I took the Select a Candidate survey published by Minnesota Public Radio after seeing Scott’s post about it. The results were about what I expected. Here are my top 3, not surprisingly:
Continue reading ‘MPR’s Select a Candidate’Tag Archive for 'Media'
University of Florida student Andrew Meyer was pulled away from a microphone as he questioned John Kerry during his visit to UF Monday. Meyer was then brought to the back of the auditorium, pinned to the floor. UF police officered warned Meyer that continued resistance would result in being tasered. Shortly after receiving the verbal warnings, you can hear Meyer screaming, as well as the tell-tale popping noises that a taser makes.
Continue reading ‘Student tasered during Kerry’s UF visit’These comic book panels are unintentionally hilarious. Some of the hilarity is a bit crude, but it’s interesting how the change in language over the years and political correctness does that.
Over the past three or four weeks I have been covering my ears in the shower and in the car every time a Toyota commercial was playing. "But, Mark, you like Toyotas. What’s the problem," you ask? At the end of the newest Toyota commercials, right when they announce the Toyota tagline (which I cannot recall), is a very annoying and painful high pitch noise that makes me want to poke holes in my eardrums!
After every commercial, I wonder to my self, "Does anyone else get bothered by this, or am I a freak?" Well, after a few quick searches on Google, I don’t know that anyone has bothered to complain about it online. So, here is my post proclaiming the terrible choice of noises in the Toyota commercial. I think this ad campaign takes points away from Toyota every time an ad airs. Customers are literally being driven away from the brand, and it is all because of a screeching, ear-piercing noise.
So, thank you Toyota for choosing an ad agency that is helping to drive your potential customers to the competition, simply for playing a high-pitched noise in every commercial. Any positive message about Toyota contained within the ads is lost when the noise jostles it out of my head.
Just when I thought the Star Wars madness should have been coming to an end, I saw this on Yahoo! Photos today. That’s right: the US Postal Service will be covering their blue mailboxes in around 200 cities with R2-D2 "skins" to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars.
In the photo you can see the URL uspsjedimaster.com scrawled on the sides of the mailbox. If you go to that site now, you will see a teaser with footage from Star Wars. In it, an envelope is inserted into R2. I’m not crazy enough for Star Wars to know if that is new footage, but I’m guessing it is. Then the trailer ends with these words: ON MARCH 28 TWO POWERFUL FORCES WILL UNITE. According to this AP article, on March 28 a commemorative Star Wars stamp will be released. The article also says not to tamper with the R2-D2 mailbox if you come across one; it is a crime to do so.
Dr. Thiele comments on an Ars article regarding the gaming and violence connection. He sees the Ars article as the first of many articles fighting back against the "violent" label attached to video games.
Another thing to consider is that rarely have I found that those that label games as "violent" have actually spent any time playing those games. Rather, they see an ad for the game or hear about it loosely from someone else, and then they make their proclamation without any first-hand knowledge. They sensationalize their cause without any proof to support it.
It is very similar to those who call for the banning of books. For example, District 214 board member Leslie Pinney requested to have several books banned despite admitting to having not read them in their entirety. Thankfully, Board President William Dussling and the remainder of the board voted against the ban. Similarly, it is going to require individuals knowledgeable about video games to stand up against those who wish to blindly blame video games for the violence in today’s world.
Personally, as I have grown older, I have observed that society is no different today than it was fifty years ago, or even 2,000 years ago. Violence existed then, just as it does now. However, we are more exposed to violence now just because of the availability of news reports that both sensationalize violence and desensitize us to it.
While easy, it is inappropriate to blame just video games or movies or other pop culture for producing more violent youth. Some of the responsibility must be shared by the parents. Youth exposure to violence is inevitable, but it can be moderated. If you don’t want your kids playing violent video games, don’t buy them. If you are concerned about your kids playing violent video outside of the house, talk to them. So much energy is could be saved just by talking to your kids. We don’t need censorship. We don’t need legislation. We don’t need a small group of individuals with their own hidden agenda trying to spread FUD about video games, movies, music, etc. We just need to communicate.
I just saw this post on my.9rules, and it is quite a read. Ryan, the original poster and a member of the 9rules network, linked to a PDF titled What to do in a terrorist attack that shows symbols that can be found at ready.gov. The symbols are rather ambiguous, so there are captions included to inform the reader of what they mean.
Hilarious!
Recent Comments