the scoop

the scoop

site of the week

“Guns, Germs, and Steel” regularly tops the reading lists of high school students across the country. The award-winning book, by noted scholar and college professor Jared Diamond, examines some of the forces that have shaped human history over the course of 10,000 years.

As schools doors open for a new academic year, students might be in need of a refresher on some of the topics discussed in the book. Luckily, PBS still hosts the Web site it created for the 2005 televised version of “Guns, Germs, and Steel” that is the perfect study guide. You can visit it online at www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/index.html.

The site includes overviews of the key variables central to Diamond’s arguments. For example, you can review how rice cultivation may have influenced the development of a centralized Chinese state and how smallpox and other Eurasian germs aided in the conquest of the New World.

The site’s “The World” section features an interactive map of the Earth’s continents. Clicking on a location, you can learn about its climate, vegetation and more.

Unfortunately, the site doesn’t include any video clips from the TV special, but does feature an extended question-and-answer session with Diamond.

rockin’ the paradise

An unlikely competitor has emerged in the ongoing Armageddon to determine rhythm game supremacy. It’s called “Guitar Praise,” and it’s a rock ’n’ roll game for parents who were freaked out by the prominence of Satan in last year’s “Guitar Hero III.”

“Grab the guitar and play along with top Christian bands!” says the press release from publisher Digital Praise (which is also behind a “Dance Dance Revolution” knockoff called “Dance Praise”). “You’ll soon be rockin’ with the best while praising the Lord!”

“The best” in this case means stalwart Christian rock acts such as Relient K, Newsboys and dc Talk. The $100 package, for PC and Mac only, will come with its own guitar and more than 50 songs. No “Sympathy for the Devil” here.

chills and thrills

With new attractions and live shows, HalloWeekends at Cedar Point in Sandusky will be bigger and better than ever.

In addition to an expanded entertainment package, the park’s fall frightfest will be extended to eight weekends, the longest haunting season in the event’s history. Beginning Sept. 12, HalloWeekends will be held Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 2. It will be the first time the park will be open in November.

Additions will include:

Two new themed walk-through attractions: Terror Island, which is inhabited by pirates and mermaids; and CornStalkers, a cornfield guarded by mysterious scarecrows.

Club Blood, a vampire-filled haunted house.

Two new live shows: “The Graveyard Shift with the Goodtime Ghouls” and “Nights of Darkness.”

For more information, go to HalloWeekends.com

new video games

In stores this week: Electronic Arts’ “Mercenaries 2: World in Flames” lays waste to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles everywhere. ... Microsoft’s candy-filled critters return in “Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise” (for the 360). ... EA Sports unleashes the cartoony slugfest “FaceBreaker” (360, PS3).

o.ar. shows all sides

O.A.R. (short for “ ... Of a Revolution”) reaped publicity both from college campus word-of-mouth and the ESPN premiere of the video for “This Town” during the College World Series. Now, the band has begun to show the rest of the music world what it’s all about with its latest album, “All Sides.”

The new disc opens with “Shattered (Turn the Car Around),” featuring co-founder Marc Roberge’s pulsating lyrics about love and the burnout scene, then continues with “This Town,” which introduced the Maryland and Ohio-rooted band to a new segment of fans at the NCAA baseball championships. “This Town,” extolling “this town, this city, this crowd,” is a new anthem, with perfect rhythm, great guitar riffs and amazing vocals.

O.A.R.’s new album does mark a departure from one key element: reggae. Although the new sound is inviting and adds some depth, dedicated fans will miss the classic O.A.R. reggae accents.

—Alex Tavlian, McClatchy Newspapers