A couple weeks ago a guy at work sent me a link to a really cool little software package called Phun. It is a very neat little "physics sandbox" as they refer to it. You can create new shapes/objects in the software and then these objects act like objects in the real world (i.e. they are affected by gravity, friction, etc.). If you haven't downloaded it and played with it - you should. I downloaded it at home and showed my kids and they have been playing with it since. They love it.

Today I read about another PC app like Phun, but done as a game - Crayon Physics. This reminded me that last night my sons talked to me about buying yet another iPhone/iPod application called Fantastic Contraption. This application is also like phun as well. So maybe this is the future direction of games and applications - working on a PC like we are working in reality. Something seems a little strange with this transition. Whatever happened to going outside and throwing the football and seeing how gravity affects it and how it bounces off your face, etc. :)