[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Mission Mod It Literacy

http://digitalamericasp16.wikispaces.com/A+Travel+in+Digital+Time-+Media+Literacy

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Mission: Legalese  Blonde

http://digitalamericasp16.wikispaces.com/USA+Freedom+Act

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Mission: Legalese Blonde

http://digitalamericasp16.wikispaces.com/Patriot+Act

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Beyond The Limits

Bring our Girls Back

Twitter has been used to promote many serious life issues. One of which is the the #Bringourgirlsback. Slavery is a large issue in foreign countries and a case in Nigeria many daughter have been taken and enslaved. They are then auctioned off to do work. The mothers, fathers and family members were outraged. They contacted many people to try and get some help that they desperately needed. Once this story broke it started to gain traction, not just by word of mouth but buy social media. Many celebrities and even the first lady started to support this movement to end slavery and push for women rights. Slowly but surely this was transforming into what it was not intended to be. Feminists alike came to use this hashtag for the wrong purposes with their own personal gain or social venture. While 1000′s of miles away at the origin of this campaign these mothers daughters are still not home safely with their families. It would seem that social media can be a great tool but also a great enemy as well for the original message can get lost, misinterpreted or misused.  

Yes All Women

Yes all women started with a shooting. A poor lonely man was frustrated with the fact that he could never get laid. He decided that this was the women’s fault for not finding himself desirable. One day he thought it would be a good idea to get revenge. After the shooting a video was found of him stating his intent of the shooting. This spurred the campaign of Yes All Women. With the intent to raise awareness of sexual assault, abuse on women. This campaign runs under the notion that all women have experienced sexual assault or abuse whether they know it or not. Shortly after there was a come back from the men with a campaign of Not All Men. This was to send the message that not all men are sex  predators, rapist, fiends, what have you. In the end this campaign of Yes All Women gave an excuse for others to outlet their problems and let them be heard. The speaker was kind enough to state that men also suffer from sexual abuse and in my book she got some brownie points for that when in a room full of feminists. 

Self Censorship

On social media we unconsciously self sensor ourselves. What would be concerted acceptable in one country may not be in the other. Cultural values are a large part of self censorship. But shouldn't we push to not have this censorship. Especially with regards to women and their rights of freedom of speech. Our freedom of speech has already been infringed upon and it would seem to be getting worse. Whether its the government, co-workers, bosses, and family and friends there are certain things that people just don’t say. If a white woman wants to say she is black she should have the right to identify herself. Females tend to suffer much more from self censorship on social media much more then men. Social media has created this gap of what we think of each other. 

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Visit Original Link

Downtown living

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Session 1 No Limits "Limits of social media activism"

9:25- Made it in with no issue just had to register with the blue people. plus got a sweet name-tag (they really take care of you here) 9:30- Tammy announces the subject “limits of social media activivism” 9:32- Women were auctioned off to slavery, Nigerian lawyer fired up international support to bring back these girls gaining support of celebrities and Mrs. Obama. 9:35- Bring back our girls campaign was formed. 9:36- Twitter created a trend of #Bringbackourgirls this message that is sent through the hashtag component. This started as a tool for women’s activism then transformed to something more stating that these girls are OURS. 9:38- question have been raised that if hashtags have been as significant as other social media activism. 9:42- #bringbackourgirls The words can make or brake this message, this has resulted in silencing the victims. What is posted is permanent and reaches beyond the scope. Next Presenter: 9:45- Yes all women was started by a shooting in California. THe shooter posted a video saying he was 22 years old, and still a virgin women will pay. 9:46- #Yesallwomen was a reaction to the Not All Men movement. 9:48- #Yesallwomen allowed people to share their experiences. 9:50- This helped men understand more of what these women are going through. Sexism in the past was usually shunned or a topic difficult to bring up. 9:53- both men and women have cases of this. Next presenter: 9:58- The reality of self censorship in the social media era. 9:58- Book Killing Us Softly (advertising image of women) bodies are expected to look a certain type of way. 9:59- social censorship is preventing one to speak. 10:00- women have posting images of them breast feeding on Instagram and Instagram went ahead and deleted them 10:03- Culture matters, They hide their family name to have freedom on social media. In China the government can censor them. 10:04- Females on social media tend to have less friend but more interaction such as likes, comment, and other. 10:06- Conclusion: Social media has created a wider gap of what we think of each-other. Take Action! Q&A

