Monthly Archives: January 2023

Dealing With Teen Video Game Obsession

Dealing With Teen Video Game Obsession

Games can be addictive – But obsession is something else.

The following article is meant for parents of a teen who might be obsessed with video and/or computer games. While in some of our other articles we may sound as though we encourage obsession, we share a concern over teens who tend to shun other interests in life in favor for gaming activities to the point where they withdraw from society. We would never encourage this kind of behavior, and that’s why we’ve taken time to describe some of the signs of game obsession and offer some advice on how to deal with it.

Recognizing the signs of teen game obsession isn’t as easy as one thinks. It always starts off as first, an interest, and it then starts to grow into an addition. The problem with identifying the beginning stages of game obsession begins with the teen. By the time our children are 15 and up, they’ve learned some rather impressive debating skills. So when we question their motivations for repetitive game play, they may rebut our concerns with logic and even make it a point to question our own flaws as parents.

Since no parent ever really wants to admit a flaw, we can sometimes cave in and convince ourselves that maybe 4 hours in front of a video game isn’t that bad. After all, we spend that much time at the computer, on the phone, or transmitting data back and forth between our Palms, Blackberries, and Cingular cell phones.

Be careful not to fall prey to the logical teen. Video games can be addictive and if the time spent playing them is not carefully monitored, they’ll consume everything that a teen used to care about.

The moment you notice your teen’s grades falling, homework missing, or social life starting to drop off, nip that game time in the bud. If you wait too late to restrict game time, you may experience pre-adult temper tantrums that you aren’t prepared to handle correctly (cursing, breaking things, stealing, running away from home, etc.). At this point, the child is obsessed and will do anything to get his or her hands on a game controller.

Another sign of obsession is a behavioral change. A child obsessed with gaming will lose patience with things and with others, be quick to anger, and react to situations without fully thinking of the consequences. If you’ve paid any attention to video and/or computer games, you’ll notice that they require this kind of behavior to win or to advance to a higher level.

It’s unfortunate, but a teen obsessed with this kind of violent gaming is literally being trained to react in the manner described above. That’s why it’s pertinent that as an adult, you restrict access to this kind of entertainment and replace it with activities that slow thinking (such as art, music, theater, etc.) and expose your child to other non-violent pleasures (swimming, dance, skating, etc.).

There are a lot of debates circulating around about the impact that video games have on today’s youth and some of it might warrant paying closer attention to. As a mother or father of a teen, you will do well with your teen’s desire to “get his game on” by keeping a close eye out for undesirable changes.

Picking the Best Casinos

Picking the Best Casinos

Best Casinos is dedicated to providing the internet gambler with quality gambling information. Our goal is to provide you with 100% exciting casino entertainment and the best odds. The game rules and payouts are incredible and compare with the finest gaming establishments worldwide. All games were designed to be fun and rewarding in accordance with the traditional Las Vegas, Nevada games. Quality means, games you can trust, software that is reliable, casinos that offer the finest customer service and support.

If you like gambling for pleasure, but do not live near a casino, you have been deprived of one of life’s little pleasures. Each time you felt like rolling the dice, playing the slots or competing in blackjack you had to travel and arrange accommodations. All of which takes time and money. The Internet is changing all of this. Now, with a simple click of the mouse you can enter extraordinary casinos. You can even enter national lotteries from around the world. Internet gaming establishments are operating in more than thirty countries…from Antigua and Australia to Trinidad and Venezuela. And, your computer can take you there. No travel arrangements, no costly accommodations.

Top online casinos have been around for several years now, but how do you find an honest casino you can trust that offer the best odds. Although you should perform your own due diligence in finding an online casino that is both reputable and customer service oriented, Best Casinos – Best Casinos Gambling Directory has taken much of the leg work out by selecting the best casinos in the industry.

These are the points to follow when picking the best casinos in the online gambling industry:

1. They have several years of successful operation. The casino has a reputation that has been proven over time and not in claims in their advertisements.

2. They have convenient the rapid availability of funds. They have speedy transfers and offer same day payouts.

3. They have first rate customer service. They treat clients with respect and resolve disputes in a consistent and fair manner. They have professional, courteous, English speaking staff, as well as customer friendly policies.

4. They have the latest computer technology. The speed of final results posted, and the accuracy of the bet taking should be important features in the casino you choose.

5. They have Las Vegas style rules and regulations. Be sure to check the fine print on promotions, propositions, and other wagers.

6. Check on negative reports from industry watchdogs. You can look at reports of problem companies from the Offshore Gaming Association (OSGA.com).

