http://singlenesia.com/games/advocacy

I find this to be absolutely brilliant as a forum game, hence we must play it (Since nobody will set up another Mafia game).

Basically, it works like this.

A player states a particular behaviour of a computing system that is unusual. Example: "On my keyboard, the numbers keys are in the order 8642019753."

The objective of the game is to come up with justifications for that, such as: "This is much better than the usual 1234567890 because the commonly typed digits in the calendar year, 19 and 20, are always right under your index fingers."

Then we vote on the 'best' justification. The person who wins gets points, and picks the next 'feature'.

I start.

On my version of the Linux kernel, the modules for Microsoft USB mouses make my mouse switch the X and Y axis, so moving it up and down actually moves the cursor left and right, and moving it left and right actually moves the pointer up and down. This is much better than normal mouse behaviour because...

Your monitor is sideways

...because it lets me use my mouse sideways, which perfectly fits the unconventional placement of my fingers.

...because it is far easier to move your mouse quickly from side to side without undue effort or picking it up than it is to move it up and down. This mouse set-up allows you to scroll up and down incredibly rapidly with side-to-side movements. As players of a game with 80 character server-side line-breaks, sideways scrolling is far less important, and is sacrificed.

I'm only going to play this if it isn't geeky and about linux kennels.

It doesn't have to be. In fact the bit about kernel modules is utter :censor:; the gist of it is that my mouse moves the cursor up and down when I move the physical mouse sideways, and vice-versa.

...because, in a typical workspace setup, mouse space is limited horizontally by a keyboard, cubical wall, edge of a keyboard shelf, or other such barriers, whereas vertical mouse space is limited primarily by the reach of the user. Unfortunately, monitors are longer horizontally than vertically. This setup more accurately reflects the ergonomic needs of a computer user.

... because the more comfortable position while sitting at your desk is not perpendicular to it, but rather oblical. Thus, the length ("horizontal" axis) of both the arm and the mouse would be parallel to the length of the desk, which would practically mean the invertion of your physical X and Y axes, as well. The virtual switch of the two is to compensate and "normalise".

Erm, okay. How about we vote now?

I vote Daganev's to be the best.

I vote for Xenthos' Xavius'.

I liked Okin's.

If we're not voting for ourselves, I like Okin's.

Tzekelkan's.

I like Okin's.

Let me set up some house rules.

When a new 'feature' is chosen, we have 24 hours of justifications.

Then we wait 24 hours for votes, or until everyone who justified has voted - Whichever happens first.

Then the person who won gets points equal to the votes, and gets to pick the next feature, with a grace period of 24. After that the second place winner can pick a feature, on a first-come, first-served basis, in case there is more than one second place winner.

I'm not sure if I win, because I was voting for Xavius even if you could vote for yourself. Having said that, here I go.

On my computer, you hold SHIFT to get lowercase letters, and release it to get capitals. This is much better than the conventional set-up because...

... because you are a compulsive nyctophobe and spend your entire life with a maximum number of lights turned on. Consequently, your Caps Lock LED is constantly lit, forcing you to have this inverted SHIFT key set-up so you can type normally.

... because your little brother is a l33t kiddie who is incapable of typing without holding down the shift key. It's not his fault, it's genetic. To save the sanity of the people he talks with, you set your keyboard this way.

How about next round be something less not easy to reason?

You train novices, so you end up shouting a lot to get their attention.

Time to vote. Shorlen's for his "it's not his fault, it's genetic".