Video Games, YouTube and Aaron Swartz

   Several weeks ago, Kevin and Adam gave an amazing presentation on video games. They discussed the history of video games, the first game consoles that came out, and the influence of Japanese culture into American culture. Looking back at that presentation it reminded me of my childhood memories. Growing up, I played a lot of video games, and at one point during the weekend I would play for six to seven hours straight. My five favorite games were FIFA Soccer 2002, Gran Turismo 2, Driver 2, Medal of Honor: Frontline and Sonic. I remember when my parents bought me a PlayStation 1 console, and I was so happy and ecstatic. I would sit there on my living room playing video games from mornings until evenings. This happened mostly on the weekends when I did not have school. Now, during the presentation, Adam and Kevin brought up an interesting question, do violent games make people more violent? For me personally, I would say no because I know my right from wrong. Back in the good old days, me and my brother loved shooter games, especially Medal of Honor. We would play shooter games a lot, but it did not make us violent though, and we did not shoot people in real life. My parents instilled good values in me, and they taught me how to have good morals. People that blame video games for violent outburst are using it as an excuse. They need to take accountability for their own actions. A video game is just a video game, and by that it's meant for entertainment and passing time, not for imitating in real life. I admit that some video games are very violent, and children should not have access to them, unless if given parental consent. For me it's up to the responsibility of the parent to monitor what their child is doing.

    Last week, Angela and Alex gave an awesome presentation on YouTube, and how big it has become. Growing up we did not have YouTube, nor any of the big social media sites. I now think  just how big of an impact YouTube has had on my generation. Before YouTube came out it was very difficult to upload video's on the Internet. I remember having very slow AOL Internet where it took you 15 minutes just to get on the web. If it took you that long to get on the Internet, then I can't even imagine how hard it must have been to upload videos. Now though, anybody can upload anything they want, and some people have even become famous because of YouTube. It's a great platform to use for anybody that is trying to send a video in hopes of it going viral. Some of the big celebrity's like Justin Bieber have gotten their fame through YouTube. Justin Biber was a nobody before Usher found him on YouTube. He gave him a music contract, and that enabled him to become the big icon that he is today. It's also a good source to find free music. Every day I go on YouTube and listen to music. It's my number 1 source for finding music video's. My favorite artist's that I listen too the most are Eminem and 2pac. Thanks to YouTube I can view their music anytime I want, and see if Eminem has anymore new music video's coming out. In all it's a great platform to use, and if you want to broadcast your self, there is no better way to do it then YouTube.

    On Thursday, we saw a documentary video about Aaron Swartz who was an absolute genius when it come to computers. Looking at his childhood home video tapes, I was amazed by how smart this kid was. When computers came out he was able to install programs at such a young age, and that fascinated me. When I was his age I could barely read and write and this kid was already light years ahead out of everyone in his age group. It seemed to me growing up, Aaron's goal was to have a free and open internet for everyone to see. He made sure of that by speaking at political events and creating Reddit, where people can go and look for free information on subjects they choose. He also helped launch the Progressive Change Campaign Committee to learn about the effects of online activism. Unfortunately we did not get to see the entire documentary, as we plan on finishing it at a later time. I was very curious to see what happened when I went home because I could not wait, and it did not have a happy ending. I don't want to spill it for anyone in the class that is looking forward to seeing the rest of the documentary, but long story short, Aaron took his own life because people in the government saw him as a threat. He challenged them because according to Aaron, "everyone should have access to open internet," and sadly that led to his fate. I hope the people that are responsible are punished, but I have a feeling that wont happen, mainly because of secrecy.