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Brainball!

Posted by emmett on from the geeksports dept.

hasse writes "The Swedish Interactive Institute has developed an interesting new game called Brainball. The rules are simple; a steel ball on the playing field is controlled by biosensors on the players' heads, and the player with the least brain activity wins. A slackers game if I ever saw one. Kinda reminds me of the Amiga guru meditation game. The text about Brainball is only in Swedish but they've got an English section here."

118 comments

  1. Ooops, I lose. by mortonda · · Score: 2

    I guess it took to much brain power to post.

  2. Har by Erik+Fish · · Score: 1


    Brainball: The only sport that my ex-roommate can win!

    1. Re:Har by UberQwerty · · Score: 1

      Your roommate is living proof that the intolerably dumb 95% of earth's population needs to be neutered or exterminated.

      Elitism? Realism.

      --


      PUBLIC SPLIT ON WHETHER BUSH IS A DIVIDER -CNN scrolling banner, 10/15/2004
    2. Re:Har by John+Napkintosh · · Score: 1

      This is where the meditation lessons start to pay off. :)

      --

      Long signatures suck.
    3. Re:Har by AviN · · Score: 1

      I know this was meant as a joke, but why is it that people who are dumb deserve any less than people who are smart?

      As far as I can tell, most dumb people are born dumb, and it's not in their power to change that.

      In my opinion, intelligence is not a valid way to determine the value of a person.

    4. Re:Har by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what is? Athletic ability? Some people are smarter than others. Live with it. They make more worthwhile contributions to the progress of humanity. They don't deserve to be held back just to make some luser feel better about himself. I went through a comprehensive school (non-streamed classes) education. I hated it. I had to teach myself most of the mathematics I know, while contending with people who thought it was cool not to know their 7 times tables.

  3. ummmmm...... by Eruantalon · · Score: 1

    So what exactly is this & how do you play it? You're just bouncing a ball around by your thoughts and the key is to go to sleep so you don't bounce the ball no more and win?? If so, sounds like my kinda game...

    Anyone who could translate a summary from Swedish?

    Eruantalon

    --
    Eruantalon
    The Annals of Middle-earth
    1. Re:ummmmm...... by Starselbrg · · Score: 1

      Actually, your brain is quite active while you sleep. So if you feel asleep, you would probably loose.

      --
      Got HTML? Want LaTeX? Try html2latex
    2. Re:ummmmm...... by Emil+Brink · · Score: 5

      Well, you play it like this: you and your opponent sit, facing eachother, with a big table-thingie between you. The table is about the size of a tabletop hockey game, or something. The table is matte black, and somewhere on it there's a steel ball. You score by getting the ball to move to the opponent's end of the table. To move the ball, you need to relax. Relaxing is made harder by the fact that when the game is played, there is a hysterical light & sound show going on, and curves showing each player's brain activity are projected on the wall behind the players. Of course, an audience also helps stressing the players out.
      Hmmm, I guess I really should dare take the plunge and actually try Brainball next time they demo it (yes, I work at the Interactive Institute)... ;^)

      --
      main(O){10<putchar(4^--O?77-(15&5128 >>4*O):10)&&main(2+O);}
    3. Re:ummmmm...... by Eruantalon · · Score: 1

      Sounds rather interesting then...although I think stoners and drunks would be far better at the game than other people. Too bad they don't have it round here yet....

      Eruantalon

      --
      Eruantalon
      The Annals of Middle-earth
    4. Re:ummmmm...... by Emil+Brink · · Score: 2

      The game has been demoed when we've had various party-like occasions here, but I don't know much about how alcohol affects people's results. Sorry. ;^)

      --
      main(O){10<putchar(4^--O?77-(15&5128 >>4*O):10)&&main(2+O);}
    5. Re:ummmmm...... by John+Napkintosh · · Score: 1

      You could start your own scientific experiment. Get a group of acid freaks, stoners, and drunks and see who takes the medal...

      --

      Long signatures suck.
    6. Re:ummmmm...... by SEWilco · · Score: 1
      It would be more challenging to give each player a ball and score by moving a puck (with dimples which the ball fits in). Then brain control of 2-D movement becomes important, which requires coordinated brain control rather than merely suppressed.

      Of course, implementation and training become more complex...and to be of practical use the designers would have to choose brain areas which are interesting to have control over.

    7. Re:ummmmm...... by Hadlock · · Score: 1

      I saw a special on PBS a while back, in a segment on a NOVA about brains (i think, this was a couple years back), they actually hooked up nodes or the like to an older woman with what was probably a tumor to read brain waves, and had a giant L shape in the lower left hand corner of a screen representing her target (the L ran along the border of the screen only in the lower left hand corner), being that corner. Her job was to think in a particular way/fashon/form that a pong type square hit the L. She managed this (after a couple hours of practice) about 7 times out of 10 to hit the lower left hand border of the screen, which was fairly impressive, given the fact that the older you get, the slower the brain is able to adapt to new processes (language, learning an instrument, ect)

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
  4. They watch DS9! by jd · · Score: 2
    Must do. This is very similar to the game Dax showed Dr Bashir in the Holodeck, except that was a solitaire variant.

