If you enjoy video games (perhaps a given, if you're reading this), as well abstract art, be sure to give "The Cat That Got The Milk" a look. It's a free game, available for PC and Mac, with an online version coming soon.
The premise is quite simple: "It's a night out on the town from a cat's abstract perspective" the game's Facebook page describes. The game's controls are equally basic; your cat moves forward automatically, just hit either the up or down arrows to make turns. But the challenge is anything but.
There are 18 levels in total, which the game's creators state should take only 15 minutes to complete. Those with less than cat-like reflexes may have a tad bit of trouble, but not much.
But aside from the surprisingly deep challenge is the visuals, which clearly takes it cues from modern artists, such as Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky:
The game was highlighted last night by Joystiq, and as result, download time?appears to be on the slow side. Still,?it's worth the wait.
"The Cat That Got The Milk" is not the first game to draw inspiration from an innovator of the modern art movement. The much-celebrated "Rez," which first came out for the PS2 in 2001 (and later for Xbox in 2008) was also directly influenced by Kandinsky (its working title was "K Project").
Visually speaking, "Rez" looked more like "Tron" and other examples of the early 80s computer graphics than Kandinsky's paintings. But it's the interplay with the audio that is the real connection; the artist had a form of synesthesia which allowed him?to visualize music ? something the game attempts to emulate:
Back to "The Cat That Got The Milk"; perhaps the only ones who will be disappointed by the game are cat lovers. Those who desire something less abstract need look no further than "ChatChat," the latest from Terry Cavanagh, the indie game developer best known for "VVVVVV" on the PC, Mac, and most recently 3DS.
As a multiplayer game about being a cat, it appears mostly to be a chat room, but certain functions can be enabled if one is familiar with text adventures. It can be played here. The instructions here are pretty simply as well: "Be a cat."
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Matthew Hawkins is an NYC-based game journalist who has also written for EGM, GameSetWatch, Gamasutra, Giant Robot, and numerous others. He also self-publishes his own game culture zine, is part of Attract Mode, and co-hosts The Fangamer Podcast. You can keep tabs on him via?Twitter,?or his personal home-base,?FORT90.com.
JAKARTA, Indonesia ? Indonesia has come up with another bizarre plan to keep commuters from riding on the roofs of trains: Swat them with brooms drenched in putrid goop.
Railway official Ahmad Sujadi says the contraptions will be installed at select crossings beginning Monday.
Anyone still defying the roof-riding ban risks being "whipped."
Indonesia has tried everything imaginable to keep passengers from clamoring to the roofs of the country's overcrowded trains, including spraying them with paint guns and calling in sniffer dogs.
Last month, authorities dangled grapefruit-sized concrete balls from a frame above the tracks. Worried they'd be hurt or even killed, "rail surfers" finally called it quits.
Sujadi decided it wouldn't hurt to try the broom idea too.
Do you suffer from wrist pain or a sore joint? Healing this problem can be a simple routine if you take the time to help repair the damage area. Sometimes the simplest answers are the best ones for healing this type of injury, yet they are painful and hard to treat because the wrist moves just about every time you move your arm.
Ideally, it is smart to take a bit of time to prepare yourself with some procedures to recover the injury fast so that you can get back to regular life! Here are five steps that you can take below which are easy and can help you on the road to recovery from your wrist pain or sore joints:
Ibuprofen: This anti-inflammatory is great for temporary relief of joint pain and helping to reduce swelling of the injury area. If you suffer from large amounts of pain, it?s best to take extra strength tablets of this right away and continue taking the pills often for pain relief.
You can get ibuprofen for extremely low-cost from your local pharmacy, so this is a very good way to approach healing the injury immediately.
Heat: A great way to help the injury if it?s not currently?swollen, is to heat the injury by placing it in heated water or wrapped with a hot towel. Then after heating for about 10 minutes, switch to ice. Repeat this method to help speed up the recovery process.
Ice: Ice is more specifically for inflammation and to reduce the swelling so the painful area can recover. This is good for you to do often if the injury persists, ice will help reduce the injury more efficiently that without using any ice. Purchase an ice pack which can be wrapped around your wrist, icing it frequently every day.
Bandages: Some bandages are better than others; some wrist straps are specifically designed to speed up recover of wrist pain or sore joints. These will provide support for your wrist if the pain if consistent, giving support to everyday function like lifting objects.
Compression & Elevation: Elevating the injury area is also great for speeding up the recovery process. For bruising, swelling or any internal bleeding adding compression will help relieve pain and inflammation as well. Try all of these methods and get that injury healed, enjoy!
LAND WITH A VIEW! This country house lot has views to the north and east, area of new homes in Templeton with prep work done to start building dream home. Survey and perk results available upon request, await your creative home designs. Access to commuter routes, Wildlife Lands. Where the air is clean, water is fresh and living is great! Here's a secrete it's quite.
