General Motors - Moar like General Murderers amirite?

As we all know, General Motors is a company with a track record of sinister agendas when it comes to alternative fuel transportation. Sure, they're coming out with the "Volt", but how do we know it won't meet the same ugly fate as the EV-1 electric car?

Lancer V/i/deo

These are typical radio broadcasts of our various shows. Yeah, srsly.

Advertisment In The Age Of New Media by Ian Schultz

Our deep desires for new, fresh entertainment unfortunately also come with those little, pesky vermin I like to call advertisments. You might call them commercials, billboards, previews, ads; but it's all the same. What's even worse is that new types of marketing are always being sought out; every time you hear about a new, cool product on the market (be it a video game, cell phone, brand of cheese) there are dozens of people out there in the world who are thinking of interesting ways to get you to buy it. That's right you. You and everybody else in their regional market.
Suppliers want you to feel special, they want you to think that their product makes you unique. The suppliers speculate that if they can do that then you'll continue to consume their product often and faithfully, but this is wrong. What we want is constant variety and varied prototypes along with giveaways, free stuff, and if possible more free stuff. They can't very well give everybody stuff for free so they do promotions. The way promotions work is quite simple, the suppliers say that they'll give a fabulous prize to one lucky customer to move more units and then don't give anything to anybody. It's actually quite genius when you think about it. If that doesn't work then a liquidation soon follows. Liquidations are also simple, the supplier says he's going out of business and giving 80% of all merchadise, then he takes about 30%-40% off everything. What he does when the liquidation is over is the best part. He takes all the money he's just made and the left over product he has to move the store and change the name. That's just good business ethic.
Now imagine what suppliers and companies could do with access to the internet, broadcast radio, satellite radio, cell phone numbers, television, movies, billboards and more. We are soon stepping into the age of new media. Be prepared to get offers for things you never wanted in forms you never thought possible before. It all started with the rise of span and now it's growing uncontrollably. We're going to see the McDonald's infamous "M" an estimated 2,500,000 times in our lives, isn't that infuriating?
I personallly believe that to a certain extent we know what we want and don't want, therefore excessive advertising is redundant. I'm not saying that any is terrible but too much is sickening. If there is one thing I can think to say to make you believe that excessive advertising is damaging it's this-you are aware of more products on the market that you wouldn't buy than those that you would.

Online Gaming Addiction, myth or reality? by Cesar Ibarra

In today's crazy world some people like to enjoy themselves by playing video games but do some people take it to serious? a writer for Devhardware thinks solink some of us have even heard complaints from our families and significant others about the amount of time we spend playing online games rather than with them. Maybe a few of us have even wished we could sneak in a game while we were at work. But is this really a problem?
It might be. Psychologists and scientific researchers are beginning to recognize online gaming addiction as a growing phenomenon. News stories are bringing creating a growing awareness of the problem, and some gaming companies are even facing lawsuits from bereaved parents.
Online gaming addiction seems to be most widespread in Asia; at least, many of the more extreme news stories about it have been coming out of South Korea. It is no wonder, with about 30 percent of the population registered in online games. The country also has the world’s highest per-capita rate of broadband connectivity, at 70 percent. Those who don’t have broadband themselves can play online games such as World of Warcraft at any of the country’s highly popular Internet cafes, which typically charge the equivalent of US$1.00 an hour for computer time. On top of all this, South Korea hosts the annual World Cyber Games. Indeed, professional gamers in that country can make more than $100,000 a year. In this kind of environment, it is easy for anyone who might be susceptible to become addicted. But this begs the question: is online gaming really an addiction? I strongly belive so when I hear stories about a 13-year-old Chinese boy died falling from a building. His parents are suing Blizzard Entertanment, makers of World of Warcraft. The boy was allegedly re-enacting a scene from the game. In another story that came out of South Korea this year, a couple was arrested when their four-month-old daughter died of suffocation. The couple had left the infant alone in their apartment for several hours while they played World of Warcraft at a nearby Internet café. They told the police “We were thinking of playing for just an hour or two and returning home like usual, but the game took longer that day.” Stories like these are really hard to believe that the simple joy of video games lead into horrible accidents.

Digital Media, The Times They Are A Changin'. By Francine Bibian

What is digital media? While to some it might sound complicated, it is actually pretty simple to understand what digital media actually is. Some of you out there might think its pretty much anything that has to do with the computer or anything else digital, and to some extent you’re right. But it is also a more complex than we think. Digital Media is the combination of digital technology & creativity. Digital media is not just video and multi-media. It’s all the digital content that helps you to communicate with your market. Examples of digital media could include things such as digital video and film production, Interactive multimedia, (think myspace) digital photography, digital animation, graphic design for print and web, digital sound technology, and pod casts. I’m sure a lot of you guys watch tv or movies online, or upload music to your ipod. That’s what digital media is. Writing this blog online is another example of digital media. It is all around us and we just don’t realize how big a part is plays. It’s growing faster than any other type of content. There are more devices and software creating it than ever before. And the demand for digital media consumption is growing. A great example of digital media is the CD. The CD changed the way the world listens to music. No more putting the needle on the record. MP3's are now the favorite form of music. Songs can now be sent electronically through the internet thanks to the advances in digital media. DVDs as well have changed the way people watch movies, the picture and sound changed dramatically from the old video tapes we use to watch. These among many others are examples of how digital media has really improved our entertainment. Stores like Best Buy are one of the top sellers of digital media products; CD's, DVD's, camcorders, digital camera's computer's, and computer software, are among the many digital devices they sell in this store. Amoebas is a favorite for music lover's, they have a wide variety of CD's as well as the old school record. Digital Media is changing the world as we know. Everyone's life has been impacted by it someway or another. Whether your walking through the aisles of Amoebas in search of the next big band or roaming through Best Buy looking for a laptop that best fits your needs, we are living in an age where our everyday technology is changing rapidly.

