My Dream Car

My dream car is a 1989 Porsche 911 with a Mazda 20B 4-rotor Wankel rotary engine. Rotary engines have tons of torque and horsepower, sound cool, and are very lightweight. The rotary is a unique engine because it is louder at its 2,000 RPM idle than at its up to 8,00 RPM full throttle. It would have a RAUGH-welt widebody kit, the fender flares would have exposed rivets, and it would have some gloss black 57Gein wheels in the back. I would set it up with -2 degrees camber in the front and -25 degrees in the back, so it has a wide, low stance. The engine would have a straight-pipe cat-back exhaust, and each rotor would have its own K&N air filter sticking out of the engine compartment. I would strip out the interior and replace panels with stainless steel. 

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Something That Bugs Me

Something that bugs me is when people try to act like they're an expert on a subject that they know nothing about. This bugs me because sometimes they will say the stupidest things trying to sound cool. For example, I was talking to someone about Battlefield and they kept saying that in Battlefield 4, there is a hidden Dinosaurs survival mode. When I asked for proof, they just stopped talking about it and refused to try and prove that they were right. Someone on a JDM forum that I post on said that you could fit a Bugatti W-16 in the back of a Porsche 911. When I said that the engine was almost three times as long and twice as wide as a standard Porsche Boxter engine, he tried to tell me he's done 10 swaps for W-16s on Porsches, but refused to give any proof.

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Call of Duty Zombies

Call of Duty has completely changed the gaming world with their zombies mode. Started by Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War, this game mode was an instant hit. It was originally meant just as an extra surprise after completing the campaign mode. THe mode instantly exploded with fans, resulting in 3 DLCs, each with their own terrifying map to fight endless hordes of the undead on. When playing the game, one player heard a zombie shouting the name,"Sam" while charging after them. They asked Treyarch, who was not aware of the voice clip, what the name meant. Though it wasn't originally meant to stand for amything, the name sparked a storyline of its own. The mode has stretched across three games, all made by Treyarch, and is rumored to be in the new game, Advanced Warfare, which is made by MW3 co-developer Sledgehammer Games. It has even sparked inspiration for entire games, as many fan made indie games have shown up since 2008.

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Kid Nation 6

   An example of coercion in the story is when Taylor and Leila are forced to pick up the trash. They were forced to because the council members thought they weren't working hard enough. As a punishment, they made Taylor fill the tank because Leila helped and she still didn't. After she got told her punishment, she dumped the buckets of water out.
   Formal organizations are shown in the form of the groups and the town council. Each group is created to achieve teamwork. They try to achieve this in the challenges. The town council was created to help make big choices.
    Rationalization is used a lot throughout the entire series. The town council uses it when they are choosing prizes and choosing who gets the gold star. When the town council were choosing the prizes, they chose the fruits and vegetables because they would keep them healthy and the go karts would give the kids a way to procrastinate. When they choose the gold star, they think of everything the nominees have done for the town.

Kid Nation 7

   The entire town is in a state of anomie. They are not together. They fight and are not agreeing on anything. 
   Stigma is used a lot. Taylor is stigmatized as lazy. Greg is stigmatized as mean. Everyone stigmatizes the yellow district as not responsible. 
   Deviance is shown with a lot of things in the show. When the kids open up their own shops, they are showing deviance. It is also shown when Nathan keeps washing clothes after everyone is asleep.

Kid Nation 5

   The story is a good example of an in-group. One way this is shown is the girls on the yellow team. The girls are not doing anything and then expecting to be treated nicely.
  Social aggregate is shown because Olivia is always where Anje is. She does not want to be friends with him, and is always trying to make him look stupid. Sometimes, she will do things to blame on him or annoy him until he gets mad.
   Conflict is the final term I found in the video. During the showdowns, there is competition . The election is another example, because everyone is trying to win. With the gold star, everyone is competing for the gold star.

Kid Nation 4

   I think the story is a good example of social structure. I believe this because all the different religions are divided. Each religion is like its own social group. The leaders are acting as ties between the separate groups because they are trying to start a religious service.
   There is also an example of social interaction. People are friends. They are also forming groups. Even though they aren't friends, everyone is in a social interaction because they are working together.
   Finally, there is an example of obligation. This is because of the different duties each team is supposed to do. For example, red has to haul water and clean toilets. Green team has to cook and clean dishes. Blue are merchants, meaning they work in stores. Yellow team doesn't have to do anything, but some of them do help. Taylor doesn't do anything, even when she does have obligations.

