Evaluation time...

Hi there.

Well, this is the last post on this experimental blog, experimental? Yes, because this blog born as a tool to improve my English level and I have to say that it was a awesome experience because I used to post in blogs a few years ago with a little difference, I didn’t post about me but post about funny videos or pictures nothing else, I didn’t use the blog as a diary of myself, so this experience was nice and above all I had to write in English which I don’t use to, so I could show some aspects of my life and improve my English level all of this added to the mechanic of blogger which is to find “ad – hoc” pictures to give some life to the post, your classmates comments, etc. I enjoyed it, as I’m some kind of geek, working on PC and trough Internet makes me a lot easier this part of the English lessons, which is because I enjoyed so much on working on blogger platform.

Of course this modality of work helps me to improve my English because I used to write more than the 150 word required for each post and this wasn’t for a better qualification or something like that but I couldn’t express what I had to say about any theme in less than 150 words so I extended unconsciously and I ended to write my post in 250 or 300 words so this modality, to me, was perfect to improve my English, besides there is a feedback with the teacher because he takes his time to check posts and correct them so I could edit my posts and improve them improving also my English.

Well, along this post I said all the advantages that I found on this modality of improve English but I don’t mentioned disadvantages, so to finish this last post I like to mention some of this disadvantages, there aren’t too many but it worth to mention. In first place feedback wasn’t very complete because there are many posts without correction, could be for the teacher’s very few time so I understand but this is one of the disadvantages. Secondly, with a Internet support could be easy to copy information and add it to the blog which wisely teacher avoid it making us write about our own experiences like “our future”, “favourite subjects”, etc. but on post with a little more of objective information could be a disadvantage because the “copy-paste” problem. These are 2 little disadvantages that I could mention in a whole excellent way to improve English.

Get paid to play!!!

Hi everybody.

In this post I’ll talk about my ideal job, which isn’t related to my career, funny isn’t it? Well my ideal job is to be a video game tester.

But first what is it? It’s a simple person who works on testing beta versions for videogames, so… what is a beta version? It’s a preliminary version of definitive videogame, which is lower in graphics quality and have many bugs so you must play a videogame over and over again to put it on its limits that allows you to find these bugs. (bug: fails in the videogame’s programming) in short, a person who get paid for play videogames.

Well, qualities for this job, in principle, not very much, only to be an expert “gamer” which already I’m, also it's necessary a highest observation and analysis capacity, an intermediate English level, I’m working on that by the way, Many, many, many free time, here I fail, I’m a student so I don’t have enough time for anything!!! And that’s it is all what an ordinary person needs to become a video game tester.

I’m an “gamer” since I started to think with an awesome Atari 2600 began my current journey through this freaky world so I played in most platforms knew like NES, SNES, Genesis, Megadrive, Amiga, 3DO, Jaguar, Saturn, PSX, and a very long etc. So, according to this I could be an excellent video game tester.

But, I’m in a far corner of the world where video games are seen as a diabolical way to see reality, causing mental sickness and the most, a child’s entertainment, in short, a limited and obtuse vision about what video games really are, so in Chile it’s impossible to live being a video game tester because there isn’t a developed video game industry in this part of the world, maybe if I travel to USA or Europe could be possible, but… dreaming is for free.

My favourite subject?

Well, this a hard question because this semester I had have some troubles to assist to classes, some troubles that aren’t worth to talk about here, so I really don’t know how to answer this question objectively, so based on my few assistance percentage I choose Workshop I, with Silvia Lamadrid and Manuel Vivanco as a teachers, or more specific, guide teachers.

Why likes me? Because is a non presence subject (jeje), which in this semester suits me perfectly because I work on my home and to my own rhythm and always can count with guides teachers for any question and doubt about my work, I like this subject also because we can do a research for our own, it means, we can choose any theme that interest us and develop it according to our own ways to see the problem that we’ll research.

Even with all of this freedom to work, my grades didn’t go very well because I don’t have much time to dedicate to this subject, and really for any subject, but I hope this change on the next semester. Anyway I learned a lot of things by doing a research for myself, for example, meet people of the real world (this sounded creepy, I know :P) of institutions and know how they work, which also is important to my future life because I’ll work on that area (city council), I hope so. Basically I learned the difference between the academic way to work and real way to work, and there is a really huge difference, so with these kinds of research I can barely imagine how I’ll have to move during my future jobs.

(mmmm I think and I think and I don’t find a proper picture for this post… so this one goes without any)

Schools kill creativity...

Sir Robinson talks about creativity creatively because use in his talks a lot of passion and a ironic humor, making jokes about his own life and experiences, something like a stand up comedy, like Jerry Seinfield or Larry Charles (two genre’s masters), so it’s nice to hear him and the 20 minutes fly away.

This talk is about how school kills creativity, how school system put in first place technical knowledge over arts and other activities. Robinson says that everyone in this childhood have a talent, a latent talent, which, in most cases, isn’t developed because the hierarchy of the school system all of this contributes to a inflation of the real qualifications because in this days a simple degree doesn’t assure a job, now it’s necessary an MBA or a PhD for the same jobs than before you could get only with a degree. He also speak about think creatively, and for this goes for the children again saying that in this period, children aren’t prepared for making mistakes, so if they say, make or do something wrong, they don’t care very much and this is the key about creatively thinking because without the possibility of being wrong never comes up a original idea.

But, as a real review, there aren’t only flatters for Sir Robinson, and this is my modest contribution to the discussion, because Sir Robinson gives to much importance to arts in the creativity thinking, in other words, creativity not only applies on arts but also in science and other kind of activities like sports, technology, etc and all of them must put in the same priority and not only technical knowledge with artistic knowledge, but being realistic this argument is utopian because implies change all the school system as we know and in Chile at least, we can see how students and teachers fight to change it without results, but change it hardly for a decent one.

The future is now...

In this post I talk about my future, well, I talk about my ideal future because nobody knows what will happen, some people says that on 2012 our world will finish as we know it, but forgetting this “prophecy” my near future I see it with my sociology degree and working in the area, working around my birth place (see profile) because I never liked Santiago as a place to live, work or anything. I like to live in my own house but this is not a priority because there isn’t rush to leave my parents’ house.

So, after a stable work, saving some money and travel to Japan, not for live in there but a couple of months only to learn real Okinawa Karate, yes, I’m an amateur “karateka” so I would like to travel to know the cradle of real karate and some of the most historical places like Himeji Castle, Mount Fuji, etc.

This is one of my primary objectives once I become an independent “boy”, but on the other hand I would like to enter in local politics, like a member of the local council or something like that, but definitively on my birth place, or could be near but not too far