Final Blog Entry

Looking and observing the board games from class was interesting . Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to the DTC award night, so I will describe what I found interesting from the games in our class. I only really got to play one game. The game we played was called “Draco’s Quest.”

I have to admit that this game was well and creatively designed. You could tell the group put a lot of effort and time into this board game. The only thing my group didn’t like while playing this game was the difficult instructions. We had a hard time figuring out how to play this game, but overall I believe this group did a phenomenal job with the board game.

They had dragon pieces for moving, cards with incidents and black checkered pieces on the board as a message for food. Today I am still a bit confused how the game goes but from how we played it, we rolled the dice and depending on what number you landed depended on the number of spaces you moved. If I landed on 6, I would move 6 and my goal was to get as many “foods” (black checkered pieces as possible.)

The card stack gave you incidents, so if we lost a life, in other words a heart, we would take a heart off of our cards. I enjoyed seeing how creative this group was, from the hearts, to the “foods” to the drawn dragons. I felt like I bought this game from the store, it didn’t look like it was made by a group of students.

I had the opportunity to play our game as well. The name of our game was “That’s Messed Up!” and ours was a board game as well. We had erasers as moving pieces and we each picked a card on our turn. Our card had different situations such as “Your friend passed out from dehydration, you must find her water bottle.” the max was ten seconds, and one of the team members had a timer. The game board is supposed to be a messy room, so basically you have ten seconds to find the item in your messy room.

After doing this project I learned how different everyones ideas are. It’s interesting to see what different minds come up with. This relates to the real world because if we get a job in the DTC field, we will know we are forced to work with people with completely different ideas. We must learn how to work with people as well as accept diverse ideas. I know in the beginning of our game plan we had some disagreements, simply because we all had very different ideas. This project forced us to incorporate all ideas and come to one agreement. What we did at the end was incorporate all ideas, and still left nobody out.

Blog 9 Bogost and Cameras

Cameras are everywhere nowadays. It’s easier for us take snapshots of any moment we are encountering considering we have smart phones, iPods and other electronic devices in handy. Back in the day, I remember my mother would bring one of the small cheap cameras to take pictures of me during my school events, then we had to wait for the exciting day to get those developed. Unlike today where we can instantly see what the picture looks like, we couldn’t unless of course you had one of those print out cameras. Even then, it doesn’t compare to smart phones or other devices considering you can instantly delta and retake pictures without wasting any photo paper or film.  I remember being extremely excited and impatient for those pictures to come out.

Picture taking is more common now, I always see people taking “selfless”,  quick shots for snapchat, or people taking candid photos of their friends. This isn’t just for a special event, I see it at school, work, parties, random events, etc. I don’t ever recall seeing that when I was in middle school. When people took pictures it was mainly for a big event, or somebodies birthday party.

I had never really thought about where the term snapshot came from, Bogost states “The snapshot concept was borrowed from a hunting term for shooting from the hip, but Eastman contextualized the act for the masses.” (10) He also states that the “Kodak moment” encouraged photographers to celebrate moments of life. We never really think about where these terms came from or why we even say them but they have become a tradition for us. 

I think as we get older, technology will get more advanced and make it easier for people to share every second of their life with others. Snapchat is a great example because it’s popular and people can send up to as many snaps as they want to their friends. Out of all the social networks I have, Snapchat is the only social network that makes it more “acceptable” to send as many times as you want. People will take up to 30 snaps a day, whereas Facebook is more of an occasional update. I believe our future will provide us with more tools like snap chat to quickly share moments with friends. Not only will our future provide us with more tools like snapchat, but I believe eventually we won’t even use cameras considering all these apps are doing the job for us. Snapchat allows you to save the pic right after you take it for instance, and so does instagram.

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Blogs I commented on:

Blog 9- Texture is the secret weapon

http://kthompsonsschoolblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/dtc-375-blog-8-cameras-in-1990s-to-today.html#comment-form

 

Write a blog entry. If you choose the stock option, here’s your prompt: choose one of the concepts from the first five chapters from Bogost (art, empathy, reverence, music, pranks) that you find interesting. Use quotations from that chapter and specific examples from your knowledge and experience to discuss, explore, and make an interesting and non-obvious argument about that term in contexts separate from video games in a way that extends, contradicts, or goes beyond what Bogost is saying. (“Art is important” or “We need empathy” are examples of obvious arguments.)

