Simple and no cords attached

Building on the simple blips and dashes of Pong, game systems became mobile with handheld units during the late 70's. The Electronic Quarterback was the bigger brother of an Electronic Football game and showed a simple field, that allowed you to move a small dash across the screen in hopes of scoring a touch down. The game allowed you to run, kick, and pass your way to simple glory, the pass feature was an addition the little brother did not have.

The next game we loved to play was Merlin, with the simple blinking red LED lights, that allowed you to play games like Tic Tac Toe, Music Machine, Echo, Blackjack 13, Magic Square, and Mindbender. It also had a Music Machine game function that turned the handheld game into a musical instrument.

The last of these early handheld games was the Microvision and one of the first to feature removable game cartridges. Still very simple in function and with basic black & white and shades of grey graphics. You still enjoyed playing games like Block Buster, Bowling, Mindbuster, and Star Trek: Phaser Strike to name a few.

We still played a lot of PONG at the TV, but we liked taking these games around with us on trips, passing time in the car, or even out to the school yard during brakes. Little did we know, but the world of color gaming was about to explode on the TV sets and take off running.

Back to the present

I'm reminded of the scene in Back to the Future (1985), with Marty McFly sitting around his Mom-to-Be's dinner table and seeing his Grandfather roll over the families first TV set. Having grown up with TVs... seeing the game system PONG for the first time was along the same feeling most of the characters in that scene experienced.

I have a few instances of first time experiences like my Parents taking us to see Star Wars (1977) in the theaters for example. I had never seen anything like this and had no clue about a Princess flying in space, but for me, it was a free movie and we decided to give it a whirl. I was blown away and that has become my favorite movie of all times.

The white blip, flicks back across the screen, sent back from the paddle along the TV edge... Back to my story and the birth of a gamer (me). Such a simple game unit & form of entertainment, capturing the eyeballs of thousands of people. If they only knew where this was going to lead them. Who would have guessed that this simple Black screen, with a white bouncing box and two longer paddles, moving up and down the sides of the screen, would be the start of something huge.

I've marked the past and where it began around 1975 and I'll set my course for the present and perhaps even the future, as I relive some of those cool games and systems from the past.

Good things come to those that wait

Codename Zephyr is what its called so far and it appears to be closer to fact than fiction. What is expected to come out sometime this year from Microsoft is none other than the Xbox 360 v2. A system that is expected to make use of the new and much cooler 65nm processor, an HDMI port for full 1080p game enjoyment, a new "HANA" scaler, and a larger 120GD drive for more storage space.

See I'm in a research phase at this point and if you've read my earlier stories you would know that I have some expensive WANTS, not NEEDS. The Xbox fever that I have captured from co-workers is more and likely the cause of this. I think exposure is a better word for it and I really became fully infected at a local Best Buy. Something about the Moto GP 06 game called to me and at the moment I held a control in my hand for the first time, I was doomed. Well I welcomed capturing the fever just the same.

Engadget released the first bit of news, along with X-Scene reports, telling me its really good to wait at this time and not buy. Not only did I have concerns about over heating from extended game play; a co-worker had to send his 360 in for repair service. I still wanted to learn more about the unit and what all was possible from the system and games. I had a few questions about which package to purchase and did I really need to get a Hard drive with the system to begin playing games.

Research has told me that not only does it sound like a number of the games have been created with the aspect of No hard drive being available and that games should perform just as well. I also found out about the new units might be coming down the road soon. Which is great news for those of us waiting to buy or just not able to really buy at this time.

Now I have a lot more to look into and who knows perhaps more expensive toys could come from it, like a really nice HD TV for example. Hopefully more information will come soon and in the meantime I plan to keep my eyes and ears open as I form a plan to save money towards my new WANTS. If I could some how just find a way to justify them as a NEED... not a chance.

Too many toys and where to begin

You know your in trouble when the toys on your list all come in around the $100 to $500 dollar price range. It's not so bad when you have only a single item in this price range. But when these start to add up and become two and three items at the same cost, it becomes harder to decide which to pick first in the list of big boy toys.

If I place them in order by Needs I would have the following items... Ok, do I really need any of them to begin with. This will be a hard argument to prove that I really need a new Cell phone, a new Computer, and an Xbox 360 game system with Moto GP 06. Wanting the items is easy to prove or I wouldn't even talk about them to begin with. So the need these is not the best route to take here.

The Treo 700 series cell phone is a really nice Phone/PDA combo and my current phone has seen its better days and served its purpose to a degree. But as I've said earlier, need is not an option. I've stopped dragging the Palm PDA around in hopes that this would cause me to buy a PDA style phone sooner. It's not really working, since I haven't made the $200 to $300 leap for a new phone.

