Week 4 EOC: There's an App for That

Although I’m sure the app I would invent has already been invented in some fashion, I feel that it would solve a few problems for a lot of people. The app is called Phonedar, which will allow you to locate your phone wherever it is, by accessing this app either through another phone or through an internet site.

Everyone loses their phone and everyone resorts to the same few ways of finding them. You check the last place you remember it being, sure. But we know one of the most reliable ways to find our phones is to just use another phone to call it. If you are anywhere near a computer, you can use the apps website to call your phone for you so you can hear and locate your phone.

But imagine you’re at school, work. Do you put your phone on vibrate? Or how about when you’re in church? You probably just silence your phone. If you lose your phone then, how are you going to call it and locate it? With the use of the web site or the Phonedar app on another smartphone, you are able to remotely turn off the silence mode on your phone and activate your ringtone.

With the Phonedar you may also use GPS to remotely track your phones physical location to further help you find it. Maybe you left it at a friends’ house, or the grocery store.

Of course, to prevent the misuse of an app that could compromise a persons’ safety (GPS finder) the app would need you to create an account and would be password protected so that only you and people you choose and trust could access any of the features of Phonedar.

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

For Halloween 2012, the producers of Minecraft and Microsoft teamed up to provide us with special Halloween skins for the game Minecraft on Microsoft's Xbox. The skin pact of 55 skins sold for $2 and all of the proceeds were split four ways and donated to four different charitable foundations.

http://drippler.com/microsoft/xbox_360#!528222

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120325-Minecraft-XBLA-Gets-Spooky-Skins-For-Charity

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/25/minecraft-xbla-gets-a-pack-full-of-skins-for-halloween/

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

The largest cohort since the Baby Boomers, their high numbers reflect their births as that of their parent generation..the last of the Boomer Is and most of the Boomer II s. Gen Y kids are known as incredibly sophisticated, technology wise, immune to most traditional marketing and sales pitches...as they not only grew up with it all, they’ve seen it all and been exposed to it all since early childhood. Gen Y members are much more racially and ethnically diverse and they are much more segmented as an audience aided by the rapid expansion in Cable TV channels, satellite radio, the Internet, e-zines, etc.
Gen Y are less brand loyal and the speed of the Internet has led the cohort to be similarly flexible and changing in its fashion, style consciousness and where and how it is communicated with.
Gen Y kids often raised in dual income or single parent families have been more involved in family purchases...everything from groceries to new cars. One in nine Gen Yers has a credit card co-signed by a parent.



This definition of my generation brings up a lot of good points that kind of characterize people that are my age (in general). We are more technologically savvy than ours parents and have been exposed to this technology as it develops. School systems recognized the importance technology had in the work place and started teaching us how to use computers. I learned how to use word, powerpoint and excel in middle school.

I also find it interesting that the definition states that millennials are immune to traditional marketing and sales pitches from being exposed our entire lives. I do have fond memories of certain commercials that would play while i was watching cartoons after school. It always seemed like there was more commercial play than cartons themselves.

My mother was in and out of relationships during my childhood but she did find a few suitors that stuck around for several years. Although i guess i was almost always in a dual income family. 

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

            Although I do not believe that the video game market is “recession proof”, I do believe that the recession has a big impact on the targeted demographic that video games depend on to drive their sales which indirectly affects the video game market.

“A combination of console price cuts, a holiday rich in spending and the recent release of several chart-busting titles helped the game industry pull in $5.53 billion in December alone, according to the NPD Group. “(http://kotaku.com/5449233/video-games-survive-recession-but-at-what-cost)

            Although video game sales had been down since the beginning of 2009, the sales skyrocketed towards the holiday season. Why is that? A slight rise is expected because of gifting during the holidays, but these companies also realized that the targeted demographic were not able to afford their products and so they slashed prices in order to make a budget.

“Games cost too much: The popularity of used videogames simply indicates that players are seeking to mitigate those costs from both ends, by buying low-cost used games and/or selling games back for store credit.” (

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/04/opinion-kohler-video-expensive/)

Another way of looking at things, however, is to say that spending on gaming is driven by big hits, and that the slight decline in 2009 reflects creative rather than economic weakness. (http://www.economist.com/node/15773828)

            The last two quotes show that the gaming industry is also heavily affected by the creative (or uncreative) content that it produces and what people are willing to pay for it. The big hits will always attract a crowd of people willing to pay full price for it on the day of its’ release, but the fact is the value of the games differs from person to person. And thanks to the existence of stores like GameStop that sell used games, there will always be a dip in the profits of the game producers as they see no income from the re-sales.

Week 1: My Voice

My name is Brandon Sisouphone, and I am a young audio enthusiast studying audio engineering and hoping to some day make a living in the audio field.

            I was born on December 20^th 1990 in Charlotte, North Carolina. My fascination with sound began when I was very little. As a toddler I would bang on pots and pans and listen to the sounds they made. I also have memories of trying to mimic the pitch of the vacuum cleaner, trying to hit the same fundamental harmonic and hear it vibrate inside my head (which is a real thing, I swear I’m not crazy!!!).

            My mother always had a unique taste in music and although I don’t really listen to the same music she listens to (The Cure, The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen), I find that her taste in music has definitely influenced mine. Thanks to this, I feel like I have a greater appreciation of certain styles of music and even though I like very energetic and happy music (punk-ska for the win), some of my favorite songs tend to be sadder and more emotional songs that I can connect a certain memory or several memories to.

            I’m not too sure what it is exactly that I want to do after I graduate. I’ve thought about maybe trying to further my education with a masters of some sort. As far as a career, a music producing career of some sort would always be ideal, but I’ll honestly take what I can get. I do like room acoustics and voice recording, and wouldn’t mind doing ADR for films, tv shows, commercials, cartoons, video games etc.  As long as I put my degree to good use and love what I’m doing I’ll be fine.

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Support

The place where I receive the best customer service i think is Bank of America.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about THE Bank of America, but rather the location that is next to my house where I do my banking. Regardless of what I think about the company, or how I feel after they refuse to up my credit card limit after I've been banking with them for several years, or how I feel when I try to get a car loan because my car breaks down, or how I feel when they "accidentally" charge some kind of fee to my account and say it was a mistake, or how when I apply for another credit card they tell me to call a number in a few minutes so see if my application goes through and then they tell me that they won't know for seven to ten business days...

Regardless of what I think of the company, the people that work there are really nice, both to look at and personality wise (as far as I can tell). They always smile and seem like they are interested in what I have to say. They have even helped me fix these so-called "accidental" fees and have gotten me my money back plus extra inconvenience money. They are nice and they help me to the best of their abilities even though their company is the devil.

I guess that's probably exactly what they want though right? The company is terrible, but good-looking, doe-eyed brunettes with thick-rimmed glasses and soft, sweet voices are the mask that conceals it all... And they just keep reeling me back in.