October 4, 2006

Encyclopaedia Britannica’s Women Who Changed the World (**** out of four) offers profiles of 300 women and includes information about those who lived as early as 3500 B.C. to those who live in current times. Their stories are told in biographies, photographs and video and audio recordings. A timeline listing women’s accomplishments through the centuries brings up names of many of the women included in this program, each with a link to her full biography.

The 300 women are all listed alphabetically, but they’re also listed in sections alphabetically that make it easy to find women according to era, where they lived, what they did and when they lived. Profiles of each woman vary in length, and multimedia clips are provided for 20 of them. There’s also a section "In Their Own Words," which contains quotations that run the gamut from poignant to witty to memorable. A section on learning activities for children ages 10 – 14 and age 15 and up offers comprehensive guides, outlines, ideas and information to help students write and/or learn about the women profiled.

We looked up astronaut Eileen Collins and found a photograph, comprehensive biography, including her birth date and an interesting story outlining her career. Marie Curie is portrayed in a lengthy biography that includes a photograph, birth and death dates, and an "additional reading" link for books and other articles about this remarkable woman; there’s also a film clip of Curie from the documentary Heroes of Science.

There’s a biography of Queen Nefertiti (listed with alternate spellings of her name) and many others of royal heritage, but there are even more profiles of women from the worlds of politics, sports, art, music, literature, drama and much more. Not all the women are those who are admired (an introduction to the program lists two such women), but most were pioneers in their field or who made positive contributions to the world.

Also included is a section called "Women’s Topics," which contains lengthy stories and articles about feminism, women’s suffrage and the women’s movement. Each of these topics contains an outline of the included sub-topics and links to additional information. You’ll find all kinds of interesting facts here. For example, did you know that there is evidence of an organized protest in the 3^rd century B.C. by Roman women, who filled the Capitoline Hill and blocked the entrances to the Forum? "Women’s Topics" also includes brief articles on National Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day.

The program is easy to use and navigate, and the information reflects Britannica’s comprehensive coverage of any topic. Any of the selections can be printed too. There’s a vast amount of information here, it’s well organized, and it offers an enlightening look at women’s accomplishments.

From Encyclopedia Britannica, Windows 98+ and Mac OS 10.2+, $9.95 available from www.ohio-distinctive.com or www.britannica.com.

Ankh (****) is a fun, sometimes irreverent, animated 3-D adventure romp around ancient Egypt, as seen through the eyes of an anachronistic Egyptian teenager. The humourous tone of the game was pretty well set as we watched the opening credits that were run over a funny song and dance done by some of the characters.

The storyline finds Assil, the Egyptian teen, sneaking into one of the pyramids to party with his friends. His father is the architect for the pyramid and Assil, uhm, borrowed the keys. Unfortunately, Assil accidently incurred a death curse from the resident mummy by breaking some urns. The Pharaoh is the only one who can lift the death curse, so here’s where the adventure begins: find the Pharaoh and convince him to lift the curse.

You get to direct the actions of Assil as he moves about, but later in the game to help solve some of the puzzles you’ll need to switch to direct others’ actions as well. As you explore the various surroundings, you have to take note of clues and pick up everything that’s not bolted down because you’ll probably need it later. Many of the items picked up can be combined for use. For example, a shirt and tunic can be combined to make a rope, and then Assil can use the rope to escape through a window of the room in which he was grounded by his father. Or combine a brush handle with camel hair (gotten at the local camel Wash-a-Matic, of course) to clean off a statue to trade for a treasure map.

Along the way you meet the more than 45 comic characters you’ll need to interview for information about the Pharaoh and goings on in general. Eventually you meet the love of your life, fight off crocodiles, outwit the palace guards, rescue the Pharaoh’s daughter and such. More than 80 puzzles are cleverly woven into the story and need to be solved to be successful in your quest.

Gameplay is easy, using mouse only to direct Assil, pick up and/or use objects and perform various other actions. There are no dead ends, so if you get stuck just keep poking around. You can save your game and come back to it later if you want. The 3D surroundings such as the Nile, Sphinx and especially the Bazaar are very colorful and fun to explore. The cinematic interludes are fun to watch too. The game is rated T for Teen but frankly we had fun with it anyway.

From Viva-Media, Windows 2000/XP, Pentium 1.5 Ghz+, $19.99.

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