Forget about starting fires with sticks and setting up tents in the wilderness. Since videogames are played by the vast majority of children across the United States, the Boy Scouts of America have decided to get with the times. They will be offering a Video Games belt loop and pin to the Cub Scouts. No, I’m not kidding. I only wish I were.

To earn the belt loop, the kids must explain why it is important to have a rating system for video games, and check their video games to be sure they are appropriate. With the help of an adult, they have to create a schedule to do things such as chores and homework… and still fit in game time. They have to “do their best” to follow the schedule. And last – but not least – they have to learn to play a new game that is approved by their parent, guardian or teacher.

There are more steps to go through in order to receive the pin. They’ll need to create a plan to buy an appropriate video game. Next up, they must compare two gaming systems, explaining the differences between them. Another step requires them to play a game with family members in a tournament. They’ll need to teach one of their favorite games to an adult or friend. At least there’s some writing involved when they have to make a list of tips for someone who is trying to learn a new game. Playing a game with a friend for one hour shouldn’t be much of a stretch. Installing a game system with adult supervision is likely something they’ve already done, as well. The only halfway interesting step in this process is when they have to think of a game they want to buy and compare pricing at three different stores to find the best deal.

What happened to the days when the Boy Scouts learned things that added value to their life in some way? I recall having to do things like learn how to save a person’s life. I’m sure I would have enjoyed getting rewards for playing games, but I just don’t see how that would have really added something important to my education and the way I turned out as an adult.

• Why compete when you can sue?
• Could you use some tips to solve the ‘Corrupt Master File Table’ error?
• Arnold is planning to take time off as the Governator in order to star in a movie.
• How do you extend the life of your notebook battery?
• Some people will only use Windows 7 in a virtual machine environment.
• The new AMD Phenom chips are pretty awesome looking.
• The new Hyundai Genesis Coupe is heating up the pony car race.
• If Apple doesn’t change, the iPhone could become a niche product.
• Is the iPad hype over?
• Is HP a big player in the mobile phone market now?
• Should you be sharing your broadband?
• Toyota has yet another major malfunction.
• Does foreign policy help or hinder global health?
• The GNU/Linux systems have reached an important level of maturity.
• Inscrutable domain names are coming soon… four have already been approved.
• Do you “like” Facebook?
• WinCustomize 2010 has finally launched.
• Beware of Gmail account phishing scam.

You don’t need any badges at all to get the latest software for your computer and mobile devices.

Earn a Boy Scout Badge for Gaming

This is PrivateVoid’s submission for the HP Magic Giveaway. Feel free to leave comments for this article as you see fit – your feedback is certainly welcomed! If you’d like to submit your own how-to, what-is, or top-five list, you can send it to me. Views and opinions of this writer are not necessarily my own:

All too often, popular tech-blogs engage in the old and tired debate about why you should switch to OS X or stay with Windows. The argument has boiled down to one hip ‘Mac’ guy making fun of a ‘PC’ guy or Seinfeld talking with Gates about the proper fit of a pair of conquistadors. I would like to advert your attention to the following salient points just in case watching insipid ads is not enough to make you consider the other alternative. The other alternative, the one that both Microsoft and Apple are afraid to mention, is GNU/Linux.

Reason 1: Freedom

Apple and OS X offers freedom from choice. Microsoft and Windows offers you freedom of hardware choice. Ubuntu and GNU/Linux offer you total freedom. You can choose the graphical interface of your OS and are not stuck with what the denizens Redmond or Cupertino chose for you. With Ubuntu, you can choose the default look and feel of Gnome, KDE or Xfce. If the default style is not to your liking can customize your desktop. You can make it look just like OS X, Windows XP or Windows Vista. The choice is yours, not theirs! Beyond the look and feel you also have the freedom to choose between thousands of programs.

Reason 2: Secure

Despite the bleating noise coming from Cupertino about OS X not having any exploits and the daydreams of Redmond that Vista is now truly secure, neither solution offers the security of Ubuntu and GNU/Linux. The greatest threats to computer security are no longer viruses or worms. They are trojan horses delivered through clever social engineering attacks. Such attacks often depend on a user to run an install or agree to a pop-up. Windows XP had no built-in security to defend against these exploits. The security of OS X and Vista are similar, but still only require a user to agree to running the application. The ease of doing so results in most users hitting the OK button before they engage their brain. With Linux you often have to mark files as executable and you have to know that you want to run them with administrative rights before you launch them. While it is still possible to fool a Linux user into running malware, the likelihood is greatly diminished due to the number of steps it takes. For OS X and Vista the user experience still trumps security.

Reason 3: Lower Cost

To get OS X, you must purchase hardware that in most cases is $400 – $500 more than comparable non-Apple hardware. To run Windows Vista, you have to buy more expensive hardware due to the high system requirements. The system requirements for Ubuntu are the following:

Xubuntu requires 128 MB of RAM and 1.9 GB of hard disk space. Ubuntu requires 256 MB of RAM and 4GB of hard drive space.

Compare that to those for Windows Vista, which requires a 1Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, a graphics card that supports DirectX 9 and has a 128 MB of RAM, a 40 GB hard drive with 15 GB of space.

Or with OS X, which requires an 867Mhz processor, 512 MB of RAM (1 GB of RAM if you want to use the developer tools) and 9GB of disk space.

While both Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X come with a nice selection of included software, neither can beat the vast software library available in the Ubuntu repositories.

Reason 4: Community

The Ubuntu community is a thriving global community that uses, supports and contributes to GNU/Linux. There are copious amounts of documentation on-line and thousands of people willing to assist with any problems you encounter or questions you have. When you elect to use Ubuntu, you join that community. When you buy OS X or Microsoft Windows, you become a faceless unimportant customer to a large company that will often treat you like cattle. Ubuntu has local community groups in all fifty states and over one hundred countries including Uruguay, Iran, Luxembourg, Georgia, Estonia, Norway, Belgium and Chile.

Reason 5: Ease of Installation

Contrary to popular opinion, Ubuntu is easy to install. You simply download the appropriate ISO and burn it to a CD or you can order an Ubuntu CD from On-Disk.com. Once you have the CD, you simply boot your computer using the CD and follow the simple instructions in the graphical installer. For most users, the process takes roughly 15-20 minutes and when it is done you are greeted with a fully functioning computer complete with productivity applications. The installation is much faster and when it is complete you will not spend the next two hours installing patches, drivers and applications like you would with Windows.

In the end, the choice of which OS to choose is yours. I hope that this quick top five article has opened your eyes to the very powerful alternative of Ubuntu and GNU/Linux.

Reasons to Switch from OS X or Windows to Ubuntu