While doing research for my “Promotional Platform” final project, I stumbled upon the best fake commercial that I have ever seen. As (intellectual) Middlebury students, I think that you would all greatly appreciate this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NKXNThJ610

PROJECT LINKS

Project 1 – Paper

Project 2 – Podcast

Project 3 – Remix

*Project 3 Disclaimer!* This was obviously not my “lucky project.” For starters, my partner did not let me know that he would not be returning to Middlebury in time until very late, so I ended up doing my project by myself and with very little idea of what to do since I could not implement my original idea. Now, it seems that I foolishly deleted the video from YouTube and naturally, cannot find my back-up copy because I deleted my portable drive and returned it to Ethan already. To refresh your memory, I did the music mash-up with scenes from Shrek.

Project 4 – Gaming

Project 5 – Final

SELF-EVALUATION

Class: To my knowledge, I attended every single class (and if I missed one, it was surely due to illness). I did all of the readings (some more carefully than others, if my interest in the subject exceeded the usual amount), I participated in class discussions, and completed all of my assignments in a timely manner. Surely, on the surface, all of these characteristics would deem be the exemplary student. However, I will be the first to admit that towards the end, my blogging diminished and the content of all of my work may have lacked intellectual depth. However, I will take credit in being the one who told Joe that I really wanted to go see the servers…that whole trip may have not happened had it not been for my childlike enthusiasm (just saying…) As for my final project, I put in a lot of time and hard work into it, the minute that I came up for the idea in class. I think my final project is more substantial than my previous projects. (Grade: B-)

Blogging: In the beginning, my blogging was “on-time” and somewhat informative. However, as the semester continued, I did not keep up with it as much as I could have. I attribute this to two things: 1) I have my own personal blog that I started this January that I write in every day (www.DawsonDanger.com) and 2) I didn’t come across as many “technical” things in my every day life that merited to be written about. At the expense of a better grade, I would rather not write than write something pointless simply for the sake of adding posts to increase the amount. (Grade: C-)

Twitter: If there is a redeeming facet to my academic achievement in “Media Technology and Cultural Change” it is my Twittering. I think I was just about the best Twitterer. I tweeted about necessary things, unnecessary things, funny things, personal things, re-tweeted the greats (Ebert, Colbert, Cavaliers…) I think my participation in Twitter was stellar and few can disagree. I think Twitter (especially if you have it in an easily accessible form, for example as an application on my phone) is a great tool to quickly and easily mass-communicate. (Grade: A+)

Overall Grade: B-

For our project we (me and Liya) wanted to combine the game-play aspect of NCAA Football 2008 with the real-life game experience. For this we used footage of the 2008 game between Ohio State and Michigan State and then played the football game on X-Box using the same teams. We used footage from the real game and from the video game to create a viewing experience that combines the two mediums.

We posted our video to YouTube but the song that we used was removed by them due to some sort of regulation. The link to our video is below, but we will play the original in class (which has the sound).

watch?v=2i9Nx9nLYno

I was interested in seeing who else played World of Warcraft (and my “else” I meant not your everyday average people). Turns out, that many celebrities play World of Warcraft (go figure?) According to my sources…

1. Mila Kunis (the chick from That 70′s Show…what?!)
2. Macaulay Culkin
3. Dave Chappelle (Snap!)
4. William Shatner (Predictable…)
5. Matt Stone (Co-Creator of South Park)
6. Trey Parker (Co-Creator of South Park)
7. Vin Diesel
8. Robin Williams
9. Verne Troyer (Mini-Me!)
10. Mr. T
11. Jay Mohr
12. Elijah Wood (Hahahahaha, of course)
13. Chuck Norris (Really? Wow…)
14. Brandon Routh (The New Superman Guy…)
15. Jimmy Fallon

Now that we’re on the topic of video games, I thought I’d supply a list of some of my favorite video games that I’ve had the chance to play. All of them are “Patti Approved” for fun. In no particular order…

–Super Mario Brothers 3 for Nintendo NES
–Paper Boy 2 for Super Nintendo
–Crazy Taxi for PS2
–Cool Boarders 4 for PS
–Max Payne for PS2
–The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for Xbox
–Gran Turismo for PS3
–Call of Duty 3 for Xbox 360
–Kingdom Hearts for Playstation
–Looney Tunes: Marvin Strikes Back! for Gameboy Color

I had the opportunity to play “Facade” today. While I do like the idea of having text-based interactions with a video game, the technology is not yet at a place where it was even a remotely satisfying experience. As “deep” as the game may have been with its not-so-hidden layers of human interaction and the complexity of situations, the lack of full control diminished the game-play and took away from the intent (whatever they ‘intent’ may have been–another problem* of the game).

As I stated in class, conceptually it’s an interesting idea, but in practice (especially in “Facade”) text-based action falls flat. Facade’s two-dimensional characters (in personality, not appearance), unappealing atmosphere, and repetitive scenario make it about as riveting as [insert something excruciating boring here]. I could see text-based action being really cool if you were playing some sort of FBI where you got to interview a suspect and get clues from them by asking the right thing or something (just an idea). For some reason, Men In Black keeps coming to mind.

