Tag Archives: Internet
The Wonders Of Video Games And The Internet
The Wonders Of Video Games And The Internet
Of children in the US, 79% play computer or video games on a regular basis. While most people think of video games as the pastime of the pre-adolescent, and not without reason, since children between the ages of seven and 17 play for an average of eight hours per week. However, industry research suggests that the commitment to video gaming may not end when students leave high school.
Industry research suggests that college student’s game even more than pre-adolescents. It seems the typical college student spends a bit less than two hours a day gaming, and the US military uses war gaming—for everything from modeling high-level international command coordination, to introducing raw recruits to weapons. Taking their lead from the Department of Defense, some university instructors have introduced game-based learning into their curricula. These educational video games introduce a fantasy element in order to engage players in the storyline, while making sure that their mastery of the course material is essential to students’ scoring and winning.
Some competitive exercises pit students against one another; others give them the opportunity to challenge themselves. Inter-university consortia—while they can’t compete with the DOD for research and development budgets—are able to develop higher level of resources from member universities, in order to improve educational outcomes. One example is MUVEES, a cooperative venture of Harvard University, George Mason University, the Smithsonian, Boston public schools, Gunston middle school, along with an industry partner, Thoughtful Technologies. With additional funding from the NSF, the project is finding engaging ways to teach science that draw on curiosity and play.
Of course, there are dramatic differences between the teaching styles scientists frequently use, and video games. For example, science classes usually present materials verbally, taking concepts step-by-step. Video games, however, are about pictures, and the player decides the order of play. For another example, a science teacher or science professor usually develops their class or lecture on their own. Video games, however, draw on the talents and skills of graphic artists, animators, and programmers working as a group. Leading universities’ research and development boards—and the DOD–aren’t the only institutions that have noticed complementarily between gaming and learning.
Public policy activists are also concerned that players learn from video games, and question whether what players are learning is useful. For example, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Medical Association together have concluded that research evidence demonstrates a cause and effect relationship between television violence, and the acts of those who watch it. Based on this link, activists suggest that players are often required to take the point of view of the perpetrator of violence; that video games require active participation; that repetition increases learning, and that video games are based on a rewards system that increases learning even more.
The Internet and ORPGs – Pros And Cons
The Internet and ORPGs – Pros And Cons
With the advent of the Internet, online games have
been played over computer networks. Over the year, the
online gaming has expanded and provided a large
influence to the overall expansion computer networks
from the popular growth of Internet access itself and
the local networks to the Internet.
These online games can vary from games that are text
based to complex graphical and virtual games which are
simultaneously populated by many players all over the
world. Nowadays online gaming has become a social
activity because of the online communities
incorporated into the recent online games.
The rising popularity of flash and java and internet
revolution made video streaming, audio streaming, and
a whole new set of user interactivity possible. When
Microsoft began including flash players as a
pre-installed component of “internet explorer”, the
Internet shift from a data/information source to also
offer on-demand entertainment.
Flash Players
When flash players were included into the internet
explorers, it gave way for web sites to offer games to
the web surfers. World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI
and Lineage II are among the most popular online games
to date.
These games charge monthly fees to their subscribers
so that they may be able to access the services and
avail the services they need. However, games such as
Guild Wars, do not charge monthly fees to their
subscribers.
Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG’s)
With the advent of broadband internet access, massive
multiplayer online games were made possible especially
in developing countries. Using the internet, MMOGs
became very popular to children, teens, and young
adults because the internet allows thousands of
players to play and participate in the same game at
the same time.
Massive multiplayer online role-playing game (World of
Warcraft), Massive multiplayer online real-time
strategy (Mankind), and Massive multiplayer online
first-person shooter (Dark Fall) are one of the most
popular styles of MMOG’s.
Pros and Cons of Online Games
Because of the growing access to broadband internet,
gamers can play there favorite online role playing
games from the comfort of their own home while
interacting with the other gamers even without meeting
them yet.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of playing
online games at home:
Pros
Online games provide privacy. Online gaming can be
played at home rather than go to internet cafés with
other people lining up just to play the same game.
Online games are cheaper. Because you can play from
the comfort of your own home, you can play for as long
as you can without paying for large amounts in the
internet cafés.
Online games are safe. Online gamers need not to go
out of their homes so as to guarantee safety. You also
need not to reveal your true identity to other players
while maintaining interaction with them.
Cons
Online games are time consuming. These games are quite
competitive and one needs time to think of strategies
and accomplishing their goals. They also need to spend
large amounts of time to keep up with other players.
