Minecraft scheme to be aware of

@haydesigner So you can’t play games

To be fair, I gave a Linux box to someone that kept putting the password in whenever the machine asked. It ended up with malware. It is not like the machine ask “Please type your password in so we can install malware.” I would imagine this could happen on an Apple product.

@caffeine_dude current macos makes it very difficult to install unsigned programs… even if you’re administrator.

@haydesigner how exactly do you imagine that Apple in any way protects your device from the kind of activity described herein?

@jbartus while Apple is admittedly not invulnerable, it is a very well-documented that it is exceptionally much safer than other platforms.

Even if you want to split hairs (about anyone on any platform installing malware (un)intentionally), Apple is still safer just from the sheer fact that there are far, far, far fewer malwares for their systems.

@haydesigner I’m going to respectfully disagree with you here- Windows 10 is far more secure than Mac OS (Windows 10 has its own issues, but security isn’t one of them).
Also, desktop Linux is far more secure than Mac or Windows according to your criteria.
I really want Apple to be better, but their resources aren’t focused on Mac OS like they were years ago.

@haydesigner and that helps against this particular issue wherein a user provides an outside party remote access to their machine how?

@dashcloud, you’re arguing against 25+ years of all the Apple OSes versus a single OS that was released, what, 2-3 years ago?

That’s why I mentioned splitting hairs, @jbartus, which is what you’re doing. But there are still far fewer attacks on Apple users, period.

I’m not trying to make this a platform war, honest. All I meant to do was say that I’m happy I haven’t had to deal with this stuff at all during my 25+ year career. Attack me if you want because of it, but I don’t see the point of doing so.

@haydesigner you came into a thread discussing the particular “hair” I’m supposedly splitting, spouted off about Apple like somehow being an Apple user would protect someone from this sort of attack which depends on the stupidity of the user alone, completely independent of OS, then get upset when people call you on it and accuse us of being the ones turning this into a platform war?

I’m happy you enjoy your Apple computer, really I am. But you’re the one who came in here bringing up what you’re now apparently claiming was a complete non-sequitur about Apple. You’re right that fewer viruses and the like target OSX, but the reasons for this are myriad and include things like the objectively tiny comparative user base and the fact that most business applications don’t even run on OSX, among other things, and none of which amount to one platform being objectively better than another, especially in the context of this thread.

I’m not sure what I said smugly that got such an attack, but I’m afraid nothing good will now come out of this conversation, so I will just politely bow out.

@jbartus Are you going to just let that slide?

@Chmarr Speaking as a guy who uses macOS as his primary OS, give or take, that’s not true (about running unsigned software.) It’s relatively hard for a person to do accidentally, by default, but plenty easy for anyone with intent. I run unsigned code pretty often (buncha lazy bums can’t package security what now?).

Moral of the story is, everyone on the internet is a filthy liar. And don’t give them remote access of any kind to your computer, no matter what they say, no matter the OS.

@haydesigner I don’t buy the notion that macOS is safer than Windows these days. I mean, maybe there is still less effort toward the kinds of malware installations that target unsophisticated users… (“uhh, this is a rootkit—I mean, ‘video codec’, that you should install.”) But I bet those kinds of programs are out there for Macs too, anymore…

Ever since Microsoft got security religion, around XP 2 or so, it’s been more about which users and platforms are targeted than how secure the platform is. Both of those systems have gotten tons better.

@therealjrn my point has been made and they declined to actually refute anything I had to say so…

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@jbartus You sure gave them what-for didn’tcha?

@therealjrn

@RedOak good god! It’s like you know my son personally!

He’s only 10, but he’s socially active in all sorts of stuff, gets straight A’s and turns into a little jerk when anything interrupts his game play.

We’ve begun cracking down on it. I set a timer on the PC that forces it to reboot every 2 hours. He doesn’t have the log-on password so once it reboots, he doesn’t have a way to get back on unless my wife or I type in the password for him. At first, he would get mad, but now it’s just part of his routine.

We also have strict punishments for bad behavior. The only real rule we have in the house is “Don’t be an asshole.” So, when he starts acting like one, he is forced to do the chores that no one else wants to do.

@capguncowboy I would be SO hosed if I was your son. (And, if I was your son, people would suspect some kind of time-travelling ability.)

