Random Stuff

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

(Virtual) Chaos & Mayhem
I'm not a violent person per se, but I love a good action flick with a lotta violence, mayhem, fighting, and gunfire (and robots, but that's another story). I think I enjoy violence in movies because I know it's not real. I have a similar attitude about video game violence - or, to be perfectly clear - computer-generated violence. There's a genre of computer software/games known as sims. They simulate various things - be it flight, warfare, life, or roller coasters. Yes, there are a number of games devoted to simulating roller coasters.

They've come quite a ways since I first tried one years ago, because now, in addition to designing and "building" a roller coaster, you can build a whole park - complete with people. Given that you're building the coasters...and placing the people...can you guess where this is going? Oh yeah - Virtual People Bowling. That's some seriously funny shit.

Less Violence, More Learning
Last week, a couple of my co-workers brought Phun to my attention. Phun is a free program built by a physics student from Sweden. It has a rudimentary physics engine and really cool, simple tools which allow you to build things and, well, make those things...do stuff. It's harder to explain than it is just to show you. Yes, you can do violent things too. Download Phun here.