I use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram mainly to stay connected with my friends who live in different states.  I'm mainly on Twitter because there are many opportunities for me to enter contests and win free stuff.  Twitter is also the place where I first here about breaking news stories.  With Facebook and Instagram I feel it is more of a popularity contest to see who can have the most friends or followers.  I know many people who add people just so they can get more likes on pictures and to show how many friends they have.  I know people who add someone they only met once just so they can have over a thousand friends.  
I wouldn't consider myself addicted to social media, just because I so rarely go on theses sites.  I would say I'm addicted to my phone, I play games, take pictures, and always check my email.  More recently I have kept my phone extra close to me only because I am excepting a phone call for a new job.  I love my phone, but I could definitely go 24 hours without my phone.

I think that the film Gamer failed to please audiences and critics because it was so far fetched and over the top.  I also think it depends on the viewer.  In my opinion I didn't like the film because I think the idea of people controlling other people as a video game character is just really unrealistic.  In a way we are sometimes controlled by other people, for example we have to follow rules in school and laws.  The idea of our actions actually being controlled by someone with a remote is very unrealistic.

The 3-D in this film distracts the audience from the obvious racism taking place throughout the film.  Since the audience is to focused on all the amazing effects, feeling like they are apart of the Na'vi, they aren't too concerned about the plot of the movie.  

Neal Gabler states, "These shows are pure wish fulfillment.  They offer us friends and family at one's beck and call but without any of the hassles." Shows like Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory make it seem like their lives are perfect and they know everything about one another.  In reality we are lucky if we get to see our friends and family as much as the characters on the show.  The reason people enjoy such shows is because we wish our lives could be that simple and fun.
In Modern Family they are always at one another's homes or school functions, I'm lucky enough to live just around the corner from the majority of my family. The difference from my family to this T.V. family is even though I live so close to my family I rarely see them because we are all busy in our own lives.  I mainly see my family on holidays unlike in Modern Family where they have a family meal every night.  Although we wish that could happen and everyone to get along we know that is a far stretch from reality.
In The Big Bang Theory friends just walk in and out of each others houses, most times I would try to do that at a friends house the door would most likely be locked.  It's nice to imagine that in this fake world people are trusting to leave their houses unlocked for friends to enter and watch T.V.  I enjoy watching these shows because they have such over the top humor you know that this would never happen in real life.  

Before attending college I thought the only thing that a bookstore sold was books.  The first time I entered the store I was completely shocked and thought I was in the wrong place.  When you first enter you are drawn into the school apparel, recreational reading, electronics, and a variety of school supplies.

For this assignment I visited the Matador bookstore and took a look at how the store is set up and the products they sell.  Directly in front is the school apparel, t-shirts, sweats, water bottles, sweatshirts.  To the right is all of the recreational reading materials, no school books yet, a little bit beyond that are electronics that are able to students.  To get to the textbooks you have to go towards the back of the store away from everything else.  The store tries to market items at college students by giving discounts on certain products and making it seem like a good deal.  They also have t-shirts geared towards parents, for example "Cal Sate Northridge Dad." 

I believe that the clothing is placed in front of the store is to draw the parents and new students to support school spirit by buying apparel.  I think that apparel dominates the store because there are multiple designs for sweatshirts and t-shirts with different colors that take up pretty much the whole front section.  When you walk in you forget that you are in a bookstore and feel more like you are in a clothing store.  Most items located in the front of the store aren't really necessary needs and those items that are necessary are located in the very back.

Thomas Hine defines packaging as "the shape and design of the packages that contain about every product we consume have been carefully calculated to stimulate consumption." We all get excited by the way something looks and feel that we have to buy this item just because it seems cool.  
On a visit to Disneyland I decided to wonder in the stores and noticed that everything was either Mickey Mouse or Mickey Mouse shaped.  You get drawn in first by the shape of the item, then by the vibrant colors mostly used on Disney merchandise. We might not need this item, but we want something to remember our fun Disneyland trip buy.  When you walk out of the store you are hit with tons of smells from the different vendors and the restaurants throughout the park.  Disneyland uses a trick where they filter the smells of churros or cookies throughout the park to make guests hungry forcing them to spend ridiculous amounts of money on junk food. As an annual pass holder I know to bring in my own snacks and drinks so I won't be tempted to spend my whole paycheck on a visit to the park.  Packaging stimulates the desire to buy, according to Hine because we all see ourselves as consumers, we have the ability to buy something or just leave it where we found it.  Mickey Mouse has been around for a while, he is even on a children's show, a child will want to buy anything that is in the shape of this famous mouse.  Disneyland will continue to thrive because they are advertised everywhere and everyone has heard about Disneyland.  Enjoy this clip of a speech Walt Disney gave on the grand opening of Disneyland in July 1955.