Fantasy of Flight

Here we are one more blog after this and the class is over. It's been a great time and I'm sad to say that atfar this term I will be moving on to a different university, but that another story.

Here is my museum blog.

I went to the Fantasy of Flight museum, just west of Mouse World. I went with little expectation; thinking it would be just another Florida tourist trap. I found that I could not have been more wrong. It took only half a day to see it all, around five hours total, but it was some of the best time spent in a long time. Not to say that there were no short comings with the exhibit, most with the cost of attendance. So I will start with want I felt was bad about Fantasy of Fly because for me it's a short list.

The price of admission was high, as far as I am concerned. Its $28 and some change, but with the coupon, that is available in most tourist stops, it was just over $25. There are hand held devices, but they where large and bulky, with only a limited use. Only a limited narrative is available for a small number of airplanes and it came with an additional cost of $10. This was for me the biggest short coming of the exhibit, and unfortunately this was the start of my visit.

However, my disappointment was not to last. You enter through what Fantasy of Flight calls realistic immersion attraction. Your first experience are is walk through WW I trenches on the Western Front. It is a realistic immersion; you hear the gun fire and smell the dirt. The next stop you climb aboard an authentic B-17 Flying Fortress and feel the tension of a World War II bombing mission. When you move to the cockpit through the bomb bay you need to look down, unless you suffer from vertigo.

Their dramatic art deco facility is home to over 40 rare and vintage aircraft many of which have been restored to flyable condition. They offer a variety of guided tours including visits to their working restoration and maintenance areas. On the flight deck you can climb inside the cockpit of a Corsair fighter for a battle over the Pacific. This is not a flight simulator, but a sit down video game; these were free. There are flight simulators, only these have an additional cost. There are two other simulators in the kid's area (Fun with Flight) a. One was a hot air balloon and the other a hang glider. On their Web site they call them State-of-the-art simulators, I would not go that far, but they were fun.

Fun with Flight, the kids play area was small. Anyone with kids you might keep them amused for about ten minutes. That is short coming number two. Not enough to keep the little guy happy. Fantasy of Flight's target group is likely 12 and up.

I went with my wife, who is not trill with airplanes, she had a great time.

Edutainment

The research from the group Teachers Evaluating Educational Multimedia (Teem) is being studied by the Department for Education in the UK. Their study concluded that simulation and adventure games - such as Sim City and Roller Coaster Tycoon, where players create societies or build theme parks, developed children's strategic thinking and planning skills. The study investigated the habits of 700 children aged seven to 16 also found that, far from being a solitary activity, children preferred to play games in pairs or small groups.

The director of Teem, Professor Angela McFarlane, said there was much to learn from the games industry in terms of developing scenarios that really challenged and engaged children, rather than reproducing text books on the screen.

"Adventure, quest and simulation type games have a lot of benefit - they're quite complex and create a context in which children can develop important skills," said Professor McFarlane. "We're not advocating arcade, shot-the-baddie type games," she stressed.

Professor McFarlane believes teachers often found it difficult to justify the use of simulation or adventure computer games during school time because their content did not map the national curriculum, however if educational material could be built in, such games could be used in the classroom legitimately. For example, you could use an historical event like the Battle of Hastings and - knowing the facts are accurate - get pupils to put themselves in the place of one of the soldiers or generals.

Another study by the Federation of American Scientists said a new vision of video games could redefine education and captivate students so they will spend hours learning on their own. They found many video games require players to master skills in demand by today’s employers. The theory is that games teach skills that employers want: analytical thinking, team building, multitasking and problem solving under duress. Unlike humans, the games never lose patience. The idea might stun those who consider games to be the symbol of teenage sloth. This is not about virtual football or skateboarding. Games would have to be created and evaluated with the goal of raising achievement.

In the classroom, video games can be used to make learning more fun. For example, typing games might be a better way to learn the computer keyboard than having a teacher talk to them about it.

The children questioned as part of the research said working in a team was the most important aspect of playing video games. While is contrary to the stereotype of that children play on the computer exclusively on their own.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/1879019.stm#map

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/10/19/videogames-education.html?ref=rss

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2003309887_videogames18.html

This Is It

I just got in form watching Michael Jackson's This Is It. Its a film that everyone should take the time to see, it was increditable.

