Part A: Video Game Review

Civilization 1

Sid Meier's Civilization

 
     From the first series ,released in 1991, all the way up to their latest game, released in 2010, Sid Meier's Civilization has always been a favorite game of mine. This is also one of the few games that has had such a long legacy. Civilization is a Turn Based Strategy Game game where the goal is to make your civilization thrive eventually leading to world domination. The graphics and game play have gotten better with each release. In the first release of Civilization the graphics were very simple at best. The game was based on a top-down view of a region of land and each of the characters and cities consisted of squares with picture representing what they were. The audio also lacked quality but it was still pretty good for its time.  To move the characters you would use the number pad use designated keys to make them do a command. Although the graphics don't look very good this was (and still is) an awesome game in it's time and the game play and ability to dominate a world all on your own is what made people come back wanting more.

Civilization 2

     In the second edition, Civilization 2, a big change had been made to the game. The game went from using top down view to a zoom-able, rotatable isometric view instead. This made a big difference in the game play and has been used since then in the rest of the editions of Civilization. With more memory in the computers they were also able to add more intricate graphics to each character and the cities so now they just weren't squares with number and pictures on them. This change started immersing the player more into the game making it more realistic.

Civilization 5

      With each edition, the graphics, audio, and user interface each got better. The Zoom and Rotation feature became more fluid and the characters started to transform into realistic human beings that moved like they were real and the landscape and cities became more vivid and came to life with movement. More features were also added to each edition like scenarios, unit upgrades, and much, much more.
    Civilization has come a long way and as technology advanced so did the graphics and audio making the game play even better than it was each time. If you have never played any of the Civilization games I definitely recommend you give them a try, especially if you are a fan of Turn Based Strategy Games.

Civilization 5 - Official Site
Civilization 1 - Wikipedia
Civilization 2 - Wikipedia
Civilization 5 - Wikipedia

Part D: Academic Analysis

ScienceDirect 

 How do interactive tabletop systems influence collaboration?

With the invention of tabletop computer systems I can believe that this question has come up many times in a business. Is it worth the investment or can the traditional paper and pencil still be just as effective in getting the job done? This question has finally been put to the test. Throughout their research a number of test have been performed in order to find the truth in this question. Examples include comparing the difference between using the table top system where the participants are facing each other and also where the are sitting side by side and testing to see if the attractiveness of the device increased performance. With both of these test pencil and paper were used as the control. Through their testing they found that the position of the participants positively effected their productivity by eliminating "social loafing" and allowed everyone to be apart of the discussion when they faced each other. The attractiveness of the device also had a positive effect on the participants. The attractiveness of the system gave the more confidence in using it allowing productivity to start faster. Although it did not have an effect on the creativity of the participants compared to using the pen and paper. 



Buisine, S., Besacier, G., Aoussat, A., & Vernier, F.
(January 01, 2012). How do interactive tabletop systems influence collaboration?.
Computers in Human Behavior,  
28, 1, 49-59.

Part C

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/oct/25/google-transparency-report-released
This article is about government officials demanding that Google take certain videos off youtube.com, but google refused to do so.

This relates to our class because of Network Neutrality and Media and Communication ownership.


Grant, August E. "Communication Policy and Technology." Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals. Amsterdam [u.a.: Focal/Elsevier, 2010. 76-77. Print.

Part B

Media Usage

9:30 a	woke up to my alarm on my phone
10:00	read a book on my Ipod while riding the bus	10 min
10:15	used the computer to print my homework	5 min
11:30	read a book on my Ipod while riding the bus	20 min
12:00 p	Watched TV	45 min
12:45	Received a text
12:50	Listened to the radio in my car	10 min
2:44	Sent a text message
3:00	read a book on my Ipod while riding the bus	20 min
3:30	Received a text
4:16	Sent a text message
4:18	Sent a text message
4:50	Received a text
4:51	Sent a text message
5:01	Received a text
5:07	Watched TV	2 hours
5:10	Sent a text message
5:30	Surfed the web using stumbleupon.com	45 min
7:26	Received a text
7:40	Received/Sent text	20 min
9:15	Listened to the radio in my car	10 min
1:30 a	Watched TV	1 hour
2:00	Set my alarm on my phone

After looking over my media usage I found that most of the activities I do related to media are usually performed during periods of time when I want to make it go by faster or relax. This relates to the Uses and Gratification research. 

Grant, August E. "Understanding Communication Technologies." Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals. Amsterdam [u.a.: Focal/Elsevier, 2010. 53-54. Print.