If you stay in regular contact with your clients and anticipate their problems you will see a lot less customer service issues.? Set regular reminders to check in with your clients by using a simple CRM like Base.
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Customer service is often a thankless job. Angry customers yell at service reps, and they?re often blamed for what we?ll call ?user error.? They certainly deserve our respect for a job well done.
It takes a certain type of person to withstand the sometimes grueling work that goes on in the customer service world. Let?s take a look at five must-have characteristics for good customer service.
1. Patience. Lots and Lots of Patience.
Managing one customer?s question while simultaneously responding to another via email can be enough to make most throw down their headsets and never look back. Patience, as they say, is a virtue, and one that anyone that deals with customer service issues must have.? From the technical support client who doesn?t know how to turn on the computer to the customer calling to complain (again), handling customers with care is a special and important quality to have regardless of your role.
Here are some tips for finding patience in difficult situations:
Take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Politely put customer on hold while you regain your composure.
Remember that the customer?s anger isn?t directed at you personally (well, it shouldn?t be).
Hand the call over to your a supervisor or colleague if the customer is being abusive.
2. Expediency.
The faster you resolve a problem, the happier your client will be and the lower the cost per call will be. And while you shouldn?t rush through a customer?s problem, there should be a level of efficiency to quickly get to the root of the issue by determining the best solution.
Be sure that everyone on your team is familiar with the company?s customer service policies and automate what can be automated.? If you use customer service chat or have a customer service team or call center, have pre-written material and a detailed solutions guide accessible.
3. Assertiveness
If you enable your staff to do whatever it takes to make the customer happy, they should take on a level of assertiveness that prevents them wasting time getting approval.
Disney, for example, enables its employees to assist guests by providing solutions within a particular budget. So for example, if a guest has a nest of non-Mickey mice living in their hotel room, the customer service rep is authorized to give them one night in a mouse-free upgraded room.
Set policies for your sales staff, customer service team, and yourself.? Readily provide those solutions to make customers happy and quickly resolve problems.
4. Thirst for Improvement
We all can get the tendency to be complacent when we do the same job over and over. You want your employees to be hungry and step up their game helping customers. Do your part by offering training, resources, and incentives to help with customer service.
5. Commitment
Call centers and customer service positions are notorious for their turnover rates. It is important to keep your employees interested and passionate about your product or service.? If someone on the receiving end of a customer service call believes in their company and offerings they are going to be better at resolving problems.
Susan Payton is a writer for FutureSimple Growth University and she shares our passion for helping small businesses grow. She is also the President of Egg Marketing & Communications
New U of M video game teaches consequences of distracted driving Public release date: 1-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jeff Falk jfalk@umn.edu 612-626-1720 University of Minnesota
Innovative Distraction Dodger game battles leading cause of vehicle crashes
Being in a life-threatening vehicle crash due to distracted driving teaches a painful lesson, but makers of the new video game Distraction Dodger hope there is a much safer way to teach the same lesson.
Distraction Dodger is an Internet-based video game developed by the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Institute at the University of Minnesota. The game, designed to help teens and young adults understand the importance of concentrating on driving, will premiere at the Teen Safe Driving Summit on Thursday, Feb. 2, at the Rosemount Community Center, 13885 S. Robert Trail, Rosemount.
In the video game, players drive a virtual pizza delivery vehicle in the pizza-loving city of Little Moots. To help build a successful pizza business, players are tempted to use a smart phone, social media, and GPS while driving. If they choose to distract themselves, they must do so while avoiding obstacles, traffic tickets, damage to the vehicle, and personal danger.
"This is a video game, but the choices presented in the game are true to life," said Max Donath, director of the ITS Institute and a professor of mechanical engineering.
According to the National Safety Council, distractions are the leading cause of motor vehicle crashes. The use of a cell phone for texting or calling is a particularly well-documented danger, significantly slowing a driver's reaction time and increasing the likelihood of a crash. Other demonstrably dangerous driving distractions include visiting with passengers, eating and drinking, using a navigation system, applying make-up, shaving and adjusting audio systems.
As the Distraction Dodger player progresses through the game's levels, feedback is offered about driving performance and the level of distraction. The feedback can be an eye opener.
"For young drivers who believe they can do it all and not negatively affect driving, the Distraction Dodger game offers a reality check," said Michael Manser, director of the HumanFIRST Program at the ITS Institute. The HumanFIRST program, which helped develop the game, studies how drivers interact with in-vehicle technologies on a psychological, perceptual and behavioral level and how those technologies may then support or detract from driving.
"Improving road safety isn't just about improving infrastructure, technology and laws," Manser said. "Improving road safety is also about teaching and changing behaviors. For young people, video games offer a particularly teachable moment."
