MindDrive – A Car Driven by Social Media

There is nothing like a great American road trip.  Ever since Ford made the automobile mainstream with the Model T, people have been driving to and from wherever his or her heart pleases.  Sometimes these excursions are for fun, and some have a purpose.  They all have one thing in common though: lots of fuel is used.  Now what if your runs off of Tweets, FaceBook posts, and Instagram follows?  This is MindDrive’s Project Ghia.

MindDrive is based in Kansas City.  It is an “auto-shop-type” based program designed to help the at-risk youth of the urban environment learn a trade, and to more or less keep them out of trouble.  Their stated mission is “to inspire students to learn, expand their vision of the future, and to have a positive impact on urban workforce development.”

What MindDrive is doing is very beneficial for the youth of today’s society, but they are not learning how to do oil changes in a 1993 Ford Escort.  Project Ghia involves taking an old 1967 beat up Volkswagen Kharmann Ghia, and not only restoring it, but converting it to an electric car that is powered by social media.

Basically, the plan is for the students to drive the car from Kansas City to Washington, DC to promote the program MindDrive.  The car is only given wattage to move if people “like” them on Facebook, comment on FaceBook, Tweet them, tag them, follow them, and so on.

To have a bunch of at-risk teens build a car after school is one thing, but to have them convert an old chunk of steel into an electric car that runs off of “social fuel” is another.  Help fuel them on their journey by following them, Tweeting them, and so on!  Their information is below!

MindDrive

Website

FaceBook

Twitter (#MindDrive)

Instagram

YouTube

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The Brilliant Bus

Courtesy of the Palm Beach Post

Well this is something different.  We have a bus.  What’s so special about a bus?  This bus is a unique creation by retired Estella Pyfrom.  So a retired woman purchased a bus; what’s the big deal?  Well, how are you reading this: your phone, your computer, or a tablet, right?  This is something many people, especially children, do not have access to.  A simple desktop computer is something that a lot of us take for granted.

Estella Pyfrom realized this and with her retirement money spent an initial $450,000 on “Miss Estella’s Brilliant Bus”.  The bus was fitted with 17 computers loaded with educational software.  The bus tours around the Palm Beach area in Florida, allowing children without access to a computer get their hands on one.

She does have certain rules like no gum and no going on Facebook.  She has the stations set up to follow state mandated curriculums.  Children are only allow to progress to the next level of education on her bus if they get a 90% or higher on each level.  Now those are some standards! 

She does not just cater toward children though.  She also aids the parents of the children with helping them with writing a resume, finding affordable housing, and searching for jobs.  If that’s not enough, Pyfrom has also partnered with a nonprofit organization in the community to help provide meals to 3,000 residents each month!

Estella Pvfrom Courtesy of the Palm Beach Post

The total running cost is reaching almost 1 million dollars to maintain and modify the bus.  However, Pyfrom is not looking for an easy retirement. 

"I'm not tired yet. And I don't think I'm going to get tired," she said.  "I'm constantly charged up.  I look at the faces of the children and I get energized."

Now that’s a pretty bold statement; one that I can personally respect.  So many people are in a rush to help the children in Africa and other less fortunate areas, and while I will say there is nothing wrong with that, charity and goodwill should start from home.  There are millions of families here in the United States that can use our help.  Estella Pyfrom is helping with this amazing idea.

If you would like to learn more, or if you would like to help Estella Pyfrom continue this dream, visit Miss Estella’s Brilliant Bus website here!

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The Best Driving Video Games (That I have Played)

Two things that I need to get out of the way: one is that these are games that I have played.  I won’t judge games that I have not played for better or worse, as that’s not fair.  Second, these games are DRIVING games, and not games that are specifically RACING games.  So for all of you Gran Turismo fans wondering why your games are not listed, please see the two reasons above.  The following games are in no particular order:

Driver (1999)

Courtesy of Pwned

Come on, it’s in the name!  I remember playing this game as a little kid.  You are the wheelman, the mysterious undercover cop trying to chase down the evil Jericho.  That first level in the parking garage was a pain in the you-know-what!  I just hated hearing “hey man, watch the paint”, and “OK, Man! OK! OK! OK!”  These were good times.  Aside from that, this game was something that I had never played before at the time.  It was the first real open world driving game for me.  Sure it had limitations, and the cars could be destroyed by just pushing another car, but it was fun!

