PS3 vs. WII

If you care, here’s my spin on them. I prefer the PS3 to the WII. I have both and have played both and I like both – but if there was a room with a PS3 and a WII, I’d be on the PS3 much much more. Here’s why:

The PS3 is a more powerful console system capable of so much more than it is currently being asked to do. The expandability of it is phenomenal and it will be around for many many many years to come. Even in three years, it will still be one of the more powerful systems available (if not THE most powerful). The PS3 is a very adult system and it has expensive tastes. With games at $60, maybe it will keep the riffraff out of the online rooms! The controllers are expensive, but actually less than the WII if you add in both of the controllers you need for the WII (nunchuck and wiimote). The fact that the PS3 has a built-in Blu-Ray player is just icing on the cake. Sony knows how to keep their products in the main stream and the PS3 will be no exception.

On a side note – I don’t get to play as much as some, but I do play more than others. Sometimes I go for a long stretch without playing at all. I say that to say this – the games on the PS3 seem like they are still finding their footing. The games I’ve played have been short and not too hard to beat (maybe I’m just THAT good???) – including Resistance, Call of Duty 4, Assassins Creed and Uncharted. Once the developers realize what power the PS3 has and how to use it effectively, the games will only get better and more challenging.

The WII is fun and more interactive. A lot of the games have focused more on the controls, rather than the games and it shows. Granted, I do work up a sweat playing the WII (what can I say, I’m competitive). The WII is great for kids (14 and under) – older than that and it will quickly turn into a fad system. Its great for my kids as they are now. I have some other friends who swear by the WII, but, there is no accounting for taste. Maybe I just haven’t played the more adult games…

Class Dinner

The best things about SCCC were the people I was in class with and the networking that they bring. Because of this course, I have contacts in Egypt, Korea, Alaska, and numerous other places. It’s good to know that if I want to go to Egypt, I can call up Mady and he’ll hook me and my family up.

I have to say that the biggest aid to my success (I got an “A” for the course) here was my lovely wife – without her, I wouldn’t have anywhere near as many contacts as I do now. Her unending supply of baked goods (brownies, Frankenstein Bars, Fudge (Diet [with marshmallows] and Regular) were instrumental in raising my social standing throughout the class.

In fact, during the class dinner, she was the ONLY spouse recognized by the class for her support to it. She received some beautiful, fragrant flowers and numerous compliments on her goodies! But, even after having received her accolades and class cheers, she wasn’t done. During the evening, she charmed the Egyptian Commander out of a papyrus depiction of Ra, Isis, Anubis and his helper and a promise of an Anubis statue – and all with a pretty smile, intelligent conversation about old Egyptian religion and a well spoken Arabic greeting (Sa’alam Alaikem).

After dinner, we went out for our traditional “Sonic” dinner! Normally, Army functions (balls and events) have a lame dinner consisting of some minute portion of meat and some goo that passes for veggies – so we’re starving by the time we leave. This function was slightly different in that the dinner was good. It was a buffet style dinner with a huge slab of red meat! It was good. We still went with tradition. We had some cheese sticks and creamcheese bites!

SCCC 0707

As my time at Fort Gordon and the Signal Captain Career Course comes to a close, I decided to make time in my very busy schedule (playing Assassins Creed, Uncharted, Call of Duty 4 and correcting Amber’s school-work, making up her math work and technology work, beginning my Master’s program, and everything else, EXCEPT Army stuff) to jot down a few things about it.

For this course, there is either too much time, or not enough. If the course is just about “familiarizing” us with the equipment and general concepts it’s too long. If we are supposed to learn and retain all that we are taught, it’s way too short. While I could probably identify most of the things we talked about, if I were to take all the tests again, I probably would pass 50% of them or so.

The worst part about the course was the stupid “GEL” program that we were guinea pigs for. Basically, they took out the good MDMP (Military Decision Making Process) course (arguably the most important part of the entire course) and put in a new fangled “learning model” that taught us a lot, did a lot of good practical exercise and then tested us with a test that we were unprepared for. 95% of the class failed the test.

Another part of the GEL process was the CAX (Combined Arms Exercise). Basically, we are given a Brigade level mission (for us it was Stability Operations in Azerbajain) and told to put everything together. We had to go through the MDMP process (Receive Mission, Analyze Mission, Develop Courses of Action, Wargame a couple of them, decide on one and prepare a brief for the Commander and brief it). We were lucky in that our evaluators were helpful and not crazy. One group had an evaluator that kept them redoing things until 8-10 pm. Just for stupid stuff. The worst part about it was that the GEL people were “observing” us. Like you would monkeys at the zoo. Eventually, we gave ourselves monkey titles (Monkey One, Monkey Two, Blonde Monkey, etc). I think we upset the observer, but what could she do? They weren’t allowed to interact with us at all.

We didn’t really have any “field time” and weren’t even issued gear. The only time I went out to the field at all was during a required “mentoring” session with new LTs who were attending the BOLC (Basic Officer Leader Course). My time was 10pm-12am. When I got there, it was smoky and I was told that there had been a fire out in the forest since the day before caused by a flare. Because it was really smoky, I went out to see how bad it was. It wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. When it flared up and was throwing up five foot high flames, I led some of the enlisted NCOs out and we threw sand and dirt on the flames until they died back down. The fire flared up about three times during my couple hours out there. The rest of the time out there I just talked to the LTs and answered any questions they had about the “real” Army.

The best non-tool tool.

For those who may take apart things (like computers) with small metal parts (like screws), this may be the best non-tool tool: the Glade(?) candle holder with the magnetic bump in the middle (picture to follow someday if I do it before I forget about it). That thing is the best. You take out a small screw, and instead of putting it on the table, where is rolls around and falls on the floor when one of the kids bump the table, you put it in the little candle holder where it rolls happily to the center and sticky magnetically (magically?) to the bump in the middle. And its still there when you either begin to put the computer back together or give up. It’s a bonus if you give up because you have a few extra screws to add to your collection of screws that, at one time, came from some piece of equipment, but when you reassembled it, found its service was no longer required. Its also pretty neat that when you randomly drop the screws into the conveniently elevated surface (keeping it safely above the general clutter that might be your work area), they sometimes make cute little magnetic sculptures.

And, when you aren’t voiding warranties, you can burn the little candles in them and make the place smell good.