The puzzle is made from the wood of Cypress trees, that died naturally and it does keep me wondering about the history of the tree and its surroundings. Unfortunately I didn’t find this object too near to the region of the Patagonian Andes lakes, where it actually comes from. I simply never been there, although it is said to be an incredible area. I came across the ‘Time Rings’ puzzle while switching planes in La Plata, Buenos Aires, almost 1000 miles up north.

There is no denying that our kids are growing up in a constantly changing digital world. My two boys have developed the same connection with gadgets and digital devices as I have, only at a much younger age. I have been careful when turning them loose with my devices but often let them play with the iPad or iPhone, and they love it. Since they could barely walk, they have been able to use our IOS devices easily and without much instruction. While most of us remember the first time we used a TRS 80 or Apple IIe in school, today's children won't even remember a time without a touch screen and tablets. I

Despite being a gear geek, I still want my kids to have activities for inside that are not on a television or video game system.  In their life, most of what they know come either of those ways.  We do play with Lego toys, slot car tracks and board games, but those get old to the boys.  What we need is something unique that seems magic.  Enter GlowCrazy which happens to be both unique and does seem like magic.  The good folks at GlowCrazy sent me and my boys a sample for review.  My boys play hard and are self named experts in toys, so I knew we could get a great review.  Let's

"Go play outside!"

At the height of the DC-area summer, when the temperature outside was in the 80s but the humidity was set to "drown 'em!", that's what my Mom would yell.  And we'd go outside . . . and generally sit in the shade of some tree in my friend Dave's yard, sucking down increasingly-warm Pepsi and waiting until someone's Mom had cooled down enough to let us back in to the blessed AC-cooled sanctuary.

So now I'm an adult with kids of my own, telling them to "go outside!" at the height of an Austin summer.  And I admit, I'm kinda curious just how much running around Joseph does versus, say, sitting in the

Techno Source’s Rubik’s Slide™, the new addictive electronic puzzle game everyone can play and no one can

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 27, 2010 Release #10-251 Firm's Recall Hotline: (888) 847-8716

(image courtesy Engadget)

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

Ah, those innocent days of yore!  Reagan was President, U2 and REM were just getting started, people had big hair (and mullets!), and they still played music on MTV.  Yes, yes, yes:  it was The 80s.

And if you were a kid in the 80s, think of the toys you played with.  Rubik's cube and Rubik's snake!  The first Game Boys.  Yamaha synthesizers ("Anybody can be a musician!").  And . . . the Big Trak!  The programmable six-wheel tank, with a front-mounted "photon" cannon!  The kind of thing Andy would have Buzz Lightyear fight in Toy Story 1.5.  And now it can be yours again, just by surfing on over to Find Me a Gift and placing your order for $67.  Maybe you can't relive the past, but you can try, eh?

Rubik's Cube, the number one best-selling game ever, has reached new heights—it has gone “touch” with the introduction of Rubik’s TouchCube™, the first completely electronic solvable Cube. The TouchCube features touch sensor technology on all six sides, a motion-detecting accelerometer, and colored lights in every square.

“V_Bot, the new high-tech hero, transforms from a sleek street vehicle into a giant robot loaded with action moves. This revolutionary RC toy captures kids’ imaginations with a giant robot that they can control, transform and drive. V_Bot even has a plug-in for an MP3 player.”