Video Games and Children

Freeze tag, hide and go seek, dodge ball. Does any of these games sound familiar? Well perhaps they do to those born before video games got really popular. Growing up in the early 1980's, these were games my friends and i played everyday. I guess it was just something about the element of human interaction that i found fun and entertaining. Needles to say, these activities fostered teamwork, cooperation, and exercise out side of p.e during school hours. Back in those days not everyone had access to an Atari or a Nintendo so it was very common to "get up, get out, make friends". Now understand, i am in no way, form or fashion am i bashing video games or anyone that plays them. Anything done in moderation is fine, however, when you get to the point where that's all you do; then there is a problem. According to research, these are some effects that video games have on youth: 1.) Increased aggression - children arguing and getting into fights with other kids. Acting out the video game. 2.) Decline in academic performance, i.e. neglecting school assignments and homework 3.) Trouble deciphering between what is reality and what is fantasy. 4.) Minimal physical activity, which can lead to obesity (whole different discussion) Finally, there are some social problems with which excessive gaming can be attributed. Many gamers that i have come across over the years are what i would consider loners. They do have a couple of friends, but for the most part, their main interaction with others are through online games. I also know people whose home and family life suffer because they are glued to the XBOX or the PC playing games. I find this to be a serious problem, but as i said, moderation is the key. I believe parents need to monitor their children's video game habits, as well as keep a close eye on the games they do play. As a society, we can ill-afford to have cases where people are trying to act out scenes from GTA, Call of Duty, or Tekken, due to their inability to distinguish fantasy from reality. ( A bit extreme, I know) The bottom line here is, technology is rapidly increasing, and video games are big business, so we know they aren't going anywhere. With that said, we realize we can't hide our kids from video games, but it is our place as responsible adults (and parents) to sort of tighten the reigns on gaming activities. GET THEM OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!

Digital Media: My Best Friend

My name is Nolan Anderson and I am an aspiring musician. I look everyday at my life as a blessing and never stop pursuing my dream of being one of the top artists in my genre. Given this information, I have only this current time in history and technology to thank. Bare with me please.
I look at struggling musicians from past generations and really feel for them as they were greatly hindered by the time at which they were born. Technology has come leaps and bounds over the last 20 years and far advanced the speed and convenience at which musicians/artists can share their works. Tools like Facebook, Myspace, Youtube...etc, have changed the way things are as we know it. These social media/networking tools are the in my view the greatest thing since slice bread. Why??? Exposure in the past generations was so much harder to come by. Getting your voice heard wasn't as easy as uploading a new song on your website for all of your comrades to listen to. The obstacles for previous generations prior to the internet were very large. Record company and radio exposure were essentially their only outlet. Now everything is right there in front of us and we have to make sure and capitalize on our fortune. These times and tools are why my "bff" is: Digital Media.

Re: Reflections of a tragic day

September 11th is a day that our nation will not soon forget. The catastrophic events that took place on 911, which also happens to be the emergency hotline number affected many people and changed the way our country looks at national security. The calculated attacks in my opinion were a cowardly act of violence and war on innocent civilians and U.S. soil.

This incident affected me personally. I worked at the World Trade Center in tower one for many years on the 86th floor of the north side. The building was an amazing architechitural achievement, that soon became the landmark for New York City, replacing the cities other skyscraper, the Empire State Building.

We are all familiar with the events, incidents and lives that were changed on that historic day, instead of reflecting on the negative, i'd like to reflect on the positive and mention a few points about the benefits of working or just visiting the World Trade Center.

On a clear day one could venture up to the observation deck and view the entire city and surrounding areas such as Staten Island, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, Long Island, and New Jersey, the Hudson and East Rivers and the George Washington Bridge, Gothals Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge and much more, the views were breathtaking.

The Windows of the World restaurant, featured a sign that simply stated, "welcome to windows of the world, the closest some of us will ever get to heaven", located one hundred and ten stories above the sounds of busy traffic, busses, trains, and the rush hour commute that was eliminated and replaced by soothing jazz piano, and the aroma of top notch chef's preparing gourmet meals, and the subtle sounds of two wine glasses clicking together as a couple sat in the plush chairs at cozy little table near a window facing fith avenue. It was a lovely peaceful and relaxing  place. The restroom facilities, walls and floor were pink italian marble, with solid brass accents, you were always greeted by an attendant who made sure everything about you was in place before you walked out.

 The main lobby and each skylobby had large chandeliers adorning the ceilings and all elevator doors were a mirrored stainless steel, except the excecutive directors doors, those elevator doors were brass. This type of detail was evident throughout all seven World Trade Center buildings and the ajoining Visita International Hotel. The out side of the World Trade Center was covered in stone granite and manicured hedges, plants fresh flowers along with large waterfalls and sculptured statues and art were placed around the pavillion. There was a shopping center, a mall, barbershops, hair salons and tons of restaurants on the main lobby. Anything and everything was available at the twin towers including enough parking space to accomodate a large bi-state agency and commercial trading for every country in the world. 8 underground parking floors were sufficient.