Jose Mujica

I think Jose Mujica is a very nice person. Most people who make a lot of money only try to get more, while he only gives himself what he needs and the rest to the charities. Most people who make a lot of money will do stupid things with their money, like buying two million dollar cars because they think they look cool, or buying a huge house when they live by themselves, while Mujica is helping people who need it. He does not buy expensive clothes or cars, and instead helps buy clothes for people who can't afford it.

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Shift 2 Unleased

Need For Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed is one of the most revolutionary racing games for this generation of consoles. It was the first game to use the Frostbite 2 game engine, which was originally designed for the game Battlefield 3, which was optimized for 1080p, as opposed to Need For Speed's 720p max. This resulted in an amazing damage and physics engine, giving players the ability to experience their favorite racetracks almost as much as real racers do. It also included a lot of cars. Counting DLC packs, the game totalled over 100 cars, ranging from the 50hp Austin Mini to the raging monster that is the Pagani Zonda R. Graphics were also vastly improved, with life-like shadows and body panels.

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Kid Nation 3

   The story shows a good example of culture. This is because the kids who were raised in Christian houses to not believe in cussing. Also, some of the blue team are saying they believe you should work to deserve your money, so they are working even though it is not their job.

   

   There is also an example of Resocialization. This is shown when the kids are told about the curfew. This is also shown when the kids get to the town, because they have to adjust to the rules set by their council.

   

   Finally, there is an example of Counter-culture is shown because Greg is against the rules of the council. He is also against the council saying not to cuss. He is also mad about not getting the gold star.

Kid World 2

   I believe the video has an example of taboo because the kids are killing the chickens. This is not a normal thing to do. Some of the kids do not want the chickens killed.
   The video also shows norms because the different teams have their own jobs to do. These are things all the teams have to do. For example, the yellow team has to cook, and the green team has to get water.
   Finally, the show gives an example of drives because the town makes decisions like killing the chickens. They did this because it gave them a way to get food. If they did not do this, they would have been sick.

Call of Duty

Call of Duty is one of the greatest video game franchises in the history of gaming. The progress that has been made by Activision for this game is astounding. They have gone from a low-resolution PC game to a multi-million dollar franchise that develops some of the best graphics of any console game, rivaled only by Battlefield's Frostbite engine. Call of Duty has also changed up the way developers make FPS games. Instead of starting on PC and porting to consoles, Activision will start on an XBox 360, and port it for other systems.

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Kid World

  I feel that the town shows a great example of latent function because when the kid gave the speech at the meeting, he only meant to get the kids quiet, but he made the leaders think he deserves the gold star. This is latent function because he did not mean to gain the leader's respect, but he did anyway.

  The story also shows a good example of perspective because the older kids usually have different opinions than the younger ones because they have more experience. For example, when the younger kids wanted the TV, the older kids knew they needed the outhouses because the only one they had was full.

  Lastly, I believe the story also shows social dynamics because it shows the kids going through the experience of their parents being gone and missing them. This is an example of social dynamics because the kid's social life is changing.

Friendly Letter for Mrs. Debolt

                                                                                                             1717 W. Main St.
                                                                                                             Festus, MO 63028
                                                                                                             April 1, 2014
Dear Mrs. Debolt,
   My favorite movie is Terminator 3(I love the T1s with the tank treads and miniguns) and my favorite video game is SpinTires. One of my favorite hobbies is obviously playing video games. I also love to draw and work on computers. Sometimes, I will sit in my garage for hours messing with my bike and my parent's cars.
   One time, my brother, my dog, and I were playing outside. When I threw the ball for my dog, my brother went and caught it. Instead of waiting for him to drop the ball, my dog decided to drag my brother across the yard by his foot.
   I believe I am very good at computers. I can learn things on computers within a few minutes of starting the program. I would like to learn more about photo editing, and I would love to learn how to put a computer together. I also think it would be cool to learn about different types of computers, different cooling systems, and all the units of measurement used for computer.
                                                                                                                   Sincerely,
                                                                                                                   Collin Harris
 

Can Video Games Make Kids Violent?

 I believe that video games can influence kids in different ways depending on the type of game and age of the player. For example, if you let a 5 year old play games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, or Gran Theft Auto, it may affect them negatively because they do not know that the behavior depicted in these games is bad. On the other hand, allowing a teenager to play the same games may not affect them because they understand that the action is not real. I believe that if a child is taught that the actions in the game are not real and are illegal, it will not affect them negatively. It may help to stop games affecting kids negatively by only letting them play games for their age group.

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Intro

My name is Collin Harris. I'm using this blog fourth quarter.

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