Online games lessen social interaction. Because of the
large amount of time players spend in front of the
computer and interacting with other gamers mostly
through chat, they become impersonal in dealing with
people. They would rather spend the entire day
interacting through chat than actually meeting and
talking to individuals in person.
Online games can cause eye strain and head ache. While
most online games are fun to play with, they can
become very addictive to the majority of players.
Spending large amounts of time in front of the monitor
not only prove to be eye straining but can cause
prolonged head ache even if they stop playing the
game.
Essential Tips on Gaming for Newbies: The World of Internet Games
Essential Tips on Gaming for Newbies: The World of Internet Games
Internet games use the cyber world technology for playing. Games are extremely popular and constantly evolving.
There are:
• Games played using e-mail.
• Games played on a browser window by using a web address.
• Games played using Internet Relay Chat, Telenet, MUD client, or a Web based forum.
• Games that are graphic need stand-alone software that permits players to play with or against one another using an Internet connection.
The first game, MUD, was developed in 1978, and the market has burgeoned since then.
To play, one needs:
• A reliable Internet connection.
• A personal computer or game console.
• Selected software required by specific games.
One can play simple board games like scrabble, or bingo, or games like poker, mahjong, and pool. Another popular category is simulation games—these imitate real-life situations and cover aspects like combat, city planning, strategies, as well as flight simulation.
For serious gaming the computer performance must be optimized. This can be done by:
• Running the disk defragmenter and organizing the computer files. This should ideally be done once a month at least.
• Correct folder and file errors by using scandisk—use once a week and the computer will give trouble free performance.
• Clean your hard drives—get rid of Internet files, temporary files, as well as files in the trash/recycle bin. Clear the cache and uninstall programs that are not in everyday use.
• Update the operating system software. Download any new security patches. Keep video drivers updated.
• Clear space on the hard drive—store files on a back up system.
• Clear any spyware you have inherited from websites.
• Minimize number of programs running—when playing a graphic intensive game if there are too many programs running simultaneously the graphics will become choppy and game will be slow.
• Delete add on game files—wall papers and other paraphernalia will just clutter the computer.
• Run an anti-virus program regularly but disable it when you are loading/playing games. Antivirus programs slow down games.
• Always shut down the computer properly.
The Internet allows gamers to compete with people across oceans, on the other side of the world and anywhere in the universe. Some use PCs while others use consoles. What you use is a personal choice and depends on issues like costs and so on.
Before you buy a game you must:
• Consider “system requirements” – some games can run on systems that are not exact others need specific hardware.
• Find out if the game is single player or multi-player. Many games need the Internet—and, the broadband connection is more efficient than the dial-up connection. Many like Xbox Live only work on a broadband connection.
• Find out if the game can be played using a mouse/keyboard or whether it will need a full-featured joy stick.
Be wise and try a demo before making an actual purchase. Playing a demo benefits the player as well as game developer. Many online games offer free trial periods —beta testing is a great opportunity to find out if the game suits your taste as well as pockets.
Do your research thoroughly—usually there are several games competing for players within a genre. Read game reviews before taking the final step.
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The Very First Internet Advertisements
The Very First Internet Advertisements
When the internet very first started out, not many Americans could afford a computer let alone, access to the internet. This of course took some time and eventually it became easier to access. However, not a lot of Internet advertisements were seen because companies had not yet come up with ideas as to advertise their product. Not many companies had their own product websites yet either. Through progress and time, they slowly started to appear on the Internet. Now they are all over the Internet, trying to sell their products as well as their services to potential online customers.
The very first Internet advertisements were basically quite simple, straight to the point and also the location where the products could be located. Then the consumer market for these companies started to improve the Internet advertisements with the new software programs that were coming available for certain types of computers.
Some of these upgrades included multi media as well as flash player just to name a few. This opened the door for the creators of the Internet advertising world. Animation and different color displays with better resolution could be used. By the year 2000, almost any big department store could be found on the Internet, as well as their Internet advertisings.
Sales increased, and it was obvious that more consumers were in fact able to view products and information on the products through the use of the Internet. This became a flood of technical Internet advertisement for even more companies. Even during the season that were not holiday related more Internet advertisements were used for many companies. Now, there are so many Internet advertisements on the Internet that some of the websites a lot of people often go too are being congested or over run by these Internet advertisements.
