Experiences with non-techies

[Cree340]

The reason why she's using such a slow toshiba laptop is because one day we went out to buy a new computer for her (core i5, SSD, 6GB RAM, integrated graphics) and she didn't use it at all, then one day (when the computer was only 2 months old and gathering dust) she sold it for very cheap, like $400. And she needs a computer for her work (accounting) so now her old toshiba needs is so slow, it takes 10 mins to turn on and 10 mins to turn off.

 

Also, her internet is so slow, (1mbps down and 0.25mbps up) and whenever she gets a call from the internet service provider about upgrading, she says she doesn't want faster internet even if it is only $5 dollars more every month. So whenever I go to her home and try to access the internet, it takes forever to load a video and to download anything.

[Zombater]

When I said that I stopped acting childish, there was no relation to me not playing video games, I stopped playing them to put forth more effort to my studies and I stopped acting childish as in I changed my personality. No relation exists between the two. Sorry if anybody was offended.

EDIT: my parents never let me play decent games (they think that it will turn me into some sort of emo psychopath/murderer) so I can't really comment on the topic, although I would like to play said games once the overload of studies are over.

I'd really like to meet your soccer mom and school her on her ignorance and the benefits of videogames. Most studies are manipulated by the media, and those that aren't are ignored. Society needs a scapegoat - videogames are a good scapegoat, because most are ignorant of them. Watch Rob Ager's documentary Elephant and The Videogames controversy - and get schooled! Speaking of Rob Ager, you would be interested to know despite my moms lack of interest in him, he is a really good movie analyst and such.

If anyone here wants to debate me, I have been on the topic for a year and successfully debated dozens of arguments, particularly via email and reddit. So, not to brag or sound obnoxious, but you're welcome to any day.

You're probably right about never playing decent games, and sorry to sound obnoxious in my earlier reply, but not playing videogames isn't something you should exactly "brag about". Sorry for the misunderstanding. What videogames do you play?

Also make sure to quote my post so I can see your reply

[NeatSquidYT]

I'd really like to meet your soccer mom and school her on her ignorance and the benefits of videogames. Most studies are manipulated by the media, and those that aren't are ignored. Society needs a scapegoat - videogames are a good scapegoat, because most are ignorant of them. Watch Rob Ager's documentary Elephant and The Videogames controversy - and get schooled! Speaking of Rob Ager, you would be interested to know despite my moms lack of interest in him, he is a really good movie analyst and such.

If anyone here wants to debate me, I have been on the topic for a year and successfully debated dozens of arguments, particularly via email and reddit. So, not to brag or sound obnoxious, but you're welcome to any day.

You're probably right about never playing decent games, and sorry to sound obnoxious in my earlier reply, but not playing videogames isn't something you should exactly "brag about". Sorry for the misunderstanding. What videogames do you play?

Also make sure to quote my post so I can see your reply

I play naughty games for big kids.

[Zombater]

This is a little OT, but I've never played roblox, I've only briefly heard about it, so what is so bad about it, i'd like to know.

Simply put, the community.

The game is "designed for people ages 7-17" but I don't know a singe person who plays it above 10.

[NeatSquidYT]

Simply put, the community.

The game is "designed for people ages 7-17" but I don't know a singe person who plays it above 10.

I do, and I take the piss constantly by saying stuff like "Can you not wait to talk to 5 year olds tonight?". He takes it as a joke btw, we all do stuff like that to eachother.

[soup]

Radio waves are hardly ionizing radiation, they don't have the energy to break chemical bonds in DNA. As for other EM fields, their strength would have to be truly colossal to affect people. We had quite a conversation with a professor in our power engineering course regarding this topic.

But hey, I could be wrong...

You are probably not.

I did say most thought it a load of baloney, but some do feel it is bad for them.

[ibbadib]

When I said that I stopped acting childish, there was no relation to me not playing video games, I stopped playing them to put forth more effort to my studies and I stopped acting childish as in I changed my personality. No relation exists between the two. Sorry if anybody was offended.

EDIT: my parents never let me play decent games (they think that it will turn me into some sort of emo psychopath/murderer) so I can't really comment on the topic, although I would like to play said games once the overload of studies are over.

No offence taken dude:-).

[Simmytu]

When I said that I stopped acting childish, there was no relation to me not playing video games, I stopped playing them to put forth more effort to my studies and I stopped acting childish as in I changed my personality. No relation exists between the two. Sorry if anybody was offended.

