"Three New Music Services to Try in the New Year " - NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2008/12/23/23readwriteweb-new_year_new_music_services.html

[video] WARNING! The Feds Can Listen to Cellphones Even when Turned Off

Presentations

I was really happy with the presentations from both days. I was glad to see a variety of different topics that all connected back to topics we have discussed in class. I was glad to see that for the most part no two groups did the same project. One of the projects I found most relative to the class and the Professor's push for creativity was Corey's "The Bishop's Ear" website/blog. That really surprised me when I found out that he was the brains behind the operation. I thought that was a great project that may get overlooked because he didn't have the final presentation most of the class had. I am very pleased with the reactions the groups/presenter have gotten from the rest of the class, and what has happened once the classes have ended. I am glad to see that the groups that have done videos have been able to put their videos on YouTube for others to see; also, I think it is very interesting how the beer Mike Sam and Jeff's group presented on has sold out at Wegman's. It just goes to show that they did a good job marketing the product they presented on. That also entails that people aren't just thinking of the information that gets presented in class but outside as well. I too went to Wegman's to see if I could get ahold of some Flying Dog but was unsuccessful. I do wish I had at least gotten a quick summary of what the other members of the class did their final presentations on just to get a basic idea of what they did and how it could relate to the class. Nothing special but just a quick, "I did this and found that..."

Overall I think the final presentations were a great ending to the class because not only did they relate to the class but they concluded our findings from class readings and discussions.

Risk or Fear? What about both?

I thought last Thursday's class was a great class because the constructive criticism we received really helped to push us in a way we should have realized a couple of weeks ago. I think if we had a couple more weeks left in the semester and weren't seeing final presentations tomorrow, I think the class responses to the readings as well as the class as a whole would have changed significantly. It was important to have that negative feedback because that's what way we learn, or me at least. If I do something right the first time, great, wonderful, but if I do something wrong and am criticized for it, then in the end I think I will come away with more of an understanding than if I had just gotten it wrong the first time. We learn from our mistakes. To quote a quote from National Treasure on Thomas Edison and the creation of the light bulb, "I didn't fail. I found 2000 ways not to create a light bulb; I only need to find one way to make it work."

What about this risk, fear thing? Going off on my comment to the post "Hell yeah I'm scared," in class for example, I don't think it is necessarily the risk that makes people not talk, I think it is the fear of rejection. I think people are afraid, myself included, about voicing their opinion sometimes in fear of being heavily criticized. Once Professor started criticizing the groups about their lack of creativity on their group discussions, I think a lot of people were scared to speak their opinion in fear of being criticized even further. That is also why I think people are hesitant to speak for their group, because they are afraid of being criticized. When that persons speaks for their group, as listeners we associate that's groups outcome with that person and not the group. If a group gets heavily criticized I think it is easy for the members other than the spokesperson to kind of sink down in their chairs as if it wasn't their mistake or their view.

Clue Train Manifesto/Article conversation

Group Conclusion:
Agree with the NY Times article. does absolutely appeal to millenians. Exxagerated a little bit. formula for how a good idea gets brought up through the ranks. less of a work ethic today. people used to getting things handed to them. no appreciation for goods. Work ethic has changed. not just internet but values, set of rewards. Parenting and society. No more winner and loser, now winner and second winner. positive reinforcement. no more black and white. don't take the article or as an insult.

Class Response:
C.T. use social networking to communicate. Have internet restrictions. Some Top down authority. Depends on how loose it is. Give some freedoms.

Response email to Mackenzie Wark's chart

After class last week when we tried to figure out how to read the chart, (chart before paragraph 53) I thought I might shoot Mr. Wark an email asking him how to read the shot just for the heck of it. I just explained that we were reading "Gamer Theory" in class and I just asked him if he could givie us some direction or explanation of how to read the chart. Here was his reponse:

The time axis runs left to right; the vertical axis has things that are more like forms or processes at the bottom and more subjective or cultural things at the top. The left hand column gives the case, and -- reading left to right -- three instances of that case which come one after the other. The topical becomes the topographic becomes the topological. That's the essential thesis of the chapter. To each stage corresponds an ethos. Myth is the ethos of the topical (think ancient greeks). Storyline is the ethos of the topographic (the example is Cooper's Last of the Mohicans). Each topos as a line of increasing complexity, from the trails of Cooper's novel to the telegraph to the internet. Which makes action of increasing scale possible. Then the top half is more about a succession of aesthetic forms, subjective experiences, etc. The time frames are actually quite different for each series so they don't necessarily coincide. Lukacs and Cooper are not contemporaries, for example. Almost everything on Fig. C gets a mention in the chapter. Its really just a diagram what's going on in the writing. You could read it as a parody of the charts in textbooks, and as such a provocation to thought.

k

Gamer Theory

When I first started reading Gamer Theory last week I think the main reason why I didn't like its style was because I was not expecting it and because I didn't know how to get the information out of it. The more I read the more I like the book because it is different and because I haven't read a book in this format before. I also like the book because it leaves a lot of room for discussion and other interpretations of the text. There was a great deal of this last class, and I think these discussions will continue tomorrow but I think everyone will have a better understanding of how to deal with the style this book is written in.

