Extra Credit

This week in class our group discussed the military and gaming relationship as well as the problems within censored technologies. There was someone in this group who was apart of each of presentations so they emphasized a lot more on what they already touched up on during their presentation.

To start off with the gaming systems used within military training, the technologies are very similar. The part that scares me still the most is the way that some of the people who are training using these certain technology “games” is still in a gamer mindset when it is the real thing. They make the controllers for the drones similar to the Xbox’s. With that being said some of the people in charge of the drone see it as just sitting back at home in their bedrooms playing a game. It makes it easier in a way for one to learn in this job field when it is similar to something they have already done.

The other topic that we touched on is the problems with censors in some technologies. An example that was used was the hand soaps that are electric. Problems have derived from this because people with darker skin are having problems with getting the censors to work. Then a white person or someone with lighter skin puts their hand under the soap dispenser and it will react to their skin colors. This is because light is being used in this technology and with that being said something can be done. The fact that there are still problems with public soap dispensers as well as the Xbox game Kinect in this day in age kind of bugs me. They can fix the censors on the products and work with the different lights but there is still problems happening with picking up darker skinned people.

Week 15

            I was one of the groups that went the last week of presentations. So I am going to talk about the other group that went who focused on the topic of the generation gap. This was very intellectual and humorous and me all in one because of the emoji examples they showed. I now think of every adult I have ever communicated with and realize the differences in text and what they think a certain emoji means. When I text my mom she always is having to ask me what I meant by my emoji when in my mind it is pretty self explanatory when you use a blushing smiley face it would mean that something is cute. Yet because of this generational gap it is that us as young adults grew up learning about the technology and the language that comes along with it compared to our parents who learned later on in life. I think that has a huge impact on the learning and usage of technology in certain generation groups.

            Another thing they emphasized on that they discussed in class was that the baby boomer generation either has a hard time learning how to use technology such as texting or they just do not want to learn it all together. This is how my dad is mostly he says that he has gone through most of his life without texting so why would he need it now. But even though he thinks that way the necessity of having a phone this day in age is huge.

            This could also cause problems because the generation gap within the job field has caused problems. Generation Y are learning as they grow up how technology is used where as the baby boomers are having to relearn a lot of stuff.

Week 14

            I have always slightly been interested in what goes on in military training. I never would have though that gaming would become more than just an influence to war. Now it is apart of the training. This concept is kind of mind blowing in a way. With the technology that we have today it is amazing to me that they can develop something that has to do with corresponding gaming technology in a way of a mock of what it is like working in the military.

            As much as I think it is cool there is a lot of downsides to this type of training in my opinion. If you think of it just like in the presentation, they discussed that the backdrops of where they are might portray a stereotypical form of war. This could be about the biased opinion of certain groups of people and stereotyping them as an enemy of war. This kind of brain washes the mind to see certain people as bad even when they are not.

            The military have been using technology for a long time. They correspond with each other. Just the thought of how far the military has come with technology in relationship to war is amazing. With the types of warfare as well as what there is to get people ready for a war has changed a lot. This day in age the rapid growth of technology will not end soon and I am curious to see what comes next after the practice of using gaming to work with training.

            What was most interesting to me that I have never thought of was when the group brought up the drones and their controllers. The fact that the controllers were similar to what gaming consoles use makes it easier for some men and women to learn because of their practice already probably sitting in their living rooms. This also makes it easier for them to not think about what the drones actually do because they relate it to a fake world.

Week 13 presentations

            The presentation that had to do with vlogging and the LGBT community had an affect on me personally. Personally I never read through comments that are posted on videos that I watch. But I can imagine the ones posting the YouTube videos will go through their own comments. So after the presentation to think that people hind behind a digital fake personality amazes me. Some individuals act almost as if they have nothing better to do. Digital space now days allows more and more outlet to stay anonymous to the world. This gives people leeway to post and say whatever they want to and in negative fashion. I think about my best friend who falls under the LGBT category and if anyone would want to say something harmful to him I would take it personally as well.

            The way the presentation was formed really kept me interested. They did a nice job finding examples that really connect with the harmful actions that come along with vlogging within the LGBT community. Hearing about statistics of suicides that result from this is sad. Throughout the campaign that was mention about the “it gets better” is a positive side to such negativity. This expands even outside of the LGBT vlogging community but all negativity in general.

            I am really big on following vine and YouTubers. I never comment or like I said read comments. The videos that the group showed about the one vlogger who had a positive look on the negative comments was really great. I hope some day the gap of hate with the LGBT community can lessen to no hate at all. But in the mean time we all know that is far from happening so in the mean time staying positive and laughing at what people say is the way to go I think. Keeping positive and gaining as many supporters is good. They have celebrities apart of the campaign. Celebs are people with fan bases and fans always like to follow in their footsteps. When they mentioned Celebrities are apart of the “It Gets Better” campaign is a positive sign in my opinion.

            

Week 12

Lately and even in the past has the topic of what the media feeds the public is true, exaggerated or biased. Of course it is because different media outlets will have biased opinions, as well as choosing what is said to the public. There is usually only one side to a story for most media outlets. As for using fox news and talking about the coded language that they use, this became very interesting to me. 

            The main argument about this presentation and what they showed is the one on gay marriage. There were biased opinions on this topic and usually results in religion being the reasoning behind being against gay marriage. I am not a religious person at all and have a very opened mind about this stuff but then think of my parents who are religious and are not as open minded. I wonder if there is usually another main reason for the disapproval of gay marriage. It is interesting to talk and discuss coded language and see what is actually being said in the media to give off a certain viewpoint of the topic they are presenting. Places like social media and news media abuse the use of coded language I think. The thought of coded language can be good and bad.

            Coded language as what I got out of the presentation could be seen as good because people can get a certain side of the knowledge that is out there but from what I learned from it I hope that when people go and read or view these media outlets like Fox News they always keep and opened mind and do not always agree with what the media says. Because what I have learned the media can jam a certain viewpoint in your mind. These viewpoints can be seen as racist to many people and then to the ones saying them, they could be the total opposite. I got this feeling during this presentation.

            All in all this presentation was very intriguing and they did a great job portraying what the media especially Fox News does with coded language and how it effects the people viewing their news.