hi all. its hard to tell what other ppls professions on here are, but there dont seem to be many other software engrs.

software engr major took 4 years of a pretty tough slog. my dad is always talking about "all that hard work paying off". yeah, now I am doing the tougher slog through the business world & "career ladder" (which lately feels more like a career CLIFF).

sometimes I picture my dad as a big, yellow, happy smiley face. or maybe just his philosophy. I even lost my temper with him once on the phone years ago after trying & failing in some steps in building up a business. this is the kind of guy that after you lose a job, says, "oh boy!! lots of new opportunities out there!!" .. it sounds encouraging on the surface but after awhile you begin to wonder if its a little delusional.

ah, but dont get me wrong, as far as software engineering, its hard to get an occupation that can be beat, from my point of view. theres a lot of independence, the pay is very high, it is still high during the recession. you are constantly learning. the universe of software is constantly exploding. and add to that stuff like cell phone software, iphones, app store, android OS, the newly announced google CHROME OS, which is revolutionary--

the innovations in this field have been exploding like a supernova ever since the introduction of the pc in the late 80s and show no signs of slowing down all that much. its like riding a wild wave that just doesnt ever stop. add to that cloud computing, which is now coming up over the horizon. yes I must say at times, this is the kick-ass-ing-est field that exists on the planet. friends once joked that I had a digital brain. yep. and I live in the Matrix.

here I am and I now have a few rug rats running around my own vicinity. Im not in the mood to go into details here at the moment. but basically, lets just say Im the part time "designated role model" for some impressionable young minds. [insert some shocked, incredulous gasps of horror from the audience here]

kids these days have tremendously superior technology and media to what I grew up with. I have 4 dvd players around here, a 52inch bigscreen, and 4 stereos, two with a lot of watts & one with huge speakers. some of this is hand-me-downs from an audiophile in-law. we also have a netflix "roku" player. it works wirelessly. the kids watch new movies every day. must say, Im a little envious. wish I had the childhood that I am providing. but, I guess thats a good indicator of a good "designated role model". at least a cool one. of course thats all that matters :p

the young guy A. is coming up on his magical 6 yr old birthday. in the last year, wondrous things have happened in the formation of his rapidly transmogrifying personality. he discovered a huge site of internet flash/shockwave video games on the bigscreen/stereo and became a bit addicted, esp to driving/racing games. he wails plaintively, desperately, rudely when I turn the volume down a microwatt. yeah, just imagine when he becomes a teenager, right.

A. is not yet a budding software engineer, nor do I want to overzealously brainwash him into being one, like those crazed parents that micro-map out their childhood lives at birth, and sometimes in a way that is identical or as clone-like to their own as possible. (be exactly like me or I will punish you!!)  but I also want to make its vast cyberspatial wonders readily available for him to explore. 

and hopefully, maybe a few of you reading this might have similar inclinations. and by the way-- even if you know a kid who isnt showing those signs of engineer-mentality [which admittedly, in extreme cases, can veer into near autism], these toys are still excellent for fun and teaching focus/concentration.

so.. here are the coolest games & toys Ive found along these lines.

here's the coolest game that I found in ages, bought for only $10 at the end of last year only a few weeks before Circuit City went out of business. and he started learning it quickly!! and building very cool stuff. its calleed Crazy Machines. Ive been waiting years for a game like this. found it only about 6 months ago.

basically its a very sophisticated physics simulation system and construction kit. it has dozens of very interesting parts. stuff like balls, platforms, bombs, robot parts, electrical parts.. lights, cables, sockets, pulleys, gears, balloons, etc. -- it can take you hours just to acquaint yourself with all the parts and how to "stick" them, wire them up.

so you put together various parts in a way that you like, basically a rube-goldberg contraption, and hit the big red "go" button, and then the software simulates all the pieces. Im telling you, this is artistry. for a mechanical, civil, or electrical engineer, this game is like crack. you can put together up to 64 elements in one machine, and the complexity can be tremendous.

