Who Are You, Where Do You Really Come From?

The Genographic project was made to discover our real roots and just how vast the human species has become. It claims that every human has ancestral roots in Africa. If that is true, then why is Africa home to all of us, in poverty? We should be helping our 'mother continent' get out of third world status. Anyways.....

This project was started in 2004 by National Geographic and IBM. Their objective is to collect DNA from diverse races across the globe. This project can also be regarded as a continuation of the failed Human Genome Diversity Project in the 1990s. This project could not have happened 25, 50, or 100 years ago because of the many computers it requires to do this project. Our technology has become so advanced that we have easier access to do this project. This is project will also help us to learn more about are DNA and all of its complexities. It would have been hard along time ago to study DNA without the technology we have now!

Anyone can participate in this project and give their DNA. The project however, has had some trouble coming along. Indigenous people contain the reliable DNA patterns that the scientists are looking for. Urbanized people have more heritage and different backgrounds, so it would be harder to trace their ancestry.

There are some suspicions that the scientists could actually use you DNA for their own experiments and agenda that is not publicly advertised, but thats another topic....

It is important that this project is started now to help Africa get out of poverty and make people care that they are Africans too. There are also other reasons that may be, but this one is the most significant one.

Wii the Revolution, wii support it!!!

Gamers are often stereotyped as couch potatoes, sitting in their bedrooms, staring intensely at a screen. Game enthusiasts were eagerly queuing up to have a go at flicking their wrists or swinging their arms. The reason is for the new Nintendo Wii (we). The Japanese games giant has turned its back on the typical game pad with buttons and changed to using motion sensors. The right-hand controller is shaped like a slim TV remote, while the left-hand one is rounded and curvy.

Nintendo is giving people the chance to try out the controls for themselves with 27 games for the Wii available to play. After looking at the style of use, the initial results are surprisingly promising. It would probably take a couple of misses to connect your actions with the anime characters on the TV screen. But within a few minutes, it would be fairly easy to smash the ball and win matches. The game also quickly revealed that it was not just a case of vague, random movements, as many critics thought.

A rapid swing would increase the power of the shot. And turning the controller at an angle would produce a topspin or slice.

Another of the games on offer was golf. Here the device becomes the club and the force of a drive is determined by how far back you swing the controller. Again, the realism of the experience was impressive. In particular, putting involved controlled strokes, determined by how much you moved the device.

Most fans of shooters prefer to play with a computer mouse and keyboard due to the degree of control this offers. On the Wii, the right-hand controller lets you point and shoot. The left-hand holds the so-called nunchuck, which has a joystick for movement. The unconventional set-up takes a while to get used to, especially as it is easy to wander off to one side of the screen by unwittingly moving the controller sideways. But the point and shoot mechanism works well and adds a degree of realism. Whereas in other games reloading involves pressing a particular button, here a flick of the wrist is enough. The swordplay was similarly intuitive - swing the right hand to strike and move the left hand to block.

The controls worked less well on other shooters. The principles were broadly the same, but some of the action also involved a number of button combinations. Over time, gamers will probably get used to this but it did not have the same pick and
play appeal as the sports games.

Initially, it does feel a little strange to wave your arms around. And the remote worked best with the sport titles. But hey, now at lest there is some exercise involved. Who knows, maybe your parents won’t nag you to go outside and exercise, when you can do it inside. I think that all ages would enjoy this console. It is the cheapest of the 3 newest consoles (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii) and is probably the one worth buying right now. It may not have the better graphic as the others, but it is a welcome change to how we game, a “revolution” as it has been called. Nintendo may have just produced a way of playing games that is fits the cliché - easy to play, hard to master.

Signed,
Daniel

Reading in Cyberspace, Threat or no Threat?

