New Game

Verbal game.

What do you want to learn from it:

New vocabulary.

Quicker action.

Rules:

Rhyme a word with the person who speaks before you or initiates the game.

The game starts with one player saying a word (preferably difficult to rhyme with) and the player to their right in the circle must follow up with a word that rhymes with the preceding word.

The individual who fails to rhyme with the word is out of the game and must watch and sulk.

The sequence then starts with the person to the right of the individual that failed to complete the rhyme.

Key rule:

If there are more than 15 people in the circle and everyone in the circle successfully rhymes then the person who began the sequence is out of the game.

Each person has 7 seconds… to think of a word… roughly 7 seconds. There is no stopwatch.

No dictionaries.

Next person in the sequence starts the next round of the game with a new word.

Gamergate

Brief overview of Gamergate:

“#GamerGate” is an online movement ostensibly concerned with ethics in game journalism and with protecting the “gamer” identity.

Many involved with the Gamergate hashtag have said that they are concerned with ethics in video game journalism; members launched a campaign to convince ad providers to pull support from sites critical of Gamergate. This campaign and others like it have been widely criticized in the media as evidence that the ethics concerns are a front for a culture war against the diversification of video game demographics. The old guys want to lockout the young bucks.

One of the articles said that it is mainly old white men who are engineering the games. It didn’t say whether or not those are the game’s creator, but knowing that is a bit of a controversy in itself. People that have an ability to think like the generation following theirs are rare. That said, old engineers are likely not as in touch with the new games as we “kids” would like them to be. Young game designers are popping up, but big companies employing these guys will keep the young kids at odds who are trying to come up to the big stage and engineer these games.

The next issue: are games damaging my kid’s future?

Imagine that teenagers who were too shy or awkward to say a word to their peers and too apathetic to say a word to their parents spent hours and hours every night watching these newfangled movies. We might have questions. What weird things were happening in their brains, with all of this violent make-believe? We really don’t know. Grand Theft Auto has been proven to incite violence. Is that the game we are talking about though? We know shooting games aren’t the best, but RPG games could add values to kids who won’t find them elsewhere.

Playing sports gives you teamwork and membership. RPG can do the same thing. There aren’t a ton of avenues for those abilities. Gaming is very different from Gamergate, but these values are understood by the young bucks who are being discriminated against in Gamergate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrDJOiFX4aA

Gamergate seems to be a group of young individuals pissed off about people that hold power over them. What’s new kids? It’s difficult when you know you have the ability but you aren’t handed the job because they trust the people they have. The older guys working in conjunction with these corporate game makers are given the benefit of the doubt, while we still have to fight to gain credibility. Someday the table will turn and we will be the ones who don’t understand the next generation. What would you do? Would you get out of the way?

The 2004 election dawned a new era of Presidential elections. It was labeled the inaugural ‘digital age’ election. One writer was quoted asking when the first video game simulating an election would come out. The contributors to this article came up with the video game before the writer had pondered when such a game would hit the stores.

Howard Dean was a Governor of Vermont and attempted to become the Democratic nomination for President. He failed, as many of us know. John Kerry eventually lost the election, despite winning the popular vote, to George W. Bush. Dean’s methods were new-age and that is mainly what this piece is about… thus New Media Writing. It sparked use of technology.

“Dean was incredibly successful in changing the way political campaigns of all types are carried out. Dean supporters made extensive use of new media tools such as e-mail, Web sites, and blogs to foster support from the grassroots. Howard Dean was also the first candidate to use a video game as endorsed political speech.” The guy used a video game to market his election— not sure that has ever been done again.

As big of a joke as the game seemed initially, it actually reached a good chunk of voters. “It was very successful in terms of audience: it reached 100,000 plays in the month before the Iowa caucus, a very respectable number considering its novelty and the fact that it was launched during the holidays.” Timing is everything isn’t it? Really makes you think. Like don’t ya just hate it when you put out a Facebook post and then you see that the post put up seconds after yours published is way funnier or reaches a better audience… ughhhh.

Okay back to politics and writing. Here is how the game worked.

“This effectiveness was based on the player’s performance in each minigame; a better score meant a more efficient supporter. Because supporters could not be “reset” once placed, this encouraged players to perform their best each time they played a minigame. After having set the effectiveness of a supporter through one of the minigames, that supporter worked nonstop, enacting “virtual outreach” to win over other virtual Iowans. In the main map screen, more effective virtual supporters worked more quickly in their region; a circular gauge showed their progress. When the gauge filled, a new supporter spawned, ready for the player to place for additional outreach.”

I wouldn’t want my Presidential candidate to do video games as part of his election. Generally, it’s only kids that play video games and no kids want to play video games that are about an election. Or if they do play that game it means that they are already voting, because they are the kids who care enough to play a lame game about an election. Sometimes the truth is harsh. It’s not the way to appeal to your people, because it is such a sad attempt and kids won’t go for it. E-mail and rallies seem like the best use of time and it will be that way for an awfully long time.

From Work To Play

I agree that there is a consensus for change growing among some of those concerned with creative work in digital media. It is ever changing with new sites popping up every hour. There may not be enough money in digital media. It is not evenly distributed. It is a make it or suffer the consequences of living paycheck to paycheck business.

I am involved in that business now with the Fox News affiliate in town. I see it everyday how poorly the money is distributed. Fox’s billion dollar business doesn’t extend to its private owners of various news stations.

If you know the money won’t be distributed equally in digital media, then why not have fun with it. Maybe a positive outlook will make you rise or spark someone else to rise near you. It may look like All Work No Play, but I would have to argue that is completely wrong to a trained eye.

