Saturday, May 1, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Phnom Penh: Re-Mix Culture
I have a quote I would like to share. I don't want to include this on the blog of my cassette archives (seaprojectg.blogspot.com) because it is not DIRECTLY related to it, though I draw a large deal of inspiration from it.
In the liner notes of the Sublime Frequencies release "Radio Phnom Penh" Alan Bishop claims says
At its peak in the late 60's/early 70's, the Cambodians were a musical Superpower. Some of the most unique/exciting Pop and Rock songs this planet has ever produced came out of Phnom Penh's studios during this period. But the Khmer Rouge took power, killed many of the middle/upper class citizens including most of the musicians, and shut down the renaissance. Somehow, perhaps by transport to safe havens overseas, most of the original master tapes survived….This diverse, venerable collection of Radio Programming is a combination of AM/FM samples from the airwaves of Phnom Penh. The older, classic Pop/Rock FM cuts are ALL re-mixed as the newer forms/styles of Cambodian music collected here are not. This is Re-Mix Radio, much of it re-mixed music, created by a re-mixed culture.
The reason I don't want to include this on my blog is because I do not want to generalize the views of an entire geographical region. While the music I found is from a similar region, I cannot safely say that these ideas hold true for all of southeast Asia. I am, however, in the process of of finding out whether or not these ideas do extend throughout the region. I am attempting to contact a number of people who have a great deal of experience with the music of this region, on which runs a blog that can be found here: MADROTTER
I also plan to take trips to the region myself and explore the different musics and ideas on music, paying close attention to the origins of the music and how it has permeated through the culture.
While the sea project blog focuses on the Gamelan performance I found while working at the language library, there are a number of equally mystifying cassettes and CDs littering the place. I hope to find out what those tapes are some day, but for now I may revel in the enigma.
In the liner notes of the Sublime Frequencies release "Radio Phnom Penh" Alan Bishop claims says
At its peak in the late 60's/early 70's, the Cambodians were a musical Superpower. Some of the most unique/exciting Pop and Rock songs this planet has ever produced came out of Phnom Penh's studios during this period. But the Khmer Rouge took power, killed many of the middle/upper class citizens including most of the musicians, and shut down the renaissance. Somehow, perhaps by transport to safe havens overseas, most of the original master tapes survived….This diverse, venerable collection of Radio Programming is a combination of AM/FM samples from the airwaves of Phnom Penh. The older, classic Pop/Rock FM cuts are ALL re-mixed as the newer forms/styles of Cambodian music collected here are not. This is Re-Mix Radio, much of it re-mixed music, created by a re-mixed culture.
The reason I don't want to include this on my blog is because I do not want to generalize the views of an entire geographical region. While the music I found is from a similar region, I cannot safely say that these ideas hold true for all of southeast Asia. I am, however, in the process of of finding out whether or not these ideas do extend throughout the region. I am attempting to contact a number of people who have a great deal of experience with the music of this region, on which runs a blog that can be found here: MADROTTER
I also plan to take trips to the region myself and explore the different musics and ideas on music, paying close attention to the origins of the music and how it has permeated through the culture.
While the sea project blog focuses on the Gamelan performance I found while working at the language library, there are a number of equally mystifying cassettes and CDs littering the place. I hope to find out what those tapes are some day, but for now I may revel in the enigma.
the library of congress and twitter
big news! the library of congress has just decided it wants the entire archive of twitter. some preliminary questions posed:
Will the archive include friend/follower connection data? Will it be usable for commercial purposes? Will there be a Web interface for searching it, and will that change the face of Twitter search for good? Is there any way that the much larger archive of Facebook data could be submitted to the same body for analysis of the same kind?