    Actually, this looks like a cool idea! I'm sure there are plenty of ways to expand on it, that would increase the challange.

    Where can I get this?

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
    1. Re:They watch DS9! by tycage · · Score: 1

      Ironically, watching DS9 is the best way to win at Brainball.

    2. Re:They watch DS9! by Foddrick · · Score: 1

      Does anyone know which DS9 episode it came from ?

  5. fair competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This cannot possibly be fair competition. If the object is to veg and produce the lowest amount of brain power, the Slashdot Console operator would win every time. Well, I admit, it would be close between the console and the moderators.

  6. Pro-Brainball by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    I guess I'm going to state the obvious.

    Why the least brain power, and not the most?

    Simple. If they ever want this to become a professional sport, they're going to need jocks to play. Watching a game where jocks are competing for the MOST brain power would be like watching two old ladies boxing.

    1. Re:Pro-Brainball by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they ever want this to become a professional sport, they're going to need jocks to play. Watching a game where jocks are competing for the MOST brain power would be like watching two old ladies boxing.

      Prejudice. For beeing a geek you're pretty damn dumb.
      Prejudice is for idiots, no matter if it black vs white, jocks vs geeks or this vs that.

    2. Re:Pro-Brainball by bludstone · · Score: 1

      You fail to make a distinction between a jock and an athlete.

      An athlete is someone who plays sports on a regular basis.

      A jock is someone who plays sports on a regular basis and is an asshole.

      kind of like the difference between a geek and a nerd in some circles, or in a different sense, black vs. nigger.

      Please dont accuse me of being racist due to that previous statement, It was in reference to a chris rock standup... not the greatest source.. but you get my point here.

      --

      no .sig
    3. Re:Pro-Brainball by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      So with that as precident,

      - If a geek is someone who is into this sort of geek stuff on a regular basis,
      Then what is
      - Someone who is into this sort of geek stuff on a regular basis, and is an asshole?

    4. Re:Pro-Brainball by Wellspring · · Score: 2

      Simple, take at an idiot and a genius (for the sake of the argument, we'll name the idiot Dave and the genius Brian-- from KODT, no real people impugned). Dave and Brian will have to sort the phone book into alphabetical order. For their convenience, the book is available in HTML format (!) The winner get's Dave's Hackmaster+12.

      Ready? GO!

      Dave's sweating bullets, playing with the file, pacing, playing with his mouse, nibbling on his fingernails. To no avail! He's struggling to cut and paste it in Word, but Word didn't convert the HTML right, so it looks like a Jon Katz article.

      Brian is sitting back and sipping lightly on his mint julep, content as a cow chewing hay and prozac. He knew that the phone book is already in alphabetical order.

      Software is smart, hardware is fast. By the same token, intelligence represents efficiency, effort is measured by brain activity.

      That's why my dream team would be some of the slackest people on earth, such as me. Surfers, hippies, UNIX gurus and top physicists-- the first two don't even try, and the second two use minimal brain power to accomplish the most. Ideally, these are SubGenius types who don't get into idea fugues.

    5. Re:Pro-Brainball by schematic · · Score: 1

      You know the more I think about this, the more I have to aggree with you. I've always considered myself a slacker (don't do homework/extra work if i dont feel i need to, apply very little effort in an attempt to acomplish the most [scripts, etc.]) but it seems you may be right.

      My mind does not like to repeat itself and trys to do everything as efficent as it can, is this laziness or genius?

      (Poll idea: How many slashdot readers consider themselves slackers?)

      --
      My /. number is leeter than you.
    6. Re:Pro-Brainball by UberQwerty · · Score: 1

      *sigh*

      Why does someone always have to preach this crap every time anything even remotely Nietzche-ish is proposed? Can't you holier-than-thou defenders-of-the-meek get off your high horses long enough to tell a joke when you see one?

      --


      PUBLIC SPLIT ON WHETHER BUSH IS A DIVIDER -CNN scrolling banner, 10/15/2004
    7. Re:Pro-Brainball by rew · · Score: 1

      Why the least brain power, and not the most?

      Simple. The sensors mistake muscle activity for brain activity. And muscle activity shows up with say 10 times more amplitude than brainactivity.

      So to make the machine give a high reading, you just have to move about.

      Roger.

  7. Fantasy Brainball League by 348 · · Score: 2

    OK, for the Fantasy Brainball League (FBL), Would Uri Gellar be a good pic or a bad pic?

    --

    More race stuff in one place,
    than any one place on the net.

    1. Re:Fantasy Brainball League by Fishstick · · Score: 1

      >the player with the least brain activity wins.

      No, it's a toss up between Al Gore and Dan Quayle!

