Random Geek Child

Train That Brain!

Or, the free version of training it, anyhow. But I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s this program called Lumosity that had a whole bunch of ads going around a few years back, and, while I usually ignore ads with extreme prejudice, I eventually caved and downloaded it. I completely forgot that it existed for a couple years until it found its way into my Facebook feed, and I’ve since restarted the habit of using it. Like I said, I use the free version, so, while I’ll try to point out premium stuff, that’s not my focus.

Lumosity is a program that uses a plethora of games to train different aspects of your mind, namely Speed, Memory, Attention, Flexibility, Problem Solving, Math, and, more recently, Vocabulary. It does this by, each day, selecting games for you to play (free version – 3, Premium – 5). Each game has its own scoring methods, in which you attempt to beat your personal high scores. The scores of the games in each category are averaged for the score listed for each of those categories, except for Vocabulary, where they just count the unique words you’ve used, and the scores of all of the games are averaged to form your LPI, or Lumosity Performance Index, which is “a standardized scale calculated from all your game scores.” In the free version, you are able to see your Best LPI, Current LPI, and LPI’s for each “Cognitive Area,” which I usually just refer to as categories. They also track your mood and sleep trends based off of the questions at the beginning of the lesson, and average them.

In free version, you are able to go back and repeatedly play the three games you had that day as much as you would like, but in the Premium version, not only do you get 5 games, but you have access to all 60+ games. These aren’t the only Premium perks. You also get an algorithm that “generates workouts based on your training habits and preferences,” a more detailed training history, how you compare to other people, and a system called “Insights.”

Insights has a lot of subsets, presently 9. Four of these appear to be an overall program: Your Monthly Gains and Drops, Your Occupation Profile, Your Lumosity Community, and Your Game Strength Profile. The others are each based off of a different game, which is listed at the beginning of the title — Train of Thought: Your Planning Skills, Disillusion: Your Play Style, Lost in Migration: How You Filter Information, Ebb and Flow: Your Speed and Accuracy, and Word Bubbles: Your Writer Profile. What do each of these mean? For the most part, I have no clue.

The only one of these I have had the pleasure of trying (thanks e-mail promo codes!) was the Writer Profile. I enjoyed the game Word Bubbles already, which gives you two starter letters on the first round for you to make words out of (ex: PR), three for the first half of the second round and then two (TRI, then TR) and four for the first third of the third round, going down incrementally (you get the idea and I’m out of examples, so yeah). Your Writer Profile matches your vocabulary with the most unique and frequently used thousand or so words from famous writers, to compare your top six matches. Each time you play, this updates, so your matches may shift over time. Though the order of them varied, I spent my three days of Writer Profile with only one set of matches: J. K. Rowling, Agatha Christie, Stephen Hawking, Martin Luther King Jr., William Shakespeare, and Stephen Covey. I had to look up the last guy (it provided brief bios on each in case you didn’t know who they were), but I was pleased with my selection overall.

Lumosity has also recently added a side program called Mindfulness, which focuses on breathing and being in the moment. I was tentative about trying it, but determined that I should, if only to say that I had tried. I would best summarize it as poking the dot on the screen to sync with your breathing. When you inhaled, you held your finger on the screen (or clicked on the computer, I assume) and the little white circle got bigger, then watched it contract when you exhaled and let go. As amusing as it was, it was also surprisingly effective. This noted, I’ve only done the first three or so exercises on it, all in one day, and then forgotten about it until this post. Whoops.

The Word On The Street is… Junior!

Gee, another Out-Of-The-Box game! It’s almost like we have a lot of those in our house… Word On The Street Junior — surprise! — a word game. And, more than that, it’s on a street! That would make sense, given the name, right? Well, it’s true. The board is a five lane street (Honestly folks, can’t you choose an even number like a normal street? Jeez.) with the entire alphabet up the middle. Oh, wait! The middle is green, so it’s probably the grass divider between the two directions of traffic. But then the letters are… Yikes! Yes, kids, drive perpendicular to the street and across the dividers. Good plan.

