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| The recent jackpot for megamillions was over 600 million dollars, and NY most definitely contributed a good portion of it. However no one from NYC has won the lottery or the megas or powerball for a long time. Therefore the question is whether these powerball/lottery results are rigged? Because from the history of winners from these drawings, it has always been people from the south that won the jackpot. Mind you, there are 42 participating states, so how is that Maryland, Virginia, and other southern states are able to win as oppose to michigan, ny, ca and nj? You tell me. | | |
| Gosh my second entry today!
I have long been a fervent fan of Blizzard's games like Warcraft (excluding Wow), Diablo I and II and Starcraft series. I have been very satisfied with the release, gameplay, lore and art direction of the starcraft series because not that much have changed. If anything, it changed more for the better ( including the continuation with the cool soundtrack of the starcraft series.) I feel that improvement in games does not always signify expansively changing everything. Well, that is what Blizzard did for Diablo III. Unfortunately some of those changes were quite unnecessary, seeing how thousands (54,000+) people resonated my sentiments with a petition against the artistry of the game. I have my reasons for disliking the game already before it's even been released and I hardly think I will buy the game to play it.
One of the reasons for my dislike of the new game is, of course, the color palette. Too bright, too colorful doesn't even begin to address my reasons for disliking the new game. Sure, the designers explained that they want to make each person, monster, and environment distinctive from the other by widening the color scheme and choosing brighter palette. Are they saying the original Diablo I and II did not accomplish that with a darker color spectrum? I keep going back to the older games to look for those moments where I can't differentiate the person from monster... Never encounter that problem. Actually, it was very easy to differentiate people from monster because of the intricate details of the color of the skin and the dark outlining of armor and the height of the person. The monsters had different colors, but they just weren't as bright and shiny as the new diablo game.
In conjunction with the big issue of the art direction, there is also the character aspect of the game. Diablo I and II were well-known for the player's autonomy to customize from scratch on what attributes, stats and skills they wanted in their character. Basically, a game that allows players to experiment with what slides well with them. Unfortunately, with the explanation that Jay Wilson, the head of the project, gave was that people have difficulty knowing what to do with stat points and how to allocate them. For your information, I was one of those people who had trouble with the stat system. But I liked it nonetheless because it allows me the opportunity to see how to improve my next character, if I were choosing from the same class. For people who play diablo I and II, they are very well aware of the fact that D players tend to create loads of characters and they are not difficult to level up, therefore there' s always of a high rate of people creating new characters. So who are these people to arbitrate players not being able to pick up the system and experiment? (Like our educational government, arbitrating how to teach our children!)
(To be continued)
Music wise...
The cinematics was awesome in the sense that it was innovative, but again, it was too warcraft III like and too clean cut. If I were to compare
Unfortunately, at this stage, the game is on the verge of being released, blizzard entertainment had refused to make anymore changes and just want to release the game. I can't blame them considering they did spend many years on it. Pity to say that they spent time changing too much of the things that veteran players loved about the original games made by Blizzard North. In my opinion, if I wanted to continue the legacy of such a great game, I would have hired the original Big four of Blizzard North to oversee the project. This would ensure that they know where the art, music direction of the game is supposed to be headed. Pity that they're gone.
If you, like me, share the same sentiments and grievances about the new Diablo III, do not support it. Do not buy the game because we must make our voice and ideas known. The only way to impact that and to bite down on the Wow troupe that is going to infiltrate the Diablo universe is by not supporting the Blizzard's cause for Diablo III. Because only the money numbers matter in this argument! | | |
| Today I saw a movie that's called "Cyberbully" and it's about a girl that recently joined a cyber network called clickster(?). Her account was hacked by someone and it consequently made her the victim of slander remarks and bullying over the internet. The bullying continued to escalate as the story progressed, pushing the girl closer and closer and eventually to attempting suicide. However the bullies were relentless and they continued to address the issue with either nonchalance or contempt. When one of the parents of the bully was approached by the victim's parent, the bully parent simply brushed off the issue of his daughter's bullying actions and emphasized the fact that his daughter is entitled to freedom of speech.
As I was watching this movie, I was observing it through the lenses of an educator. There are couple things that require addressing when it comes to cyber bullying. One thing is what was the type of exposure that the students had toward cyber bullying, technology and social networks? What are the attitudes that they have at home? Were the bullying situation from school extended to the internet? How do the parents handle bullying situations (for both victim and bully)? What are their thoughts? What kind of discussions about bullying do parents have with children at home? Is there a open forum at school to help students discuss about the problem and come to an understanding about the causes and effects of bullying of any kind? What are the legal repercussions of bullying in general? What does the community do to address, and handle the matter of bullying?
Throughout the movie, it made me wonder whether the victim was simply at fault for contributing to her own demise, but when I think of it that way, I was in the wrong. Victims, may have played a role in it, but they are not at fault. If we were to put that fault for the situation that will isolate them further, and they will not be able to speak about the matter. As educators, parents, and even the community at large, need to be open to listen about the issue. By providing a warm and welcoming support for students and victims, they will less likely consider suicide as an option to deal with the predicament. Therefore, rather than pinning blame on anyone in particular in a hasty manner, it is important to listen without judgement and be vigilant.