Will the archive include friend/follower connection data? Will it be usable for commercial purposes? Will there be a Web interface for searching it, and will that change the face of Twitter search for good? Is there any way that the much larger archive of Facebook data could be submitted to the same body for analysis of the same kind?
always know exactly where you're going
http://maps.google.com/help/maps/businessphotos/index.html
google announced yesterday that it would be supplementing its popular streetview feature with interior photographs of businesses. streetview already allows users to virtually explore an extensive portion of google maps through panoramic photographs, and the implications of this addition are fascinating. essentially, google maps are inching closer and closer to decreasing the need for actual experience. rather, in recreating, or, hosting manifestations of, increasing amounts of the physical world on the internet, google is enabling a sort of virtual reality that isn't very virtual. why go on vacation when google maps allows you to visit not only the streets of a given locale, but also the businesses that line them? if i recall correctly, traveling without leaving home used to be the tagline of reading...although the idea of the world recreated in exact detail on the internet creeps me out as a standalone idea, i also find it odd in its threats to exploration. i'm not sure how i feel about being able to know EXACTLY where i'm going, especially when it's somewhere i've never been. obviously there are practical applications, and getting lost can be troublesome, but i suppose the need to know our routes with such intimate detail stems from our equally intimate relationships with our technology.
don't think i'm being hypocritical. earlier this semester, i said "ican'tlivewithoutmyiphone," but until the little guy petered out on me a month ago, i didn't fully realize how seriously attached i was. like the increasing enveloping functionality (if that's the appropriate word) of google maps, iphone is a multi-modal piece of equipment able to guide any number of behaviors. was my movement through the world dictated largely by my iphone? possibly, at least on a day-to-day level. since its death, i've had to reconfigure my interactions with my surroundings. i can't look up phone numbers on the fly, imdb people in movies, or look up where the hell i am. my style of texting has changed now that i have to press a bunch of little buttons a bunch of times to make a few words, my email response time has gone from five minutes to three days, and i frequently leave the house dressed inappropriately for the weather. the transition was a little upsetting; i mean, i'm a semi-grown woman, and i figured i should be able to manage without the iphone that had been intravenously interacting with me for nearly three years. life is different when i have to wait around. i'm so impatient when it comes to getting answers, and i wonder how much of that has been developed thanks to its instant availability. lucky for me, i know i'm only on a little break from iphone, and i think that is both discouraging my full adaptation to a non-smart life as well as keeping me from losing it. come june, i will be one happy camper, especially because some idiot (or publicity performing) apple employee left his next generation iphone in a bar in san diego, where it was scooped up and sold to gizmodo for five grand, and promptly photographed and posted all over the internet, and it looks awesome. see, i can have patience now, because i know in june i'll have the newest and best iphone. severing the cord, even briefly, has not helped my dependence upon iphone.
google announced yesterday that it would be supplementing its popular streetview feature with interior photographs of businesses. streetview already allows users to virtually explore an extensive portion of google maps through panoramic photographs, and the implications of this addition are fascinating. essentially, google maps are inching closer and closer to decreasing the need for actual experience. rather, in recreating, or, hosting manifestations of, increasing amounts of the physical world on the internet, google is enabling a sort of virtual reality that isn't very virtual. why go on vacation when google maps allows you to visit not only the streets of a given locale, but also the businesses that line them? if i recall correctly, traveling without leaving home used to be the tagline of reading...although the idea of the world recreated in exact detail on the internet creeps me out as a standalone idea, i also find it odd in its threats to exploration. i'm not sure how i feel about being able to know EXACTLY where i'm going, especially when it's somewhere i've never been. obviously there are practical applications, and getting lost can be troublesome, but i suppose the need to know our routes with such intimate detail stems from our equally intimate relationships with our technology.
don't think i'm being hypocritical. earlier this semester, i said "ican'tlivewithoutmyiphone," but until the little guy petered out on me a month ago, i didn't fully realize how seriously attached i was. like the increasing enveloping functionality (if that's the appropriate word) of google maps, iphone is a multi-modal piece of equipment able to guide any number of behaviors. was my movement through the world dictated largely by my iphone? possibly, at least on a day-to-day level. since its death, i've had to reconfigure my interactions with my surroundings. i can't look up phone numbers on the fly, imdb people in movies, or look up where the hell i am. my style of texting has changed now that i have to press a bunch of little buttons a bunch of times to make a few words, my email response time has gone from five minutes to three days, and i frequently leave the house dressed inappropriately for the weather. the transition was a little upsetting; i mean, i'm a semi-grown woman, and i figured i should be able to manage without the iphone that had been intravenously interacting with me for nearly three years. life is different when i have to wait around. i'm so impatient when it comes to getting answers, and i wonder how much of that has been developed thanks to its instant availability. lucky for me, i know i'm only on a little break from iphone, and i think that is both discouraging my full adaptation to a non-smart life as well as keeping me from losing it. come june, i will be one happy camper, especially because some idiot (or publicity performing) apple employee left his next generation iphone in a bar in san diego, where it was scooped up and sold to gizmodo for five grand, and promptly photographed and posted all over the internet, and it looks awesome. see, i can have patience now, because i know in june i'll have the newest and best iphone. severing the cord, even briefly, has not helped my dependence upon iphone.
