I have to say that I've never actually sat and analyzed on how games influence us to think critically but after reading "Everything is Good For You" by Steven Johnson he forced me to "look under the hood" in games. This action of "looking under the hood" was described as probing by Johnson. Gamers unknowingly analyze each and every aspect of a game in order to beat the game. Game manuals can only teach you but so much information on what the object of the game is. It is up to the person playing the game to come up with their own strategies in order to master/win in game and in order to do that you have to go through a process of trial and error, pass and failure. I have to say that I was never a big fan of video games but the only game was completely addicted to was The Sims computer game. Since the day I installed that game into my computer, I was hooked! The Sims is a good example on probing in games because I had to put two and two together to figure out certain aspects of the game. You learn that if you buy certain objects for a room, of course spending more money, if you give you a higher ranking for your environment. I learned that people with the same interests can talk for hours and get a higher ranking for friendship, in which can also lead to a relationship. Also, if you read more books about cooking, you learn how to cook several different meals, and when children read, they receive higher grades in school. There are many more example of using probing in the Sims but those are just a few. Children love playing games and you may never really understand why until you actually try to beat a game for yourself. I would feel incomplete if I was not able to beat a game, like I was useless or something. Children don't actually realize but they are thinking critically when trying to beat a game. Now if we were to ask them to right a PAPER on how they're thinking critically while playing a game, then they would be completely turned off from the subject.

Current Mood: awake

As we flip through the pages of magazines or surf through the channels on our television what do we see? Sex! Sex is being portrayed through advertisements in pictures, on billboards, in magazines etc. to capture the eye of the people. I've always heard people say, "Sex sells" and that is the absolute truth. Many people today are fascinated by sexual images and that is why the media use these types of images to sell their products. Many times we don’t even realize that pornography is being used in advertisements because we just see it as just a regular advertisement. This is Jane Caputi's argument in her writing, "The Pornography of Everday Life." A person would more than likely take a second glance at a jean advertisement with a man pulling down a female's pants rather than just a picture of a pair of jeans. Caputi states, “The now deceased Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes, of the music group TLC, is wearing short-short ‘dirty denims’ and posed against a chain linked fence. It is nighttime, and this doesn’t look like a very safe place to be. She is standing, but bending forward so her buttocks protrude. She looks not only ‘dirty’ but prostituted” (Caputi 100-101). This description was supposed to be a Calvin Klein advertisement clearly using sex to sell their jeans. I also found several lee jeans advertisements that incorporated sex into their visuals. The picture shows a young looking, red head girl with a Popsicle in her mouth, wearing jean overalls but with no shirt on. The little straps on her overalls are used to cover her nipples. Remember, this is “supposed” to a Lee Jeans advertisement. Caputi also touched on the subject of child pornography in advertisements as well. As sick as it sounds, many people actually enjoy looking at a portrait of a child depicting themselves as adults with sexual images as shown in the links below. Today pornography is one of the most popular ways to catch the attention of people everyday. I believe that as long as people are continuing to be influenced by these images, companies should continue doing what they’re doing. If businesses are making profit from flaunting pictures of half naked males and females, then they should continue take that to their advantage until it is illegal to do so.

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5240523,00.jpg
http://www.advertnews.com/pix/leead2.jpg

Current Mood: accomplished

Ebonics was defined by dictionary.com as, "Any of the nonstandard varieties of English spoken by African Americans" (dictionary). I completely have to go against this definition. Describing Ebonics as only used my African Americans is a stereotypical statement. In the beginning, African Americans used black slang so that their slave masters or any other white person would not understand what they were saying. Never in their mind would they think that their nonstandard vernacular would become a part of our every day speech. I've noticed the use of black slang more now then before because it has been brought to my attention in this class. Nowadays, black talk is used to make money. In the mainstream media, not only are rappers using this type of language, companies are advertising using this type of speech. In Leslie Savan's essay, "What's Black, Then White, and Said All Over?" she states that years before MTV did not play any sort of black music videos. I can remember the days that I would never find a black music video being played on MTV. Many people would refer to MTV as the "white music video channel." This is funny to me because if I turn on MTV right now, most likely a black video would be on. MTV is now even the host for many other "black shows," such as Pimp My Ride, and Cribs. Just as simple as McDonald's slogan, "Im Lovin' It," is an example of the use of Ebonics. In Savan states, “Whether black-born or black-raised, black words are the ones that many people are wearing like backwards baseball caps." (Savan 54) This shows that "black slang" is not only used in the African-American culture. Companies now use Ebonics as a way to attract the attention of the new generation. Personally, watching a commercial with slang is way more interesting than a normal commercial. A perfect example that I've found with the use of black slang is a Delta Airlines commercial. The commercial is cartoon of a white man advertising Delta Airlines with pretty much every type of slang in the book. I hope yall' enjoy! Im Out!! ONE!!


Link: http://f0rked.com/core/flash/v=delta%20airlines%20%2D%20ebonics%20commercial

Current Mood: sick

In today's society blogging has become apart of many lives. Blogging is still considered to be in its infancy and it started a couple of years ago for people to keep something like an online journal of everyday thoughts. In David Kline's essay, "I Blog, Therefore I am," he clearly states his opinion on the blog means to him. Kline is totally pro blogging. He believes that blogging allows everyone to voice their own opinion. No matter what age, race, religion etc. everyone has the opportunity to blog because their is no limit on anything. People are allowed to say what they feel and write about situations that can be completely false. Of course blogging can also cause problems because of the lack of limitations. We do not have any proof that what people post are true. Posted on Forbes.com I was able to located an entry titled, "Attack of the Blogs," in which was written by Daniel Lyons. Lyons believe that blogs are, "...the ultimate vehicle for brand-bashing, personal attacks, political extremism and smear campaigns." Once someone has posted a blog about you, whether they slander your name or not, there are going to be people that read that blog and actually believe that it is true. You can always try to go ahead and justify what these "bloggers" do but it is not easy to fight back. Some companies use blogs as an advantage to defame their competitor's name. The information posted can be false in its entirety and there isn't anything you can do about it. David Potts, a Toronto lawyer states, “Once blogger attacks begin, victims can resort to libel and defamation lawsuits, but 'filing a libel lawsuit, the way you would again a newspaper, is like 18th-century battlefield tactics to counter guerrilla warfare. You'll accomplish nothing and just get more ridicule." In other words this blogger can slander your name left and right and there is no way to justify it without being even more embarrassed.


http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2005/1114/128.html

Current Mood: calm