Driver 2 was fun to get out of cars, and Driv3r was fun, yet too much like Grand Theft auto, but when I first saw that AMAZING live action trailerfor Driver San Francisco based off of that first level of the first game, I was hooked.   This leads me to…

Driver San Francisco (2011)

Courtesy of The Controller Online

Okay, I will admit that the story mode was a little boring and WAY too easy, the music choice could have been better, and not all the engine sounds were accurate.  You know what?  Who cares!  It’s the first game that features both of my family vehicles: an S197 V6 Mustang (even though mine is not a convertible), and a last generation Chevy Blazer (and mine is not a two door)!  The graphics are well done, and the driving physics are the BEST that I have experienced in any game.  You can feel the loose and scary suspension of the Dodge Monaco, and you can turn the Lamborghini Murcielago on a dime at over 200 miles per hour.  A dirt road is sketchy, and the pavement begs for burning rubber.

The dialogue you experience when you use willpower to change into a car that has a passenger was well written.  The comedic value was appreciated.  The assortment of cars is quite respectable, and the side missions were quite fun.  As mentioned, it was very fast and easy to complete to 100%.  However, it has good playability even after 100% in my opinion, because the driving is so fun.  It has officially become my time killing game.  You know; that game where you can’t dedicate time to online matches of Call of Duty, but you have a few minutes before having to go somewhere.  That is a coveted position for a game of mine to hold.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 [TDU2] (2010)

Courtesy of Rack of Ammo

Beautiful, enormous, endless playability, customizable, dynamic, and worst acting/dialogue ever.  If you have not played this game, you are missing out.  This game is open world to the max.  You can drive ANYWHERE.  The graphics are simply gorgeous.  I’ll sometimes find myself driving the streets of Hawaii or Ibiza to the end of a cliff, just so I can watch the virtual sunset.  Then some jerk comes along and slams into my car knocking me into the water.  Yes, this game will not win any awards with its killer lines like, “Thank you.  I couldn’t have done it without you”, but the fact that to finish the game, it will take you close to an hour to drive around Hawaii as fast as you can is pretty damn awesome!

I can’t comment on the music, because after I realized the selection was terrible, I always turned off the radio.  I like the little things the game offers such as the cars getting dirty.  I still cannot say enough about the graphics though.  The lighting is superb as the sun sets, with rain on the ground, and everywhere else.  You can customize your character, but I prefer making the ’69 Dodge Charger look like the General Lee.  That took a LONG time to pull off.  The houses/garages are gorgeous as well, and I’m too cheap to buy the casino content, so I can’t comment on that.  Still, it’s great to drive around and meet some people who just enjoy the game as much as you do.

Honorable Mentions

In the event to keep this blog post at a decent length, I will just give the rest honorable mentions:

For LA Noir, I think it was pretty interesting to drive around in some iconic cars from our past.  While the physics and other aspects were not the greatest, the graphics and wide array of cars from the 30’s and 40’s with complete drivability was quite fun!

Picture Courtesy of Collider

It is very common for a game such as a first person shooter to throw in a driving level.  Usually they suck beyond belief.  The graphics are usually terrible, and the streets/settings look fake.  MOH Warfighter blew me away with the few driving parts it had.  The settings looked very real, the handling was surprisingly good, and the audio was stellar.  Great job all around.

Picture Courtesy of FPS General

Twisted Metal 2?  Come on; it’s a demolition derby style game that allows you to shoot rockets and other projectiles at your competition, and it’s for the original PlayStation.  Can it get much better?  Only if you could jump off the Eiffel Tower.  Oh, wait.  You can.

 Picture Courtesy of Wikipedia

There are tons of other games like Smuggler’s Run, RoadKill, Burnout Paradise, and more, but these are just some of the games that I think are the best driving (not racing) games out of the ones that I have played.  Have any other games in mind?  Let me know in the comments below! 

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