Stephen Taylor's remix of Pong, the classic video game, has more than just some extra flash. The George Mason University student has pushed programming tricks to new levels. Plasma Pong starts with the familiar table-tennis recreation, but instead of hitting the ball with paddles, players apply jets of fluid and suction to make it move. Imagine playing Pong while sitting inside a lava lamp, and you get the idea. Modeling fluid behavior is a nifty feat, and one that is winning applause from computer scientists, says today's Washington Post.
The game also pushed George Mason computer facilities to their limits. With 50,000 downloads clogging up the campus network, officials had Mr. Taylor take it down. "That was pretty cool," he told the newspaper. Plasma Pong now resides, happily, on its own site for easy downloading. –Josh Fischman
