Candid Conversations - 1 Blogger + 1 Person Being Interviewed = A conversation About Cool Math Race Games With Vinod Ravisankar

Math was not my strongest subject in school. Hence the reason I became a call center rep by day blogger and YouTuber by night. Many kids struggle to learn math and as the equations get more complex the tougher it is to solve them especially if you have not had a good base to work off of. Simple math adding, subtracting, division and multiplication form the root base for all math and kids now have a new tool to help them gain the important base for all math. Cool Math Race Games for Kids developed by VionixStudio is a new and fun way for kids to learn math while playing a racing game.

I reached out to Vinod Ravisankar at VionixStudio to find out more about the game and how it works and he’s joining in via a Candid Conversations interview across email. Thanks for taking the time out Vinod.

Vinod R.: Thank you for taking the time to interview me.

Cliff T.: I have to admit my math is OK but I did struggle with the basics. I could have used this game when I was a kid. Vinod, how did this game come to be in the first place?

Vinod R.: The game was made as a tutorial to learn about Car controller physics in game development. Since it turned out to be very kid-friendly, I decided to publish the game as a math-learning game.

Cliff T.: How does the player interact with the game? What is the goal?

Vinod R.: The game aims at teaching the basics of math operators to kids and provides a way for them to test their skills using the race. It also has a multiplayer option to compete against your friend.

Cliff T.: So Vinod, I would assume that this game is for a particular age group mainly kids in grades 1 to 5 would I be correct in that assumption?

Vinod R.: The initial version was launched without any difficulty setting in mind. Based on player feedback, the version now available at Google Play store has two difficulty settings. One controls the speed at which you need to solve the problems and the other controls the complexity of the question. The difficulty at the highest can be hard even for adults.

Cliff T.: Looking at the graphics of the game I noticed a simple design, from what I can gather here the idea is to focus on the math, not the racing or the cars doing the racing, or is it more or less an equal balance between the two?

Vinod R.: The idea was to hit the balance between the two so that Kids both enjoy the game and learn math in the process.

Cliff T.: Is VinonixStudio planning other games like this one?

Vinod R.: Not in the near future. But we plan to update this game based on user feedback.

Cliff T.: Speaking of VionixStudio. Vinod, can you tell me what the company does?

Vinod R.:VionixStudio is a game development help site. We provide tools and tutorials required for new game developers to get started. We publish games sometimes for fun, but teaching game developers is the main purpose of VionixStudio. We are currently focused on the Unity game engine but we plan to expand to other game engines too.

Cliff T.: How did you get started doing this kind of work?

Vinod R.: I started game development as a hobby and found that there is no proper path for new game developers to follow. This led to the creation of VionixStudio. VionixStudio guides new developers in a step-by-step process to learn game development.

Cliff T.: Have you tested the game out with your kids? And, overall what has been the response to the game?

Vinod R.: Yes. The game was initially tested with local kids and was received well. We also took the help of the Educational App Store to test the game using teachers and we made lots of changes based on their feedback. You can read the review by EAS here https://www.educationalappstore.com/app/math-race-1

Cliff T.: What is the exciting part of all this for you?

Vinod R.: The best part is when I see a kid with zero interest in math trying to solve the math problem to win the race. I feel like this game can make many kids interested in Math.

Cliff T.: And from what I can see this game is found on Google Play, any plans for the IOS platform?

Vinod R.: Depending on the games performance in Google Play store, we might publish the game on IOS too.

Cliff T.: If anyone wants to develop their own game through VionixStudio what do they need to do?

Vinod R.: They can just go to VionixStudio.com and start following the steps on the homepage. If you are someone with basic knowledge of how games are made, then you can go to the Learn Unity page and start following the tutorials.

Cliff T.: Excellent Viond, thank you so much for taking the time to do a Candid Conversations interview. It’s been fun learning about Cool Math Race Games for Kids and VionixStudio.

Vinod R.: It was fun talking to you and thanks for having me on Candid Conversations

Vinod Ravisankar, VionixStudio. Here is where to find them on the web, https://vionixstudio.com to get the game go into the play store and look for Cool Math Racing Games for kids. Vinod wrote to us from New York NY.

Candid Comment - Video Edition - Jimmy Soul If You Wanna Be Happy

First, welcome to the refreshed Candid Conversations blog. I hope you will find it more appealing to view and that you find the content interesting to read and, of course, share.

Today I will link to the YouTube page and feature a Candid Comment about Jimmy Soul and his song. "If You Wanna Be Happy."  

Jimmy Soul recorded the tune in 1963, and it charted, reaching number 1 in May 1963. He had a few more hits, ended his musical career, and joined the U.S. Army. Later in life, he got hooked into the drug culture and was imprisoned in the late 80s for possessing a controlled substance. In 1988 he died of a heart attack, most likely while serving time in jail.

Many people love this song finding it catchy and funny, and this was the song's intent. That said, when you look at the song's wording, it slams marriage and suggests that women who are "ugly" are a better catch because they will just stay at home and tend the house. Whereas a pretty woman is a troublemaker who will cause their husband grief and even ruin him.

