One giant zap for mankind
QUESTION
Who won the 1980 Atari Space Invaders Tournament? Space Invaders, created by Tomohiro nishikado and released in 1978, is one of the earliest computer shooting games. The aim is to defeat waves of aliens with a laser cannon to earn as many points as possible. The craze hit america in 1980 with the launch of the 1980 atari 2600 version.
The 1980 atari Space Invaders Tournament saw 10,000 entrants compete in heats all over the U.S. and five finalists emerged to battle for the title in the First national Space Invaders competition. The finals were held on november 10 at the new York headquarters of Warner communications Inc, of which atari is a division. The young contestants were housed in the fivestar Berkshire Hotel and taken to the event in limousines.
The twohour shootout began at 10am. Simultaneous competition was restricted to two hours of play, necessitating speed as well as accuracy in shooting down the alien hordes. contestants played game selection no 1 at ‘a’ difficulty, meaning each player was limited to three ships fighting squadrons of 36 aliens with no barriers.
The pace of the contest left Steve Marmel zapped out at 40,000 points, while the other finalists each broke 100,000 and lasted the full two hours.
When the cosmic dust had settled, a new official high score of 165,200 points was achieved by 17yearold Bill Heineman of Whittier, california, and he was awarded an asteroids table top video game.
Second prize — an atari 800 personal computer — went to Hing ng of San Francisco with a score of 153,300 points, while Frank Tetro of Yorktown Heights, new York, scored 133,300 points to earn the third prize of a $500 shopping spree.
after the competition, Heineman said he felt ‘tired physically, great mentally!’
Justin Davies, Cardiff.
QUESTION
A popular genre of TV documentaries involves interviews with retired Mafia bosses who have given evidence against former associates. They often state their lives are under threat. Has any ever been killed for giving evidence? Such documentaries usually involve witnesses who have been moved into the U.S. Marshal Service Witness Security program (WITSEC).
Born of the Organised crime control act of 1970, and the brainchild of longtime department of Justice attorney, Gerald Shur, WITSEC claims to have successfully protected more than 9,000 witnesses and 10,000 family members since it began operations in 1971.
Membership of WITSEC is typically for life, and usually begins with a visit from U.S. marshals, whether anticipated or not. While many of the witnesses and their family members have time to make the decision and prepare for their new lives, others are forced to choose rather quickly, even occasionally having to leave within moments of the marshals arriving.
In the early days, there were many problems, particularly documentation with witnesses failing to receive new birth certificates, for example.
expenses scandals sometimes leaked into the news; a famous example was that of aladena Jimmy ‘The Weasel’ Fratianno, the most powerful mobster to become a federal witness turned informant in 1978.
He was paid nearly $1 million over the next ten years while in the programme. not only that, it emerged his mother received a monthly stipend and the government had paid for his wife to have cosmetic surgery. On the other hand Fratianno’s testimony helped to convict more than two dozen gangsters.
The government dropped him from the programme after he published two biographies, The Last Mafioso, with author Ovid demaris, and vengeance Is Mine, with author Michael J. Zuckerman.
The FBI determined that Fratianno could support himself. Fratianno enjoyed his years as a criminal celebrity with appearances on the CBS 60 Minutes television news programme and various Tv documentaries. although he claimed to fear for his life afterwards, he lived for another six years and died in his sleep in 1993.
WITSEC proudly boasts that in contrast to Hollywood depictions of the system, no one who has followed the programme’s guidelines has ever been assassinated.
Mr M. S. Danery, Stafford. One possible example happened in Britain. peter Mcneil was a wideboy gangster who was arrested in colombia in 1985, while attempting to set up a £20 million cocaine deal. He turned informant for the american dea and arranged a deal with two Mob men from detroit. They came over to england and one of them, david Medin, was arrested en route to Grays in essex with 37kg of cocaine in his car. To reduce his sentence, Mcneil chose to tell all to the authorities and this led to the longterm imprisonment of three other men, John O’Boyle from detroit, and Londoners Lloyd Hibbert and david rafferty.
Mcneil was put into the Witness protection programme and relocated to Hook in Hampshire. His brash behaviour attracted attention and there were claims that he openly boasted he was an informer and frequently flashed large amounts of cash in the locals’ faces.
On February 10, 1988, he opened the door of his home in Hook, Hampshire, to be met with a hail of bullets. car salesman James clelland was tried for arranging the killing because he was ‘obsessed’ with the idea Mcneil would win the affections of a former girlfriend. He was later acquitted.
The case remains open, and with Mcneil’s enemies said to have included the Ira, the U.S. Mafia and several London gangsters, and rumours of a £200,000 bounty on his head, it seems entirely possible he was killed for giving evidence.
Edward Collings, Stratford-upon-avon, Warwickshire.
QUESTION
A BBC TV schedule for 1956 featured a programme called Presenting Edna Savage. Who was she? FURTHER to the earlier answer, I did my police training initial course at newby Wiske police college between February and May in 1960.
Sometime during the course, Workers’ playtime was broadcast from there. edna Savage was the singer but I can’t remember the other acts. an Inspector stood in front of us and we could only laugh and clap politely when he held up his hand and had to stop when he dropped it.
When the broadcast was finished, I, being the youngest of 120 students, had to present Miss Savage with a bunch of flowers for which I received a kiss on both cheeks and a good luck in the future from her. now not being on air, the lecture theatre erupted in a tremendous round of applause and a somewhat redfaced exit by me. Happy days!
Fred Bray, thorley, Isle of Wight.