Games are apart of the culture. We are conditioned early with Jacks, Pick up stix, Tether Ball, Four Square, then any sports… it’s only natural that as we develop we want/need more; increasing the level or intensity from the simpleton game play we once knew. It’s the mental stimulation spawned from the imagination that becomes exciting. Narratives take place on almost any interactive game you can currently buy on the market.

As we see in American McGhee’s, Alice: Madness Returns (which looks completely awesome btw), they take a children’s story that most people know, and add danger, killing, blood, confusion, and panic. After seeing every piece of video teaser including a press release forum with the creator American McGee explaining the meaning behind the game… I can’t help but think that this man is an genius at creating narratives. I like that he says that he is known for taking children’s stories and flipping them and making them scary. You mean taking scary stories and making them scarier? Hello, Hansel and Gretel? Red Riding Hood? Jack and the bean stalk? All of these involve death or some aspect of run for your life! I like that McGee has created more than what we know of the character… he has made it so Alice is unsure of what she is thinking. She appears to be remembering a memory that may or may not have existed. As the paddle holder, it is our job to help Alice find out.

Con’s of paper books: If the entire room in not entirely lit, I have to position the book in such a manner that the page is filled with light, so that there isn’t a shadow lurking in the center of the books crevasse. I know, minute, yet incredibly annoying. Books can be cumbersome, weigh a lot, to big and bulky, they take up space on a shelf. I am not a fan of clutter and really don’t see myself enjoying a book after it’s been read through once… that is unless, it is a book that I am actually quite fond of. Not every book is going to be a favorite and the miracle of getting through it once will suffice.

Publishing houses are in a major dilemma because they are not generating the revenue that they used to when printed books were the only medium to get the works out into the hands of the public. Ebooks have made a lot of the costs cheaper, avoiding ink, paper, binging, distribution, storage, shipping etc… so with all this saving… you would think that these companies would be as concerned for drying up and dying.

Why should you have to buy any book if most books are available on Google books for free? Why spend my time and money searching for a physical book, or scouring the Internet looking for the best deal, cheapest shipping, signing up for memberships, giving out private credit card numbers to websites that claim they are legit… when all can be avoided with a simple google search.

Yes this way the author does not stand to make money, but I’m sure google is giving them some sort of incentive to have their whole published work appear online for free.

Maybe.  Or maybe mainstream media learns to adapt to the growing online audience – to seek out and deliver their product where their audience lives, instead of the other way around.  In a recent article, titled, Television Executives Reach for Reset Button, in The Financial Times, Kenneth Li explains that television broadcasters are initiating a self-imposed re-branding of sorts, choosing to distance themselves from the word “television” as a description for the product which they create in favor of a more of the moment “video”.

“They face what newspaper executives witnessed a decade ago,” Writes Li, “big cash cow businesses in inexorable decline. The consumption of broadcast media has fragmented across hundreds of cable channels, countless mobile phones, the YouTube broadcasting website, as well as TV’s own digital ventures, such as Hulu and the BBC iPlayer. This all leaves the broadcast business at a critical moment.  As advertising – the industry’s lifeblood – congeals, the threatened incumbents at the top of broadcast TV must redefine their businesses if they are to find growth once more.”

Certainly, Keen would argue that this clamor by big television to redefine who they are and why they matter as a fight-or-flight response to the seemingly unorganized, decentralized and unprofessional threat that this teeming online mass poses, supports his hypothesis that the growth in importance of the internet is nothing more than Darwinian theory gone awry.  In Keen’s view, the strongest may survive, but at what cost to intelligence?  Where is there room for the meek, and implicitly intelligent (in Keen’s opinion) on this great digital earth?

Capitalism has also been likened to Darwinist theory, but with slight modifications.  Not only do you have to be big and strong to survive, but also agile, adaptable, and most importantly, smart. One could argue (though probably not Keen), that pressure from online outlets are, in fact, forcing media behemoths that have gone unchallenged for decades (such as broadcast networks or newspapers) to slim down, become adaptable and agile.  This is a sink or swim scenario, and only those who are able to make the internet work for, instead of against them, will succeed.