Anyways, the creators of “Facade” definitely have something. What that ‘something’ is, I think they’ve yet to define (which translates in the game). However, I won’t discount that this definitely has potential.

*Wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if the game was more exciting.

So, here are my 7 snapshots. I really don’t like how slow some of the worlds load…it’s like waiting for something to unfold. I am also not a fan of when random people came up to talk to me when I was trying to get this done. However, it is really cool that people create these virtual worlds where you can meet up virtually. I just wish that everything was a little faster. My favorite place that I visited was the Spaceflight Museum. Paris, was okay, too.

Dublin

Library

Middlebury College

NMC Orientation

Paris

Space Flight Museum

Okay, so I had a little extra time that I didn’t anticipate and I got to all of next week’s readings a week ahead of time…(hey, I’m doing this thing where I’m using my time wisely–don’t judge).

After doing the readings on “Second Life,” I’m very torn on this topic. A part of me thinks that “virtual worlds” are really the next thing…it incorporates everything about the sites and platforms that we use now–social networking (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace), communication (MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, iChat), and “fun” (online games, video games, real-life fun) all in to one. While this can be very useful and add a more personal experience to virtual communication, the implications are frightening.

It’s totally possible that some people who don’t have “real” lives (and by real, I mean, they don’t do much in the real world) might use “Second Life” as an escape…a place to be something or someone that they’re not. While that’s fine and dandy, everyone needs a retreat or activity to call their own, this may not exactly be the healthiest way to go about it. The fact that it’s called “Second Life” already implies that this is the chance for some people to live a virtual life that they might not otherwise be able to live in the real world. But what happens when real lives and virtual lives start to overlap? It’s a fine line…

After watching the video on “Second Life” I was startled by all the things that one could do in the virtual world–especially when the narrator began talking about “relationships.” I mean, I’ve heard of people starting relationships with someone they meet online and such, but the idea of “Second Life” almost promotes the fact that you could have a real relationship in “real life” and then have another romantic relationship with a different person online in “Second Life.” Is that emotional cheating? (If, for a second, we subscribe to the idea that that exists). If that’s really the case, then do virtual relationships have as much value as real ones? Could it be that you can become best friends with someone you’ve never even met?

Again, this has existed in the past with pen-pals and things of the like; however, “Second Life” has such a creepiness factor to it, somehow. I won’t lie, I’m kind of curious and almost tempted to join (just to see). But that’s just it, I’m ALMOST tempted–never actually curious enough to actually join (not out of principle or some inner feeling of superiority) but just because the idea of maintaining a virtual life sounds time-consuming (I can barely keep up with my real one!) I won’t say that I’m a skeptic…16,000,000 are a part of it and seem to enjoy it. Clearly, it’s a growing trend. However, until people that I know and am closely affiliated with start joining, I will NOT jump on the bandwagon. I’ll hold off just a little bit longer.

“Second Life”? No, thanks. I’ll stick with my first and only (real) one.

I’m kind of an oblivious person sometimes. There are days when I have no idea what’s happening in the world just because I haven’t bothered to look at anything (you know, like the news and stuff). But NOW, thanks to Twitter, I don’t have to! I’ve been following Roger Ebert, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN, MTV, VH1, Doctors Without Borders, and Stephen Colbert on Twitter, and they let me know everything that I need to know…on an hourly basis! All I have to do is look at my Twitter News Feed and I’m up-to-date on world affairs, films, music, pop culture, and sports! I can click links to full stories (if I want to) or just look at the blurbs. Honestly, it’s fast, easy, and pretty much awesome. Now, I know things before my friends do, so I sound knowledgeable and ultra-informed when I speak. Thank you, Twitter.

For my Remix video project I really wanted it to be fun and filled with music.  I had several other ideas that I was toying with but due to unforeseen circumstances and time constraints I had to switch gears. Fortunately, the finished product (while not perfect) is definitely to my liking, only because I thought it was a lot of fun to make. I encountered a few problems when I was attempting to pick the various songs to match the video that I chose, but I think that in the end it turned out alright. I made a few edits to the video itself, but the soundtrack to it was completely my doing (as in, I picked out the tunes, I added them in a way I thought “worked”). Anyways, here is my Remix Video which I have (just) titled “Get Shrecked” (a play off Shrek and “get wrecked”…you know…like wasted. Yes, I’m promoting drinking).

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg9NqJgr5nk

So, word on the street is that Sony may be producing a PSP phone and/or a PSP tablet of some sort to compete with the iPad. Now, I don’t particularly care for the idea of a PSP tablet…but a PSP phone?! Now I can take my gaming everywhere AND it is simultaneously my cell? Genius. I don’t know if this will happen or not, but I’m really hoping it does. Grand Theft Auto…in class (ohhh yeaaaa). Kidding (sorta).