Video Games Review

5.

The Old and Dying

When my mother died, it was like blowing out a candle, almost as if she was ready for a vacation. When death comes, I hope it is that simple for me; perhaps living was much harder than dying, at that moment (time and place) for her; Christ being in her corner, she felt much safer, she wanted to go, she just wasnt sure if she had enough wind to blow, to blow out the candle. Thus, it proves: the old and dying are wiser.

#1161 [2/2/06 A Prose Poem

6.

A Light Sleepy Winter [In Minnesota: February 7, 2006

Outside the snow is light; its been a thin winter. Now being February, I dont think the earth fell to sleep this season; tired as it may be from a busy summer and fall. I suppose it can wait and get its sleep next year, and freeze us all to hell.

#1189 2/7/06

7.

Before Us Humans

Before us humans, God created other humans, do not fret; heaven has its own ways, its own breath. In any case, these humans of long ago put their handprints on many a walls; built many a stone shelters; built things yet not seen.

I think they were sayingin their own cleaver way: Look, we were here before youwhoever you areenjoy the scenery: its a short stay.

#1188 2/7/06

See Dennis’ web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

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Price : $36.50

Features

• Wii Wheel must be used with a Wii Remote (Remote not included)

Product Description

Start your engines and race with Mario and his friends with their finely tuned racing machines in Mario Kart Wii. Use 3 different control styles with the Wii Wheel included in the box. The worldwide race is on with a whole new set of tricks, tracks, and ways to play. Mario Kart Wii draws on courses and battle arenas from every game in the series - not to mention tons of new ones. The true king of the Mushroom Kingdom racing circuits will finally be crowned. Experience new tracks, enhanced Wii graphics, extraordinary gameplay and much more. Place first in Grand Prix circuits or clear skill-based missions to open up increasingly difficult and thrilling circuits. You can have multiplayer races on any open courses or battle in arenas. Now you can feel like you are Mario and steering to avoid obstacles and doing incredible stunts.

Special Powers/Weapons/Moves/Features - Shake the Wii Remote to pull off a trick that will temporarily boost your speed. When riding a bike, gain additional speed by flicking the Wii Remote up and popping a wheelie Up to 12 people via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or up to 10 people via Wi-Fi Connection with 2 people playing locally

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-11-02
Non-stop fun, and my 3,4, & 6 year old can play! My wife and I play after the kids go to bed and play our friends all around the USA, and how cool is it to play people from all over the world with the WiFi option. The opportunity to unlock more bikes, cars, and characters will keep your interest in this game for a very very long time. It is a must have for all Mario Kart fans from the 64.

Review date : 2008-10-31
This game really is the funnest party game. Not only do you have fun playing the best game ever from nintendo but your friends that watch you look like an idiot falling over on the floor from trying to turn to hard. The add on of other types of carts and bikes makes the tricks fun to do. Play it you will understand me when you do.

Review date : 2008-10-28
ill keep it short and simple! im a fan of the mario kart series but i gave up and purchased a xbox 360 years ago. But i purchased a nintendo wii for my daughter just recently. This is one of the best and most fun games ive played on the wii. I have had no problems with the wireless responsivness from wheel 2 console. Trust me if you haven’t been introduced to the mario kart series at all this is the best time to join in on the fun.

Review date : 2008-10-23
to play; grandkids (ages 7 and 10) especially love it; there are so many different combinations and levels that you can choose the difficulty and challenges that you want.

Review date : 2008-10-22
Our family got a Wii this past fall, when we found a stellar deal on one on Craigslist, and we gave it to ourselves as a family Christmas gift. Since then we have been Wii fanatics and have been enjoying and sharing this game system with our family and friends. We love toting it around with us to take to family functions and seeing our family (old and young alike) enjoying a little Wii time with us.

All of the games that we have gotten have been great, but the Mario Kart Wii game has been in hot rotation ever since the Nintendo company contacted us and asked if they could send us some products to try. It is so bad right now that we are fighting over who can get a turn to play it and my son is talking about this game to anyone who will listen… and I do mean anyone!

