Nope! Never Again!

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The History of Video Games

Do you ever admit to playing video games?  Even as an adult?  I do but I tend to play word games because I find them a bit more fascinating.  However, I do like Angry Birds 2 enough to play it on a regular basis.  The only thing I hate is when it gets stuck due to not having an active internet connection at that moment.

We all know video games have been around for a while don't we?  I mean, many people's parents played those early games from the 1970's or so.  The one with the monkey who threw the banana!

However, did you know the first game was created in 1940 when Edward U. Condon built a computer that played Nim, a popular game of the time where players did not want to be the person taking the last matchstick.  He unveiled it at the Westinghouse display at the World's Fair.  It generated a lot of interest and tens of thousands of people played it but the computer won 90% of the games it played.

The next invention on this path happened when two men patented a cathode ray amusement device in 1947. They hooked a cathode ray to an oscilloscope so people could fire a gun at a target.  In 1950, one man wrote an article on programming a chess playing computer and then with another man, actually wrote the program so a compute could play chess.

In 1952, someone at Cambridge programmed a computer to play tic-tac-toe as part of his research on human-computer interactions.  Just two years later, programmers at Los Alamos programed an IBM computer to play black jack.  Then three years later, the United States government used computers to play war games as a way of checking out possibilities of the United States against the Soviet Union.

In 1956, one of the programmers demonstrated a computer playing checkers on television.  It was only six years later, the computer beat a checkers master.  Over the next few years, people improved the chess programs so the computer could think several moves ahead, created a tennis game that predated pong, a maze game where a mouse worked its way through a maze to find the cheese at the end, a baseball game, a simulation of the global cold war, until 1962 when a student at MIT created Spacewar!, the first real computer based video game.

In 1964, the programming language BASIC made its appearance. This language allowed people to easily create video games and soon games were being published.  Within the next few years, the first box video game and the interactive television games made an appearance taking us one step closer to the modern video game.

In 1971, the first educational video game, The Oregon Trail, hit the market.  Many of you know the game and have played it when you were in school.  Video games development continued, bridging out to computer based role playing games, video game boxes and arcade games evolved, games became multiplayer, and even the movies joined the trend with Disney's Tron.

As cell phones and digital devices evolved and became more available, video games soon moved over to digital devices until everyone has the ability to play video games.  In addition, some games such as Pokeman Go have embraced using Augmented Reality to add a different element to the game. 

Furthermore, many traditional games such as pinochle and backgammon have shifted to being played on mobile devices.These games have come so far over the past 70 plus years so know you can play alone or with people half way across the world as if they are in the next room over.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.

Drive-in Movie Theaters.

  I have fond memories of everyone piling into the back of the station wagon loaded with kids, blankets, pillows, and munchies.  Dad would drive us to the outdoor movie theater where we'd pay one fee and drive in. Dad usually parked towards the back in site of the snack bar with all the bathrooms.

We'd try to get there during all the previews so we could get comfortable and set up.  We'd pull the speaker inside, turned up the volume and we were ready to go.

The first drive-in opened in 1933 in Camden New Jersey.  Originally, these were called Park-in theaters as they'd come in and park.  Richard Hollingshead came up with the idea.  Before he received the patent in 1933, he experiment with a variety of projectors, sound systems, and parking situations to find the optimum situation. 

With a $30,000 investment, he opened his Park-in Theater which advertised fun for the whole family.  Although he charged 25 cents per person and 25 cents for the car, he didn't charge any group more than $1.00.  The second drive-in opened one year later in Orefields, Pennsylvania but they didn't really do much growth until the invention of the car-in speakers in the early 1940's. Once his patent expired in 1949 and the in car speaker developed, the idea caught on and drive in theaters sprang up across the country.

One of the largest on 28 acres of land that could park 2,500 cars, had a children's playground, and an a full service restaurant, was found in New York State. The post World War II era made drive in theaters even more popular, growing to over 5,000 theaters in the 1960's.  One reason drive-in's took off is that they were better for families than indoor theaters.

The whole family could all come, including babies so no one needed a babysitter.  In addition, people could smoke without offending anyone.  Since then, due to the rising value of the real estate associated with drive-ins,  the number of theaters has dropped until there are no more than 500 in existence today.

