Rachel Helps

Hack the subconscious to remember your password.

Hackers may be able to use your brain against you, if you’re using an EEG-measuring device like NeuroSky. One brain wave that an EEG can sense, called the P300, signals that an object is important or recognized. Mind Hacks summarizes the study on P300 signals called “On the Feasibility of Side-Chann

Minecraft experiment exposes humans as hoarders and griefers.

If you have a Minecraft world that’s somehow limited to a small space, it is possible to create a sustainable economy. The ever-essential wood can grow back and animals can reproduce. However, if players have goals other than survival in mind, they can get depressingly destructive. One Minecraft exp

Why pinball bridges the gap between analog and digital.

Pinball is a strange arcade game. It’s played with physical objects, yet scores everything digitally. And it’s really hard to get good at. The new games criticism site, Bit Creature, published Ryan Winslett’s experience of playing pinball at a tournment. I stepped up to The Twilight Zone table and f

Katamari is a horrific exercise in self-loathing.

The cutscenes between levels in Touch My Katamari show an otaku of the worst kind. As he shuns his geeky self, he becomes more successful and happier in life. But what message is that sending to us geeks playing the game? CJ Melendez at the site Rely on Horror sees Katamari as a game specializing in

Eat or be eaten when Tokyo Jungle comes to the US.

Most of the games that have been coming out lately seem to focus an awful lot on humans or humanoids. Animals are a completely neglected part of wilderness survival, except occasionally when they can provide transport or meat. Tokyo Jungle might be the antidote to all our human-centric game-playing.