Just a quick side note, I know we had labeled Merel's crazy flying images presentation on the second teaching day as "useless," but I couldn't help but notice how many times her "useless" topic has been brought up in class discussions. There have been at least three or four times when I have heard someone use her example and I think it is great I would not be suprised to hear it used again tomorrow.

Ups and downs of a digital-age campaign - The Boston Globe

Ups and downs of a digital-age campaign - The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

Now I do understand that the majority of the examples in this article are about Mitt Romney, but the main ideas do relate to class and some discussions we have had. Also this article relates to class because of its terms like "gatekeeping" as we have read about in Boler.

10/30 class reaction

I thought last Thursday's teaching day was really great however I think that is the last one we should do. It was fun while it lasted but I think that has been enough. I do think the topics this time were much more exciting than the topics from the first teaching day. I thought there were some really great topics and I am especially glad the groups were bigger and that each group sent two people up to teach their topic because it let us hear more topics. I like how we had discussions about the topics without ever saying that we should have discussions, I like how they just emerged. I am looking forward to hearing the last couple presentations and then hopefully we can talk a little bit more about the election since it will be election day.

Terrorist 'tweets'? US Army warns of Twitter dangers (Article)

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081025182242.js2g2op8&show_article=1

Microsoft Movie Maker

Screen Shot 1


Screen Shot 2



To download Microsoft Movie Maker, go to www.download.com and search "movie maker."

Break Research

Over break I followed the opinions of reports and people within the poilitical community and their view of voter fraud and how it may affect the upcoming election. Basically what the majority of the reporters hope to avoid is another Florida recount that may swing the election again. As the week progressed I learned about the Acorn viting fraud scandall and its involvement with Senator Obama.


As for class and the video making process, it's all fairly easy. All you really have to do is click and drag what you want into the slots below then add some music and fancy transition affects to spice it up. (I will go into more details tomorrow) Once it is saved onto your computer you can then just post it on your blog to present to the class.

Quick note on the readings

As I was reading "Whacking Bush" I couldn't help but think of all the movies and shows and so on that depict President Bush, well, as not the brightest bulb. Over the past two weeks I have been watching playoff baseball pretty religiously on TBS. There is one comedian, Frank Caliendo, who is famous for his impersonations of John Madden, Dr. Phil, Al Pacino, and most notably George Bush. It is then that I realized just how many poeple and how many shows really poke fun at our President.

As for the other readings I thought the chapter on White Supremacy and how it has moved to the internet as a means of practice was very interesting. As for the Rebooting America Articles, I didn;t think they were nearly as good as the articles we read the other day, I thought those ones were much more interesting.

VP Debate and Twitter

I didn't really like using twitter to share my thoughts on the debate, I mean its a good concept but I would have liked to been able to see everyone else's comments and agree or disagree on those as opposed to most of us saying more or less the same thing. I also found myself jumping back and forth to my computer just to see if it was working. I think if I was to do it again I would skip the whole text messaging part and just use my computer. Also I wasn't 100% positive I set everything up correctly; whenever I would text my comment to twitter, it would just show up on my page and my page only. I was the only one on my page and my comments weren't ending up at Prof. Dean's page where I thought they were supposed to go.

In regards to the debate itself, I think it was pretty much even. I think many people watched to see if Palin would flop, but she didn't. I think she did much better in the beginning and Biden came on strong in the end. I have read some articles and reviews that said that many people, at the University of Wisconsin for example started leaving partway through the debate after they noticed that Palin did not flop. It will be interesting to see what the debate tonight brings.

Don't Vote

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8y1e-z1JA0

Stat Counter

If anyone knows how to get the stat counter "gadget" for Blogger could you please let me know because I can't find one that works. Thanks

Class 9/25

I definitely think today's class was helpful because it definitely helped clear up some confusions I had about some of the points Andrejevic was making in the iMedia chapter. I think it was very helpful to stay in one larger group as opposed to smaller groups because not only do I think it is good to hear everyone's opinion, but also because it gives Prof. Dean a chance to interject at any point and push our thinking further. I am just curious to see if we are going to do that for any other chapters and/or if we are going to discuss the final chapters of the book since we didn't mention really any of the last couple chapters we read for today.


Also, to go back to the guy in Geneva who didn't know there was an election going on and didn't know who was running, I am just wondering if this person had any kind of mental illness because I don't understand how one could not even realize there is an election taking place. I mean if this person just goes for a walk down the street, they may see signs for a specific candidate, or bumper stickers or hear someone talking about who they think should win with a friend. All in all I think there was a little more to the story than some guy in his house who had no idea what was going on in the world.