      --

      There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
      Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.

    2. Re:Fantasy Brainball League by Pathetic+Coward · · Score: 1

      >No, it's a toss up between Al Gore and Dan Quayle!
      George W. beats both, easily ...

    3. Re:Fantasy Brainball League by Zan+Thrax · · Score: 1

      Dubya beats Gore... OK. But Qualye? I think Quayle's got a real shot at world champion.

      --

      Intolerant people should be shot.
  8. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by clgoh · · Score: 2

    Isn't there a similar game mentionned in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in wich Ford "usually played to lose" ?

    1. Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by __aawsxp7741 · · Score: 2

      Ford stared at Arthur, and Arthur was astonished to find that his will was
      beginning to weaken. He didn't realise that this was because of an old drinking
      game that Ford learned to play in the hyperspace ports that served the Madranite
      mining belts in the star system of Orion Beta.

      The game was not unlike the Earth game called Indian Wrestling, and was played
      like this:

      Two contestants would sit either side of a table, with a glass in front of each
      of them.

      Between them would be placed a bottle of Janx Spirit (as immortalised in that
      ancient Orion mining song "Oh don't give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit/
      No, don't you give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit/ For my head will fly,
      my tongue will lie, my eyes will fry and I may die/ Won't you pour me one more
      of that sinful Old Janx Spirit").

      Each of the two contestants would then concentrate their will on the bottle and
      attempt to tip it and pour spirit into the glass of his opponent - who would
      then have to drink it.
      The bottle would then be refilled. The game would be played again. And again.

      Once you started to lose you would probably keep losing, because one of the
      effects of Janx spirit is to depress telepsychic power.

      As soon as a predetermined quantity had been consumed, the final loser would
      have to perform a forfeit, which was usually obscenely biological.

      Ford Prefect usually played to lose.

    2. Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Tyriphobe · · Score: 1

      Ford played drinking games to lose. Although that probably ends up with the same effect as Brainball.

    3. Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Pfhreakaz0id · · Score: 2

      Or you could just drink a few Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters.....

      ... like hitting yourself in the head with a slick of lemon wrapped around a very large gold brick. And -- dark I say it -- a drink almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.

      Seriously, if there any geeks here who have NOT read the HHGTTG series, you need to. funny stuff.
      ---

      --
      DO NOT DISTURB THE SE
    4. Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by jfunk · · Score: 1

      Seriously, if there any geeks here who have NOT read the HHGTTG series, you need to. funny stuff.

      Definitely. Also read the Dirk Gently books, they're a riot.

      You should also play Starship Titanic (even though it's for *that* OS). A tip: ask the "surfer" talking robot if it likes Pink Floyd. I rolled when I did it.

    5. Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by bugg · · Score: 1
      This may be off topic, jfunk, but I need your help.

      Can you just help me move my sofa out of the hallway?

      --
      -bugg
    6. Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by jfunk · · Score: 1

      Can you just help me move my sofa out of the hallway?

      Hmmm, unless you can warp space-time, I'd recommend a good chainsaw. You can get to the chainsaw store by following someone who looks like they know where they're going.

  9. cheating? by Signal+11 · · Score: 1
    Okay, who's the wise-guy who is getting DRUNK to win? This is almost as bad as when Alpha team brought in that tesla coil.. or when Malda's slashdot team came to the event and used magnets...

    ~ the ref

    1. Re:cheating? by Hadlock · · Score: 1

      A wise tip to those tesla builders...my friend had some plans for a tesla coil and was going to build one for Sci Fair (we're both in a research and development class), but after talking to his dad realized how frigging dangerous the things are, and apparently with enough voltage or somthing (i'm not sure, it's his dad who has the Phd in electronic engenerring) you can give yourself cancer if close enough+high enough voltage/x-rays...yeah. Just stay away from teslas in general.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
  10. This could be fun.. by Ice_Hole · · Score: 1

    Imagine, playing against a few of your best friends, and when you are done, you can dog on the loser (If it's not you), OR you can play it the opposite way, and boast that your brain is far superior and capable of thinking more than everyone else.. I personally would play the game both way's.. Who ever has the MOST brain activity can win in one game, then the person withthe least can win in another. If the same person wins, they are deemed in total contrul of their body, second only to monks.. Could be fun.. But for how long?

