Xbox's and Cats

Warning! Very little chemistry in today's post.

How many of you have Xbox 360s? How many of you have had Xbox 360s that have failed? If you're interested, here's a link to an article about what went wrong at Microsoft's Xbox division.
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Yesterday we celebrated the one year anniversary of our cat Sierra. One year ago, we found her as an undernourished 2 month old kitten in my mother-in-law's back yard. Other than destroying a few glass vases, she's turned out to be a great cat. She was apparently weaned off her mother too soon, as her favorite pastime now is to suck on my wife's shirt sleeve whenever she gets a chance (as she is shown doing here).

Several months ago there was an article on the blackest black pigment ever produced, using carbon nanotubes (IIRC). Back when Sierra was a kitten, before her coat became shiny, she probably could have challenged that claim. She was an absolute black hole as far as absorbing visible light. Taking photographs was almost pointless since all you'd see was an amorphous black mass, occasionally with two eyes showing, which let you know which end you were looking at.

Happy first birthday, Sierra!

Wii

Well, we finally broke down and bought a Nintendo Wii last weekend. "Broke down" probably isn't the most accurate description since everyone in the family has wanted one since last Christmas. It's just that we had originally planned to wait until the fall. But my wife discovered that a supply had arrived at the local Target and so I was dispatched to grab one before they disappeared. This is our first game console. I spend all my gaming time playing on the PC, in part because I really don't like gamepads. I'll take a mouse/keyboard combo everytime (old school?). But I think the Wii might be a good way for me to become proficient with a gamepad.

Anyway, the kids love it. And my six year old son quickly discovered you don't have to be near the TV to play. The sensor system can pick up the signals from the Wiimote all over our house, so he runs around various rooms throughout the house playing games like "bowling" with no video feedback. It's a little disheartening to watch him get a strike when he's somewhere in the basement while you're standing right there in front of the TV and still haven't gotten a strike all game. Annoyingly, he actually has the nerve to get upset when he loses the game. Oh well, in the meantime, I'll be looking for some good chemistry-based games.