“To think that there is a single, generally agreed upon concept of art is to get it precisely backwards. Americans’ attitude towards art is profoundly divided, disjointed and confused…”(Bogost 9) the art chapter amused me the most considering this is accurate in my opinion. When I read this, I immediately thought about what I consider art. When I think about art I normally think about famous paintings, or famous statues. Art is a very broad term, and I agree with designer Jim Preston when he argues that we are ‘confused’.  I realized art is anything originally created by someone, a design, a concept, or any creative idea that enhances another idea or object. I like the example Bogost uses in his text, “games as art” Games are a big aspect of art, and I believe all games must include art to be entertaining. In fact, I believe games include all aspects of art when it comes down to the creators. Gamers must find a way to amuse and keep their audience and if they don’t have any creativity or amusing art, I believe the game won’t be successful. Art in terms of the goal of the time, the characters, what they look like, etc. Games all must be created and designed in order to create a story for the player. I never really thought about games being art until Bogost made me realize it. Art is everywhere without even realizing it, we encounter art everywhere we go.

Blogs I commented on: http://languagetexttechnologylisag.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/rock-band-music/comment-page-1/#comment-32

http://kadycarrougher.blog.com/wp-comments-post.php

Blog: 7 Anthropological Examination of Blogger

As I was searching Instagram fashion accounts, I came across Lili Ghalichi’s profile. I have maybe heard of her once or twice but never really put my attention towards her. When I looked through her pictures on instagram, I came across the link to her blog. http://lillyghalichi.blogspot.com and http://lillyghalichi.com. Both blogs eventually connect together. Lilly Ghalichi is a fashion blogger as well as an attorney and a persian american fashion designer. In her gallery (in her blog) and in her instagram photos she provides unique and beautiful pictures of her fashion style and tips for makeup. She travels a lot and takes great photos of her traveling experiences, but never leaves the fashion aspect. I’ve noticed the commentors and fans will often comment questioning how she did her makeup, where she bought her dress, or where can they purchase her line of clothe. She is always suggesting new fashion as well encouraging her followers and fans to buy her products. She does a great job of selling her fashion by introducing her style through her pictures. She dresses up every day, wears different makeup and different hairstyles to demonstrate styles for her fans.  I found this blog interesting considering I’m used to political, news and society blogs. Once I saw her website, I came to a realization that blogs can be as open as you want them to be.

I noticed the terms she uses are very different and unrecognizable as well. In her blog she made a statement saying “People always ask what my favorite styles are, right now Venice is my favorite, it gives a really beautiful almond/princess jasmine type eye. If you want an ultra glam look, try putting an Istanbul first, then a Venice!!!” The first thing that came to mind was what in the world is she talking about? this is also an example of how groups use their own descriptions and terms that other people outside their bubble might now know. If I was more involved and more updated with her blog I’d most likely know what she meant when she said “venice look” or “Instabul” She is obviously referring to makeup, but I never knew exactly what she was talking about. I just became one of her followers so I am new to her terms and her new styles.  The only language used in her blog is strictly beauty, fashion and makeup. Other jargon isn’t very necessary considering she focuses her blog on the world of fashion. You will never see a follower speaking of something besides fashion or beauty. It’s obvious her goal is to set fashion examples and to try to sell as much as she can. Bloggers provide their own bubble and whoever decides to join in, can join in. As people become more involved they will be familiar with their terms, what they’re speaking of, and what their goal or argument is.

Blogs I commented on:

Portrait Photographer Blogs

http://paisleypeterson.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/blog-7-dtc-375/comment-page-1/#comment-43

Blog 6, to Future College Students and the New Born

Dear newer generations, as a kid I used to watch a lot of Disney movies and video tapes. We had a VCR to watch the movies in, this was the easiest thing to do. You didn’t have to go through many buttons like today. I would insert the movie and press play, that was it.  Unlike today, we didn’t rent movies through the Red Box or purchase them on CD’s in the store. This brings a lot of good memories because as a kid I could just go to the book shelf and easily pick any movie I want, I would just look at the picture label on the thin side of the video tape and grab it. I had all the Disney movies at home. The video tapes had beautiful covers and were specifically designed for the story. Today, we must go to to the red box and pay out of pocket to rent the movie and worry about the due date. On the bright side, you have hundred of options in the red box, despite we have tons of options it doesn’t compare to my childhood when I’d get the excitement for Block Buster and Hollywood. These are two businesses specifically designed for renting video tape movies. They closed down because our era today advanced to Redbox and other online options such as Net Flix.

My parents would take me once a week to rent movies and the aisles were categorized by genre (Comedy, Haunted, Adult, Family movies, etc.). Aside from the excitement I would get, they sold candy, popcorn, video games and everything else a kid would possibly want to buy. I remember the only thing I despised was the clown that would stand at the entrance of Block Buster.

