Nintendo...my one true lovemark

I remember, as a child, going into an arcade in the 1970’s and seeing nothing but pinball machines. Being part of the generation that saw the dawn of the video game, I spent most my childhood in the arcade. So to say that I’m a gamer would be an understatement. The one thing that solidified my status as a gamer was a company that not only pioneered the arcade market, but took the home gaming experience to a whole new level…Nintendo.

Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel.

Nintendo developed into a video game company, becoming one of the most influential in the industry, and Japan's third most valuable listed company, with a market value of over 85 billion dollars.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo


Not to sound melodramatic, but this company has had a major impact on my life. The memories I have of playing Nintendo games take me back to the best times of my life. I’ve spent countless hours slaying monsters, laying waste to bad guys, and taking down bosses…all due to Nintendo. So when gaming companies announce their next generation console, whatever Nintendo releases is always the first that I purchase.

I know that I have an emotional attachment to Nintendo and its games. Like I said before, Nintendo takes me back to the best times of my life. I know my emotions affect my judgment in purchasing Nintendo’s merchandise over other consoles (Playstation, Xbox, etc…). However, Nintendo is a solid company and its products are worth buying. It never fails to please and because this, I can overlook my emotions getting in the way…at least when it comes to games.

Pop culture as a teaching tool

  “Can popular culture be used in schools to enhance education?” This question is one that evokes a multitude of feelings in those who hear it. In some, it proposes the concept that anything can be used as a teaching tool and is gladly embraced. In others, it conjures up visions of children watching videos of Lady Gaga and texting friends rather than learning.

  Contrary to the opinions of many in our world, there is more to pop culture than music videos and cell phones. However, even they can be used as a teaching tool.

According to the Teresa Kruizenga at the University of Minnesota,

 “If my students, future teachers, get an opportunity to experience firsthand using pop culture they will be more likely to embrace popular culture as a tool to use within their classrooms as well.”

She goes on to extol the use of video clips in class by saying, “Video clips interspersed within lecture, whole group discussion as well as small group discussion can help get direct discussions to the heart of the issue as well as help to make connections to valuable concepts.”

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/kruiz002/kyle/2008/07/using_pop_culture_in_the_class.html

An example of using video in the classroom is depicted in the following clip by Lisa Friedrich-Harris, the director of college writing at Baker College:

Despite the fact that we live in the 21^st century, many in our world still have an aversion to using pop culture as a teaching tool. Maybe it’s because they are unaware of how it can be used in the classroom. All someone has to do is look at the history of this planet. Throughout history, societies as a whole have used some form of their pop culture as a teaching tool. One example of this would be in prehistoric societies where cave paintings were used by the old to teach the young about the world they live in.

Pop culture won’t cure cancer or manufacture automobiles, but to dismiss it as pure nonsense without studying its benefits will leave our worlds teachers with one less instrument to educate students with.

The Smithsonian Institute

The Smithsonian Institute is not just your average, everyday source of online information. It is, in my humble opinion, a modern day equivalent to the library of Alexandria. Although it is just one of the worlds many institutions that house knowledge, it is uniquely American. It doesn’t just house our national treasures…it is a national treasure. Most of the knowledge, research, art, Americana, etc…is not available online. However, the institute has over 6.4 million digital records available online through the Collections Search Center.

Researchers for the Institute aren’t just your average everyday sort. Many of them are scientists and scholars of a variety of disciplines and because of their credentials; they provide the institute with an advanced level of credibility. For example, Paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner is one of the numerous scientists who contribute to the institutes plausibility.

From researching natural history to viewing historic American documents, the institute has millions of artifacts, works of art, and specimens in their collections. Anyone from scholars to schoolchildren can navigate their website to view their vast collection.

In an age of fast-food information, the Smithsonian Institute’s website offers a wide variety of data to anyone willing enough to spend the time to find it. I have used it in the past in my own research, whether it was for school or my own interests. The institute and it's website are highly respected as a source of knowledge. For this very reason I would recommend it to anyone.

Apollo missions a hoax?

