Archive for category Entertainment

American Airlines killed our Kindle

Posted by J.D. in Ask J.D., Entertainment, Travel, Travel tips, Uncategorized, tech tips on February 21st, 2010

Dead Kindle sideways Alternative title: What to do if your Kindle breaks after warranty coverage has expired.
What happened: last night we found out our Amazon Kindle was dead. It had been killed by American Airlines.

What we’re doing: We are getting a replacement Kindle from Amazon (see below).

What we will do differently: We will be even more careful with carry-on items that may get “valet checked” when we’re boarding the plane. We will try to check all of our valuables before leaving the terminal (or at least within 24 hours).

The longer story, and how to get a replacement Kindle if yours breaks…

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Playing Pente, a cool boardgame, on the computer

Posted by J.D. in Entertainment, Games on August 18th, 2009

Pente is a fun board game created in the late seventies by a guy from Oklahoma. The object of the game is to get 5 pieces in a row  -or- to capture 10 of your opponents pieces. The game is surprisingly fun and very easy to learn, yet it has enough depth to keep things interesting.

We keep a Pente board and playing pieces in Colorado. My family has been playing the game for over 20 years. The past couple trips to CO Samantha and I have enjoyed playing the game:

Pente is pretty

One of our games - Pente is pretty

Pente on the computer

This year I also looked for a good computerized version of Pente to take to the cabin. It took more Googling than usual but eventually I found a good Windows version called WPente:

WPente screenshot

Here’s how to use the software:

  1. download WPente.zip and extract the ZIP file to a location of your choice
  2. run WPente.exe
  3. Select Options/Games and choose your options. I usually deselect “tournament play” and leave it set at two players.
  4. Select Options/Players. “H” stands for human (you) and the  1-9* basically stands for difficulty level.
    1. So to start with, leave “H” selected for Player 1, and select a fairly low number for the opposing Player 2
  5. Finally, you click a spot on the board to place your first piece, then the computer will play, then it’s your turn again… etc.

*the software can take a while at higher levels (7-8-9) because it’s doing some serious number crunching while evaluating different moves…

I highly recommend you checkout Pente either in physical of virtual form. It’s a fun game to add to your repertoire.

If you try it out and have any questions, just post in the comments here! Enjoy :-)

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