How the iPod Changed the World

Unlimited giga bytes of music, television, movies and podcasts: Who needs televisions or movie theatres anymore? Most young adults, have entertainment in the palms of their hands, controlling it with a tip of an index finger.
Let's face it, the iPod has changed the world.
October 2001, that’s when the world was introduced to the iPod, bringing the promise of musical pleasure. Apple kept their promise, since the iPod’s debute it has been one of the hottest items to own. But no one anticipated that the iPod would be one of the most used technologies in the 21st century where listening to music is a way of life. Selling more than 60 million units in its first five years. Weigning only six ounces it has had tons of influence on culture and the way people communicate, listen to music, watch television and movies.
If you ever pay attention to students on the bus on your way to class, or walking downtown in a large city like Chicago, you will most likely see many people listening to their iPods, stuck in their own little worlds of music.
Lee Eric McMiller loves listening to his iPod at night, he said, “music is the only thing that really relaxes me and takes the stress away when I had a hard day, my iPod means everything to me, its like a piece of me. I would be mad if I ever lost it or it broke.”
In a way, the iPod is a way to escape from the busy class or work schedules, a break from reality into a relaxing fun musical zone. Jasmin Kennebrew is a Senior Law Enforcement and Administration major, she has busy and demanding classes.
“I listen to my iPod when I’m in my room to block everyone around me out. The girls on my floor are really loud, sometimes my iPod is the only way I can get some work done, or even go to sleep.”
Anyone seen with white ear buds in their ears are thought to own an iPod. It’s like the white ear phones is a universal symbol for the iPod. Once you put those white earbuds in your ears, automatically you are instantly in the cool crowd, the cool group of the iPod musical zone. With the white ear buds smashed in their ears communicating with iPod owners become difficult.
When it comes to communicating with others the iPod has changed the way communication takes place between iPod owners and non iPod owners. Of course, the iPod is one of the coolest technologies to come out, but at what cost? Losing interpersonal skills and communication with others. Have you ever tried to hold a conversation with someone who’s listening to an iPod? It's like having a conversation with yourself. With the iPod came a new world, the world of iPod listeners, the secluded people stuck in a iPod musical zone. But of course listening to music isn’t the only capability the iPod has, iPod owners are able to watch television shows and movies too.
The iPod has also altered the way people watch television, with the latest iPod video, owners can watch television shows, music videos, movies and podcasts. Now people have theaters in the palms of their hands with the ability to watchmovies anywhere. When Apple created iTunes Music Store it became record labels dream come true. People were paying to download music, television shows and movies. People are able to buy things individually or they can by whole CD’s or television series. This option has changed how people buy these products, there is no need to go to Best Buy and buy these things when they can get them off of iTunes and instantly download them on their iPod. iTunes even sells audio books like the Harry Potter series, which is aimed at young children too, not just teens and young adults. Even though the iPod seems like something that the technology generation uses, the non techno savvy generation find enjoyment with the iPod. 50 year old Marcellus Barnes is an international Representive who travels a lot by plan.
“My favorite thing to use on the iPod is watching movies or one of my favorite television shows, watching movies makes the time go by when I’m on a long flight or if my flight gets delayed, said Barnes.”
Being able to download and watch television shows is good for traveling long distances and are commercial free.
House, Family Guy and One Tree Hill are popular shows among young adults. If you ever miss a show, don't worry. More than 30 different shows ranging from The Office to Grey's Anatomy which were also on iTunes top 10 TV shows are offered on iTunes, commercial free. There are more then 50 television networks on iTunes that offer shows from their TV series that people can buy and download onto their iPods. Why is there a need for re-runs when there is access to commercial free television shows? Let's go even further, why buy DVDs? The iPod has effected nearly everything.
News stations and television shows websites now offer podcast that iPod owners can download onto their iPods for free. This changes where and how people receive their information. In its own way, the iPod has become another mass media source. Another source of information and communication. After the iPods debute there has been many6 immitations that don’t come near to the iPod. The only company that can build something greater than the iPod is Apple, and the world is waiting to receive it’s next big introduction. Who knows, the next iPod might have a digital camera built in. Don't be surprised if the next debut of the iPod will be a camera with texting.

