Looking through the Bloggies website and wandering at the award winning blogs, I realized what makes all of them so great. All of these famous blogs are very easy on the viewer’s eyes. It is clear and concise what the blogger is trying to convey in his or her writings. Celebrity Daschund was voted on Bloggies to be the blog of the year for this reason. The blogging website has a good amount of images, videos, and text surrounding the entire page making it easy and enjoyable for the viewer.A blog should be easy for the viewer to read because that is what will stick in their head the most. Grammar is also a very big part of blogging. That is the best key for making it easy for the viewers to read your blog and effectively comprehend the information that you have given to them.
Wayback Machine Reflection For ESPN
April 17, 1999 ESPN’s website was completely different looking compared to the website of today. The entire website is very bundled together in the top left corner of the computer screen. The format of the website is very wordy and not friendly to the eye.
- Very wordy and crowded
- The website’s positioning is not well distributed throughout the entire screen
- Doesn’t show scores
- no videos
- You can’t have an online account like you can on the new website, therefore it’s not as personalized
- There is a big blank space on the right side of the screen. My guess is that they didn’t have the technological format to support the entire website.
- Pictures and videos surrounding the entire website
- widgets that show scores and side articles
- online account so the website knows your team and sport preferences
- format well spaced out throughout the entire computer screen
The Double Logic of Remidiation
Bolger writes an article on the remediation in media throughout society. Throughout the article he explains how somethings not dealing with full technology have been remediated over time, such as state postcards to give the viewer more self interaction with what he or she is viewing. When something is remediated, the medium that was already there is somewhat bettered by the new remediated concept and then made into the new standard medium. People want less mediation and more immediation. Immediacy is a context in which new media users interact and engage with an digital content without the restraints of mediation. There is more of a simulated reality behind it compared to mediation, which is when you are more dependent on what you’re doing compared to having more options and limits. Technology willl always surpass its processor and adapt to the medium that is set in place that helps people interact and simulate with the technology of societies medium’s.
Designing Calm Technology
Do you ever feel like technology can be stressful? Always taking our focus off everything else and making what piece of technology we are using the center of attention. Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown have constructed an article about “calm technology.” The technology is made to be used in the user’s periphery. Periphery is almost other factors outside of the main focus that help you easily connect everything together without just focusing the the central task of the technology. A good example of this is in the article they say that video conferences is a calm technology because unlike a telephone conference, you can see the other people and understand the message that they are trying to convey through their facial expressions and physical manner. Calm technologies help you move forward between the periphery and the central focus in a smooth and steady way for your brain to process what is going on in the least stressful way possible.
Work Cited
Weiser, Mark, and John Seely Brown. “Designing Calm Technology.” Designing Calm Technology. N.p., 21 Dec. 1995. Web. 07 Sept. 2015. <http://www.ubiq.com/weiser/calmtech/calmtech.htm>.
NFL Drug Use
Star NFL wide receiver, Josh Gordon for the Cleveland Browns is suspended for an entire football season because he tested positive for marijuana usage. A lot of people are enraged by this since the attitude of the nation has take a huge turn in the past couple years with an increased support in either legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, which has occurred in certain states around the country. So if the law around the country is becoming more lenient, why cant the NFL. Why do certain players get these horrible punishments for what is legal in certain states. Before Ray Rice’s video went viral, he was only on a two game suspension for what had been rumored at the time. So Josh Gordon at the time had a worse punishment for something a lot less harmful than what Ray Rice committed. It is hard to believe that Ray Rice Ray Rice put someone in harm and had less of a punishment at first compared to Josh Gordon who yes, did commit a crime in the state of Ohio, but it is less harmful than the act that Ray Rice committed. As a viewer I would like to address how other people think about this subject. I would like to discuss how other people, if being in the shoes of Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, what would you do in this situation. I would change the penalty process for these players. If I were commissioner I would make it rule to suspend the player for every game until he is clean. This would mean a weekly drug test until the player is clean. This means also that the player cannot participate in any team functions including practice. With a society that is being turned in a different way towards the use of marijuana, so should the NFL because NFL needs viewers and we the people as the viewers are affected by how the NFL punishes potential athletic idols in our eyes. Especially when it is starting to be deemed acceptable to smoke in our American society.