Most drive-ins showed B grade movies, or the newer movies during their second run. They were a part of growing up in the 50's, 60's, and 70's.  I remember seeing several movies I would never have gotten to see in the theater because it was too expensive for the family to go but drive-ins were affordable for most families.  As the availability of films changed, drive-ins often resorted to showing adult films but when that happened, they didn't last long.

On the other hand, a new phenomena has grown across the United States.  Many cities now offer movies in the park where people bring their chairs to a nice green area. The city has set up a screen and choose to show a movie at night, creating fun family times.

Unfortunately, both drive-ins and theaters under the stars were restricted to certain seasons since both are outdoors.  In addition, rain often made it much harder to watch the films.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.

Creating Your Own Temporary Tattoos.

  In recent years, tattoos have become more popular and more accepted in society.  When my father was in the navy, only low life and sailors had tattoos.  Good girls and boys did not every consider getting one.

The bad thing about tattoos is that they are permanent so if you change your mind, you must pay a lot of money to have it removed.

One way to do it is by using a henna mix to stain the skin so you have beautiful temporary tattoos but you have to find someone to do it who is good at drawing the designs.  Another way is to purchase those tattoos you web and apply to your skin for a short period of time.  But what if you want one and you don't have either henna or those temporary ones handy, there are ways to create your own with a permanent marker and hair spray.

1.  Use eye liner to create a simple tattoo with bold strokes.  The design should not be very complex.  If its too big a pattern, it could look fake while the smaller ones tend to look "right". Be sure to play with the design on paper before you use an eye liner pencil to create it. Do not use the liquid liner because it could smudge.  You want an eye liner pencil you have to sharpen to get the proper look.

Now to apply it.  Choose a location with very little hair.  Make sure the area is clean and dry.  Draw the design on the skin.  If you need to shade, use a cotton swab to do it.  Finish by covering with a light coat of hairspray or apply with top coat nail polish.

It lasts about one day and can easily be removed with warm soapy water.  If you used nail polish, it will peel off or you can use nail polish remover.

2. If you are not the best free hand drawer out there, you could create a stencil out of a 3 by 5 inch index card.  Draw the design on that, cut out the parts you need removed to create the stencil, the you are ready.  Use permanent markers labeled for use on skin so you don't get hit with any chemicals you don't need. 

Normally, you'd use black to have it look like a real tattoo but there is no reason you couldn't use colored ones to create a more cheerful look.  You could also use the ink from stamp pads instead.  Find a clean dry area, place the stencil where you want it, color it with a permanent marker or with an ink saturated cotton ball.  When done with it, wash it off with soap and water.

3. You could make your own paper design for a tattoo, similar to those you buy at the store.  You need to buy some water slide paper which has adhesive on one side and plain on the other side.  This type of paper is available online or from craft stores. 

Create a picture on the computer.  Decide if you have to have it in black and white or will you make one in color because you have a color printer.  Play with the picture until its just right and print on the adhesive side of the paper.  Remember, the image will be reversed so if you use text, it needs to be reversed. Once its printed, cut the design out, place it tattoo side to your skin, dampen the paper by covering it with a damp cloth or paper towel.  Press the cloth down for 30 seconds before removing the cloth and paper.  This should last a week.  Remove with soapy water and a bit of scrubbing.

4. The last possibility is to apply the tattoo by drawing it on your skin with a sharpie. Once you've drawn the design, cover it with a bit of baby powder to set it by rubbing it in.  Then cover with a light layer of hair spray.  Enjoy the tattoo for about a month.

So now if you want a temporary tattoo, you can make one anytime you want.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.

Gambling in Nevada. When and How?

When one mentions gambling, the first thing I think of is Las Vegas, Nevada. The town with a history of the mob and gangsters who tried to make their city respectable.  I don't even think of anything on the east coast because I grew up in the west.

Gambling in Nevada has an interesting history due to the state's love - hate relationship with it.  In a sense, gambling has been with the state since the first influx of people hungry to participate in the gold rush up there and with them came various games they'd gamble on.

When the first territorial governor was appointed, he worked on outlawing all forms of gambling.  He convinced the territorial legislature to place high fines on all games of chance but when Nevada became a state in 1864, the new government tried to legalize it again.  Unfortunately, they failed but they were able to reduce penalties associated with anyone convicted of illegal gambling.

