The Willow Glen Resident Photograph by Skye Dunlap Child's Play: Alexandra Zellner, 9, and Anna Mascoli, 8, learn about asteroids and science on the CD-ROM Impact. Willow Glen couple and friends create software about asteroids CD details the history of asteroid collisions with Earth's surface By Michelle Ku Last April Gene Mascoli and his wife Kay had dinner at their friend Susan Gentile's home, days after the Massachusetts astronomer, Brian Marsded, predicted an asteroid would collide with the Earth in 2028. But less than a day after his prediction, new data determined the asteroid would miss Earth by 600,000 miles--an immense distance from the planet, but closer to Earth than any other asteroid of its size. The friends talked earnestly about their fear of being hit by an asteroid, and the amazing phenomenon of how close the possibility had seemed. That's when it dawned on the three to create IMPACT: Ground Zero, an interactive CD-ROM exploring the past, present and future research on comets, asteroids and meteors. The CD would be the first product of the start-up they created called Bamboole, Inc., a science and education CD-ROM software development company. Neither Mascoli nor Gentile had any experience in start-ups or software development, but they had two things: an enthusiasm for the project and a desire to fill the void for scientific educational software. "One of the greatest needs the United States seems to have is that students are falling further and further behind in science and math. Science got the Valley to what it is but young girls aren't being fostered in science and math," Mascoli said. Mascoli, an attorney for the past 17 years, with clients involved in the Internet and new media, had been considering the possibility of producing quality software titles. He saw what his clients were producing and felt that although the products were solid, they just weren't compelling, Mascoli said. IMPACT: Ground Zero, on the other hand, is a CD-ROM featuring interviews with leading scientists from NASA/Ames, Johnson Space Center and University of California's Lawrence Laboratory in Berkeley, as well as photographs from NASA archives and a full research library. "Just hearing the scenarios and synopsis of the subject intrigued me. I particularly enjoyed the interviews with the experts in the field. The interviews with the people in the industry was very enlightening. This is their business and it's obviously very important to them," said Mike LaTourette, a Willow Glen resident who has purchased three copies of the CD-ROM. LaTourette enjoyed IMPACT so much that he sent a couple copies to relatives who he thought would enjoy it. IMPACT details the history of asteroid collisions with the Earth and how a similar collision caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Photographs and information on famous comets, asteroids and meteors are also included. The CD also details space missions by NASA and features an interactive quiz on what should be done if an asteroid did hit the Earth. Although the CD-ROM is geared towards students of middle school age and older, IMPACT is just as useful in the home or in the school with a lecture, Mascoli said. "It's not an entertainment product, but it is a good reference library with 240 pages of information," he said. Approximately 90 percent of IMPACT's sales have been to the education market with 10 percent being sold to general consumers. Copies of IMPACT have been purchased by high school teachers as well as junior college instructors. Some East Coast universities including Villanova and Youngstown have also purchased IMPACT. "Some of the comments we've received is that it's so nice to have a multimedia product that's not an encyclopedia," Gentile said. IMPACT: Ground Zero is only available in one retail store in the area, Orion Telescope in Cupertino. Most sales have stemmed from the company's Web site and a California science teacher's conference where Mascoli and Gentile did a product demonstration. They decided to market their product on the Internet because of the difficulty getting shelf space in a store, and the benefits of selling software on-line. "When you go to Barnes and Noble, you can pick up a book and read a couple chapters. When you pick up a CD-ROM, you can't check it out. A distinction that the Internet offers that a store doesn't is the on-line demonstration that's available," Gentile said. The on-line demonstration of IMPACT: Ground Zero includes an outline, some interview clips and photographs from the CD-ROM. Besides IMPACT, the company CDandDVD.com also offers several other astronomy and solar system products. In the next 60 days, 150 more products will be introduced to the on-line store. As for the future, Mascoli believes the company might produce a CD-ROM on earth sciences, earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, but before Bamboole begins production on a second CD-ROM, they want to make sure the first one is a success. IMPACT: Ground Zero is available for both Macintosh and PCs. For more information about IMPACT: Ground Zero, contact Bamboole at 723-2635 or visit CDandDVD.com at http://www.cdanddvd.com. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, November 18, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.