We Don't Smell » Internet

Video games can save lives too

Clarence — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:47:02 +0000

The United Nations released a video game yesterday called “Stop Disasters!” The goal of the game is to teach children how to respond to and deal with natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and bald pop stars. Apparently, the UN has given up on the current generation in power and are looking to the new generation to take up the mantle. Taking the “Knowing is half the battle” stance made famous by G.I. Joe, the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (Department?) believes that by educating the youth today, they will be able to save our ignorant asses tomorrow.

â€œIf we teach them about disaster risk reduction from an early age, they will understand why it is vital to build houses, schools and hospitals in safe locations, to have early warning systems in place and reduce disasters,â€ he added of the game, which features in colourful panels various levels of play in guarding against or mitigating the impact of an advancing wall of flames, waves and other hazards. Drought may soon be added to the menu.

Colorful panels guarding against the impact of advancing walls of flames? Count me in! Oh, and look at that: Drought is coming soon. I hope they include the “buy bottled water from Target” feature.

The game, produced by British company Playerthree, gives players missions in which they are given a specific time frame and budget to assemble an anti-disaster infrastructure before a simulated hurricane, earthquake, flood, tsunami or wildfire strikes. Does anyone else think Michael D. Brown and FEMA should have played this game a year and a half ago?

Right now, the game is only available online and in English, but a multi-language version will be released on International Disaster Reduction Day on October 10. ISDR director Salvano BriceÃ±o said, â€œWe are aware that not all children have easy access to Internet and we are already preparing a DVD format to reach more youngsters in remote areas in Africa, Asia and Pacific or Latin America and Caribbean,â€ Mr. BriceÃ±o said.

He makes a good point, but out of those children who don’t have easy access to Internet, how many do you think have access to DVD players and TVs? These areas are those that would probably benefit the most from such programs. Well, if the children can’t play, let’s hope those in power can learn a thing or two from this game.

This isn’t the UN’s first foray into the gaming world. In 2005, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) launched the game “Food Force” where players launched virtual food airdrops over crisis zones and directed emergency trucks through treacherous rebel-controlled areas. The ISDR has also previously produced a board game called Riskland, aimed at children aged 6 to 10. The game has been a very successful educational tool and has been translated into many local languages, available at www.unisdr.org.

via UN News Centre

Tagged: Natural Disasters, United Nations, Video Games, GI Joe

Judge Judy pwns eBay scammer

Clarence — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 00:52:44 +0000

Watch Judge Judy lay the smack down on an eBay scammer! Try to watch the whole thing, Judge Judy has some memorable quotes.

I must say, I’ve got a newfound respect for the TV judge.

Tagged: Judge Judy, eBay scammer, pwns

Radiation, Run for your f***ing lives!

Jerry — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 18:23:12 +0000

RUN FOR YOU LIVES! There’s a trefoil shooting squiggly arrows and a giant floating skull + crossbones! Apparently there’s been this study going on for 5 years by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Organization for Standardization to make a sign that will scare the beejeezus out of you. The old trefoil was not scary enough. They want you to know when you should panic and get the F**K out of the area.

The sign won’t be in plain sight it’ll be hidden inside radioactive units because it’s just too damn scary for normal use. So for all of you that will be disassembling radioactive machines make sure you don’t have any heart problems cause this sign just might scare you to death.

via C-Net

Tagged: Radiation, Sign, Scary

Old School Tech Support

Jerry — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 16:50:56 +0000

I used to work at the HelpDesk at my school and I couldn’t believe some of the things that people would say. I remember telling a nice woman that she should download some file and run it. Her response was “Files? Oh my husband will know what to do with those.” I just responded, “Yes he will” and hung up.

Here’s a video a coworker sent me making fun of n00bs.

Tagged: Tech Support, Book, Monks

Ice = bad.

Jerry — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:24:53 +0000

I had a little bit of slipping and sliding this morning but nothing too serious. If you start sliding just ride it out and STOP. The keyword being STOP in that last sentence. While I was sliding around in my car I was reminded of a video that our friend, Christina, sent to me a while ago.

Google Maps now with Subway Locations + Building Outlines

Jerry — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:36:30 +0000

Ever needed to find the exact locations of subway stations? Now you can with the new improved Google Maps. I was searching for pet stores near where I work and I noticed little M’s scattered about and tiny outlines of buildings. Apparently Google has added subway station locations to a bunch of cities not just New York.

There are other resources for finding your ~~sub~~way around the city. (har!) On NY Turf and trips123.com are two that I used to use frequently.

Now back to finding a good pet store in SoHo.

Update: Google Maps doesn’t show ALL the locations of the subway stations. For example the A,B,C,D,E,F,V stop at West 4th street also has an entrance around 6th-7th street (can’t remember exactly) but it is not shown. I guess they just arbitrarily choose one end of the station to map.

Tagged: Google Maps, Subways, NYC, Building Outlines

Kayne West’s Apartment + Screaming Boy Kills Chickens

Jerry — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 21:01:49 +0000

Kayne West’s minimalist apartment.

Screaming scares (and kills) seriously stupid chickens.

Tagged: Kayne West’s Apartment, Screaming, Chickens

Learn to Speak Human Body Language

Jerry — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:17:48 +0000

Quite a funny parody.

via DevilDucky

Tagged: Parody, Body Language

QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ and sometimes Dvorak

Jerry — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 00:44:35 +0000

Here’s something new that I learned today. I was aware that there were different keyboard layouts but some of this stuff is just plain weird. We’re all familiar with the QWERTY layout that us Americans use.

The AZERTY layout, pictured above, is commonly used in France and Belgium. The A and Q, Z and W keys are swapped and the M is moved over where the semi colon usually is on QWERTY. The number keys must be shifted to type numbers since they are used for accented characters. There’s also a AltGr key which is used for typing symbols for Pounds and what not.

The QWERTZ layout is used in Germany and Switzerland. The Z and Y keys are swapped and there’s some other keys for typing commonly used symbols.

Here we have the Dvorak layout. It is said to have been developed to speed up typing. Apparently, QWERTY was designed so that keystrokes would alternate sides of the keyboardto reduce the frequency of jams on type writers (old school!). I guess everyone just got used to QWERTY and Dvorak never gained in popularity.

And finally I leave you with this ~~crazy~~ ergonomic keyboard layout.

via wikipedia

Tagged: Keyboard Layouts, QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak

Google Spreadsheets! Nerdy, Very Nerdy

Jerry — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 00:12:31 +0000

In case you haven’t noticed the mini nav that google added to gmail, here it is in all it’s glory.

You’re all probably familiar with Google, Gmail, and the semi useful Calendar. However, may not be familiar with Google Spreadsheets*.

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago, when playing email tag with a group of friends, that I discovered how useful Google Spreadsheets can be. Google Spreadsheets made it very easy for us to share ideas/vote on a destination for our yearly ski trip. Basically you create a spreadsheet put a bunch of info (like nerdy graphs/charts) in it and share it with a bunch of your friends. Also, Google recently updated Spreadsheets to allow for public sharing with the whole world. Here is an example.

Now go and organize events with ease! (or not) Hopefully you will find it as useful as I have.

*Warning for nerds only