Violence in Video Games

The video games genres that are the most popular in todays society are usually sports and action games, which for the most part is packed with violence. I personally prefer action packed gun games like Halo and Call of Duty. But what affect to these games have on gamers? Many people have argued that violent games teach violence to kids. I am the product of playing violent games as a child and I would argue that I was not affect by them. As a child, I played first person shooter games like, 007, Perfect Dark, Gundam, where the goal of the game was to kill your enemies. If any gamer would be affected by violent themes in games it would be children and as a child I was able to understand that video games were separate from real life interaction. With regards to the debate on children being affected by violence in video games, I believe it comes down to whether or not a child can differentiate video games from real life.

The effect that I have witnessed come from violent video games is that they are used as a stress relief. One of my friends actually will play a violent video game after a "bad day" and kill people in the virtual world to relieve stress.  So the real question is, would I let my kids play violent games? Yes, it will be a judgment call, when I believe that they can understand the difference between real life and video games.

Blogging about blogs

When I was a student in middle school, I was introduced to blogging. Teachers thought it was important to try and get students involved with the new technology which where blogs. To me, it sounded like the equivalent to a journal that everyone can read. Today, I have the same two problems with blogs as i did as a kid. 

For starters I never really knew what to write about. There are lots of blogs on the internet and for the most part I am not really interested in reading many of them. So what can I write about that would make other people want to read my blog? 

This is leads me to my next problem with blogs. Who cares what you are blogging about? I believe that blogs are making people socially lazier. There is no substitute to sharing experiences face to face with friends. Blogs are becoming misused. Blogs can be helpful and interesting if they share a common experience  that helps readers or reflects something a reader might not know or understand. Blogs are a medium by them selves if millions of people blog everyday. However, how are individual blogs a form of medium if no one is reading them? 

Gizmodo

Apple's newest big move towards expanding industry is a new website. The website is called Gizmodo. As a medium it brings a very large array of people together. Generally is for people who are interested in gadgets and people who are interested in our cultures continuously evolving technology.  It is consistent of a number of blogs that's topics stretch from flying planes to new gloves with the technology to type anywhere on anything. The website is a culmination many sorts of technology therefore creating and bringing together a huge diverse group of people. 

I Gizmodo is a medium of which the progression of technology encouraged. The many websites that we browse today are mostly just informational purposes. Giving us a way to connect too and keep updated in our interests. Gizmodo is different in the sense that the category of the website is technology, but the subjects are all random. Furthermore, the blogs are educational. Each blog is able to teach the concepts in the simplest of ways. Gizmodo is more than just a medium. It can inspire new technologies along with possibility of connecting small business ideas to large investors. 

Gizmodo is more than a social blog medium. Its more of all of that and a birthplace for creativity promotion with regards to technology.

How Much HP Does Squirtle Have?

I may not have them any more however my pokemon card collection put me into one of the largest mediums in my childhood. The pokemon fad became so big in my home town that pokemon cards were banned from school because it was  because the distraction it was causing. The card game created a complete social medium. Blogs, strategy guides, TV shows, video games, and friend groups were all developed as a result of the “POKe” medium.  It connected everyone and anyone as long as you possessed the cards.

The cards were an extension to a fantasy world of creatures that invoked the imagination of children. Collectors were able to show off, battle , and trade cards. Kids were able to define themselves by collecting and trading for their favorite pokemon. As a child the kids around me judged each other based on the cards they had. The cards you owned almost directly related to your social status. Rare holograms and elite cards elevated your status in elementary school. 

It is interesting to look back and see what social mediums we belonged to as children because they were the ones that defined us the most and possible effected who we are today.

Why do you have a cell phone?

In todays world, most especially in our close society at Babson, we have demonstrated that it is a social norm to have a cell phone. Why did the ownership of the cell phone become a necessity in our lives. Was it our parents who shaped our generations need for cell phones by wanting to be able to reach there children at all times? Or are cell phones really a essential part to keeping in touch with all our social contacts in this new technological age. Somehow our parents and our parents parents got by without cell phones. So do why do we need them? Personally, I have been without my cell phone for a week and it has made me think more about our generations dependence on cell phones. Some where along the road the cell phone industry transformed our want for cell phones into a need. They were able to use the media to make there point of having cell phones to be a social norm. Now the media is trying to transform another one of our wants into a need. With new smart phones that come equipped with numerous applications, the media is trying to say it is not enough to just have a regular phone. Slowly we are all becoming more an more dependent on our phones and losing sigh of some of the personal mediums around us. 

