Just Outta Beta
Trans-Asia Expedition
Release: January through June
The Web has always been touted as having incredible potential for education. But that noble cause has been lost in the bazaar of vir-tual malls and corporate Web sites that hawk products with the latest online technological gizmos. GlobaLearn, a nonprofit Connecticut-based company, is rekindling the education flame.
With grant money from individuals, foundations, and corporate supporters, GlobaLearn is taking more than 30,000 students from the US and 24 other countries on a trip across Asia - through the Web.
Beginning this month, the students, along with parents and teachers, will follow the adventures of four "Marco Polos" who will retrace the explorer's historic passage from Venice to Hong Kong. Over 146 days, 8,500 miles, 15 countries, 4 seas, 2 deserts, and a strait, the Trans-Asia Expedition team will visit 31 host families and report its findings on the GlobaLearn Web site.
Acting as the eyes and ears of the students, each explorer will take pictures, keep a journal, log miles traveled, and act as a correspondent between the people of Asia and the students online. The children of the host families will be in contact as well, contributing information about their families, schools, and neighborhoods.
The photos, journals, and reports will be updated daily along with suggestions for classroom activities to help teachers use the expedition as part of their curriculum. The Web site also provides a forum for students to converse with each other and post artwork and writing.
The Trans-Asia Expedition is the third of its kind staged by GlobaLearn: it follows treks through Turkey and the countries surrounding the Black Sea. But this trip through Asia will be the biggest to date: it will last five months and cost around US$1 million.
In spite of the allure of jazzy online tech, GlobaLearn's thrust leans heavily on great content and a great educational experience. Finally - a company is realizing the Web's potential.
- Julie Sullivan
Trans-Asia Expedition: GlobaLearn Inc.: www.globalearn.org/.
Bumpy Lumpy
Release: Early February.
Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge pits a marsupial mystic against impending doom - yes, the Comedy Apocalypse. Developed with Colossal Pictures, the game is packed with nutty cartoon worlds, biting humor, and a slew of wacked-out characters.
Broderbund Inc.: (800) 521 6263, +1 (415) 382 4700, www.broderbund.com.
Gots Wires
Release: 1997
In the wake of telecom deregulation, Boston Edison Company and RCN Inc. have teamed up to provide one-stop shopping for Boston-area telephone, video, Internet, and energy needs. With the advantage of Edison's extensive right-of-way in the Boston streets, these two may form another competitor in the race for next-gen telecommunications service.
RCN Inc.: (800) 672 2832, +1 (617) 266 5000.
Whoops
Release: February
It looks like Armageddon has finally arrived, and it's your fault. Realms of the Haunting is a brooding and macabre fantasy action-adventure game set in the Cornish country village of Hellston. Your charge as the young Adam Randall is to reunite the broken Shrive with the Soulstone to save the earth - and yourself as well.
Interplay Productions: (800) 468 3775, +1 (714) 553 6678, www.interplay.com.
Start-up
Release: January
Fast Company is joining MoneyHunt, a new PBS TV show aimed at entrepreneurs. The two companies will be sharing content and promoting each other's properties, Net sites, and special events. MoneyHunt has already built a cult following in Connecticut, but will it fly in Peoria - or San Jose for that matter?
Fast Company: (800) 688 1545, +1 (617) 973 0300, www.fastcompany.com, www.moneyhunter.com.
What say you?
Release: March
Douglas Hofstadter offers his book Le Ton beau de Marot, an investigation of the subtleties of creativity and language - "the spark and sparkle of creative translation."
Basic Books: (800) 242 7737, +1 (717) 941 1500.
Ellipsoids
Release: March
Andrew Spencer Studios' Ecstatica2 takes a different tack toward modeling the game's 3-D graphics, using ellipsoids rather than polygons. The result? Lifelike characters that move and react well.
Psygnosis: (800) 438 7794,+1 (415) 655 8000, www. psygnosis.com.
