Should The Name Have Been A Giveaway ?

All my children have been and will continue to grow up in a virtual world.  Connection to the internet is a constant, with all its trappings and immediate expectations.  This is a blessing and a curse.  I've learned a significant number of things from my children related to the world of electronics and virtual connectivity.

- My 15 year old son is NEVER without his iPhone, but he has shown me (and my wife) some great tips and tricks on our own phones.  He is also the protagonist of the subject for this blog post.

- My 13 year old son saved up money to buy his own iPod (which already seems outdated) and is in the iPad group at his middle school.  He finds the most funny things on YouTube!

- My 11 year old daughter is also on the iPad team at the middle school (she was also in that 'pilot' class at the elementary school last year).  She already has cooler and more productive apps on her iPad than I think I'll ever have.

Back to the oldest child - his head was buried so deep in his phone and he kept spouting out these random questions ... so I asked him (when he came up for air) what all the fuss was about ... 

And that's when the addiction began.

Granted it's been less than 48 hours that I've been 'hooked' but I downloaded the free app for Trivia Crack and began competing against my oldest sons, my wife, my buddy Tony, some young men (scouts) I know from church, my brother, a few work friends, my niece, and even a random game (but that was the first game it made me play - I didn't challenge that opponent again).  I have no idea if it is impressive at all, but I'm already at level 34 or something, which is almost at the top of the list of all my friends who are playing.

I'd feel guilty about it, but it's really an educational game (insert whatever sarcastic remark you have here).  I actually study a little about the concept of gamification in my newer line of work, so I can actually chalk up some of this as research (although not as much as my brother-in-law Dennis, whose job often truly is to play and test games).

Bottom line: it can be a blessing and a curse to ask questions of your children!

Song Of The Day:

Addictions to games are probably not a good thing.  I thought of the lyrics to the song "Need You Tonight" by INXS and with only a few minor word changes, the song is a perfect fit for a trivia game blog post.

Your moves are so raw ... you're one of my kind ... I need you tonight 'cause I'm not sleeping ... there's something about you (game) that makes me sweat ... what do you think? - I can't think at all ... and finally ... I'm lonely!  :)

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What Online Games Do You Play ?

Over the past 5 or so years I have played a variety of different online games.  This mostly started on Facebook but then when I got my own iPad, it morphed into various apps and other types of games.

My favorite, for now anyway, is this music game called SongPop.  If you've never played it, the basic concept is to correctly pick the song title or artist from four choices as you listen to a clip of the actual song.  You want to be faster than your opponent, but you also need to be accurate because the points get exponentially higher the more correct answers in a row you have.  Not to brag, but I'm pretty good at this game, even against people who are well versed in certain playlists.  Turns out all those years of listening to music from a variety of different genres is finally worth something!  :)

I've also been enjoying a few golfing games, which were free when I downloaded them but apparently now cost .99 cents.  I've already beaten every challenge and level on Super Stickman Golf, but it's still a fun game that doesn't require an internet connection to play.

The same can be said about Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2012, except I'm only in April of the 12-month PGA Tour season.  But I've already maxed my golfer's skills out, which is why I'm totally dominating on the Tour now.  Still quite fun and addictive though.

There are a lot of "With Friends" games (Words, Scramble, etc.) but my favorite right now is Matching With Friends.  This game takes almost no time to play, involves a little skill and patience, and you can earn coins easily to increase your chances of winning.

So what online or mobile games do you play?

Song Of The Day:
Inspired by a recent round of SongPop I played, today's tune is "Mambo #5" by Lou Bega.  From the first time I heard it I really liked the tune.  And it is very easy to identify (for me anyway) quickly when it comes up on SongPop.  Bonus side-story ... my younger brother actually had dated a "Jessica" around the time when this song was popular.  So it was fun to tease him about that back then.  :)
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