Tiger woods; more like cheetah woods!

With the latest news issues surrounding the famous sports icon Tiger Woods many of his endorsements are dropping their beloved super star. One very popular endorsement of his that affects gamer fans is his connection to EA Sports. When the news first arose EA released a statement saying their relationship will remain unchanged and that they respect the man's privacy in such a time. This being very supportive of their star and hoping him the best in recovery and getting back on the greens. But now that Tiger has decided to take a break from the sport EA might have to take a different approach. The big question is with Tiger out who will fill the role of being the face of the next PGA tour video game and will they take him off of the players list? Were just going to have to wait until next year to find out what the EA decided to do. I personally think Tiger will come back sometime next year and the sales of the video game will not be hurt that much.

http://kotaku.com/5430098/ea-sound-a-little-shakier-on-support-for-tiger-woods

a new method of product placement for shoes?

In the newest NBA Live video game for PS3 and XBOX 360 the graphics are insane compared to previous ones. The most interesting aspect of the game I thought personally was how intense the graphics were that you can notice the different styles and brand of shoes the game athletes wear. Now you can equip your virtual player with the freshest pair of Nike, Adidas, or Converse shoes and hoop it up with style. Its a great way for the most popular athletic shoes to use their product placement within the game this way. This is just another simple way to make a great sports game even more personal to the player. Also video games have come a long way if designers are releasing "shoe packs" on the game as an accessory. Something just to think about.

http://kotaku.com/5430113/nba-live-10-dlc-it-must-be-the-shoes

final project movie horror poster

I was able to change the sky to make it look more eerie and creepy. I also added light to the grave stones and added a hole with dirt to make the image look like something had escaped it. I think I did a decent job for a first time photoshoper haha.

Tony Hawks latest game to add to his empire

The latest Tony Hawk game that was released back in Novemeber is making some news this holiday season.. Although not the kind the legendary skater and creator of the game Tony Hawk would want. The game has not got the response he thought he would get out of the new addition to the series. The game has a miserable user score rating of only 1.8. Unlike the other Tony Hawk games that use a normal game controller this one is different and uses a special designed skateboard controller that has sensors in it. This way you actually feel like your skateboarding rather than just playing a video game about the extreme sport. Many people are criticizing the board controller saying that it is not responsive enough. But Hawk disagrees with those statements and says gamers arent giving it a full shot. I personally have not tried the game but just from reading and hearing about it I think Id have to side with Hawk on this argument. The game sounds like it would be a fun experience. Hawk is very proud of his latest video game and hopes many others will enjoy it as well.

usability test

There are over a billion websites in the world. But what is the difference between a successful website and an ineffective one? Many factors can lead to answer that question but a big component in responding to that question is the websites usability. Websites usability should be an easy and a helpful tool to the user to help them in finding the correct information they need fast. In this usability test my website I choose to use was a popular indie music website called Alternativepress.com and these were the questions asked as followed.


1. Find the latest band album reviews

A. under the top link that says "bands" theres a hover link that says "reviews"

2. Find where to purchase the latest issue of Alternative Press Magazine

A. under the subscription link towards the top

3. Find where to enter the “Win a Weezer Snuggie” contest

A. Under the contest link at the top

4. Find how to become a member of the website

A. hit the log in button and then sign up if you a new member.

5. Find how to get a job working with the company

A. Under the contact us link

6. Find the alternative press shop

A. Right in between the Subscriptions and advertise link.

7. Find the latest headline feature articles

A. Under features link

8. Find the alternative press facebook link

A. At the top of the page theres a link

9. Find Tim Karan’s blog page

A. Under blogs theres a link that says "Tim Karans blog"

10. Find the AP podcasts page

A. Under media theres a podcast link to click

11. Find AP’s recommendations for new bands to listen to

A. Under the bands link and then click "AP Recommends"

12. Find AP’s history for the year of 2006

A. under the AP Mag link that says "back issues" then click the year of 2006.


My user who tested the website found the site very user friendly and didn't run into to many problems answering the questions.
http://altpress.com/

cod2

Im sure even if your not a big gamer like me you still noticed in the last few weeks lines built up at game stores or you have heard at least some one mention the name "Call of Duty 2: modern warfare." The Call of Duty franchise has sold more than 3 billion dollars in sales! The new addition to the franchise (COD2: modern warfare) sold about $550 million in the games first 5 days of release helped make this 3 billion number possible. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick's says that "Call of Duty has become one of the greatest entertainment franchises of all time." Even in a down economy this game's franchise still continues to make money and keep fans happy. The first person shooter has got great reviews since it has came out in November 10th and will probably be a hot item on many Christmas lists this December.

