A Strange Game

A short time ago I watched the movie WarGames with my dad. It's about a kid who accidentally hacks into the government's supercomputer and starts a nuclear war simulation which the computer interprets as real and he has to try to stop. My dad told me I would like it, and it turns out I did. I thought it was a bit unrealistic at times, i.e. when the FBI just shows up and next thing you know he's locked up; it seemed to jump around a bit. However, the idea behind the movie was pretty cool, and for the most part it was well done for its time.

Interestingly, we happen to be talking about the Cold War in history, and the movie is a great representation of how people felt at the time as well as of how on the way to destruction we were. The next class I actually understood a good portion of what Mr. Majask was saying due to my having seen the movie, which is quite a rare occurrence for me; history isn't exactly my strong point. Since then I've been trying to convince him to let us watch it in class, as it would help with our understanding of the public's mindset and the propaganda of the time period. I think it would help, as it has indeed helped me.

Today I decided to write a paraphrased version of *SPOILER* that scene from WarGames on the whiteboard to see if he'd notice. It's not all from that same scene, more loosely based on the scene but with lines from other parts as well. Crossing out "professor" was my anonymous friend's idea. And by the way he did notice, but mostly because he came in right as I was finishing writing. I wonder what would have happened otherwise...oh well:)


See also xkcd.com/601 and xkcd.com/696.