Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
The capabilities I have demonstrated through my work in New Media Lab
I can write well-developed and supported articles for a general audience. I can control my voice and style to write both in both opinion and objective journalistic styles. (Original reporting) I can do original research (and/or) conduct interviews to gather and create relevant information for writing. I can generate interesting and relevant writing ideas that can find an audience and contribute significantly to topics of contemporary interest. I can research and evaluate the credibility of sources, and I can present information in an original way that respects and gives credit to the work of other.
PODCASTING
I can record my voice to create engaging and clear audio materials that an online audience can use to appreciate the writing of my peers.
Designing poster
I made a poster board for our website
EA is guiding users towards loot boxes, which could be related to gambling
An insider from Electronic Arts, during an interview with CBC, claims that the game series FIFA is guiding players towards purchasing loot boxes.
An insider from EA gaming company located at Burnaby BC, leaked a 54-page document containing confidential information about the company’s future plans. One of the points stated in the document is that EA is driving players towards the game mode FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), which is where players can purchase loot boxes.
FUT is a game mode that users can play without “spending a dollar” according to the insider. However they went on to say that as the users continue to play this mode, they will soon realize “it takes a long time to earn coins”, and will “get frustrated pretty fast.” The outcome of this is the purchase of loot boxes.
EA’s primary defense is that users are not forced to purchase loot boxes; it is optional. However, some people in the FIFA community have been struggling from loot box addictions as shown in this reddit forum.
The issue is that countries are discussing whether the act of purchasing and opening a loot box is related to gambling or not. Belgium even went on to outlaw loot boxes. Experts say that “the features of a loot box are similar to a slot machine”, making it more “attractive” and “addictive” for some people. EA has had several lawsuits against them alleging they are violating gambling legislation such as this class action in Vancouver.
The insider says, even with users being addicted and critics saying loot boxes are linked with gambling, people within the company such as himself, are not able to make immediate changes. The reason being that many other companies include the loot box system and even though it is illegal in Belgium, it is legal in the US and Canada.
“We can’t really do anything about it because at the end of the day, [the] company is trying to make money and satisfy investors.”
Burnaby high school students are pessimistic as they enter their second summer in lockdown
Will summer be a post pandemic celebration or another socially distanced fiasco?
Burnaby teens are looking forward to summer, but COVID woes may continue to disrupt their plans.
Summer is the perfect time to go out and participate in new experiences, according to 16 year old Goholas Nich. However, he says that with continuing waves of COVID-19 expected, his summer plans seem meaningless.
“I was hoping to complete my life guard course this summer,” says Nich, “COVID is making it difficult for me to go out and do what I want.” Many Burnaby teens are experiencing the same pandemic fatigue as the city enters its 14th month of social distancing.
Ultimately, Nich feels like he is wasting one of his last summers as a teenager. “I really want to go out and see my friends. I wanted to make everlasting memories with them. Screw COVID.”
Cover Image Credit: wikimediacommons
Ottawa says 500+ travellers have been fined for defying quarantine rules, but has no idea of total number
| The federal government has doled out hundreds of fines since Feb. 22 — typically for $3,000 each — to air passengers who refused to quarantine in a designated hotel upon arrival in Canada. Even so, the government couldn’t provide CBC News with a total number of people who’ve violated its rule that passengers entering Canada be tested for COVID-19, then quarantine in a hotel while waiting for their results. And when CBC tried to track down the total number of hotel quarantine violators, it found no evidence of fines being issued to passengers who landed in Calgary or Montreal — two of the four cities, along with Vancouver and Toronto, where international flights are allowed to land during the pandemic. Read the rest at CBC News Morning Brief |
Cover image credit to pixabay
Designing my header image
For my new website I decided to design a new header image. Me, a guy that is not very artistic, decided to hand draw this image. These are the steps that I took.
My first step was to design my image. I didn’t spend that much time on this stage of my draft because it was a quick design of what I was going to do. I decided to implement the four major North American sports (Baseball, Ice Hockey, Football, Basketball).
This is the final sketch after I redrew the first draft with more detail. Switching the position of the hockey stick and baseball bat seemed more natural. Adding the baseball and the hockey stick seemed appropriate and it did a good job of filling some whitespace. Overall, I think it looked fine.
I always seemed to mess up my sketches when I tried to colour them by hand so I decided to scan my drawing and upload it into photoshop. After doing that, It was much easier to colour and the program made sure I didn’t leave any white spots. Using the paint bucket tool made it so much easier to colour in a certain area. This was for sure a pleasant experience.
This turned out to be my final draft and to be honest, I think it looks pretty good. It was also the first time using photoshop and from now on, I am going to use it more often. I tried my best to make the best of any art skills I have and it turned out to be better than what I expected.
Is Aaron Rodgers the best quarterback ever?
How does Aaron Rodgers, the most talented quarterback as some say, stand in the all time ranking of the position. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
The video showing the highlights of his career includes, arguably one of the best throws ever made in the history of the NFL. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
This is a photo of Aaron Rodgers (on the right) and the Packers visiting the white house after winning Super Bowl XLV. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
This tweet proves that even with him nearing the 40 year old mark, he still is one of the best in the game. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
However as this instagram post shows us, some people still think that Rodgers is not the best. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Cover Image: KA Sports Photos
This is what you should know about plagiarism
Many students and even professionals struggle with their attempt to avoid plagiarism as it is an extremely unethical action to take. Plagiarism refers to the act of publicly copying some or all of a literary work, scholarly article, or other text written by another person, or imitating an idea, as if it were original product of its own. Plagiarism is often confused with copyright infringement, but both have different contexts and orientations. Plagiarism happens in many levels of writing. For example, plagiarism can happen in a simple class essay in high school. However, professional authors and researchers are often called out for plagiarism. There are possibilities of getting expelled if caught plagiarizing other’s works. Many individuals, to avoid getting caught with plagiarism, cite their sources using websites such as Easybib. Easybib is a website that helps people cite their sources in MLA style format. Keeping a list of where an individual gets their information and quoting others can also help. There are many other ways to avoid plagiarism. Even with all the technology the world has, many are having problems to avoid plagiarism.
Image source: https://dal.ca.libguides.com/c.php?g=257112&p=5015647
Introduce Yourself (Example Post)
This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.
You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.
Why do this?
- Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
- Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.
The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.
To help you get started, here are a few questions:
- Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
- What topics do you think you’ll write about?
- Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
- If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?
You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.
Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.
When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.
Ben Park's blog 