EDIT: my parents never let me play decent games (they think that it will turn me into some sort of emo psychopath/murderer) so I can't really comment on the topic, although I would like to play said games once the overload of studies are over.

No problem mate, I was being sarcastic but having sarcasm hidden in text and using emoticons doesn't cut it, unfortunately. :unsure:

[Guest andyysplash]

The reason why she's using such a slow toshiba laptop is because one day we went out to buy a new computer for her (core i5, SSD, 6GB RAM, integrated graphics) and she didn't use it at all, then one day (when the computer was only 2 months old and gathering dust) she sold it for very cheap, like $400. And she needs a computer for her work (accounting) so now her old toshiba needs is so slow, it takes 10 mins to turn on and 10 mins to turn off.

 

Also, her internet is so slow, (1mbps down and 0.25mbps up) and whenever she gets a call from the internet service provider about upgrading, she says she doesn't want faster internet even if it is only $5 dollars more every month. So whenever I go to her home and try to access the internet, it takes forever to load a video and to download anything.

 

Don't be hatin' on dat 1meg internet - I live with it too! One day it got up to 1.1meg!!! 480p video actually loaded!!! But really, she has the ability to upgrade, and I don't know what she's paying but $5 more per month would grant her enough so that she was getting more speed for her money. I, currently (until they activate the fibre cabinets on the main road) can't get an upgrade an am getting something close to 0.03meg/£ (not sure exactly how much it cost us per month). Compare that to £10 more per month and 36meg I'll be getting with fibre, that'll be 1.1meg/£ - wow such improvement many speed such video wow.

 

But, I can't believe she got a new computer (did you buy it or were you just helping her choose) and then didn't use it for some reason and then sold it for less than it was bought. If you're gonna sell something worth some money don't you normally get someone to evaluate it (or at least your family to help you)?

[ShadowCaptain]

Not exactly a none-techie but my friend is not super comfortable inside PCS

 

Anyway I get a text as I leave work "Erm...Dropped my pc".., so as it turns out, he was cleaning and knocked his desktop off his desk and it crashed down to the floor

 

I grab some spare parts and drive over to his house, he has the pc on the floor side panel off and is like..... everytihng is connected but it wont power on

 

...

...

...

 

Turns out wire for the power button had fallen off so the on button didnt work 

HAHA i nearly pissed myself I was like "you are a tit" he was like "oh I did not know where those cables went"

[Beskamir]

When I said that I stopped acting childish, there was no relation to me not playing video games, I stopped playing them to put forth more effort to my studies and I stopped acting childish as in I changed my personality. No relation exists between the two. Sorry if anybody was offended.

EDIT: my parents never let me play decent games (they think that it will turn me into some sort of emo psychopath/murderer) so I can't really comment on the topic, although I would like to play said games once the overload of studies are over.

You should give games like the Portal and Half Life series a try. There isn't any real killing in Portal (unless you yourself die) so there isn't much worry for becoming a psychopath As for Half Life if you can't play that for whatever reason the Black Mesa standalone mod is basically a remake of the first game from what I know. (Also I only played some Black Mesa and the Portal series but I know that Valve games are fantastic so I will recomend them based on the reputation that Valve has )

 

If you're intersted in something with a good story and set in Star Wars I'd recomend the Jedi Knight series as well as Knights of the Old Republic (both 1 and 2) as those games basically got me into tech and modding I played them when I was about 14 in 2010. Additionally KotOR has one of the best twists imaginable. I won't spoil it and I suggest you try not to spoil it for yourself either It gets heavily forshadowed and since most mods embrace the idea I would recomend avoiding them (asides from 1080p support) for the first playthrough.

 

As for science and learning Kerbal Space Program and to an extent Star Citizen are good places to start for physics.

 

Those are games I'd recomend with a consideration for possible violence or any other aspect that makes a game M rated. I personally never cared about ratings that much having played doom when I was 5 or so and later when I returned to gaming I played AC2 just prior to KotOR. Of course these days ratings no longer apply to me anyways

[Speedbird]

there isn't much worry for becoming a psychopath

You're more than correct about that - IIRC there was a study on 10 000 kids who played video games and none of them turned out to be violent. Why hasn't anybody heard of this? Because the media doesn't want us to.