This game comes with a steering wheel that has a spot in it for you to snap in your Wii controller. Once you have snapped the controller into place, you can begin using it just as you would a steering wheel and you can use different characters, cars, and racetracks for racing.

I am not big on driving games (probably because I hate driving), but I am LOVING this game and it has different levels of difficulty for every level or age in the family. You can play as a single player, against other players, and you can even play on the internet against people from all over the world. From a learning standpoint, this game even shows you where on the globe your opponent lives, adding another great teaching moment for kids.

I can’t rave about this game enough! The game has enough secret codes and levels that I am sure we will be enjoying this game for a long time and it is a game that we each enjoy equally

We all want to be in the moment. That’s where real transformation takes place. For some, walking gets them there. Others like to play sports or watch movies. For me, it’s playing the piano. When I’m in the moment, letting the music speak, it’s like the world is new again.

The notes flow out of the piano into the air and I know that something magical is taking place. It may last a minute or a half-hour. No matter how long it lasts, I know that I’ve been transported to a special place. Many musicians know of this place - especially musicians who know how to improvise. There is no planning - only spontaneous invention.

Zen music in particular has an ethereal quality that seems to grow organically. It starts and ends yet there seems to be no starting or ending point. The music just is - like a living being it just is there. It’s like a fine perfume in the sense that it lingers in the air but does not overwhelm or grow tiresome.

Any instrument can be used to create this kind of music but certain instruments lend themselves more readily to it. Flutes, the harp, the piano, the Japanese Koto - these instruments are often used to create atmospheres that linger delightfully but really do not want to go anywhere. Here in the West, we are used to a music that must pursue an ending course. We must have a climax or a big finish or we are not satisfied. Like a fireworks show, it begins and ends with a bang.

There can be a struggle between creating a music that comes from spirit or making music that pleases the crowd. We can be torn between pleasing the ego or pleasing ourselves. To play piano in the new age style is to understand a music that isn’t planned but allowed to become. Once this concept is understood, the music will flow.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

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Price : $36.50

Features

• Wii Wheel must be used with a Wii Remote (Remote not included)

Product Description

Start your engines and race with Mario and his friends with their finely tuned racing machines in Mario Kart Wii. Use 3 different control styles with the Wii Wheel included in the box. The worldwide race is on with a whole new set of tricks, tracks, and ways to play. Mario Kart Wii draws on courses and battle arenas from every game in the series - not to mention tons of new ones. The true king of the Mushroom Kingdom racing circuits will finally be crowned. Experience new tracks, enhanced Wii graphics, extraordinary gameplay and much more. Place first in Grand Prix circuits or clear skill-based missions to open up increasingly difficult and thrilling circuits. You can have multiplayer races on any open courses or battle in arenas. Now you can feel like you are Mario and steering to avoid obstacles and doing incredible stunts.

Special Powers/Weapons/Moves/Features - Shake the Wii Remote to pull off a trick that will temporarily boost your speed. When riding a bike, gain additional speed by flicking the Wii Remote up and popping a wheelie Up to 12 people via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or up to 10 people via Wi-Fi Connection with 2 people playing locally

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-11-02
Non-stop fun, and my 3,4, & 6 year old can play! My wife and I play after the kids go to bed and play our friends all around the USA, and how cool is it to play people from all over the world with the WiFi option. The opportunity to unlock more bikes, cars, and characters will keep your interest in this game for a very very long time. It is a must have for all Mario Kart fans from the 64.

Review date : 2008-10-31
This game really is the funnest party game. Not only do you have fun playing the best game ever from nintendo but your friends that watch you look like an idiot falling over on the floor from trying to turn to hard. The add on of other types of carts and bikes makes the tricks fun to do. Play it you will understand me when you do.

Review date : 2008-10-28
ill keep it short and simple! im a fan of the mario kart series but i gave up and purchased a xbox 360 years ago. But i purchased a nintendo wii for my daughter just recently. This is one of the best and most fun games ive played on the wii. I have had no problems with the wireless responsivness from wheel 2 console. Trust me if you haven’t been introduced to the mario kart series at all this is the best time to join in on the fun.

