Link to my Comments

http://cooliozzz.blogspot.com/2009/11/google-3d-map.html#comments

http://raylikesyou.blogspot.com/2010/01/changing-face-of-video-games.html#comments

http://cooliozzz.blogspot.com/2010/01/photo-manipulation.html#comments

http://kendarrrgee.blogspot.com/2009/11/guess-what-i-can-see-you-too.html

http://thecamelblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/reply-to-social-awareness-contradiction.html#comments

http://mayhemmark.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-like-coke.html

Is Taxing Pop Really a Solution?

To summarize, yes. I think taxing pop is a great idea. I'm not going to say that I never drink pop. Whenever I go to a party, or the theaters, I'll have a cup of something like sprite or iced tea. However, at home, in my everyday life, I'll never have any pop at all. I usually have something like orange juice, water or even milk. It's probably easier for me to not drink pop then some other people since I'm used to life like this. When I was really small, I use to have two cups of sprite each day. I'm still amazed that I'm in good shape after that. While I grew up, my mom started to get really interested in health. She started living this new healthy lifestyle that started to catch on with me too. Over time, I started to eat less junk food and drink less pop, until it became like it is now. The snacks I have at home are things like yogurt or almonds. Some people can't a life without junk food, but it's really not that bad. The things I eat taste good, they're just healhy too. I dont mean to brag, since I'm definitley not the healthiest person alive. I probably spend to much time on the computer than I should, and I barely eat breakfast, but I'm just trying to say that it's not that bad to not eat pop and junk food. There's a lot of good tasting things that are healthy for you, and if something like a tax on pop and junk food happens, I think that will be enough incentive for people to start making a change. One big reason people buy junk food is because of the cheap price, so a tax could encourage people to invest in eating healthy.

Photo Manipulation on Hiatus in the Media

As cool as it is that something like photoshop can alter people's appearance so finely that it looks real, at least if done right, I also think its rather wrong. Its offensive in more ways then one. It hurts the feelings of the person in the picture, as they're being altered to look better, as if they didn't already. But it also screws up the image of the human body that society has. We've become so used to these sort of perfect bodies that people have started to think of them as normal, and normal people are starting to think they're either too fat or too thin, even if they're as normal and as health as needed.

I think it'd be cool if this "Au Natural" trend stays strong, since it could really help out some people. It's really hard for some for some people to accept their own image, and no matter how many changes they make, they're never pleased. If the world around them shoves images of picture perfect women or men, then you can just imagine how much more inferior they must feel. Everyone is made in God's image. Everyone. So no one should think it's alright to alter people's image so that they look more "attractive".

Unfortunately, as great as it would be if this trend continued, its hard to believe it will. Our society runs on money, and not too many magazines will be willing to lose money to support a good cause. I'm sure that most people will be turned off by non-glamorous covers. Because of that, I think that most people won't keep this trend going on, but it would be awesome if they would.

The Changing Face of Video Games

Sure, video games are changing. Everything is changing. Technology is always evolving and reinventing itself, so there's nothing surprising about games advancing as well. I think it's awesome that games are getting better looking and more advanced, and as great as it is that game are more interactive than ever, I don't know that they're an ideal alternative from real exercise.

Games are for fun. You play them for entertainment, like you'd watch a movie. Sure, it's great that you can participate physically, as long as it makes the game more fun, but don't expect to get in shape with them. It's also great that games are trying to educate people, but don't expect a game to make the same difference as a program like Kumon. In my opinion, all forms of entertainment enhance your way of thinking. Even the most stupidest TV shows can teach moral lessons that stick with some people. On that note, I'm sure games that focus on improving your physical fitness or mental capacity are more beneficial than those that focus on "saving the world", but I don't know that they're on the same level of their real lives counterpart.]

One of the main reasons people play games or watch movies is so that they can see or even experience things that they would never even dream of in real life. So if games are beginning to focus around everyday tasks like cooking, learning, or exercising, then the whole point of experiencing new things is gone. They become less like video games and more like technologically enhanced variations on real life. Technology can sometimes improve some aspects of life, but some are better left untouched. Exercise can definitely be part of the group of things that can be improved, but there's also a balance. Things like Ipods can definitely improve a workout, but I'm hard-pressed to believe that doing all of your exercise in front of your TV somehow benefits you.