[rentaspoon]

I can't have my pc connected to my router because the wire is apparently a "tripping hazard"

That's just common sense...

That's also why you run a cable under the carpet when nobody is watching

[MEC-777]

I'd really like to meet your soccer mom and school her on her ignorance and the benefits of videogames. Most studies are manipulated by the media, and those that aren't are ignored. Society needs a scapegoat - videogames are a good scapegoat, because most are ignorant of them. Watch Rob Ager's documentary Elephant and The Videogames controversy - and get schooled! Speaking of Rob Ager, you would be interested to know despite my moms lack of interest in him, he is a really good movie analyst and such.

If anyone here wants to debate me, I have been on the topic for a year and successfully debated dozens of arguments, particularly via email and reddit. So, not to brag or sound obnoxious, but you're welcome to any day.

You're probably right about never playing decent games, and sorry to sound obnoxious in my earlier reply, but not playing videogames isn't something you should exactly "brag about". Sorry for the misunderstanding. What videogames do you play?

Also make sure to quote my post so I can see your reply

Videogames have positives and negatives. There are people who develop addictions and it can effect other aspects of their lives. I'm not saying parents shouldn't let their kids play any videogames, but I understand them wanting to er on the side of caution. I totally believe parents should be educated on the types of games their kids are playing and how much time they play per day/week, but also be in-tune with their hobbies and interests. 

[Zombater]

Videogames have positives and negatives. There are people who develop addictions and it can effect other aspects of their lives. I'm not saying parents shouldn't let their kids play any videogames, but I understand them wanting to er on the side of caution. I totally believe parents should be educated on the types of games their kids are playing and how much time they play per day/week, but also be in-tune with their hobbies and interests.

Explain the negatives. Not to sound rude, but videogames don't harm. Addiction does. You can be addicted to anything.

[Zombater]

You're more than correct about that - IIRC there was a study on 10 000 kids who played video games and none of them turned out to be violent. Why hasn't anybody heard of this? Because the media doesn't want us to.

Here are some common arguments and me owning them. Yes, I copy paste the same thing everywhere but I am the original author. The reason I have presented these is so that you can use them in an argument with someone ignorant enough to believe this myth.

- Humans learn by imitation and therefore carry out violence IRL

If so, why don't other aspects carry over? Millions of people play Minecraft, but not all of them have become architects or construction workers.

- Videogames fry your brains.

No, they don't, think about it. Oh wait, you can't - you're being brainwashed by the media. Studies have shown that people who play videogames tend to be more creative than others, and videogames can help improve hand-eye coordination, which is something at can be done by nothing else except sports. Furthermore, videogames can improve cognitive skills and help improve the area of the brain which controls decisions and such.

- Videogames increase crime.

No, interestingly check out these graphs:

Furthermore, considering roughly 185 million Americans plus tons from around the world play videogames - yet less than 10 in the last decade have been school shooters or such. If a perfectly normal person shoots up a school, the media will hide it - why shouldn't they? They can't make a scapegoat out of it, they'd just have to tell the truth. If a shooter's brother has liked a Bejeweled facebook page QUICK EVERYONE TO THE BUNKER! If a shooter obsessively watched the media, would they mention it? Lol.

Star Craft II, a popular scapegoat is considered a national sport in South Korea - wanna know how many school shootings there's been in South Korea? None.

- Videogame players are all jerks

Nah, remember that 9 year old kid who gave away the $600 he had saved up for his XBONE to place local fire alarms and smoke detectors THAT MIGHT NOT EVEN HAVE MATTERED? Oh wait, never heard of him? That's because they don't fit the stereotype which the media is playing with. Non-videogame players, ever heard of the charity Child's Play that donates games and toys to sick children? No? Because they don't fit the stereotype.

Sorry for going berserk, but I am very, very passionate about this debate and my life goal is to shut down stupid media aka Fox News, or as my dad calls it, Faux News and let the good ones like Forbes and Wired soar to the top as well as obviously letting videogame players gain more recognition. I also want to help abolish the derogatory term "gamer". Big dreams, I know, but they're hard to accomplish especially when you're only 12-13 years old. Yes, I forgot how old I am.

Why I hate the term "gamer":

Why the hell are people who enjoy videogames given this label? People who enjoy games are gamers, eh? Are people who enjoy music "musicers"? Are people who enjoy books "bookers" (although I love BS: I)? Are people who enjoy movies "moviers"? No? Exactly! So why can't we be accepted into society? The answer? The media, and their scapegoats.

