To Cheat or Not to Cheat (in Minecraft)?

From: To Cheat or Not to Cheat? | CraftHub

This is an argument I have been having with Alex Esoterica for over a week: what constitutes cheating in Minecraft?

I wasted a lot of time mining for resources, which after a while it simply becomes annoying. If you are playing in peace mode, and you are playing offline, and the game doesn’t have a goal, or any kind of achievements, then who cares? The whole idea is to have fun!

The picture above is my first train central, which already has 6 out of its 8 rail lines up and running. Had I tried to do this by mining for coal/lava and hauling sand, it would easily take me an extra week that I simply don’t have. Using an inventory editor means I can concentrate in CREATING things in Minecraft, which is what appeals to me so much about this game. Except for using the inventory editor, I am playing the game as is except for two mods: better grass, and hacked trains.

The better grass thing is simply aesthetical. As for the trains, I mastered the use of train boosters, but these are problematic because they take up too much space, and you can screw up if your timing isn’t right. With the train hack, I can place a cart and go wherever I want to go, regardless of elevation or distance (the mod basically removes the friction and gravity penalties to carts).

What you can’t see from the picture is the endless miles of elevated walkways that I built the hard way, which took me months to complete. There is absolutely no different in the sense of achievement that I got from the parts I build with mined materials, and the parts I built with material retrieved through the inventory editor. None.

The way I see it, if there is no scoring, or end game goal, or competitive element against other live players, then there is no cheating. Using Minecraft with an inventory editor is like playing with legos when you have an unlimited supply.

On sleep deprivation and Incan Monkey Gods

From: Dilbert comic strip for 08/03/1992 from the official Dilbert comic strips archive. I was trying to show this strip to a coworker who is dangerously toying with the harsh mistress that is Insomnia. What shocked me is how quickly I was able to look up the strip, which was published when he was just 11 years old, and two weeks before my just-out-of-college ass shipped out to US Army Basic Training.

The Black Hole

If this was a minigolf hole, you can't reach B from A. Ever. If this was a room lined with mirrors, and you lit a candle at point A, you can't see it from B, not even reflected. Update: I guess I didn't explain this all the way through. You can't reach B from A with just one stroke, there's no direct line between them, and there is no way to bounce the ball (assuming perfect conditions). Thanks to Ben for pointing this obvious error.

Goodbye Blackberry 8530, hello Samsung Intercept (both Virgin Mobile USA)

Got the phone switching bug again, and this time I am going to try to see if I can live with an Android phone . According to Virgin Mobile, they will be upgrading their Samsung Intercept to 2.2 froyo sometime in Spring, since I am completely new to Android I am not too worried about it yet. And no, I am not interested in a jailbreak. The dots are used for the unlock pattern, which after very little time becomes instinctive, much easier than having to remember a password. The new phone is slightly longer and narrower than my Blackberry 8530. The back cover is as flimsy. The Samsung Intercept is of course thicker since it has a slide-out keyboard. I haven't measured them, but the new keyboard feels at least twice as wide as the one in the Blackberry. The only problem is that due to the USB port being on the top of the phone, and I am a lefty, it is really damn hard for me to type if I am charging the phone. I imagine right handed people have the same ki...

The Insomniac Coder

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