The Gadgets Page

I’ve been enjoying myself playing Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir. Remember when you were a kid and had to wait for the pediatrician to see you? Your mom handed you a copy of Highlights magazine and you spent the twenty minutes in the crying waiting room finding hockey sticks and horseshoes hidden in the photo. Maybe you liked the two pictures that looked almost identical, but there are five things that are different. Could you find all five?

Yeah, that’s what this game is all about.

There is a tenuous and poorly written storyline about a lost millionaire. You’re supposedly finding “clues” to this mystery by finding the hidden objects in a picture. For example, here I need to find a baseball, feather, bread and key. On the lower screen, I have my flashlight showing the key. All I have to do is touch it and it will be checked off the list. I have no idea what a baseball, feather, bread and key could possibly do to help solve the disappearance of the rich dude, but I don’t really care about all that.

There are a few other puzzles that are mixed in with the finding objects games, but mostly it’s looking at pictures and noticing the details.

If this description sounds unappealing to you, then know that it sounded unappealing to me as well. It wasn’t until I played with my sister’s game that I realized the relaxing enjoyment that can be had from a few minutes just looking for hidden things.

By the way, if you’re looking for this game in a video game store, it will be filed under “Mystery Case Files” NOT “Millionheir.” I went looking for it a couple of times and was unable to find it, even though it was filed under M. Of course, it’s always easy to find it at Amazon.com: Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir.

If you need a calming and enjoyable time to relax, Millionheir is a great way to get a small sense of achievement in a short amount of time.

You are looking at the Windation wind powered energy generation unit.

It sits on 70 square feet of your roof and generates 6,912 kilowatts a year. It’s quiet. It won’t massacre birds. It has an integrated turbine, a design that has been in use since 1904. If the wind is blowing, it provides electricity for approximately 1000 square feet of office space.

Why doesn’t every house have one of these on the roof?

Their website is sadly missing all the important information like cost, availability and installation. They seem to be marketing these to business and urban buildings, but homes could profit from this just as well. Does that mean the cost exceeds the grasp of the ordinary homeowner?

I’ve contacted them for information, but until then, I eagerly await. As soon as I find out specifics, I will update this entry.

Via: Twitter / anntorrence: This could be a gamer-chan …

Update 3:55 pm: I just got off the phone with Mark Sheikhrezai, the founder and CEO of Windation. He was nice enough to answer my questions.

The WES-2KW is the unit that will probably work best in a residential setting. It is an 8 foot by 8 foot unit, so unless you have a flat roof, it would be rather difficult to mount it on your home. At the cost of $30,000 for this unit, you would have to show some serious dedication to wind power to add it to your house.

That’s why their focus is commercial buildings. Their larger unit, the WES-5KW is $40,000 and fits easily on the roof of a commercial building. They are working on getting approval from the California Energy Commission and CE (which is a European certification).

Their products are made in Nebraska, so they are U.S. made.

Mark Sheikhrezai was so personable and willing to answer questions, so if you have a deciding vote on the planning of a commercial building, remember Windation.