23 Mobile Things - Thing 20 - Games

I am not sure how to blog about Thing 20 - Games.  According to the article, When Gaming is Good for You, 42% of computer and video game players are women.  I am one of that 42%.  Although I enjoy trying new games, I typically go back to a couple of favorite games, Bejeweled Blitz, Sudoku, and Cryptoquip.  I get home from work a couple of hours before my husband does.  After doing my daily chores, playing with the dog, and starting supper, I settle in to play a few games on my iPhone.  This is very routine for me.  For this "Thing," I tried a couple of new games.

Bubble Mania

I completed Level 1 in Bubble Mania!

 






Bubble Mania is fun.  Like pool, it helps to know angles for bank shots.  I'm not a math whiz, but I'm thinking this could be a fun activity for math classes when studying angles.

I'm on to Level 4 in Candy Crush!

Candy Crush
Up until now I have avoided the phenomenon that is Candy Crush.  I am already addicted to Bejeweled Blitz and didn't think I needed another time-sucker-upper.  Thing 20 was a good excuse to at least try Candy Crush.  Basically, it is very similar to my beloved Bejeweled Blitz (BB), but I like BB more because the one minute time limit per game makes the game faster.  And, I can then waste quite a bit of time, one minute at a time!












Despicable Me: Minion Rush
I am showing my age now, but this reminds me alot of Donkey Kong.  I am not really into this type of game, but I gave it a try.





 


DrawQuest
This is a fun app, but using my finger on my iPhone is probably not the best way to use the app.  My drawing prompt was "Clean up that mess!"

I drew the "mess" in DrawQuest.

Word Abacus
This is more my type of game, and I tell myself that these are brain games that help keep my brain fit.  Who knows?!?  My best word so far in Word Abacus has been "lasso."  This will make the cut as an app I will keep.

Word Abacus - How many words can you find?

Word Collapse
Other than the creepy music, this is a cool app.  It takes strategy and forethought to figure out the order in which words should be cleared.  This is probably a keeper, too!

Word Collapse - Fruit Mode - What order would you clear the fruit?

Happy Spring!

I just found a fun web-site that has free games to embed into your blog or website. Novel Games has lots of different games and embed options to choose from. Here's a little Spring-time game for you to try. Enjoy!

Bubble Bug

Geocaching in Minnesota State Parks

YouTube Video: MN State Parks Geocaching

I am hoping that we will have time to do a little geocaching this weekend. We recently learned about the geocaching promotion at Minnesota State Parks and would like to get to some parks before it gets too cold and snowy. To learn more about this challenge, click on the following link. It is sponsored by Best Buy, and rumor has it that if you find a cache at a state park, you get a 40% off coupon for Best Buy to buy a new GPS. This may be a good Christmas gift idea. (hint, hint)

Minnesota State Parks Geocaching History Challenge

Typeracer

I found this site a couple of months ago. Several teachers here have recommended it to their students to practice typing. You are prompted to type a quote from a book and can practice or race others. The program keeps a log of your typing speed and accuracy, so you can track your progress. I think it is pretty fun...give it a try! Here's the link: TypeRacer

Jigzone

My friend, Sue, showed me this cool on-line jigsaw puzzle game site this morning. You can play with their puzzles or upload a photo to create your own puzzle. It is fun and it is free! Here's a link to the site: JigZone

Meme: Passion Quilt

I had so much fun with the CD Cover Meme that I'm trying a Passion Quilt Meme. I learned about it from this blog: Journeys: Exploring Life and Learning

Here's how to do it:

The rules are simple.
1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students/children.
2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what you are most passionate about for kids to learn about...and give your picture a short title.
3. Title your blog post "Meme: Passion Quilt" and link back to this blog entry.
4. Include links to five other people.

My Picture
This is a cute graphic of a bee. I use it to symbolize all of the things I hope everyone will "be".

My Passion
I am passionate about lifelong learning and trying new things.

"Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things." -Denis Diderot

Meme: CD Covers and PictureTrail

I'm telling you...you have to try creating CD covers as mentioned in some of my previous posts. It is so fun! Here is a "flick" I made in PictureTrail of some of the CD covers I have created. It's going to rain this weekend, maybe even snow, so get cozy and try this out!

Mariners CD Cover Meme

Mariners CD Cover Meme
Originally uploaded by SZSRocks

Here's another CD cover meme I created last night. I told you it's fun!

CD Cover Meme

Arset CD Cover Meme
Originally uploaded by SZSRocks

I found an article from the Boston Globe yesterday that had a fun way to practice using some Web 2.0 tools. The article can be found here: CD Cover Meme Article

This activity has you perform a couple of searches in WikiPedia and Flickr, and then you create your own CD cover from the search results and add your cover to the Flickr CD Cover Meme gallery.

To create the CD cover, I used Picnik and connected to Flickr through Picnik. Picnik allowed me to insert the text onto the Flickr picture and easily save it to Flickr. The photo in this post is my first attempt at creating a CD Cover Meme. This was a fun process.

