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Chictionary Television

    Hey, everyone. One of the good puzzle games for I-Pad is called Chicktionary. I have talked about it before so I won't try to review it again. In brief, you have a group of letters on the screen and try to make as many words from them as possible. The clucking and squawks make it fun because these chickens are animated.
     Yesterday, we had a get-together here at the house and I had some games air-playing over WiFi from the I-Pad to our TV. Everyone liked playing the air combat game called Sky Gamblers Air Supremacy and watching it on the big screen, but the fun started when Chictionary showed up.
       Everyone was eating, when one of the kids started playing it. Immediately people started calling out words. The teen who was typing in the words could barely keep up, chickens were squawking like mad and there was a mild and fun chaos. I like to watch humans and I had several observations.
1) My mind has slowed somewhat. People were thinking so fast that I was more of an observer than a participant. Young minds are wonderful.
2) People were joking about the words and giving each other a hard time about their spelling.
3) Gaming can be social and not just for on-line players.
4) Gaming can open a dialogue between generations that helps folks get to know each other. I was talking to some of the younger attendants about games, like Assassin's Creed, Halo 4 and others. As a parent and grandparent, I would hate to think that I can't carry on a conversation with anyone under 40. I also don't want to subject them to a discussion of medical tests every time they come around. Don't get me wrong, I have great sympathy for the elderly and ill. I do recall going to a friend's house and he was showing me photos of his colon exam. Pics of that landscape are not my favorites.
     Chictionary is hugely popular, even on PC. I think I paid 99 cents for it on I-Pad. You never seem to know what people will like in games, books or movies. It is a hoot just to sit and watch as people experience games.
     There were some folks here that were new I-Pad owners. I was showing them how to set up a news feeder on their device. Flipboard, Pulse and Zite are ones that I use. They are all free and you can pick anything on the internet, almost, and get a feed. It is like having a newspaper delivered to your recliner every morning, constantly updated, except it combines your favorites from all over the world. Like Fox News, The Washington Post or The Huffington Post? Put them on there. How about Daring Fireball, Kotaku or CE Wills? This ability to relax with news from any medium is one of the best features of IOS and it costs nothing.
     Overall, I had a nice weekend and I am ready to reenter the outside world in the quest to make a living. I hope that you have a good week.
    I'm CE Wills.


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