Malarame - Slashdot User

How the TSA Plans On Inspecting Your Monkey 114

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday March 25, 2010 @02:27PM from the I'm-gonna-need-to-check-your-monkey dept.

The uncertainty of what might happen to your service monkey at an airport security checkpoint won't keep you awake at night anymore, thanks to the TSA. They have issued an easy to follow list of how they will ensure your helper monkey won't go all Planet of the Apes on your flight. Some of the security techniques used to make sure your primate is not a terrorist include: "Security Officers will conduct a visual inspection on the service monkey and will coach the handler on how to hold the monkey during the visual inspection. The inspection process may require that the handler to take off the monkey's diaper as part of the visual inspection."

US Lawmakers Eyeing National ID Card 826

Posted by timothy on Tuesday March 23, 2010 @06:40PM from the oh-wait-didn't-we-mention-this? dept.

According to Wired (and no big surprise, considering the practicalities of implementing massive changes in medical finance), US lawmakers "are proposing a national identification card, a 'fraud-proof' Social Security card required for lawful employment in the United States. The proposal comes as the Department of Homeland Security is moving toward nationalizing driver licenses."

Supersizing the "Last Supper" 98

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday March 23, 2010 @12:38PM from the a-meal-fit-for-a-king-of-kings dept.

gandhi_2 writes "A pair of sibling scholars compared 52 artists' renditions of 'The Last Supper', and found that the size of the meal painted had grown through the years. Over the last millennium they found that entrees had increased by 70%, bread by 23%, and plate size by 65.6%. Their findings were published in the International Journal of Obesity. From the article: 'The apostles depicted during the Middle Ages appear to be the ascetics they are said to have been. But by 1498, when Leonardo da Vinci completed his masterpiece, the party was more lavishly fed. Almost a century later, the Mannerist painter Jacobo Tintoretto piled the food on the apostles' plates still higher.'"

AbleGamers Reviews Games From a Disability Standpoint 125

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday December 02, 2009 @04:59AM from the gaming-for-all dept.

eldavojohn writes "Early last month a visually impaired gamer sued Sony under the Americans with Disabilities Act (and if you think that people with disabilities don't play games, think again). The AbleGamers Foundation has decided to step forward and provide a rating system for games that blends together a number of factors to determine a score with regard to accessibility. Visual, hearing, motion, closed captioning, speed settings, difficulty settings and even colorblindness options are all taken into account when compiling these scores and reviewing these games."

Comment Here's an idea (Score 1) 17

by Malarame on Friday May 30, 2008 @12:09PM (#23600825) Attached to: NASA's Educational Game Proposal Deadline Extended

All the ideas I've heard for this game involve it being similar to Eve. My idea is to go a different direction: make this game a simulation of starting a space colony.

When players sign up, they get to choose what colony they join. Each colony would be on some sort of planet -- maybe one would be Mars-based, one based on Venus, one Earth-like, etc. Maybe they have some sort of profession, too. The gameplay would be similar to A Tale in the Desert (note: I've never played that game, so I'm basing this on what I've heard about it). The residents of a colony will have to work together to make laws, build new buildings, run experiments, etc. All the things that would happen in a real colony. At various times they would recieve supplies from Earth, but maybe there are occasional emergencies like the supplies being lost. Maybe the endgame for a colony would be to become self-sufficient.

Here's one catch, though: In order to have new residents move in, there needs to be housing for them. So one of the decisions the residents will have to make is how much housing to build. Maybe they have enough supplies to build more housing or a new research building, but not both. And along with housing, they have to have the resouces to support the new residents (food, water, oxygen, etc). New residents won't just come from new players, though -- people will be able to transfer between colonies (maybe once a month, there'll be an opportunity to change. This way, people won't just hop around all the time). Part of the game will involve trying to attract people from other colonies, and maybe even selecting who gets to come if there are more transfers than they can accept.

Another thing the residents of a colony will have to do is justify their existence to Earth. That means making science breakthroughs, constantly expanding, showing that they're a fair society, and so on. If they can't prove that they're useful, or if one person takes over and becomes a dictator, they might find their funding dry up and all the residents will be forced to transfer.

There would be other aspects to the game as well, but this gives you all a good idea of what it would be like. I don't know if something like this would be fun to play or not, but with the number of people who like non-violent games like Second Life, there may be a niche community who would enjoy it. I know I would play it.

Thoughts, anyone?

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