Cool Waste of Time - Bloxorz

by , 10:40 AM EDT, July 24th, 2008

There is an art to wasting time. It certainly isn't as easy as it looks. The true time-wasting artist can wile away a major portion of his or her life accomplishing nothing more than avoiding constipation.

For most of us, however, wasting time is an occasional endeavor remanded to those times when it is socially acceptable -- kind of like belching or picking your nose (both of which can be excellent time wasters).

Wasting time while at work is not acceptable, but the true practitioner can waste time while making it look like he's doing something constructive. A doctor's waiting room, however, is a veritable cemetery of dead minutes and wasting time there is not only socially acceptable, it is expected.

Things are changing, however. Our gadgets are beginning to make time wasting and those who excel at it as rare as a great pastrami sandwich. iPods, iPhones, laptops, and other devices drag our work along with us and no place is safe for time wasting. Even the quiet, hallowed halls of the corporate john, once a bastion of silent idleness, now reverberate with cellphone ringtones, whispered conversations, and the occasion clickety-click of typed keyboards.

We at The Mac Observer believe it is time to fight the progression of purpose, the inundation of anti-idleness, the rampant disregard for time well spent doing nothing important. We believe that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, admittedly richer, but dull nonetheless.

To the Jack and Jills among you unwilling to to live a life devoid of void, a life removed from relaxation, an existence where existing isn't enough, we offer this installment of A COOL WASTE OF TIME.

Observe the lowly brick: an object that exists merely to fill a set of very limited purposes, primary of them is to be staked with other bricks to form a structure. Once stacked the brick remains there, satisfied with its lot in life. It does not aspire to become chief brick or a keystone. Where it is is where it will stay until something comes along and knocks it down.

What if a brick were a bit more mobile, would it then have aspirations of greatness? Probably not. In fact, a brick capable of moving would probably strive to not move, to lie down and become more like its brethren.

This was likely the impetus behind the creation of Bloxorz, a free and extremely addictive Shockwave game.

The object of the game is simple: A brick sits on an oddly shaped platform with a hole in it. Move the brick end over end, or roll it so that it goes through the hole and on to brick nirvana. Of course, nothing is as easy as it sounds. The platform shape restricts the movement of the brick.

Actually, that's not true. If you move the brick wrong it falls off the platform and into brick Hades, only to be resurrected on the same platform so you can do it again.

Bloxorz is nothing but fun and is one of the best time wasters I've ever seen. Since we've discovered it I've collectively wasted several lifetimes (OK, these were moth lifetimes we're talking about, but it is still time wasted and that's the point.)

So defy purpose, spit in the face of Da Man! Grab a beer, strip down to your skivvies and settle in to waste many hours playing Bloxorz.

Ahhh, life is good!