I use to build my own computers from scratch. I'd select all the parts and spend the time hooking it all up and installing all the software. With the sudden drop in prices, its crazy to even think about doing something like that these days. Someday I'll tell my daughter I use to build these things, until the stores started giving them away. Ok, still around $400, its almost a giveaway in my mind.

Xbox 360, is a want for sure. I could make a lame attempt at stating, its relaxing to sit and play a game ever so often and the girls will love it at some point, sure it will take longer for the infant to even master holding a control, but the eldest is getting close to the age to play some of the family style games. Oh no, I will not play any of those shooter style games in front of them, I promise.

Lucky or unlucky for me, I just don't have enough to act on any of these toys at this time. The real hard part is when I get close, making a decision on one over the others.

Kakuro kraze

So it was about a year ago when my mother-in-law introduced the game of Sudoku to the whole family. I had seen the books all over and had no clue what it was all about and in fact she bought a book as a gift for her son. He wanted nothing to do with this game an set the book back down. I picked it up to see just what it was all about and my interest kicked in.

It's really a cool game that can be played everywhere. I started to learn more and after a few games was hooked. I even enjoyed the picture game versions as well. My wife started playing around Halloween time with a picture version from eBay and now she's wanted to play more and more and even moved on to some of the books.

A few books later and even a version that plays on her iPod, she's really enjoying the game. So I looked around during the holidays and thought about getting her a new book. That is when I came across this new game called Kakuro and decided to investigate it some more.

It's known as the bigger/harder brother to Sudoku. It uses a little math and is somewhat like a crossword puzzle. For example the box to the left with a 5 is a the sum for the two boxes across. You can have a 1+4 or a 2+3 combination. The key here is only one combination will work and you can't have multiple numbers in the same runs. That being said the 7 down would make use of the numbers you select.

I decided to mention this game to the family and it seems that most of them are satisfied with Sudoku and will stay away from this game for the time being. Something about it just keeps calling me to check it out and try some of the games. I think I'll keep playing Sudoku, but I have a feeling that Kakuro will get some of my time this year.

Times ticking away...

Time to close the books on 2006 and look towards the new year. Spent the final hours at home with the family. Last year it was just me and my oldest, as my wife was out working and pregnant with our second child. I'm thankful that this year we all could be at home together. I spent part of it with the baby asleep in my arms as I read my last book for 2006. Now with minutes to spare, I finished the book and I'm watching the count down for us here. So long 2006 and hello 2007. I wonder which book I should pick up and start reading next.

hmmm....

Dear Santa, support my hobby please!

Dear Santa,

I know its a last minute request and on the chance that you might have a few extra items available, I thought I give you a shout out. Yes, I know we have not talked with you in sometime, but I've really tried to be good and help with the good work over the years just the same.

Anyway, I've got a passion for two wheels, in case you haven't heard and love racing (watching) and I would love to have a chance to lean hard in the curves and scream around some of the best tracks in the world. I would have to say that Moto GP would be the top of the list for someone who loves this sport motorcycle racing.

Yes, I know you can't begin to get me on a team, a bike, sponsors, and all the training to get me up to this level. Yes, going to see a Moto GP race live from the stands would be cool, but I think I could work on that at some point myself. I had something else in mind here instead of the above.

That's right the Xbox 360 Live with the Moto GP 06 will give me a chance to try out racing around the Moto GP tracks from the comfort of my own home. No extra costs in hiring a racing team, getting sponsors, bikes, and the training to race. From what I've seen and heard, this is a very realistic sim for motorcycle racing. Just look at how cool the graphics are from the photo above.

I know, I'm suppose to come up with a list of items as alternates. So here we go, if you can I'd like to have that pony I've always wanted. Yes, might be a little hard to get a live horse to me in such short notice. Maybe a brand new BMW K1200 would be a little easier and more along with my motorcycle love. Next is the Xbox 360 Racing package I've outlined above and perhaps the cheaper of the three possible requests (HINT!).

I know I should have contacted you sooner and these will have to wait till next year or years to come. I thought I'd give it a shot at the least and since I really haven't had a game system since the first Nintendo, I'd just like to get more up with the times. So if you could work your magic, that would be great. Otherwise it will be a goal of mine to get a system like this on my own.

Thanks and Merry Christmas...

New Addition coming soon...

Looks like I'm an uncle.

I still think these things look like a weather radar at times.

Rep's win again...