[brownninja97]

I had to show my aunty(shes only 31) how to plug in a usb flash drive into the usb port on a pc, how in the fuck can you not know how to do that at her age, my bloody grandparents are messing around on netflix and downloading movies and she barely knows anything.

[Zombater]

I had to show my aunty(shes only 31) how to plug in a usb flash drive into the usb port on a pc, how in the fuck can you not know how to do that at her age, my bloody grandparents are messing around on netflix and downloading movies and she barely knows anything.

Pure ignorance. I don't make often fun of people for not knowing tech unless they're super, super ignorant though, because that would imply I actually knew the rules of something as simple as football.

You guys all make fun of people for not knowing what GPU is more powerful. Where I live, me and my friend took a survey of 200 people at our school, all older than fourteen and less than eighteen. 4 of them knew what a GPU was and 32 didn't know what a "PC" was. Only three knew you could actually build one.

[MEC-777]

Explain the negatives. Not to sound rude, but videogames don't harm. Addiction does. You can be addicted to anything.

Not rude at all. I prefer it when people don't beat around the bush.

 

You're right, people can be addicted to anything and its the addiction that does harm. 

 

Now, I'm curious as to what you would say to the argument about younger kids playing more mature games. I have two young nephews and I would certainly not want them playing GTA at their age (6 and 8). While they are smart enough to know the difference between a game and reality, its the exposure to the mature content (violence, language, prostitution, sexual content etc.) that concerns me, and in that sense, those games are harmful to younger kids who are not ready to be exposed to that. Some parents do not care and allow their kids to play any game they want, whether it's appropriate or not. That brings me to my own counter-argument for this which is that it's the parents doing harm in allowing them to play said games. The game itself can't do harm if it's kept away from the child. What would you say?

[MEC-777]

You guys all make fun of people for not knowing what GPU is more powerful. Where I live, me and my friend took a survey of 200 people at our school, all older than fourteen and less than eighteen. 4 of them knew what a GPU was and 32 didn't know what a "PC" was. Only three knew you could actually build one.

 

In this day and age, that's just sad... 

[WinNut]

In this day and age, that's just sad... 

On the 2nd to last day of school I was gutting some computers (the room was being converted to a music room, so I grabbed what I could), and my techie friend who moved happened to be visiting, I took a processor and asked a bunch of people what they were, here were the responses...

 

"I don't know, a magnet?"

"Hard drive!"

"Motherboard!"

"Some computer chip"

"I don't give a fuck" <--- ignorance much

[Zombater]

In this day and age, that's just sad...

Indeed, it is.

Not rude at all. I prefer it when people don't beat around the bush.

You're right, people can be addicted to anything and its the addiction that does harm.

Now, I'm curious as to what you would say to the argument about younger kids playing more mature games. I have two young nephews and I would certainly not want them playing GTA at their age (6 and 8). While they are smart enough to know the difference between a game and reality, its the exposure to the mature content (violence, language, prostitution, sexual content etc.) that concerns me, and in that sense, those games are harmful to younger kids who are not ready to be exposed to that. Some parents do not care and allow their kids to play any game they want, whether it's appropriate or not. That brings me to my own counter-argument for this which is that it's the parents doing harm in allowing them to play said games. The game itself can't do harm if it's kept away from the child. What would you say?

It's up to the parents. The most violent movie I've been permitted to watch (although I do watch lots worse like Cannibal Holocaust without their knowing) is the original RoboCop. My parents aren't strict because they know I will easily be exposed to this content anyways (back in October, which was around when I turned 12, or September or maybe Decemberish, the head of our grade did a talk in which he used words like boner, pubic hair and made some toilet humor (although very few if any sexual references). My parents are still appalled at me though when I use the word hell, but not at "heck" which is a portmanteau word of hell and fuck, furthermore showing their lack of knowledge in censorship.

I, myself wouldn't allow anyone under 13 to play a game with sexual content and wouldn't allow anyone under 8 to play a game with realistic violence (realistic being violence in Mortal Kombat and Dark Souls, unrealistic being, like Super Mario). The reason why I think worse of sexual content is not because of the fact it's sexual, in fact most children know about sex by 9-11 nowadays, but rather because they'll learn unrealistic expectations from it, same with gambling in games and movies - like in videogame slot machines, you are almost always guaranteed to win something, and the same doesn't apply IRL. More with slot machines though, not really games with money rewards and losses, because that's dumb.