The windows were 6 feet long and twelve inches wide to prevent suicide attempts, the office layouts were immaculate and the furniture was extravagant. The executive directors office and the secretary's office were the plushest of them all, with cushy carpeting and all the comforts of home. The large board room featured a lounge that surrounded the huge conference table and large high back office chairs, seperated by an oval tinted glass.

The year was 1993, I was on my way to work like any onther day. Except today the weather was gloomy, grey skies and wind accompinied by a rainy mist. I got aboard the number 2 train in the south bronx and headed to Manhattan. I exit the the number 2 train express at Chambers St, and cross the platform to the awaiting number 1 local. I ride this train for one stop and exit underground to enter the lobby of the concourse of the World Trade Center Plaza.

Greetings for all the people that I see everyday and I catch an elevator to the 44th floor skylobby. The elevator moves at 17 to 27 mph upwards, slower on windy days, I cross the skylobby and get another elevator to the 86th floor. Exit and arrive at 86th North. Like each morning I have my hot chocolate, coffee, bagel or donut and begin my work and later its time for lunch, I meet my Dad at the skylobby and we go to the cafeteria order lunch and eat over some conversation, then its back to the office for four more hours of work.

Its been pretty windy today and the WTC was built to sway back and forth during such conditions. I can hear the joints stretching and contracting as the wind pushes againts the two towers, I notice the mobiles hanging from the cieling also sway and turn, I personally can't feel the swaying but I can see it all around me, especially in a glass of water on the desk, or the water splashing side to side in a sink or toilet, when I see this I know the builing is moving alot.

more to come..........

How digital media has changed the music industry.

Before digital media came along and everything was still analog, people used to use tape and/or vinyl records to record music. After the music was recorded it would have to be mastered by several types of hardware such as equalizers and compressors. Once finished, it would have to be distributed through the mail to radio stations for airplay. After playing on the radio, the major distribution companies would send the tape or record, and soon the CD, to what are known as brick-and-mortar establishments. This is basically a term used for retailers such as F.Y.E., Wal-Mart, Target, etc. that would put the music on their shelves for the consumer to purchase. The good thing about this was that it was easier to control the unlawful replication of an artist's product as well as keep track of how many people were buying the music. Some of the drawbacks the this method were that it was more expensive to the record labels and it took weeks if not months to get something on the shelf for sale. After the digital age started coming around the first thing that changed was the way music was recorded. It could now be recorded digitally and mastered within a digital domain without a lot of wasted tape or other material. The next thing that changed was the way music was shared and distributed. The computer would now make it possible for music to be shared almost instantly after it was completed. It also make it possible for anyone with access to a computer to broadcast their own music to millions without having to have major distribution which allowed for a wider reach with less effort or wasted money. the only problem with this new ability is that it makes it harder for companies to keep track of how many people are buying their product due to music being able to be shared with multiple people for free. Music that is downloaded without being paid for also takes money away form the artist which makes live performances so important. S lot of the money that music artists are receiving comes form concerts and appearances rather than direct music sales. Another issue arising form the digital media age is that a lot of traditional brick-and-mortar outlets are having steadily decreasing sales with some of them having to close or sell out to bigger name national chains. This has led to an increase in the amount of online stores that offer music for downloading by purchasing either a membership to the company or paying a one-time fee that occurs per download. Some of the pros to this kind of distribution are that music can still be tracked to see how much is being purchased and the artist can still get paid for their product. This is very important because music is registered with a company called Soundscan which tracks music sales and helps determine if an album hits certain levels such as gold or platinum.

