The Future of StarCraft: Preparing the Next Generation

Every now and then I feel the need to write from the aspect of a parent of wants his child to like video games, and especially StarCraft. I feel it's only natural. 

If you've ever looked at a website for an expensive preschool, or even just heard of one, you'll know exactly where this article is coming from. It was first published in The Weekly All In #41. 

Drama of the Week: The Future of StarCraft: Preparing the Next GenerationBy: Mike Harrell

Disclaimer: I am writing this promotional article in exchange for moving my child up on the GosuSchool wait list.

Hello! And thank you for picking up this light introduction to “GosuSchool: The StarCraft Academy” the premier North American preschool for children ages 2 - 6. The facilities are unrivaled, philosophy of learning beyond reproach, and the star-studded faculty will provide your children with just the foundation they need to go on to the “Boxer School of Gifted StarCraft Youngsters” once they turn 7.

A New Kind of Education

GosuSchool was the first StarCraft-centric preschool of its kind and it remains the best in the world. From the time your child enrolls in the school as a Little Larva, until he or she graduates as a Zippy Zerglin’, your little nerd, or “Nerdling,” will gain invaluable cooperative and competitive experiences and learn in a world better than the real world: The StarCraft World.

Facilities

Each day, your child will march past the larger than life murals of StarCraft heroes, past and present, by renown StarCraft artist, Nicolas Chaussois. He will meet with his team and coach for a preview the day’s activities, and then set off on a brand new adventure of gaming-centric learning. When it’s time for lunch, custom PA recordings, courtesy of Robert Clotworthy, voice of Jim Raynor, will invite them to proceed to the cafe.  

White Ra’s Cafe, operated by the nicest and most paternal chef in the StarCraft community, boasts kid-friendly “Marine Meal” versions from the Slaughtered Calf Inn such as “Narud Nuggets,” “Dong RaGu Pasta,”  and “Raynor’s Raisins” with “Destructible Rock Candy” or “Baneling (Cake) Rolls” for dessert as well as Eastern European and Russian specialties as featured on White Ra’s Facebook page.

And that’s just the morning! Open-ended “Strategic Play” in the afternoon gives your child control of their games. They can choose to move up and down ramps, look up and down cliffs, and proceed at a steady pace from one end of the playground to the other. All “Strategic Play” is supervised and facilitated by highly-trained coaches, all of which are Twitch.tv partners and have completed a one year Early Childhood StarCraft Education cerification course.

Learning like a Gamer

Every day, your child will engage in varied activities to help them learn and grow to become the professional gamer you were hoping for. Activities Director Grubby will guide your child through physically and intellectually stimulating games like “Split the Marines” (shape and color sorting), “Mine the Minerals” (relay racing and circuit activities), and “Get the Watchtower” (climbing and communicating). All games are painstakingly designed by acclaimed Game Director, Dustin Browder, who is available 24/7 for all of your concerns, whether valid or not, via Twitter.

Also noteworthy are award winning Music Appreciation classes, featuring exclusive music* composed by legendary composer, Russell Brower, where children learn to use music to their advantage to immerse themselves more fully in their learning. You’ll see huge gains in your child’s APM as they hum, sing, and dance to new classics such as “Old Matt Horner Had a Farm,” “If You’re Gosu And You Know It,” and “Little Probe Beep.”

Special Programs

Beyond the outstanding daily activities, we boast one of a kind special programs. Each week, we have “Story Time with Morhaime,” where Blizzard President Mike Morhaime himself flies in on his Warp Prism and reads a story of his choosing to the children. Sorry, parents, kids only!

And don’t miss the dynamic schedule of future programs. Including: “Looking Like A Pirate for Fun and Profit” with Chris Metzen, “It Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated To Make Money” with Ben Brode, “Becoming A Cat Man” with Day9, and “When What You Thought Was Vespene Was Really BM.” with Zagara.

Just Click Play

Don’t wait a moment longer to reserve your child or future child’s place at GosuSchool: The StarCraft Academy. The wait list already extends for two years, so waiting until your child is born may be too late! Don’t be the parent that denies your child the premier preschool experience.

Financing options available.

*Digital download of “GosuSchool: Learning Like Winners” album available through Battle.net. Digital Deluxe edition includes exclusive the in-game World of Warcraft “Nerdling” battle pet, the surprisingly-generic exclusive StarCraft II in-game portrait featuring the GosuSchool logo, exclusive Diablo III “Nerdling” in-game pet and sigil, Heroes of the Storm exclusive “Nerdling” in-game skin for Murky, and exclusive in-game GosuSchool cardback in Hearthstone.

My favorite part of the this article is definitely story time with Mike Morhaime. Every time I see him speak or in an interview, I'm impressed by how much like a "normal" person he is. He's not glamorous. He's not particularly handsome or charismatic, But you can tell he's smart and that he cares about what he does and about other people, which is led to his success. I can totally picture him taking time out to read a story to children. And flying around in a Warp Prism, because billionaires can have nice things.

