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Comment Re:Is minecraft really 'creative'? (Score 1) 174

by ndrw (#47947693) Attached to: The Minecraft Parent

One other thing I liked about Minecraft for my kids was that it's not as polished and easy to use as most modern games (and console games especially). The players actually have to struggle and figure it out and tune their settings and figure out how it works behind the scenes a bit. This is so much better and they learn so much more than just sticking in a disc and having the game run!
Cellphones

Mysterious, Phony Cell Towers Found Throughout US 237

Posted by Soulskill from the can-you-hear-me-now dept.
Trachman writes: Popular Science magazine recently published an article about a network of cell towers owned not by telecommunication companies but by unknown third parties. Many of them are built around U.S. military bases. "Interceptors vary widely in expense and sophistication – but in a nutshell, they are radio-equipped computers with software that can use arcane cellular network protocols and defeat the onboard encryption. ... Some interceptors are limited, only able to passively listen to either outgoing or incoming calls. But full-featured devices like the VME Dominator, available only to government agencies, can not only capture calls and texts, but even actively control the phone, sending out spoof texts, for example."

Comment Re:For mixed-age crowd: Pictionary, Bananagrams, S (Score 1) 382

by ndrw (#47777317) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Are the Best Games To Have In Your Collection?

Bananagrams is the most age-independent word game I know;

We have a good time with bananagrams as well, I just have to remember not to be too happy when I do better than my kids.

Set: as above.

I absolutely loved it when my 9 year old daughter would beat me at set. Well, after the initial pain of losing went away.

Anyone else like Rummikub? Similar to these games, anyone can play and do well, it just takes a little bit of a different way of looking at games when you can re-arrange the tiles to suit your needs...

Comment Re:Dominion & Munchkin (Score 1) 382

by ndrw (#47777255) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Are the Best Games To Have In Your Collection?

My family and friends have had quite a bit of fun with pandemic. It's nice not to have only 1 winner (when you win), it can reduce the stress imparted by games like settlers of catan (which we love so much it gets hyper-competitive). Agricola is almost a middle ground, there's slightly less direct competition, so it doesn't get quite as heated.

We've only played the base version of Pandemic. I would appreciate feedback on the expansions. Has anyone played those? Are they worthwhile?

Comment Re:The death of leniency (Score 1) 643

by ndrw (#47768195) Attached to: U.S. Senator: All Cops Should Wear Cameras

This may sound odd, but that's actually a good thing. In short: If laws are enforced consistently, then bad laws are eventually removed. If laws are enforced selectively, they are used to punish those who don't have the political power to change them.

Which is why tax rates on the wealthy are dropping, but not so much for everyone else. Those with the political power to get things changed, tend to make changes that favor themselves. Currently, financial power is strongly correlated with political power, ergo, the financially wealth pay less taxes.
Earth

Climate Scientist Pioneer Talks About the Furture of Geoengineering 140

Posted by samzenpus from the it's-getting-hot-in-here dept.
First time accepted submitter merbs writes At the first major climate engineering conference, Stanford climatologist Ken Caldeira explains how and why we might come to live on a geoengineered planet, how the field is rapidly growing (and why that's dangerous), and what the odds are that humans will try to hijack the Earth's thermostat. From the article: "For years, Dr. Ken Caldeira's interest in planet hacking made him a curious outlier in his field. A highly respected atmospheric scientist, he also describes himself as a 'reluctant advocate' of researching solar geoengineering—that is, large-scale efforts to artificially manage the amount of sunlight entering the atmosphere, in order to cool off the globe."
Bitcoin

Early Bitcoin User Interviewed By Federal Officers 92

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the just-wasting-electricity-officer dept.
MrBingoBoingo (3481277) writes Recently a Bitcoin user reports being interviewed over their past use of a now defunct exchange service by agents from the FBI and Treasury Department. This encounter raises concerns that earlier Bitcoin users who entered the space inocuously and without ties to Dark Markets or The Silk Road might need to prepare for Law Enforcement questioning about their early Bitcoin related activities.
Earth

Fighting Invasive Fish With Forks and Knives 180

Posted by samzenpus from the don't-forget-the-tartar dept.
An anonymous reader writes NPR commentator Bonny Wolf has a unique solution to battle the threat of invasive fish species in our waterways. She proposes we fight them with a knife, fork, and a few lemon wedges. From the article: "Take the northern snakehead, which has made its way into tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. It competes with native species for food, and then eats the native species, not to mention the odd frog or bird, with its mouthful of sharp teeth. It's been called "Fishzilla." It breeds fast, has no natural predators and can grow to be 4 feet long. The northern snakehead hangs out in grassy shallows, making it hard to catch. But a couple of years ago, Maryland started promoting the snakehead as an eating fish. Its harvest has increased from zero to 5,000 pounds a year."

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