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Reflection

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  Media is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it is convenient for consumers. I use it for nearly aspect of my life. Homework and learning is done largely through media, such as typing online and using learning websites as supplementary lessons. It's role as our entertainment provider has become more and more efficient for producers, as social media, streaming, and increasing portability allows us consumers to consume entertainment media at our leisure, rather than waiting for a certain show to air on TV. For me, the Nintendo Switch is an embodiment of increasing usability of media. For one, the fact that it is a portable home console means it I can play resource-intensive games wherever I want. It also has a leg up on the DS, since it can play games designed for the TV, which typically are better-looking than DS games. While the quality depends on what amount of effort they put into it, the ability to choose means I can enjoy what I want, where I want. Speaking of develope
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45.25483399593905^2

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The game that has been and always will be: 2048. Basically, you slide around powers of two into each other to make bigger numbers. You match a block with a block of the same number, and the goal is to get a block with 2048, although you can go higher. Because of its seemingly simple nature and its premise being only "get the big number," it is highly addictive. However, there is a lot of strategy to the game. Actually there's like 2 things you need to remember. First, keep the block with the largest number in the corner. Second, make sure big blocks of the same number don't end up on opposite sides of the biggest block, i.e. having a 128 over a 256 over another 128. Otherwise, you need to get the numbers as big as you can. So why the heck am I writing about this? I wanted to think about nostalgia on this last media blog. While 2048 is indeed an interesting game that keeps me addicted once I get into it, it is nostalgia that got me to get back on yesterday. T
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I hope this relates to the video.

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When I started writing this at about 10:36pm on Saturday night, I had absolutely no clue what I was going to write, so let's begin with what I was thinking about while watching the documentary.  The Hillary campaign was marred by stupid controversies. First off was the one that doesn't relate to the video, which is the email one. Every politician is either crazy or has done the exact same thing Hillary has done, so that one doesn't matter. I mean, it does, but it shouldn't have had the effect. The reason it was exacerbated so much was because she was woman. This "criticism" was the one thrown at Hillary so much during the campaign. While a lot of it was sexist, there really was some valid reasoning as to pulling a "you're just hoping you'll get votes by saying you're a woman" card (this is the second controversy, it is not as stupid). This is because this is kind of what she was doing. Sure, she said things about what she wanted to
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Whoops I didn't put a title the first time that's pretty "cool"

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In their relentless pursuit of the ethereal "cool", companies have gone on odysseys searching for what many claim to be unattainable. While some companies have shown some success in past, the near ubiquity of social media today compared to 10-20 years ago has given those companies the resources they finally need to be "cool" (or ironically not so). Merchants of Cool gave us the example of MTV, the TV entertainment giant that rose to domination levels of power, money, and appeal because of they were able to resonate with teens though music videos and other programming. While TV has the advantage of being solely entertainment, fast food companies and convenience stores are hopping in on the idea of marketing themselves as "cool". Obviously, "cool" evolves, and today this means having snarky twitter accounts that comment on things you wouldn't ever expect a company executive to even think about. From Denny's' dry humor to the boner jo
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Spikeball because why not

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Spikeball is the activity of choice for my friend group at lunch. In fact, the first thing I do, since I get there before mostly everyone with Parker, is get the net. The game is structured as a 2v2 competition to see who can win with more than 11 points and by at least 2 points. The teams can "set" the ball with one hand to their teammate, and a total of two sets can be executed before the ball must be spiked onto the net, and after that it's the teams ball until they hit it onto the net again. The game is enticing because of the technical skill, especially hand-eye coordination and good team synergy, needed to be good at the game. When my friends and I were introduced to the game by my friend's older brother's friends, I was by a long-shot the worst out of us, and didn't really play for a while because of it. Now, I'm known for hitting mostly BS shots, and occasionally play really well, but in all honesty I'm the most hit-or-miss when it comes to
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Why is Minecraft Back on the Rise?

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Like, ninety percent of everyone reading this probably played Minecraft at least once in their life, right? Back in fourth and fifth grade, the playing of the game was as ubiquitous as people jokingly singing Gangnam Style. Of course, I'm speaking from personal experience, but it goes without saying that from the years of around 2011 to 2015ish (this is a fat guesstimate) Minecraft was easily the top dog in terms of player counts. During that time it was pretty much the face of entertainment, especially on youtube where channels would reach into the tens of millions of subscribers. However, after 2014, the playerbase started to drop. Even though it has since always had millions of players at any given moment, no one has thought about it as the cultural icon it once was, but rather as a passing fad. However, now it seems to be changing again. While it will never be omnipresent as it once was, Minecraft for once is being thought of a by many across the internet again, so why? Man
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My Relationship With Media

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Originally, I believed that a lot of this assignment wouldn't apply to me, but apparently not. I don't use Instagram or Snapchat, so I don't have anywhere near the amount of exposure as most of my peers do. However, there was one key detail I that just kind of flew right past my head when we were assigned this: that pretty much everything we see that is used to show us as consumers something is media. Media has had a large impact on my world view. The platform I use the most is Youtube, and through this I have experienced ideas from all over the world on franchises I like and on world events. I have also been exposed to other foreign forms of media, such as anime/manga, which is what typically fills my weekends when I'm not running for track or hanging out with friends. These platforms and more and expanded my world view and have positive and negative effects on my life. Unlike many, I don't use Instagram or Snapchat. The only platform I use every day is Youtube
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