Articles written by Joel Meeks

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About me - Joel Meeks

My name's Joel Meeks, and I've been writing for the past six or seven years, although it's been mostly recreational. I love to write, but I tend to do it in bursts, as opposed to planned texts written over a period of time. I'm attending college right now

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Entertainment > Movie Genres What makes a scary movie scary: 1 of 57
Horror films are a mix of different things. They're a concoction of fear that will, when combined correctly, leave you glancing behind you even after you've finished watching. The biggest thing that a scary movie can do to scare you is build up a firm foundation for the characters and the environment. Once the characters b... More..
Relationships & Family > Communication Issues Communicating in text-message style: Is it ruining real communication?: 1 of 37
Text messaging is not ruining modern communication, and it can sometimes even help to improve it. Although many people think that texting is the reason for teenagers using shorthand so often, this is simply untrue. This assumption is similar to the concept that playing violent video games or watching violent movies. People... More..
Arts & Humanities > Political Philosophy Why socialism cannot succeed: 3 of 27
Socialism is bound to fail every time. As a child, I discovered that if I was given a chore to do, I could usually get out of it by not doing it. Putting it off for a long enough amount of time usually meant that someone else would eventually become frustrated enough with the clothes on the floor or the dishes in the sink, ... More..
Hobbies & Games > Hobbies & Games (Other) Is gaming addiction a problem?: 4 of 26
There are a lot of different things in today's world that a person can be addicted to: Drugs, alcohol, sex, adrenaline rushes and, sometimes, video games. While addiction, in and of itself, is never a good thing, an addiction to video games is one of the least harmful and one of the most beneficial. The first thing that ma... More..
Hobbies & Games > Video Games (Other) Should neutral be a playable faction in The World of Warcraft?: 3 of 12
World of Warcraft is a game that thrives on, well, warcraft. Introducing a neutral faction into the game would ultimately degrade the playing experience, and although it would initially create an appeal to a broader range of people, it would eventually push the more dedicated gamers out the door. Blizzard goes to great leng... More..
Hobbies & Games > Video Game Reviews Video game reviews: Spore (PC): 4 of 10
Spore is a title that was put onto the shelves a little while ago by Electronic Arts, with an RPG-esque expansion pack (not included in this review) very recently being released for it. Spore had the expectation of being one of the largest, most customizable games of its time, and in a lot of ways, it lived up to those expec... More..
Hobbies & Games > Video Games (Other) Top SNES games of all time: 3 of 6
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was from a simpler time, with simpler graphics, level designs and level progression. Yet somehow, the SNES managed to pump out an entire slew of classic video games that continue to be enjoyable titles to this day. Unfortunately, only so many of them can be crammed into this article and... More..
Hobbies & Games > Video Game Reviews Video game reviews: Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES): 1 of 2
Battletoads in Battlemaniacs is one of the hardest, and most entertaining, side-scrolling brawlers available on the SNES and, perhaps, on any console. The game opens to Northern Tibet, where the Toads are visiting the Gyachung-La Fortress, where Professor T-Bird is introducing Psicone's new virtual reality system T.R.I.P.S (... More..
Sciences > Psychology Is the Ulla Zang Personality Test accurate or not?: 1 of 1
I used to be a fanatic about personality tests and quizzes. I enjoyed taking the tests, and reviewing the results to see if they matched what I thought of myself. Over the years, I have come to realize, however, that most tests are simply generalized statements that are meant to induce a fuzzy feeling in the reader; to create... More..
Hobbies & Games > Video Game Reviews Video game reviews: Contra III (SNES): 2 of 2
Contra III: The Alien Wars is a challenging but very entertaining side-scrolling shooter that not only lives up to the Contra series expectations, but outdoes the games that came before it. Contra III has obvious advantages over its predecessors, in that its console, the SNES, is a bit more advanced than the NES. With bette... More..