Inside the Mind of a Video Game Designer

When six year old Marcellus Barnes II received his first video game system, the Nintendo, it was far from his mind that one day he would be designing the very games that he loved to play.
Barnes now 27 years old is a game designer for the gaming company Rockstar in San Diego California. He was exposed to video games by watching his older sister play. "I watched my sister play games, she had an Atari. I wanted to play because it looked like fun, but she never let me."
Older sister Tekenya Barnes recalled the time he cried because he wasn't allowed to play her game.
"He fell out on the floor kicking his legs, I'm his big sister so of course I didn't let him play, he could only watch."
Watching his sister play this fun game made him want one even more. His wish of having video games came true on Christmas Day. He received the Mario Brothers game. Since then, Barnes has owned over seven gaming systems, the X box 360 being his latest one. "I had the Wii but I sold it because I got tired of the games."
His passion for video games came from playing the games. He couldn't name a favorite game of his. "Can't name a favorite game, to many of them."
When playing Mario Brothers or Sonic while younger he never imagined designing games. "I thought only the Chinese did that crap, said Barnes."
Although Barnes has his dream career he didn't always know what he wanted to do. His mother Robin Barnes recalled, "He was doing bad in school getting D's and F's, he was in a point in his life that had no direction." "One time he said he would enlist in the army." In high school Barnes discovered that he had a natural talent for drawing. "Back then I use to tag buildings and stuff like that." After high school he attended Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design where he received his first class in learning how to design 3D characters. Right after college he was hired to work at Midway Games in Chicago, Illinois.
Surprisingly Barnes didn't always want to be a game designer. He said, "I wanted to be a comic book artist because I like to draw stuff." Having what most people would perceive as a glamorous and fun career is nothing close to Barnes' perception of his job.
To most gamers, working with video games as a career might seem cool and fun, but to Barnes the excitement he once began out with has depleted.
"The most interesting part of my job is seeing my stuff in the game. Going home, I don't find it interesting anymore. I'm tired of it, been doing it for seven years,"said Barnes.
His perception of a game designer shows people that there are negative aspects about his job. He revealed some not so glamorous aspects about designing games. He said, "Takes to long to make a game. It's a lot of stuff you got to do to get the game right, it takes years. Building the character, coloring, then you go to spend half the day making sure it works right, and once the Art Director approves it then your done."
Designing games aren't all that glamorous and fun. People wanting to go into this field needs patience and time to do tedious work. Barnes said, "I spent four and half years on an undisclosed western title." "People wanting to get in the industry need to know exactly how long its going to take to get it done, most people think you play video games all day." Since working as a game designer he has had some good moments as well.
His favorite gamed he designed was Midnight Club 4. "I liked the game because you get to customize your car, run people off the road, stuff like that," said Barnes.
"The greatest aspect about being a game designer is you get to work with art all day."
When asked if he would play games past the age of 60 he said, "yup, I've been playing for over 20 years, why would I stop then?"

The Beginning of Change

“The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there,” President Barack Obama. Tuesday November 4th 11pm, is when Barack Obama was selected not just as the 44th President of the United States, but the first African-American President of the United States. November 4th is the day America began changing.
The historical 2008 Presidential election has marked its place not only in history, but in African-American history. Barack Obama is the beginning of change; it starts with him and will be carried on by future generations. November 4th wasn’t just a victory for President Barack Obama, but a victory for the American people. This day in history will not be forgotten, he has overcome an obstacle no other African-American has dare challenge till this day. He has torn down the boundaries of racial issues during the election giving hope to not just African-Americans but all Americans.
President Obama had a record-shattering of $700 million to his campaign account. Obama changed America's political map. He won over states that voted Republican in past presidential elections, like Indiana and Virginia, which hadn't supported the Democratic candidate in 44 years. Ohio and Florida, which was key to President Bush's victories, voted for Obama, including Pennsylvania. He has given hope of a better tomorrow, a better nation, and a better future.
“It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America,” President Barack Obama.