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

My thoughts on the election

It is really challenging for me to get behind a candidate for this election. I my self am not a democrat but tend to LEAN toward the republican side of things. It would seem that many of Bernie supporters are extremely passionate, and that is GREAT! However i have come across many cases in people keep trying to recruit me to vote for him. It has become annoying enough to bring it into the light. Now i understand that this does not go for all of his supporters but yet some tend to preach there woes to me. The funny thing is i have heard everything that they are saying before yet they continue to be baffled to why i am not voting for him. On the Hilary side i am simply just not a fan. She may have a lot of experience in the government but that doesn't mean she is successful at the roles she had performed. The idea that she is fighting some war on women is quite intriguing as well. I dont want to get into to much detail but i am not so sure such a war exists, however it could be a good buz word to use. Now as for the republican side the Donald is laying down the business and the republicans HATE it. I am a fan of the Donald but that being said he is not an appropriate candidate for the white house. It would seem that many people disagree with that since he keeps on winning states. The only person who seems to be effective against Donald is  Ted Cruz. I think Ted is a great (unfortunate looking) man. He stands along side with the constitution is kind, caring, trustworthy (besides some campaign mishaps) but damn is he religious. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing but it gets concerning when you are running for president. I understand he gets it from his father but if you are as extreme as he is it is difficult to get votes from other groups that may contrast what he believes. Now on to Rubio... ohh Marco, he just seems like the guy with a bad case of little man syndrome. I do like Rubio’s drive however i dont think he will be successful taking down Trump or Cruz for that matter. He claims Florida will save his campaign which i doubt. Lastly Kasich has been in the shadows this whole time. I am not sure if that is the medias doing but its clear that he is someone in the middle of parties on issue. The issue i am trying to address is the fact that all of these people running for president are hard to swallow for me, it is just a matter of which one will hurt the least. I wish elections were not like this. I wish a candidate from heaven would appear and make my vote worthy. But that person has yet to come in any election....

Running Candidates 

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Visit Original Link

Feel the Bern?

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Hanabi Game

http://digitalamericasp16.wikispaces.com/Hanabi

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Bananagrams

http://digitalamericasp16.wikispaces.com/Bananagrams

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

X-COM Enemy unknown

This is a game that plays with a lot of thought and creativity. You are in charge of a government division that is set to bring countries together to defend the earth from an alien invasion. As a plot i was hooked I LOVE ALIENS. After playing i found that this game is unique in the game play were you the player controls a hole headquarters as well and a deployment team to us for on the ground missions. When controlling the head quarters different geographical areas are randomly invaded and with only a limited number of resources you can only address specific events.  Evenly countries will stop their funding of your headquarters for your neglect, and lack of protections for that area. Now the mission game play makes this game great because it is extremely tactical like an actual war. On each mission you are deployed with a certain number of troops and each troop has a capability like weapons, armor, movement range, and more. With these variables involved you  progress through a mission zone that has alien activity. But the key is that you do not know where they are. This makes your progression very tactical because depending on what type of alien you run into, and how you encounter them will determine the success or annihilation of your squad. Nothing is worse watching your main soldier die in the line of duty that you have spend so much time creating. This is one of the criticism of this game that i have. The fact that the consequences are extremely severe and i have yet to encounter a point that i have been above water in the game. Whether its countries screaming at me for help or barley surviving a mission with the end result inactive in medical bay for a time period it just seems i can never get ahead of these damn aliens. However i do think that is what the game is going for. The world is being invaded by this species that had technology much more advanced. Even as the research department helps to up grade our weapons a new bigger badder alien appears.  Perhaps i am not a “good” player or not at a level high enough to keep up with the missions but yet after every failure i want to try again in  different ways, changing tactics, weapons, approaches. This game has so much replay value because each mission is unique in the terrain, alien species, objectives and different feed back from choices you have made. Not to mention you can play people online aside from the campaign. This feature is also extremely rewarding knowing that you can be the aliens trying to demolish someone else squad. The limitations of each character and customization's make this game a well balanced experience. You never feel like there just wasn't any possible way to win but rather acknowledged your mistakes and correct them for the next battle to come. I tend to see X-COM a digital version of chess but on steroids. I thoroughly enjoy playing this game and i am sure other will too, especially if you like aliens! 

FINAL VERDICT

9/10

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Sim City 2000

 Sim City 2000 was one of the first games i have ever played. EA created Sim City 2000 for users to build something that is purely their own. This Game allows you to play a construction GOD that had many different types of structures, tools, and disasters to use to create your own city. I am going to attempt to apply the Ludology or game theory for Sim City 2000. In this game there are several limitations to what you may be able to do. You have a set amount of cash you may spend before you may collect more. Along with this a build time is key for each structure will cost and have a build time. However for each structure a certain perk will come along with it. Building homes and having them a place to work will increase your population and ultimately increase your funding through taxes. As you progress you are then able to unlock new items in each category such as power plants to windmills to dam powered plants that depending on why you choose they can be more efficient however are more costly when built. This progression system makes the game more engaging and drives the user to unlock these new upgraded structures. Along with this the Daily news will give you direction on what is needed in the city along with how happy the residents are in the community. The diversity of things to build is what makes this game so engaging. Because there is so much to customize you can feel like this City is your own work of art. Eventually problems will start occurring in your created city. This ranges from riots, tornadoes, fires extra. How you solve these problems will effect your  population and city rating. If the city keeps encountering these problems without solutions being made people will leave and the city rating will go down. These challenges are able to bring a unique way to give the player a way to interact with the city they have created.  This game structure has no end. You may continue to edit and random disasters will occur. These city still exist on hard drives covered in dust in some apple color computer stored in an attic/ junk yard. The way this game is designed with such simple but significant limitations make the game challenging such that each decision you make is meaning to what occurs next in the game. Many other sequels have come out after Sim city 2000 but none have been as ground breaking. 