How TV defines us

Arguably, TV is the biggest medium. Broadcasting ideas, messages, advertisements,  social norms, and much more. Every channel broadcasted connects us to all different mediums and messages that we allow ourselves to be defined by when watching them. However, the channels we choose to watch can separate us into groups and stereo types. For example, like everyone else, I enjoy watching TV with friends. When I am watching TV with my friends, I am almost always watching ESPN. When watching ESPN, I feel connected to everyone in the room regardless of the sports knowledge because I know that sports captures a large part of our interests. Watching this channel connects me to a wide level media group which is probably predominately male sports fans. However, channels separate people by there interests. An interesting experiment that tried for kicks when I was watching TV with friends was changing the channel to something I was  was interested in but knew I would get teased for. This happened to be the cooking channel with Paula Deen.  My friend all started making fun of the show and myself immediately after realizing that I intended to watch the channel and that I did not mess up while pushing the buttons. This is an extreme example however, It really made me think about how the things we watched defined us. And we are connected to our friends in this day in age through so many different mediums.

RED SOX NATION

The Red Sox nation is one of the greatest sports mediums in our culture today. Its long history of successes and heartbreaks unites fans of all ages. At a personal level, it allowed me to become extremely close to my grandfather. Some of my favorite times this summer was spent talking about how the Red Sox were going to win a world series! 

Red Sox nation is such a great fan club because it brings together a extremely large and diverse group of people that stretches across the world. When Japanese all star pitcher Dice K transferred into the American Major League Baseball to play for the Red Sox, the Red Sox fan nation grew to new heights as thousands of new Japanese fans fallowed the Red Sox. 

Being a Red Sox fan defines me and also attaches all of there followers with many stereo types. When meeting people and explaining my loyalty to the Red Sox, some people feel as if the already have a good understanding of me. For example, being a loud mouth fan who stubbornly hates the Yankees.

Define Media

Peter Crowley

DEFINITION OF MEDIA 

Professor Xinghua

Media surrounds us with everything that we do in our lives. In our daily lives it is hard not to become involved or just come across some type of medium for any single minute of the day. The media we consciously and subconsciously choose to involve ourselves in shapes our identity and our decisions. What is interesting is how little we know or understand media even though it plays such a large part in our lives. The definition of the word media has many vague interpretations. However, I see it as being byproduct of three requirement or simply; Media is everything or anything that fills a concrete purpose while uniting people and projects and idea or “message”.

The first requirement of a medium is that it must fill some purpose. It does not matter how important, basic, or unnecessary of a purpose it satisfies, just as long as it does. Take a look at some common mediums used in society today. When people use phone as a medium they use it for purpose of communicating. When people use the internet they are usually using it for the purpose of gathering information. When people play video games on X-BOX and Play Station, they usually do it to have fun or counter boredom. The reason media must have some purpose to fill is because human beings are machines of reason. Humans naturally try to seek out purpose and reason. Therefore, everything we do is for a reason. One could say, I watched TV because I was board. I did my homework because I want good grades, and a job. Each action and decision has some reason behind no matter how big or small, right or wrong it is.

Fulfilling a reason goes hand in hand with the second requirement of media, which is that the mediums purpose must unite people.  Reasons are what unite and bring people together. People who come together with reasons are defined as having a cause. Something cannot define as a medium if it does not reach or affect anyone. The online Encarta World English Dictionary defines media as, “the various means of mass communication considered as a whole”. The stronger the cause a medium the more of a chance of uniting people to will then be “considered as a whole.”

Media must have an underlining message or idea behind it. Having underlining messages is different from my first media definition requirement of having purpose. The underlining messages are what create mediums. They are the reason why media is personalized to you. Drinking water because you are thirsty does not make a medium. It does have a purpose and it could unite people. But, drinking Gatorade Perform or Poland Springs water could be considered mediums. They both fill a purpose, unite people into groups, and  both Poland Springs and Gatorade have underlining messages imbedded into their products and company. Gatorades underlining messages could be that athlete’s drink their product or that if you dehydrated Gatorade has the best or most electrolytes to help your body. Marshal McLuhan defined medium as, “The medium is the message.”  

I personally believe that media can be interpreted many different ways because there are so many different mediums and they all connect together. However, for something to be considered it must fulfill three requirements. It must have a purpose, it must unite people, and it must have at least one underlining message. These three vague requirements allow media to appear with all sorts of ways and continue to reinvent and revolutionize it’s self like it has over the years.