Use the Internet to keep your thinking skills sharp

by Rick Castellini Nationally syndicated computer columnist Special to PRIME "Why don't you start a list of online games and quizzes that people can use to keep their minds active"? That was a question from one of the students in a class I recently taught. She found a fun online map quiz about the United States and Europe and shared it with us. You can visit the quizzes she shared by visiting: http://tinyurl.com/3wuxb (states quiz) www.sheppardssoftware.com (the folks who make the above quiz and much more ... the site has many more online geography, science, word, and math games ... all free.) I'm going to take that woman's suggestion and build it into this month's article. The power of playing games Games have a unique way of allowing us to learn and think constructively without realize that we are actually learning. Just last month, Nintendo gave President Bush a handheld gaming device called the Nintendo DS (for his 60th birthday) and one of its most popular games, Brain Age. Brain Age contains hundreds of puzzles, math games, and eye exercises to help keep the brain working at its optimum. It also has the wildly popular Sudoku puzzles as well. One advantage of this handheld game is that you don't have to be tethered to your computer desk ... the game runs on rechargeable batteries so can be played anywhere ... even Air Force One. Do you Yahoo game? One safe and plentiful site to visit for online gaming and mind challenges is Yahoo Games. Yahoo games are located at:http://games.yahoo.com. You do have to sign up for a free account there, but you will be guaranteed a good experience with no surprising pop-ups or spyware being loaded onto your system. For Flash based games (quick loading), try: http:flasharcade.com/. The web as your teacher The Internet also offers a plethora of resources for learning in small bites. Often called "tutorials", many sites offer self-paced (sometimes free) courses covering everything from the Internet to cooking to learning a language and everything in between. If you seek education for a particular topic, I suggest starting with the Google search engine. For example, search for 'online gardening tutorials' or 'learn to speak Italian online'. Use these sites to search and find even more tutorials: "www.ehow.com "www.seniornet.org www.weblessons.com As always, I'm just scratching the surface with these sites and suggestions. Try them out and see what you think. Poke around the web, carefully, for other sites with good games and mind teasers to keep your mind active. Or, if you have your own favorites, write to me with the addresses of the sites that you already use so that I can share them with other readers. Rick Castellini is an author, computer consultant, and hosts a nationally syndicated computer radio show from Colorado. Visit his web site at HelpMeRick.com for new tips and technology information every day and sign up for his free weekly email newsletter.