Blog 13: Internet Safety

There were pro's and con's to each site dedicated to internet safety for children.  I was least impressed with the AT&T safety game.  The font was too small and the directions were long winded and I could see kids getting bored reading the directions and change sites before even finishing.  Also the lack of audio directions or of a narrator speaking to you is undesirable and would be much more efficient if that was used as in the "Bad Guy Patrol" game.  The interactivity and simplicity of the objectives was good and would correlate well with child abilities.  The "Bad Guy Patrol" was my favorite and I believe most efficient in teaching children about internet safety.  To complete each objective the individual must answer several questions regarding internet safety and was rewarded for each correct answer and provided an explanation as to why this answer was correct or incorrect.  The narration was simple and fun but the special effects were limited and somewhat boring.  The "Keep Kids Safe" site was very attractive effects wise and I could see the games holding interest very well but the relevance and presence of internet safety instructions was limited.  The site as a whole would be difficult for a child to navigate.  I think all of these sites have good intentions with their games but need some adjustments in their presentation or level of difficulty.

Blog 12: Censoring Filthy Dirty Muck

Censoring of material on the internet and other media entities is quite necessary in this day in age.  I understand that to some effect there are things that are censored that could be considered completely PG but even in the least bit of misinterpretation from a child these could be construed inappropriately.  The initial example that came to mind was several of the "reality shows" on MTV or even CMT for that matter.  I feel its inappropriate and in no way entertaining to see 10 girls dressed very conspicuous, screaming and cursing at each other about who knows what and talking about what girl slept with with guy and what not etc.  The internet does in many cases censor material that I do not believe necessarily has to be censored, but no matter what people think or how this is regulated there will be people that will consistently disagree with either side.  So it does seem that this is a complicating issue and the efforts to give parents the ability to censor what they do not want their family to see is a great way for individuals to monitor that.  The audio commercial for "Chick-Fil-A" is amusing in that it is in some ways ridiculous the amount of censorship that is present on the internet and some television.

Blog 11: Green Screen Show

The green screen method of filming is a simple way of placing backgrounds and objects into a scene that is not originally there.  The way this works is as follows; the green screen is focused on by a color camera with RGB output and the green color that the camera sees is sent to a film editing device or software that has chroma key abilities.  Then adjustments are made on the camera to cancel out the green color leaving a blank screen ready to place a background.  But the trick is that all green colors (if a green screen is used rather than blue which is another commonly used color because they are the farthest from skin color) will appear invincible in the video.  So for example if a weatherman is wearing a green tie, the tie will appear invincible and you would be able to see right through it.  Weather broadcasts are the only other usage of a green screen that I have ever encountered and was able to see a demonstration on this as a kid.  I thought it was very interesting that what was being taped was a man standing in front of a green screen and what viewers saw was a full weather broadcast.  Weathermen are very talented in that they have to view what is shown behind them and then be able to point and incorporate themselves in the broadcast.

Blog 10: The Great Train Robbery

"The Great Train Robbery" was filmed in 1903 and directed by Edwin Porter.  This is a silent film only depicting the video and the actions of the characters and accompanied by music.  There are 4 robbers that raid a train station, first assaulting and tying up the station attendant after hiding from what is most likely the conductor and instructing the attendant to tell him something.  The robbers then hide behind a water tower as it is emptying water onto the train and they sneak onto the train.  They shoot and kill a man that is most likely the mail carrier and use explosives to open the safe holding cash or valuables.  They then kill a man on top of the train and throw him off the moving train.  They force the conductor to stop the train, unhook the engine portion of the train from the cargo and passenger cars, unload all the passengers and shoot a man as he tries to escape.  After robbing the passengers they get onto the engine with their stolen valuables and after a short while bail off of the train and escape to getaway horses staked at the bottom of a hill.  Back at the station a girl finds the man still tied up and when she unties him the station attendant goes to what seems like a saloon or dance hall.  There he finds men dancing and gets them to chase down the robbers.  They pursue the robbers on horseback and shoot one robber while riding away.  When the robbers gather around thinking that they have avoided capture and begin to evaluate their sacks the men sneak up on them on foot and shoot all the bandits.  The last scene of the bandit shooting at the screen is somewhat confusing considering that all of the outlaws had been shot the previous scene.

Blog 9: Blue Store or Red Box

Forever my family and I were traditional Blockbuster users but with new methods of accessing videos that has changed.  I do not watch a great deal of movies and when I do it is either a movie that I own or one that has just come out on video and the previews seem very intriguing.  I have several friends that allow me to borrow or rent movies with them off of their Netflix accounts.  Even though I do not own an account I have found that Netflix most regularly has the best selection of new releases and old movies as well and their convenience level is now ridiculous with the options to have videos sent directly to your television or Wii console.  If I was a consistent movie watcher I would most likely subscribe to Netflix.  The only downfall that I would have with that method is that I like to own movies that I could re-watch at a later time which is not the case with Netflix as the movies must be sent back the following day.

Blog 8: Old Time Radio

I do believe that I would have enjoyed listening to old time radio shows.  Especially during a time when there was no television, this form of entertainment would have have been a great way for a family to get together and enjoy something together.  I especially enjoyed the western shows and though most were the stereotypical western plots, I enjoyed them.  It was also quite different to have to picture the plot and settings of the stories in your head as it is being told but that was also somewhat refreshing to put myself in the shoes of people that also had to do that when radio was all they had.  The overall experience was enjoyable but nowadays I think I would rather watch an old western on television if it was available.  I listened to several different genres and felt generally the same way about them.

Blog 7: Napster vs. Itunes

I am definitely partial to Itunes.  I have owned an ipod for several years and have plenty on tracks and even movies on it.  I have limited experience with Napster besides back in the days when you could download tracks for free.  In regards to the pro's and con's of either company and their products I am on Apples side with Itunes.  Phillip Winn commented in his blog on this issue about his disinterest in paying $9.95 a month to rent tracks that you may have had to pay 99 cents for as well and then not have possession of them if you happen to stop your subscription.  The difference in that and Itunes is that no matter what you still own the track after you purchase it.  That is a very important aspect to me and the inconvenience of another monthly bill (especially a 10 dollar one just to rent the tracks I downloaded that month) is not worth it at all.  Other pluses like the 4 extra free tracks from Itunes every month and the convenience of being able to do whatever you want with the tracks that you own outweigh Napsters methods 10 to 1.