The Food Snatcher

He knocked down the garbage can with his huge paw and soon had his head stuck in the garbage can looking for scraps of food and bones. When he finally crawled out of the can he had a steak bone in his mouth.
“No Max!! Stop!!,” my mother yelled.
This is a typical day with my family’s dog the ten year old German Shepherd MaxaMillion. Max is a mastermind at taking food; anything that I have in my hand is either knocked down, bitten out of my hand or is cried for. Victoria Stilwell of the Animal Planet Channel show It’s Me or the Dog would disapprove of Max’s penchant for taking food off the table.
Max is even worse when there is no one around when food is left out. My mom cooked my dad a nice T-bone steak with a baked potato and green peas. She left it on the kitchen table for my father, who was in his study, but my dad didn’t know that Max was in the house. Max jumped on the table and took the steak up stairs and ate it. When my dad came to the kitchen to eat his steak there was nothing left but a potato and green peas. My dad asked my mom what happen to the steak and she said, “I don’t know.” My parents looked up stairs and found Max chewing on the steak bone. Needless to say, my dad was so mad.
Another time, my mother had just finished preparing a juicy roast beef for dinner. After cooking it in the oven she took it out and placed in on top of the stove to cool. But my mother didn’t know that Max was in the house in the basement. When my mom went up stairs, Max snuck up to the kitchen, jumped on the stove and snatched the whole roast beef. My mother and I were chasing Max around the house to get the meat from him but being so devious, he managed to get up stairs, lay down, and take a few bites out of the meat, thereby rendering it inedible to my family. My mother was so angry because, she had spent two hours working on dinner for the five of us and not for one ill mannered dog. That was a night that my family and I ended up eating McDonald’s.
Although Max is a food snatcher my family loves him dearly. He is protective over the family and even more protective over me. He doesn’t like anyone touching me or my parent yelling at me, he’s like a big brother. The people outside my family may view Max as a vicious dog, but my family knows he’s nothing more than a big spoiled baby who loves to get his tummy rubbed and his thighs scratched.

Amazing what a half baked potato can do

“Can I have a ninety-nine cent double cheeseburger please?” As I looked in my wallet for a dollar and some change, the McDonald’s worker says, “We don’t have that here.” In my head I said, “What! What do you mean you don’t have the dollar menu?” I looked at the menus above and to my surprise there was no dollar menu up there. I ended up just ordering a double cheeseburger costing me $1.59 or so.
That day I ate at McDonalds because I didn’t bring lunch. That was the day I discovered Downtown Chicago McDonalds’ dollar menu doesn’t exist. Over the summer, I interned at the Illinois State Treasurer’s office in the J.R. Thompson Center Downtown Chicago. Anyone that has ever been downtown of a major city knows that it is expensive to eat or to do anything.
One day I brought some leftovers for lunch, which included half of a potato. The J.R. Thompson Center has lunch rooms on each floor; I worked on the top floor; the fifteenth. I went to the lunch room and I attempted to cook my half potato in the microwave but noticed that I didn’t have anything on which to cook it. There were some paper napkins so I decided to use them for cooking. While the potato was in the microwave, I sat down at the table to wait, that’s when I started to smell something burning in the microwave, I opened the microwave door, and saw smoke coming from the napkins. The potato didn’t look very appetizing at this point so I threw both it and the napkin in a garbage can. The lady sitting down having lunch was watching me as I threw the potato in the garbage and she left, that’s when it got worst.
The smell of the smoke began to get stronger; it smelled like someone was burning something outside on a grill. I went to the garbage can to throw away my water bottle and, to my surprise; a cloud of smoke blew into my face. I started to panic and my whole body was shaking. I darted for the bathroom to put water in my bottle to pore into the garbage can. While running back and forth from the bathroom to the garbage can, I could hear a lady in the background asking the security guard about the awful smell. After four to five runs into the bathroom, I finally extinguished the smoldering potato. While collecting my stuff, the lady that was there earlier came back to sit with her friend. Soon afterward, as I was leaving, the security guard came into the lunch room to ask if anyone burned something and the lady from earlier said, “a girl had burned a potato.” After getting back to my desk I sat down with a sigh of relief and thought about what just happened, and how I almost burned the whole building down. I had this image in my mind; Treasurer’s office intern Lauren-Ashley burned the J.R. Thompson Center down, Channel 2 News. Eating out seems much cheaper now then it did before.

