Hey folks, coming up with catchy titles for these blog entries isn't easy! For now let me entertain you with a tale from the department of motor vehicles!

Recently I've become acquainted with two new kinds of bridges. These bridges create a new way for electronic devices to talk to each other. The first is an ethernet bridge. What it is a little device that allows you to take your home network where the cables don't ordinarily go. The most common bridges work with a wireless router to communicate with the network. Now I know what you're asking - why get a bridge when you can add a wireless card to your computer? The bridge is for all of those devices that you can't add a card to - such as a printer or your XBox gaming system. The bridge makes the device think it's connected to the network through a cable. The one I got for the Xbox was reasonably priced and very easy to set up. If you're looking to extend your network, this might be the solution for you.

The other bridge is called "Pictbridge" and it was built into my new printer. I'll admit that I wasn't looking for this feature when I was evaluating my new printer purchase. But now that I have it, I'm hooked. What it is, is a simple and efficient way to print pictures directly from a digital camera. All Pictbridge is is a USB port on the printer with the Pictbridge logo on it. No need for built in screens or multiple card slots. Pictbridge is as easy to use as your own camera. Just plug it in, turn it on and start browsing the pictures to pick the ones you want to print. Once you've made your choice, the picture is sent to the printer and voila! You've got pictures. Pictbridge is not limited to any specific brand - my Nikon camera has no trouble communicating with the Canon printer. You just have to make sure both devices are equipped with Pictbridge when you buy them. You can rest assured that I'll be checking from now on.

That's all for now. See you next week.

Labels: Ethernet Bridge, Pictbridge, XBox 360

As we go through life, we have a habit of accumulating things. I have finally come to the realization that I just have too much stuff and not enough places to put it. I'm not using it, so I'm setting it free. I feel better already. :)

Oh, and here's this week's cartoon. Sorry about the lack of posts, I've been busy. :)

Labels: stuff

One of the things I've been involved in is the attempt to set the world record for the most games of Monopoly played at the same time. Here's a picture of me playing the game on the Hasbro factory floor where the games were being shipped out. (yep, I'm the one near the back).



The unofficial count had more than 3100 games being played. We played for an hour with the new, "World Edition" of the game, in which all of the properties were decided by world vote. I actually managed to buy the top two properties, Montreal and Riga (aka Boardwalk and Park Place) and had three houses on them. Sadly, it wasn't quite enough to get me the top place in the game when time ran out. I probably would've done it, though. The "Advance to Montreal" card hadn't been uncovered yet.

A couple of fun facts. Most of the chance and community chest cards contain trivia about the world destinations they relate to. Also, the game includes an electronic banking system that keeps track of the money being spent. The electronic banking unit also contains a handy countdown timer for auctioning properties (you do auction properties when people don't buy them, right?) At any rate, a great time was had by all.

Labels: Monopoly, World Record