Well you've probably all heard about the old "Kick the cat" scenario that people use when doing a bit of venting. Essentially it doesn't work at all - it just makes you more frustrated and then the 'cat' goes and passes on the vibes to the next person. Fortunately I don 't have easy access to a grumpy old moggie, and I really quite like my old grumpy pooch - so I have never really done the "kick the cat" thing ... Until today when I discovering the Mark.ed game on the Tech.Ed website. (http://www.microsoft.com/australia/teched07/marked.htm)

Like most simple computer games it's kind of addictive. You give it a go, just to see how it works and take a breather from work and then you find yourself getting addicted to it. It has this kind of annoying and wheezy voice that goes "Oww" every time you land a good slap on your opponent which made me want to give them another slap and then another and another. Like the "kick the cat" thing I didn't really want to slap anyone until the voice started to get to me, plus if you win you can pass the vibe onto someone else and get them slapping away too. Of course it's not as fun as really landing a slap on someone else, but this way at least you don't get slapped back either.

So if you need a bit of vending this might be just the thing - plus winning a computer for a bit of fun isn't a bad time investment. Give it a go and see what you think.