Wolfquest ; bore to tears

The Canadian history game was a bust; I couldn’t get it to run. While I was able to load Wolfquest, I didn’t enjoy the experience. My computer is set-up as a processor, Word, Excel, etc. Programs that would help me with my school and not gaming or multimedia so it’s hard to play games. Nevertheless if it was set-up for game play I still would have been bored with Wolfquest. The key board controls were difficult for me to manage; than again I’m not a pre-teen. I would like to know the stats of the number of kid involved with Wolfquest as an on-line game. I have nephews ages 8,9, and 12, and can’t believe that they would sit to play Wolfquest when they have their PSPs and DISs to occupy their time..

The creators of Wolfquest might have good intentions, but I feel they miss the mark. The key board control is turned me off, so I’d have to believe that there was a better alterative. Than again, I don’t play a lot of PC game so I not the best person to say how it could have been improved.

Archive Blog

It has been a little while since my last blog, but I have been cramming for the GRE; I take it tomorrow.

Early on the morning of July 7^th 1919 the largest convoy of military vehicles yet assembled in history, the Army Transcontinental Army Convoy left Washington D.C. bound for San Francisco. Twenty-four officers, 15 War Department staff observers, and 258 enlisted men were part of the convoy. The Trans-Continental Truck Train was composed of various types of light and heavy motor trucks, touring cars, special makes of observation cars, motorcycles, ambulances, trailers, tractor and machine shop unit. In conducting this trip, two scouts were mounted on motorcycles that reconnoitered roads and placarded same for guidance of train. The engineer unit was charged with making bridges, culverts, etc., passable.

One of the Army's observers was Lieutenant Colonel Dwight Eisenhower, who joined the convoy on its first stop in Frederick, Maryland; Eisenhower at the time was assigned to nearby Fort George G. Meade. Eisenhower wrote a report on the convoy, noting the overall poor condition of many of the roads, especially in the west. Eisenhower noted that each of the various kinds of touring cars, trucks, tractors, and other vehicles in the convoy had its own best speed, which made maintaining the convoy's formation difficult. Eisenhower found the convoy's officers "poor" and its troops badly disciplined due to lack of training

Because of the number of men include in the convoy there should be hundreds of photos available. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum archive should be an excellent resource for these photos, but they have less than ten available at any given time on line. The other resource would be the National Archive, but even there access is inadequate. You have to visit the library to reach the photos archive. I would like to see this expanded to make research of this event open to more people.

Just Creepy

JFK: Reloaded is a historical simulation that allows players to assume the roll of presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and attempt to accurately recreate the events of November 22, 1963 according to the Warren Commission report.

Released on November 22, 2004, the 41st anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination, JFK: Reloaded challenged players across the world to take part in "the world’s first mass-participation forensic construction". Players are scored on a scale of 0-1000, although it is possible to have negative points. Points are awarded depending on factors such as shot fatality, shot timing, number of shots, etc. In the original release of the game, players could enter a contest to win up to $100,000(Giantboom).

On the surface, the game certainly seems like a loathsome piece of opportunism. The designers, though, claim the game's intent is to educate (Clive). After watching more than just one of the You Tube videos I am hard pressed to believe that JFK Reloaded was created with the intent to educate. One of the gamer took great joy in shooting what ever moved; plus the fact that the creator of the game is offering a cash award for the best shoot takes it out of the realm of education or historical simulation and into just creepy.

The Discovery Channel did a special every similar to JFK Reloaded. They used digital media to create a 3D model and using the sound recording form police radios, triangulated the signal to determine if Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone assassin. The difference is that the Discovery Channel was using digital media to determine the facts of a historical event.

I was still young 1963, but I still remember the horror of the event, and those that followed; the assassins Bobby Kennedy and King. I have to agree with late Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), brother of the late president, has condemned the game. His spokesperson calls it "despicable."(Tuohey)

Work Cited

Giantboom, JFK Reloaded,http://www.giantbomb.com/jfk-reloaded/61-5013/, 2004

Thompson, Clive, JFK Reloaded is just plain creepy, http://www.slate.com/id/2110034/

Tuohey, Jason, JFK Reloaded Game Causes Controversy, http://www.pcworld.com/article/118717/jfk_reloaded_game_causes_controversy.html,2004

Sorry this one's late

I personally would love go to Second Life (SL), but every time I try my computer crashes. Having said that, I love to go to museums; you might say I’m a museum junky. In my prior life, I was a student of art. Sorry Dr Walters. One of my greatest trills was to see Monet up close; but I had to go to Paris to do it. To be able to visit museums from all over the world would be incredible.

