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Inmates Escape As Guard Plays Plants Vs. Zombies 87

Posted by samzenpus from the prioritizing-priorities dept.
dotarray writes "Everybody knows that there's a certain risk one takes when playing addictive, engrossing games can be trouble when you're meant to be doing something else. The prevalence of awesome games on the iPhone hasn't helped that risk. A Plants Vs. Zombies loving police officer has learned this the hard way after an escape."

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Inmates Escape As Guard Plays Plants Vs. Zombies More

Inmates Escape As Guard Plays Plants Vs. Zombies

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  • There's an escapee on my lawn (Score:5, Funny)

    by Drakkenmensch ( 1255800 ) on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @11:44AM (#33216016)
    Don't want escapees on my lawn.

  • well, that's a new one (Score:5, Funny)

    by Red Flayer ( 890720 ) on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @11:45AM (#33216030) Journal
    Well, I've seen a jailbroken iPhone, but this is the first I've heard of an iPhonen jailbreak..

    • Re:well, that's a new one (Score:4, Insightful)

      by hedwards ( 940851 ) on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @11:48AM (#33216066)
      I'm a bit surprised that the prison allows the guards to keep their phones with them on duty. While not for this specific reason, there's all kinds of ways in which this can go wrong, from jail breaks to contacts with the outside world that aren't being monitored.

      That being said, the fact that he put the keys down is the real issue. Security, LEOs and such are never under any circumstance to put their keys down, not even for a moment for this precise reason. People can get access to them without your knowledge.

      • Re:well, that's a new one (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @12:12PM (#33216366)

        Dude, have you ever been into a police department in a major city (mine shall remain nameless)....Last time I was in one, I waited 5 minuets while the metal detector operator replied to a text message. Then, at the records department, i waited 15 minuets while another officer finished a personal call on their cell phone (quite entertaining). Then on my way out, every officer sitting down at a post quickly tucked away the cell phone mid-text.

        • Re:well, that's a new one (Score:4, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @01:25PM (#33217610)

          Last time I was in one, I waited 5 minuets while the metal detector operator replied to a text message.

          With an estimated average duration for a minuet by composers such as Bach and Beethoven to be about 2 minutes, 5 minuets would last about 10 minutes.

          • Re:well, that's a new one (Score:5, Funny)

            by The Archon V2.0 ( 782634 ) on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @01:57PM (#33218154)

            Last time I was in one, I waited 5 minuets while the metal detector operator replied to a text message.

            With an estimated average duration for a minuet by composers such as Bach and Beethoven to be about 2 minutes, 5 minuets would last about 10 minutes.

            That's nothing. I once had to wait an oratorio and two cantatas on hold with DLink.

      • I'm from the Philippines and what really surprises me is how the guard was able to afford the iPhone. The monthly plans that would've made the iPhone free would almost equal his net monthly income. And I can't really imagine him being able to afford to buy the unit by itself.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mjwx ( 966435 )

          I'm from the Philippines and what really surprises me is how the guard was able to afford the iPhone.

          I've been to the Phils a few times (cheap for an Aussie).

          The cops, they are all on the take and quite openly. A lowly guard would be earning a pittance officially (actually it would be quite high for Philippine wages, maybe up to 200 USD a month) but he will always get his share of the graft *cough* sorry, I mean Tea Money.

          Cops in third world nations can operate like the Mafia with little resistance.

        • When people want something bad enough, they'll find a way.

          A company I used to work for had a large workforce, mostly modest-paying manufacturing wage jobs. They announced a 400% company match on 401(K) contributions up to 5%, and almost everyone bought in at the full 5%. The company announced how proud they were that their financial seminars had been met with resounding success, and how happy they were to contribute to their employee's retirement. Vesting period was 5 years, rule was that a withdrawal me

        • Taga pilipinas ka ba talaga? Parang di ka pa nakotongan ng pulis a?

          For one thing, there's this place called Greenhills where you can get network unblocked phones for usually lower than what the carriers offer.

          Considering his being a policeman, it could be that some other policeman friend of his could've just sold him a unit confiscated from a snatcher in Cubao.

