MEdia

This is potentially the creepiest facebook app ever.

If I Die allows users to leave video or text messages to be posted after they have passed away. You can pre-set multiple messages to be sent out, either all at once or scheduled over time. You must pick at least three people to act as your “trustees”, who confirm that you are, indeed, dead, in order for the app to begin working.

This quick video outlines the app:

Check out this article from wired if you’re interested in learning more about the app.

Anyone want to weigh in on this app? Creepy? Useful?

Whenever I’m doing some homework, like I am right now, I love to listen to music. However, it is almost impossible for me to listen to anything with lyrics as I do readings as it gets very distracting. So I am all about anything instrumental, especially stuff like Explosions in the Sky and Vitamin String Quartet (who I’m sure I’ll post about sometime in the near future). Mae is not usually an instrumental band, but on their last album which came out in 2011, (e)vening, they included a three part instrumental track, entitled “Seasons”. Here are all three parts compiled together. If you’re looking for something calming to listen to, definitely check them out.

What are some of your favorite instrumentals?

Just because I decided to stop focusing completely on music doesn’t mean I don’t want to blog about it at all anymore.

Here is a really good remix for La Roux’s “In For the Kill”. It’s been featured in the trailer for that new movie Judge Dredd and while the film itself doesn’t look all too great, this song is unbelievably catchy. I haven’t been able to stop playing it.

Yes Snake. Yes you have.

Quite a bombshell was dropped at PAX (the Penny Arcade Expo) this past weekend in Seattle. Legendary game director/writer/producer/designer Hideo Kojima took the stage and announced that a brand new Metal Gear Solid game, Ground Zeroes, was in the making. The game will serve as a prequel to the inevitable Metal Gear Solid 5 that was confirmed a few months ago, but hasn’t been talked about since. Also, the game is said to be completely open-world, a first in the Metal Gear series. All of this would have been enough to blow any MGS fanboy’s mind, but Kojima went even further and premiered a trailer for the game as well. Check it out below and then we’ll dive into it.

Have goosebumps? I know I did. Let’s break a few things down about this trailer. First, the graphics. The game runs on the new Kojima Fox engine and my God, does it look amazing. Hideo has said that the game is set to debut on the current-generation of systems, which is almost unbelievable. It clearly shows that even after seven years, these systems still haven’t even hit their full potential yet.

The game stars Big Boss, the legendary soldier and original Snake, and is set during the 1970s following the events of Peace Walker, the latest PSP game in the series. As seen in the trailer though, Snake has started to age. Clearly this hasn’t slowed him down one bit though.

Without getting way too in-depth into the lore of the Metal Gear series, there is not much else that we know about this game yet. What is absolutely apparent though, is my excitement for this game. Knowing Hideo Kojima, however, we’ll probably be waiting at least another three years before this game is released. Here’s hoping we get some more information soon and that the wait won’t actually be that long.

What are your thoughts on the trailer?

So I’ve been forced to revisit Tumblr for a Social Media class that I’m taking this semester. We are required to blog on it, which honestly, is a pretty awesome assignment. It made me realize that I miss blogging. Also, I was kind of tired of writing strictly about music, so I decided to change up my look a bit. Hopefully I won’t fall off again this time like I have in the past. Mainly, I want to blog about anything media related now, including movies, video games, music and more. Hence the new blog name, MEdia. I don’t know, it’s the first thing that came to mind, I can’t tell if it’s awesome or lame as hell. Anyway, hopefully you’ll see more posts from me soon.

Metallica—“Enter Sandman” ….sorta

Sooo I’m just gunna jump back into this and wrap up the last five days…we’ll just ignore the fact that I haven’t done this in a while…

OK, So I’m kind of exaggerating here, because i don’t really know how to play any instruments. HOWEVER, I use to own a bass and my friend Anthony taught me the opening to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” I use to play those same few chords over and over again…So we’re just gunna go with that and call it a day.

Hmm, maybe I’ll do a featured artist post on Metallica soon…

Recently, Nelly released a new track entitled “Champ”. It’s been playing a lot on ESPN since it has become the college bowl anthem. Tired of hearing the same two lines over and over again on SportsCenter, I went online to finally listen to the full track.

And jeez, does it suck.

To reiterate what I’ve already said: What the hell are you doing Nelly??? This song is sooo bad. Is this really what you’ve been reduced to? Granted, I haven’t heard you release anything in a long time before this. Seriously dude, if you’re gunna make a comeback do it the right way, please. You were an icon to my generation during middle school. Don’t embarrass yourself further.

And let’s be honest, Nelly’s best song is always going to be “Ride Wit Me”

P.S. What’s with all the editing?? You really suck, Vevo

P.P.S. There is an eleven year difference between the two videos here and it doesn’t look like Nelly aged a bit. Just got rid of the grill. That’s pretty damn impressive.

So, every December DJ Earworm puts together a mash-up of the top songs from the entire year. It’s usually pretty good and this years is definitely one of the better ones, I will give him that.

However, besides this…what does Earworm do? I never see other tracks from him, granted I don’t look very hard. But how do you release a track like this every year, get almost 5 million hits in only a week, and do nothing else with that momentum? I don’t even know.

P.S. Super Mash Bros > The White Panda > Team Teamwork > Girl Talk > Earworm

Ranking Super Mash and White Panda was tough. After those two, there’s a significant drop-off. Girl Talk is way overrated, dude’s stuff gets beyond annoying.

Anyways, here’s the track

Welcome back, self. It’s about time I started posting more music on here. I mean, it is a music blog…

It’s just about 2am as I type this and I realize I picked a pretty interesting time to get back into this…so I’m just gunna go with an easy choice right now.

