Super Mario Maker is a very cool game that allows fans to design their own Mario levels that look like games played in the classic Nintendo days of yore. One of the cool things about the game is that you can get different costumes that make your on screen character look like characters from other franchises. That means instead of … Continue reading
A new WiFi router is on Kickstarter seeking funding called Portal. This WiFi router claims to use spectrum turbocharger technology inside to bring access to 300% more airwaves than any other router out there. The maker claims that extra airwave coverage brings as much as 300x more range and coverage. If you live in a location that has lots of … Continue reading
Sony has announced a new milestone in PlayStation 4 sales: 40 million. And it says it plans to sell another 20 million by April next year.
Anyone with a basic knowledge of math could’ve worked out the milestone from the company’s annual earning repo…
A Russian rocket company has announced that it’s working on a space taxi that’ll shuttle crews from the ISS down to the moon. The plans were announced at an international conference on space exploration just outside Moscow and reported by Russia Toda…
By Jerry Zezima
Of all the Romance languages, the most beautiful, in my humble opinion, is Pig Latin.
Take this simple phrase: “Hiya, toots!” Translated into Pig Latin, it becomes: “Iya-hay, oots-tay!”
Eloquent, isn’t it?
The second most beautiful Romance language is French, in which I am not, unfortunately, conversant. But I am learning it with a certain je ne sais quoi (translation: “Hiya, toots!”) with the help of my 3-year-old granddaughter, Chloe.
Chloe is learning French with the help of her daddy, Guillaume, who is from France, a magnificent (magnifique) country that I visited five years ago with my wife (ma femme), Sue (Sue), and some other members of our family (la famille) for the wedding of Guillaume and our younger daughter (fille), Lauren (ditto).
Now their daughter, Chloe, is teaching me (moi) French.
I want to speak it better than I do Spanish, which I took for eight years in high school and college and still can’t hold a decent conversation. I know only two phrases: “Cerveza fria, por favor” (“Cold beer, please”) and the natural follow-up question, “Donde es el bano?” (“Where is the bathroom?”)
That is why I am sure Chloe will be muy bien (sorry, I mean tres bon) in teaching me French.
According to Lauren, when Chloe went for a doctor’s appointment recently, she said to the receptionist, “Je m’appelle Chloe,” which means “My name is Chloe.”
“Did she just speak French?” the stunned receptionist asked.
“Yes,” Lauren replied, though she should have said, “Oui.”
The next time I saw Chloe, I said, “Je m’appelle Poppie.”
She smiled, no doubt at my pathetic pronunciation, and said, “Poppie!”
I was babysitting her and thought it was a good time for a French lesson.
“Bonjour, Chloe,” I said.
“Bonjour, Poppie,” she responded.
That was pretty much all I knew. But I was about to get a crash course. Chloe loves books and always wants me to read to her, so I was not surprised when she handed me a book starring her favorite character, Peppa Pig. The title: “Une Journee Avec Peppa” (“A Day With Peppa”).
Yes, it was in French.
If you read Chloe a book in English and stumble over a word, she will make you repeat it.
“My God (Mon Dieu),” I thought, “this is going to be terrible (terrible).”
I began to read: “Ce matin, Peppa se reveille.”
I had no idea what I just said, but it didn’t matter because Chloe didn’t correct me. I thought, however, that the word “reveille” meant Peppa was in the Army, though the drawing on the page showed that she was in her bed at home and was waking up at 7 o’clock in the morning.
It was obvious from subsequent drawings that the little pink porker was getting ready for school.
I trudged on: “Et prendre le petit-dejeuner tous ensemble, c’est encore mieux. Parole de Peppa!”
Chloe smiled and turned the page, a clear indication that my reading was d’accord (OK).
When Peppa got to school with her classmates, there was this line about the teacher: “Madame Gazelle, leur maitresse, est fantastique!”
Then Peppa went home for lunch: “C’est pizza et salade au menu!”
Afterward, she went to the park with her friends: “L’apres-midi, Peppa retrouve ses amis au parc.”
