stuff123

If you are looking for a very educational Facebook game to play along with your children, then Farmville is a very solid choice. The game is fun for all ages and is non-violent. Animals are not slaughtered but are used as a resource for eggs, down, horsehair, milk and other items. You build the farm the way you see fit.

There are numerous trees that will yield fruit. There are buildings and other items to add to the farm. The game is a useful math teacher in that you need to understand the clock and the yield for crops when buying the seeds. Planting strawberries before the children go to bed will result in a wilted crop because they grow fully in 4 hours so you need to look for crops that plant in daily cycles if the children are going to play this game at roughly the same time each day.

There is also a spirit of cooperation amongst players where you can help the other players  with their farms in tasks like weeding, raking leaves and ridding the fields of crows. All of these pay a small reward for your efforts and can only be done periodically.

Patience is required to watch the farm grow. One of the very good features of this game is that nothing is fixed in position so anything can be moved around over time. You can delete a piece of land if you don’t want it there anymore. A good time is when the crop has been harvested.

The player also has the opportunity to send gifts to other players (free) and invite them to be neighbours. Although the game has limited penalties, it still has some features that come into play for neglect so it does teach some real life values.

The game is actually fairly simplistic so it doesn’t take a genius to play it and it is flexible enough that any child can make it what they want. It is a lot like a digital set of building blocks with the added advantage that it helps with dexterity and physical placement skills. It is simply a fun type game for just about anyone.

Once again,  I took a simple graphic and loaded it into Picnik and started playing with it. The primary graphic was a photo of the devastating bush fire that took place in Kinglake, Australia this oppressively hot Aussie summer and the winter for us up north. I certainly hope the country there is recovering from this awful situation. I still don’t know if they have finally determined if it was deliberately set or not. I hope everything is improving.

But back to the exercise here for me in graphics 101. Using the photo, some simple steps like posterization and adjusting the saturation and hue were undertaken but most of it was fairly mild unlike the extreme versions at the bottom. The purpose of the two overlays of text is to help me understand how dramatic a simple change in colour choice and using a different type effect can have on the overall feel. Certianly the one with less contrast is much softer in feel.

Basically, I am looking towards building a library of backgrounds that can be used in blogs or hubs where a suitable photograph doesn’t work or can’t be found and some added colour is needed to draw attention to the story. The problem I am seeing on the Internet is that there is so much going on in every page, that your story is easily lost in the jungle. The best examples for me are any of the major sports network’s websites. They are just jammed with pictures, videos and mice print.

Since a lot of hosting sites for blogs and hubs restrict the use of personalized templates, you have to find ways to be more creative so this is my attempt and I’m learning. I hope to see that they will improve over time. Meanwhile, it’s just a lot of fun so it’s all good.

I like to play around with Picnik as my choice of graphic editing program and just see what comes out. This particular set was derived from a shot of end grain wood and manipulated to create the starting graphic. The rest of the images are just changes that can be made using various preset options that are provided with the program. Some are only available with the purchase of the premium option which I highly recommend.

Then some of the options are tweaked by moving sliders much like you would on a mixing console in a sound recording studio. Most of the time, the end result is just something that I find pleasing to my eye.

The end result is a number of background graphics that can be used as backdrops for titles for blogs or hubs . Adding graphics only enhances the look and feel of your post and it has the added benefit of being something that search engines crawl and log. So you have an even larger presence on the Internet.

Besides it is a lot of fun to just play in the sandbox.

Golf has sometimes been referred to by some pessimistic players as “a good walk spoiled.” It would seem that these individuals are missing a key point about the splendid game of golf. It is a fun pastime and should be played for that reason alone. Along with the advantages of getting out in the fresh air, you have the added bonus of playing with friends, associates, customers and even making more new contacts. Put the cell phone away in your bag for the round. You deserve a break, now don’t you?

Try to arrive at least a half an hour before your tee time so you can check in with the pro shop, use the washroom, do some light stretching, putt around and unwind a little before you head to the first tee. Please don’t bring your own supply of brown pops. At some courses, it is also against the local liquor laws, so you are putting the nice folks at the club in a very uncomfortable position. They want you to enjoy yourself so don’t make them become the golf course police. They’re just doing their job.