There are many ways one can view this topic. That being either in a negative perspective or a positive perspective. I am going to speak about both and try to stay positive. First of all isn’t going to the library to sign a book and read it free rather that give the author profit like someone also who bought it did? No it is not; therefore Google Book Search is exactly like an online library. This way putting it online makes it easier for everyone to “sign out”. For example if I wanted to get a book that was not in Agincourt library, but it was in North York. I do not want to go to a library that is not remote, so it would be perfectly normal for me to go to Google Book Search. It may present some people to easily plagiarize the book more, but that is already a wide problem that anyone experiences. Anybody who has put something online could be stolen, hacked, or plagiarized; even what you are reading right now.

Isnt digitizing copyrighted content from a book, even a book that is available for borrowing from a library, and making said content freely available to anyone who searches for it using Google, it is no different to the P2P sharing of illegally copied MP3 tracks. Some view it as a piracy of books, and all piracy no matter what is illegal. Google has been sued for doing this project, and there are still people complaining. Publishers lose billions of sales, thus losing money because of it.

Some authors, however, should be grateful for any exposure their work can get. Publishers have long since given up spending any real money or making any real effort to get that exposure for small fry writers. Their best hope now lies with the online world, with the likes of Google Book Search.

There is always the danger that Google might change its mind further down the road and trample upon copyright issues, right royally screwing over authors in the process. However, I am pretty sure they are always are used to it, and to be honest it is no different to what the publishing giants have already done to them.

Signed,
Daniel

When War Meets Video Games

I was researching more on this topic and found some quite shocking facts. I play video games on war, but it does not do anything to me---or so it seems. Playing violent video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Call of Duty, or Mortal Kombat can increase a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratories and in actual life. Furthermore, violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to eliminate and destroy the aggressor(s).

I play one of those games that was mentioned in the article "War Games Come Marching In", and suprisingly, it is actually one of my favourites. I love and mostly play RTS games, sometimes I play RPG. The game that was mentioned there was Rise of Nations , which is rated 9.3/10 at Gamespot©. To give an average person the fell of control over a nation and politics. To feel how Winston Churchhill made his decisions. Even the simple rush of huge armies marching against one another and conquering the world fill me with liveliness. I wouldn't even suspect that games aboult violence did that to my brain, however I have maken a vow along time ago not to let them get to me. These were some facts I came across:


Mature-rated games are now the fastest growing segment of the video game industry (Knight-Ridder Newspapers, 1/5/03).

About one-third of video games now purchased are rated "M," the marketing firm NPD Funworld reports.

About 40 percent of those who play Mature-rated games are under 18, according to the Federal Trade Commission. But children under 18 comprise less than 20 percent of the U.S. population, according to the US Census Bureau.

45 percent of all video game players are under the age of 18, according to a Wall Street Journal survey (10/14/02). That means that of the 146 million gamers in the United States, 65.7 million are children and teens. 20 million video game players are 12 and under.

The best-selling game of 2002 was M-rated: Grand Theft Auto III.

78 percent of unaccompanied children ages 13–16 were able to buy Mature-rated games at retail stores, according to a secret shopper survey conducted by the Federal Trade Commission in 2001.

Even among several of those retail stores with programs in place to restrict sales, 73 percent of unaccompanied children were able to buy violent, Mature-rated games.

95 percent of teenage boys play video games each month, according to a survey conducted by Jupiter Research in April 2003.

Children are leaving traditional toys and play at younger and younger ages in favor of electronic entertainment. Toy sales were stagnant in 2001; video game sales were up 43 percent over 2000. (The Washington Post, 2/17/02)

The number of violent interactions in a 10-minute play period ranged from 2 to 124.

Boys who play Teen or Mature-rated games for a minimum of 40 minutes a day may witness over 180 incidents of aggression per day, or 5,400 incidents per month.

In 98 percent of the games surveyed, aggression went unpunished. In fact, in more than half the video games the perpetrators were rewarded for their aggressive actions.

The basic prototype for aggression in Mature-rated video games involves human perpetrators who engage in repeated acts of “justified” violence involving weapons.

78 percent of all violent interactions in the first ten minutes of game play featured lethal violence.

In almost a quarter of the violent interaction in mature games, players perceived themselves as stalkers.

