At this year's E3, Shigeru Miyamoto told Kotaku (video interview included) and USA Today that the "Kind Code" patent (noticed back in January 2009, and well summarized on Kotaku) will be implemented in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The tentatively named "Demo Mode" was discussed by developers and received early approval from a teacher. With this new, slightly more solid information, feelings are mixed. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 19, 2009 - 59 comments

NASCAR as little as they like it, has it's roots in Moonshine. Junior Johnson, one of the early heroes who is considered the greatest to never win a championship, has even gone legal with it after getting his start running Moonshine for his father. He was even the subject of a 1965 Tom Wolfe Essay as the Last American Hero. The latest cheating scandal to hit NASCAR? Junior just says they were doing their job, being creative, and just got caught.
posted by Eekacat on Aug 23, 2008 - 27 comments

We've Got Questions. Got Some Answers? The guy selling you batteries at RadioShack may be better educated than the company's CEO who fudged his resume and claims his diploma was lost in a fire. OK, it's not Enron, but still.
posted by punkfloyd on Feb 15, 2006 - 23 comments

Go get your free iTunes from Pepsi Tilt the bottle 25 degrees and look for random letters (winner) or AGAIN (loser).
posted by srboisvert on Feb 18, 2004 - 28 comments

I guess we all suspected it, but those one-armed bandits were fixed all along. The fruit machines we gamble on in our local pubs follow pre-determined sequences to get you hooked; there is nothing random in their behaviour. How do we know? This U.K. campaign group has built PC emulators to run the actual programme code from the gaming machines's ROM chips. They claim they are not only fixed but illegal (via NTK).
posted by rolo on Jun 6, 2003 - 53 comments

Ah, that back to school feeling is in the air. More papers to plagerize, more ways to beat that test. With some evidence that cheating is on the rise, and that the Internet makes it much easier, it might be time to review alternate ways of making the grade. All credit to this Mefi member.
posted by Wulfgar! on Aug 29, 2002 - 36 comments