fun & games - for the end of the year!

It's summer - and vacation!! We've all worked hard this year - now's the time for a little online playing!

Google image search is a great way to locate pictures. You enter a search term, then Google searches the internet for pictures that match your criteria. Guess the Google is the process in reverse: the game gives you a set of pictures, then you must guess the Google search term that produced those photos. The site bills itself as being addictive - and it is! Click on http://grant.robinson.name/projects/guess-the-google/ to see!

This one's just plain freaky - a little like the toy I bought last Christmas. Think of an object (animal, vegetable, or mineral), then start to play 20 Questions - with the online program asking the questions. You won't believe how accurate it can be at guessing what you're thinking. Twenty Questions - try to stump it at http://www.20q.net/

Lots of games here - card games, board games, word games, games with online players and without. Yahoo! Games at http://games.yahoo.com/. Go play.

Even if you're not a chess player, check this one out. It's an online version of chess called Thinking Machine 4 but, as the computer plays against you, the program's artificial intelligence sketches out possible moves on the chessboard, contemplating the best one to make. How do they DO that? It's eerie - but fascinating! Chess at http://turbulence.org/spotlight/thinking/.

Geocaching begins online but ends on the trail! Visit this site to learn about modern-day treasure hunts where you follow online directions to get to a cache that someone has hidden in the wild. Find a treasure-filled cache, take a trinket, leave another one, and sign the log book to show you've been there. Then put the cache back in place for the next adventurer to find. There are SO many caches in the Newfound area - and most are in beautiful locations. Search by zip code to find directions to them. Fun for the whole family! Geocaching at http://www.geocaching.com/.

When you're done playing, don't forget that Atomic Learning has a website devoted to tutorials so you can learn new programs and skills at your own pace at your own time. http://www.atomiclearning.com

Happy Summer!!!!