Specifically, television has been challenged by the increasing popularity of online streaming video, on demand.  As Li points out, online video only accounts for two percent of total TV viewing.  However, in the face of falling ad revenues, networks are starting to realize that by running the same ads online instead of on TV, that online video actually adds to the total audience rather than cannibalizing it.

Time Warner and Comcast recently announced a trial run of their TV Everywhere video, an demand program which will presumably be a pay service, while other networks have placed bets on Hulu, an ad-supported video service that has yet to proven its ability for ROI.

In concluding, Li says “The good news is that professional content, rather than the YouTube-style videos of skateboarding dogs, will drive viewing online. By next year, half of the US population will watch online videos, according to eMarketer, a tipping point in the media industry. That single development – the ultimate mass medium reaching critical mass online – is perhaps television’s most promising growth opportunity.”

One of the main ingredients, Arthrospira, is cultivated worldwide, with the United states landing in the top producers. With an average of 60% protein, its not hard to see why Spirulina has landed in the super food category. Boasting a shocking  number of 11 essential amino acids, Spirulina beats other sources of protein.

With all the benefits, its hard to say why I am just now hearing about this powerful nutritional supplement.  It may be too good to be true. But for now, research is limited on the side effects, if any, that exist.

More information on this super food is easily accessible at http://spirulina.com/ .

This video captures Spirulina and its benefits.

Apple launched its Iphone 4s in fall of 2011 sporting some new features that yet again have put it as a forerunner in the age of the smartphone. The most notable feature is Siri, an interactive application that is integrated in the phone, also dubbed the “Personal Assistant.”  This puts a whole new spin on what a smartphone is capable of.

Siri simplifies many of the functions we have become so accustomed to performing.  Text messaging, typing data, and searching through the internet are all tasks that Siri accomplishes without taking your eyes off the road. We can all exhale with a sense of relief that this technology is here.  No longer will our necks ache from the permanent downward gaze at these gadgets. It seems as though Apple Inc. has created a new realm in which the smartphone can operate.

What can possibly be next? It seems as though the possibilities are endless. Every advancement in technology paves the ways for newer and even cleverer problems to solve. Apple has proven itself worthy so far.

The Internet has sculpted several things in my daily life as well. With the convenience of the Internet… who has to leave the house anymore? Netflix and Blockbuster have granted us all the pleasure to simply order movies online and receive them at home; instead of having to schlep ourselves to the video store and deal with the ever dreaded occurrence of realizing your particular title is out of stock.

Bargain shopping has taken to the back seat as well. Today finding a great deal on an item at a local garage sale can pose to be a challenge. Why waste time sifting through countless meaningless items of unimportance when you can jump online and search the globe for your hearts desire on Ebay or Craigslist.

My favorite Internet killer would without a doubt have to be searching and comparing prices for college text books at local bookstores. Amazon has great deals on new and used textbooks. Chegg allows you to rent textbooks for a fraction of the price and you can mail it back at the end of the semester. Not to mention all the websites that are popping up selling etextbooks -books available for download instantly.

This Internet is a Killer… and a good one at that.

For years I found myself frustrated that local radio stations refused to play the songs I wanted to listen to. I dance to the beat of a different drum, one that more people in Europe dance to than Americans. Internet dance stations were the answer I was looking for. It seems that the quest for my specific genre of music has only seen success due to the current advances in technology.

In years past, I would find myself scouring over used CD’s to fulfill this need. I would also occasionally have the temporary pleasure of being serenated through a New York City Hotel Clock Radio. Someone was thinking what I was thinking. “Why don’t we use the internet to connect to those stations?” Well, some things do come true.

These days, I am almost overwhelmed by my options. My only problem now is filtering through various websites and smartphone apps that will ultimately satisfy my thirst for those electronic beats. Pandora, iheart radio, Fusion Radio , Itunes, Flycast, TuneIn Radio, the list goes on and on. Each individual app and website offers access to international stations at a degree that would most certainly shock any first time user.

Advancing quicker than my own innovative impulses, some stations have already allowed users to customize their own stations. I can now create individualized playlists streaming without commercials, and tune in 24 hours a day. It almost seems as though this technology is advancing so quickly I am left in the dust.