Breaking rules 1 & 2 - Anonymous, /b/, Chanology, and Internet culture by Mark (the resident /b/tard)

Throughout the years many cultures among people have sprouted as a result of the environment around them and personal taste. With the rise of the Internet into the mainstream, a new culture has sprouted, the culture of the internet. In this day and age where many people converse with each other through internet forums (more commonly known as "message boards"), instant messaging clients such as MSN or IRC, and chatrooms, a very diverse culture has grown and evolved throughout the years. Within internet culture, anything goes and there are no limits to what can be poked fun at, no matter how serious or controversial the topic is. The practice of of poking fun at serious topics, controversies, etc. or people for fun is known as lulz, or getting a laugh at someone else’s expense. According to a Fox News report, “lulz” is a “corruption of lol, which stands for laugh out loud.” This culture is most prevelant on such websites as Encyclopedia Dramatica, a wiki that catalogues much of what goes on within the culture of the internet. Another notable site in which internet culture is quite prevelant is 4chan, an imageboard in which people can make posts under the pseudonym of "Anonymous" without having to register and set up an account. The most frequented board on the site is known as “/b/”, or “Random.” Of all the boards on 4chan, it is /b/ more than any other board that reflects the diverse and sometimes absurd culture that is exclusive to the internet. It is from 4chan’s /b/ board, as well as several related sites using the imageboards, that the collective of internet users known as Anonymous came into existence. Anonymous (often abbreviated as “Anon”) is a collective of users from the various imageboard sites who communicate with each other through the imageboards, as well as IRC and websites like MySpace or Youtube. The first mention of “Anonymous” in mainstream media came in the form of a severely skewed “investigation” on the users of 4chan and various related sites by a local Fox News affiliate (FOX11). In addition to further enforcing accusations against Fox News of bias and truth spinning, the “Fox News Investigation” also gave the “group” several nicknames such as “Internet Hate Machine” and “Hackers on Steroids.” Soon after, Anonymous adopted these monikers as a joke and these nicknames soon became synonymous with Anonymous. In 2008, a video from the Church of Scientology featuring Tom Cruise was leaked onto youtube and later deleted at the request of the church. As a result, A member of Anonymous, under the username of “Church0fScientology” posted a video on Youtube that declared the intentions of Anonymous to “go to war” with the church of Scientology. In this, Project Chanology was born. Soon afterward, many protests and demonstrations were held against the church at various locations throughout 2008. With internet culture finding its way out of the virtual realm and into the real world with such instances as Project Chanology, it is accurate to say that this is a culture that won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

Students of the Month: Interview with Dave

This is our interview with character impersonator Dave. Enjoy!

Students of the Month: Lancer LowDown

From the bowels of the Interwebs comes Students of the Month, a one-shot radio show starring the 5 contributors that keep the Internet Hate Machine up and running. Click on the banner to listen to our show!

The Move to Digital Recording - By Alex

For several decades, our ears have enjoyed the sound quality of Analog music recording. The Phonograph cylinder, created by Thomas Edison in 1877, was the very first music storage medium to grace planet Earth, which sold millions of units across America by the early Nineteen Hundreds. More improvements and modifications were made to Thomas's original design over the next few decades, where we receive the records and record players that were popular in the early twenties. Magnetic Tape recording, which steamed from Magnetic Wire recording, was the next big step in the music recording industry, it was considered revolutionary technology because it allowed the sound engineers and music groups to edit or rerecord the music onto the tape unlike the oil records that preceded it. The magnetic tape remained the most prominent audio storage device for over seventy-five years and did not recede until the nineties, despite the fact that digital recording devices were in use during the last ten years of it's existence. Analog recording is achieved by the use of a small microphone that detects the changes in air pressure, which is caused by acoustic sound waves, and records them as graphic sound waves on mediums such as the Phonograph. As the century was coming to an end, a new form of recording arose to take analog's place for the new century, digital. Digital sound recording did not occur until 1982 with the creation of the compact disc along with other storage mediums such as the mini-disc player. The means by which digital sound is created is by taking the analogue signal and converting it to binary code-ones meaning on and zeroes meaning off, which are also called "bits"-that accurately copies the Analog signal with a lower signal-to-noise ratio. Being that the audio has been converted to a digital signal, the audio must be stored in digital storage devices such as a CD or MP3 player, for this, the audio is saved in files called MP3's that are very small in capacity, which is one of the advantages of digital recording as one can have literally thousands of songs on an MP3 player. Although digital sound recording is considered superior to analog sound recording, it has not yet been completely accepted in the world. Sound technicians as well as music artists that grew up with analog claim that there is a special quality, a "warmth", about analog recording that is absent in digital recording. The new generation that has grown up with digital disagree as there is less distortion and noise in digital music, but perhaps that is the reason why the older generation prefers analog over digital. Digital sounds too perfect, so perfect that a song may seem almost boring compared to the analog counterpart. I can sympathize with those who prefer analog, they love it because it reminds them of the old days; nostalgia, but with the new generation comes new technology, that is the way of time. Analog will never disappear from the music industry, it has merely just retired to let the new form of recording take its place.

