[I_Like_Plants]

I read the article, amazing stuff. I notice street musicians. I'd have hung around and listened, and put a few bucks in the hat.

But I've been self-employed for quite a while now, so I'm not timing my life down to the half-minute any more. Most US'ians are not that lucky, not at all.

I've been raked over the coals for being a minute late back from break, for getting in a motorcycle accident where I flew over the top of a car, fucked up my bike and caught a ride to work with a friend, for stopping to pick up an old lady walking in POURING rain and taking her to the Senior Center. It was great stuff, that old lady, she was sure I was one of her pupils from when she was a teacher, and of course I'd never seen her before. And I had to ask her directions to the Senior Center "because I'm not old enough to know yet" hehe.

Most people simply cannot afford to take any time for anything extra. The Machine is that demanding. And frankly, classical music of high quality is often played as "canned music" in a lot of places. And the Chaconne etc is more "rough" than most people are used to - get a guy singing really good Soul or Blues and that would stop a lot more people in their tracks.

[VinceG]

I don't think it is particulary fair to blame the lack of interest for Bell's public performance on the "ignorant, oblivious and clueless" commuters...

The results of this experiment would have been completely different if Bell had performed at 5.30 in the afternoon instead of morning rush hour...in the afternoon people would have had lots of time to stop by and appreciate his music.

You simply can't blame people for trying to get to their work on time and not stopping and paying attention to a street performer, even if he turns out to be a world class artist...

[Bas]

Just posted this on another thread, but thought it deserved it's own:

Here you can download the first person shooter paid for by the pentagon for freeLhttp://www.americasarmy.com/

And here are some quotes from Wikipedia on the game:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')merica's Army (also known as AA or Army Game Project) is a tactical multiplayer first-person shooter owned by the United States Government and released as a global public relations initiative to help with U.S. Army recruitment.

[Baldwin]

Fascinating....yet frightening...

[Plantagenet]

If you really want some serious blood and gore and guns and rpgs and religous nuts and evil foreign zombies to kill in a video game, then check out RESIDENT EVIL 4. And, as a bonus, the hero is an American secret agent!

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'r')elatively realistic depiction of used equipment

[Twilight]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')nother reason is that high gore would not attract potential recruits to join the military. As one post on the official forums states, "[...] I doubt anyone would want to join the Army after watching their arms and limbs get shot off and such." Another possibility is that a high gore depiction may direct even more intense criticism towards the Army for the perceived glorification of violence that other developers have been the target of.

[smallpoxgirl]

Yeah. My average life expectancy in that game is about 60 seconds. Certainly didn't make me feel like rushing off to enlist. Baffles me how a kid can get killed 15 times in an evening and then want to go give it a try IRL.

[dukey]

More military propaganda wohoo
let's sign up and get our heads blown off

You know when you watch war films half of them are literally pentagon propaganda. It's illegal for the pentagon to directly make propaganda films, however .. if film companies come to then and say. Oh can we borrow some tanks for our films. The pentagon will say yes on the condition they can approve the script. If they disapprove of the script .. no tanks

Top gun ?
Say hello to military propaganda. That films did wonders for military recruiters.

[Geko45]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', 'Y')ou mean like humvees with extra metal welded onto them because they were not built with enough armor?

[eastbay]

... the goal is to strain your enemies resources to the breaking point.

Well now, Geko45 really nails it here. The goal is to 'beat' the enemy. Unfortunately that does not appear to be the game plan in the USA's current wars. But there are a few other considerations and when added all together it means there is no way possible for the USA to be anywhere close to victorious in its current military occupations.

The cost is unsustainable and exorbitant, plus the resistance movement in the occupied countries is highly motivated truly believing they have the high moral ground. Add to that, the fact that the benefits to be gained by the USA by continuing the occupations are exactly zero causing home support for the occupations to thankfully be too low to allow victory.

[Geko45]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '[')i]... the goal is to strain your enemies resources to the breaking point.

Well now, Geko45 really nails it here. The goal is to 'beat' the enemy. Unfortunately that does not appear to be the game plan in the USA's current wars.

[gampy]

I played this game when it first came out a few years ago. It was actually kinda fun. The training section was funny, and frustrating. (I was a poor shot, and had to do the rifle range test waaaaay too many times. Almost gave up on the game before I even got started.) The paratrooper training was fun, too. The obstacle course was just tedious (realistic, indeed!)

The missions were fairly straightforward. 4-5 man squads trying to kill other 4-5 man squads. Teamwork is very, very important if you want to have fun at this game. Although I think you can get up to 20 guys on a squad. There is quite an online community involved with this game, actually. They have their own forums, they form their own platoons, and go on missions together. I think quite a few are military personnel already.

The propaganda is actually not that bad, considering. It's pretty subdued. There are many links to the US Army websites that you are encouraged to visit, but all in all, it's probably worse in Hollywood for propaganda.

I think the idea is a good one, because it garners interest from the people the army wants. Tech savvy, gamer freak kids, and 20 somethings with computer expertise. These are the people the army is really looking for. They will always need the high school dropouts to work in the messes, boiler rooms, and dig ditches, but the kids they are trying for are the smart, tech literate ones.

Yes...it's not realistic, or could be construed as sneaky propaganda, but you could view it as expert, and inspired marketing, as well.

[Bas]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gampy', '
')The propaganda is actually not that bad, considering. It's pretty subdued. There are many links to the US Army websites that you are encouraged to visit, but all in all, it's probably worse in Hollywood for propaganda.

[smallpoxgirl]

The thing I find infinitely interesting about the game is that when you look at yourself and your team mates, you're obviously American soldiers. When you look at the opposing team, they look like middle eastern terrorist stereotypes. The other team, though, sees themselves as American soldiers, and you as a terrorist.

How's that for psychological insight.

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hat is most definately not a description of our current war plan.

[Twilight]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', 'T')he thing I find infinitely interesting about the game is that when you look at yourself and your team mates, you're obviously American soldiers. When you look at the opposing team, they look like middle eastern terrorist stereotypes. The other team, though, sees themselves as American soldiers, and you as a terrorist.

How's that for psychological insight.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Twilight', '[')url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_and_Minds_%28The_Outer_Limits%29]The Outer Limits: Hearts and Minds (1998)[/url]

[Madpaddy]

eastbay wrote,
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he cost is unsustainable and exorbitant, plus the resistance movement in the occupied countries is highly motivated truly believing they have the high moral ground.

[seahorse]

I think everyone is reading more into the game than was intended. I've played with it some. It seems obvious to me that the Army was trying to design a computer simulation to introduce civilians to basic military weapons and movement- mainly as a recruiting tool. It is a simple program intended to introduce the player to basic weapons, movement and engagement and generate interest. I think it accomplished its goal. Whether it will get more recruits, I doubt it.

Possibly, the program could be used for training infantry troops at the lowest level of the rank structure, E1-E4, but no real need for that. First, because a soldier can be taught much quicker just out in the front yard in about an hour. Second, active forces have more realistic and complex "game" simulations to use, there are, for example, programs using real rifles that use lasers against computer generated targetst so that the instructor can see exactly what the firer sees, and play back the scenario so the instructor can determine if a miss is caused by bad trigger pull, breathing, etc. There are other simulations using combinations of live fire, computer and video. For example, there are indoor live fire target ranges where soldiers (up to entire squads) fire against moving video opponents, etc. I understand some simulations now use holographs. However, no amount of simulation beats simply getting outside on a good fire and manuever range and getting tired and dirty.