Key and Peele Names
In American pop culture, African Americans have been stereotyped by choosing names that are not “normal” in the America’s society. People have made fun of these names for awhile, thinking that they are grammatically incorrect for example the joke of a person having the name “La-ah” which translates to “Ladasha.” Or the several athletes who have names such as “D’Brickishaw Ferguson” on the New York Jets or “Barkevius Mingo” or even “Craphonso Thorpe.” Another great satirical example of these names being displayed is on the show Key and Peele. Before the game starts in football games, the players heads usually pop on screen and they state their name and where they used to play football before they got to the pros. Key and Peele being two African American comedians act as these athletes naming out their names and where they are from.
As you can see, Key and Peele really over exaggerate their character’s names like the names “Javarius Jamar Javarison-Lamar,” “Donkey Teeth,” and “L’carpetron Dookmarriot.” Key and Peele are just making a humorous poke, showing that some African Americans do not have the typical Anglo-American names that people like in the video “Dan Smith” has. These real life athletes really highlight some of the ethnic and creative names that they are born with and why their ethnic choices are so different compared to other cultures. Maybe African Americans want to differentiate themselves from other races by giving their own ethnic twist to their names that help shape their identity. The burden of representation is that African American athletes are perceived as better athletes than White Caucasian male athletes in the game of football. So when their names are being listed off before the game like they showed in the Key and Peele video, their names are more seen and paid more attention to than any other race. Especially since the viewers are looking for the all stars on the team. It is said that the names Kiara and Reginald are more common for African American children rather than the names Jake and Molly for Caucasian Americans. So why do the Caucasian names set the precedent if they are not as common. This talk could go on and people could give thousands of reasons why other races differentiate their names but I believe that each race ties far back to their ethnic roots and ties them into their everyday lives and identities .
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/13/are-blacks-names-weird-or-are-you-just-racist.html
Racisdent Evil
The game Resident Evil 5 exposes many signs of racism. This has been a huge pressing issue in pop culture especially when you look at when the game came out. Resident Evil 5 had impeccable timing coming out in historical context when President Obama reexamined the meaning of race and identity. So for a game that is based in Africa and you are a huge all-powerful white male that is killing “black” zombies. You are controlling this civilized, more powerful white male protagonist while going around Africa killing zombies that are all African American. It can come off as racist because first it subjects that most people in Africa are “black.” And it creates an image that the “black” identity is inferior to your character, the white, American male who single handedly chops his way through the zombie population. The game challenges societies’ view on what is politically correct. The game truly challenges the player by putting them in this racially aggressive situation that can feel very uncomforting. The game also mocks the country and racial class of these zombies. All looking very rugged and poor, while the main character, Chris Redfield is wearing all this cool, futuristic, and expensive gear that clearly shows the difference in class between the two races. There is even a scene in the game where a bunch of the “black” zombies drag off a white woman. This is compared to the “classic racist trope” of black males brutally corrupting white women. Also, if you think about it, Zombies have always been known to be the lowest point for a human even if they are fictional. So to categorize an entire race as fictional monsters that have hit an all time low is racially incorrect. If you want to look at the creators, the entire production team for the company Capcom consisted of absolutely no African Americans. Since this game has such a huge following, it can create hegemonic ideas that can make the players and fans give into and believe the racism that is portrayed in the game and give into the gaming society that Capcom has made you believe. The default identity of the videogame is the white male leader that is automatically put in second place. The other characters are half white and half black and the other soldier is black. Videogames narrate the “Hero’s Quest,” where a white male has to defeat physically powerful non-white characters through his superior intellect, power and command of technology. With the help of lesser characters along the way, the hero character overcomes whatever adversity is thrown his way.
Resident Racist By; Freedman: These action games are “player centric.” So if you’re shooting in first person, we are seeing through the eyes of the player so you can heartlessly kill other characters. In third person we see how the player is represented which gives us a more personal attachment to the player.
