The James Logan Courier

By Noah Matthews
McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

Getting a leg up on high school has many advantages, and "High School Advantage 2008," which covers 10 courses, with thousands of lessons, exercises, tutorials and quizzes, is a good way to get ready for fall semester and the SATs. The tutors on this DVD for Windows PCs patiently guide students through courses that have practical applications. In other words, High School Advantage will prepare students for the classroom, SATs and the real world.

Subjects include Algebra II, geometry and trigonometry, English composition, economics, U.S. government (political science), world history, typing, biology, chemistry and physics along with rudimentary courses in Spanish, French, German and Italian. It also has games and cell phone ringtones.

By Rob Watson
The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)

When Sony introduced the PlayStation 3 back in November 2006 (yes, it has been that long already) many, including myself, were skeptical of the Japanese electronic giant's business decision.

The highest price ($599) for any console since the early '90s Neo Geo, an underwhelming list of initial games, and unproven hi-def movie capabilities was a long way from the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Those systems were almost always in the middle of price wars and the catalog of games had dominated the industry since the late '90s.

By Eric Gwinn
Chicago Tribune (MCT)

Things have changed a lot in the past 12 months since our 2007 back-to-school guide to laptops costing $1,000 or less. A new class of mini-laptops _ less-than-$500 machines small enough to fit on a sheet of paper — has taken off. Microsoft recently ended sales and support for Windows XP, while Apple last fall updated the Mac operating system. And the solid-state hard drive is gaining steam as an alternative to the heavier, hotter and power-gulping hard drive we know and love.

But one thing hasn't changed in the past year: It's a pain to sift through all the specs and models to find a computer for you or your student.

Ta-da! Behold our 2008 back-to-school guide to laptops.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

It's been both interesting and disappointing to follow the emergence of Brash Entertainment, which promised to elevate the image of movie-based games but thus far has simply advanced perceptions that movie-licensed titles are the black sheep of the gaming family.

For whatever it's worth, "Space Chimps" is the publisher's best work to date, showing flashes of ingenuity that occasionally put it in the same ballpark (though never the same aisle) as the Mario- and Crash Bandicoot-fronted games it tries to emulate. "Chimps" isn't afraid to switch gears between puzzle solving, combat, platforming and a few faster-paced challenges that send you grinding down rails or careening down a river, and the best of these challenges are legitimately fun and executed well.

Ophelia DeVore was the first mixed-race model in the United States. In 1946, she helped establish the Grace Del Marco Agency, one of the first modeling agencies in America.

DeVore was born on August 12, 1922 in Edgefield, South Carolina. She was one of ten children born to John Walter DeVore, who was of German American and African American descent, and Mary Emma Strother, who was a Black Indian.

Read The Secret of Inner Beauty, a story about Ophelia DeVore by Melissa Sones, free from the University of Central Oklahoma's College of Liberal Arts.