Candidate -------------Votes--------Percent----Winner
Rick Perry (R)-------- 1,708,833 --- 38% ----------X
Chris Bell (D)--------- 1,302,251 --- 30%
Carole Strayhorn (I)-- 786,109 ----- 18%
Kinky Friedman (I)--- 551,325 ----- 13%
James Werner (L)---- 26,619 -------1%

2,666,304

I'm for Kinky

Election Day is here and it's my right to cast a vote. So today I've made my selection for Richard "Kinky" Freidman. I think he's just what the state needs for a change. Sure he might not know it all, but sometimes I wonder what the others know to tell the truth. Maybe its time to send a message that Texas wants a change and it's not going to be only a two party system.

Seems to me the Governor is going to be the one to help lead and I for one like Kinky's style on the subject. So what if is doesn't know Politics, something tells me he's smart enough to hire some people to help him out and get the job done.

So standing in line I had my mind made up and I sure enjoyed the older guy coming out when asked, "Did you vote twice for Governor?" He replied, "I think one vote for Kinky is enough!" Makes me think perhaps a shocker could take place today.

Back in soccer retirement again

I've decide its time to call it quits as far as playing the game I so love. Fact is I'm wanting to really spend more time with family now and have lots of things planned with my daughters. Money is a little factor and time is the other. I just can't see spending the money and worrying about the time for games as it stands right now.

Most of the games are played on Sunday and I have a number of events planed and I don't want to think, no I can't do that or I need to be back for a game. So tonight was going to be the last game I would play for sometime. The game was scheduled for 11:00 pm and I just got a call from the team manager stating the team we would play was tied for last place and they have decided to forfeit the last game. We now finish the season in 2nd place, no chance of getting first no matter what.

I'm glad that I don't have to run out at 11:00 pm for a game and get home after midnight now, but I'm bummed that I don't get to put the uniform on for one last game. My co-worker/friend and teammate has also decided to leave the team and play for a league closer to home and I was looking forward to one last game with him. It's not exactly the way I planned to leave the game and last week was a bye week because of the holidays.

Oh well, it was a lot of fun and I'll have to think long and hard about returning. If I do come back to the game, I think I'll need to find a league that only plays on Wednesday nights or something like that. I just think at my stage of life and even though its only about 2 hours out of my Sunday, that's a lot of time I want to spend with my family instead of playing the game.

Has it really been a year?

Wow, I've had this blog well over a year now and it has been a lot of fun and I'm working on blogging more when I can. I think I reach times were I'm just a bit to busy to write on some topics. I know I've had a few more ideas at times and just never got them out. But I was looking back and noticed that I've had this thing going for over a year now. Not that it is a great source of information and I don't think I have a huge following. Still I'm liking it and plan to keep it going. Maybe it will just be a mind dump for me or a platform to clear my head, what ever it is, I'll blog on just the same.

A year ago was the last day I had a Soda of any shape or form. Now that is really a mile stone for me. Sodas are really plain evil in a can or at a restaurant even worse. I can say that I can leave with out them and have not really missed them at all. It's tough to give up for the first few weeks and its not like I haven't gone days with out them before. But when I use to have them or drink around 3 or more large glasses in one sitting, while out to eat for dinner; you can see how fast they add up. They say if you give up 1 a day in a year you will have lost 10 pounds and I can say that is probably acurate. I'm not sure, but I think I'll keep them off my list of drinks awhile longer, its been so long already I could try and go for two years.

It's Geo-FEVR

So I'm sitting at work and I've heard my buddies talk about this before and think, its sounds cool. Then they talk about it again some more and I start asking questions this time. "This Geocaching is going on all over the place you say?" People equipped with a GPS device, go to a web site and find the location to a hidden Cache (Treasure) at remote location and then head out to discover what is inside.

"Yes! and they are all over and in every park near you.", is the reply that I get to my question. So I say, "No way, your joking". So we pull up Geocaching.Com and punch in the zip code and take a look at the map. My jaw drops as I see all the parks near my house have at least one ore more of these hidden treasures. I'm just in surprise to think that something like this is as big and wide spread.

So as you can see in a sample of what to find in DFW alone, this is a pretty huge activity taking place in our own backyards so to speak. If I went deeper into one of the cities more would pop up on the screen. Clearly enough treasure to keep the busiest of treasure hunters busy for many days to come. In fact people go on trips to places and search for treasures in other locations and this takes place on a global scale as well.

