http://www.idkfa.com/v3 idkfa: syndicated http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=1698 i like computer gaming so much that i can point to the two reasons that made me switch to consoles: 1) in college i spent $5,000 building a cutting edge machine (it's on idkfa v2 somewhere) that did EVERYTHING i wanted. it was amazing. then UPS destroyed it when it got shipped back to alaska in 2007. i still have not gained enough dinero since then to build such a machine. so, consoles took the place of the computers. 2) until i moved out of my parents house, i didn't have a solid enough internet connection to play CS or BF2 (my two favorite games). by this time, i was already deep into consoles. kitacek@idkfa.com (kitacek) Asked and Answered Fri, 07 Jan 2011 02:10:25 -0900 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=1698 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=1697 i think the years of deprivation attributed to the extreme swing. i had missed out on YEARS of gameplay, and had to catch up. it's probably half the reason i spent 5.5 years getting my undergrad. kitacek@idkfa.com (kitacek) Asked and Answered Fri, 07 Jan 2011 02:06:56 -0900 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=1697 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=1696 I still don't know how you managed to get into (back into?) console gaming after truly appreciating the mouse/keyboard. Green Man@idkfa.com (Green Man) Asked and Answered Fri, 07 Jan 2011 02:05:44 -0900 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=1696 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=1694 Ha. And after, your uncanny ascent into FPS gaming, and meteoric descent into Counter-strike clan membership. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Asked and Answered Fri, 07 Jan 2011 02:03:49 -0900 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=1694 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=1691 until i got to college, the only thing i used a computer for was a word processor and internet browser. we never had a computer decent enough to do anything else. We also had a mac, which means i never even got to play minesweeper until i got my winXP laptop in college. kitacek@idkfa.com (kitacek) Asked and Answered Fri, 07 Jan 2011 01:34:32 -0900 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=1691 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=830 My time with computers came late, and also coincided with my introduction to the internet (at 14.4kbps). But I'm pretty sure it was games. Lord of the Realms II, to be precise. Scrotor@idkfa.com (Scrotor) Asked and Answered Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:00:16 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=830 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=562 Thanks for tracking those down. I can wrap my head around the ADD / ADHD ones. I'm confident that television makes people assholes, kids included :) kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Asked and Answered Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:32:23 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=562 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=561 Ok, this is just what I'm finding right off hand without looking too hard... I will continue looking later this weekend to see if I can find the more detailed stuff I had read before. But basically it's sounding like these things - especially attention disorders - are very multifaceted and have biological and environmental components. It's the whole issue of nature vs. nurture. Obviously both are very very important, but there are certain "nurture" things that can exacerbate or "turn on" certain "nature" aspects. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/126/2/214 http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/163/11/1037 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/short/120/3/532 http://jad.sagepub.com/content/early/2009/09/22/1087054709347205.abstract http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/120/5/978 http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1201&context=ircs_reports http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/S0306-9877%2809%2900530-1/abstract CapitolZebra@idkfa.com (CapitolZebra) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 23:58:09 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=561 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=559 I'd be interested, but certainly don't go out of your way. I'm in no way involved with the healthcare field, and I should probably be less resolute in my assumptions based on what I hear on TV and movies about oft-misunderstand neurological conditions. I'm irritated by the studies Wikipedia cites, in that the language it uses seems to treat things like "25% correlation" as "recent suspected root cause." Also, forgive me if I'm severely skeptical and a bit incensed by the statement that "electronics cause condition X." Trying to put the personal bias aside, it's reminiscent of the "comic books cause moral depravity" / "video games cause violence" / "cell phones are cooking us" arguments that are paranoid, ultimately unfounded, and impossible to prove, serving only to demonstrate misunderstanding of the subject matter entirely on the part of the accusers. I hope I don't have to defend my career to my grandmother in a few months when Dateline skews findings on a study that relates neurological diseases to exposure to computer screens. Also, you said maybe my coworker's kid has "a fighting chance" at not developing the aforementioned. What do you mean by that? That sounds like these things are epidemics, or that we're rolling the dice every time a kid sits in front of a screen. How then did we, the Nintendo, the Internet generation, grow up to be normal? Well, as normal as we are, I guess. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 23:50:30 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=559 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=558 Yeah, there is a TON of contradictory information out there on it. I started getting interested in it in recent years because I have a good friend who is very involved in Autism Speaks and the research/advocacy work they do, so she always is up to date on what the recent research is saying. All the publications I've read have been here and there just out of interest, not for a research paper or anything, so I didn't save them. But I can try to find some of them this weekend and send them to you. CapitolZebra@idkfa.com (CapitolZebra) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 22:49:09 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=558 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=556 Not a demand to cite your sources, but I'd be interested in these studies, if you happen to recall their names (though, I'm confident I wouldn't understand the results). Rereading Wikipedia on the subject, the articles seem to contradict themselves on whether it thinks genetics are associated or not. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:34:58 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=556 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=555 But, to get off my soap box and answer your question... My first computer game favorites were things like Kid Pix when I was at school, or Sim City when I was at home. Those somehow seemed really fun to me at that time. Not that I would know first hand with my moderate level of kid experience, but I bet for younger kids the things that would draw them in most are things that would be easy to manipulate and would show instant gratification from actions made. They make a change in something on Sim City and immediately see changes happening on the screen, or something like that... CapitolZebra@idkfa.com (CapitolZebra) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:26:22 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=555 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=554 Yeah, there is no way to avoid the fact that we all need to work with computers at some point in life, and so will this kid. But at such a young age if he doesn't have the interest to be sitting in front of one, that doesn't necessarily seem like a bad thing in my mind. He will have things that draw him to it more as he gets older. Actually, they don't know that. And many of the newest studies being done are suggesting that children actually aren't born with it. Actual concrete pin pointed causes have not been determined yet, but they are finding many connections with different factors - rapid stimulation provided by electronic screens just being one of them. CapitolZebra@idkfa.com (CapitolZebra) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:15:47 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=554 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=553 I'm all about the "go outside and play" philosophy, but there is the inevitability that the kid will have to deal with computers and technology in his life. I'm asking what people did when they were kids that actually sparked their interest and creativity with computers, not just gave them something mindless to do. Having the ability to work with computers and understand them would, I feel, give the kid a huge advantage. Also, aren't you born with autistic spectrum syndromes? kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:22:57 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=553 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=552 And I'd say it has even less to do with either of those than pure biological factors. Shitty parenting and electromagnetic waves only exacerbating the problem. MrFood@idkfa.com (MrFood) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:10:40 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=552 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=551 Disclaimer: it'd be a far cry for me to put forth empirical evidence to disprove any links to such developmental problems. However, I'd hazard a guess the prevalence of ADD/ADHD diagnosing has as much to do with shitty parenting and absolving oneself of responsibility of shitty parenting, than it relates to electromagnetic waves. Green Man@idkfa.com (Green Man) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:26:54 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=551 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=550 o_0 kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:43:16 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=550 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=549 Other than the periodic computer lab time at school, I didn't spend a considerable amount of time in front of the computer until I was probably in junior high or around that age. And after reading all the things I have read about how TVs and computers effect the brains of young developing children, I really hope it won't be impossible to make sure my future childrens time is/are also limited while they are young. As much as I love computers now, I would tell this guy to go get his kid a set of legos or some other time of non-battery operated toy, and be thankful he doesn't have to pull his kid away from the computer or TV. Maybe his kid has a fighting chance at not developing ADD, ADHD, Autism, Ausbergers, or any of the other developmental syndromes that have been found to have some sort of connection to time spent in front of computer and tv screens. CapitolZebra@idkfa.com (CapitolZebra) Asked and Answered Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:27:43 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=549 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=540 My brother and I spent hours on end using Kid Pix. We had a great time with the coloring pages, drawing random stuff, and using the stamps. And of course we played some of the games you mentioned in your post. norwaygirl@idkfa.com (norwaygirl) Asked and Answered Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:52:34 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=540 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=539 A coworker asked the question: "What do I show my eight-year-old son on the computer that'll get him interested in it?" After talking for about 20 minutes about old computer games, I didn't really have a great answer. My coworker was looking for something to instill the fascination with computers that he has in order to show his son that computers are amazing tools, and that they're worth spending time on. The difficult part of the question is the age bracket. According to him, his son at eight has almost zero attention span for certain things, however, his son can play Pokemon for hours on end. Whatever did manage to hook him in would have to be age-appropriate, simple enough to not require a steep learning curve, and in-depth enough to hold one's interest. What drove my interest initially was, of course, computer games. Being pretty proficient with computers to start, I would usually have most of the time in elementary school computer lab to play games like Dinopark Tycoon or Oregon Trail. However, games at school paled in comparison to ones I was able to play at home: the Lucasarts Adventure games, the Space Quests, King's Quests. Things that I could play for hours, but probably wouldn't hold my interest as a kid today, given the popularity and technological advances of modern games. However, when I was eight, I would still stop playing computer games after a while and go back to playing with Legos. Which leads me to think that the key here is creativity, not just entertainment. What I mean: I remember spending a lot of time playing with 3D Movie Maker, playing with scripts and sounds and 3D characters that I could control on the screen. I wish I still had the files around to see what I came up with, but they are, alas, lost to time. I remember creating a simple GIF animation that slowly unblurred the letters "Josh's Game Page," and then blurred them again. I remember this kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Asked and Answered Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:43:38 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=539&msg_id=539