Social Awareness Contradiction

Frankly, I both respect Dove's efforts but I also enjoy Axe's humour in their campaigns.

Dove is doing a really great job by basing their entire campaign on supporting a noble cause. Not only does it appeal to their customer's merciful side, but woman and girls that may feel uncomfortable in their own skin will take notice of Dove's advertisements and get informed. And even though I still only look at their videos as advertisements, I'm sure that they really are helping some people out.

On the other hand, I find Axe's campaigns to be hilarious. They clearly are not meant to be taken seriously, and anyone who does needs to lighten up. We've reached an age where things such as sexism do not seem to be as prominent as before, and because of that, society should be able to take jokes like that without it being controversial. I, for one, think it's actually pretty hilarious, and if it weren't for the horrible smell of their products, that commercial would have probably been enough to make me a fan of their stuff.

Now some people may find it hypocritical of Dove to base their campaign on the idea that every woman is beautiful in their own way, just to have Axe stereotype woman with a very degrading campaign. But if you really analyze Axe's commercials, they're not really promoting a bad message. They're so outrageously stupid, and to me, they mean that we've reached an age where these sort of jokes can be made without people getting angry, because issues that involve sexism aren't only not tolerated, but they just don't happen anymore.

So to me, both commercials send a good message. Dove wants all women and girls to feel good in their skin, and thats a commendable cause. But at the same time, Axe proves to me that we've really advanced as a society. At least that's my opinion.

ADS OF THE PAST - DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT

Ad #1 - Tape Worms

This ad probably scared me the most out of all four. Its just hard to believe that people back then believed it to be a good idea to willingly ingest a tape worm so that they could eat more without getting fat. Tape worms pose so many health threats. For one, they absorb all of one's vitamin B12, which is vital to the health of your red blood cells. Frankly, tape worms are a parasite, and it's unbelievebly stupid to put one in your body on purpose so that you can eat all you want without getting fat.

Ad #2 - Smoking

This one is rather humourous. It's hard to believe that this sort of ad was taken seriously back then. It really shows you how much we've evolved as a society. If some like this were to show up in these days (which it would never unless it was some sort of a joke), whoever had any relation to it would be murded by the media and woman's rights activists. But frankly, that would never happen, because this commercial is just too ridiculous.

Ad#3 - Lard

This ad doesn't bother me as much as the others. It just tells me that these ads were from a long time ago, and frankly, I don't know if they really thought lard was healthy or not. What I do get from this ad is that advertising was still very young back then, and there were no precedents to learn from, so I'm guessing that the Lard Information Council thought that it would have been a good idea to try to make people believe that lard is healthy by showing a happy family and simply saying lard is good. Obviously you'll never see this stuff now, but i suppose that's because these sort of ads failed in the past.

Ad #4 - More doctors smoke CAMALS

Because I'm not sure of the time when these ads were produced, I can't really judge this one that well. Clearly, at least to the eyes of modern society, the ad is absolutely stupid. Smoking is bad for you, and if anyone should be an advocate of that, it should be a doctor. But it's also true that smoking wasn't percieved as something bad, or unhealthy, so the general public was probably unaware of the irony in this commerical.

Guess What? I Can See You

Personally, I see no problem with google street view at all. Google has already done something similar to this with satellite view and google earth, and frankly, I think that anyone thats bothered by any of these features has one too many secrets to keep. I think features like these are extremely useful to tourists or anybody that is unfamiliar with any of their destinations. Think about it this way. It's a free world. If I have the right to drive by and look at any house that I want to, then why wouldn't I be able to look at that house on the internet. If the problem is that you don't want your face to be shown without your knowledge, or you're worried that people will try to use information like your liscence plate to follow you, then you don't need to worry, since google has blurred out these privacies. However, if it bothers you that people can see your house, or maybe able to see you in plubic, then you really will never feel comfortable in our world. If celeberties are allowed to be harrassed and stalked for a few measly pictures, then it's unreasonable to disagree with google street view. I searched up my house and a couple of my friends's houses. Frankley, although most people are no where to be seen, the people that are there can barely be identified. In my opinion, there is absolutely no way street view can harm anyone, and if we're going to evolve techonoligcally, big advances like these must be made. Street view doesn't mean people can see you inside your house. It's just another way to see places and things that would be possible to see in real life too, but for convinience, you can see them online.