Reflections on a Tragic Day

I debated on sitting down and writing this reflection yesterday but the reality of it is September 11th is still a very difficult and tragic day in my mind. In reality I know that it is much more difficult for those who actually lost a loved one on that day. I was working at the radio station that morning producing a morning show, as part of standard procedure Television station morning news shows are played inside of the studio so that the on-air personalities will know if any late breaking events take place and they closely monitor the AP news wire to keep up to date. I remember sitting in the studio and watching as the televisions began broadcasting the news that the first plane had flown into the World Trade Center. It only took a few minutes for it to be decided that the stations would start broadcasting directly from the associated news wire and forgo traditional broadcasting unless there was a local Disc Jockey who was already on air and who could relay the information. The events of September 11th occurred in the north but it affected everyone and the entire nation was shocked. The station flew into a flurry of people trying to get up to date information on the air as quickly as possible and we watched as the news broadcast the second tower being hit. For me this situation began to hit very close to home, my mother was on a plan flying home from England and was scheduled to land in Philadelphia. At that moment there was still no verification of where the planes had departed from and what the status was of other planes that were in the air; it would be many more hours before I would have any update from her and this impacted how September 11th would affect me at that moment and how I would look back on it every year thereafter. When the plane hit the Pentagon I once again felt the pain at home. My best friend was an intern in Washington D.C. and often spent time working both at Congress and also within the Pentagon. I talked to him within an hour as he had been evacuated and told to go home and from his apartment he could see the smoke rising up from the burning Pentagon. I focused on my work making sure that each station who was broadcasting live got the information as it came down from the AP wire. We began organizing an event where everyone in town could come together and mourn the loss the nation was now experiencing. We watched live as the towers fell to the ground and blanketed downtown New York in ash and rubble bringing war to American soil. It would be two days later before I would actually speak to my mother but I found out how she was later that evening. Many of the planes headed to America were turned back to their original destination. Her plane was scheduled to land less than an hour after the first tower was hit and they did not have enough fuel to turn around and go back to England, so they were diverted to Canada. She sat on the plane for over four hours without being told what was going on (in retrospect we think that they did this in order to search the passengers bags because they still did not know how many attacks were scheduled). She used here cell phone but was unable to make any calls into the United States but was able to contact our friends she had been visiting in England who would contact me and let me know how she was doing.
The Internet allowed me the opportunity to check on her plane. The Canadian airport where she landed began broadcasting a live feed of the planes from the United States who were diverted to their airport. The feed from the airport showed hundreds of planes lining the runway and allowed users to verify the airline flights that were parked on their airstrip. It would still be many more days before she would be allowed to call into the states and they would verify to them what had occurred and almost a week later before she finally came home. I write this to lead into the discussion of digital media and the events of September 11th. The Internet allowed me to know that her plane was safely on the ground and digital technology such as cell phones allowed people to communicate with one another and even allowed those who would later die in the World Trade Centers and planes to have final communication with their loved ones. Social media as we know it today did not exist at that time and I often wonder how this would have changed the reaction to these events. There were no facebook responses, no twitter updates documenting the events as they unfolded, YouTube was not even created yet where people could replay the events over and over. Would today's social media have had a profound impact on those events? I would have to say yes, when the flight attendants tell you to turn off your phone as the plane begins to take off how many people actually leave them on so they can stay up to date with their twitter and facebook updates. My husband constantly flies across the country and he is guilty of doing just that. So many people who were on those first two planes had no idea what was occurring but cell phones changed that for Flight 93 which has become known as the Heroes flight. Cell phone communication between passengers and their loved ones informed the passengers about what was occurring in New York and these passengers attempted to take control of the plane. Social media may not have impacted the first plane but would things have occurred differently after that crash with today's technology. I would have to say yes, I believe it would to what degree I hope we never have to find out. With that being said digital media will forever change the events of September 11th. Never before can a national tragedy of this magnitude be replayed for future generations to see and this is the power of digital media.

Is Bad Publicity Still Good Publicity?

I've thought about this topic for a few days and today it seems to be setting the online world of media news on fire. This is probably assisted by the reward being offered by famous director and producer Michael Bay on this very topic. On Tuesday it began being reported that there was video on the web showing what many thought was a teenage girl hurling puppies one by one into a river presumably where they died. It did not take long before the web had mobilized in an effort to find this girl along with the person who stood by and recorded these acts. I have a soft spot for animals of just about any kind so although I have been unable to bring myself to actually watch the video I have seen screen shots and read descriptions and heard descriptions of the video and her complete lack of empathy as she was doing this. Initially I wondered how this could have any bearing on this "intro" to digital media course, after some thinking I realized this is exactly what digital media is becoming and what some say media has done to society. As you will see as this course progresses there are critics that would like to say that the media is to blame for the desensitisation of today's youth making them unable to feel empathy to other humans let alone animals. To a degree I can see their point the media never seems to question graphic and violent content. In fact I would put money on it that more complaints are filed about nudity and sexual content in media that are ever filed about violent situations. To me I find this to be a horrible mistake, do I think that children should be exposed to sexually explicit content on a regular basis, no not at all; but at the same time I am more concerned about how violence has become an accepted part of media communication.
I digress is the media to blame for the fact that this young woman didn't care about the innocent puppies that she tossed into the river to die? I don't know, it's possible but doesn't the true responsibility lie within the parents to instill those values of sympathy, empathy and right and wrong in their children. Should parents really leave it up to the media to raise their children? The next point to be made is would we have ever heard about this if not for the world of digital media? I suggest the answer to this is no, thirty even twenty years ago its possible that we would have never known about this situation and the outrage that has followed would be dramatically lessened. PETA initially offered a reward for the identity of this young woman and they were soon followed by director Michael Bay who offered a $50,000 reward to track her down. The current conclusion to this situation is being reported that the teenage girl filmed throwing puppies into the river has been found in the Bosnian town of Bugojno what the outcome from her identification has yet to be seen. Digital media has made it virtually impossible for things to remain secret and people to remain anonymous. If there is a cell phone around you can rest assured that it is possible you are being filmed and people tend to forget that once it goes out onto the world wide web it is out there for anyone to see (whether it be video or photograph). We'll talk in more detail about all of these impacts as the semester progresses but be aware of the vast reach that digital media has and understand this is a media and medium whose power has never been experienced before the way the world sees it now.