Another example of how virtual environments could change some ones experience, is Michelangelo’s Dying Slave; here is a picture. No where on the Web will you see the back of the sculpture, but the back of the sculpture has its own story; here it is.

My wife and I toured the Louvre and the guide made a point of explaining the back of the sculpture. I quote “you will see a monkey, only partially carved, grasps the left shin, representing art as mere "aping" (mimesis) or suggesting earthly passions.”

Here’s the real story explaining the monkey. Michelangelo goes home early, leaving these two under paid guys to clean the shop. Instead of cleaning the shop, they hide behind the sculpture, waiting for the shift to end. Time drags on, so one of them said “Watch this” chisels a monkey’s face in the back of the sculpture. So you see “if all you pay is peanut, you get is monkeys to work for you”. You may ask how do I know that my story is true? I ran a cleaning crew on the third shift at Sea World of Florida for nine years.

If Dying Slave was in a virtual environment you could see this for yourselves.

Blog assignment 2

The site I selected was the National Museum of the Marine Corps. The reason was because I was so impress with the museum when I visited it in person, I wanted to see what type of impression the site would give me compared to an actual visit. The question was would I have gone to the museum if I have gone to the sight first; the answer was, not likely.

I found the site to be flat, with little interactivity. The site did offered some pop-up images, but no sound. I feel they should have some audio narrative to accompany the images.

There was a YouTube video of the production of the Battle of Belleau Wood re-enactment which will part of an up coming exhibit. But again the narrator could not be worst.

The commercial site was the official site for the movie Zombieland, which is a movie opening this weekend. The site offered two area one from those under the age of 18, and the other for us who are older. Last week we talk about this kind of option for different sites. They add the need for the zip code as will as name and age; interesting. The games were lame, but they link you to their Face Book. I actually open a Face book account; this is my first time on a social network. The site uses all the social networks to contact everyone who visits the site.

http://www.zombieland.com/

The other commercial site was Hasbro. It is aim at a young audience so it has all the bells and whistle. The opening page is incredible; it is something that I would like to do for my world’s fair project.

http://www.hasbro.com/

I would incorporate the flash of the Hasbro site with the links to the social networking of the Zombieland site. There is a commercial shooter video game that is promoted by the U.S. Army. With this in mind I would add some first person shooters to the museum site.

Winter Park Zombie Walk

On Friday night I went to a zombie walk that was held in Winter Park. It was a small event, but fun. For those who are unfamiliar with a zombie walk, it is largely an underground event; mostly promoted though word of mouth and online message boards. The participants are encouraged to dress and act like zombies from the classic film Night of the Living Dead and do a group walk or shamble for a mile or so. Even as bizarre as this may sound, the event is still filled with controversy. Zombie fans are divided into two camps. There are the classic zombies who activities include grunting, groaning and slurred, than there are those who moaning call for 'brains'. Traditionalist who draws their definitions of zombie activities from the original Living Dead films will claim zombie consume only living or freshly killed flesh and not just brains in particular and would never have the ability to call for 'brains'. The other group, fans from the film Return of the Living Dead, just doesn’t appreciate a classic film, zombies from that movie eat only the brain. There is a third group, but we don’t talk about them.

At night when returning from school, I started to notice something strange.

If you what to know more about zombie walks here is a link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_walk

First concept drawing

This is the first concept drawing for my Dupont Project. The idea is to take video of the Fun with Chemistry production and the science demonstrations and animate them to the original sound track. I feel that this would be more interesting than showing old videos.

Sorry for the long stretch between blogs.

The week before last I damaged my corneas, which kept my computer time at a minimum.

The museum that I have decided to use for my project is the Salvador Dali museum in St. Pete. I believe that his work is incredible and the museum wed site does not to justice to his art. Using flash I think that it could be jazzed up significantly.

I will try to explain my concept in more detail as the blog continues.

Thanks

Blogging

Week Two

This starts my second week with my return to college. My Wednesday night class is on Public History and Digital Media. As personal project we are to select one of the pavilions at the 1964-65 World’s Fairs. This picture of a musical revue called "Wonderful World of Chemistry.", sold me on doing the Du Pont Pavilion.

Here we go again

I am creating this blog for a school project. My wife feels that this is a good opportunity to chronicle my return to college. Last March after five years I finished my B.A. and thought that I was done with school, the economy changed that. After losing my job in July and having no luck in the job market, I decided to go for another round. I am a baby-boomer and at 52 will be changing my career direction.