Review date : 2008-10-23
to play; grandkids (ages 7 and 10) especially love it; there are so many different combinations and levels that you can choose the difficulty and challenges that you want.

Review date : 2008-10-22
Our family got a Wii this past fall, when we found a stellar deal on one on Craigslist, and we gave it to ourselves as a family Christmas gift. Since then we have been Wii fanatics and have been enjoying and sharing this game system with our family and friends. We love toting it around with us to take to family functions and seeing our family (old and young alike) enjoying a little Wii time with us.

All of the games that we have gotten have been great, but the Mario Kart Wii game has been in hot rotation ever since the Nintendo company contacted us and asked if they could send us some products to try. It is so bad right now that we are fighting over who can get a turn to play it and my son is talking about this game to anyone who will listen… and I do mean anyone!

This game comes with a steering wheel that has a spot in it for you to snap in your Wii controller. Once you have snapped the controller into place, you can begin using it just as you would a steering wheel and you can use different characters, cars, and racetracks for racing.

I am not big on driving games (probably because I hate driving), but I am LOVING this game and it has different levels of difficulty for every level or age in the family. You can play as a single player, against other players, and you can even play on the internet against people from all over the world. From a learning standpoint, this game even shows you where on the globe your opponent lives, adding another great teaching moment for kids.

I can’t rave about this game enough! The game has enough secret codes and levels that I am sure we will be enjoying this game for a long time and it is a game that we each enjoy equally

Let’s face it, people who like tattoos are always looking for the next amazing tattoo design to set themselves apart from the crowd and although this might seem like an easy task, anyone who has been through it knows differently. Sometimes it can just hit you, you see something in a picture or in a museum or even in a movie and bingo! that’s it - you know straight away that this is your next tattoo. If you’re one of the lucky ones (those who can draw beautifully from imagination) you can scribble it down and take your own amazing tattoo design to your tattooist and within no time at all your dream is a reality. However, most of us are not that lucky and whilst we have willing and creative minds which think up all these amazing tattoo designs we have weak and stubborn fingers who insist on not getting the picture (literally!).

Body art has been with us from the year dot when ancient cave men used it not only for camouflage but also to mark themselves and their tribesmen out from other rival tribes. Indeed, the word ‘ tattoo’ is derived from the ancient Tahitian word tattau meaning to mark. Since then tattoos have evolved into a serious art form and most people are into their body art because it is beautiful and because it makes a personal statement about themselves. Choosing your amazing tattoo design can be a minefield though. Just think of all the Chinese symbols for example. Do you know what they mean - and moreover, do you expect your tattooist to know? A very good friend of mine had a Chinese symbol tattoo done a couple of years back. It was a beautifully intricate design on his left shoulder with symbols surrounded by oriental dragons and magnificent colours. He was born in the year of the dragon and his wife was born under the sign of the dog. The symbol was suppose to say something like ‘ dragon will honour dog in life and death. However he has since discovered that although it does say that it could also be construed as dragon will curse dogs honour in life and death.

The same is true of Celtic or Egyptian symbols, and if you fancy something a bit out of the ordinary it’s best to do loads of research first and be sure your symbol says exactly what you want it to say. Remember, your tattoo artist is just that, an amazing artist - NOT an expert in all sorts of ancient scripts and symbols!!

When you know it’s time for another tattoo (or indeed when you’ve taken the decision to have your first) it is wise to take some time and look into various styles and designs and also think hard about where on your body you want to have it done. I know some women who have had amazing tattoos designed and inked all around their belly buttons only to discover that when they are pregnant (and subsequently left with stretch marks) the fabulous butterfly looks just a bit less fabulous than it did on a tanned and taut abdomen! Also, think about it from an employment point of view. Like it or not, a tattoo is not always viewed favourably by prospective employers. This is not such a problem for males, however lots of women get tattoos around their ankle or lower leg and, if in a professional capacity you need to wear a smart skirt suit, then it could make things just a little bit difficult.