A little bit about the treasures and how it works. In most cases the items you find are tiny little trinkets and this is more of a trade for trade system. The idea is to have fun looking and trying to find these locations. Once you arrive you have to start searching and trying to find something that is hidden and looks like its part of the location. When you have found the hidden treasure, you sign a log in most cases and that is cool as well, to see how many people have come before you. Last you select a small trinket and leave a small trinket in its place for the next group of hunters.

Ok, I'm hooked at this point and decide to start researching what it takes to get started. My daughter is excited and wants to find treasure and my wife is even on board. We start to look at GPS units and want to start searching. My wife mentions to me about a low-tech version called Letterboxing and where people just leave directions to the location, this was for those who don't want to spend money on a GPS and is more in line with the days before GPS devices as well. Sure enough this has a huge following as well and we decide to give some of those a try, at least till we can get a GPS and really start hunting.

The idea with Letterboxing is you still search, but you keep a log book and bring a stamp & inkpad with you. At the treasure location you will find a log book and a stamp. You will make your entry and stamp the treasure log and then use the stamp at the location to stamp your book with your find. People carve their own stamps in a lot of cases. Its not as hi-tech as Geocaching, but some of these are hybrids and show up in both. The better the directions, the easier to find the location. Granted GPS will get you in most cases, with in 10 feet of your prize, but you still will need to look.

The last thing I came across is called Bookcrossing and this is where you Read a Book, Register on the Site, and then Release the book for others to find. Some of these items are turning up in the Geocache locations as well. You take the book, read it and then pass it on after logging its find on the site.

The best thing about the whole sport, is it gets you outside and you exercise your mind and body. Plus its fun seeing your little ones eyes light up as they find the treasure hidden out in the parks. You can spend as little or as much money as you want, but the rewards in the end, I don't think a value can be really set. Happy hunting if you decide to join in.

Team F.E.V.R.

Back in the USA

So my little brother and sister-in-law took a vacation to Europe. A great feet on his part to finally make a trip back to Europe. So for 17 days I've been house & dog sitting and could use a vacation myself.

Habit is formed around 3 weeks of repeating the same process over and over. I firmly believe this, since their return, I can't help but feel that I'm suppose to head over to his house to gather mail and take care of the dogs.

I was ready for them to return and started looking around at was to track the flight progress. I found a few sites that gave basic information and even found a decent site that showed a basic image of the planes location. I end up at a really cool site that took advantage of Google Earth and gave a some what detailed and 3-d view of the flight in from Paris to Chicago.

Its really nice to rotate and change the elevation and see the details as to elevation of the flight and speed of travel. Here you can see the plane making its way towards Chicago's International Airport. You can even get detailed information on other planes in the area as well.

I was lucky to view this for free online, it just so happened that the Chicago Airport tracking is free from the site I was visiting. They offer a service for all airports and flights for around $9.95 a month. The only thing is I can't see where I would need to pay for a service like this really. I suppose some business out there might have a need for information like this and I only found out the additional costs after trying to watch his flight from Chicago to DFW later that evening.

Here's a shot of the plane making a turn back towards the airport for final approach and landing. Was neat to tell my brother about how I watched all of this and the detail. He asked me if they made a turn or circle and I said they sure did. It was also cool to watch all the other planes line up for their turn at landing.

Here is a head on shot of the plane coming in for its landing. For some reason the site stopped updating on the landing and appeared to maintain a holding pattern. I later saw on the Airline site that the plane had made its landing. Oh well the end of watching flights with Google Earth, I suppose at some point I could decide and watch some other flights for the fun of it, if I get that bored I would say.

Here is a pretty cool view from above at the Chicago International airport. Its pretty cool to see some of the really detailed photos of some of the larger cities. I showed my daughter a really cool view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, thanks to Google Earth. I think some day I'll need to take her in person. Check out Google Earth sometime and then do a search on tracking flights with Google Earth.

2006 World Show final stretch

It's been a fun show so far and I've been running around taking lots of photos this year. The Youth show has wrapped up already and this year I took a bunch of stick horse photos. It was hard to pick a favorite out of the bunch, I could have picked a dozen or so for various reasons. Something about these two just says it all. From the first time I saw this event and through the few my daughter has participated in, it just brings a big smile on my face to see the smiles on their faces as they run around the arena showing off their skills.

I have four more days of the APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show to go, lots of photos to take along with my regular duties. After the show ends, I'll try and select my favorite image from the Open show shots and post that as well. I have a few in mind, but you never know what will happen over the next four days.

Well I'm still here

Things have been rather busy these past two months. My eldest has just turned 5 and the little one is now 2 months old. We spent the day taking them for doctor visits and the little one got 4 shots today (two in each leg). That is one thing that we really don't like and with my first was not prepared for. Otherwise both girls are in perfect working order.