You may want to ask about the course’s dress code since many courses do not approve of clothing like blue jeans, tattered shorts and t-shirts. And don’t forget to check out the club’s pro shop and do a quick check of your individual golfing accessories in your golf bag. Tees, golf balls, sunscreen, and maybe you need a new golf glove. Check the spikes on your golf shoes, as well. No one is using steel spikes much anymore. On most golf courses today, they are no longer approved for play.

And when your round is finished, please stay and enjoy your playing partners’ company and take advantage of the many fine food and beverage options available at the clubhouse.

After all, the best shots in golf are usually taken at the 19th hole.

One of my favourite episodes of the Cosby Show was when Clair Huxtable (portrayed by actress Phylicia Rashad) was singing the “WhinyChild Blues” to one of the Cosby kids because they were whining about something or other that was not really that important.

I tripped over this in our tribes forum under Fun & Games. One of the members of our tribe found it in World 12 and doesn’t remember where so I don’t know who to give credit for this good stuff. It looks like a good letter to send to the whinychile’s that play the game and don’t understand that to be successful in the game you must attack other player’s villages.

Hello [player][/player],

You are receiving this T-mail because you sent me a message asking why I am nobling your village (or somthing of the sort). I receive many of these messages every day, and it would be very difficult to respond to them individually. I will be using this form, provided by [ally][/ally] to respond.

I am attacking your village because: (mark all that apply)

[] I’m not destroying you, I’m sending you to my fan club on the rim, you’ll find lots of people just like yourself
[] I’m capturing villages in a specific pattern on the world map, a smiley face to be exact
[] You are no threat to me. Even if my attacks would fail, there is no way you could retaliate
[] You are small
[] I would like to take over bigger villages but I’m trying to build up my base
[] Your English is lacking
[] You are obviously not active
[] I want more villages
[] You are whiny
[] You are close by, better targets are just too far for me to noble
[] You have failed to pay tribute, maybe if you would have sent us some protection resources like everyone else on this continent…
[] I am part of [ally][/ally]. Please? Stop? I don’t know these words and I hate things I don’t know
[] Because I can

Furthermore I find that:

[] Your caps lock key is broken
[] I don’t like the way your shoelaces are tied.
[] This is like taking candy from a baby, only instead of candy, it’s a village.
[] Alternatively I could decide to simply farm you rather then a full-out takeover, but that would leave your resources vulnerable to others and my troops are above the trivial task of hauling resources
[] I’m pretty sure your shirt is on backwards
[] You taste of fear, I like the taste of fear

As well, you:

[] Fail to understand this game is called tribal WARS
[] Failed to give your village a proper name
[] Failed to give yourself a proper name
[] Could have seen this coming when I scouted you, yet failed to respond accordingly by building more defense

While I see that you are now making efforts to defend your village through diplomatic means, I do not care because:

[] It is too late as I’ve already sent my nobles and cannot cancel them
[] Your message has only infuriated me more
[] I am part of [ally][/ally]

We at [ally][/ally] thank you for your message. We would like express that your message is important to us. We hope this form response has answered any of the questions you had. If you have any further questions or comments please feel free to:

[x] Shut up and upgrade your farm before I have to waste my precious resources doing it myself.

Thank you again,
[player][/player]

Written by somebody in World 12 according to siddhartha96

I learned that the other day while taking an actual long walk and a lot of other things that I didn’t know about myself or maybe that I just need to be reminded of from time to time. Nothing like a good whack on the side of the head.

The Long Walk is about the cheapest thing you can do for maintaining good health—both physical and mental. I used to jog a lot but it was a lot harder than walking on some things like the knees and back and the pocket book. Good running shoes aren’t cheap and you have to wear good ones or you get shin splints and make it even harder on your knees and back.

So part of getting older is the getting wiser thing. You are reminded of the old doctor joke. You know the one. “Doc, it hurts when I go like this.” And the doctor replies with “So don’t go like that.” (For me, it’s always in the voice of Mel Brooks aka Melvin Kaminsky. He takes some really interesting routes on his walks)

And you have to try to remove the things that might confuse you in the Long Walk like I did with my multi-focal’s. They kept changing my focal point so much that I actually felt off balance. So next time, I will try the actual Long Walk with my glasses tucked inside my pocket.

And so I walk a lot more now. The actual long walk is something I need to do more often, but here are some of the other ways I take long walks.