78 percent of the violent action was shown up close.

Almost half of all violent video game segments featured humor.

I actually do enjoy more realistic games that are based on reality rather than fantasy violence. However, I will not play gore games with violence that is like murder and is made with humour. I think the people who actually made a game about the Columbine massacre (or whatever it is called), are sick, repugnant people. Recently this was the case, with a man who played this game and went on a rampage in Dawson College, Montreal. This is what is the disdainful acts of entertainment, that leads to such hatred. I personally think that games with intense violence and mass virtual murder should be taken off the market. There should also be strict laws against underage children buying M-rated games, that are actually taken into affect and enforced.

Signed,
Daniel

An iPod Classroom?

Wow. This is an interesting topic that would have never crossed my mind. What will they think of next? This new way of learning looks very intresting, fun, and convenient. Teachers can now teach using the mobile and media-rich learning styles of today’s students. This enables extended teaching and learning beyond the normal classroom hours. Now students can access, create, share, and communicate knowledge with the convenience of a handheld device. iPod would provide us the ability to learn as we tend to live — on the go.

iPod allows teachers to easily engage and match the individual needs of diverse learners, which is what we have at Mary Ward. It can be an essential tool in helping students acquire new skills and improve their academic achievements. I think this new way of education can deliver better on the promise of preparing all learners for life in the 21st century — our century.

It is a very productive new idea that comes with many advantages, and some disadvantages. Generally, I think it would be good for most Mary Ward students but not others. First of all, you have all your seminars IN YOUR HAND! This would be very effective, especially since you can practically go to the seminar from your home. However, this will destroy the bond between teachers and students. Students need to continue good communication with their teachers, to provide them wiith the answers the iPod cannot give. I don't think it would be a good idea to come at the end of the year and say "Sir I've finished my course, so fast as well!" Then the teacher says "Who are you again?"

The iPod will allow students to get even more ahead and work faster to achieve their goals, whatever they may be. The courses will be accessible from everywhere: e-class, school, and iPod. On a more serious point, an iPod is still an iPod. It its not as if it just has all your seminars on it. It has music, TV shows, games, and who know what else it will have in the future. All of that stuff will distract students, making them even do no work at all! Since, our school is Mary Ward that would not actually matter anyways. We can already slack and do no work if we want to whenever we want. This problem woul probably be more for other schools. I think if you can survive Mary Ward, definetly iPod seminars and learning will help you. It is a great idea and must be used as so.

Signed,
Daniel

With The GOOD Comes The BAD

Television is one of the greatest inventions of all time. From my living room I was able to watch the World Cup, miles away from the actual event. The potential power of televisons to inform, inspire, and unite. Such is this potenetial, but there is also a hidden darkside. Besides the hypnotic like effect it has, another major problem is the way it is used by those who own and run television stations and networks. TV is not made to entertain, educate, or enlighten us. It is made to sell products and services.

In its current state, television produces more problems than it offers blessings. The first problem is no matter how our intentions are to watch only an hour or the programs we want, once we start watching, it is all too easy to become caught in its almost hypnotic power to keep us watching regardless of the preposterous content. The rapidly flickering, changing colors and shifting contrast of the TV screen seem to have a negaative effect. So, before long, we are watching not for the content, but for the contrast, change, and captivating swirl of images. That is the danger. We may decide to catch a one-hour educational program, but find ourselves immobilized by TV's power and end up watching longer than we originally planned. Many people who are obese are usually couch potatos drinking pop and lazing about in front of the television. In turn, the television also takes away valuable family time or that family time is spent in front of the televisions. There are of course many other positives and negatives that i have not mentioned here such as the impact of t.v violence and the way it communicates important event so quickly and conveniently. Shutting it off not only gets you to live longer, but to live BETTER.

I'm not suggesting TV is completely worthless. For example, I immensely enjoyed watching the World Cup, news, movies, and of course election time. Yet, I am saying that even in TV's finest moments, we could probably do better by turning it off.

Signed,
Daniel

Here's some music if you are bored. :p