The American Pediatrics Association released results of a study today that seems to indicate that when students are ostracized, they are less inclined to participate in physical activities.
The study included 19 children between the ages of 8 and 12 years old. The first part of the study involved a computer game called Cyberball. Each child was told that they were playing with two other children on the Internet, but the computer actually controlled the other two “players.” One group of students was tossed the ball regularly, but the other group of students was intentionally ignored and not thrown the ball.
After the Cyberball sessions, the children were given the option of using physical activity equipment or doing stationary activities like word searches and reading. The ostracized students spent 41 percent more time on the stationary activities, reports Education Week. In addition, these children reported greater negative feelings, less emotional-control, and without a sense of belonging.
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A couple of weeks ago I went to the movie theaters and watched “Rio.” The movie came out last month and I think it’s one of the top three movies to come out recently.
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Pencils can come in various forms, colors and textures, but a preference of mine surly beats them all. Read more...
There is no end in sight to the number of social networks that are hatching these days. Yesterday, Youth Radio blogged about Diaspora, a Facebook alternative that boasts better security but uncensored sharing.
Meanwhile, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes has launched Jumo - a social networking site for social activists. You must have a Facebook account to sign up for a Jumo account. The idea behind Jumo, is to give social activists a way to raise awareness for their cause. Once friends and acquaintances are aware of the cause, they have the opportunity to support it, maybe even financially. According to an article in the L.A. Times, Internet fundraising is not as effective as one might think, but maybe sites like Jumo will change that.
With so many new sites on our radar (including Togetherville and CollegeOnly from posts in the months past), we weren't surprised to find that there are researchers studying the social ripple effects of all this networking.
An article in the November - December issue of the Chicago Magazine written by Lydialyle Gibson, examines the link between loneliness and social networking. Chicago psychologist, John Cacioppo, has studied and written extensively on this topic. He says on one hand, that social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn have been an asset to people who don’t get to leave the house much because of disability or work. These networks have expanded their communities.
On the other hand, people who substitute face-to-face relationships with online relationships become more depressed and lonely. Cacioppo participated in a research paper suggesting loneliness is contagious as well. According to their study, “Having one lonely friend raised one’s chance of loneliness by 40 to 65 percent. A lonely friend-of-a-friend raised the change by 14 to 36 percent.”
On Facebook, it’s not uncommon for people to have upwards of 500 friends. If just one person’s negative status update can affect that many people, our susceptibility to loneliness is high.
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and I’ll be providing you the gamers’ walkthrough. All the latest news of games to be released, online games, and changes in marketing.
Call of Duty Black Ops the most anticipated multiplatform game for 2010. Read more...
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By Shine Nair
Imagine that you are five. Imagine a miniature horse-sized dog with a head that is bigger than your head and with paws bigger than your hands. That was my first image of Cobalt (Cobi) my dog. I jumped up on my bed and flattened myself on the wall. All she did was sniff the air around me and then go to the living room and take a nap. In about five minutes I was over my fear.
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People have always wondered why skateboarding doesn’t become an Olympic sport or dodge ball. Well I’m not going to talk about those sports. What I am wondering about is that why isn’t video games an Olympic sport. It’s just as challenging and take years to master. If gamers want Gaming to become a real sport than I am sure that it would be a huge success all around the world. It is already considered a sport in America, Germany, France, Korea, and Japan so it would stand to reason to make this an Olympic sport right? It’s more than just a game it’s an intense virtual Read more...
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This game offers 10 free champions (champions are the playable characters in this game) to choose right when you start, but this is not much considering that the game has over 50 champions to choose from. The game developers got really creative with the champions in this game. There are pirate, ninjas, nightmarish monsters, and heroic figures. Each match gives you IP which is the money for this game. You get about 100 IP for when and about 70 if you loose. That’s not all that much considering that most of the really good champions cost 3150. It can take a while to get this much but the gameplay is worth it. I’ll be getting to the gameplay soon. The shop also has skins for each character. But you need RP in order to get them. RP which requires you to pay real money but it’s not something you need. The shop also offers runes which are buffs that give you character an edge in matches. Well I think you get the idea for the shop, know for the gameplay. Read more...
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The code of "Don't Snitch" is a powerful message. Especially in hip hop music. But historically, it has been a powerful message in the black community. A "snitch" used to be a term used for an undercover informant working with law enforcement officials to indict criminals for monetary gain or judicial leverage in their own crimes. Today, a snitch is considered to be anyone who tells on someone else, even when they are the victim of crime. The internet plays a large role in this, and to be honest, it's played out!
When rapper, Alfamega, was identified as an actual informant, he was cast out of his "Grand Hustle" circle. In addition to that, the hip hop community cast him out via the internet. Recently, Alfamega's family suffered some tragedy. His daughter and son were in a nightclub altercation that resulted in his daughter being stabbed. She suffered a collapsed lung. Alfamega's son suffered a broken jaw while trying to protect his sister. Alfamega has acknowledged that he knows who the assailants are, and that he will not retaliate. Charges have yet to be filed, so it seems that the offenders will go unpunished. What upsets me about this is--you're damned by the people if you seek help from police, and damned by the law if you take it in your own hands.
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We have sacrificed a lot for a false sense of security. We, as a nation, have allowed the fear of terror attacks to justify all sorts of invasions of privacy, as well as some of our constitutional rights.
I have lost ounces of refreshing beverages, hygiene products, and even a little dignity to air safety. But the agony and audacity of traveling has made me believe that we are sliding on a slippery slope towards a total police state. Recent suggestions from a retired US military general confirmed my fears.
On a Fox News program, retired Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney suggested that all Muslim men ages 18-28 be strip searched before boarding planes. The Fox News Host did call the idea outrageous.
More after the jump...
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