You've got to find what you love

This is the text of the Commencement address at Stanford University delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple , on June 12, 2005 addressing the graduates on some intimate details of what's it that makes Steve Jobs keep going..

"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?" .........read on here for the full transcript, or if you don't have time you could watch video here

Wonderful and inspirational !

BTW it was interesting to note that Steve Jobs was an alumni (or a drop out !) of Reed College, Portland closer to where I live.

Guilt-free video games

As we progress into digital age at sonic speeds, it's so challenging to raise a child without the influence of mind numbing stuff on some of the popular video games. Zombies, monsters, guns, gory violence...you know what I am talking about ! A recent report says that 57% of 2- to 12-year-olds play video games, and this trend is only going up.. 

Now that holidays are approaching, many parents are on their eternal quest to find those cool toys or games that kids could play and yet never have to feel guilt ?  Thanks to some incredible sites, there are some cool games (some even free) that don't have gore and antisocial mindlessness, but can help you and kids move toward the creative, and civilized world.   

Food Force

You can feel downright virtuous having your kids play this sophisticated game associated with the United Nations World Food Programme. Their mission, should they choose to accept it, is to deliver food to an imaginary island in crisis in the Indian Ocean. All the fun elements of a nonvirtuous game are there, from flying helicopters to guiding a convoy of trucks. Excellent graphics and an excellently disguised education in what this UN agency does on a daily basis to thwart hunger around the world.

The bottom line: Play the humanitarian in this sophisticated simulation.

Darfur Is Dying   

OK, the title's a little glum. But this cutting-edge combination of gaming, activism, and education ultimately does something positive. Through high-quality graphics and a genuinely haunting mission, this video game depicts the plight of the 2.5 million refugees who have been forced out of Sudan. Players guide characters from a Darfurian refugee camp in their desperate — and truly terrifying — efforts to survive. Meanwhile, militia groups attempt to capture you. Not for the young or faint of heart; get caught by the militia and you're given a brief lesson involving the abuse, rape, and kidnapping faced by children there daily. After playing, you can click on "Take Action" to read more about the crisis, write a letter to the U.S. government, make a donation, and more.

The bottom line: Play the humanitarian in this sophisticated simulation.

Ars Regendi

Give your child his or her first taste of world power with this browser-based political and economic simulation game. Players control their own simulated state, making decisions on behalf of their populations. Think of it as a Sim City for international relations: Make the wrong financial or diplomatic choices, and your people — and power — won't last long.

The bottom line: Sim City for international relations.

Trauma Center, wii and nintendo-DS

or teens desperate for gore, this Japanese simulation game lets them wield their own blade — not to mention forceps, syringe, bandages, and antibiotic gel. The task at hand is saving people, not hurting them. The gamer is an OR surgeon, charged with battling disease and sewing up injuries. Yes, there will be blood. But it's not the gratuitous kind. Actually, it's the kind that might lead your kid to med school one day.

The bottom line: Immerse yourself in the grit of medicine.

A Force More Powerful

This inexpensive game for your PC doesn't just leave out the violence — it teaches you to overcome it. Born out of the 1999 film by the same name, this strategy game was designed to educate players about nonviolent resistance. In one scenario, the player struggles to achieve voting rights for women in a fundamentalist society. In another, he or she attempts to convince a dictator to hold elections. A decidedly activist bent runs through this elaborate and intelligent creation, and users might well come away muttering about Tiananmen Square or South Africa. But it'll be the peaceful kind of muttering, and that's rare in the video game universe.

The bottom line: What's more powerful than peace?

Giraffe Above

The virtuous virtual world isn't all poverty and strife — younger gamers can spend their time in the gentler realm of animated giraffes. Specifically, the player is an "apple-crazy giraffe on a mission to gobble all the apples in Africa." Move your long, long neck through the maze in search of fruit, and be careful not to back yourself into a corner. You'd have to dig pretty deep to find any reason to feel guilty about letting your 6-year-old play this one.

The bottom line: A gentle puzzle game for younger kids.

Dance Dance Revolution , Wii

You know how it works by now, either because you've seen it in an arcade or at someone's house — a song plays and you dance as instructed by a series of fast-paced visual cues. The more in-step you are, the better you do. You'd be hard-pressed to say DDR is good for the planet in the way a Darfur simulation is, but there's something undeniably righteous about shaking your tail feather to KC and the Sunshine Band. We're not the only ones who think so. It's now featured in a number of school systems — you can't help breaking a sweat — and an official sport in Norway.

The bottom line: You'll literally break a sweat with DDR (my D's love this !!)

Source & Kudos : www.greatschools.net

I am sure there are more..feel free to add in comments