July Birthstone: Ruby - July Flower: Larkspur(Photo from Google Images)
A few notable mentions for July include:
Anti-Boredom month
Hot Dog month
Ice Cream month
National Blueberry month
Parks & Recreation month
We hope you had a happy and safe 4th of July celebration and that your summer is off to a good start. This week we will tell you about two events on July 8. Video Games Day and the Liberty Bell crack.
First a little history about the Liberty Bell.
Tradition tells of a chime that changed the world on July 8, 1776, with the Liberty Bell ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall summoning the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.
The Pennsylvania Assembly ordered the Bell in 1751 to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, Pennsylvania's original Constitution. It speaks of the rights and freedoms valued by people the world over. Particularly forward thinking were Penn's ideas on religious freedom, his liberal stance on Native American rights, and his inclusion of citizens in enacting laws.
The Liberty Bell gained iconic importance when abolitionists in their efforts to put an end to slavery throughout America adopted it as a symbol.
There is widespread disagreement about when the first crack appeared on the Bell. Hair-line cracks on bells were bored out to prevent expansion. However, it is agreed that the final expansion of the crack which rendered the Bell unringable was on Washington's Birthday in 1846. Photo and Text source: http://www.ushistory.org/libertybell/
A few notable mentions for July include:
Anti-Boredom month
Hot Dog month
Ice Cream month
National Blueberry month
Parks & Recreation month
We hope you had a happy and safe 4th of July celebration and that your summer is off to a good start. This week we will tell you about two events on July 8. Video Games Day and the Liberty Bell crack.
First a little history about the Liberty Bell.
Tradition tells of a chime that changed the world on July 8, 1776, with the Liberty Bell ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall summoning the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.The Pennsylvania Assembly ordered the Bell in 1751 to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, Pennsylvania's original Constitution. It speaks of the rights and freedoms valued by people the world over. Particularly forward thinking were Penn's ideas on religious freedom, his liberal stance on Native American rights, and his inclusion of citizens in enacting laws.
The Liberty Bell gained iconic importance when abolitionists in their efforts to put an end to slavery throughout America adopted it as a symbol.
There is widespread disagreement about when the first crack appeared on the Bell. Hair-line cracks on bells were bored out to prevent expansion. However, it is agreed that the final expansion of the crack which rendered the Bell unringable was on Washington's Birthday in 1846. Photo and Text source: http://www.ushistory.org/libertybell/
Children's Safety now includes Internet and Video Game supervision as today's kids are Generation Z / the Internet Generation / or the Gamers Generation. Excepted definition from Wikipedia:A wide variety of claims have been made by various sources: It is claimed that members of Generation Z are not as indulged as Generation Y.They are highly connected, having had lifelong use of communications and media technologies such as DVDs, the World Wide Web, instant messaging, text messaging, MP3 players, cellular phones and YouTube, earning them the nickname "digital natives".
These kids have probably played video games since they were toddlers and therefore, can maneuver game pads like second nature. But adults have caught on too and have plenty of their own content choices. Some downsides are developing patterns similar to addiction and spending lots of money and time on games.
Will Wright said, "Society, however, notices only the negative. Most people on the far side of the generational divide - elders - look at games and see a list of ills (they're violent, addictive, childish, worthless). Some of these labels may be deserved. But the positive aspects of gaming - creativity, community, self-esteem, problem-solving - are somehow less visible to nongamers."
This interesting article by Will Wright on Wired dot com, shared plenty of exciting possibilities and positive attributes acquired through video game playing:
- Through trial and error, players build a model of the underlying game based on empirical evidence collected through play. As the players refine this model, they begin to master the game world. It's a rapid cycle of hypothesis, experiment, and analysis. And it's a fundamentally different take on problem-solving than the linear, read-the-manual-first approach of their parents.
- In an era of structured education and standardized testing, this generational difference might not yet be evident. But the gamers' mindset - the fact that they are learning in a totally new way - means they'll treat the world as a place for creation, not consumption. This is the true impact videogames will have on our culture.
- Games cultivate - and exploit - possibility space better than any other medium. In linear storytelling, we can only imagine the possibility space that surrounds the narrative: What if Luke had joined the Dark Side? What if Neo isn't the One? In interactive media, we can explore it.
- As computer graphics advanced, game designers showed some Hollywood envy: They added elaborate cutscenes, epic plots, and, of course, increasingly detailed graphics. They bought into the idea that world building and storytelling are best left to professionals, and they pushed out the player. But in their rapture over computer processing, games designers forgot that there's a second processor at work: the player's imagination.
- More games now include features that let players invent some aspect of their virtual world, from characters to cars. And more games entice players to become creative partners in world building, letting them mod its overall look and feel. The online communities that form around these imaginative activities are some of the most vibrant on the Web. For these players, games are not just entertainment but a vehicle for self-expression.
- Games have the potential to subsume almost all other forms of entertainment media. They can tell us stories, offer us music, give us challenges, allow us to communicate and interact with others, encourage us to make things, connect us to new communities, and let us play. Unlike most other forms of media, games are inherently malleable. Player mods are just the first step down this path.
- Games are evolving to entertain, educate, and engage us individually. These personalized games will reflect who we are and what we enjoy, much as our choice of books and music does now. They will allow us to express ourselves, meet others, and create things that we can only dimly imagine. They will enable us to share and combine these creations, to build vast playgrounds. And more than ever, games will be a visible, external amplification of the human imagination.
Full article: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/wright.html
There is also a book called "Got Game, How the Gamer Generation is Reshaping Business Forever" by John C. Beck and Mitchell Wade.
Beck and Wade dispel common myths about gamers and reveal them as committed, team-oriented professionals who play to win. They offer strategies today's managers can use to bridge the generation gap and unleash gamers' hidden potential.
More about the book here: http://www.e-learningguru.com/books/gotgame.pdf
Try adding some blueberries to your cereal (excellent antioxidant source). Play video games responsibly. Be Safe.