Meet the Legion!

Who are we? We're the ones in charge of this blog (moar like /b/log amirite?). Lets mee the crew.




Mark
The names Mark. However, you might know me as "Jon Schwartzman" on the air. As the primary updator of this blog, I'll be addressing myself as "Schwartzman". I attend Pasadena City College. Its pretty cool methinks. I took TVR 14A in fall 2008. Its quite an interesting class to take. Thus far, working on this /b/log has been my favorite part of the class. Voice acting is juts one of my many talents. It would appear that I'm the only one in the group who has any knowledge of HTML coding. As you probably know, HTML coding is the heart of the Internet. Its the raw code from which websites are built. I'm the resident /b/tard in this group. I'm not about to get into what a /b/tard is though. If you want to know, you'll have to lurk moar. I do most of the grunt work that keeps the Internet Hate Machine running so that it can continue to corrupt LOL into LULZ. Such work includes coding HTML, and making various graphics. I'm the genius behind this /b/log's design. It is based on the diverse internet culture found on such websites as 4chan, Ebaumsworld, etc. However, there's a good chance you probably have no idea whatsoever what I'm talking about. Again, in such an instance, LURK MOAR! I used to use an online game known as "Second Life". Some of you might know what that is and some might not. For the record, that picture in my bio is my character in Second Life. However, I was IP b& from the server back in October for griefing. Oh well, nothing lasts forever. As such, I'll be back in Second Life soon enough!





Alex
Alex is the name, reporting the news on the radio is my game. I usually try to find the weirdest story I can find and announce it over the air for everyone to here-which isn't exactly a good thing-but heck, it's interesting. I've been lingering around the campus of Pasadena City College for over a year now: I've met cool people, taken cool classes, and did a whole mess of cool things like help make this blog you are reading. What I hope to do here at PCC is learn as much as I possibly can, and I mean EVERYTHING, about television. I’m here in TVR 14A, writing for radio and “the new media”, because I thought it would be a good idea to branch out a little from TV, after all the more you know the more marketable you are. Here's some advice to all of you that wish to be a DJ or an Announcer of any kind: DO NOT RIP AND READ. This advice is especially critical if you wish to take TVR 14A with my instructor Mrs. Canfield, if she catches you reading a story straight from the paper without adding anything of your own, it's over. Thanks for listening to my boring life, now you can listen to my boring news stories on Lancer Radio.





Francine
Well what is there to say about me? Not much, but I will definitely try my best to let you all know who I am and what I am about. I'm here at pasadena city college trying to figure out what to do with myself much like most of the other students here. I love music and going to concerts, watching indie movies and looking at art. The great thing about art is that most of it is free because it is all around us. I try and see the good in people and give them the benefit of the doubt. I'm currently taking tvr 14 with the rest of these guys. I never knew how much work it took to put on a radio show and no longer see it as the thing that just happens to be on while I am in my car. I have a whole new perspective on the radio biz. If this class has taught me anything it's that you can't let your nerves get the best of you. You just have to go all out. You can't be afraid of sounding silly or dumb, you just got to get out there and do it. When told that we would have to make a blog and eventually post something about ourselves I was not feeling it. But I am pleasantly surprised that I actually took a liking to it and have now started a blog of my own. (thanks Ms. Canfield) Life's about taking chances, you never know where it can take you. Don't be afraid to be yourself! (so cheesy, I know!!)





Ian David Schultz
This is Ian. The bit of color that goes into the group, if you know what I mean. I'm the film buff in the group as well. I write a lot and listen to a lot of music. My favorite food is toaster strudel and I'm not a big fan of pop-tarts. I like to think I'm the funny one in the group as well but we've all tossed a few jokes around here and there. Feel free to enjoy our podcasts. We've posted radio shows that we've recorded so don't hesitate to give them a listen. They have good stories, good music, and bloopers, if I'm not mistaken. I know I'm supposed to be talking about myself but I put that advertisement in there so that the people that read this are more compelled to give our podcasts a listen. We call that good promotion, because good promotion is blatant, obvious, (LISTEN TO OUR PODCASTS) and frequent.





Cesar
Candlejack. Hi my name is Cesar I'm