7. The casino offers good bonuses and incentives to sign up. Most casinos offer bonuses when you sign up the first time. Be careful for the casinos that offer the unbelievable bonus deals. They may not be able to stay around for the long haul.

8. The casino has available management. The general manager or other management people are available for you to talk to. They have enough clerks and supervisors working during the busy periods.

9. The hours of operation are flexible. The best casinos are open seven days a week, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

10. The casino is legal in the country of operation. You want to be sure that the online casino is operating in a legal jurisdiction so you can have some recourse. Look for casinos that are members of Offshore Gaming Association (OSGA) or any other reputable association.

The History of Dolby Audio

The History of Dolby Audio

These days, Dolby is a household name. The infamous “DD” symbol can be found on almost every piece of modern audio equipment out there. This includes gaming consoles, HDTVs, home theaters, both home and car stereos, cinemas, and personal computers.

It all started in 1949 when a man named Ray Dolby went to work for Ampex Corporation part-time while still in high school. He worked on an assortment of ventures in correlation with audio instrumentation. He continued to work for Ampex while attending college at Stanford University. During this period, he branched off to unite with a small team of Ampex engineers who were determined to invent the world’s first video tape recorder. Dolby centered in on the electronic aspects of the project. The team succeeded with their introduction of this new technology in 1956. Ampex then sold its first video tape recorder for ,000.

Dolby graduated from Stanford in 1957 and was awarded the Marshall Fellowship at Cambridge University, England. He studied at Cambridge for 6 years, earning a Ph.D. in physics. In 1965, Ray Dolby started his own company, Dolby Laboratories, Inc. His first product from this new and innovative company was identified as Dolby A-type Enoise reduction. It significantly reduced the amount of background noise or hissing sounds found in professional tape recording without jeopardizing the original content of the material being recorded. This was the beginning of the many advances Dolby would make in the complex world of audio compression and expansion.

Ray Dolby developed an ingenious method of noise reduction by separating soft signals from loud ones, then simply not processing those loud signals. He then split up the spectrum into several bands to avoid clashing or pumping, therefore generating white noise. This method would become integrated in numerous aspects of society’s rapidly growing fascination with electronic entertainment. Early on, consumers weren’t satisfied with the ‘flat’ mono sound ordinary radios and cassette players emitted. Everyone wanted to hear music in stereo.

This new sound also found its way into movie theaters. Dolby sound made its debut in the original recording of Star Wars, and continues to revolutionize the audience’s experience even today. The sound is both more spectacular and more natural at the same time. Because of this technology, even video games are more realistic; the sounds are more powerful as they are not only heard, but also felt. The sound is so tangible it is as if fantasy has in fact become reality. More people are staying home instead of going to movie theaters since Dolby surround sound was introduced into the home theater system.

Recent advancements include Dolby 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, and 9.1 (that’s right, nine full-range channels), Dolby Digital Surround EX, Dolby SR, Dolby TrueHD, and countless others. It is obvious that Dolby is the reigning “King of Sound” and most likely will be for generations to come.

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A Quick Introduction to Fantasy Professional Football