Homeland Security Detects Terrorist Threats by Reading Your Mind

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426485,00.html

2 hospital workers fired for taking photos. posting on MYSPACE...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080922/ap_on_re_us/hospital_photos_1

9/18 response

Thursday's class was very interesting because I think it brought many points to the table, both good and bad. However there was one point that I think was a little over the board was the point that because the "universe is public." I think that is absolutely ridiculous because if you say the universe is public (therefore someone can have records of what you have done online) would be like saying it is ok for you to walk into a strangers house, sit down, and when they come over to you to ask you why you are in their house, you respond by saying the universe is public so its ok.

I think when it comes down to it, I don't mind if someone is watching what I do online, but I can definately see why this would create controversy. I agree with JD when he says the government and FBI etc. should watch what we do online. If we are doing something suspicous like looking up how to make a bomb online, or something that could be related to terrorist activity, then I hope they watch that person. Again, when I heard the story about the FBI agents coming to HWS to see about the students looking up how to make boms, I was glad to hear about that, that made me feel much safer because it helped me realize that there really are people out there looking out for our safety.

Class Response

Is being datamined that bad?
Should the government do anything?

I really don't think that datamining is that bad. I guess I don't think it is a big deal because I have nothing to hide, if someone wants to see how many times I go to ESPN.com a day or something like that, then go ahead, go nuts. I don't understand why people make it such a big deal if they have nothing to hide. I think the government should continue datamining for our county's safety. The story about the student having to search how to make a bomb only to have the FBI show up, isn't the only story like that that I have heard. I think its good that they are doing that. I would be pretty upset if there was another terrorist attack one day and after the attack occurred and the government searched the persons computer, that they found out the person who made the bomb looked up how to do so online and just purchased the products online just like that. I feel this process has saved thousands of lives and prevented many attacks, so I see no reason why the government should make any changes.

Assignment 2

Do you feel that the technologies you use configure you or make you who you are? Why are why not? Don't forget that books, pencils, and words are technologies that we often take for granted. Be sure as well to consider writing and the differences between writing and hearing (literate and oral cultures). How are digitally mediated interactions like a new kind of orality (secondary orality)?



I absolutely believe the technologies I use make me who I am. I have been taking art classes and computer related art classes for a while now and I definitely think that is why I am interested in fields such as advertising, marketing, graphic design, and architecture. Music has also helped me with projects I have done and am currently working on because it helps me be more creative.

A great example of the differences between writing and hearing for me came this summer when a friend and I were working on a project to design a logo for a video game. The creators had already come up with the name, Crescendo, and it was our job to come up with its logo. The more and more logos I created led me to notice that there were more or less two groups of logos, one based on the look and spelling of the word, and the other based on its sound. The hardest part of this project has been trying to combine the two groups to create the logo that best fits the game and that will meet the creators expectations. In designing the logo's, there are many ways to show the same logo because electronic text is so easy to manipulate as mentioned in From Pencils to Pixels by Baron.

I agree with Carlo Scanella as mentioned on the blog titled Inward and Onward when they say,

"In particular, the group or community-based blog encourages a “return of the oral,” as the words typed into a blog are not closed, not final, but open-ended, as is a conversation. They’re specifically written with the expectation of a response, inside the blog’s “comments” sections. The “interior conscious” that print encourages is now, on the blog, an exterior consciousness, captured within a database."

because not only are blogs an example of a "secondary orality" but so are things like talking through AIM, or text messages.

Assignment 1

Does it matter if an interaction occurs face to face? Why? What suppositions do you bring to bear in thinking about this question?

It absolutely matters if an interaction occurs face to face and a great example was yesterday in class, because the Professor wasn't there and the instructions were just posted on the blog you could tell just by listening to other students mumbling about before we created our circle, that many of us were confused. I think it is must easier to hold an interaction face to face because not only is it more genuine, but it also helps to clarify the point one is trying to make to the other. If we (the students) were to have that entire conversation we had in class through our blogs, I honestly probably would not have taken the time to read everyone's entry and really take the time to try and figure out the point they were trying to make. Face to face interaction is especially important because I feel it make the conversation real. What I mean by that is online you can be whoever you want to be, you can lie all you want an no one will know because they don't see who that are talking to; they may believe it's one person when in reality it can be someone else. Face to face interaction is also shows that you care and are interested at the topic being discussed. When you are interacting with someone face to face, it is easier to have in depth discussions and tell how someone really feels about the subject due to their facial expressions and body language. As mentioned in the article What a face can do by Richard Rushton, he says that a face "represents or expresses the inner feelings of a person," and I feel that is someone you can not describe through words. I feel like there one cannot grasp the real emotion one is feeling through a blog or something of the like because they cannot show it. A great example of this is when someone makes you "look you in the eye," I think they do this to show the seriousness of the matter as opposed to just repeating yourself over and over again.

After recalling our first class I can't help but notice how as a group we decided to continue our discuss by creating a circle so everyone could look at each other. As you looked around the room you could tell the people who were confused, the people who were deep in though, and those who just didn't seem to care; all in all I find it amusing because we basically created that circle so we could see everyone's faces to further our discussion.