@RedOak My 4-year-old is huge into Roblox right now. We play together which is fun for both of us. She uses a bluetooth controller with a laptop and I use either an android tablet or desktop. She’s getting so good moving around with the controls and problem solving. It’s even helping her learn to read because she wants to know what people are saying in chat or what signs in the game say. (she’s pretty good with “sight words”)

It got pretty bad, though. I’d tell her it’s time for bed and she’d be all “But I didn’t get to play Roblox today!” As if we CAN’T possibly go to bed until we play. We had to cut her off cold turkey last weekend and that seemed to help stem the addiction.

It’s awesome that we share an interest in video games, but it is something we’ll have to carefully manage as she gets older.

@capguncowboy Good that you’re alert to it early on.

Our son is an 18 year old HS Senior. His addiction came on quickly and recently - about 18-24 months ago. Of course he is now an “adult” (legally) so that adds another wrinkle.

Being that he will soon be living away from us (either college or on his own), our challenge has been to attempt to help him to learn to ration it - rather than us strong arming it. On his own we won’t be there for support.

He is a different kid when in the grip of the game. Out of the game he is rational and fully admits it has control of him.

We suspect the pressure of college admissions hasn’t helped. We’ve never had to drive our kids to get decent grades - all four of them have been straight A, or close to it, students. We’ve tried every method we can think of. In the end, we focus on relationship and regularly tell him we love him. Without that, all is lost.

@medz Good that you understand the risk.

I don’t think it is fully understood why some kids can play for hours and put it down while others get pulled in to the point where they cannot stop.

One trap that parents can easily fall into - using technology or TV/videos to babysit. We’ve consciously resisted that.

@medz be very careful. My daughter found a linked video from roblox to YouTube of stick figures doing the dirty. She’s 8 and it freaked me out how easily it happened

@RedOak (edit: sorry, comment stands as a general observation, but I hadn’t read the follow up comments yet.)

You sure it’s not just your kid being a kid? I mean… Minecraft is engrossing and has an infinite series of small tasks that you could do, but I think it’s the online social aspects that provide the addictiveness more than the game mechanics.

In my experience, most other games feature more cynicism in the design of the mechanics. Minecraft is among the most benign that I can think of.

@InnocuousFarmer read the original comment and my followup. We’re plenty sure gaming addiction exists and our son has it. 'Not claiming all kids fall pray to it. Clearly many (most?) kids can play for a few hours and put it down.

Parents should not be in denial if they see the above signs… it is evil once it grips your kid.

@RedOak I remember having a similar experience in highschool… I wouldn’t speculate or assume that life for me then was anything like life for your son now.

I could see how it might have looked like I was addicted to video games. I believe my father might have even thought that was the case. I always interpreted it as unhealthy escapism (not that I had a wealth of alternatives, at the time), though, as opposed to being about video games per se. There was even a point where I remember my dad unplugging my computer, and me shoving him. That, again, was more about all of this smoldering stress I’d been holding at arm’s length, suddenly being shoved in my face, than it was a reaction to some kind of game deprivation.

I don’t know whether or not there’s a point to me saying that here–I seriously am not trying to parent a child I’ve never heard of until this morning. Best of luck with your ongoing efforts.

@InnocuousFarmer thanks for your perspective from the “kid” side.

I certainly hope you are correct. At this pint if we allow complete game freedom (blowing off school and homework) it puts his top college acceptances at risk.

That is potentially a life changing result.

There are sites dedicated to online gaming addiction. If it isn’t “a thing”, there are a lot of folks being completely fooled.

BTW, I am not a believer in sheltering kids as they age. They need to progressively feel the real world more with each passing year.

@RedOak I’ve got a world view that allows for broad populations to be wrong about things

I’m skeptical of video game addiction as a thing in itself, or from another angle, of the label’s utility in giving you a solid approach toward dealing with whatever-it-is… but I’m not at all informed enough to have a strong opinion about it. It sounds to me like you’re doing the right things, for what little that’s worth.

@InnocuousFarmer well then, hopefully you’ll never have to endure it in your kid whatever you wish to label it. The behavior mirrors other well-recognized addictions in just about every way. It can be life-ruining.