Saturday, August 13, 2016

BMD Gaming

Though the majority of my posts have focused on social and political issues, gaming has always been at the heart of BMD. It's always been one of my favorite pass-times at least. To introduce that portion of BMD, I have a showcase of videos from the YouTube channel PrinceJamal89. I'm also streaming on Twitch under the same name. The clips, videos, and commentary are rough now, but as I continue to improve and expand you'll get a front row seat to watch the channel mature.


First up is Heroes & Generals:


 This was also my first attempt at streaming PC games. For those not familiar with the game, Heroes & Generals is a FPS set in WW2. The players can take on the ranks of 3 different militaries(US, Germany, Russia). You start out as a private soldier, but as you gain experience and money you can join other branches and use equipment like tanks, planes, and other vehicles. The highest rank is General for all teams. Once you reach that rank, you have access to the strategy platform for the game. As a General you manage resources, soldiers, and choose which cities to attack which sets the pace for the experience rank and file soldiers have on the FPS platform.



Next up is Deadliest Warrior:




This is one of my favorites since it has historic figures like Shaka Zulu and Hannibal. The game features figures covered in the show. In this clip, I was showing off the game's conquest mode. The game puts two legends on opposite ends of a map and both legends battle for control of the map.


The last game for this post - Fallout 4:



Fallout follows the player you survive the wilderness of what used to be the US 200+ years after nuclear fallout wiped out the modern world. The FPS/RPG combined with commerce and deep storylines, all in an open world got me from the first time I picked up Fallout New Vegas.
In this clip I show off the damage and fortification of one of my settlements following an attack.

Bullshit Busting: Dealing with Actual Facts

To start the bullshit busting section of "The System" where we will be reviewing memes, news, urban legends, rumors, and conspiracies to separate the facts from the fiction. We'll start by looking at some ways to do the knowledge to see how information and misinformation can help and hurt people looking to make a difference in their communities. First up is a tool kit organized by Carl Sagan he called the "Baloney Detection Kit". I'm summarizing the points here, but you can check out the links to find the full text(That's your first test).

Carl Sagan's Bullshit Detection Kit

1) Fact check(and double-check) the facts and evidence
2) Check the facts from different points of view
3) No expert or authority is too good to be questioned
4) Every story has more than one side. Look at all of them.
5) Check all the ways your point of view could be wrong. If you don't, somebody else will - and don't get in your feelings when that happens.
6) Numbers and video don't lie, not always. Use them.
7) Weak points weaken arguments(go back to #5)
8) Occam's Razor: The argument with less holes is best
9) Claims that can't be tested are worthless

With these tools we can take on whatever information we want and discern between fact, fiction, hoaxes, satire and handle it that way.