a new product to add to the Assassin's Creed Empire

Later this month play.tm reports that the makers of the smash-hit game Assassin's Creed will be releasing a novel based on the game. The novel is titled "Assassin's Creed: Renaissance" and written by Oliver Bowden and said to be released November 26th. It is said that the novel is written to be an expansion of Ezio's tale. Alex Clarke (penguin editorial director) says that this novel is a good cross-over with the ever growing and increasingly exciting world of gaming media. I believe this is a good way for the game to be reaching out to a broader audience and will help increase the already very popular fan base. Some fans of the game disagree though.
One commented on the article saying quote, "This is getting silly now, I want to be able to experience the whole universe of Assassin's Creed 2 through the game, I don't want to have to read books, comics and watch Youtube serializations to experience the whole story... I sincerely hope this is just a retelling of the game and not some extra stuff we'll miss out on for not reading it."

http://kotaku.com/5399764/assassins-creed-novel-coming-later-this-month

website model

My website is very basic but will hold a lot of information about me. The main page will have a brief bio about myself. On the left side will be a bar with some links to click that will display some of my interests, educational background, and some favorite websites of mine to visit like purevolume.com or mlb.com. Also I will have a contact link that will be a separate page that will display my facebook acount and my email adress in case anyone wants to reach me. Its a very basic simple model but very useful.

texting while driving

Everyone knows that texting while driving is dangerous and is now an official law in New York. Its actually a 150$ fine for it. According to the New York Times a young lady is serving 21 months in jail for being involved in a car accident that killed someone. The reason why the accident occurred: Texting while driving. This brings up the question why isnt texting and driving looked at just as dangerous as drinking and driving? They both have negative side effects especially texting and driving. Just think about it; a 16 year old driver putting him/herself in danger and even others just because he/she had to tell their friend they weren't doing anything tonight.. I think the laws for texting and driving are just getting started and soon to be even harsher penalties since accidents keep happening because of the technology.

windows 7 problems?

that pc guy in those mac commericals lied to us when he said there wouldnt be any problems with windows 7! The iphone has been having problems syncing with itunes under the new operating system. In the article it seems they have found the problem thats causing this defect. The motherboard with an intel P55 chipset seems to be the problem. The iphone will start syncing but then eventually give you an error message just as its about to finish. Hopefully they are able to fix the problem soon or those mac commericals are proven true and many pc customers could be deterred away from the new windows 7 program.


http://mashable.com/2009/11/02/iphone-windows-7-sync-error/

card game upgrading to video game

The very popular card game magic the gathering is teaming up with Sony Online Entertainment and Wizard of the Coast to make a 3D strategy based game for the PS3 next year. For years magic the gathering has been one of the elite card games in the industry mostly due to its strong dedicated fan base. Unlike other popular card games like pokemon or yugioh, magic has been able to hold its ground in the industry and still continues to produce high levels of excitement for its fans. This game being another step in adding to the card game empire. The Magic: the Gathering- Tactics game is hoping to bring fans to a new level in the game by putting the players into the real life 3D battles of the game. Along with its new features to the game it will still have the same regular content expansions and strong tournament support like it did in the card game. The game is set to hit the PC first in early 2010 and a ps3 date to follow. To add to the buzz John Smedley, president, Sony Online Entertainment said "We're going to be taking the Magic: The Gathering Multiverse places players have never seen."

future class room presentation

Ralph Lauren Model controversy

"sex sells" was the intent of that Ralph Lauren advertisement which displayed a women posing sexy wearing the clothing line. The only problem in the picture is the model's head is bigger than her waist! The picture photoshoped to slim her waist but obviously they went a little to far. This grossed me out because not only do a lot of ad's that depict women as eye candy but now makers of these ad's are altering these photos in attempt at presenting the "perfect image." This is really sad because these models cause a lot of women to be self conscious of themselves when they see these altered pictures. This isn't the only image that has been changed, many other ads have done the same. By corrupting these ads makes the media look like its making us live in a fake world.