Even now, with the bigger companies having their own web sites they still rely on forn on Internet advertising on different smaller sites such as gaming sites and others. Knowing this will promote their offers and their store web sites even further. Of course the Internet advertisements also include some kind of sales pitch, they all go back to the same origin, promotion of products of the stores.
You have to take into account too, that major businesses are starting to promote their businesses as well by the use of the Internet advertising, such as spas and gyms, or different restaurants in the area. So as far as Internet advertising goes, for now, there are virtually not many limits set. It used to be somewhat difficult to obtain “space” on the Internet but that is obviously nor the case now.
As you see more Internet advertisements, then you can see the proof of the space over the World Wide Web and all the possibilities it now has to offer.
None the less, some consumers feel there are too many Internet advertisements being placed on the internet causing more chaos than there used to be, when so many were not listed on different websites. This of course if called progress, and everyone knows you can’t stop progress very easily.
Internet Addiction!
Internet Addiction!
The Internet is fast becoming just another part of everyday life, much like the TV and the computer itself. What started as something amazing, exciting, and often out of reach, has become commonplace and freely available. Technology is advancing at an amazing rate. I can remember when 56k connections were the new exciting fad that everyone just had to have, and now you’re almost abnormal if you still chug along with your trusty dialup. The Net has become integrated into our lives, as people are becoming dependant on its services. The advent of the Internet has its threatening side though. It has been found that some people are becoming addicted to the online world.
A recent news story reported that the Finnish army has sent some of its conscripts home due to the fact that they are unable to handle the compulsory six months in the army without access to their computers. When computers and the Internet are becoming integral components or even the main focus of leisure, education, and work time, it’s not hard to see how losing access can really affect someone. I can see this new technology getting blamed for all sorts of woes in the future much in the same way television has in the present.
Internet addiction comes in many forms. The common areas of Internet addiction that are often listed are cybersex, cyber-relations, gaming, information addiction, and the simple addiction to computers and Internet in general. Information addiction is an interesting concept to me. Basically the sheer volume of information freely available online has lead to some people desperately ‘needing’ to find out more and more. To me, getting people obsessed with learning seems kind of like a good thing, but it does seem that it can form a similar sort of mentality to drug addiction where the user is always searching for their next ‘hit’ which becomes harder and harder to find. Often the depth of information available is actually lacking. We tend to skim read information online by just picking out a few points and then moving on. I’ve found in my own case that it’s sometimes quite hard to concentrate on a page long enough to read it in its entirety. I tend to read a little until I get the basic idea and then move on. This process has carried over into the ‘real world’ in some ways with newspapers rarely keeping my interest long enough to actually get through a whole article of any real length. I’ve witnessed similar experiences with friends and families and I think that attention spans are gradually getting shorter.
This means that probably more than half of the people who come across this article have stopped reading by now. Their interest has waned and they’ve moved on for the next tidbit. I could probably get away with padding the end of this article with the word ‘chicken’ and it would go relatively chicken unnoticed due to the skimming nature of article reading.
A quick Internet search will reveal that Internet addiction is actually more of a problem than many would choose to believe. Chicken. There are several websites and foundations on the Web dedicated to helping people over their Internet addiction. I found that humorously ironic…websites dedicated to helping people get over Internet addiction…it’s kind of like printing anti-drinking messages on the inside bottom of a beer can. The cynic in me can’t help but wonder about the validity of these online services. A common question in the ‘Could You Be Addicted to the Internet?’ questionnaires is ‘Do you have trouble controlling the urge to make purchases online?’, and then they encourage you to send them to book an online chat room counseling session!
It shouldn’t be too hard to work out if you’re addicted to the Internet. Do you find that when you get offline you’re frequently surprised by the amount of time that has passed? Do you find yourself staying home because you’d rather use the Internet than do something else chicken? Do people comment on the amount of time you spend online? If this is ringing a bell then you may have to look at what you’re doing.
I don’t know how severe Internet addiction can get. Presumably it’s as problematic as any other addiction. I shouldn’t downplay it or the therapy institutions out there offering help. I will take a guess and say that, at least to some degree, people simply being aware of what can happen can probably prevent it. Don’t be afraid to do something if you notice problems in yourself or a friend. Just try cutting back on your usage for a while until it’s under your control. Like any problem, don’t be afraid to get friends involved. If it’s particularly serious you could try installing a parental control program that limits your access to the Internet, and get a friend to choose and keep the disabling password secret from you. Stay aware, alert, and in control and your Internet use can and will be a beneficial part of life.
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