I would love feedback here and on the YouTube site.   To read more about Jimmy Soul, you can visit the wiki page. To see the video, head to YouTube via the link below.

Candid Conversations - Zoomed In With Jim Frankenfield - Avalanches

 Every year people fall prey to avalanches while skiing.  Statistically speaking, if a person gets caught in one, they must be found and freed from the snow in approximately 15 minutes, or they will die.  Many, if not most, die from severe trauma.  

Understanding what to look for and what to do in an avalanche is essential.  Jim Frakenfiled is an expert climber and skier, and he's been in 2 avalanches and has escaped injury.  He is the founder of the Avalanche Center hosted on the web at https://www.avalanche-center.org/, and he joined me in a Zoom chat about his book Fatal Avalanches in the US: 2021-22: A Review of the Season's Fatal Avalanches.

Here is the link to the video on YouTube.

Candid Conversations - Candid Pick - Tales From The Cube

Besides this blog and its companion YouTube channel, I have taken a dive into the world of podcasting. I am a call center rep by trade, and I decided to create a podcast called Tales From The cube.  The podcast is about the good, the bad, the funny, and the not-so-funny side of working in a call center as a front-line worker.  The point is to give listeners a peek into what it is like to handle calls and provide some insights to those in the field and customers from our point of view.  

There are 6 podcast episodes so far. The most recent tackles the question of working from home.  And you can find the podcast on the following channels.  Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, and Amazon music.  The Anchor FM site lists these and also allows for access to the episodes as well.  

https://anchor.fm/cliff-tooher is the link to the main site.  Listen there or in your favorite channel.

Thanks, and I am going to be posting not one but two new conversations shortly. One is written, the other a Zommed in interview. Look for them shortly.

Cliff

 

Candid Comment - Chinese Spy Balloons

Ever since it was spotted last week, a high-altitude balloon apparently from China has created quite a stir in the U.S.  That balloon has since been shot down, and now intelligence officers are gathering up what they can from the wreckage to see what the Chinese were trying to do or did.

Ok, granted, we should be concerned about spying, especially when the spying is on very sensitive locations like a missile silo.  What is interesting or not interesting or possibly interesting is what has been happening up to now.  The U.S., for all its technical capabilities, has not had a stellar record when it comes to finding these crafts.  Domain awareness, as the military puts it, is not great when it comes to detecting balloons that fly above 50,000ft or about 15 km.  Here is the funny part below 50k systems can detect objects in the sky. Above that, up to a certain height, they can not.  Also interesting is that NORAD had to get permission to track the balloon in U.S. airspace.  

The amount of coverage of this story has been surprising. Sure, it is a newsworthy story, but the level of attention given to it seems a bit over the top.   I say that because if we step back and look around, we can surely see that besides China, there are other countries that use balloons to spy, including the U.S.  This is a thing, but at the same time, not a thing.  in other words, it is a story that should have a short shelf life.  However, since a second object, as the U.S. military puts it, has been shot down, this story plot thickens.  Revelations that the PRC has a fleet of these balloons and has floated them over a number of countries are quite alarming. 

The PRC (People's Republic of China) insisted that the balloon was used for weather and that the action taken, shooting it down, was a hostile act.  Time will tell if the balloon was really just a floating weather watcher or a sophisticated piece of gear intended to gather intel on the U.S. and other countries' military capabilities.  So stay tuned. There is more to come from this story.

Candid Comment - Video Edition - 2022 Review

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Candid Conversations has been around for a long time. The first post dates back to 2009.  Officially though it is January 2010 that I count as the real start of the blog.  The blog has been online for 13 years to be exact. I am happy to report that the blog has actually hit a new record, crushing the old record set in 2017. Check this out.

Now here is the video presentation showing the rest of the review for 2022.

Candid Conversations - Zoomed In With Author Kevin Hazzard - American Sirens

The first of many conversations is with Kevin Hazzard. Former EMS paramedic, journalist, and now author. He has written a couple of books, including American Sirens. The book details the history of Freedom House Ambulance. The team of black men, 24 in the group, became the first paramedics in the U.S. To say that it was an easy ride for them would be mistaken. They faced hostility from Philadelphia police and racism from patients. However, over time they garnered some recognition and some respect but never fully overcame the animosity directed at them, especially from the police.

I heard Kevin give an interview on Fresh Air, an NPR program heard daily around the world, and decided to reach out to him to speak about the book. It was a fascinating chat. Listed below are some key links and the video link back to YouTube of the interview.

Freedom House Ambulance. 

Freedom House Documentary. 

99% Invisible Podcast - Freedom House article and audio. 

Dr. Peter Safar Wikipedia.

Dr. Nancy Croline wikipedia. 

The white paper: 1965 formal name Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease Of Modern Society  

Note Pitusburg appears in an infographic or 2 the actual spelling is Pittsburgh.