He Said, She Said
One could be good/could be bad aspect of the internet is the fact that everything we write on it becomes recorded, word for word. What someone else claims you said is not hearsay if they have it written down and you will be forced to face the consequences of your statements. This is a lesson the Baio family appears to be learning a hard way ...
But who knows, maybe people will become more cautious of what they say, knowing that it will be permanently recorded.
I just have a weird suggestion for you all
Take your course evaluation surveys but REALLY, REALLY READ THEM. They are so bizarre! Figuring out what these words like "lecture/discussion" and "strongly agree" mean. They are extremely abstract and expected to be so even though they are trying to provide the most specific information possible!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
PROJECT URL URGENT REQUEST
To facilitate finding all the project online locations for a great reading experience , I need a good map!
So I'm asking you to post your project URL as a comment to this post.
Thanks.
So I'm asking you to post your project URL as a comment to this post.
Thanks.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Bloggin'!
Check out the new blog: http://thedaysmath.blogspot.com/
All things related to remix culture and the bridges between private lives and public space.
The blog is about me doing my "Great How-to-Read Project" and trying to figure out just how far these public spaces, whatever they may be (Facebook, Chatrt, etc.) extend into our private lives. Perhaps there is something in there for you!
Read on, readers.
All things related to remix culture and the bridges between private lives and public space.
The blog is about me doing my "Great How-to-Read Project" and trying to figure out just how far these public spaces, whatever they may be (Facebook, Chatrt, etc.) extend into our private lives. Perhaps there is something in there for you!
Read on, readers.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
My Projects
I am working on multiple projects but the two most important ones are these two because they follow the same pattern of small-idea-opens-entire-universe
1. Remixing memories
I have a memory of my first art class in public school. In 8th grade we were finally granted the freedom to create from our imaginations, not just from an explicit project, controlled by the teacher every step of the way. We also studied famous artists and were then asked to...REMIX them. At the time, this word was not used, but it is the perfect expression. One group of artists we looked at were Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal People. I remember looking at their art and then being asked to paint something in that style. Not copy one of their paintings, but go off of the general idea of how their work is--how it lives and breathes. Remixing to enhance understanding of the original work; not detracting not simply copying not stealing. More fully expressing in collaboration. Anyway, I have not looked at Aboriginal art since that time (8 years ago). But lately my brain has been telling me to keep remixing this particular style in my painting. Seemingly out of nowhere it has resurfaced: showing skeletons and organs on the outside, using only certain colors, flattening subject matter, creating detailed patterns, everything I can remember. Is painting irrelevant in 2010? Yes. No. I am trying to figure out why I have to do it. And I have to do this resurrection/extraction from my brain, which has been continually working without my knowledge. So let me know if u want to see these ptgs.
2. Tracing
Something Thylias said about the iPhone as an extension of the hand sticks with me. My second project is to map out the form and history of this growth. Beginning from the first human tool, the hand, all the way to the iPhone. Bulleting different inventions, tracing and re-tracing anatomical evolution, cultural historical contexts, conincidence--infinite things. At some point, it may get practically scientific. But mostly it will be a visually appealing schema. But I think most science is only practical if it's aesthetically pleasing.
