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Seems like only yesterday that the kids were happy with Chuck E. Cheese, and now they want a LAN party. Time flies. First, you need tables and chairs to hold kids, keyboards and monitors. Start with your primary eating table and add card tables, if they're sturdy, where necessary. The actual computers will go under the tables.You will need power strips for monitors, computers and perhaps powered speakers. Figure one strip for every two players (three plugs per player). You will also need a long extension cord to reach into another part of your house to plug into a room served by a different circuit breaker than your primary party room. One circuit breaker may not supply all the electricity needed, and nothing ruins a LAN party like a lack of juice.

You will need 10/100Base-T wiring hub(s), one with enough ports for every player and two or three extra ports. These come in eight-, 12-, 16- and 24-port versions. You don't need management or any bells or whistles, just the ports. Figure for some extras in case more people come than you expect, and to support one or more dedicated computers acting as servers.

Between each computer and the wiring hub must be a wire. Ethernet patch cables come in various lengths, so look for a mix of 10-foot and 25-foot cable to reach all players. Finally, get some earplugs. Network-based shooting games have plenty of gunfire, explosions and screams, but those will be drowned out by young teenage boys yelling taunts back and forth.

You promised us in the first issue you'd tell us how to convert all our old albums and tapes into digital music files. What about that? - Kai from Detroit

Glad someone finally asked. It's actually good we waited, because new products make the transfer quality far better than what we could have gotten last year. There are three problems with all the advice on the Internet now about transferring albums to digital files. First, some stories don't mention the need to boost the weak signal from your record player. Phonograph feeds expect to go into a pre-amp (small amplifier) to boost the signal and fix sonic problems of vinyl and needles (low bass). Just boosting the signal won't give you the best result after the music is transferred.