plague

Create a disease to kill off humanity with these iOS games

Pandemic, the first game in this duo, was released for Web browsers back in 2007. The object of the game was to infect a person with a disease you created, then manage the outbreak and evolve the disease to create the most worldwide damage. I agree that the game's subject is morbid, but the huge popularity of Pandemic showed that the actual content doesn't make it any less addictive.

At the beginning of last month, Pandemic 2.5 was released for iOS and quickly shot up the App Store's most-popular lists probably based on the Flash version's popularity. But at the end of May, a very similar game was released that might even be better than the original.

In testing these games, I infected most of the world with my various diseases, but never had one that destroyed all of humankind. Those who have played Pandemic in the past might guess that Madagascar was my downfall (it's a joke among Web gamers that Madagascar is always the one to close its shipyards at the first whiff of danger), but it was Iceland that put a stop to the deadly Parkerism.… Read more

Quick reaction by companies to ricin and other health scares

What happens in Vegas could be contagious; but don't worry, despite the recent ricin scare on the Strip, your chances of dying from exotic poison or a bio-engineered infection are pretty slim - even at the buffet.

Still, companies are betting their R&D budgets that the government will ante up to protect you from the toxin de jour. Their odds are good. Universal Detection Technology received a rush of orders for its ricin detection kit after a man was found in critical condition in a Las Vegas motel room with a case of suspected ricin poisoning.

"… Read more

Return of the Black Plague--on 'World of Warcraft'?

As I was struggling with my slow Internet connection today (it's fixed, thank goodness), I came across one of the best stories I have ever read. According to Techdirt, researchers were trying to find a way to simulate the death toll of another plague. And, luckily for everyone involved, they thought World of Warcraft would be a great place to start.

Yes, you read that correctly--your WoW character may soon be the recipient of some pretty serious bleeding of the organs, vomiting fleas that release bacteria and a whole bunch of other plague goodness.

Personally, I think this is … Read more