Next step would be addressing the issue with parents. If parents are continuously joined in the education community and the teachers kept strong communications with them, they will come to a clear understanding of the moral values that they would like to preach to their children. Not only that, parents will understand the repercussions for the children if they were to engage in bullying activities. Bringing that to the parents in clear written paper, and allowing them to know bullying (in any forms even on the internet) is prohibited and (if they are lawyers) that it infringes on others' rights to happiness, which are the fundamentals of the American beliefs, their children are responsible for those actions. (Sorry run-on) In allowing parents to comprehend this point, they are more likely to enforce that idea of no bullying at home.
Building a sense of community couldn't be more important that the way it was presented in the movie. The victim's mother visits the bully's house and speaks with the father about his daughter's slanders and denigrating remarks about her child. The father, who is lawyer, simply brushed off the importance of bullying, and countered that it's his daughter's constitutional amendment to say whatever she wants (though true but again, if it infringes upon another person's right to happiness and harms another person then that amendment right is not applicable in this situation). If they was more conversation amongst the parents about the topic and they come to a mutual understanding about it, perhaps the father would have addressed the issue with the mother differently. Afterall, parents are an important agent to preventing bullying.
Another thing is parents and educators NEED to let children explore and learn about the internet. I cannot stress this enough because technology is an integrated part of everyone's lives these days, its foolish to think that your child is going to be able to stay away from it, especially in developed countries. Additionally, technology is completely accessible to almost everyone, whether it be on your phones, library, homes, schools etc., people are experiencing the power of vast communication via technology. Which is one of the issues that rose from the movie where the victim did not know the power of social networks and suddenly dove into it headlong without understanding the responsibilities of social networks, the way the internet functions, and possible ways to protect yourself if something happened. It was after a traumatic experience that she realized that blocking was a viable option and reporting it to someone in charge of the website is a choice in dealing with the cyber bully. If she was like my sisters and I, we would have known to report to someone and print out all evidence to use in the future in cases/ lawsuits against the person responsible with such miscreant behavior. So children really need to be exposed and taught about these things. Only by experiencing the multifaceted internet and what's capable of, will they know how to deal with something like cyber bullying.
But even that is not enough. Schools should have parents and students discuss about the internet and have parents come to an understanding of what they should tell their children. Children should have the choice to discuss about the usage and repercussions.
--> Simply put, the key here is communication across the border, from educators, parents, and students.
I don't want to elaborate too much on it because I feel like I'm repeating the same thing over and over. But communication is really key here - whether it be for discussing your feelings about the various topics mentioned above, or standing up for something (yourself, someone else, an idea, etc.) communicating it is important. Only by doing that can an issue like cyber bullying be combated.
After finishing the movie, I was glad to know that 34 states in the US had passed anti-cyber bullying policies and that cyber bullies are no longer hidden behind the first amendment. People hurting people should always receive the consequences of being inhumane, and this is definitely one way of dealing with the perpetrators.
Unfortunately, these measures are still somewhat lax because the shoot out in another school in Chicago is a proof that anti-cyber bullying laws cannot reach every one. Therefore approaching the subject at home, school and the community as a whole is vital to bringing awareness, and beating down on the instigators of bullying.
Thank you for reading!
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| Copyright infringements and piracy has long been a concern for companies and the government since a long time ago. Because with the advance cyber networks humans have created, piracy has been made easier than ever. However, not all piracy is bad, in my opinion. Many a times, the pirated movies or games serve as free advertisements for real movies and games. In my case, I watched many game walkthroughs, but it was because I watched those walkthroughs that I became intrigued by the game. Surely, due to that, I have purchased a few to play. If anything game companies are also saving money on advertisements by having these walkthroughs uploaded through networks like youtube. So why let such a good thing be banned by the governments short-sightedness? Speak to your representative today and tell them what you want! This is outrageous! | | |
| Yes yes. Another revamp of the old fairytales that many of us had lived with since our childhoods. Surely there's a reason for all these reboots right? Some people speculated on the possibility that Hollywood is running out of original ideas to keep audience in theaters so they went ahead to create outrageous versions of classic fairytales such as Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland , and The Little Red riding hood. It most certainly is a risky business, and may not always pay off, which is especially evident on youtube comments, critic reviews and public opinion polls. Now some one else is trying to embark on the risky venture - the two new versions of Snow White (starring Julia Roberts and Lily Collins) and Snow White & the Huntsman (starring Charlize Theron, Kristin Stewart [eeww..]). Will it pay off? Don't know but most certainly, I am not a fan of the twilight series of its cast, so I won't be seeing the latter. Plus I don't like the whole idea of making a fairytale so war like when children's tale should remain what it fundamentally and essentially is, a child's story. In addition to that, Kristin Stewart is not an ideal candidate to play snow white's role because she's looks way too old for it, and she lacks the innocent look that a 14 year old snow white is suppose to be from the book. Unlike Kristin, Lily Collin is a perfect fit for the role because she has that pureness about her. It's not just the makeup because without the makeup she still has the baby face (like Selena Gomez). Plus I saw some screen shots of the dwarves in Lily Collin's version and man are they cute! I'm sure it's going to be heartwarming to watch the movie, which is the way it's suppose to be. Again, this is just my opinion.
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