          Or it could be a more bland explanation, like being in the pay of someone. Corruption here in the Philippines is pretty in-your-face. If it surprises

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cgenman ( 325138 )

        This was the Philippians. They likely didn't have the funding to pay for all of the guards to have work phones, but still wanted to be able to contact them quickly.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by BigSes ( 1623417 )
        Actually, where I live (Pennsylvania), a friend of mine's husband is a guard at a state prison. He is not allowed to bring his phone any closer to the building than his car out in the parking lot.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mjwx ( 966435 )

        I'm a bit surprised that the prison allows the guards to keep their phones with them on duty. While not for this specific reason, there's all kinds of ways in which this can go wrong,

        It's the Philippines, stop applying western logic.

        Seriously, competent police are hard to find over there and definitely not without a handout.

        The fact the officer in question had an Iphone is proof he's getting income outside his regular wage. Police earn about 6, maybe 8000 PHP (sub 200 USD) a month for a lowly guard

  • I bet Edmond Dantès feels like an asshole for planning such an unnecessarily elaborate escape after reading TFA.

  • Why was this even allowed? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mr_nazgul ( 1290102 ) on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @11:53AM (#33216104) Homepage
    I work in an office environment and even I couldn't get away with playing games on my phone, unless on my lunch break and away from my desk. Even on lunch at my desk a manager would comment if you played a game on your phone (or PC).

    How on earth was it allowed that a security guard was allowed to do this in a prison of all places? One would think that there would be basic rules about conduct for the officers, considering how many there are for the inmates.

    • why are they BS you on your lunch brake?

      I hope it's a payed lunch or they should not be telling you what you can do on your brake!

      • Re:why are they BS you on your lunch brake? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @12:14PM (#33216398)

        why are they BS you on your lunch brake?

        I hope it's a payed lunch or they should not be telling you what you can do on your brake!

        Why do they give you BS when you are on your lunch break?
        I hope it's a paid lunch or they should not be telling you what you can do on your break!

        I'm sorry, that was just too painful to read the way it was.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cptdondo ( 59460 )

        1. It's their computer, not yours, they make the rules.

        2. If it's a position where you interface with the public, you create the appearance of wasteful/incompetent behavior.

        So, no personal use at any time.

    • What do rules have to do with what employees actually do?

      I know most companies have rules regarding how much time you are to spend on sites like Facebook, Slashdot, &c.... We all know how well those work. ;)

    • How on earth was it allowed that a security guard was allowed to do this in a prison of all places?

      Government job?

      Guarding a prison is about as exciting as being an inmate. With so many people taking the shittiest work to make a buck, some guards might have been used to a less boring workday. A game can keep a guard alert, but it should be done with a randomly provided game in a break room with frequent duty rotations

    • Re:Why was this even allowed? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by RyuuzakiTetsuya ( 195424 ) <taiki.cox@net> on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @01:04PM (#33217264)

      they're running your office like a prison and the prison like an office.

      That's how.

    • ...and the older ones are staggeringly computer illiterate. He could have told his boss he was using the computer to monitor security cameras or that he was working on a spreadsheet and his boss likely would not have known the difference.

  • That's why (Score:4, Funny)

    by jayhawk88 ( 160512 ) <jayhawk88@gmail.com> on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @12:02PM (#33216218)

    You always have sniper towers on the corners. What a noob, leaking 5 inmates like that.

    • this is plants versus zombies, the correct way would've been to use the snow pea.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by socsoc ( 1116769 )
        With wanting to snipe from the corners, if it was a pool level the cat would be good too. She can hit any lane.
    • It's a joke, but in California prisons, because of budget cuts etc, there are not enough guards to man the guard towers. So at a lot of the prisons, you could drive a truck right through the fence and up to the yard, grab some prisoners and be gone before anyone knew what happened. Sad but true.

  • They Should Have (Score:4, Funny)

    by MrTripps ( 1306469 ) on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @12:04PM (#33216240)
    They should have put more pea shooters on the guard towers.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Captain Spam ( 66120 )

      Nah, a few tall-nuts in the escape route would've stalled them long enough to get better defenses in place.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by euyis ( 1521257 )
        Well... Does alive humans eat through the tall-nuts faster than the comical zombies? This might get tricky...

