Do you have a favorite thinking game? As a child growing up, I used to love to play games that were puzzles, something to challenge me not physically but challenge my mind. We used to do simple things like create objects out of clouds or find out what would happen when too much water was added to the mud pie. Nevertheless, it seems that many children in our society today are rather uninterested in those types of games. They now just do what the Game Boy tells them to.
Recently, playing a Game Boy game, I found it to be amazing that the game was so simplistic in that it often told me what to do when I was lost or maybe unsure of what to do next. Now, I am not a regular player nor do I know if this is common, but what happened to the fun of trying to figure the puzzle out? How do you get through the door or find the missing item? You keep trying until you do, right?
The good news is that you don't have to allow your children's brains to go whoosh! You can offer them computer games that are more mind challenging rather than time fillers. Games like Mah Jong encourage people (children included) to develop a plan for solving the problem at hand. This plan is one that will keep you focused on the goal ahead and keep your brain trying to figure out the next move. There are hundreds of others that use all sorts of skill including solving problems.
So, just what does all this mean for you? Should you give your child these mind challenging games and rip away the games they currently play? Unless you are out for them to hate you, we don't recommend that. But, allow them to have the ability to access these games and you may find that they are often drawn to them. Children's minds are like sponges, soaking up whatever is thrown at them. So, they don't find their own puzzles to play with anymore. That doesn't me they don't need those problem solving skills.
Have you ever been in an environment where a child just can not do anything for themselves? They need mom or dad to tie their shoes. They need mom or dad to fix their problem with friends. They can not solve their own problem. This is a large problem and one that parents need to take notice of. Can playing computer games that encourage problem solving skills really help? They are not the whole answer but they can be part of the solution.
What you can do is provide games like puzzles, word, math and even card games that children can play on the web or download them to your computer. These will help to strengthen their skills in problem solving, in dealing with reactions, and in preparing for the unknown. Guess what? It's also a really fun thing to do with your kids too! Make it mean something even more by playing along with them!


10 reasons why Vista is much more than a spoon full of sugar
Every new operating system comes with advanced and much improved features. What is exciting to some is not so to others. Basically within a new system each user has his or her own individual preferences. Windows Vista or Longhorn as it was first known is a replacement for XP and is the "new" desk operating system scheduled to be launched by December 2006.
Descriptions of Vista are glowing; it is seen as a vision of the future. High definition graphics, the 'z' level in organization, greater clarity, unbelievable security, and boundless thinking power are what it is about. The operating system is set to fulfill all needs, it has a secure and speedy start up, not just when booting but also when returning to active status from standby mode; improved and strengthened driver design which protects the os from crashing when other things go wrong; and an antiphishing device or filter that identifies and confirms phishing sites by using a dynamically updated database. Technically, the Vista uses an image-based installation thereby facilitating deployments by IT professionals. An advanced event log simplifies administrative tasks.
The October 2005 new test build of Windows Vista has fulfilled expectations by incorporating several new IE 7.0 features, new networking and diagnostic functions. Of all the most significant is the incorporation of the core of Microsoft's Antispyware product in Vista. A key feature of the Vista system is deployment, the inter-dependent modules permits easy customization of Vista to fit individual needs. The WIM format allows a single image to be used or accessed by different computer hardware irrespective of individual language requirements, you can easily add or remove drivers, include updates and windows components offline without having to boot the operating system image.
The system comes with features like:
1. A new graphics engine that has easy navigation, toolbars with inbuilt intuition, high resolution graphics, movie action that is better that real-life, and easy to learn tools.
2. Revamped Windows Explorer with a next generation navigation structure, tool bars, and icons. The user friendly design incorporates clear glowing buttons and an interface that can captivate a user for hours together.
3. Virtual folders offer permanent storage with dynamic interaction possibilities.

4. The user account protection features shield you from rouge programs and security risk.
5. The system ensures easy installation of programs with "Click Once." This energizes an installation experience by lending the function speed and security.
6. Error messages are handled by "Task Dialogues" an integral diagnostics that warns of a problem and helps with a solution.
7. New and improved technologies include, PNRP, Peer Name Resolution Protocol, a brand new technological revolution that enables applications to find and connect to one another; WWAN, a router; WLAN, indoor connector; VLAN, allows LANS to communicate; Wi - Fi, deals with radio frequencies.
8. A system where snap-ins to MMC can be moved up or down as per convenience.
9. Has XImage which is non-destructive.
10. Improved up-time with an automatic Restart Manager.
According to computer experts, Vista conquers new horizons while it takes technology into a new realm. It introduces joys of working along with hum drums like increased productivity. Whether or not the features commented upon and tested by many techies across the world will be incorporated in the final version of Vista is not certain as it will be decided by Microsoft based


Cisco CCNA / CCNP Certification: Deciphering Ping Results
As you study for your CCNA and CCNP exams, particularly if you're getting hands-on practice in your home lab or rack rental service, you're going to be sending a lot of pings. As a CCNA or CCNP candidate, you know that five exclamation points (!!!!!) as a ping return indicates that you have IP connectivity to the remote destination. Five periods (.....) indicates that you do not have that connectivity.
It's not enough to know that you don't have IP connectivity to the remote device, you've got to know why. Ping is a great first step to network troubleshooting, but the results are quite limited. As a CCNA and CCNP, you've got to know how to diagnose the problem and resolve it. Just looking at the routing table is not enough - a high-powered Cisco debug, debug ip packet, can often show you exactly where the problem is.
WARNING: debug ip packet should not be run on any production router without understanding the effect of this command on your router. This command results in a lot of output and can actually lock up a router.
In this case, we'll run the command on a home lab router that cannot ping 22.2.2.2. The debug will be turned on and another ping sent.
R1#debug ip packet
IP packet debugging is on

R1#ping 22.2.2.2
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 22.2.2.2, timeout is 2 seconds:
3d23h: IP: s=1.1.1.1 (local), d=22.2.2.2, len 100, unroutable.
R1#undebug all
All possible debugging has been turned off
I've edited this output for clarity; the important word is "unroutable". This indicates that the packet is not leaving the router because there is no match in the routing table for this destination. We'll configure a static default route and send the ping again.
R1#ping 22.2.2.2
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 22.2.2.2, timeout is 2 seconds:
U.U.U
Success rate is 0 percent (0/5)
That output may surprise those of you who are used to getting five of the same symbol back whenever you send a ping. We got three "U"s back along with two periods. We'll now run debug ip packet and send the ping again.
R1#debug ip packet
IP packet debugging is on
R1#ping 22.2.2.2
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 22.2.2.2, timeout is 2 seconds:
3d23h: IP: s=172.12.123.1 (local), d=22.2.2.2 (Serial0), len 100, sending
R1#traceroute 22.2.2.2
Type escape sequence to abort.
Tracing the route to 22.2.2.2
1 172.12.123.2 36 msec 36 msec 36 msec
2 172.12.123.2 !H * !H
R1#undebug all
All possible debugging has been turned off
Again, I've edited this output. The key word in this output is "sending", meaning that the packets are leaving the router. The ping return of "U.U.U" is a general indication that the packets are indeed being transmitted, but that a downstream router is having a problem routing the packets. Running traceroute reveals some more interesting return characters! In this case, the downstream router did not have a match for the destination in its routing table.
It's easy to concentrate on the local router when you're not getting positive ping returns. When troubleshooting this kind of issue, keep in mind the problem could be on an intermediate router and not on the local router. Use debug ip packet to make sure the packets are leaving the local router, and traceroute to determine what downstream router may have the problem. And get used to the fact that pings and traceroutes can give you some unusual-looking returns!