The game, developed by the ITS Institute with the help of Web Courseworks and educational consultant David B. Glick & Associates, has already received attention with an award at the 2011 International Serious Play Conference. It has also gotten the attention of national transportation leaders.
"This is a valuable new tool for fighting distracted driving that delivers its message in a fun and interactive way," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "I hope everyone who plays this game applies its lessons to the real world: Keep your eyes on the road, your hands on the wheel and your focus on driving."
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The ITS Institute, housed at the U of M Center for Transportation Studies, is a federally funded university transportation center dedicated to enhancing the safety and mobility of road- and transit-based transportation through a focus on human-centered technology.
Distraction Dodger can be played online at www.its.umn.edu/DistractionDodger.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New U of M video game teaches consequences of distracted driving Public release date: 1-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jeff Falk jfalk@umn.edu 612-626-1720 University of Minnesota
Innovative Distraction Dodger game battles leading cause of vehicle crashes
Being in a life-threatening vehicle crash due to distracted driving teaches a painful lesson, but makers of the new video game Distraction Dodger hope there is a much safer way to teach the same lesson.
Distraction Dodger is an Internet-based video game developed by the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Institute at the University of Minnesota. The game, designed to help teens and young adults understand the importance of concentrating on driving, will premiere at the Teen Safe Driving Summit on Thursday, Feb. 2, at the Rosemount Community Center, 13885 S. Robert Trail, Rosemount.
In the video game, players drive a virtual pizza delivery vehicle in the pizza-loving city of Little Moots. To help build a successful pizza business, players are tempted to use a smart phone, social media, and GPS while driving. If they choose to distract themselves, they must do so while avoiding obstacles, traffic tickets, damage to the vehicle, and personal danger.
"This is a video game, but the choices presented in the game are true to life," said Max Donath, director of the ITS Institute and a professor of mechanical engineering.
According to the National Safety Council, distractions are the leading cause of motor vehicle crashes. The use of a cell phone for texting or calling is a particularly well-documented danger, significantly slowing a driver's reaction time and increasing the likelihood of a crash. Other demonstrably dangerous driving distractions include visiting with passengers, eating and drinking, using a navigation system, applying make-up, shaving and adjusting audio systems.
As the Distraction Dodger player progresses through the game's levels, feedback is offered about driving performance and the level of distraction. The feedback can be an eye opener.
"For young drivers who believe they can do it all and not negatively affect driving, the Distraction Dodger game offers a reality check," said Michael Manser, director of the HumanFIRST Program at the ITS Institute. The HumanFIRST program, which helped develop the game, studies how drivers interact with in-vehicle technologies on a psychological, perceptual and behavioral level and how those technologies may then support or detract from driving.
"Improving road safety isn't just about improving infrastructure, technology and laws," Manser said. "Improving road safety is also about teaching and changing behaviors. For young people, video games offer a particularly teachable moment."
The game, developed by the ITS Institute with the help of Web Courseworks and educational consultant David B. Glick & Associates, has already received attention with an award at the 2011 International Serious Play Conference. It has also gotten the attention of national transportation leaders.
"This is a valuable new tool for fighting distracted driving that delivers its message in a fun and interactive way," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "I hope everyone who plays this game applies its lessons to the real world: Keep your eyes on the road, your hands on the wheel and your focus on driving."
###
The ITS Institute, housed at the U of M Center for Transportation Studies, is a federally funded university transportation center dedicated to enhancing the safety and mobility of road- and transit-based transportation through a focus on human-centered technology.
Distraction Dodger can be played online at www.its.umn.edu/DistractionDodger.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
WASHINGTON ? House Republicans plan to introduce legislation next month cutting small business taxes by 20 percent as the GOP steps up its election-year competition with President Barack Obama over which party is doing the most to create jobs.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says the tax cut would apply to every business with fewer than 500 employees. An aide said no decisions had been made yet about the bill's price tag, how long the tax reduction would last and other details.
Cantor described the plan in a memo to House GOP lawmakers. He announced the proposal a day after Obama said lawmakers should quickly enact his own menu of tax breaks for small businesses, including some GOP-written measures that have already started moving in Congress.
Do you suffer from wrist pain or a sore joint? Healing this problem can be a simple routine if you take the time to help repair the damage area. Sometimes the simplest answers are the best ones for healing this type of injury, yet they are painful and hard to treat because the wrist moves just about every time you move your arm.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v0CmiAGX0pdL6DlP-C7ojH0wi571HtlMrGXNinIlSV9O6pgWt_O5tGtB19cH9RmkBDy5hjHGcAk90ItYSoupvMNXMw1aKZ7cAmfk1x1G4=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 1-Feb-2012
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