Writing is a long walk. I try it in different “settings” so that it doesn’t get stale. Sometimes I write at night with only the light of the computer screen glaring back at me. Sometimes I have the television turned on but it is more like a radio because I haven’t moved it into a better viewing position. The television is talking to an empty couch a lot more these days.

And sometimes I have iTunes or Jango playing in the background because music will take you to places you haven’t been or have just forgotten. And sometimes, I slide the patio door open to hear the sounds of the world around me. And other times, I lay down on the couch with no radio or television playing and just plug in the recharger like I do so often with mouse batteries. (Use rechargeable batteries. “Mum” will thank you for it. see Listen…)

And I know I will discover more ways to take a Long Walk. Certainly the Internet is a really big one along with games that I play on the computer, especially the ones I make up for myself.

And other times the Long Walk is a short walk just outside my front door. I talk with my neighbours or a stranger that is at my door. They both probably think I’m maybe kinda’ little strange like I’m on something.

Yep, it’s called life. I’m understanding it better now. And like all long walks, it feels good.

Sometimes people think that there must be something wrong with you when you act that way. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they haven’t experienced that sensation in life yet.

And I don’t get so discouraged when people don’t respond to my emails or Facebook messages or telephone calls. You see they are on their own Long Walks. Eventually, our paths will cross. When they’re ready, or maybe you could go on a walk and try to find them. Just a thought.

While going on a long walk today, the thought came to mind of a friend I have made in Italy, PB and I thought about how he may have played as child. I try to understand his status updates in Facebook and use Google Translate to attempt to get a better understanding of PB’s comments. He is, of course, speaking to his friends in Italy in his native language although his English is very good.

His latest status actually was about playing 5 on 5 football (soccer in our country)  and the fact that he had scored 3 goals and something must be going right because he doesn’t normally do that.The translator came back with a reference to triplets and scoring so I thought it might have something to do with a visit to the local club last night (lol)

This new translator from Google is far from perfect but it amazes me that it can help someone like me get a better understanding of people in other parts of the world. So far, I have used it in Italian, German, Spanish and Slovak. I have limited knowledge of Italian and Polish and sometimes I wonder if my English is that good because I use so many metaphors.

I thought it would be an interesting experiment to take the feel of the pick up road hockey game and attempt to get the feel of what it might have been like to be a boy growing up in Italy and starting a pick up football game. So the following is alternating English and Italian. I made minor adjustments to the translator’s approach like Johnny became Giovanni. I have a few Italian friends here in Canada that call me that and hope they will read this and give me some feedback.

I think just the sound of people speaking Italian is very beautiful. If you want to try the Italian, just remember to say it twice as fast, with increased volume and use your hands a lot.

 The Game

 Il gioco

Johnny one grabs his running shoes on and grabs the old worn out soccer ball and goes to the centre of town.

Johnny one kicks the ball straight up in the air and bounces it off of his chest and then his shoe and again off his chest and then his head.

He repeats this again and again until Johnny 2 shows up.

What is you name?

Do you want to play net or forward?

And again when Johnny 3 arrives.

What is you name?

Do you want to play net or forward?

And when Johnny four arrives, it is a whole new ball game. You have teams now.

Your teams are AC Milan and Juventus.

You play as Diego Maradona and Pele.

You could try this with a home made cricket bat (I joined into a pick up cricket game in the parking lot of my hotel in Barbados and I was instantly accepted by the rest of the players who were much younger than I was.)

I have to believe that children all over the world all play this way and it is always for the same reason—the love of the game.

Tucker is, as I found out from my new Aussie friend (MF), Aussie slang.

Here’s MF’s definition.

The search of tucker in the Aussie Slang Dictionary defines it as:

The thing I’ve learned here is that if you really want to know what an Aussie word means, go ask an Aussie. They will give you a better feel for what it means than a dictionary could ever do.

And then it dawned on me. I had to edit this post after “publishing it”. In North America, it was grub and a grub box—from the Old West. Same church, different pew. (banco di chiesa in Italian. It will make more sense when you read about Google Translate)

When I lived in Calgary, every July you could go to the Calgary Stampede and watch the chuckwagon races where they threw the symbolic tuckerbox into the back of the wagon along with symbolic tent poles. The statue and the races are a tribute to the folks that paved the way for us all.