http://www.livescience.com/3385-worse-resident-evil-5-exposes-racism.html
Masculinity in Advertising
Masculinity in society has a certain hierarchy over anything else. Masculinity can be very effective in advertising to attract both the male sex and the female sex. In advertising, masculinity is used to attract the male or female eye often by hyper sexualizing the male figure or through the use of tough and violent images. Jackson Katz speaks of violent masculinity in advertising. Companies use male athletes to attract the average male who desires to have more athletic attributes who believes that the only way to achieve this level of athleticism is through the use of the company’s product. The violence and extremity of the advertising really just drags the viewers in with these acts that the average white working male cannot perform. The muscularity and physical appearance of the athletes or body builders in commercials, doing impossible actions can sell any viewer. An example that I found is an Auto Zone commercial. UFC legend Chuck Liddell is in the commercial, advertising for Auto Zone’s Duralast car brakes. In the commercial, he is wearing his UFC shorts and nothing else. So he is first showing off that he is a big sports icon. His first words in the commercial are “I’m MMA champ Chuck Liddell and I stop things, just like Duralast brakes.” After he flips and attacker over his shoulder without being phased, he keeps walking and does more impossible actions such as stopping a bull right in its tracks and head butting a wrecking ball. These images really enhances the appeal for whatever product is being sold and it just so happens to be car parts, which are also considered and labeled as a masculine object and interest.. Duralast, using the image of a car stopping in mid air, attempts to hype up the male viewer into believing that their brakes are the best. By using Chuck Liddel, an already macho figure, Duralast plays to the stereotype that men mostly work on their cars. An explosion in the background completes this trifecta, by appealing to the innate violence within males. This is simply an example of how the masculinity is used in advertising. Men’s fitness magazines are use a plethora of masculine images to drive men to by their products. They use the images of well dressed men as well as those of in shape men to make men feel inadequate and more likely to buy their products as a result.
Celebrities leading the gender pathway
Pop culture exposes and leads gender roles in very diverse pathways. It shows what is appropriate for each individual sex in our society through these examples of popular culture. For example, there are now music videos of women flaunting their behinds to grasp the attention of the media in today’s culture with videos like Anaconda by Nicki Minaj or Booty by Jennifer Lopez, featuring Iggy Azalea. This makes it more socially acceptable for women to mimic how these women act in these videos and it gives them that thought process that you only need a big booty to be famous now a days. These women and their behinds have guided the path for other women who pay attention to pop culture and shown them what is acceptable for their gender in today’s society. Gender has also really influenced my own life as well in popular culture. One artist that has influenced me in a huge way would be Kanye West. He is very influential to me and my perspective of the male gender because of his music and his appreciation for style and clothing. To me Kanye West is the definition of “cool.” Kanye always has to blow everything up. His album debuts are always epic, his clothing is always the best thing out there, and he knows how to stay current with the music style and truly make it his own. When I watch Kanye’s music videos it motivates me to think in a more artistic way. His lyrics and his non verbal communication has such a deep meaning that makes me think how other people can react and without saying a word. The thirty four minute music video Runaway that depicts Kanye’s entire album My Dark Twisted Fantasy gave me a new definition of how music can be shown through a long movie-like story that you can only understand by reading about Kanye and his past. That video alone made me appreciate more hip hop music and how it really is just great poetry with a great beat that can help shape the male gender through lyrics and depictions. Kanye has given me motivation to also be more aware of fashion and that it can be cool for the male gender to be aware of popular fashion in today’s society. Kanye makes it cool to get out of your comfort zone, even if you sometimes look like a jerk because of it. He is proud of the jerk he is and he won’t change for a single soul.
Rap Generation Battles
As I entered the Drake versus Lil Wayne concert last weekend, my mind was racing. Two excellent rappers that have affected pop culture so much are together on stage battling to see who is best. Life could not get any better for me. In the beginning of this concert everyone in the crowd seemed to be more excited to see Drake than Lil Wayne, possibly because Drake is the more new up and coming star when Lil Wayne has already seen his prime and glory days. Halfway through the concert, Lil Wayne rises from the smoke after Drake has left the stage and he said one simple sentence before he started rapping. He said, “there is a difference between hits and classics.” Suddenly everyone in the crowd starts going wild remembering that they grew up listening to Lil Wayne and remembering that at one time, he used to be the best. Then it came time to start voting and by the end of the concert, Lil Wayne won by a landslide.
After that I looked at my surroundings and noticed that most of the crowd was close to my age and then it hit me! This put a question in my head. Why do people always think that the stars that they grew up listening to are usually the best? I later came to the assumption that the stars that you grew up with are the ones that help shape your life and they are the ones that you will carry in your heart forever. They are the artists that kids at the time grew up listening to with their friends. That certain form of nostalgia will always weigh over any other artist. For an example, if the concert was Lil Wayne versus Run DMC and the crowd was mostly older people who grew up listening to Russell Simmons and Jam Master Jay, then Run DMC would win by a landslide because the crowd would be reminded of growing up with their friends and all the memories that were shared with those songs. That is the beauty behind pop culture. Every song has a story within an individual person and therefore different generations do tend to be bias over the music that they grew up listening to. Every generation’s view of pop culture is different and bias but it’s all because of what is coming out and what is new and hip at the moment. I wonder what will be shaping pop culture in the future and when the music I grew up on becomes the “classics.”
davidmichaelson 