The players divide themselves into two teams and sit on opposite sides of the street. At the beginning, everyone decides whether it will be a green game or a blue game (easy or hard). The cards are shuffled and then set to have either the green or blue side facing out from the little card holder that just barely covers the questions (so you can’t cheat).

One team flips the timer while the other pulls a card. The card has a category (like “A Month” or “Something Blue.”) The team with the card has until the timer runs out to confer and choose something of that category. It must be one word (proper nouns are allowed, obviously, otherwise “A Month” would be pretty hard criteria to meet) and in English (no smart translations, sorry!), and the whole team must agree on it.

When the team has decided, they go through, spelling the word, moving each letter tile in the word one space closer to their side of the board. Once they move the third time in that direction and off the board, they have been captured and can no longer be moved. Whenever that letter is used in a word, it is simply noted as out of play and they spell the rest of the word. This is partially because the game would be incredibly difficult to play once the main letters (especially the vowels) had been used if you couldn’t use words with letters that had been captured, and the game would be over far too quickly.

For similar reasons, the board is five lanes instead of one or three, to allow the space for the players to give and take with the pieces, pulling it to the brink, then having it pulled back to the center, then slightly one way, then further the other, and so on. It’s quite amusing to watch the pieces move back and forth, and adds a strategy level to the game: it isn’t just about long words, it’s about finding the words with the letters on either edge to steal theirs and capture yours.

I think it would be fun to just play through everything and count up at the end, but that gets hard when the only letters left on the board are Q, U, W, V, Y, X and Z, in any combination thereof. So instead, the goal of the game is to have captured at least eight letters. The first team to do so wins.

Fleeing the Complex

Well, I’m not just talking about Fleeing the Complex. I’m also talking about Infiltrating the Airship, Stealing the Diamond, Escaping the Prison, and Breaking the Bank. But the website is called Fleeing the Complex. I wouldn’t count Breaking the Bank, but it’s referenced in Infiltrating the Airship and in Escaping the Prison, and stars Henry Stickman, so I will.

Each game has a plot, choices to make, crazy reactions to those choices that make no sense, hilarious effects, numerous references (“‘You’re a bender, Harry.’ -Gandalf.”) and epic fails. Breaking the Bank doesn’t have much of a plot on its own, but the rest have an intro and extensive inter-weaving of events meant to make it as enjoyable as possible. I would love to give more examples, but that would spoil the fun!

Perhaps my one complaint with these is that the timeline is confusing. Infiltrating the Airship referenced Escaping the Prison, Stealing the Diamond, and Breaking the Bank, Escaping the Prison made a reference to the teleporter’s previous uses and also made it clear that it came after Breaking the Bank, and Fleeing the Complex mentioned the character Charlie, who Henry met in Infiltrating the Airship. By this, I’d guess that it goes Breaking the Bank, Escaping the Prison, Stealing the Diamond, Infiltrating the Airship, and then Fleeing the Complex. I confirmed this by going to the Henry Stickman Wiki. I guess I didn’t need to do a complicated tangle of deduction? Oh well, it was good practice.

Anyways, these games are madcap silly and loads of fun. One of the reasons they’re so great is that each game has multiple endings, and, with the exception of Breaking the Bank, several ways to win, each with its own label. For example, Stealing the Diamond has three endings: The Aggressive Ending, The Epic Ending, and The Undetected Ending.

Ranting About Compasses

No, I have nothing against navigational compasses. They’re just fine. What I do have an issue with are geometric compasses. That’s right, the ones that you use to make the circles but sticking the point in the paper and swing the pencil part around that point. But what have I got against them?

To be clear, I have no issue with their use to draw circles. That makes sense. Actually, it’s the only way I know of to draw a decent circle (eyeballing it doesn’t end well for me). It’s the other geometric stuff it’s used for that irks me.

We’ve been told that, back in the day, mathematicians used only a compass and a straightedge to draw their shapes. That’s all well and good, but why do we still have to draw squares, hexagons and triangles from this object that only draws circles? It takes several, complicated steps and is quite frankly obsolete in the face of these things called rulers and protractors that allow us to actually measure our angles and lines in a timely fashion.