At dinner, Peppa’s father, Daddy Pig (Papa Pig), made his famous soup (fameuse soupe), after which Peppa had to brush her teeth (“apres avoir mange, il faut toujours se laver dents”) and go to bed (“bonne nuit!”).
Through the entire reading, Chloe didn’t stop me once, so I felt confident enough to add, “The end,” which I didn’t know in French (la fin).
But that was all right because Chloe paid me the ultimate compliment: “Merci, Poppie!”
I had passed my first French (francais) test. One of these days, with Chloe’s help, I will speak it fluently.
Then, of course, I will teach her Pig Latin.
Stamford Advocate humor columnist Jerry Zezima is the author of three books. His latest is “Grandfather Knows Best.” Visit his blog at www.jerryzezima.blogspot.com. Email: JerryZ111@optonline.net.
Copyright 2016 by Jerry Zezima
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Whether online gaming is bad for teens — as many believe — or actually maybe not so bad — as others believe — the one “take-it-to-the-bank” is that gaming has become a huge part of the entertainment industry and is not likely to go away anytime soon.
And yes, some parents are concerned. A recent Common Sense study found that tech use is a primary cause of conflict between them and their gaming teenagers. Of the 1,200 study participants (both parents and teens), 59 percent of the parents believe that their teenagers were “addicted to their mobile devices.” One-third of parents say they argue with their kids on a daily basis about device use, the study said.
Last fall, the Common Sense Census found that tweens and teens are spending an average of six to nine hours a day with media, exclusive of their online time spent doing homework. Common Sense founder James P. Steyer wrote in the new report’s introduction, “We are experiencing a transformative change in the way children interact with others, with implications for their social and emotional development.”
All true. But is that necessarily a bad thing? I’m having flashbacks here of when Elvis was called the Devil and parents were aghast at The Beatles’ shaggy haircuts. And OMG, pity the first teenager who got a tattoo when he wasn’t joining the Navy. Times change. Truthfully, I’m no longer so confident that my 15-year-old is harming his social and emotional development because he spends a great deal of time with his phone in front of his face. Radical, right?
Let’s face it, kids today socialize with each other electronically. They engage in a hours-long texting back-and-forth much the same as when we were teenagers and gabbed for hours on our Princess phones with the school friends we had just said goodbye to at the corner. I remember my mother asking through my closed bedroom door “What more do you possibly have to say to Cindy? Do your homework!”
It’s not so different now. My teenagers’ phones are their lifeline to the world. They coordinate hang-outs via text, hold study groups via Facetime, and listen to music constantly through their earbuds. They also snap a million photos a day — documenting their day and sharing it with friends. Agree with it or not, they are communicating and socializing — just without the Princess phone and loud stereo blasting.
And as for the big bad boogeyman of screen time: Playing video games is what kids do. They do it when they visit each other’s homes and they do it when they are physically apart. It reminds me of the parallel play that young toddlers engage in — where they sit side-by-side but play on their own. But it also reminds me of when my parents bought our first television and the neighbors came over to see the “home screen.” Want to talk about addiction? They even developed little trays so that the family could eat dinner together while watching TV; not so remarkably, they were — and still are — called TV trays. And just like today, scholars were swift in their condemnation of television and lamented how kids were now glued to the TV set instead of memorizing Shakespearean sonnets and such — like they were ever really doing that before? In fact, TV was blamed for most of society’s ills. But TV proved to be just another form of mass entertainment.
And that’s precisely the role of our mobile devices today. They entertain us.
In fact, there are some who even herald video-gaming as an excellent preparation for the skills sought in today’s workplace: team-building, leadership, the ability to deeply concentrate on tasks, complex multi-tasking with ease, and problem-solving. Oh, and one other big one: the ability to engage in real-time social experiences without physically being in the same place — a huge 21st century skill.