    --
    "I couldn't give him (Bill Gates) advice in business and he couldn't give me advice in technology." Linus Torvalds
  11. Slashdot. by kwsNI · · Score: 1
    Games for Nerds. Sports that matter. :)

    Cool.

    kwsNI

  12. So by Mr+Krinkle · · Score: 1

    The goal for this game would be to smoke before and during the game?
    On another note it seems to me it would be cooler if they could have it whoever has the most active brain would win
    Although actually it strikes me as a very pointless creating either way they take this
    now if they had developed this to the point of where you could think and have the ball respond and it was some sort of manipulation by mind only
    that would be kind of impressive. But to just see who has the least brain activity? and then they win? hospitals usually pull the plug on the one with the least brain behavior. Oh well
    just my opinion for a worthless waste of research
    To reference another article I hope they make this proprietary, that way some company trying to get rich will go bankrupt:)
    wow pointless ramble
    oh well

    --
    I am 31337 or something.
    1. Re:So by Fishstick · · Score: 1

      Ever used a biofeedback device? I have one of those 'brainmaster' devices that hooks up to your PC and your head and gives you graphical feedback on your brain activity. It's easy to make it go up, just talk or look around. Much harder to make it go down. The idea is similar to TM, I guess. You try to clear your mind of all thoughts and distractions. The better you are able to do this, the quieter it seems whatever readings this thing gets from the sensors on your head. It's very difficult but also very relaxing once you get the hang of it.

      --

      There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
      Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.

  13. controlling thoughts by pOrATa+paTima · · Score: 2

    It is not easy to control your thoughts as everyone thinks. It is definitely not achievable by a slacker. Try to keep your mind thoughtless for a minute and realize how difficult it is.

    1. Re:controlling thoughts by lbergstr · · Score: 1

      ka-CHING.
      Much harder than generating lots of useless mental activity.

    2. Re:controlling thoughts by Pascal+Q.+Porcupine · · Score: 2

      Yeah, even in meditation, brain activity is quite high. In fact, while I'm meditating and clearing my conscious mind is when my subconscious seems to be the most active, coming up with cool shit...
      ---
      "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

      --
      "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
      Quine "quine?
    3. Re:controlling thoughts by Industrial+Disease · · Score: 2

      In orther word, there is a significant difference between low brain activity and useless brain activity.

      --
      Weblogging Considered Harmful:
  14. Slashdotted! by freddie · · Score: 1

    Anybody's got a mirror?

  15. Brainball's Stability by bjb · · Score: 2
    So if the Brainball program is being run under Windows, does a Blue Screen of Death cause an epileptic seizure or just a brain fart? Maybe this is the way for all you kids who want Attention Deficit Disorder to get on Ritalin. Cool.

    I wonder how the player reacts when nude photos of (ok, ok) a naked petrified Natalie Portman appear in their peripheral vision? Someone want to control an experiement here? I mean, it IS for science..

    --

    --
    Never hit your grandmother with a shovel, for it leaves a bad impression on her mind...
    1. Re:Brainball's Stability by Industrial+Disease · · Score: 2

      Just don't let a Field Service Engineer monkey with the machine while you're playing.

      --
      Weblogging Considered Harmful:
  16. Fry toy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now that is the ultimate fry toy. How would it work, would the person triping hardest win? Like a drinking game, where each time you win you eat another blotter?

    The possibilities...

  17. Finally, my 15 minutes of fame! by Sun+Tzu · · Score: 1

    At least if they properly connect up to the dead outer layer of my brain! I can just see myself posing for a photo op with the publishers of the Guiness Book of World Records... A new champion and the new world record: Zero brain activity! ;)

    --
    Geeky modern art T-shirts
  18. Reminds me... by coreman · · Score: 1

    of a tape drive diagnostic I once had to use. I discovered that it would pass if there was no tape loaded.

  19. Re:Smoking actually INCREASES brain activity. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Several tests have been done on this.. Smoking only provides a calming effect for those who are addicted and need the 'fix' - But it stimulates the brain, and has been proven that people that take exams while smoking do far better than those who don't. Kinda makes you wish you could smoke through college no?

  20. Eh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not this post in particular, but it seems that most people on slashdot consider athletics to be a waste of time, and anyone who does not is a dumb jock. I've played everything from baseball to football, but am also a geek. I suppose this makes me a stupid geek?

  21. Little - Much by Tyrell+Hawthorne · · Score: 1

    Of course, it should be the other way around. The one with the *most* brain activity wins. But I guess it's harder to stay absolutely concentrated at nothing at all than to just DoS your brain. Um, perhaps I'm spending too much time with computers... Nah!

  22. LETS PLAY!!!!!!! by c+era · · Score: 1

    . . .

  23. ... by casret · · Score: 2

    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    (Did I win?)
    DAMN.

  24. Speaking of Retro technology: SAM speech is in W2k by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Remember SAM from the Atari 400. It was pretty powerful and there has really not been a cheap replacement on the PC. Creatives Monolog has always sucked.

    Well look at Windows 2000. It comes with a built speech synth. The speech module is called "SAM". Guess what? It sounds like good ol atari Sam.

    Now I have to see if I can get Sam to work in Linux using the Atari800 emulator.

  25. I don't know by DonkPunch · · Score: 1

    Judging by the average post on the Slashdot, it's obviously not THAT hard. :-)

    --

    Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.
  26. It's Friday. by TheTomcat · · Score: 1

    Give me until 4:30pm today, and I'll have you ALL beat.

    Wow I'm going to enjoy sleeping in tomorrow.