Games in the News...The Sims

The Sims games are in the news today. Although this isn't an online game, it is popular, none the less. I'm waiting for a Sims Library edition! Click on the link to read the article:

Global Sensation 'Sims' Hits 100 Million Milestone

Spring Widgets

Get this widget!

I found a cool widget site that you might like too. Check out SpringWidgets.They have some really neat widgets to embed in blogs, Facebook, iGoogle and the like. Enjoy the puzzle.

Thing 15 - Second Life and Conclusion

I think that this type of game can show a generation gap. I watch kids, and these games seem like second nature (no pun intended...Second Life). When I tried out Puzzle Pirates, I was on sensory overload. Personally, I think I'll stick to internet games like Herd-A-Word, but it was fun to try something new.

My concern with this type of game is that sometimes people don't know when to say "enough is enough". Actual physical interaction is very important. Even though I do see how having a Second Life presence would be a great tool in reaching the younger population, we need to remember that it is just a "tool" and that living in the actual world trumps a virtual life every day!

That being said, Second Life would give me yet another shopping experience! Cool!

Thing 15 - Second Life

I have been enjoying reading the linked articles in this "Thing" about Second Life and also listening to a couple of podcasts and the video link. I knew gaming is popular...just come to my desk (which is located in one of our computer labs) before or after school. I have a room-full of regular gamers. I wasn't sure I would be a positive promoters of this "Thing", but after reading about Info Island and how other libraries are creating a Second Life presence, I can definitely see how this would be a place where we could reach our library patrons.

I shared one idea with our Media Specialist on how we could use Second Life. It would be fun to have our 9th Grade Library Orientation on Second Life. At this point, both Puzzle Pirates and Second Life are blocked at school. This would also be a fun place to showcase student artwork and video projects. I am curious if a Second Life presence would open up opportunities not usually available or affordable to school libraries, such as author visits. Also, as I write this, our high school's Anime/Manga Club is meeting in the library. There are consistently around 30-40 kids that show up for this. I read that Info Island has an anime/manga section and has programs on this genre. We could possibly introduce this to our Anime/Manga Club. Another feature I thought would be fun is to create a world in Second Life for a book the students are reading (i.e. Grapes of Wrath).

I found the college presence on Second Life very interesting. With record high gas prices, I wonder if this is the "college visit" of the future.

I did go to the Second Life web-site and look around, but haven't registered yet. I plan on doing that this weekend, so I can explore a little more. I really want to check out Info Island.

Thing 15 - Second Life

Another CNN.com news story today about Second Life...seems like everyone is trying to get in on this action!

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-8597

Thing 15 - Second Life

I haven't actually started to explore the Second Life game, but when I was scanning the CNN.com headlines this morning, I saw an article entitled "Autism in Second Life". I had seen this headline before, paying little attention to it, thinking it was a sitcom or something. Today, I read the article and it was interesting that the "autism" world is creating a presence in the virtual world, just like Library 2.0 is experimenting with. "Naughty Auties" is the virtual resource center for those with autism on Second Life. Here is the link to the article, if you are interested in reading it. My nephew has autism, and I am going to let his mom know about this feature on Second Life.

Naughty Auties on Second Life

Thing 15 - Puzzle Pirates

Ahoy, Matey!

I have successfully set up my Puzzle Pirate account and have practiced bilging, carpentry and sailing. I walked around the island a little bit and actually said "Ahoy" once...my only speaking at this point! There is so much to see and do...sensory overload...maybe I'm showing my age!

I couldn't stop with just one picture for this one. I had my pirate portrait painted (while playing the game) and here it is...the other is self-explanatory!

Thing 7 - IM

OK, I was up way too late last night IMing my daughter! I'm not sure if IM is being blocked at school or not, but I'm going to try set up AIM today at school.

For all of your "23 Thingers" out there, here is a fun stress reliever web-site...have fun!

http://www.therightfoot.net/mystuff/whatever/swf/bubblewrap.swf

Be sure to try the Manic Mode!

Thing 7 - IM

Another addicting and very cool game web-site from the collegiate set!

http://games.mochiads.com/c/g/fdeca3053d646d2e/Boomshine.swf

This seems like a good stress reliever.

Thing 7 - IM

You have to be FAST to keep up with kids on IM! I am happy to report that I now have 2 buddies on AIM (daughter and her roommate). I had to just giggle at how fast they were IMing. It was fun, once I got the hang of it!

They shared a cool web-site you should check out, but be warned, it's very addicting. I think it's pretty appropriate for library folks and it's for a great cause!

Visit: http://www.freerice.com

Thing 1 - Word Puzzle

Oh, I forgot to write about creating a word puzzle and adding it to my blog page. It is really cool! I created the puzzle at Quizilla.com and then embedded a link to the game on my blog page. This is too much fun!