But getting back to the idea that gaming is just another form of mass entertainment. Would it surprise you to hear that gaming is ranked by VidStatX as the #2 most subscribed-to category of channels on YouTube and that it long ago challenged Hollywood as one of the top audience grabbers? A Nielsen report shows that about two-thirds of the U.S. population (64 percent) play video games on some device. And game launch crowds regularly match even the biggest blockbuster movie audiences. It’s become enough of an issue that Hollywood studios now not only check a potential movie release date against the date of other studios’ releases, but also against the release of much-anticipated new games.
“Star Wars” opening weekend last December brought in $553 million globally, notes Fortune. That would be Friday to Sunday of a popular movie-going weekend and was the largest opening weekend of a film, ever. Compare that to Fallout 4, a video game that sold 12 million units and had $750 million in sales within 24 hours of its release a month before on a Tuesday.
In 2014, the movie “Transformers: Age of Extinction” took in more than $1 billion worldwide in its first 15 weeks at the box office. By comparison, the Grand Theft Auto V game launch hit that figure in its first week of release. It became the fastest-selling entertainment product in history and broke another five sales records along the way, according to Guinness World Records.
Need more? Call of Duty launched on the same day as Sony launched the James Bond film “Spectre.” “Spectre” made $70 million opening weekend; Call of Duty made $550 million.
So yeah, I’ve started to back off my high horse when it comes to my teenagers and their devices. Brain scientist Daphne Bavelier, who gave a TED talk called “Your brain on video games,” is my new guru. See for yourself why. And remember, the key to everything in life is moderation.
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Nancy Dow, the actress-model and mother of Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston, has died, People reported Wednesday.
Aniston, who has spoken publicly about her difficult relationship with Dow, confirmed the news to People in a statement. “It is with great sadness that my brother John and I announce the passing of our Mother Nancy Dow,” she said. “She was 79 years old and passed peacefully surrounded by family and friends after enduring a long illness. We ask that our family’s privacy be respected as we grieve our loss.”
Her mother had suffered strokes in 2011 and 2012, the site noted.
Dow appeared in the 1960s TV shows “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “The Wild Wild West,” according to IMDb. After a previous marriage, she was married to Aniston’s father, soap actor John Aniston, from 1965 to 1980.
Aniston’s relationship with her mother reportedly soured in the 1990s and the rift intensified when Dow wrote a 1999 memoir From Mother and Daughter to Friends about Aniston.
The two were estranged for nearly a decade until reportedly reconnecting after Aniston’s split from first husband Brad Pitt.
Aniston called Dow “critical” and “unforgiving” in a 2015 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, but she added, “We’re all fine. “
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It gets really hot where I live, in the hills of Southern California, so a couple of summers ago I thought “Enough of this!” and Googled my way through pages of hot tubs, spa tubs, above ground small swimming pools, only to realize they were all waaay outside my budget. And forget about a “real” swimming pool — it would never fit in my yard.
Then I thought, “What about a wading pool?” That was certainly affordable, and from what I could see, two adults could sit comfortably in one. Off I went to the store, and as I’m checking out, the cashier says with a smile, “Got some little ones coming to visit?” “No,” I replied, “this is for me.” The cashier frowns, “Aren’t you a little old for this?” Huh . . .
The next day, my boyfriend and I pumped the wading pool up in the yard, and I hauled the hose over, started filling it with water. My neighbor wandered over and said “Hey, I didn’t know you had kids in the family.” “I don’t!” I exclaimed, “And he doesn’t either!” I said, pointing to my boyfriend. “Aren’t you guys a little old for this kinda thing?” my neighbor said. Not again! “Come back in an hour,” I replied, “And you tell me.”
When my neighbor returned, he found my boyfriend and myself lounging in the cool waters of the wading pool, a beach umbrella shading us from the sun, a bowl of guacamole and chips at hand, alongside a pitcher of chilled margaritas. “I’ll get my bathing suit,” my neighbor said, running back to his house. “Nope!” I said, “Just room for two!”
Yes, I know — I was being smug. But here’s the thing: what are you telling yourself you’re too old to do? Ride a motorcycle? Go dancing? Join a singing group? A bicycle club? Learn a language? Play the ukulele? Climb a mountain? Wear shorts in public? Or a bikini? Or get a tattoo?