  27. I hear that (It's Friday) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    cuz y'ain't got shit to do!

  28. Here's my team: by grappler · · Score: 2

    Dan Quayle
    Polly Shore
    Cathy Ireland
    Kato Kailan (sp?)
    Lou from Littleton (a local radio personality, don't ask)
    Norm MacDonald
    Joe Bob (interrupts some cable movies to annoy people)
    hmm, that's about all I can think of at the moment...

    --
    grappler

    --
    Vidi, Vici, Veni
    1. Re:Here's my team: by 348 · · Score: 0
      Lou from Littleton!? Hell no "Cuz"

      The rest of KOA sucks ass, except for the Sports zoo, those guys are a riot.

      --

      More race stuff in one place,
      than any one place on the net.

    2. Re:Here's my team: by pudge · · Score: 1

      I find it ironic that in your quest to make fun of people with low brain activity, you spelled four of seven names wrong, and didn't get the last name of a fifth and sixth. Hey, but you got the name of the former Vice President right, so that's something. :)

  29. Translation by SuViking · · Score: 2

    Swedish tax money at its best...

    "Brainball is a new game which has been developed
    by Swedish cross-science research elite.
    The rules are simple; the player with the least
    brain activity wins over the stressed out and
    thinking opponent. Bio sensors attached to
    the brains of the players reads alpha and theta
    waves which controls a steel ball over a
    playing field towards the opponents goal.
    Brian ball was created out of a joint project
    between artists, technicians and designers at the
    Interactive Institute."

  30. A way to win... by Ira-Waru · · Score: 1

    While you play Brainball, you also play Super Mario Bros on Nintendo 16. I've heard that people playing on NES have even lower levels of brain activity than people who are sleeping...

    --
    Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing - Pythagoras
    1. Re:A way to win... by Traxton1 · · Score: 1

      Hey don't bag on my Nintendo, how many other systems have such original classics as Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior?

      --
      Twitter.com/TrentonHyatt
  31. the winner would be Homer Simsons... by krynos · · Score: 1

    Can we bet on who will win?

  32. We've been playing this for a while by Bullschmidt · · Score: 1

    A bunch of my friends and I have been playing a slight variation of this, which we call "couch." A bunch of people sit on a couch. The last one there wins. No getting up for food or any other bodily need. Its gone into double digit hours before..

    --
    "Of all days, the day on which one has not laughed is the most surely the one wasted." -Sebastian Roch Nicol
    1. Re:We've been playing this for a while by Eccles · · Score: 1

      No getting up for food or any other bodily need.

      That's one couch I'm not sitting on...

      --
      Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
  33. Re:Ooops, I lose. MODERATION LOSERS by mortonda · · Score: 1

    How the heck can this be redundant when I said it FIRST! #2 post here!!!! :(

  34. Ok, you're right by grappler · · Score: 1

    Scott and Dave are cool, and KOA can definately do without:

    Both Reggies (Rivers and MacDaneoo)
    Tom Caldera (he's pretty stupid)
    Sebastian Metz (he should probably be included on my team, actually)

    but Lou from Littleton, with all his "ummm"s and "uhhh"s, stays.

    --
    grappler

    --
    Vidi, Vici, Veni
  35. Easy way to win by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Play while reading Slashdot comments at -1. You'll be unstoppable.

    1. Re:Easy way to win by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No way, watching "Full House" would be 100 times better (for this game).

  36. If you wonder what da heck is a joyboard... by Eg0r · · Score: 2
    guru meditation n.

    Amiga equivalent of `panic' in Unix (sometimes just called a `guru' or `guru event'). When the system crashes, a cryptic message of the form "GURU MEDITATION #XXXXXXXX.YYYYYYYY" may appear, indicating what the problem was. An Amiga guru can figure things out from the numbers. Sometimes a guru event must be followed by a Vulcan nerve pinch.

    This term is (no surprise) an in-joke from the earliest days of the Amiga. An earlier product of the Amiga corporation was a device called a `Joyboard' which was basically a plastic board built onto a joystick-like device; it was sold with a skiing game cartridge for the Atari game machine. It is said that whenever the prototype OS crashed, the system programmer responsible would calm down by concentrating on a solution while sitting cross-legged on a Joyboard trying to keep the board in balance. This position resembled that of a meditating guru. Sadly, the joke was removed fairly early on (but there's a well-known patch to restore it in more recent versions).

    Pictures and stuff here and here.