“Well, that’s just how they used to do it back in the day.” This I understand, and I’m fine with being taught how they did their math. I just don’t want to be expected to do it that way when there are other, more efficient methods. I am, as well as a writer, an inventor, and our goal is frequently to reach the intended goal with as little work as possible.

What do you think? Is there some benefit to the compass method that I’ve overlooked? Or do you concur with my frustration?

Rhett And Link

Who? Rhett and Link are YouTubers. They’re best known for the daily talk show, Good Mythical Morning, where they either learn about, or, more often, try different things, mostly food. They frequently try foods blindfolded or just without being told what they’re eating and then have to guess what it is. Some examples are Whole Foods vs. 99 Cent Store, Blind Fast Food Sub Sandwich Taste Test, The Blind Chicken Nugget Taste Test, and, one of my favorites, The Ultimate Water Taste Test.

They do “International” taste tests (International BBQ Taste Test here) where they taste something from one of the countries highlighted on their map, and then not only have to guess where it’s from, but throw a dart at that place on the map. The darts are scored on how close they are to the correct answer, and the player with the lowest score wins (like golf).

Other times, they’re testing assorted “Hacks” (Crazy Airplane Cocktail Hacks). Sometimes they have guests on the show, such as Feel & Squeal Challenge ft. Hank Green, The What If? Game ft. Daniel Radcliffe, Duo or Don’t-O ft. SMOSH, and Christmas Song Challenge ft. Jack Black.

Not only do they have a talk show, they also do skits and music videos! Some skits are The Puzzle, BFF’s, and Campin’. Their music videos include My OCD, the Graduation Song, BFF (not to be confused with the skit BFF‘s), Tough Decisions (A Whale Is Gonna Die), and Just Being Honest, just to name a few. They’ve also started a thing called SongBiscuits where they write a song with a fellow musician and then perform it. One of my favorites of these is the Cat’s 9 Lives Song. You can find the video where they write and perform it here and the animated song here.

As great as their talk show is, I prefer their music, mostly for timing, since their show is usually somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes, whereas their songs seem to cap at 5. But whichever you’re watching, they’re still light-hearted and silly.

Cobra Paw

Cobra Paw? Sounds interesting. What’s it about? Snakes? Wait, snakes don’t have paws. Mutant snakes? No, but that could be an amusing game. Cobra Paw is about ninja cats snatching up stones. Why? Long story. It’s in the rules, if you want to know. Cobra Paw: Ninja-like know how steals the game!

You place all the stones in the center of the arena (table or designated patch of floor.) The combatant with the smallest paws rolls the Catnippon Dice first. When the dice are rolled all players must attempt to find the stone with the matching pair of symbols. The first to “snatch” it gets it. Snatching is done by placing your finger/s on the stone. If there’s a tie, whoever’s finger is closest to the divot in the center gets it. If the stone rolled has already been snatched from the pool, you may snatch it from the player who has it. The goal is to have 6 stones, or 8 if it’s a 2-player game.

The rule booklet is one of the funniest parts of this game, because of the way the rules are stated. Tournament essentials are “21 Clawfuku Stones, 2 Catnippon Dice, and the will to compete.” Because obviously, you have to want to play to play. Other rules have additions to explain them, like, “Bickering over who touched a stone first makes Master Meow very sad,” or the constant justification of certain rules by codes of honor, such as “It is considered shameful to cover the stone with one’s paw.” My favorite is the very last rule: “Competitors who continue to play dishonorably may be forbidden from the Cobra Paw tournament and may even be cast into the Litter Box of Shame!”

This game also has three variations from the original, Ghosts of the Fallen, No Touchy and Two Ninja Stand-Off, but I won’t explain them here, since I haven’t played them yet.

Can You Survive the Oregon Trail?

Wow, this is an old one. For those of you who don’t know, Oregon Trail is a DOS game that came out in 1990. My Social Studies teacher last year gave us a link to it and an entire class hour to just play, because it’s historical and all that. Everything is run using typed commands, like numbers, Enter, Y and N. (Yes and No.)