For anyone who wants to laugh their heads off, here's another video of STAR_ poking fun at CoD:

http://youtu.be/SMLKgeXyIGQ

[Guest andyysplash]

Not rude at all. I prefer it when people don't beat around the bush.

 

You're right, people can be addicted to anything and its the addiction that does harm. 

 

Now, I'm curious as to what you would say to the argument about younger kids playing more mature games. I have two young nephews and I would certainly not want them playing GTA at their age (6 and 8). While they are smart enough to know the difference between a game and reality, its the exposure to the mature content (violence, language, prostitution, sexual content etc.) that concerns me, and in that sense, those games are harmful to younger kids who are not ready to be exposed to that. Some parents do not care and allow their kids to play any game they want, whether it's appropriate or not. That brings me to my own counter-argument for this which is that it's the parents doing harm in allowing them to play said games. The game itself can't do harm if it's kept away from the child. What would you say?

 

I've got a slightly unique perspective due to what I was allowed as a younger kid compared to what my friends were allowed. My parents didn't want me to experience anything which might ruin my childhood (and to this day I still don't watch many violent films, or many films at all which goes to show how habits can be formed - I'm 16 btw), and they also didn't want to buy me a console because they thought it 'too expensive and a waste of the TV'. I respect that since it led me to PC gaming

 

But what I've taken from that is that age ratings should be considered by parents. Nearly everyone in my class when I was 11 played COD. They probably played it before that, but I'm not sure. Now, personally, parents should make sure they know what the game or film or other media is like before they let their child have it. My parents went as far as to proof-watch the latter Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films (which were 12's and 15's) when I was 12-13 just to make sure. Now that was their choice, and other people may make different choices. What matters most is that the parent knows what their child can safely have without negative side effects before letting them have it. If the child is incredibly mature and let's say has a reading age of 16+ when they're 12 and understands some of the more adult stuff you get in those types of books, then they may be suitable to enjoy 15's at the cinema or to play games such as Half-Life 2 which do involve killing but aren't centred around it in the same way COD or Battlefield are.

 

It's true that young people are more impressionable than older people (on average, this is down to the individual person), and that if a child is not mature enough they may be negatively affected by excessively violent or sexually explicit games and may imitate, but if that is the case then they shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the game in the first place, which would be a failing on the part of the parent in judging whether their child would be ready or not. As parents have the control and speak for their children until the child is of age, it's down to the parent to look after them properly and not blame 'violent games' for everything.

 

The only issues from games come from:

 

- Addiction to a game much like anything else

- An imbalance of time spent playing games (or watching TV or even reading books, or anything else where you can sit in a dark room for ages) and as a result leaving out other things such as regular food or exercise, leading to a decline in health

- Allowing someone to access content that's inappropriate for their mental age or maturity (which could lead to bad tendencies or even affect their mental health in terms of instability or mental illnesses)

 

The second point only happens in the case of addiction, and the third is a failing on the part of the parent, so really, as long as a parent makes sure that their child only plays games that they are ready for, the only problem is making sure they aren't addicted.

 

Thinking about that, I probably spend too much time playing some games (Skyrim) but I do take breaks when I become bored, and will go do other things so that's a good sign. The thing I get moaned at the most for is 'being on the computer' instead of 'doing exercise' (a fair point) or 'playing a board game with your sister like it's 1957' or 'reading'. In all honesty, I'll only play a board game if I'm in the mood to and will enjoy it, and reading for too long can be as 'damaging' as staring at a screen for a long period of time (both will cause short-sightedness to some degree, and reading in bad light can strain the eyes like a monitor that's incorrectly calibrated can).

 

I think what we can conclude from all this is that parents need to make sure they take an active role in their child's safety and exposure to media, and children need to respect their decisions, something I did find hard sometimes.

[babbaj]

That's just common sense...

That's also why you run a cable under the carpet when nobody is watching

Carpet?

[AngusBastion]

Well I had quite few but the one I remember was this with my first ex: So I got SMS during one of my lessons. Ex was asking how can she turn on the computer. She said tried hugging but it did not help. She also tried to ask nicely but it did not help either. 

 

After that I just explained that there should be nice biggish button and that she needs to press it. Good thing the computer was plugged to power.