MF explained it best, in true Aussie form, regarding the portrayal of Mick Dundee by Paul Hogan in the Crocodile Dundee series. It’s close but it’s missing something.

My interpretation of this subtle reply is it means that something gets lost in the translation. The movie is an American producers idea of what the U. S. movie goer would like to see. The movie creators first priority is to fill the seats in the theatre and they aren’t too concerned about “keeping it real”. “Close, but no cigar”

I’ve been experimenting recently with Google Translate. It’ still in beta mode. More new words. Beta just means that it’s still under construction and is in more of a test mode and not ready for full release. But you’re welcome to try it and they ask for your input on what can be made better.

It has a unique feature that the other translators don’t have. It will attempt to detect the language and it apologized for not supporting Norwegian yet. That stuff you see in Star Trek about universal translators is not just science-fiction. Google Translate is an example of the idea in diapers.

There’s still a best way to handle something when you don’t understand it’s meaning.

Just ask.

I thought I should write this just in case some of you didn’t get the idea behind Do They All Have Arthritis?  You know the type that says that it’s degrading to women, rude and irresponsible. Rest assured I am no Sean Avery.

I have the greatest respect for all good people. I could care less about all the categories that all the “accountants” place the human race in. (Is that a hanging participle? Never did get the hang of that). People are people. Period. . . .. …

….

…..

Sheryl Crow said it best in her song “All I Want To Do”.

One of my best bosses ever was a really bright, charming and attractive woman. Kitty had the good sense to “let me play” with PC’s when they were very new to the business world. How else would I learn to use these tools and teach the others in our department? The Internet wasn’t in widespread use then and computer courses were pretty much geared to teaching you how to turn on the power switch and type your name, address and your favourite recipe. Windows was only a twinkle in Microsoft’s eye. (1st laptop cost $10,000. You had to plug it in to use it. Weighed something like 17 lbs.)

So I have Kitty to blame for my ability to use the computer in a practical manner. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. How’s it hangin’, Kitty. Still in Slough? Or are you running some winery in the south of France. It would be so nice to talk to you again.

Kitty could have been in a lot of trouble if the “accountants” ever caught her using her unique management style on me.

…Kitty had this thing she liked to do on her way out of the building. I’d be leaning on some filing cabinet talking to someone about something, somewhere else in the building. Pretty much had a handle on everybody’s first name in the place.

…Kitty would give me that girlish liitle smile, toss her head back and say “good night, Johnnie” as she pinched my cheek and headed on out the door. Not that one. The one down there.

She never had any problem getting me to do anything she asked.

You don’t say no to an angel.

You don’t need to see this picture. There I am dancing in the kitchen to The Temptations in my Fat Pants . Think I’ll make a another cup of tea. This writing thing is pretty good stuff.

Looking at the ads that scroll along the right hand side of every Facebook game, I asked myself this question. It’s in reference to most of the beautiful gals that represent dating services or those really-hard-to-believe-high-paying-part-time-jobs-probable-scam-things.

I only know of one way for pretty ladies to make that kind of money and most of them are too respectable to take those jobs.

Maybe modelling but most of them are too skinny for that. Show your kindness. Invite a model to your next Sunday dinner.

Back to the question.

Follow this exercise.

Place your elbows tight to your rib cage.

Now turn your hands inwards toward your body, about 6-8″ from your clothing.

Cup your hands like you were suffering from chronic arthritis.

You see what I mean?

And is it true, that the real ones float better than the store bought ones?

I knew a gal that went to Barbados with us, that could tread water in the pool without moving her arms or legs. She could have made donations to her female friends and not be left short. Slow dancing with her was different. Kind of a long distance relationship.

Now how would you google the flotation test?

Funny when I went back to “borrow” the pictures from the ads they all went into hiding. Like they I knew I was coming after them. All except for the one in the middle. She showed up a lot.

I think she’s easy.

Try writing.
You might surprise yourself.
Surprised the hell out of me!

You know the best reward in writing is you get to laugh and cry a lot. Reminds you that you’re still alive and well. We’re all gonna’ be dead a really long time.

Have a nice day. Don’t forget to invite the model for Sunday. Crown pork roast would be good. I’m not doin’ anything.