      • "The wall was made higher, additional barbed wire was installed, security measures were tightened," said City Councilor Augustus "Jun" Pe, "but why was the inmate still able to escape?"

        They've also tried putting onions in his path. That didn't work either.

        If you ask the Department of Public Services (DPS), there was no way a man could be smuggled in the thin layer of trash that day without being noticed.
        They said he would have surely collapsed from the stench of food slop collected from the jail.
        But a convicted prisoner, who is due to be shipped out to the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinglupa, would surely find the will to endure a ride that smells to the high heavens.

        Obviously, some caffeinated magnet-shrooms are needed (to stop them going over and under the defenses) along with some strategically placed winter melons and maybe a cactus somewhere.

  • I guess it's a good thing he wasn't playing "Angry Birds," because while Plants vs Zombies is good, Angry Birds is likee the holy grail of Iphone games and certainly would have resulted in the entire jail being emptied.

    • Mod this. Angry Birds is the best iPhone game I've played yet.

    • I own N900 and Angry Birds is pretty much the only native game available there. But frankly, I fail to see what's the point why it's so popular, there's a billion of similar flash games around the webs.

      Oh, flash and iPhone, sorry...

  • In Soviet Russia... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    iPhone jailbreaks YOU!

  • Wonder (Score:2, Funny)

    by SnarfQuest ( 469614 )

    I wonder what the author of this game thinks.

    I it "Wow! Someone is actually playing my game!"

    or is is "Oh no! My game is now going to be a question on Jeopardy."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by socsoc ( 1116769 )
      It's a very popular game that ranks high in the sales charts of iOS and is on many platforms. I doubt they ever wonder if anyone is playing their game.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by cgenman ( 325138 )

      PopCap is responsible for Bejeweled, which has sold over 50 million copies, and Peggle, which eats souls (and has sold about 50 million as well). They have about 200 employees.

      They're probably thinking "Oh good, another batch of press impressions for the campaign recap binder."

    • Too bad nobody pays for software in the Philippines.

  • In all seriousness... (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    It is a REALLY fun game to play.

  • ...funny stuff, but all I can think is "My tax dollars at work."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      ...funny stuff, but all I can think is "My tax dollars at work."

      You pay tax in the Philippines?

      Wait, now I've stopped laughing, you pay tax in the Philippines and dont know how incompetent and corrupt the PNP (Philippine National Police) are.

      That one will keep me chuckling all day.

  • Did they catch him on tape playing games? Or did he confess? I can't imagine he would do that. Maybe the 3 that were recaptured were tattletales..

  • If the guard had bothered to block the exit with his giant nuts right from the start, he would've bought himself more time to react.

  • That's a miserable setup in that picture. His economy is aweful and he's using landmines - worthless.

  • Today, PopCap's got a new thing on the streets, Plants vs. Zombies they call it. For just $19.99 they'll get you high on their take on tower defense, and pretty much every dealer in the digital distribution game has it. They've even got a little song to help get the kids hooked. Hey, I wrote a song too. It's called "Oops, I Played Too Much Plants vs. Zombies And I Forgot to Eat and I Died and I Wish I'd Listened to TV and Film Star Robert Loggia."

    It's a real catchy tune ... until I sing it about you. St

  • Wow, news from a site called "GamePron" (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ProppaT ( 557551 ) on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @02:55PM (#33219002) Homepage

    Really? We're using a site called "GamePron" as a source for a story? Especially with grammar that bad? Ugh. I'll just sit here for the IT police to arrest me after going to a site with "pron" in the title. I'm sure that one red flagged my account.

  • News? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Suhas ( 232056 ) on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @08:40PM (#33223554)
    I thought jailbreaking was legalised, no?

  • Need to escape prison? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Psaakyrn ( 838406 ) on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @09:26PM (#33223882)
    There's an app for that!
  • Before you know it one little incident gets blown out of proportion and are looking at a global ban on Zombies.

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