Look what I got from work

i r kool

Posted by UnForestero @ 2:57 pm EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

Virtual Reality to Control Pain

Cognitive psychologist Hunter Hoffman is being honored by the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for his work on "SnowWorld", a virtual reality game that helps to distract burn victims from their pain while they undergo painful wound cleansing procedures. The patients fly through an arctic paradise, flinging snow balls at targets. Virtual reality games even beat out video games for distracting the patient. Hoffman's designs has also been used to combat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and even spider phobia.

seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2003995566_hunter06.html

www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/vrpain/

Posted by UnForestero @ 11:53 am EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

So I'm at work the other day and...

... this little kid comes up and puts a copy of GTA Vice City on the counter and gives me this sweet look with his big brown eyes.  There's a lady right behind him who looks like she could be his mother, so I start ringing it up.  I look over at her, and tell her the total, and she looks at me confused.

"You're not with him?" I say pointing to the wee tot.  She shakes her head.   I cancel the sale, and tell the boy he needs to bring his mom or dad over before I'll sell him the game.  He wonders off; looking disappointed but not surprised.  I sell M rated games to kids all the time, but only if they have they have a parent or guardian present

The woman in line commends me for what I did, and then launches into a tirade about how "they" have proved that video games cause ADD.  "It's the flashing lights" She concludes.  This isn't the time to play dueling studies and debate the validity of electronic media.  I notice she is buying a kid's cartoon, but decide it would be imprudent to point out television's effect on children's attention spans, or the fact that there are members of my family with ADD diagnosis that have never played a video game in their life.  That's called being polite and professional.   It's also called, not getting into a heated argument with a customer with my manager standing four feet away. 

Posted by UnForestero @ 12:40 am EDT | Permalink | 9 Comments

Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition

I wasn't going to bother buying it, until I noticed that it was only 30 bucks. (employee discount doesn't hurt either).  Aiming the reticle with wiimote is fun, but I do miss the laser sight.  I'm still trying to get used to the Wii controls, but I'm hoping that a purchase of the new  "Zapper" will help-- because I enjoy shooting things on my tv.  RE4Wii has the Gamecube graphics people love, and the extra content from the PS2 version; although I would have appreciated a little extra content for this new version.  It's at least a great rental for those who don't want to buy another version of the game.  

Posted by UnForestero @ 3:45 pm EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

PAX 07

I just got my pass for this year's PAX (8/24-8/26),  it will be my first convention.  I hope to some meet cool folks, try out some new games, listen to some nerdcore, and get invited to some killer parties.  What will happen is a mystery-  hope I can stay awake and not miss out on the fun.  I got the three day pass, so I can be flexible with my plans.  Today is the last day to save $5.00 on pre-registered online passes. 

See you in Seattle!

Posted by UnForestero @ 5:50 pm EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments