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May, 2004

  1. Army gunning for game players | CNET News.com

    May 14, 2004 by Collin

    Army gunning for game players | CNET News.com

    ‘Beginning the second year of its experiment in using free, custom-built PC games to give young people a taste of military life, the Army is finding the games to be not only spectacularly popular but a uniquely powerful promotional tool.

    Chris Chambers, deputy director of the “America’s Army” project, said in an interview at the E3 gaming trade show here that prospective soldiers who contact Army recruiters after playing the game have a better follow-through rate than any other form of advertising or promotion.

    “It’s a much more efficient and effective vehicle for the Army to provide information to young people than the other media we use,” Chambers said.

    And game players may well turn out to be better soldiers, based on recent academic research that shows regular game-playing boosts certain visual-spatial abilities. “There’s a very high level of visual acuity in game players that’s different than nonplayers,” Chambers said. “They’re good at focusing on specific things in a chaotic environment, which is an important skill in a lot of Army situations.” ‘

    So, there you go. I have two children (4 & 11) who are dedicated gamers. This could get interesting.

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  2. Police Auction

    May 13, 2004 by Collin

    I was going to go to the police auction this weekend. You never know when it might be handy to have a cop around. Even a used one. I was hoping to get one with shootout experience and possibly some hostage negotiating skills. Or maybe one with some contacts in vice. That can be handy too.

    But then I found out they don’t auction police, they auction vehicles. And not even police vehicles. It’s seized and abandoned vehicles. Talk about false advertising. So, screw that.

    I guess I’ll just have to resort to plan two. A dark alley, a trail of donuts, a club and a burlap bag. Wish me luck.

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  3. Just a reminder…

    May 11, 2004 by Collin

    My act is not together.

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  4. Kokeeno (koh•key•no), the imaginary troublemaker.

    May 11, 2004 by Collin

    My four year old daughter, Jordyn, has a new friend. An imaginary friend named Kokeeno. Well, I say “new” but she’s been talking about Kokeeno for the better part of four months or so. I think she showed up around Jordyn’s birthday in January. Hidden in the cake or something.

    Actually, I believe ‘Kokeeno’ was originally the name she gave to her stuffed raccoon that she used to carry everywhere. Somehow the personality that developed with the name managed to detach from that toy so it is no longer necessary to have at hand in order to play.

    Anyhow, she is mentioned at least once a day. Some days she is Jordyn’s teacher and has assigned her homework, that “I simply MUST get done before I can go to bed, Daddy!”. Other days she is someone to argue with on Jordyn’s toy cell phone. Most often however she is a playmate that “suggests” various things that usually get Jordyn in trouble. Like getting something down from the top of the tall bookshelf, flooding the bathroom, sneaking a bag of potato chips from the kitchen or smacking her 11-yr old brother in the back of the head. Kokeeno causes problems.

    It’s getting to the point where I may have to tell her she can’t see her anymore.

    Have any of you reading this had experiences with imaginary friends?

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  5. The Weekend is Over…

    May 10, 2004 by Collin

    so now it’s time to post. However, the weekend wasn’t apparently enough of a break for me to have recovered from the previous week. Or year. Or however the hell long I’ve been feeling like this. Right now I feel as though I never left work. I even dreamed last night about building ads all night long. One of those dreams where everything keeps shifting around and I feel as though it would be easier to tickle a shadow than get something finished (“I swear I just changed that info box!”). A dream that makes me WISH it was one of those naked in public dreams instead. Basically, a stress induced dream.

    It’s times like this that I feel schizophrenic. Through one mindset I can look at the situation and see that it really isn’t that much worse now than it’s ever been, and there have even been times in the past when it WAS worse. That would be the submissive mindset at this point however. The dominant mindset is the one that feels constantly like everything is crumbling around me. My shoulders start to tense up from the moment I wake up and stay that way all day. I react poorly to almost any situation that I find myself in. And I know that I am doing it, I just can’t seem to stop.

    I also know that this is something that cycles, so if I can hold out long enough I will be fine. But it’s hard to hold out. I felt an almost overwhelming urge to walk out earlier for something that shouldn’t have even phased me, and yet that knowledge doesn’t make the feeling go away. To be honest it’s still there, hovering beneath the surface waiting for it’s chance to emerge again. The good news is that I am not a violent person, so if I do break down and walk out, it won’t be over the smoking bodies of my coworkers.

    So. Happy Monday all. Here we go again.

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