It encourages individualistic interactions within its website, allowing users to personalize their experience. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbmainnut.htm  Its access to videos, articles, apps, training guides, encouragement towards user comments, specialized forums, and fully functioning store are examples of its extensive reach.

Apart from the information overload that I have experienced so far, there are parts of this website that I haven’t dared to venture into. One being Bodyspace, http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/ ; a place for users to be a part of a whole community aimed towards the health conscious. Apart the typical profiles we have all seen on Myspace and Facebook,  Bodyspace takes a step further by offering 100% customizable result trackers. Either private or public, these result trackers can be shared within the community, allowing people to instantly comment on your progress and vic versa.

Bodybuilding.com is truly a gem of an example when it comes to the functional quality of emerging social media. Its reach is one which takes all of the users’ needs into consideration and it fosters the perfect environment in which to connect with others. Reaching people that have the same fitness and nutrition interests has never been easier!

There is no doubt that technology was the driving force behind the last presidential election in the United States. Obama’s campaign captivated and garnished unprecedented numbers, compared to that of his failed opponent John McCain. Interesting, that prior the Obama election, buzz was being generated about Technologies (such as the internet) were being used as a platform from which to promote Democracy on a global level.

In the article Technology Promotes Democracy, by Carol Walker, descriptions of how the internet and cell phones are enabling people to reach a greater audience then ever thought possible.

“Cellular phones and Internet connectivity are being used by activist citizens in innovative ways to organize and communicate,” Political Representative Jim Kolbe said. “Tools such as cell phone text-messaging and Web logs [blogs] have been utilized as ways to circumvent the traditional mechanisms of state control over media and information.” Kolbe said the use of cell phones and text messages for coordinating demonstrations, telling people how and where to vote during elections, and the use of the Internet have been vital tools in promoting democracy and development. Read more: Here.

The internet allows larger audiences to follow political issues, at little to no cost to the candidate.  Obama used YouTube.com as a means to save his campaign 47 billion dollars in advertisements and according to the New York Times.

First the printing press, then the radio, then the Television, then… our Internet.

Lessing goes on to describe her findings to children in civilized territories like North England; expecting the same passion and hunger for literature. Lessing says, “Then the talk is over. Afterwards I ask the teachers how the library is, and if the pupils read. In this privileged school, I hear what I always hear when I go to such schools and even universities. “You know how it is,” one of the teachers says. “A lot of the boys have never read at all, and the library is only half used.”"

Lessing suggests that computers and the internet are like an addiction that have changed our way of thinking, and have created a revolution. Lessing says, “What has happened to us is an amazing invention – computers and the internet and TV. It is a revolution. This is not the first revolution the human race has dealt with. The printing revolution, which did not take place in a matter of a few decades, but took much longer, transformed our minds and ways of thinking. A foolhardy lot, we accepted it all, as we always do, never asked: “What is going to happen to us now, with this invention of print?” In the same way, we never thought to ask, “How will our lives, our way of thinking, be changed by the internet, which has seduced a whole generation with its inanities so that even quite reasonable people will confess that, once they are hooked, it is hard to cut free, and they may find a whole day has passed in blogging etc?”

Just six months after Lessing’s speech, Nicholas Carr shared similar views, in his article titled, Is Google Making us Stupid? Carr says, “…what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski”.

I find it interesting that Carr posted a portion of Lessing’s speech on his blog the day before it was published in The Guardian. Perhaps Lessing’s speech was the inspiration for prompting the creation of “Is Google Making us Stupid?” Carr, however, does share the same view point as Lessing when he mentions that the way we think, or how we take information has changed due to the internet. Lessing and Carr sound like two old songbirds that are afraid of change and/or of technology, by creating an atmosphere through their writing, that make it apear like it is in our (the rest of the world) best interests to avoid using any informative source other than the printed text book.

Lessing says, “We are in a fragmenting culture, where our certainties of even a few decades ago are questioned and where it is common for young men and women, who have had years of education, to know nothing of the world, to have read nothing, knowing only some speciality or other, for instance, computers.”