It began with a single, simple thing. It had a single blinking diode, slowly doing its thing, one pulse at a time. No one thought much about it at the time, but it was the beginning of an unstoppable and inexorable trend. This first item was soon followed by a second, which in addition to its blinking lights also had a built in sound emitter. Then came another one, and another, and another. Before anyone knew it, the kids had an entire arsenal of brightly blinking blaringly beeping toys, and the indomitable will to use it to further their strategic aims