    To me guru meditation always looked like blinking BSOD (a.k.a black screen of death :)

    ---

    --
    "Hasta la victoria siempre!" El Comandante
  37. World Championship Play by Play by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Zen master jack takes on the reining champ - he's sitting down at the table, putting on the sensors with great dignity and ceremony, and their off. The champ get in a quick pastoral thought, quickly taking the offense, putting the ball deep into jacks field, but wait, Zen Master counters with a fake world peace vision, followed by a calm mountain lake taking the champ by suprise and the ball is now in the champs territory. Peacefully smirking the champ envisions peace, love and friendship but, wait, it's not working, Zen Master Jack in coming on strong and going deeper- he's unswerving, the crowd is going wild, the champ is breaking out in a sweat and can't take his mind off of erotica! Jack sinks again, and again, look at this folks!! the ball is heading deeper at the champs goal - is it - is it - SATORI!!! Yes, yes folks, we have a new world brainball champion, Zen Master Jack is back and he's in fine form today! ZMJ

    1. Re:World Championship Play by Play by squidfood · · Score: 1

      The obvious followup is Monk Gloats Over Yoga Championship from The Onion Archives...

      "I am the serenest!" Bikram shouted to the estimated crowd of 20,000 yoga fans, vigorously pumping his fists. "No one is serener than Sri Dhananjai Bikram--I am the greatest monk of all time!"

  38. The Game - StarTrek TNG by wvw1 · · Score: 1

    ... wonder where that idea came from, anyone rememebring Wesley Crusher in The Game?

  39. I can see the headlines now... by Dman33 · · Score: 4

    Reigning BrainBall Champion Wins Yet Another to Continue an Amazing 37 Game Unbeaten Streak!

    The MPAA beat a group of AOL hAx0r5 last Friday night in front of a capacity crowd to mark a new record for consecutive wins, 37. The previous record of 36 was held by a dead corpse early in the season last year, and was ironically ended by the very same MPAA team!

    When asked about this amazing accomplishment, MPAA team captain and leading goal scorer Jack Valenti stated, "Wow... I am really happy that we could come together and do this. Heck, I have not felt so good about us since we submitted the source code of DeCSS on public record back in the 1999-2000 season." The AOL hAx0r5 claim that the contest was unfairly judged, however when asked to explain all they could say was "HEY, 7h|5 IZ n0t K3w1.."

    I had to do it... ;)

  40. yeah, so you and your geek buddies.... by commandante+cheX · · Score: 1

    ....can masturbate by your lonesome selves. are we even on the same planet? don't you understand that even the dumbest of these 'humans' is intimately tied to you and to all of us? being a 'human' can't be taken lightly. but how could i expect you to understand even an iota of wisdom?! maybe you want to get rid of 95% of humans cause you hate 95% of yourself!! GROW UP!!

    1. Re:yeah, so you and your geek buddies.... by UberQwerty · · Score: 1

      Ok: 1st of all, my post was tongue-in-cheek (not to be taken seriously)

      But, since you have insisted on flaming me, I will tell you where you are wrong.

      There is no imaginary "intimate tie" between all humans - we're all individual. Being "human" can be taken as lightly as I want - it's a loosely defined word at best. We're just the next best thing in pond scum.

      As for your last two lines, they're ad hominum, and will be ignored.

      --


      PUBLIC SPLIT ON WHETHER BUSH IS A DIVIDER -CNN scrolling banner, 10/15/2004
    2. Re:yeah, so you and your geek buddies.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Evolutionary advancement is often linked to population crash. So, in short, getting rid of 95% of the human population mught speed up things. Thing is, the weird american stereotype of the non-athletic geek doesn't really hold up. They'll probably die too. The people who survive will be people like me - fast, strong, athletic and 180+ IQ
      Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, remember? e.g. Neils Bohr was an olympic athlete as well as a famous physicist.

    3. Re:yeah, so you and your geek buddies.... by Pxtl · · Score: 1

      You're all wrong. The strength and intelligence are important, but the dominant feature for survival in a strictly Darwinean system is pure, amoral evil. After all, someone who'll kill his enemies in their sleep, steal weapons and power, loot and pillage will survive. Raping women passes on the genes, so there'd be a lot more psycho maniacs real quick. Personally, I like having a civilization. It means that the geeks won't have to retaliate against the brute force people with nukes and chemical weapons. Face it, morality and ethics are not Darwineanly "fit" unless you're too stupid to fake being a nice guy. Lets just change the world through slow conspiracies, okay? None of this apocalyptic crap.

  41. Finally... A sport that is Good For Geeks by PurpleFloyd · · Score: 1

    By focusing on brain activity (or lack thereof, which probably requires more concentration than simply increasing the voltages running through the brain, and thus more effort), this shows that one CAN create an interesting sport that relies on brain power. Probably this will never supercede football or other brainless sports, but it is an interesting proof of concept. Quite simply, it shows that sports can be created to showcase cranial ability, not idiots who spend all their time working out.

    --

    That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
  42. depends on what you're smoking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    nt

  43. a lamer by WiseWeasel · · Score: 1

    ...

    --
    "I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
  44. or by WiseWeasel · · Score: 1

    that didn't make much sense, but since this is way off topic anyways, I'm not even gonna bother correcting myself . . . ha!