1. Remixing memories
I have a memory of my first art class in public school. In 8th grade we were finally granted the freedom to create from our imaginations, not just from an explicit project, controlled by the teacher every step of the way. We also studied famous artists and were then asked to...REMIX them. At the time, this word was not used, but it is the perfect expression. One group of artists we looked at were Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal People. I remember looking at their art and then being asked to paint something in that style. Not copy one of their paintings, but go off of the general idea of how their work is--how it lives and breathes. Remixing to enhance understanding of the original work; not detracting not simply copying not stealing. More fully expressing in collaboration. Anyway, I have not looked at Aboriginal art since that time (8 years ago). But lately my brain has been telling me to keep remixing this particular style in my painting. Seemingly out of nowhere it has resurfaced: showing skeletons and organs on the outside, using only certain colors, flattening subject matter, creating detailed patterns, everything I can remember. Is painting irrelevant in 2010? Yes. No. I am trying to figure out why I have to do it. And I have to do this resurrection/extraction from my brain, which has been continually working without my knowledge. So let me know if u want to see these ptgs.
2. Tracing
Something Thylias said about the iPhone as an extension of the hand sticks with me. My second project is to map out the form and history of this growth. Beginning from the first human tool, the hand, all the way to the iPhone. Bulleting different inventions, tracing and re-tracing anatomical evolution, cultural historical contexts, conincidence--infinite things. At some point, it may get practically scientific. But mostly it will be a visually appealing schema. But I think most science is only practical if it's aesthetically pleasing.
more library chatter
We were talking about libraries last week, and I am so excited about them today! I work as an intern at the Map Library and I spend a lot of time researching in Special Collections. I was sent to look at the book "Journal of sentimental travels in the southern provinces of France, shortly before the Revolution; embellished with seventeen coloured engravings, from designs by T. Rowlandson, Esq." I love it when titles are that long! Plus, it starts:
"Courteous reader,
If thou delightest to trace the human heart through its secret workings and windings, and through all the devious paths into which it is led by a thousand vagaries, thou wilt perchance find this tome suited to thy taste, though its title-page be not graced by the name of any honourable, right honourable, or right celebrated author."
I feel like we are that courteous reader, fellow English 420 students! So I wanted to read it and hold it forever even though I'm only supposed to be looking for pictures. In Special Collections, though, it's always a production where they wheel the rare book out to you and place it on a stand after you request it, complete a survey, and leave your ID with them. They really put it on a pedestal. I feel like I could never see the book again after my internship. BUT! Google books has it!
I went to lecture recently where a paper conservator for the Clements library spoke. She got very emotional about how physicality is what we are losing with the technological age. She made me excited about rare, primary source objects and the idea of working with your hands. She was so angry about twitter! HATES twitter. I think this way of thinking is incredibly seductive. But now everybody can be a courteous reader, not just interns! I am glad to be excited about information again, and Google Books and devious librarians and digital space.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
-asked to declare his race, Obama check black
Today's New York Times offers something that feels a little like politically correct backpedaling.
"Negro? Some people objected to this anachronistic term, but the bureau said it was still used by many older blacks. The race question dates from the first congressional reapportionment. Now it ia used to evaluate equal-opportunity employment programs, to describe anti-discrimination rules, and to assess disparities in health, education, and other chrartacterisric."
Look, I want everyone to have the right to live without discrimination. I just can't decide whether or not I ahould feel offended about the bureau's wording.
Thoughts? Comments? Ideas?
"Negro? Some people objected to this anachronistic term, but the bureau said it was still used by many older blacks. The race question dates from the first congressional reapportionment. Now it ia used to evaluate equal-opportunity employment programs, to describe anti-discrimination rules, and to assess disparities in health, education, and other chrartacterisric."
Look, I want everyone to have the right to live without discrimination. I just can't decide whether or not I ahould feel offended about the bureau's wording.
Thoughts? Comments? Ideas?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
touch the universe!!
the opportunity for the visually impaired to experience the images captured by the hubble space telescope mom !
touch the universe
cool
who wants to turn the images into smells? into sounds?
touch the universe
cool
who wants to turn the images into smells? into sounds?
HAUS OF BIRD
this is the facebook page of the second magical event I helped organize of READING POETRY into a microphone, playing music, writing, collaborating, ad-libbing, gesturing, making, seeing, playing, drinking, talking, yelling, dancing, whatever you would like to do/share. Bring art/work, make art/work.
we rent out the space every two weeks or so and do how we do how we do we do. it is very refreshing to be in a new (non-academic), ephemeral space-gathering wherein everyone is interested in writing.
if anyone has videos they want to project + equipment--maybe not for this friday but for a later date--that would be awesome to show your movies, too. there is a lot of white blank wall space.
