THINGS I WISH MY KIDS WOULD ASK ME
Editor's NOTE: Barry Courter has a 22-year-old son who recently graduated from college and an 18-year-old daughter who is a senior in high school.
Q: Dad, Mom's a pretty good cook, so why should I learn to make a meal?
A: She's a great cook and has spoiled us all, but she will not be cooking for you forever. I'd suggest learning from her and, at the very least, becoming adept at preparing one or two of your favorite dishes. That way you will be able to feed yourself should the need arise, and you likely will impress your friends. Ramen noodles don't count.
-- By Barry Courter
TOP 10 GAMES
Game Informer Magazine ranks the top Kinect-compatible games for November.
"Forza Motorsport 4"
"Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster"
"The Gunstringer"
"Dance Central 2"
"The Sims 3: Pets"
"Burnout Crash!"
"Kinectimals: Now With Bears"
"Just Dance 3"
"Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking"
"Kinect Sports: Season Two"
APP OF nk you," "thinking of you" or "congratulations" card, but who in the world has that kind of time? If you're like us, you have stacks of pretty cards, a sheet of stamps and despite the best of intentions you rarely send one off. The Red Stamp app gives you the opportunity to be the thoughtful, organized and stylishly sentimental person you always wanted to be without much effort. You can choose from a great selection of stationery and incorporate photos from your phone if you like. It's a simple way to brighten someone's day with something unexpected -- and if you're old-fashioned, the app allows you to create a real world paper version of your personalized postcard for about $1.29, and the app sends it for you via snail mail. Pretty cool, right? The free app is available for iOS in the iTunes apps store.
XBOX ONLINE
Xbox.com is getting more social, according to its forums blog, which recently revealed an upcoming redesign that will make some of the site feel a bit more like Facebook. The personaXbox" page will be swapped out for a new "social" section that will let players see what their friends are doing. The update will also offer a new feature called "Beacons," which lets players highlight the games they want to play with others and when, potentially making it easier to find others who want to play the same games. Xbox.com is also adding the ability to search the Zune video catalog and buy movies and other videos directly via a Web browser. So players who leave their system on all day could buy or rent a movie while at work and have it download during the day so it's ready to run in the evening. All the changes make sense for a system that is just as useful for watching video and listening to music as it is for gaming. However, it would be nice to see the new social components better integrated into existing social networks like Facebook or Twitter because many players likely visit those sites more frequently than Xbox.com.
-- McClatchy Newspapers