I love the Walgreen’s TV ad where two 50+ ladies, rather than diss a young woman for her purple locks, follow her example and turn up at their high school reunion with purple streaked hair, primed for a night of fun and dancing.
Life is meant to be fun! Yes, life is serious and full of challenges and often far more complicated than we’d like, but with it all, life is meant to be joyous. Just watch animals and kids, they know it. What says you’re supposed to stop finding the fun and laughter in life just because you’ve turned a certain age? Which depending on who you talk to, is anything from 40 on. Yikes! Considering how many of us are living well into our 80’s and 90’s, cutting yourself off from enjoying the amazing variety of life’s pleasures for some 40+ years is a pretty depressing thought.
You may not be physically fit enough to engage in some of the fun activities you’d like to enjoy. OK, fine, so get fit, or follow the sterling example of so many differently abled folk, from amputee basketball players to one-armed surfers, who find an alternative way to enjoy their favorite sport/hobby anyway. You may lack the skills to dance the tango, or speak Italian, or brew your own micro-beer, or splash paint artistically across a canvas. Guess what? You can learn! Learning a new skill is not age-related. You can learn at any age, given patience and perseverance.
But you know what holds most of us back more than anything? It’s the fear of what others will think of us, their opinion of us, if we undertake something “youthful.” Of being thought inappropriate, or stupid, or awkward. Of being embarrassed or humiliated. Of getting that look that says “for pity’s sake, act your age.”
I say, act beyond your age! Meaning, have the gumption, the courage, to make the choices that resonate with you, that fit for who you want to be and what you want to do at every stage of life, regardless of the number of years you’ve inhabited the planet.
Don’t let what others might think get in the way of your joy. Certainly, “with harm to none” should always be your motto, and “none” includes you. But beyond that common-sense dictate, go on and do whatever rings your bells.
It’s your life. Make the most of it, and enjoy.
P.S. Wading pools are really fun.
Earlier on Huff/Post50:
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I swear, if I have to bite my tongue ONE MORE TIME I’m pretty sure I’ll bleed out and die.
Many of us are in our 50s. I dreaded this age when I was young — it seemed positively ancient. The 60s seemed even worse — I knew the very day I turned 60 I would immediately be wearing a muumuu, like my grandmother, be far too heavy (that’s actually already a problem), and sit around drinking Postum (the Mormon version of coffee, at least back in the day). I was going to actually turn INTO my grandmother. The 50s and 60s looked very bad indeed.
I will be 54 this year and, strangely, I still feel like … me. I know I’m older, and some days I certainly feel older, but, overall, I’m still me. Even stranger, I like being in my 50s. I might actually love it. After countless life experiences, painful journeys, and a laser-focused determination to become as self-actualized as possible, I finally accept myself. Sans muumuu — there’s a limit.
I’ve learned a great deal, but there is much more to learn and I’m determined to do so. I am fascinated by the human condition and the forces influencing us. Many people have so much more knowledge than I do and I make a concerted effort to pick their brain and see what I can gain from their years of experience. It is a joyful journey of self-discovery and learning about the world around us. Knowledge is power, and wisdom is rare and beautiful.
But here’s the rub.
No one asks us. Mostly no one, anyway. Many people have been deeply conditioned to believe they already have the answers — all of the answers, and from a young age too. The entitlement attitude has become obscene, and the wresting of power from revered elders to young upstarts is nearly complete. Does it sound fuddy-duddy-like to claim something that sounds suspiciously like “You snotty-nosed kids think you know it all!”? I suppose it does, but, oftentimes, that which is trite is because it is true. We DO know. Not all of it, but enough — enough to be of genuine help to the younger generations. And, we want to help, badly. So badly it almost hurts sometimes.
They don’t ask, though. Even if they did there would often be retribution — killing the proverbial messenger. Some young people are smart enough to ask, genuinely listen, and gain from the wisdom being shared, and we love that. Too often, though, it is expected that we are to shut up and keep our thoughts to ourselves. Why is that? How did we get to a place where we are shoved aside so completely?
