been rated before letting your children play it.

Time has not been kind to the first widely recognized video game. Pong, now even though less than 40 years-old appears more obsolete than the Ford Model T. Pong was played at video arcades – another obsolete entity. For a child born even 10 years ago, traveling to a location to pay, by the game, for something as simple as electronic table tennis would be so foreign that it would be insulting.

Technology accumulates at such a rapid pace that one generation barely recognize the existence of the next. Growing up in the 70s meant no Internet. Identification did not even include a photo. Perhaps the best way to show the rapid and extreme changes that have occurs can be shown in the area of video and computer gaming. If Pong were art it would be a cave drawing. Compared to the depth of story, art and play of series such as Final Fantasy, Pong looks less like a cave drawing than the scribbles of an infant next to the artwork of a master.
Video games went from tiny pleasure to cultural boiling point in less than a generation. Technology relegated Pong to be without any politics or viewpoints. Pong gave way to Pac-Man, which begat Mario Bros., which became Zelda, Medal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto.
As video games evolved it became nearly impossible to dismiss them as a mindless pursuit. Entertainment is a reflection of society and their rapid evolution displayed technology’s effect on society. While change might be healthy and necessary, such a rapid change displays volatility.
For people 100 years ago, it cold be relatively assumed that following in the footsteps of your father would not only be a comfortable path but also the only available option. Now guessing on which industries will exist in five years offers about as much assurance as a coin flip. Or to think about it another way, what students are studying in college now might be considered as important as Pong is considered today by the next generation.

Humble Beginnings

The founders of Infocom met at MIT, while they were working on their undergraduate degrees. After becoming friends, they wrote Zork 1, which went on to sell over a million copies. A text adventure, Zork had no graphics of any kind. Instead, the player read the words on the screen and typed in a command for his character, i.e., “walk north” or “kill troll with sword”. Zork required the player to solve many different puzzles by using maps, items, and in some cases, good timing. It was lauded for challenging the intellect and stirring the imagination of its players.

National Success

From its humble beginnings at MIT, Infocom grew, and over the next several years, it published many bestselling games in a variety of genres. Zork spawned two sequels and even a prequel, and games like Trinity, Sorcerer, and Planetfall were loved by millions of people. Infocom’s games were marked by witty, descriptive writing and brain-teasing puzzles. The company initially offered a phone number that people could call to get hints for these puzzles, but later began publishing “Invisiclues” – booklets for each game with clues written in invisible ink – so the reader could only reveal the hint she needed at the time.

Infocom’s Downfall

Though the matter is up for debate, most posit that the fall of Infocom was brought about by Cornerstone, a financial software product that the company spent a significant amount of time and money developing but that failed to bring in much revenue. Many think that Infocom’s investors pushed the company into producing the product, but perhaps the company’s leaders were overambitious. Regardless, Infocom’s games are still revered among many video gamers.

With video games’ popularity exploding, it certainly feels like the golden age of gaming has arrived. And with the ubiquity of the internet, indie developers can reach wide audiences. The quality of games is at its highest point in history, and with billions of dollars being spent on video games each year, the industry undoubtedly has a bright future. So, what was the industry like in its infancy? Let’s take a look at some classic games that don’t deserve to be forgotten.

Trinity – A Nuclear Text-Adventure

It may be difficult to imagine today, but some of the best-selling “video” games in the 1980s had no graphics at all. These “text-adventures” were played by typing commands into a parser and then reading the results. Sounds boring, but these kind of games stimulated players’ imaginations and tested their logic. Trinity, written by Brian Moriarty, is widely regarded as one the best of these text adventures. The game begins in London in Kensington Gardens, but the setting quickly turns to a Alice-in-Wonderland-like dreamscape ruled by a gnomon’s shadow and populated by surreal characters and happenings. The plot revolves around nuclear testing and nuclear war – topical topics during the mid-1980s, when Trinity was published.