I’m not going to lie, I do miss those Block Buster days, and sadly you guys own’t ever experience that little excitement that almost every child did back in the day.

 

Other Blogs I commented on:

http://kthompsonsschoolblog.blogspot.com

Blog 6- I’m getting old

Blog #5 A Better Pencil

Baron makes great points and has various arguments that make you think about how much our society relies on writing technology. Being part of what they call “technology babies” I have grown and experienced an era where we fully relied on paper and pencil to digital technology tools for school. I never thought I would use online sites such as angel for exams and assignments. In middle school, all we ever used was paper to do our assignments and exams. This obviously required people to show up and manually write their answers. Taking notes on paper during lectures on the other hand, takes more time and requires you to write quickly considering the professor covers a lot in one class period.

Pencils have been a great method of success for school but I believe our technology tools have made everything ten times mores successful and easier.  I would much rather bring in my laptop to type my notes because this is way quicker than having to write everything down on a sheet of paper, my hands get tired when I write a lot and I believe typing is quicker and easier.  Also, taking quizzes and exams online permits you to be wherever you want and to immediately take the exam, whereas showing up requires you to wait for the exams to be handed out, wait for instructions, etc. Technology makes the process easier, quicker and less stressful in my opinion. While some believe technology is making us students lazier, I believe it’s benefiting us in many ways.

However, this doesn’t change my opinion about meeting with people face to face. Obviously face to face interaction is more successful than communicating through devices. While technology tools for class make our lives easier, I believe interacting face to face is important. Showing up to class is important in my opinion, and if I never show up to class I’ll be lost and probably fail. Although a lot of professors post instructions and what we did the day of class, I feel that I’m missing out on a lot. Reading what we did online is not the same as going to class and engaging and participating in the discussion which permits you to grasp on to concepts and learn easier.  This applies to other circumstances in life, communicating through devices doesn’t allow for you to engage and understand the person as much (unless using you’re communicating through video chat) considering you are not able to see their emotions and body language.

Blogs I commented on:

http://kyleennk.blog.com/2014/03/02/dtc-475-instructional-technologies/#comment-2

New Technology

Blog #4 Theme VS. Mechanics and McLuhan

I immediately thought about Weatherford after reading Theme vs. Mechanics. Theme vs. Mechanics emphasizes the way Story Arc, Puerto Rico, Durch die Wüste and Acquire are designed and the way the missions are structured for the player. Majority of Weatherford’s novel speaks about different forms of currency and how our roles influence our society. For example on page 8, Weatherford speaks about the American Man in New York and the young Dogon woman of Mali. They both live in completely different economic worlds and they earn currency in different forms. The woman of Mali must sell either tomatoes, onions, or any fresh foods to the consumers in order to receive their form of currency. The new york man works at a big building and obviously doesn’t have to work physically as hard as the women in Mali, but he works in the stock exchange industry as well. They both have two completely different roles, the man works in a city setting and makes more while the women works hard labor in order to survive. The game Puerto Rico puts players in different positions (roles) and they must survive and interact with the market and people. They can establish infrastructures, plantations and more.

“Money constitutes the focal point of modern world culture. Money defines relationships among people, not just between customer and merchant in the market place or employer and laborer in the workplace.” (11)  This quote reminds me of how Puerto Rico is structured for players. ” In mid-game Puerto Rico, players exploit their strategies, and attempt to find the balance of income generators and shipping capabilities that can turn into a victory point-generating machine.” Players are involved in a virtual life which requires them to work with currency and purchasing and investing in infrastructures. Players must interact with others and must  engage in the market in order to purchase and invest.

“It is in this part of the game where choosing roles is typically most difficult and rewarding, as turn order can interact with players’ differing hungers for money, goods and colonists to create a very unstable situation.” This is also a good example of how players have different roles in their virtual life. Weatherford stresses the different roles we all play in reality life and provides plenty of examples of how our roles affect our way of investing and purchasing goods. I believe Weatherfords novel and Theme Vs. Mechanics greatly relate because their stories are similar and show us how our roles impact our forms of currency.

Industrial Waste is also a good example as players must involve themselves with labor and are required to work with materials and goods.

Video games like these are a good way to express and show players how money and infrastructure has a big impact in our society and how regardless of who we are, we all have different roles in life and must make money in one way.

