24 Hours

Considering that my entire life revolves around my computer, cell phone and television - an entire day without any of these destroyed me! After posting my initial comment which would commence the twenty-four hours, I found myself dumbfounded as to what i should do next. My computer had just finished shutting down when I realized that I had a few books laying around. So I grabbed my book/encyclopedia entitled "On Food and Cooking" (Cooking is one of my hobbies). Soon I had read approximately 30 pages of information about sauces and their construction and decided that was enough. Since the rest of my family had gone to see a movie, I was home alone and concluded that I should go jogging. This of course did not last very long and I was yet again without ideas for an activity. So, I played with my dogs until my family returned, ate dinner, and called it a night.
This was when the real horror started. I've had trouble falling asleep all my life so my solution to this issue is to watch television until I get tired enough and doze off with the t.v still on. As I lay there for hours, restless, I finally lost enough energy and passed out. The following morning also proved quite the challenge. Normally I would attend class at 11:50, but my professor was attending a conference on juvenile homicide so class was congregating that morning. Unfortunately, my next class was not until 2 p.m. I decided that my hours were best spent sleeping, especially since I had bought two new pillows from the Linens and Things going out of business sale. Sleeping-in had never felt better. But as time progressed, I became more and more awake and decided that it was time to get up. It was a good thing too - I had an exam to study for. So I spent the majority of my morning studying until noon struck and I went for a bike ride. After I had finished, I showered off, studied some more, and went to class early. Class was more boring than usual since I was without my phone. Luckily, however, we spent most of the class watching a video on post-traumatic stress disorder. After class completed, I hung out at Starbucks to finish studying until my twenty-four hours were up.
Looking back, the majority of my time spent without technology was not so bad, though I think the reason this was due to my unnaturally spent schedule. If I had to do this again however, I would pretend as if I never read the assignment.

One Challenge

I believe that one of the most important issues that goes undetected is the research of Ethanol as a fuel. Ethanol is a type of alcohol found in many everyday items such as drinking alcohol and thermometers. It is also found in our gasoline - most gasoline in the United States is approximately 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline. The problem with this is that the majority of ethanol in the United States comes from corn. Corn is the basic feed for livestock of many sorts. Now there is more and more corn is being used to produce ethanol, which means there is less for livestock to feed upon. Considering there is less corn to feed the livestock, the farmers must increase the prices of their products so that they may meet the supply they need to maintain normal crop. This process continues and the outcome yields higher prices for chicken, beef, milk, etc. For the most part, ethanol is not worth researching. In fact, the only reason that the U.S. has started to include ethanol in gasoline is due to its more efficient burning - it reduces more ground level ozone than pure gasoline. Given that we are spending money to research further into uses for ethanol, and that it is not going far, what is the point in continuing such wasteful acts? The entire process only hurts consumers. The sad part is that these consumers include every family in America. Decreasing supplies in corn lead to higher food prices, and higher food prices reduce spending which in turn slows down the economy. Sure, this isn't the hottest issue at hand, but when the economy is suffering so much that people are losing their jobs left and right, every little bit helps.

Project 2 Topic Ideas

A few ideas that I have been contemplating for my paper include:

The concept of good and evil
-Some people may choose a certain faction based on the storyline of the game. From there they may decide who they believe to be right or wrong. This may also be an aesthetic opinion. In addition, some players may choose certain characters because of their seemingly good or evil talents.

To kill, or not to kill?
-This game allows players from the opposing faction to engage in combat in contested areas. While in these areas, players can confront other members of the opposing faction, or they can leave them be so that they may go about their business.

"Warcrack"
-World of Warcraft is often referred to as "World of Warcrack." This is due to the game's highly addictive nature and the stereotype of the amount of time the average player spends on the game. Could the game simply be too addicting? Or do its players simply lose all ambitions that do not deal with the game?

Miscellaneous Concerns
-This subject will vary between ideas such as payment, violence, spam, profanity, etc. Some people may find it wrong that there is a monthly or annual fee required to play this game. Many concerned parents find that there is a gratuitous amount of violence or profanity in game. Also, there is the issue of spam and what the spammers are advertising. Many players, including the creators who made it illegal, believe that purchasing gold (the currency) is unethical or wrong.

Essay Outline

Thesis Statement: While Darfur is Dying and Packman may attempt to portray a serious message, the humor tends to outshine the severity of the situation.

Outline:

Intro:
Brief discussion of the two games and thesis statement

Body:
What is Darfur is Dying?
What is Packman?
Breif discussion of the gameplay.
What message are they trying to explain?
Why are these games so funny?
Where did they go wrong or were they intended this way?

Conclusion:
Explanation of why these games are funny and what they are and are not.
Also, warp-up the thesis statement with a claim backed by evidence.

Packman

Does America really have a problem with its garbage? Are we really to be shunned for a wasteful ways? According to the persuasive game, Packman....yes. Packman is a new take on an old game - Pacman - although it is not innovative in any way. Persuasive games are meant to persuade the gamer into thinking a certain way. While Packman tries to do this, it comes off almost like propaganda. The game tries to tell you about wasting paper products from South America on packaging for food, games, music, etc. After completing one level, the game brings up a "fun fact" page describing what we waste and why it is so bad. A rather harsh tone is used when speaking of these issues which does a poor job of persuading anyone. As the definition of a persuasive game, Packman fails. As a game itself, why would you turn a classic arcade game into anti-fast food propaganda? Epic fail.

Click 4 Obama

A "serious game," as defined by wikipedia, is a software application developed with game technology and game design principles for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. Does not sound like too much fun, does it? Click 4 Obama is what you would call a serious game - yes that means it is not very fun. This game is designed to test your knowledge of not only Barack Obama but the United States and its government. For each question answered correctly, 500 pixels are donated for ad space sponsoring Barack Obama for president. In addition, each correct answer generates a more difficult question and vice versa for an incorrect answer. As a serious game, this game works: it is not entertaining, but it is informative and slightly challenging. Its not something to be enjoyed everyday, but it gets its point across. This is exactly the kind of game I would expect to find directed towards anyone visiting a political website. Informative, straight-forward and boring, this is the definition of a serious game.