Trinity’s Impact

Though it would be criminal to reveal the solutions to the game’s puzzles, Trinity did involve using a lot of logic and in some cases, a little bit of intuition. One puzzle involves figuring out how to get across magical grass that repels all efforts to walk on it, and another forces the player to figure out how to survive in outer space long enough to complete a specific task. But what many took away from the game was its overt disarmament message; Trinity did not try to hide the devastating effects of a nuclear war. Perhaps that message is what has helped the game maintain a following today. In any case, Trinity features sharp writing, imaginative puzzles, and unforgettable locations.

The Music Of Loom

As one might imagine from its title, one of Loom’s themes involved the idea that the characters’ fates were controlled by magical threads. The player assumes the role of a young boy – Bobbin Threadbare – who travels from his home village in search of a solution to a catastrophe. The player guides the character’s movements and can make him walk from place to place, manipulate objects, and also play notes on a distaff. Many puzzles in the game are solved by playing the appropriate series of notes, and having an ear for music can help. This innovative way of solving puzzles was what made the game memorable for many. When the notes are played, an effect is created similar to casting a spell. For example, one of the tunes, when played, can color fabric. When this tune is played backwards, it bleaches fabric.

Loom’s Plot

In the beginning of the game, Bobbin’s entire village is transformed into swans, and he ventures forth in search of a way to turn his people back. Along the way, he encounters several puzzles, and meets a variety of characters with whom he must interact to gain knowledge. Eventually, he learns that an evil character has unleashed a chaotic force into the world. In the end, Bobbin is able to defeat the cleric responsible for the chaos, though the game has somewhat of a cliffhanger ending, which was designed to leave the door open for sequels.

Unlike most video game companies, one company was ruled by the inspiration of the movies of yesteryear. Cinemaware had its heyday in the early nineties, and published several games that were based on monster movies, World War II movies, and medieval epics, to name a few. One of its most exciting games, Rocket Ranger, is largely unknown today but deserves recognition for its plot and playability.

Concept

Rocket Ranger was set during World War II and focuses on the Germans’ attempted subjugation of Europe. As the game progresses, the protagonist (Rocket Ranger) must attempt to prevent the Nazis from gaining too much of a stronghold. He operates from Fort Dix, and uses his rocket pack to fly around the world to complete a variety of missions that each help combat the enemy. One of the game’s plot devices involves the idea that the moon is a source of “lunarium” – a coveted mineral that both powers the Germans’ war machine and the player’s rocket pack.

Plot

At the game’s outset, the Nazis only control Germany, but as time passes, they control more and more countries. The player flies to various countries and completes tasks like punching out a German guard and shooting down zeppelins. To determine which country to fly to, the player must use a decoder wheel that determines the correct amount of lunarium to use. This wheel was actually designed by Cinemaware to be a somewhat unobtrusive form of copy protection, since without it, the player cannot control his direction.

Significance

Rocket Ranger was praised for its stirring music, sharp writing, and variety of action sequences. It certainly pays homage to many World War II movies, but adds its own unique blend of humor and even pathos as the player encounters both funny and dire situations. Though difficult, the game also features a rewarding ending that makes the struggle worthwhile.

Concept

When beginning the game, the player must create characters with varying statistics (e.g. strength, intelligence, etc.) and varying skills (like lock picking and marksmanship). These skills are particularly important as the game progresses, and many of them make it easier for the characters to accomplish certain tasks. The game is set in the desert, and the player’s characters walk from location to location, occasionally encountering foes along the way. These foes must be battled using a variety of weaponry that players find in the desert.

Plot

The plot revolves around survival, but the player must also solve various puzzles and use items to complete tasks. The game was sold with a manual that includes a series of passages that that the game directs the player to read at certain points. This manual also serves as copy protection since, without it, the player misses information crucial to solving some of the game’s puzzles. Many of the puzzles involve finding and using interesting technology, and most of this technology is fiercely guarded by “non-player” characters like a heavily armed brotherhood of monks.

Significance

Wasteland was lauded for its non-linear gameplay, interesting plot, and detailed non-player characters. Many gamers also remember it fondly for the arsenal of weaponry that could be used, and for the witty writing and challenging puzzles. It deserves a spot in any classic video game hall of fame.