    --
    "I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
  45. rewards always go to idiots by jimmypop · · Score: 1

    Lately, rewards seemingly go to idiots. I.e. Who want to be a millionaire.... I can't believe how stupid these people are with such easy questions.

    --
    (`._(`._( , , . JimmyPop[nL] . , , )_.)_.)
  46. not cigarettes you eediot by WiseWeasel · · Score: 1

    I'm pretty sure he's referring to taking bong rips or something. Or you could just go and get a nice lobotomy (or are leukotomies in style now), and you could be the grand brainball master of the world!!! Think of the glory, or I guess you couldn't think about it too hard . . . 8)

    --
    "I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
  47. I had a low tech version years ago! by Jimhotep · · Score: 1

    Sedintary Lifestyle Challenge

    4 contestants sit on a couch

    last one up wins

  48. Swedes have it all wrong by JJ · · Score: 1

    Brainball should involve the greater amount of brain activity allowing the ball to move. This would make the game come out something along the lines of the Star Trek mental wrestling match on the planet of the greek telepaths (telekinetics for the purists.) Moderate me down for not recalling the name of the episode.

    --
    So long and thanks for all the fish . . . !!!
    1. Re:Swedes have it all wrong by grappler · · Score: 2

      Brainball should involve the greater amount of brain activity allowing the ball to move. This would make the game come out something along the lines of the Star Trek mental wrestling match on the planet of the greek telepaths (telekinetics for the purists.)

      But your brain might just be working "smarter", not "harder". Recall the article about increased brain activity resulting from sleep deprivation. That might be a way to cheat actually...

      "Sorry, we'll have to take back your medal - tests indicate you've deprived yourself of sleep leading up to the game. It's an unfair advantage, and it's bad for your health..."

      --
      grappler

      --
      Vidi, Vici, Veni
  49. Official Rules by JJ · · Score: 1

    Residents of California should not be eligible

    --
    So long and thanks for all the fish . . . !!!
  50. baked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    perhaps brainball could be the closing event
    of the pot olympics. right after the bong smoking marathon

  51. Easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    - Someone who is into this sort of geek stuff on a regular basis, and is an asshole?

    /join #perl

  52. Done and done decades ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    ya know,

    The IBVA has been covering this sort of brain-computer interface tek for decades.

    http://www.IBVA.com

    1. Re:Done and done decades ago by Misagon · · Score: 1

      I used to work at a different project at Interactive Institute when the Brainball was developed, but I got to talk with the developers. They used off-the-shelf medical sensors and Windows software that has been available for years. Then they hooked the PC up to an old plotter they found in a dumpster in the basement. They used the plotter as the playing field. In other words, no new hot technology. I think most of us just thought of it as a funny hack.

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
  53. Startrek TNG by snack · · Score: 2

    Does this remind anyone of the game that took controll of the crews mind?

    Every one was under the controll of some alien species, and only 3 people knew about it?

    Maybe it's just me.

    1. Re:Startrek TNG by Wonko42 · · Score: 2
      Urgh. Wesley Crusher must die.

      --

  54. Re:The Game - Ghostbusters 1 by vicviper · · Score: 1

    Perhaps you don't go back far enough? Remember how the Stay Puff Marshmellow monster came to be in Ghostbusters 1?

  55. WARNING by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do not taunt Brainball.

    Brainball may stick to certain types of brain.

    Brainball has an electronic core, which if breached, should not be handled, inhaled, or looked at.

  56. may I also suggest: by crayz · · Score: 1

    George "Dubya" Bush
    Pat Robertson
    Jerry Falwell
    Raplh Reed
    OK basically any member of the Religious Right
    John Rocker
    Al Sharpton
    Jesse Jackson
    whoever desinged Apple's mouse
    the asshole at Fox who decided to show ads at the bottom of the screen WHILE THE SIMPSONS IS ON
    and of course, myself

  57. How appropriate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Swedes will be unbeatable in this game.

    :-)

    Ilkka
    (a Finn)

  58. The importance of being swedish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    The idea of low brain activity is good - if controlled it proves sanity. High brain activity doesn't reflect any exersizing of thought-patterns we associate with intelligence. Extreme sensations/emotions - in other words stress - would spawn far higher activity.
    Thus, a competition in HIGH brain-activity would easily be won by any schizo during a panic attack.
    On a second note it might be worth mentioning that swedes keep the Guinness records for:
    1: holding ones breath (9 minutes under water - no oxygen)
    2: oldest person with a milktooth.

    I dunno..i feel it's related.

    1. Re:The importance of being swedish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess since I have ADD I cant play this game. And I am anonymous cuz its lame to have to sign for shit

  59. AOLer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..bink..

  60. yeah I know by grappler · · Score: 1

    I noticed that right after I posted. It's Kathy with a K, Pauly Shore, and McDonald...

    i need to take just a little more time before I hit "submit"... hmmm, maybe that's what "Preview" is for... :-)

    sorry if I caused you any pain.