 

Blogs I’ve commented on:

http://kthompsonsschoolblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/gaming-dtc-375-post-4.html#comment-form

Blog 4- Video games

Blog # 3

“The instantaneous world of electric informational media involves all of us, all at once. No detachment or frame is possible” I must agree with McLuhan on this statement because I believe this is accurate. Video games engage and basically hypnotize the player when the players pick up the control and begin to play. They enter/are engaged in a whole different new world. Majority of video games from what I know, are beginning to connect players from anywhere to compete with each other. For instance, my brothers are obsessives with video games and they are always talking about how they can connect with random players to compete in a game.  Even if players choose not to connect with others for a game, they are still engaged and playing with graphics the video provides for them. In GTA for example, players are interacting with the characters and told by the game what mission they must accomplish, this is also an example of how the media is getting involved with the player. Even if we choose not to interact with players, media still finds a way to alter us.

“All media work us over completely.They are so pervasive, personal,  political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered.” (26) this is also a great example of how we cannot be detached from media. Video games provide their own set of stories and their missions require certain players to do certain things. In GTA players must kill, steal, and do some inappropriate things to get past their mission. Players don’t have the choice to be innocent in this game. The video game controls and tells the player what he/she must do. We are not on our own anymore, in some cases we are being told and manipulated by these media sources. Magazines, television, the internet and more can also factor into this by attempting to persuading us how we should think.

Blogs I commented on:

http://paisleypeterson.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/blog-3-dtc-375/comment-page-1/#comment-33

http://gabbypostma.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/blog-3-mcluhan-videojuegos/comment-page-1/#comment-20

Blog # 2

After reading chapters 13 and 14, I thought about the different places I’ve visited and experienced as a buyer. For example, my parents come from a village in Mexico where majority of the population only uses cash.  The residents in this village don’t carry credit cards or visa’s simply because their village doesn’t provide big stores and franchises like Macy’s and Dominoes. The village provides small local stores and certain resources are limited. My parents have the choice to move into a more civilized city that provides more resources and bigger stores, but they choose not to.

What I find interesting is that once you go visit the bigger cities in Mexico, you see majority of mexican buyers using cards for their transactions. The village my parents live in is segregated and far away from the cities, this segregates the city people from the village people. The village people are not near any cities, they must drive approximately 40 minutes to arrive to the nearest city.  People are forced to see a new world of currency once they enter the small village or big city. Once my parents step into the city, they are forced to use their credit cards because they would rather pay in seconds than having to take out a bunch of cash, the fact that the cities provide more resources and more stores to buy from, forces them to not bring tons of cash and carry it around, but instead use a card. My parents have the choice to drive to the city and buy many goods but they are surrounded by their village which puts them in a tougher situation, and they must go out of their way to purchase bigger items in the city. For this reason, they don’t purchase much goods throughout the day except for food. You only see people paying in cash in the village and there is no such thing as a Macy’s or Dominoes. People in bigger cities tend to make more transactions because they are surrounded by many stores and restaurants.

Just like the village and city segregate their forms of currency and choose a method, WSU does the same for us. Us students have cougar cash which only permits students to obtain. People outside of WSU would most likely ask what cougar cash is if they have never heard of it. Our form of currency segregates WSU students and people outside of WSU. Societies in different areas have different forms of currency and people will purchase items based on what’s stores or markets are available.

Blog posts I’ve commented on:

DTC375_Blog2: Stock Question

A Simple Matter of World Wide Communication

1. Blog: Jan 24

Read Weatherford 80–108 (Chapters 5 & 6). Write a blog entry and comment on two other peoples’ blog entries. You are always welcome to do a custom or freestyle option, but if you elect to do a stock entry, here’s your prompt: Weatherford describes how technological advances in mathematics (Arabic numerals, arithmetic) contributed to the spread of empire and the seeking of gold in a new frontier in the Americas. Today, we have technological advances in mathematics (including cryptography and its application to Bitcoin and other online currencies) influencing the ways people use money. What do you imagine the new frontier will be for seeking profit, and how do you imagine some form of empire (national, financial, cultural, or otherwise) might extend into that frontier? Your blog post can be analytical or creative: write a short story, if you like.

I can already imagine what our future relies on, technology. Technology is the reason many empires advanced and continues to be the reason why we advance as a society. Although this is too early in the book, a perfect example relating to this is the mother from Kani Kombole who arises before dawn to sell in the market every 5 days. The people in Kani Kombola are uneducated and live in a more povertised area. regardless, they still use their own counting techniques and have their own ways of selling to advance and live. Although different countries and areas have different forms of currency, as a whole we are all advancing and finding new ways to advance our currency. For example, back in the day paying online was not as popular, now days we rely more on technology for bills, information, updates, news etc. Many internet companies such as ebay and amazon are making money of customers.  Because our society relies on technology, companies are getting more clever and finding ways to make money off customers. Therefore, both our society and companies are advancing as a whole.