Integrated circuits originated in the 1940’s and 50’s, but were much larger and had the fraction of the power they do today. Nothing we know of would be the same if there were no microchips, digital signal processing chips, or semiconductor circuits. They are built in to almost every appliance there is, and the small scale of these chips has enabled smaller and smaller devices to exist. For example, cell phones that hold enormous amounts of information and even provide access to the Internet operate on very small circuits designed to fit in their small dimensions.

Circuits are found in almost everything, in addition to cell phones. Regular telephones, printers, microwave ovens, radios and even televisions include sophisticated circuitry. The ICs themselves are manufactured by companies that specialize in the advanced technologies that go into making them. Manufacturers of televisions or computers, for example, can order circuits according to the memory they support or the speed or bandwidth a device can achieve by using them.

Another important specification is the package type, such as the ball grid array, that is defined by the size of the chip and how it connects to the circuit board. The connection is usually dependent on the number of connecting pins the IC has built in. A circuit chip can be a microprocessor that controls an entire computer system, or a tiny device that has a specific purpose, such as managing the timing of signals. Something like this is called an application specific integrated circuit, or ASIC. There are some of these that are measured in millimeters they are so small.

Without the IC in the form that it is in today, many technologies wouldn’t exist, such as HDTV’s. It is only the processing power of these chips that enable such high resolution. The Internet, with its high speed and density of information, would not be the worldwide information source it is without the proper circuitry in the devices that store data and drive interconnected networks.

Computers are essential to life as we know it today. They are everywhere, but just who invented them? The computer is something that has evolved from many different designs and inventions, developed over time by various people over many years.

A mechanical calculator was built in Germany in the 1930’s. This was considered the first binary computer and was used to do mathematical calculations. It was refined by the 1940’s to use old movie film to store programs and data; the first not to use paper tape or cards. A 1941 version had a memory of 64 words.

What were referred to as personal computers from then through the 1950’s and 1960’s were able to do mathematical calculations. They weren’t able to do everything like the computers of today, but were sophisticated for the time. Their concept and the ideas of their builders were still visionary nonetheless. The different types that appeared throughout the time period featured switches and dials built into bulky large boxes.

The paperclip computer was a device in the late 1960’s based on a book that described a working computer built out of homemade supplies. Programs were stored on a magnetic drum and the device had units for input, output, control, and arithmetic. The main units of this system correspond to most modern digital computers, even though the machine looked nothing like a home computer.

Machines that began to take on the appearance of modern PCs in the early history of computers began to appear in the 1970s. The first successful mass produced computer was made by Apple in 1977, while IBM and Microsoft developed several computers in the 1980’s. Several entered the mainstream, such as Atari, as computerized video games became a cultural phenomenon, but it is also impossible to leave out the Commodore 64, since it was one of the most popular individual computer types on the market.

The reliance on more powerful gaming systems, as well as word processors, secured the high demand for better computers. Today, there are computers everywhere and inside just about anything electronic.

Smartphones like T-Mobile’s MyTouch allow users to access the Internet from their phones. A person can download applications and widgets right to their cellphone for everything from playing games to monitoring a checking account. While there are many cool options available for smartphones, the latest widget hack is as a reason for caution.

CTO, a Web application security company, identified a malicious widget that may have exposed over five millions websites to malware. Hackers placed the widget on parked domains hosted through Network Solutions. By the company’s estimates, the malware has been running unnoticed for several months. Wayne Huang, the co-founder for the company, said his business detected the widget on GrowSmartBusiness.com.

Antivirus programs did catch the malware, and many identified it as a version of Koobface, which is a worm that spreads malware. Hackers often use Koobface to attack social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. Because many users access social networking sites from their smartphones, there is a possibility a virus could transfer from the Web to the cellphone.

To protect a smartphone from crashing, users may want to add an antivirus application. There are several versions available, including free versions offering basic protection and upgraded versions featuring more security measures. Before you decide which antivirus application to load on your cellphone, consider what type of protection you need. If you are accessing Facebook from your phone, you may want a program that keeps abreast of attacks targeting social networking sites. Savvy shoppers should check out user reviews for applications before downloading an app. Some free programs may offer very limited protection, and a user review can let you know if that’s the case. Some free programs may provide great security, and you can save money by picking it. Regardless of the antivirus program you pick, you’ll want to protect your smartphone investment just as you would a new laptop.