    --
    grappler

    --
    Vidi, Vici, Veni
  61. Sure way to win... by Ateran · · Score: 1

    Bring in your catatonic Uncle Charlie.

  62. Some interesting contests.... by Pxtl · · Score: 1

    Also, you can have fun comparing how external factors effect the game. LSD VS. Magic Mushrooms - Which gets you more fried? Of course, caffeine and marijuana could be used to adjust for handicaps. Eg., give some kid with ADD some weed to level the playing field. Then there's the real fun - playing against your pets. Ever wanted to know exactly how vapid that cat is when he get into that "liquid kitty in the shade" mode? Rats vs. Snakes - Finally the rats have a chance! I can see a tourney, everyone trying to compete against the champ, a lobotomized three-toed sloth named Spoo. Oh, if only that TV artist guy with the afro had lived longer. He could've been a master at this. I know people that meditate to the sound of his show.

  63. A self-styled 1337 H4X0R by UberQwerty · · Score: 1

    You know the type I'm takling about - no humility at all. Half their head is full of tech data and the other half is dedicated to arrogance.

    --


    PUBLIC SPLIT ON WHETHER BUSH IS A DIVIDER -CNN scrolling banner, 10/15/2004
  64. Slashdotters by Traxton1 · · Score: 1

    No one who is reading this post would lose very often, another sport where it doesn't pay to be smart Maybe olympic-quality scorekeepers

    --
    Twitter.com/TrentonHyatt
  65. Sorry by Traxton1 · · Score: 1

    I really meant to say win, otherwise it doesn't make a lot of sense

    --
    Twitter.com/TrentonHyatt
  66. MODERATE THIS UP! PLEASE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is the only post which actually bothered to translate the damn article, so all the rest of us who don't språk Svensk would rather not have to dig for it in the midst of all the worthless crap

    Your One And Only Friend,
    A.C.

  67. Related research by mattr · · Score: 1

    Two friends have worked in this area for some years now, Bob O'Kane and Ulrike Gabriel of Otherspace, an Art & Technology Duo (Ulrike originally from Germany, Bob was in Buffalo for a while and is the tech side.. skills ranging from analog circuitry to SGI Onyx programming). You may find them by searching for Terrain project, one old page is at > t0 (http://web.t0.or.at/t0/terrain/page001.htm)</a>. In the versions I have tried in Tokyo, two participants sit about 8m apart separated by a 3m diameter low round platform on which a fleet of light styrofoam/solarpanel/sensor covered mini robots twirl about. The table is lit from above by a giant bank of bright halogens, and from below relatively dim panels from which reectangular portions of the platform seem to randomly change in intensity. The robots move faster depending on the amount of current in the halogens, and the light from below changes their behavior. In some versions the intensity of emotion in the participants (measured by headbands linked to transceivers) is measured, and like amounts would produce a synergistic effect in the robots. A later version worked more on similarities in emotion. When I say emotion it obviously is not a chemical sensor, it works more on the ration of beta and delta waves if I remember correctly. It was very difficult at first to use and when I tried it the lights went bang! on and off which startled everyone. Apparently they had precalibrated the system for Japanese minds. An interview with Bob by Volker Grassmuck (who was also in Tokyo and is now in Berlin) is available at <a href="http://www.ntticc.or.jp/pub/ic_mag/ic014/vol ker/volker_e.html">http://www.ntticc.or. jp/pub/ic_mag/ic014/volker/volker_e.html</a>.

    1. Re:Related research by mattr · · Score: 1

      P.S. Otherspace is at www.otherspace.de

  68. Use of stimulants by Hadlock · · Score: 1

    Hey, here's an idea. Stimulants. This way you're raising the level of brain activity, therefore everyone is at an alert state of mind, and MUST attempt to clear all thoughts, and can't rely on pot or another relaxant. It would also more clearly define the winner, because both would have more active minds, and the person that would win without any effort ie doesn't tend to think alot for whatever reason, now has to *work* at not thinking, and is equal to the person who doesn't have the natural ability to just sit there and veg (ie us non day-dreamers/whatever you get my point). Either way, after giving each person their 500 mg caffine pill, wait 5 min, then start the match... now you have a battle of control of the mind worthy of playabilty. If that made any sense at all, congratulations, you're a friggin genius, b/c i'm tired as hell, it's 6 am here and i should've been asleep long ago (and could probably use one of those caffine pills ; )

    --
    moox. for a new generation.
  69. Reminds me of the Hitch'Hikers by Sri+Lumpa · · Score: 1



    ...of the Galaxy, in which DNA (Dougla N Adams) describe competitions where you must move the Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster bottle to fill the glass of your opponent who must then drink it, of course when you begin to lose you can hardly come back, and when you were loosing you had to "do some physically degradating actions, Ford was playing to lose" ;)

    Now if they could just replace the ball by a bottle of whisky THAT would be cool.

    --
    "The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." Bill Gates,