A Quick Introduction to Fantasy Professional Football

Football has become a gigantic sport in the United States. Heroes are being made each weekend and the number of people watching football on TV is at an all-time high. With this popularity, more and more people want to get more from their experience with football. With computers and gaming on computers also gaining popularity, Fantasy Football is gaining popularity, also. Have you caught the bug yet and started participating in a Fantasy Football League? Now would be a great time!
Whether you already know every professional football team and player like the back of your hand, or you just want to learn enough to look less blank when conversing with friends, family or coworkers, fantasy football can enhance your NFL viewing experience.
As a lottery commercial says, “you have to be in it to win it”. In order to join the fun, you have to pick a “host”, select your preferred NFL players, and join or start a league.
You have a ton of options when considering where to host a fantasy football team. Some of the most commonly played “hosts” include CBS Sportsline.com, SportingNews.com, YahooSports Fantasy Football and CDM Fantasy Sports.
Depending on the host and league, you’ll play one of several formats. One requires an upfront payment to enter your league, but doesn’t charge you for players you pick up during the season from a free agent or “waiver” pool. Generally, the higher you pay as your upfront fee, the larger your prize if you win your league for the season.
The second format is free to join, but will cost you for most or all players you claim off waivers or as free agents after the initial draft period ends. Generally, trades with other players are free of charge. Be careful, though! Those trades can be costly in another way to you if you give away too much to get that must-have player.
The most common formats allow you a team made up of one or more quarterbacks, one or more running backs, one or more wide receivers, one or more tight ends and one or more defense/special teams (DST) units. Depending on the league, you may play all of your players at once or pick some players as “starters” and assign others as “reserves”. Only your active players (starters} earn you points for that week. You get points for their league-defined accomplishments each week. What and how much your team will score will vary from league to league.
Now you need players on your team, so it is time for you to “draft” some football players. Using your basic understanding of football, and drawing on your NFL savvy, or some free or paid information sources to review, you’ll rank real NFL players before your league draft. You may also be able to use the players as “pre-ranked” by your host.
You’ll also need to decide whether you want the excitement and time commitment of a live draft, or the relative ease and less time offered by an automated draft. If you are a beginner, the automated draft is highly recommended.
During the season, there are “BYE” weeks, during which an NFL team and its players get the week off to recharge. Real players also can be injured, so you lose their productivity. On the other hand, you and your team don’t get any time off, so you’ll probably have to make trades and perform waiver wire moves to ensure that you have a full, strong team playing every week.
Those are the basics. Now, it is up to you to apply your special knowledge, instinct or hunches, and “Win one for the Gipper”. Before your draft, you might want to challenge friends, family members or co-workers who have similar skills to yours to join your league. Some healthy competition can make your fantasy football experience even more enjoyable.
As with any game, keep in mind that it is only a game. You will not become rich or popular dependent upon how well you play. It is mostly purely entertainment. If you keep this in mind and don’t take yourself or the game too seriously, you will have a great time. It is a great game and you should have no trouble finding others with your passion and skill level. Have fun and good luck!
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Know Who You Should Contact

Know Who You Should Contact

Children of the pre-teen years all the way up to the teens rarely play with toys anymore – certainly much less than those of the earlier generation, thanks to the advent and rise of modern technology, most notably the Internet. Games can be found on computers and the Internet, even for kids, which are most often the substitute for actual playing with other kids. Times have indeed changed with children preferring to interact online rather than for real.

While computers and the Internet are good sources of amusement and entertainment for children, dangers lurk around every imaginable “corner” of the Internet, from the actual gaming sites to hardcore pornography sites which can pop up with one simple click of the mouse. Social networking sites like Friendster and MySpace, known to attract those of the younger generation, are also the haven for perpetrators looking for innocent, unsuspecting victims that they can find easy to trick, such as children, who are the most vulnerable.

As a parent, you need to find the various ways possible to protect your child from the dangers of the Internet, while still allowing him/her the privilege of exploring it. However, it is understandable that at times, the child can be secretive and will lie to his/her parents. Yes, he/she is only exposing him/herself to the dangers of the Internet, but a parent can only do so much when the child lies. If all avenues of protection have been exhausted and the child still gets into Internet trouble, as a parent, you need to know who to call.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is usually the agency that handles cases like these wherein the child is exploited by unknown perpetrators on the Internet. Perhaps the perpetrator sent or allowed the child to view pornographic materials, whether photo or video. Since this is bound to have a significant deal of psychological effect, the agency mentioned will help your child deal with that fact. The hotline for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is 1-800-843-5678.

If the act occurred on a social networking site such as MySpace or Friendster, you may try calling the site owners and/or operators and give the username of the perpetrator if you’ve managed to obtain it. Although this could be somewhat of a long shot (due to the fact that it is accessible from any computer in the world, including in countries without specific laws dealing with these situations), you could still try it as the very least these social networking sites could do is to ban the user from their sites.

Of course, if any sexual act, criminal activity, and/or suspicious behavior occurred, you have to notify the local law enforcement agencies. If the police are able to catch the perpetrator, it could prevent him from victimizing other children. Also, the police are very adept with modern technology and can catch a perpetrator during any criminal activity or just prior to.

It is also important to notify your internet service provider. If a perpetrator tricks your child into going to a questionable site, you can have the internet service provider block that particular site and also warn them to warn the other clients of the said service provider. That way, the effect of the questionable site is greatly lessened.

Aside from the social agencies, law enforcement agencies, and others that will help in this problem, it is also good to inform other parents who are experiencing or will experience the same problem of a child spending a lot of time on the Internet. Should your child be victimized, warn the other parents, whether they are the parents of your child’s schoolmates, family friends, or those in social clubs, of the dangers of the Internet and how to prevent a child from being exploited. This will go a long way into helping solve a problem that affects the whole world.

Schools should also be notified, beginning with the school your child attends. Schools can give pep talks regarding the dangers of the Internet, what to do when faced with questionable circumstances, etc. Sometimes, schools have a way of reaching the children the way parents can’t.

Knowing who to contact will definitely help solve this world-wide problem of child exploitation via the Internet.

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