First described in 1965, this concept has still held its ground with the rapid development of new computing technologies. Limitations have been predicted for years, however the rule should hold for at least another decade, according to experts including Moore himself. Transistors have consistently gotten smaller, and it is thought that they can probably do so until they reach the size of molecules. Moore has even theorized that this might not be a limit if manufacturers decide to make circuits larger or develop multilayered designs.

Adding more transistors doesn’t necessary mean that processing power increases at the same rate. Processing speed can depend on various factors, so the public’s perception of Moore’s Law is often different than that of the manufacturing industry. The law was never intended to predict how fast performance would increase, however other experts have predicted a doubling in circuit performance every 18 months.

There are other theories related to the size, density and speed of components as well as cost. Most of them are somehow related to laws of transistor density. Other such rules dictate that power consumption of computer components doubles every year-and-a-half, while Kryder’s Law analyzes hard disk storage costs, per unit of information, and that increases in disk drive capacities are similar to rises in transistor count.

Similarly, it has been noted that RAM capacity increases at a rate comparable to processing power, while others have come up with rules for network capacity increases as well as cost per pixel increases related to digital cameras. These all could be based on observation or used for industry planning, so the real potential of how transistor count or any other statistic is not definitively known.

The amazing capabilities that integrated circuitry now provide allows for complex applications that further require circuit design to be modified. Flexible circuits are now used in many systems and actually have the capability to bend and fold without affecting the performance of the electronics on their surface.

Printed onto plastic substrates or polyester, they can conform to a desired shape in a device or flex during the product’s use. An example would be folding cell phones, in which the electrical connections must be maintained between the folding parts that are moved regularly during normal use. They can also be used in small electronics such as cameras. In this case the circuits will remain in a static position but allow for connections in various axes.

These types of circuits are also commonly used in keyboards, as well as with organic LEDs to include backlights in flexible displays. The technology expands the possibilities of miniature and flexible circuitry. It brings to the imagination electronics that you can wear, and also adds a sense of realism to fictitious elements such as Penny’s computerized guide book in the Inspector Gadget cartoons. As manuals are available electronically online, a product manual on just a few sheets of flex circuit paper would provide all the information you would need to understand the workings of a device.

The fictional and theoretical blend in well with the idea of flexible circuits. Out of this world applications do exist, however, because they are used in satellites, especially for the solar panels that roll up for launch and deploy when they reach orbit. This allows the power collection and distribution systems to remain intact despite the entire panels having been folded and extended.

The concept has also expanded technologies in the medical field, with such circuits used in small implantable devices such as pacemakers, medical monitoring devices, diagnostic equipment, and surgical tools. Since flex circuits are highly compatible with devices that are hinged or have telescopic functions, they are now widely used and explored in medical applications.

Online video uploading sites have been around for a few years. And since that time people have been uploading copywritten images onto these sites. These are usually clips of their favorite shows or videos set to their favorite songs. Many of these sites have become a great way to see your favorite shows and clips of movies and television shows from the past.

However, not everyone is happy with these uploading sites. Big television companies have been coming down hard on these user friendly websites. The reason for the companies ire? Money. These companies are popping up with their own websites. They are spending millions of dollars to get viewers trafficked to the company website so they can show clips of shows and up their views so they can turn around and sell advertising on the site. Shows are not made without money from advertisers.

So they see these video uploading sites as a way of stealing visitors from their website. They know the viewer would rather get their content all in one user friendly place rather than having to shuffle around online.

Not all companies see this as a bad thing. Some big television companies have began uploading clips to these sites and running their own paid advertising prior to showing the clip. This is just a way for these companies to know that it’s too hard to beat the popularity of these sites but they are finding a way to advertise and gain exposure within the sites. As long as these uploading sites exists, big television companies will have a decision to if to do business with them.

