The Mac OSX waiting cursor, also known as the beachball, is just that: a colorful spinning ball. To provide some entertainment in the time you have to wait until your machine has completed its calculation, a simple pong-like game with the spinning ball cursor would be nice. Just add two bats, some simple bouncing routines and hey-presto! Cursor pong could be activated with a simple keystroke or a hot-corner, like Dashboard. Nothing fancy: a simple pong game, programmed into the cursor routine would hardly influence the calculation at hand. At the end of the calculation the game pauses for a dialogue: end the game, or continue playing... Plus: no boss-key. You always have a valid excuse for playing.
-- Ehrm, Dec 28 2005

while waiting for your HTML5 app to download data... http://m.engadget.c...=classic&postPage=1
oh, and ]..+....[ [swimswim, Oct 01 2011]

] ----+ [
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 28 2005


] -+---- [
-- phundug, Dec 28 2005


was hoping it would be the smell of an insult
-- xenzag, Dec 28 2005


+----]-- - - [
-- Ehrm, Dec 28 2005


Once I skunk you three times in a row, I believe you might make it cursor pong. For me: gigglor pong.
-- bungston, Dec 29 2005


----]------[+----
-- normzone, Dec 29 2005


]---+-[
-- DesertFox, Jan 04 2006


]-+-----
---------[
---------

Why were you guys playing one-dimensional pong before? And how did one of you manage to score?
-- notmarkflynn, Jan 04 2006


[Ehrm]//Plus: no boss-key. You always have a valid excuse for playing.//

Are you talking about the Metanet Flash game, N?

Fun game.
-- DesertFox, Jan 04 2006


We were playing one-dimensional pong because we were fed up with two dimensional pong (Pong), tree dimensional Pong (Tennis) and four dimensional Pong also. Those disputes about whether (and when!) is was 'out' or 'in' are sooo tiresome in 4D.

|

o

|
-- Ehrm, Jan 05 2006


[tree dimensional Pong] ehrm - what's that then? - a christmas tree being whirled around that has been used to clear a blocked drain ??
-- xenzag, Jan 06 2006


Cursor pong? I did, but then she started showering more regularly.
-- BunsenHoneydew, Jan 07 2006


[tree dimensional Pong] is the Irish name for tennis.
-- Minimal, Jan 09 2006


I like this idea. Please move it to a better category. I suggest Computer: Game.
-- dbmag9, Jan 09 2006


could also be things other than pong - for example (what's the name of that game where you shoot rising ducks). Now that there are moving parts, it's a screensaver replacement (you then cancel it only with ESC) and could also be started by an pressing an icon in the status bar.

To prevent it from being annoying, the game graphics have to modify the desktop only slightly in the start, and if you shake your pointer, or move it before pressing an additional key, the game will disappear.

Make it depend in some random way on the user's data (shoot britney spears) and it becomes inspirational and the computer seems to have more of a life of its own.
-- ados, Jan 13 2006


Hey, you took my advice!
-- dbmag9, Jan 18 2006


Can I play breakout with the icons?

[ados], you're thinking of the game Carnival.
-- Aq_Bi, Jan 18 2006


Yeah, dbmag9 it was a good idea also.
-- Ehrm, Jan 18 2006


---+--[

If you ever got tired of tennis pong, there was racketball pong and then if you got bored with that there was hockey pong.
-- Jscotty, Jan 19 2006


Brilliant.
-- zigness, Jan 19 2006


Blip... Blip, blip... Blip...
-- Alterother, Oct 01 2011



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