{"id":813,"date":"2008-03-09T17:00:03","date_gmt":"2008-03-09T17:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2008\/03\/09\/so-so-cool-looking-but-i-cant-play-yet\/"},"modified":"2008-03-09T17:06:39","modified_gmt":"2008-03-09T17:06:39","slug":"so-so-cool-looking-but-i-cant-play-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2008\/03\/09\/so-so-cool-looking-but-i-cant-play-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"So, so cool looking &#8212; but I can&#8217;t play yet!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Much chops to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.badscience.net\/?p=622\">Bad Science<\/a> for pointing out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.phun.at\/\">Phun<\/a>, a simulation environment\/game\/construction engine thingie that (judging from the videos) is just super fun (ho, ho, ho) to fiddle with.  It seems a wonderfully open-ended platform for making stuff, which is of course the great strength of a pad and paper, or a bucket of Legos.  This demo video gives a sense of the range of possibilities:<\/p>\n<p><object width=\"425\" height=\"355\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/0H5g9VS0ENM&#038;rel=1&#038;border=0\"><\/param><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"><\/param><\/object><\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a YouTube group devoted to this thing, and the number and variety of little clips there also speaks well to the Phun&#8217;s flexibility.  We even have one person building <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0xFbA6YW11o&#038;NR=1\">a binary adder<\/a>, and another <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=i4YioMsWVq0&#038;NR=1\">a working pinball machine<\/a>.  Very, very cool.<\/p>\n<p>The sad, sniffle, miserable bit is that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.phun.at\/\">Phun<\/a> doesn&#8217;t run on Macs at the moment.  It supports for Linux and Windows, though, and there are people working on a Mac port, so my fingers are crossed.  It just seems like it would be too damn much fun to play with.<\/p>\n\n\t<div class=\"st-post-tags \">\n\tTags: <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/computing\/\" title=\"Computing\">Computing<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/education\/\" title=\"Education\">Education<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/fun\/\" title=\"fun\">fun<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/game\/\" title=\"game\">game<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/kids\/\" title=\"kids\">kids<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/science\/\" title=\"Science\">Science<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/toy\/\" title=\"toy\">toy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/video\/\" title=\"Video\">Video<\/a><br \/><\/div>\n\n\n\t<h4>Related posts<\/h4>\n\t<ul class=\"st-related-posts\">\n\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2009\/02\/21\/id-love-a-set\/\" title=\"I&#8217;d love a set! (21 Feb 09)\">I&#8217;d love a set!<\/a> (0)<\/li>\n\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2009\/05\/28\/huge-props-to-kindergarten-teachers\/\" title=\"Huge props to kindergarten teachers (28 May 09)\">Huge props to kindergarten teachers<\/a> (0)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Much chops to Bad Science for pointing out Phun, a simulation environment\/game\/construction engine thingie that (judging from the videos) is just super fun (ho, ho, ho) to fiddle with. It seems a wonderfully open-ended platform for making stuff, which is of course the great strength of a pad and paper, or a bucket of Legos. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2008\/03\/09\/so-so-cool-looking-but-i-cant-play-yet\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;So, so cool looking &#8212; but I can&#8217;t play yet!&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[4,17,14,15,28],"tags":[859,868,121,281,274,866,282,876],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p90sy-d7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":608,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/07\/29\/high-school-math-teh-good\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":0},"title":"High school math = Teh Good","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"29 Jul 07","format":false,"excerpt":"Pharyngula has a nice discussion of report looking at the impact of high school math and science classes on performance in university science courses. The short version? Definitely take math, as that improves performance in all the sciences in the study (biology, chemistry, and physics). Taking science in high school\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computing","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/computing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":786,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2008\/01\/30\/techcrunch-endorses-obama-and-mccain\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":1},"title":"TechCrunch endorses Obama and McCain","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"30 Jan 08","format":false,"excerpt":"In a well written and thoughtful endorsement that (not surprisingly) focuses on tech related issues, they've gone for Obama and McCain (with a strong preference for Obama between the two). Obviously technical issues aren't the only important issues facing the country, and silicon valley tech issues aren't necessarily always the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computing","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/computing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":287,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2006\/01\/01\/chalk-up-another-one-in-favor-of-the-liberal-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":2},"title":"Chalk up another one in favor of the liberal arts&#8230;","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"1 Jan 06","format":false,"excerpt":"...and from a somewhat unexpected venue. CIO.com is (in their own way) touting the value of a liberal arts education in computing. Maria Klawe, the author of the piece, feels that \"career opportunities in computer science are at an all-time high\" and: We\u2019ve got to spread that message among students\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computing","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/computing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":216,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/08\/12\/hey-dee-ho-a-new-planet-in-our-solar-system\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":3},"title":"Hey-Dee-Ho &#8211; A new planet in our solar system!","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"12 Aug 05","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago JPL announced the discovery of a 10th planet in our solar system! A name for this newfound member of our neighborhood has been proposed but not yet approved. And there are people who think that science takes all the excitement and mystery out of the world.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/science\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":336,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2006\/04\/10\/many-congratulations-to-go-around\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":4},"title":"Many congratulations to go around","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"10 Apr 06","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been quite a week for Computer Science students here at UMM and they definitely deserve some props. In no particular order: Emily Christiansen just got back from a wonderful weekend as one of the finalists in this year's Google Anita Borg Scholarship. Pretty amazingly cool to see our name\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computing","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/computing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A reading circle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.flickr.com\/40\/124916467_96751bd434.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":478,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/02\/19\/its-hard-for-us-old-folks-to-get-it-or-teach-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":5},"title":"It&#8217;s hard for us old folks to get it (or teach it)","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"19 Feb 07","format":false,"excerpt":"John Naughton had a nice column in The Observer last month about the chronic problems with IT courses for kids. There had been a plan for a new required exam in information and communication technology (ICT) for 14 year olds in the UK, but enthusiasm for the requirement has waned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computing","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/computing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}