African-American students learn more than chemistry and math

Racism has been an issue since the beginning of slavery. It’s the year 2008, you would think that racism doesn’t exist but unfortunately it still lingers around like a bad stench.
I guess I can say that I was a virgin to racism until my junior year here at Western. It was a Monday night around 11:30 pm and I had class the next morning and the Caucasian girl next door was talking and laughing loud. I called the front desk of my resident hall to ask someone to send an RA up to tell them to be quiet, after the RA came and left I heard the girl converse to her friend, “She’s just a black bitch.” When I heard those words my whole soul and being was penetrated. I felt this new pain I never felt before, and the tears rolled down my face. Not being able to breathe I called my friend to vent off my anger and frustration.
Never have I experienced feeling numerous feelings at the same time. After filing a police report and talking with the hall director, I received no apology from the girl and when asking the hall director to move the girl off the floor the hall director gave me the option of moving. I felt helpless and felt left stranded with people passing me unwilling to stop and help. The situation had both a negative and positive outcome for me. It was negative because it happened in the first place and I learned the hard way that the school had no procedures or punishment for racism, in the year 2008 I shouldn’t have to be faced with racism especially as an equal American citizen. In addition, the situation was positive because it was like I had a 30 minute course in Life Lessons 401 which prepared me for the real world, it strengthens me and encourages me to be the best African-American and the best Lauren-Ashley I can be. I want to show and exemplify to others that my people aren’t incompetent, that we are intelligent, beautiful and rich, not just with money but with values, traditions, and the ability to persevere through any situation put in front of us. Western has many lessons not included in the curriculum for students to learn, I just happened to end up taking Life Lessons 401.

Being blind doesn’t limit this professor

A subtle woman with stormy gray eyes and curled feathered gray-brown hair staggers out of the elevator with a shaggy, sandy golden retriever by her side.
“Lauren?” Professor Laura McArthur asked.
“Yes?” I replied.
She pulled out her keys and opened her office door. The walls were bare except for a bulletin board with a child’s sketch of a dog with angel wings and a halo, and her diploma from University of California and a computer was perched on her desk. McArthur is a professor of nutrition in the Dietetics department of Western Illinois University. Her job is odd from any other professor at Western because she is blind.
Laura McArthur was born with glaucoma, which caused her to loose her sight at the age of 16. Being blind however, doesn’t stop McArthur from achieving what a sighted person can achieve. She has taught for 19 ½ years, at the University of Vermont, at East Carolina University, and presently, at Western Illinois University. In addition, she also has written 25 journal articles. She has studied for 13 years to earn a Ph.D. in Nutrition, an M.S. in Food and Nutrition, an M.A. in International Studies, and a B.A. in Political Science. She has accomplished far more than most people with eyesight achieve. McArthur’s interest in nutrition grew from her passion to help people and to have something that would fit into her way of life.
“I wanted a field to help people without having to see.” “I can even work on patients one on one, everyone has to eat,” said McArthur. She likes being around people, she enjoys teaching and she has a thirst for learning. “Being a teacher is like being your own boss,” she said.
McArthur recalled that her first day of teaching was intimidating, said McArthur. “I was so nervous, my whole body was physically shaking, I was scared.” Even though she was no longer a new instructor, she said on her first day teaching at Western she was also nervous. “It’s always hard on the first day, I didn’t know my way around well,” “Being new, some students like to test you; some of it was going on in January when I first got here.” She said. She came to Western because her previous school was making changes and she didn’t feel that those changes included her. She chose Western because the school has good ratings for education. To assist her with her teachings, McArthur has a talking computer that reads the words aloud; she says this is very helpful when she surfs the internet. She also has a scanner to scan books into the computer so that it can read the book to her. Besides helpful technology, McArthur also has what she calls her angel, her guide dog Gracie. The canine is her third in the 34 years she has been blind.
I never take for granted the dogs that serve people, they are angels,” she said. “I believe in angels and that’s what guide dogs are. They give their life to take care of you.”
Even though McArthur has shown she is capable of being a professor and nothing holds her back, there are difficult aspects to teaching a class without seeing the students.
“Not really knowing if the students understand what I am saying by looking at their faces, I miss a lot of visual clues,” said McArthur. Another obstacle she has had to overcome is school emergencies. Last year, when there was a shooting threat on the Western Illinois University campus McArthur said that she was frightened, because she went to her class, said “Hello,” and no one answered.
McArthur wasn’t fully blind until she was 16, so she was able to see the world around her for the first part of her life.
“I appreciate knowing colors because if someone said blue-green, I can imagine that color because I saw it at one point in my life,” she said. Her fondest memories are the images of flowers, birds and her mother who passed away five years ago.
“I have an image of her and that means a lot,” McArthur said. She loves flowers and birds. And because she knows what they look like these are what McArthur remembers the most when she had vision.
Professor McArthur may teach nutrition, but her most important lesson is teaching her students and other faculty to cherish what they have and to not take the simplest things for granted.