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