For this weeks muddiest point I wanted to pose a question that I have had on this subject for well over a decade now, but first I want to clarify some things.

I began reading about the lunar conspiracies in the mid-nineties and honestly...I still don't know if it was faked or not. The website I viewed from blackboard had a tremendous amount information that makes one question whether or not we walked on the moon at all. Nonetheless, if you spend enough time researching online, you can find information to counter this evidence. For example, the episode of myth-busters proving the photo of different shadow angles coming from one source of light, is a perfect example of this. To tell you the truth, I don't know if there is any evidence I've encountered that hasn't been refuted in one way or another.

And so we get to my question:

If the moon landings were a hoax, does that matter to you? My answer to this question is definitely no! Before you judge my answer though, let me explain myself. At the time of the lunar landings we were at the height of the cold war. Communism was also at it's height and most of the world was under it's cruel dominion. Our biggest enemies were the U.S.S.R. and China.

For the sake of our country, our allies, and the future of our world the communist countries needed to know that America was the big man on campus, even if that was just an illusion. Does this make it right for a country to lie to inhabitants? No, but that's the history of the world. All countries do this...some on a daily basis. Sometimes for the good and many times for the bad. However, if the lunar landings were just a fake, than this is definitely one time I can forgive our government for lying to us.

Wikipedophiles Of The World Unite

I want to talk about the New York Times article, "Seeing Corporate Fingerprints in Wikipedia Edits."

I really don't understand why there is so much controversy about Wikipedia and it's users ability to change it's content. I think most of the people who spend any amount of time on the Internet know what Wikipedia is all about. If you know that a site's content can be changed at any time by anyone, why would you be so surprised when someone makes changes? If I found fictitious information on me, I would want to change it...wouldn't you?

Nevertheless, corporations changing negative facts on their Wiki-Page is a whole different issue. The fact that Corporate America wants to slant it's Wikipedia information to better their public image is only a testament to their own corrupt nature.

Personally, I've never considered Wikipedia a credible source of information. However, I have done enough research of my own to know that most of the information on the sciences can be trusted. I've been to http://www.encyclopedia.com/ and http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ (two sites considered to be credible sources of data) and have found that people copy and paste their information onto Wikipedia.

Week 6 Muddiest Point

For this weeks muddiest point I wanted to talk about the article, "(White) Women We Love." I understand the general idea the writer, Eugene Robinson, is getting at. The fact that so much suffering and hardship permeates our world, our media seems to focus on the tragic stories of beautiful people. What I don't understand is why he chooses to label these women as damsels. Despite being right about our media's fixation on our comeliest citizens, he comes across a callous and unfeeling towards the plight of these victims. After all, most of these so-called damsels were raped, beaten, and in many cases murdered. I find it extremely offensive that he would degrade their suffering by referencing them in this way. I wonder how he would feel if a white man wrote an article entitled, "(Black) Women We Love," and referred to them in the same insensitive manner.

Abortion, an argument of fact or values

Although the argument for or against abortion is decades old, it is being argued as much now as it ever has been. Despite being zealously debated, the argument is one of values and belief systems and not one of facts (at least not enough to consider it an argument of facts). There are distinct differences between facts and values. Values are a part of an individual’s personal beliefs and can change from person to person. Facts on the other hand, are true statements that do not deviate from the data that comprise them. For example, an argument of facts would be one like Climate Change and an argument of values is one like Assisted Suicide. In order to persuade someone in an argument, you must be able to win them over with facts. However, if they are arguing with their beliefs, than you inevitably come to an impasse.  

Norman Shultz of beyondintractability.org has the following to say about such arguments:

“Because of the nature of their differences, factual issues and value issues will contribute different kinds of problems to a conflict. Parties must be able to sort these out, handling each type appropriately, in order to be able to address a conflict constructively.”

http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/facts_values/.

Because abortion is an argument of values and beliefs and not one of facts, it will most likely go on with little to no change. Even though it is now legal, it doesn't change the fact that it is still hotly debated. No matter how I personally feel about it though, I just can’t see the end to this particular argument.