Consider also, that your tattoo will be with you for life. Now, I know this is always the argument against having a tattoo, especially when it’s your first one, however it is a valid one. You must be committed to the design you choose as it will be with you for a very long time. In my opinion, it’s best to steer clear of the ‘fashionable’ tattoo styles, the ones that come in fad’s and disappear a year or two later leaving your skin very ‘last season’! Choose something that means something to you, something that has a little personal story behind it. Then, when people remark on your tattoo and ask about it (and they will!) you have something interesting to say about it and about yourself too.

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Price : $15.87

Features

• Activities include quickly solving simple math problems & counting people going in and out of a house simultaneously
• Draw pictures on the Touch Screen, or read classic literature out loud
• Play Sudoku, the popular number puzzle game

Product Description

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day is a fun, rewarding form of entertainment everyone can enjoy. Inspired by cutting-edge neuroscience, it’s a full set of reading and mathematic exercises that stimulate the brain. At the start, you’ll take a series of tests and get a score that determines how old your brain is. This is your Brain Age — by performing daily exercises just minutes a day over weeks and months, the better you’ll get and the lower your Brain Age will get.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-10-10
This is really cool. I never cared for Sudoku before and now I am addicted! The tests are fun and surprisingly challenging.

Review date : 2008-10-09
Brain Age is a brain training game to keep your brain young designed by renown neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima. I had a lot of fun with this game for a few months. It shows what the DS is capable of doing–understand your voice through the microphone and what you write with the stylus. After I opened all the training games and scored as well as I think I can on them, read all the training tips, and noticed repeats in drawing exercises and the stories to read aloud, the game got boring and I was no longer motivated to turn it on.

The game starts with a test to calculate your brain age. You see words of colors like "red," "black," "blue," "yellow," but you have to say the color that the word is, not the word itself. For example if you see the word "red" printed in blue, you need to say "blue," not "red." This test was sometimes frustrating because it couldn’t always understand "blue" for some reason. You can be tested in other ways to determine your brain age. My favorite is the list of words you memorize and then write as many down as you remember. I wish that was a daily training game.

There are nine daily training games. In this first Brain Age, the exercises are math-heavy which I enjoyed but others may not. It keeps track of how many correct answers you give and how quickly you finish the games and scores you accordingly. It also keeps graphs of how you do over time. You also get an indication of how fast you were by its standards with graphics like a man walking, a car driving back and forth, a jet flying, or a space shuttle taking off. Two exercises are a series of simple math problems to answer as fast as you can. Next you read passages of classic novels aloud (I never scored super high on this one, I can’t imagine someone reading aloud fast enough to get a space shuttle score). "Low to High" flashes several different numbers in squares and you have to memorize them fast enough to tell the game where you saw the lowest number, the next lowest, and so on.

"Syllable Count" was one of the easiest for me. It give you well-known sayings and you count the syllables. In "Head Count", you have to keep track of who is coming into and leaving a house so you can tell the computer how many are in the house at the end. When the game speeds up, it can be very challenging. "Triangle Math" is more math problems but more complicated because you use the answers to the first problems to find answers to the next. "Time Lapse" shows you two clocks (with hands) and you need to figure out how much time has gone by. "Voice Calculation" is more math problems only you answer them out loud. Again, sometimes the game could not figure out what was being said (especially thinking "six" was "seven") which was very frustrating. You get a brain tip after each game and, after reading the same ones several times, I just zoomed through them without looking at them. It got annoying.

In addition, you’re sometimes asked to draw things from memory. If you have more than one player, it will compare the drawings which is fun. It also keeps track of the calendar. It will ask you a question one day and, a few days later, ask you for the answer you gave to that question to see if you remember. The game also offers many sudoku puzzles that range in difficulty. Sudoku works very well with the D.S., but make sure the game translates your numbers correctly before zooming out. Sometimes it will think you wrote a different number even if you wrote clearly. I’ve actually gotten into the habit of writing open-headed 4’s because of this game. Sudoku usually worked well.

The game is fun but the re-playability (unlike Sims games, for example, that I have literally played in their entirety three of four times) is low once you’ve mastered it by scoring a 20 brain age. It is unique though, and may be the only homework kids will want to do for awhile.