More often than is healthy, the average computer users find themselves at odds with the little machine that was manufactured to make their lives easier. To be fair, computers do malfunction and eventually break. There is, however, one human behavior that almost every computer user practices when the program of choice does not jump to immediate command: hitting the key continually in rapid succession to relieve the stress of the program’s inability to jump to the users emotions. Guess what? The program doesn’t care. Neither does the computer.

Rapid fire key banging is a wonderful way to make your frustration permanent for the remainder of the work day. It sends the signal that is already malfunctioning to the CPU dozens of times, creating a snowball effect that allows you to enjoy that frustration you were waiting for! What a deal! Frustration times ten cubed all for the tiny price of an uncontrolled vibrating finger over the enter key. If you practice this often you may even provide yourself with the entertainment that comes with the blue screen of death. Then you know you’ve won the contest of mind over mindless.

Computers are mankind’s modern day Zen machine. Monks in Japan spent hundreds of years practicing the play of the Shakuhachi, a bamboo end blown flute, to form self-discipline unmatched in most societies. With the need to create better tools for a busy modern society, manufacturers inadvertently gave us this electronic Shakuhachi as a test of our resolve to find centered peace.

Score: Computers 1. Humanity 0.

The name John Von Neumann is usually synonymous with other names such as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein and Paul Dirac. Von Neumann, born December 28, 1903, became a part of one of the strangest science renaissances in world history. Never before or since has a gathering of such mental forces lived in such sharp contrast with the existing world dynamic. Even Karl Jung was involved in this startling expansion of cosmic understanding! The chain reaction that followed, including String Theory, Quantum Mechanics and Chaos were spin offs from this explosion of inspired thinking outside of Isaac Newton’s box.

Due to his close work with the first atomic bomb, Von Neumann is, in some circles, seen in a dark light. He was responsible for proving that advanced detonation of the bomb above the target would cause the most damage and he supported first strike on the USSR to prevent the Soviets from attaining the bomb.

Von Neumann’s work with the atomic bomb often erases from public memory other accomplishments by this genius including advances in Quantum Mechanics, Logic and Set Theory, and economics. But hidden even deeper in his resume of successes was an incomplete paper written in 1945 called the First Draft on a Report on the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer). Within this paper existed the first description of a computer using stored programs. He also developed a game theory called the Minimax Theorem which minimized loss and maximized win.

The long term effect of Von Neumann’s work for the average computer user? His work was a part of a long chain of events that led to you having a lap top on your legs. If you are a gamer, look up the Minimax Theorem. The theorem not only affects economics in today’s world, it contributed to the games you play on your PC.

The strange renaissance of brain trust that created the bomb is also responsible for your everyday actions at the keyboard. Let that sink in for awhile while you wonder how on earth Karl Jung fits into the formula!

Technology has finally given us a way to be a little safer when smoking. The e-cigarette, or electronic cigarette, is a fairly new product. Not only is it cleaner, it’s safer as well.

The e-cigarette is safer in a number of ways. It has none of the tar and carcinogens that traditional cigarettes have. It also has no flame. The only chemical you are subject to is the nicotine, which is the addictive part of a cigarette. Although any smoking can be considered harmful, the most dangerous ingredients of a traditional cigarette are carcinogens and tar. The e-cigarette doesn’t include any of these unhealthy chemicals. There is also no more fire hazard to worry about since the e-cigarette is electronic and has no flame.

It’s also cleaner. There are no ashes to tap and no smelly smoke in your hair, clothes and environment. The e-cigarette has a glowing tip on the end that lights up when you inhale. A cartridge that uses flavored liquid turns into a vapor, which emits a puff of smoke just like a real cigarette. This allows people who are trying to quit to get the same feeling from smoking as they would with a more harmful genuine cigarette.

One of the main advantages of the electronic cigarette is the ability to take them anywhere. Since they are not emitting any odor and have no flame, they can be taken into any place you want such as restaurants, bars, zoos and all of the places where it’s either illegal or frowned on to smoke. The only caveat to that is explaining that you are smoking an electronic cigarette when asked. Not everyone knows what they are and how they work. However, imagine being able to satisfy that craving during a quick class break or at an upscale restaurant.