Applied Problem Solving Through Refrigerator Malfunction

DON'T FORGET about the DOTA 2 giveaway! More info here!

I've transferred universities yet again. More on that later. I'm currently in an introduction to Computer Science course and in our first week I read all about the history of CS, what an algorithm is, and various forms of binary. For my first assignment, I had to write an essay defining what a problem is, discuss how I solved a problem in my own life, and provide a general process of how to solve a problem. I did. And it turned out kind of funny, so I'm going to go ahead and post it here. Enjoy!

Applied Problem Solving Through Refrigerator Malfunction

Mike Harrell

Regis University

Abstract

This paper defines what a problem is and provides a generalized approach to solving any problem of any kind. The process is illustrated through a personal experience of the author on the day of writing this paper. On the day in question the author’s refrigerator stopped working, causing the author to systematically implement the provided generalized approach to problem solving in order to prevent of his family’s food from going bad. All parts of the solution are demonstrated and elaborated upon.

            Keywords: problem solving, general solution, potatoes

Everyone seems to have problems of some kind or another. However, people approach their problems in very different ways. When reconciliation time approaches, there is one general pattern that is followed. To solve any kind of problem one must first define the problem, identify the source of the problem, brainstorm solutions, and finally alter or fix the source of the problem so that it no longer causes issues.

            A problem can be described as an object or circumstance that prevents or inhibits optimal progress toward a desired goal. I had such a circumstance this afternoon. My wonderful wife, Aubrey, was microwaving two potatoes for dinner when the microwave went on the fritz and most of our major kitchen appliances suddenly lost power. This included the refrigerator, the microwave, and the dishwasher.

            In order to solve the problem, we first had to define it. In this case the problem was that some of our appliances had stopped working, most importantly the refrigerator. We can do without a microwave. We can wash our dishes by hand. But, in order to lead a happy and productive life, I require that my perishable food items remain in a state where they retain as much freshness as possible before I consume them. If the fridge isn’t working, all of our food will go bad in a day or two, and we can’t really afford to replace them on such short notice. This was our problem.

To begin reparations we needed to identify the source of the problem. It seemed unlikely that a microwave could have directly influenced the refrigerator on a functional level. We needed to determine was had happened with the electricity in the room that caused the fridge to cease its regular function. We tried unplugging the fridge and plugging it back into the wall. This yielded no change. We then tried plugging in a phone charger into the same socket and found that it received no charge from the wall either. Thirdly, we plugged the same phone charger into another wall socket in the kitchen and found that it did work. The refrigerator had stopped working because there was no power coming from its regular wall socket.

We then had to brainstorm potential solutions. In this case, we needed to determine what could have stopped electricity from flowing to those specific sockets without affecting the rest of the apartment. We decided to try the circuit breaker in our apartment and found that one of the little switches was indeed flipped to the “off” position. This was the source of the problem. The microwave had blown the fuse, making the breaker disable all of the wall sockets on that side of the kitchen. In order to restore functionality to our refrigerator, I would need to move the switch back to the “on” position. I proceeded to do so, when the little switch broke in half and fell into my hand. It was now stuck in the “off” position.

At this point I could no longer manipulate in the switch in any way in order to directly fix the fuse. Not without potentially electrocuting myself anyway, and that was off the table. Having identified the solution to the problem but finding myself without the resources to address it specifically, I had to construct some sort of workaround. This is often referred to as “treating the symptoms.” I could not restore power to the wall sockets at the present time but I still needed a way to keep my perishable food items in an optimally cool and dark state until such time that I chose to eat them. The key to this workaround would be to find an alternate source of power until we could call the landlord to come fix it. We couldn’t do that immediately because he’s a very cute, old, man that lives on the other side of town and he doesn’t really do anything on short notice. Also, it was pretty messy in the apartment and we didn’t need to hand him any more ammunition. Aubrey found this alternate source by plugging our refrigerator into an extension cord and running it into one of the working sockets on the other side of the room. This restored power to the refrigerator and provided our food with a choice environment yet again.

However, this will prove to be a temporary solution. Tomorrow morning, after we’ve cleaned up a bit, we will call our landlord who will take the breaker box off the wall, disconnect the wire to that switch, replace the switch, reattach the wire, and replace the box to the wall, which will return both the switch and the wall sockets that our refrigerator, dishwasher, and microwave normally inhabit to their normal working order. This will restore our appliances to their typical functionality as well (except maybe the microwave, which may be a whole other can of worms). We will also no longer have 15 yards of orange extension cord going across the kitchen floor.

By defining the problem specifically, identifying the source of the problem, brainstorming solutions, and fixing the source of the problem so that it no longer inhibits progress, we were able to solve our refrigerator problem. Or rather, we will tomorrow. In the meantime we have been able to employ a short term solution so that our food doesn’t go bad. This same process can be used for any type of problem no matter how big or small. Simply adapt it to your circumstance. 

Also, people are allowed to comment on posts. Feel free to do that. You know, tell me how awesome I am. Or that I'm full of crap. Whatever you like.