An untrained eye sees senseless Youtube videos being distributed around digital media, but a trained eye sees its true meaning, which is networking. This generation can’t be judged on the outside looking in.

Networks have to be maintained. Like recruiting in college sports an individual can chose to opt out of an agreement unless they sign documents declaring their full commitment. These private owners in digital media will fight and fight against each other until best wins. The truest science will run its course and that’s evolution.

This is where the divide begins. When you lose those relationships you needed to maintain you are back to eating ramen for lunch 2-3 days a week. When this happens you have to keep fully committed or you have to jump ship and scrap what you can. The old cliche ‘you won’t know until you try’ is so harshly true sometimes.

“If I throw a ball at you I don’t expect you to drop it and wait until it starts telling stories.”

You need to take chances and do things for yourself. The ball won’t start talking. It’s the only way to find out if you can do it.

1wknotech essay

The girl that broke her phone during 1WkNoTech was pretty comical. I thought fear of missing out and rationalization were the 2 most challenging things for me. I could have had a tougher time if the week had come at a time where I knew I had to watch a specific football game.

It was new and kind of fun at first, but as time went on I thought ‘oh, well I really want to check in on social media or watch a game on TV.’ As the days went on I also thought well that’s not really technology. The first day it was the toaster was technology and the last day it wasn’t. Things changed pretty quickly I will admit.

The people that kept their furnace off for 1wknotech got my award for most dedicated. Unfortunately I couldn’t commit to the week as strongly as I had set out to. Very fun opportunity. The definition started as whatever is essential to your day and getting the job done wasn’t “technology” but then it changed.

The addiction to technology is real. They say all the time how things aren’t addictive, but I would counter saying that everything could be if you like it. Your mind is what tells you if something is addicting or that you need a certain thing again.

Our lives are so connected. Technology is our greatest ally, but is it also our greatest foe? Does a constant state of “connection” cause us to be truly disconnected from what matters most? I tried to reconnect with what is real and right in front of me. My relationship, my schoolwork, and other stuff.

My laptop wouldn’t load the screen grab pictures but I will do my best to cite.

Friends weren’t visibly upset that you forgot their birthdays. Due to 1wknotech. You could tell that you were sacrificing kindness for class. Respect felt lost at times with posts like these. Others seconded this feeling.

In all seriousness I don’t think I learned much. I knew it would be a struggle. It was more of a struggle for others than myself I thought. It was what it was. Fun activity, but things like this you can never tell who is really maintaining integrity or spewing you bullsh*t, which maybe was a lesson learned thru this week without technology.

There were plenty of clever folks participating.

People like this made it fun. The sarcasm started to max out and die after this with poor attempts. It’s funny it seems like once you raise the bar on social media everyone will try to recreate what you have done. They may think it’s a little funny or they may think like I do. Things shouldn’t be recreated. When they remake movies I want to puke and shoot the producer.

I liked the this theme a lot. People talked about how life would be enriched, if we could just shut down from technology. We never specified how long we would, but if somehow corporate businesses agreed to shut down for a month and the world didn’t end right then and there it would really be a beautiful world we live in.

Our appreciation for things is torn down by technology. We’re all guilty. “Honey, dinner is ready…. Okay Mom.. I need to finish this level in my video game and I will be right up.” You don’t rush to dinner that your family slaved over, because video games has captured your attention. There are countless examples and we can all understand or relate.

Some of us went back to being kids. Technology can make us think we are so sophisticated and mature at times. I have to admit I feel that way when I read a book on my iPad, but it really felt like this took us back to our childhood at times when things like social media didn’t matter. The Land Before Time was such a defining moment for a lot of us.

I love those damn movies.

The hard thing about the week of no tech was going the entire week. If the opportunity arose again I think I would have made it thru by only using the essential technology.

I know better how to explain things after no tech. You can’t duplicate someones joke. You won’t feel good about it and you reaping any benefits without credit given is kinda slimey. I think taking that idea and giving it a new look is just how things go. Fun project. I’d say integrity is something you can’t be helped with. Honesty may be viewable by others, but we are never sure.

7 day plot… no technology

Now look at your List of Top Five Lists of Top Fives and write a brief, tentative seven-day plot line for yourself. What do you think would really happen to you? Which days would be the worst? When would you be most tempted to cheat? What would happen with your friends and family? You are not obligated to stick to this plot line — the prov in netprov stands for improvisation after all — but at least you’ll have a shape to start with. Category: “#1WkNoTech”

Day 1.

I would go to the gym and do my homework on time.

Day 2.

I would attempt to do the same thing, but it would depend on soreness and motivation.

Day 3.

I would start thinking about watching the NBA on day 3. Otherwise assuming day 3 is Wednesday I would go to Mexico Lindos and drink myself into oblivion

Day 4.

I would mail my family a letter because who in college can go 4 days without talking to their family. I would go play basketball for an hour and then go home and sleep after schoolwork.

Day 5.

I would probably have to watch the Gophers play Iowa. It is such a pivotal game and I have been following them closely my whole life… honestly I don’t think I could not watch them play, especially because this season seems to be a make or stay the same year for us. I would absolutely not be able to not watch tv on the weekend.

Day 6.

I realized that I work with technology, so I skipped an entire week at work and got fired…. not really but wouldn’t that have been something. Fox News would have hated my guts. Again, not sure there is enough to do in a day without at least spending the spare time watching a half hour of SportsCenter.

Day 7.

I think I could handle doing this just not on the weekend or when my Timberwolves or Gophers are playing. That takes away about 3 days a week, but that’s an accomplishment for a sports addict isn’t it?