Review date : 2008-09-20
I guess when my kids (8 & 10 ) are playing their D.S. they want their fun games! Maybe when they’re a bit older they’ll love it…

I think it’s great!

Review date : 2008-09-16
I purchased a Nintendo DS and the "Brain Age" game for my mother-in-law as a gift (that she requested). She absolutely LOVED it…. But what surprised me was how much *I* enjoyed playing. When she returned home, with her game, I missed it so much that I finally went out and bought my own DS and game. I play it nearly daily, not for the brain bennies, but because it’s FUN! And pretty soon the rest of my family (there are slots for saving up to four "players" with each "Brain Age" game) was playing it as well.

I don’t know about the brain benefits, but I do know that "Brain Age" is fun. I would recommend the game to anyone who would enjoy wasting time playing a video game - NOT mindlessly. =D

Review date : 2008-09-14
Great exercises. Frequently, however, the software has difficulty with verbal answers (eg. "yellow", "blue"), asking for repeats. Hopefully, these exercises will significantly enhance brain function, or at least minimize deterioration in this 63 year-old (well, hey, I just scored "age 28" ;->) user. I’ll see, I guess. Anyhow, it’s fun.

Digital photos are stored as digital files on electronic media. Digital photos are comprised of pixels each one with a unique color and intensity. While digital photos do not have to be compressed in most cases they are. Compression serves one goal make files smaller and save storage space.

A digital photo is a built of pixels. A pixel is a single dot in the photo that has a value. A pixels value represents its color and intensity. Usually each pixel is represented by an RGB value (Red, Green and Blue that combined together create the pixels color) that occupies 3 bytes. Digital photo files can be very big. For example if you shoot a photo using an 8 mega pixels digital camera the photo will have 8000000 pixels each one occupying 3 bytes. The total file size would be 8000000*3=24000000 or 24Mbytes. However ff compressed using the right technology this file could be much smaller - about 3Mbytes would be common.

There are two main types of compression technologies: lossy and lossless:

Lossless compression:

Lossless compression means that if you take a file compress it and then decompress it the decompressed file would be the exact copy of the original file. With lossless compression no data is lost in the compression process the compression software uses better representation of the data in the file but it does not remove any data from it.

Lossy compression:

Lossy compression means that if you take a file, compress it and then decompress it the decompressed file would be slightly different than the original one. The compression software not only represents the files data more efficiently but it also removes data that it analyzed as being minor or not important. Such data can be removed without hardly any noticeable degradation in the compressed file quality. The differences between the original file and the decompressed file are minor and negligible to the user.

Lossless compression is usually applied to text and other data where all data is equally important. For example when compressing the text in this article and later on decompressing it you would want to get the exact original article without any words or sentences dropped by the compression software that decided they were not important.

Lossy compression on the other hand is usually applied to digital photos and graphic files. Such files include data that the viewer would not be able to notice if removed. For example small changes to color in a photo might not be noticeable. The decompressed file is not exactly the same as the original one but when viewing both the original and decompressed photos side by side the viewer can not tell the difference. Lossy compression software can be set to different compression levels based on how much data is allowed to be lost. At some point losing too much data is noticeable and degrades the digital photo quality. Many digital cameras allow you to set the level of compression from low to high where high compression means smaller files but less quality and low compression means bigger files but no noticeable quality degradation.

Digital photos are almost solely compressed using lossy technologies. The reason is that due to the nature of a photo (it includes noise, very minor changes that are hard to compress but are not important to the view and more) lossless compression technologies do not perform well on it. On the other hand Lossy compression technologies can be very effective in reducing digital photo file sizes sometimes an order of magnitude or more.

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Price : $53.41

Features

• DualShock 3 brings back the "rumble" feature for full gameplay immersion
• Bluetooth Wireless connection to your system, plus USB-USB mini cable for play-and-charge option
• L2 and R2 analog trigger buttons
• The DualShock 3 is practically a required upgrade for any hardcore PlayStation 3 owner
• Highly sensitive motion sensing system so as you move the controller the game moves with it

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-09-23
if you like having a visual pleasing & unique option for your ps3 entertainment system it’s worth a couple extra bucks! same as the usa model but it’s silver & of course you get the dual shock capability lacking in the orginal equipment controller. the vibration adds another demension to the game playing experience.

i also would recomend the ps3 charge station by PDP products very cool & complements the silver dual shock controller.