Swedish House Mafia are straight blowing up. They’ve been pretty big for a while, but their recent show at Madison Square Garden put them on the map for a lot more people. “Save the World” is one of their most well known tracks and has a ridiculously awesome music video. I think I knew about this song a good six months before I even knew there was a video for it. If you like dogs, crime fighting, awesome beats or a combination of all three, then I suggest you take a look at it.

Every once and a while, I like to take a break from music and post something else. This is a speech I just finished writing for my Effective Speaking class and before I give it on Monday, I’d love to hear feedback. There was so much more I could have written because I’m so passionate about this subject. However, I had to stop to fit it within my time limit for class. My conclusion is pretty weak, but that’s not really important in a speech.

Here are a couple of links to where I got my research from if you’re interested in reading more about this subject

http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp

Oh also, if I do somehow get some responses to this and you disagree with me, please be respectful. You’re entitled to your opinion and I to my facts ( heh heh).

Effective Speaking—Persuasive Speech

From Columbine to Virginia Tech our country has faced quite a few tragic school shootings in the recent years. After each of the horrible incidents, many people from psychologists to lawyers have tried to explain why these events occurred in the first place. Whenever tragedies such as these shootings occur, video games are usually one of the first things to be associated with the instability of the shooters. Many people believe that video game violence causes actual violence and leads people to do things like the school shooting incidents. While there is no denying that the Columbine shooters played video games such as Doom, I’m here today to tell you that video games do not directly correlate to real violence and aggression and that they face unfair criticism in comparison to other forms of media.

            Many people like to cite studies that “prove” that video games cause violence. However, the truth is that these studies are inconclusive and many have been criticized on methodological grounds. In these studies, media images are removed from any narrative context and subjects are asked to engage with content that they would not normally consume and may not understand. Most studies found a correlation, not a causal relationship, which means the research could simply show that aggressive people like aggressive entertainment. Essentially, no research has found that video games are a primary factor of real life violence or that violent video game play could turn an otherwise normal person into a killer. In fact, there is even new research from many places, including Harvard Medical School, which shows that video games do not cause violence and in many cases even DECREASE aggression, as games are used as an outlet to vent.

            Videogames are branded malicious, mind warping, and (my personal favorite) “mass murder simulations.” Jack Thompson is an infamous lawyer who spends much of his time “crusading” against the “evil” that is videogames. Mr. Thompson likes to point out that in almost every case of extreme violence, the guilty party has played videogames and he believes that these games led the person to their violence. However, in response to Mr. Thompson’s statements, I have a few facts of my own that are very easy to find on the Internet. The first is that the current estimated population of Earth is almost 7 billion people. The second is that 70% of Earth’s population plays videogames. My response to Mr. Thompson, therefore, would be that the odds of ANY criminal having played videogames is already high and more than likely, relates to their crimes or violence in only the slightest of manners.

            Many people like Jack Thompson question why there are even violent videogames in the first place. Clearly, everyone who plays videogames is a child, right? Wrong. 62 percent of the video game console market is age 18 or older and the average gamer is 37 years old. I believe someone who is almost 40 years old should be allowed to play whatever type of game that they want…

            But the fact still exists that a game that a 37 year old plays can be bought by a child, right? Wrong again. The Entertainment Software Rating Board, better known as the ESRB, is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings for computer and video games. The ESRB rates every video game on a scale from E (for everyone) to AO (Adults Only). For starters, all major consoles prohibit any game with an AO rating to be sold and the games must be toned down. Essentially, the highest rating is M, for mature. No person under the age of 17 is allowed to buy a game rated M and in many states, such as New York and California, it is even a felony to sell an M rated game to a minor.  What this means, is that the only way for a child to get their hands on a violent video game is for someone of age, who is most likely their parent, to buy the game for them.

             Despite all of the facts that I have stated, video games continue to unfairly receive more criticism than other forms of media. There are plenty of movies, television shows and songs that are just as, if not more, violent than video games. It is my belief that this is because videogames require active, hands-on attention from the user, while the rest do not. It is a shame that more people don’t see this as a positive though. Video games increase your hand-eye coordination and can improve brain function.

            I hope that I have changed your mind about video games and their relation to real life violence. If I haven’t, I hope you at least hold all forms of media at fault for violence in society and not put the blame solely on games anymore. Thank you.

I just heard this song in a D.VELOPED mash-up earlier today and went and listened to the original afterwards. I wanted to post this track for a couple of reasons. A) That it’s such a throwback and I haven’t listened to it in forever and B) while I’m studying for midterms, this is the way I WISH I lived…sigh.

D.VELOPED just killing it once again with another sick mash-up. Featuring tracks such as “This Is The Way I Live”, “I’ma Playa”, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, “Soul Survivor” and more, this mash-up just flows greatly.

Yea, you read that right. FINAL FANTASY VII REMIX!!!!

OK, maybe I’m a little more excited about this than most people will be, but combining one of my favorite artists with one of my favorite video games? Absolutely classic.

Team Teamwork is the real deal. If you’ve never heard of them before, you are really missing out. Their most popular album is definitely their Ocarina Of Rhyme, a mash-up album of rap songs with tracks from The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time in the background. This new album, Super Nintendo Sega Genesis, is similar in nature. It features songs from rappers such as Childish Gambino, Lupe Fiasco, Ghostface Killah and more, sampled with tracks from classic videogames such as Sonic 3, Donkey Kong Country 2 and Street Fighter 2. It’s definitely worth checking out, especially because all of their albums can be downloaded for free at their website here —> http://tmtmwrk.com/downloads/