Although gambling was once more outlawed, the penalties were relaxed and gotten rid of so by 1919, cities and towns throughout the state were opening card rooms and Reno became the gambling capital of the state with both legal and illegal card rooms.  In 1931, the laws changed to allow gambling so there were no illicit rooms operating.

About the same time, a Las Vegas business received the first gambling license starting the trend of gambling in that city which over time became the capital city of gambling.  Up until the mid 1940's, licensing was done by counties and other local levels but then it was shifted to the state.  Casino's paid taxes based on their gross earnings in addition to a per machine fee.  The first year the taxes were collected, the state made over $650,000 in additional revenue.

Over the years, the Flamingo and other famous casinos opened, bringing more people and growth to the state.  In the late 1950's the gaming commission was created and they created a Black Book listing all known cheaters and others as a way of keeping the industry clean. 

In the 1960's licensing laws changed so public corporations could own casino's without every stockholder.  This lead to an increased growth of casino's in Las Vegas.  In addition, Don Laughlin, the former owner of the 101 club, purchased land and a former motel on the Arizona, Nevada boarder.  The town got its name when the Post Office Inspector rejected Laughlin's choice and named it after the owner.

Tourism developed along side the increased number of casino's open in Las Vegas.  Casino's and hotels were torn down as they aged and newer, larger ones were build until the downtown area of Las Vegas resembled a clash of dreams people had to check out.  The latest development is when Nevada entered into agreements with other states to offer internet based poker.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear. Have a great day.

12 Weird Addictions

 At some point in our lives, we've heard of people who are addicted to things like chocolate, exercise, tanning, cigarettes, etc but I stumbled across some really weird ones.  Ones I'd never heard of or even imagined existed.

I plan to share about 12 of those that I've found and some are absolutely gross but these people must have their addiction satisfied.  Be warned that some of the addictions are downright unhealthy while others are quite dangerous.

1.  Eating cat hair.  There is a woman out there who began licking her cat and soon became addicted to eating the cat hair that came loose.  She's been doing this for quite a while.

2.  Drinking urine.  Another woman is addicted to drinking her own urine.  She has consumed over 900 gallons of the liquid in the past four years.

3. Eating drywall.  In another place, there is a woman who is slowly eating through the walls in her house because she must eat it.  Her house has large chunks of missing walls due to her addiction.

4. Eating toilet paper.  One woman out there must eat up to a roll of toilet paper each day.  She loves the smell and taste of the product so much, she must consume some every single day.

5. Snorting baby powder.  16 years ago, a woman developed an addiction to snorting baby powder.  As of this year, she snorts up to ten times each day. I realize its not a "drug" but she has a craving for it.

6. Eating glass.  There is a man out there who loves to eat glass from glasses or lightbulbs.  He says he has eaten at least 100 glasses and 125 light bulbs.

7. Drinking nail polish.  How about the woman who drinks five bottles of nail polish every single day.  She says the blue nail polish has the best flavor and the ones with glitter are great. 

8. Eating husbands ashes.  Talk about love after death, there is a woman who eats a few ashes of his cremated body every day.

9.  Eating mattress stuffing.  There is a woman who has to eat mattress stuffing every single day. She's eaten the stuffing out of her mattress so now she is eating the stuffing in her mother's mattress.  Wow.

10.  Drinking gasoline.  There is a woman who must have her daily drink of gasoline even though she knows she could die or be hurt from it. 

11.  Chewing on dirty baby diapers.  There is a woman out there who must chew on dirty baby diapers.  When she became addicted to them, she didn't have any children and had to steal them from others.

12. Plastic surgery.  There are quite a few people out there who have had plastic surgery on their faces or bust because they were never satisfied with their looks.  Most notable is the woman who felt the need to look like Barbie - the doll or wanted to look like a cat.  Others are never satisfied with the size of their bust and want it made large, and larger.

I left out the ones where people are addicted to drinking blood, having lots of inflatable friends, or are in love with their car or other mechanical item.  Honestly, I think the people who have these types of addictions need a bit of professional help because those addictions are not healthy or normal.

I came across a show called "Strange Addictions" on Amazon prime and it triggered that morbid fascination we all have when we see something like that.  Its not a show I will watch but yes it did make me want to check it out due to the "ughhh" factor.

You are welcome to let me know what you think of these.  Have a great day.