Review date : 2008-09-18
Same as the U.S. version but you will be only one with a silver one at a couple dollars more its worth it, also you wont get your controller mixed up with your buddy’s….And…..its An Awesome Silver color.

Digital photos are stored as digital files on electronic media. Digital photos are comprised of pixels each one with a unique color and intensity. While digital photos do not have to be compressed in most cases they are. Compression serves one goal make files smaller and save storage space.

A digital photo is a built of pixels. A pixel is a single dot in the photo that has a value. A pixels value represents its color and intensity. Usually each pixel is represented by an RGB value (Red, Green and Blue that combined together create the pixels color) that occupies 3 bytes. Digital photo files can be very big. For example if you shoot a photo using an 8 mega pixels digital camera the photo will have 8000000 pixels each one occupying 3 bytes. The total file size would be 8000000*3=24000000 or 24Mbytes. However ff compressed using the right technology this file could be much smaller - about 3Mbytes would be common.

There are two main types of compression technologies: lossy and lossless:

Lossless compression:

Lossless compression means that if you take a file compress it and then decompress it the decompressed file would be the exact copy of the original file. With lossless compression no data is lost in the compression process the compression software uses better representation of the data in the file but it does not remove any data from it.

Lossy compression:

Lossy compression means that if you take a file, compress it and then decompress it the decompressed file would be slightly different than the original one. The compression software not only represents the files data more efficiently but it also removes data that it analyzed as being minor or not important. Such data can be removed without hardly any noticeable degradation in the compressed file quality. The differences between the original file and the decompressed file are minor and negligible to the user.

Lossless compression is usually applied to text and other data where all data is equally important. For example when compressing the text in this article and later on decompressing it you would want to get the exact original article without any words or sentences dropped by the compression software that decided they were not important.

Lossy compression on the other hand is usually applied to digital photos and graphic files. Such files include data that the viewer would not be able to notice if removed. For example small changes to color in a photo might not be noticeable. The decompressed file is not exactly the same as the original one but when viewing both the original and decompressed photos side by side the viewer can not tell the difference. Lossy compression software can be set to different compression levels based on how much data is allowed to be lost. At some point losing too much data is noticeable and degrades the digital photo quality. Many digital cameras allow you to set the level of compression from low to high where high compression means smaller files but less quality and low compression means bigger files but no noticeable quality degradation.

Digital photos are almost solely compressed using lossy technologies. The reason is that due to the nature of a photo (it includes noise, very minor changes that are hard to compress but are not important to the view and more) lossless compression technologies do not perform well on it. On the other hand Lossy compression technologies can be very effective in reducing digital photo file sizes sometimes an order of magnitude or more.

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Price : $6.99

Features

• Skin to protect your PS1, PS2 and PS3 controller
• Durable, Easy to clean, High Quality Silicone Skin

Product Description

Easy to clean, fit on all PS1/PS2 Dual Shock Series controller and PS3 Sixaxis controller

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-03-04
i bought two of these at walmart, a black one and a pink one for my wife. and they’re great kinda hard to put on but you’ll get it. they feel very comfortable in my hands and soft. they came with usb charging cord and what’s cool about mine is that they change color. the only little problem with the pink one is that it has a weird smell kinda like ruber but just the pink one. weird huh? well hope this helps, thank you.

Review date : 2008-02-05
It protects well against sweaty hands, dirt, and in case u drop ur controller. but for mine, i had to cut pieces of it off in order to use the joy stick more freely. at times when using the joy stick part of the controller, it would get in contact of the silicone pad slowing the action down. but its worth it for the price.

Review date : 2008-01-28
Product didnt fit right at first but after adjusting it and using the controller, the skin laid on very well. Happy with purchase.