I wish there was a way to record videos, the lack of that is a huge hole in the software, but I could post some videos that would truly blow your mind. however, note that you can upload your games to an official game site & share them.

its like mechanical choreography. have you ever seen that famous honda accord commercial?? [ok, I cant resist inserting it here...] think of that, except in software.

Crazy Machines videos
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/puzzle/crazymachines2/videos.html?mode=all

now, I am very proud that 5yr old A. can build some absolutely incredible stuff with crazy machines and figured out maybe the majority of it by himself with only a few hints. I mean, this is not quite Mozart composing songs at 3 yrs old or whatever, but frankly, I think its close. and what its doing to his brain, his sense of wonder, curiosity, focus, etcetera-- Im sure his neurons are growing like trees at a nursery.

I HIGHLY recommend this game. I cannot give a higher recommendation. heres a link to DOWNLOAD IT INSTANTLY on amazon. there's also a CD version if you prefer that

http://www.amazon.com/Viva-Media-00408-Crazy-Machines/dp/B0016A7B8C/

another cool game I found from years ago, called "pontifex", good for mechanical engineers. you build bridges and then run trains over them, and if they are well built they wont fall down. you go through levels where you have increasingly fewer building materials.

lego mindstorms is another fantastic toy. it was introduced in 1999 or so I and I was pretty much first in line to buy it. its a robotics construction kit, complete with software and a microcontroller. its gone through various iterations over the years. but there are now many books on it for building some of the coolest stuff you can imagine.

the robots can sense and act. they might roll around and explore a room, with some randomness in their directions. or, you could have a robot that sorts blocks based on color. (it has an additional color camera that can be hooked up). sensors, actuators, motors, etcetera.  this is a very multidimensional toy, with lots of potential for "emergent behavior", just like crazy machines.

here is one of the greatest robots ever constructed in my opinion. this robot actually solves a rubiks cube via lego mindstorms. it was done by JP Brown many years ago with the earliest Mindstorms kit. this is art!! kinetic sculpture!! as far as I know, it may be the first robotic rubiks cube solver ever. there are now many videos of different robotic solvers on Youtube.

JP Brown lego mindstorm cube solver
http://jpbrown.i8.com/cubesolver.html

one of the absolute best introductions to software engineering principles is via programming video games. games are highly addictive of course, and programming them is a not so well publicized art form. the video game industry has exploded over the last half decade or so with the new consoles and innovations such as internet social playing and networks.

there is really no better way to approach such a complex subject. software engineering in its extremes is one of the most complex, daunting intellectual endeavors now practiced by humans. how can a kid hope to approach it? games are an extremely natural angle. its how I got into the field as a preteen. yep, Ive been writing code since about 9yrs old. my dad was a math teacher and brough home a commodore Pet on my ~3rd grade winter break. I was addicted almost instantaneously and writing Basic programs to draw graphics immediately. I spent hours.

I havent heard of a lot of good game construction systems. they are out there, but you often need to be a developer to understand them. how about something for kids? one possible alternative is a pinball construction kit, which is a good introduction.

I just heard of this new product called Kodu which is inexpensive and focuses on game logic, and getting complex emergent behaviors from simple rules. this is very powerful stuff for kids.

this is a brand new MS product on the Xbox. I hope it gets released elsewhere. the early reviews are very favorable and enthusiastic. fawning even!! 

The new video Kodu game will teach you (or your kid) about programming. - By Chris Wilson - Slate Magazine
http://www.slate.com/id/2222546/

Game creation tool Kodu comes to the PC as a beta
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/01/kodu-beta-comes-to-the-pc.ars

I hope that schools incorporate some of these tools into their curriculums. kids need to tap into the natural psychological fascination that is intrinsic to anyone with a brain, and building stuff. with movies, tv, and surfing the internet, or even listening to a teacher drone on in a lecture-- its all so passive. we have to encourage kids to be actively exploring, engaged with the world. that is how we will create the scientists and [software, mechanical, civil, electrical] engineers of tomorrow.

and in closing, in case you're interested in more variety/choices, a nice review of the best 2009 games for kids. the kids around here have played some of these choices and definitely concur.

Here are the year's best video games for young kids
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/jinnygudmundsen/2009-12-03-kids-games-09_N.htm