To satisfy those inquiring minds, I’ll attempt to post the video project on this blog. I have no idea if it’s going to work since the UMW internet moves at a glacial pace. Cross your fingers!
Archive for April, 2008
It’s 1:02 AM and I just finished putting the final touches on my and Kate’s “something” to put out into the void. It’s a public service announcement that I crafted using Windows Movie Maker and a trial version of CaptureWiz. I have to admit, I was terrified when I heard the parameters for the project. “Make something” - what is that about? I’ve spent my college career with professors who put 6 pages of grammar instructions for writing in the Coursepack, and handed out multi-page instruction manuals for projects. Things had to be the way they wanted it, just so or certain failure. Oddly enough, I never felt closer to failure than I did at the idea of this “something” project. There were no bread crumbs to keep me from wandering into assignment oblivion. Before, as long as I followed the project manifesto I knew it was going to be alright. Now, what the heck was I going to do? I came to college for this? …And then I remembered. I did. Finally, in my last semester of my last year of college I was truly challenged to imagine on my own, without major limitations. The training wheels were off. So, upon the completion of my special “something,” I’d like to thank Dr. Campbell and the entire NMS class this semester. I hope my video makes you stop and think - and who knows? Maybe this video, which I’d never have made otherwise, will actually make a difference to someone, somewhere, somehow.
Turkle’s article made me think of a million different things. First, I had no idea that Space Wars was the first video game. I always thought it was Pong. Obviously, Pong was the first video game to be mass marketed, but hey, I learned something new! Second, the constant involvement of video games, while at the time unacknowledged, is obvious to me as a psychology student. Kids with ADHD have trouble focusing on things like school (slower paced) while they can sit for hours playing video games. If these games were static, there is no way a kid would sit still for that long. And now for the heart of my thoughts on gaming…I’m scared for our future. If these kids are getting involved to the point of feeling that they enter into a world more real than the tangible, what does that leave for the Earth? Meeting people in a game, destroying a monster, saving a princess cannot substitute for human interaction, facing ones demons, or falling in love. At some point, you’ve got to differentiate between the game world and the real world…or else you become Neo choosing between the red and blue pills. If everyone becomes a philosopher, who is left to do anything else?
9 people in class today. Missak wanted me to note specifically that he was here. Kate and I decided to specify what type of privacy we wanted to investigate, and decided on a head-to-head challenge between the safety of facebook and that of myspace. We’re going to post videos on each of the sites about privacy policies, issues, and concerns.
http://albumoftheday.com/facebook
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr…
http://www.myspace.com/Modules/ContentMa…
http://www.myspace.com/Modules/Common/Pa…
Myspace’s email for questions on privacy: privacy@myspace.com
http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/security/dmor…
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=11…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/ar…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lv6wsP_s…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4_QPxDxB…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azIW1xjST… - This guy looks creepy. ~ Kate
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