So the first two months has been a learning process or re-learning I should say. Remembering how things were the first time and seeing how they are different as well has been fun. For the longest time the baby really would not smile or at least that is how it appeared to me. My wife said she's still learning to see is all and when she started to smile it was because she had gas. She still has gas of course, but I think she sees too and smiles more at me.

Big sister has been great with the baby and so loving. I'm crossing my fingers that remains to be the case for at least a few more years. That's all for now, I've had a few things that I thought about writing on, but I've just been so busy lately and my little bit of free time has been spent bonding with my little girl. I'm also gearing up for the World Championship Paint Horse show and will miss seeing the family as I work the show.

It's a Girl!

Well the wait is now over and I'm proud to announce the arrival of Viola Marie to everyone. She was born on March 27, 2006 at 5:04pm and weighed in at 7lb 7oz and is 19.5 inches long.

It's hard to explain the joy an excitement in watching a new life enter the world. First the head and then shoulders, followed by arms as we build up to the big finale and see the waist and legs. At last the wait is over and I see we have a little girl. Freya has a little Sister now.

Quickly she's laid on top of mother and introduced for the first time. I cut the cord and then they take her over and check her out more and clean her up. I quickly snap some pictures and film some video to help brake the news to the whole family waiting in the lobby.

Grandmother and Oma happen to be waiting right outside of the room as I come out with a Camera & Video Camera, so I was able to tell them first. I made my way to see my daughter who wished for a baby sister and I was happy to tell her that her wish had come true. She had hoped to name the baby Arial Snow White and even the same if the outcome would have been a boy. I told her that could be her special name for Viola.

Next Freya and I bring the whole family back to see Viola for the first time and with Freya leading the proud family on back. She's the perfect proud big sister and will be a big help for sure over the next few days, weeks, and months to come.

Being surprised and keeping the names a secret till the end is fun for us. If we decide to have a 3rd child, I'm not sure if we'll find out or not, but for now we are keeping the name of the boy a secret and I guess we'll have to come up with another name for a girl. We have a lot of time to think about all of that though.

Put that on my list please...

My daughter loves to say this and I thought I'd give it a try for once. For example we'll be walking around the toy store and she spots something she likes, "Put that on my list please..." and I make a mental note. It's not as hard as it seems, just about the whole store will be on the list and I don't know why she likes the Fantastic 4 hands for the character Thing.

So a buddy happens to show me the keynote speech from Bill Gates at CES this past year and I have to say some really cool stuff was shown. I could ask for everything I saw, but I'm only going to put my favorite of the whole speech on my list. Leave room for other stuff later on, I think I have a horse on my list from when I was little.

Keynote Remarks by Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 4, 2006. (Watch Video Clip)

The three panel monitor setup is incredible and I hope this is not some concept computer type thing they never plan to make. You'll need to look hard at the video, but these monitors are see through and it looks like you can look through the back and see the person but not what is on the screen from behind. I just love all that desktop space.

The Wonder Pets!

At the end of every preschool day when the students have all gone home, a call for help rings out and three very special pets: Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming Duckling and Turtle Tuck, who live in a classroom become The Wonder Pets, courageous superheroes who sing opera and travel the world using teamwork to help save young animals in distress.

The combination of live action and stop animation is the new show from Nick Jr. and I find it rather enjoyable. I'm not sure if its because I've seen so many of the other shows over and over and this is just new for a change, but I think the artistry involved and story lines have a lot to do with it. Plus I just love the expressions on my daughters face when you hear, "The Phone is Ringing" and the trio spring into action. My daughter starts to sing along and loves this show. So if your looking for something new and fresh, give The Wonder Pets a try, I think you'll soon be smiling too.

The Babies new room

I'm amazed that this room was actually the office at one point. It use to hold about 4 computers, 2 to 3 printers, a scanner, shelf unit, 2 desks, a bookcase, and just about everything else that did not have an official place in the house. We needed an Extreme Makeover and fast.

With the new baby on the way, it was time for the office to go bye bye and all the other odds and ends to find a home. Most has gone to storage and lots of stuff was sold, donated or thrown away.

The new room is really nice and we've been working hard on the rest of the house too. Baby proofing takes time and we still had a lot in place from before. So its not to hard to get back to how it was.

It still in some ways feels like its the first time, being right at about 5 years now from the time Freya was born. We are all excited and looking forward to the big day. I think we just about have everything ready now. I think we'll need to look at a bigger house if we decide to have another baby. I don't think the garage can take much more stuff going out there.