In Oregon Trail, you get to choose a difficulty setting. You can be the banker, with a ton of cash for supplies, the carpenter, with less, or the farmer, with very little. The less cash you’ve got at the start, the more points you get for surviving. You also get to choose what month to leave in. Too early, and it’s too cold at the start, too late and you freeze near the end. Nasty business, weather. You name the 1-5 people in your party. You have to buy your supplies in the shop before you leave (because obviously, you wouldn’t leave without supplies, would you? That would just be dumb), but thankfully, the guy at the shop gives you some guideline suggestions on what to buy.

As you move along the trail, you can adjust your pace and rations while watching your party health and supplies. You can buy supplies at the forts along the way, trade with other travelers, or hunt for food. If the weather gets extreme or someone gets hurt, you can rest for a few days, but don’t lose track of time. You still have to hit Oregon before it gets too cold.

You get to cross rivers, and, near the end, you have to choose paths. There’s also the looming possibility of someone dying. The caravan leader dies last, since that character is “you” and it’s hard to play when you’re dead. I heard that one of my friends played a game with Batman (leader), Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the Flash. Aquaman drowned, and Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash died from exhaustion. How ironic is that?

So basically, cross the country, and don’t die. Simple, and old school, but fun.

GeekCraft Expo

This weekend, we drove to a GeekCraft Expo in Madison. It was smaller than I expected, but it made up for it with cool stuff and friendly people.

The cafeteria in the building had a sign plastered over the door that said “Mos Eisley Cantina,” which added to the geek vibe, but, unfortunately, the menu had not been geeked. There were no Star Wars foods, just burgers and brats.

The actual Expo was in a small room, with only a few rows of booths. There were geeky words, geeky images and a general air of geekiness. I saw booths with embroidered references, punny cards, and create-your-own superhero masks. There was a coloring book with assorted organs, handmade dice sets, and interesting soaps. For the full list of venders, go here.

Probably my favorite booth was one with crossover drawings. There was a Princess Leia water-bending, Sokka dressed as Han Solo, Zuko as a Sith, and Kaylee knocking on the door of the TARDIS (which I couldn’t find a link for, sorry!).

CinemaWins

“Okay, okay, I know this channel is supposed to be all positive and stuff, but there’s no way for him to possibly put a positive spin on that. Oh… I stand corrected.” And that, my friends, is CinemaWins in a nutshell. He posts 60-second spoiler-free reviews of new movies, but I honestly don’t pay much attention to those. They’re good; they’re just not the main attraction.

So what is the main attraction? Most of his videos are titled “Everything Great About” and feature a film. These are exactly what the title implies: clips of the movie with his comments on what make it so great, or sometimes, just the sound of the “Wins” counter in the corner of the screen dinging as it increases. Some of his comments are short, with only one or two words necessary (“Hugging,” “Teamwork,” and “Honesty” are some common ones) and sometimes they’re short paragraphs explaining why the particular scene was so good.

Usually, he saves the really long speeches for the end, when he reviews the movie as a whole, adding points for overall plot. The Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone video had a lightning round at the end, called The Many Faces Of Ron Weasley, and the Rogue One episode had a special “Wins” counter for K2SO. At the end of the video, he displays the Total Wins, plus a special “Award” with something funny. For example, Moana‘s award was “Shark Head!” and the Avenger‘s award was “Shawarma!” This is followed by the scene the award was referencing. I think it’s a cute ending to the video.

What I love about this channel, most, though, is the way that he (“The CinemaWins guy”, as I generally refer to him) can always put a positive spin on things. It’s an admirable trait, and the way he uses it adds humor to the positivity, making his videos a joy to watch.

Ironic Poetry

My grandmother was going through some poetry books a while back and found two poems that I thought were hilarious. I hope you like them too!

Ladies and Germs,

I come before you to stand behind you

To tell you something I know nothing about.

Admission free; pay at the door;

Pull up a chair; sit on the floor.

Refreshments will be served in empty glasses.

This meeting will come to disorder.

We will discuss something we know nothing about

At the four corners of the round table.

And the second one:

One dark day in the middle of the night,

Two dead boys got up to fight.

Back to back, they faced each other,

Drew their swords and shot each other.

A deaf policeman heard the noise,

Stood up and shot those two dead boys.

If you doubt this story’s true,

Ask the blind man. He saw it, too.

What do you think? Got anymore wacky poems? I’d love to hear them!

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