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Reality is Broken

1) How do we justify the satisfaction of completing a game or challenge that is purely unnecessary? 

2) What kind of impact on our self of steam is created when completing a game? Could this be used in counseling techniques? 

3) With no human interaction but rather an unlimited access to games to play would it be possible to stay sane/happy for years to come?

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

WHY 15$?

The minimum wage in Nebraska was just raised to 9$ an hour. Now there are campaigns based off of a minimum wage of 15$? where did this number come from? Many economists say that it is the most optimal amount for businesses and market grown without raising unemployment. However 15$ is quite the jump from 9$. Is it safe to say that increase and implementing a more the 50% increase of wages is a calculated, safe thing to do? Economists have been wrong before people, remember the 2008 market crash were everyone (except a few) failed to see that there was a huge bubble in the market. I think it is fair to say that we do not, let alone economist really understand the market. With every action there are several reactions and jumping the gun raising minimum wage 50%+ isn’t the most comforting idea in my eyes. So why do they want to do it in the first place? Well from a human perspective people feel that they do not make enough money for what they do. Lets be honest here not many of us believe we make enough money for what we do. We tend to over value our importance in many cases. Also they argue that the current minimum wage is not a living wage (I wonder what factors are involved when classifying a “living wage”), let alone for a family. I agree, the minimum wage will not support a family adequately. However minimum wage can support one individual quiet comfortably. Witch is exactly its intention, to give an individual a comfortable life to live. That is why it is the MINIMUM wage, the lowest amount legally to employ someone. As a system as a whole this works perfectly fine on paper. However we are all human beings and make human error that we then have to suffer the consequences. All of a sudden these consequences make the minimum wage a little less comfortable. So what do we do as humans look at ourselves for answers? In many cases that is not the case. We tend to look at another aspect or factor and blame them, or the system for the misfortune or mistake we have made. I think this path of thinking isn't too much of a stretch to consider. Thus in the end here we are looking at 15$ minimum wage witch is very much possible to occur. However i do not wish this to happen because of the fact people should be liable for there own mistakes, failures, misfortunes. Pointing the finger at the people who may have had better fortune and success, then punishing them doesn't seem like the right thing to do. I feel like a lot of people in my generation feel like they are entitled to a lot of things which is simply not the case. Having all this being said i am not sure that the minimum wage should be raised however i am sure that it should not be raised to 15$. “ Since it was last raised in 2009, to the current $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum has lost about 8.1% of its purchasing power to inflation. Some economist recently estimated that, given how rich the U.S. is and the pattern among other advanced economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, “one would expect America…to pay a minimum wage around $12 an hour.” (DREW DESILVER) This is what i thought a factual un-biased research that i found however i still question the validity of economists till this day. 

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

[candybarthoughtsdotdotdot]

Walden 2.0

In the morning I woke up to my alarm clock going off and then reached for my phone. Checked the time almost opened it but then stopped myself. Weird it felt odd breaking the routine of doing that.  As i was making breakfast i usually watch the news... instead i ate in silence and started to notice that my neighbors are louder than i thought. I had to wear a watch that day because i found myself wondering what the time was about every 30 minutes. Before class i took an extra long shower because i had nothing better to do. This feeling of being disconnected from things felt familiar yet strange. I started to think about how back in the 90′s (god bless those glory years) i would walk to my neighbors houses and ring the doorbell to see if my friends wanted to get the squad together and terrorize the neighborhood. This was the same feeling i had back then when the only thing really to do was to go out and socialize with other humans. I recognize i still did this with my phone but it wasn't as genuine.  When walking through the hall or waiting on a bench i noticed many others glued to their phones acting like they were doing something productive so they are not like me.. a man staring at a crack on the floor thinking of how much dirt and what age of the dirt inside that crack exists. I did feel a little out of place when i could not blend in with the others. Although i very shortly got over it and started just to read random things i would never have noticed before such as signs, posters, and labels. After my classes have concluded it was time for what is call “me” time. Usually this consisted of watching a movie or some form of media but alas i could not. Instead i wanted to call some friends and go out but i really could not. I would have used a pay phone but i did not have any of their numbers memorized. This reminded my that i had several numbers memorized back in the 90′s!! So then i thought to myself what did people do back then for fun alone... Eventually i just decided to go to the gym for a while. Night has come and i found myself in the same dilemma. I got so bored that i just decided to do my homework and fall asleep.

What is learned from all of this is that people really rely on their phones and media for entertainment. I never enjoyed reading however if this continues i would have easily picked it up. Also i think i would go out a  lot more with my friends when i have time to do so. Instead of playing video games, watching tv, surfing the web that time would then be dedicated to building relationships and doing other productive things. I very worried about our new generation that will never experience a life without a phone. If something ever happens and everything goes to hell will they be capable of staying sane. I have lived a life without this kind of technology and was able to not lose my mind but for future generations who knows.....