put a price on it

I came across an interesting article on Kotaku the other day that asked a basic question: Who and how do we determine the cost of a video game? This got me thinking, why are games always 59.99$ In the article they tried to answer this question. Mostly all the cost in the game goes to producers and designers of the game. Also add in the cost of printing the games and shipping them to stores to be sold at. This also leads to another question: why do gamers accept this price? I think that if you got enough people to protest the cost companies would have to lower their prices just to stay in business. But that would be a hard task to follow through and games will most likely continue to rise in cost as time progresses.

gmail presentation

http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AX8hDUvE5FTEZGNwNmQ2aDVfMGRxeGI2bWYy&hl=en&invite=CIvDpasH

Ideology

We discussed the topic of Ideology in class last wednesday. After attending that lecture it gave me a better understanding on what ideology is and how it is applied to the media. The mass media can be viewed as the dominant class in society. They shape the way we view society in our culture. For example, if imdb.com (internet movie data base) critiques a movie and gives it bad reviews most people are not going to watch it. This is because people tend to agree to the social majorities opinion because its a typical culture dominant norm to do. We can look at this model demonstrating our society as we are the sheep and government could be labeled the herder. Ideology creates a set of values that we usually are blind to since they are just so common in our culture. For example, answering a question in a classroom you are usually suppose to raise your hand and wait for the professor to call your name to speak. This would be a norm in our culture but could have a different meaning somewhere else since other cultures don't have the same ideal values as America.

Betting on Injuries?

Football season is back and you know what that means! Another new release of the popular video game Madden 10. Even though it is one of the hottest football games out there today the game is cursed. Ever since they started putting pictures of players on the cover art everyone of those players has been injured(with the exception of Marshall Faulk in 2003). This years game features Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald for the cover art. Polamalu has already been sidelined for 3-6 weeks after spraining ligaments in his knee in the first week of the season. This injury just fuels the fire that the cover art of this game strangely leads to injuries. But theres still hope because Larry Fitzgerald is still playing and remains healthy now. Playblackjack.com is having bets on if Fitzgerald will get injured or not the rest of the season which would be yet another madden injury cursed year. There has been some pretty crazy gambling events in sports but betting on whether a player stays healthy or not because of a supposed curse is one that sticks out there.

kurzweil post

I thought Ray Kurzweil made some very shocking and interesting points in that presentation on the future progress of technology. He stated that how smooth of a process technological advancement is and also how predictable it is even with outside chaotic factors like bankruptcy, dumping products, countries accusing others, and marketing products. He showed many graphs proving this point that they can predict most technological advancements. Its obvious how many technological products have shaped the way we run our lives in today’s world; Ipods, cell phones, computers but technology has had a great advancement in science as well. I found it very interesting when Kurzweil was discussing the robotic red blood cell and how they have technology to make a super human. He states that “If you could replace 10% of your red blood cells with the robotic versions you could do an Olympic sprint for 15 minutes without taking a breathe or sit at the bottom of your pool for 4 hours.”
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man.” A quote from the classic television series, “The Six Million Dollar Man” But that quote with the advancement of technology may become a reality sooner than we thought.

Two Models of Communication

Communication can be separated into two models: The Transmission and the Cultural Model. First, the transmission model of communication relates to transportation. In this method the source communicates a message which is then interpreted by the receiver. Harold Lasswell described this model as a series of questions: who/ says what/ to whom/ through what channel/ and with what effect? An example of this would be listening to the radio. The source (a song being played), the message being presented is the lyrical meaning, the channel is the song file or radio station, to whom is you the listening, and to what effect is what you personally can relate or understand about the song.

The other model for communication is the Cultural model. In this model communication tends to vary because all cultures are diverse in different ways. The model shows a connection in social communication and common cultures. For example our American culture view on the war on terror is completely different from those in Iraq based on the way our culture's media and our values project it.