Most of us are parents. We didn’t hatch to be 50 — we really did live, oftentimes, with almost no money, with little help raising our families, and with all the joys and trials of being young parents. We cleaned up the throw-up, cheered at soccer games, signed permission slips, nearly passed out when it was time for school vaccinations, helped make science projects at 1:00 a.m., stuffed Christmas stockings in our room before the big day, mourned lost opportunities, tended scraped knees, cried, rejoiced, got ready to roll up our sleeves and wade into fisticuffs with people who were ignorant to our children, deposited paychecks, staggered around in a sleepless fog, laughed at jokes that made no sense, and marveled at the beauty of the small people who shared our homes with us for so many years. We learned so much, made so many mistakes, and, now, look back and wonder where the time went.
And I have to wonder why … why does the younger generation fear asking us what they can learn? Many are almost hostile to the idea. We see young parents treating their children harshly and it breaks our hearts. We witness marriages in turmoil and can often see some solutions that will ease the pain and frustration. We see behaviors chosen and actions undertaken that make little or no sense, and we grieve. We don’t know everything, but we’ve learned enough to provide valuable insights — we love sharing what we know and seeing it put into action with no fear of reprisal.
What an amazing experience it would be to have a young parent ask how they could be a better parent, and then not punish us for insinuating they aren’t doing a good job. What happiness we would feel if advice was actually sought out, and the wisdom provided used and built upon. What could we learn if we sought out our veterans and other seniors and just … ask — ask what they know, ask about their story, ask what they regret, what was funny in their life, what drove them nuts. Most young people are good individuals and most young parents are doing well, but, too often, the hard-won experiences of their parents and grandparents are going to waste. Feelings are too easily hurt and offense is often quickly taken.
So, what value is there in learning? I know I cannot stop learning — it drives everything I do. Many are like me. Fundamentally it is a fulfilling, enlightening journey we only stand to gain from. But, when we cannot pass down what our lives have shown us we feel marginalized and invisible. In this day and age, where power, corruption, and self-interest often force us to subsume our individuality to those in control, it seems as though the quiet, solid, hard-won wisdom from long and diverse lives could make astonishing differences in family units, communities, and state and national political and financial scenes. The quick fix, the instant gratification and over-confident assurance, rules the day while decades of observing, writing, thinking, suffering, laughing, pondering, watching, reading, and discussing aren’t tapped for their intrinsic value.
Some ask. Thank you. We appreciate it more than you know. We wish more people would follow suit. Try us out — you might be surprised.
Earlier on Huff/Post50:
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For the longest time ever, Reddit and Imgur have had an informal partnership of sorts, in which many image-related posts on Reddit were uploaded onto Imgur and users could link to Imgur directly from their titles alone. However it looks like that will change in the future as Reddit has finally announced their own image hosting service.
According to Andy of Reddit’s product team, “We’re super excited to begin rolling out in-house image hosting on Reddit.com to select communities this week. For a long time, other image hosting services have been an integral part of how content is shared on Reddit — we’re grateful to those teams, but are looking forward to bringing you a more seamless experience with this new feature.”
This image hosting service will allow users to upload image files up to 20MB, and gifs up to 100MB onto Reddit directly. This will allow users to click on a title or image and be taken directly to the conversation, as opposed to current methods in which users have to click the “comments” link to take part in the conversation.
Note that this service is only in beta and will only roll out to select Reddit communities, which include GetMotivated, EarthPorn, Gaming, Space, OldSchoolCool, Sports, Art, Aww, Dataisbeautiful, Food, Funny, Gifs, mildlyinteresting, movies, photoshopbattles, pics. That being said with Reddit playing host to all kinds of communities including the NSFW variety, we have to wonder if there might be any kind of restriction Reddit might place for their own hosting services, although if anything will give them more control than before.
Reddit Starts Beta Testing Their Own Image Hosting Service , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
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