This event will keep happening as long as we care about it so please come. 10pm, byob, suggested donation of $1 (because it costs money to rent the space), 220 s main st.
we rent out the space every two weeks or so and do how we do how we do we do. it is very refreshing to be in a new (non-academic), ephemeral space-gathering wherein everyone is interested in writing.
if anyone has videos they want to project + equipment--maybe not for this friday but for a later date--that would be awesome to show your movies, too. there is a lot of white blank wall space.
This event will keep happening as long as we care about it so please come. 10pm, byob, suggested donation of $1 (because it costs money to rent the space), 220 s main st.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
trying to make a post with auto-smiley on
This program is wonderful, although it tends to be a :)
little over sensitive. Actually VERY over sensitive. Sometimes I will try to frown but it parses that as a smil :)
. e.
the :)
I start to smile because the s :) smile :)
smiley face appears and it is so ad :)
able adorable i :)
cannot help :)
but smile :)
:)
u :)
hhhhhh :)
laughi :) :)
laughi :)
makes is :)
ex :)
excited :)
i :) i have to s :)
top= :) stop p :) laug :)
ghin. :)
But I can't/. :)
I think my mustache sets it off.
This is a beautiful program. please give it a s :)
shot. I think I may have to use this when i'm feeling blue. T :)
ying trying NOT to smile makes smiles all the more inevitable. :)
bye! :)
:)
:)
little over sensitive. Actually VERY over sensitive. Sometimes I will try to frown but it parses that as a smil :)
. e.
the :)
I start to smile because the s :) smile :)
smiley face appears and it is so ad :)
able adorable i :)
cannot help :)
but smile :)
:)
u :)
hhhhhh :)
laughi :) :)
laughi :)
makes is :)
ex :)
excited :)
i :) i have to s :)
top= :) stop p :) laug :)
ghin. :)
But I can't/. :)
I think my mustache sets it off.
This is a beautiful program. please give it a s :)
shot. I think I may have to use this when i'm feeling blue. T :)
ying trying NOT to smile makes smiles all the more inevitable. :)
bye! :)
:)
:)
Finally! Some Honesty on the Internet!
Auto Smiley is a computer vision application that runs in the background while you work. The software analyzes your face while you are working and if it detects a smile it sends the the ascii smiley face letters “: )” as keyboard presses to the front most application. Auto Smiley has many uses from just straight up convenience to enforcing honesty in your online communication :)
from http://fffff.at/auto-smiley#
Auto Smiley - Computer vision smiley generator from Theo Watson on Vimeo.
from http://fffff.at/auto-smiley#
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Remixing: an approach in which technology samples itself
SONIC WINDOWS INTO WINDOWS WITH ONLY WINDOWS
(by the Interactive Technology Orchestra)
MUSIC FOR AN ALERT APPLE
Now for the 2006 winner of the HITACHI SOUNDS OF A DYING HARD DRIVE Project, sponsored by Gizmodo:
Hitachi Hard-Drive Project - Noriko Version
DOWNLOAD SOUNDS OF A DYING HARD DRIVE and make your own remixes of sick technology, some of it with a beat that can be danced to, but if your hard drive clicks, and/or tries to master some old-fashioned finger popping, BACKUP YOUR INFORMATION AT ONCE!
MORE DEATH NOTES OF HARD DRIVES, grouped by device brand and perhaps also orchestral potential.
A RUNNER-UP IN THE GIZMODO SYMPHONIC DEATH OF THE HARD DRIVE project competition:
El Hardo Disko Morte
Some of these sounds might work quite well with your compositions using SOUND OF AN IMAGE and TEXTORIZER. Can't wait to hear them! You can generate labels and headings such as:
Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own
at Cool Text.
(by the Interactive Technology Orchestra)
MUSIC FOR AN ALERT APPLE
Now for the 2006 winner of the HITACHI SOUNDS OF A DYING HARD DRIVE Project, sponsored by Gizmodo:
Hitachi Hard-Drive Project - Noriko Version
DOWNLOAD SOUNDS OF A DYING HARD DRIVE and make your own remixes of sick technology, some of it with a beat that can be danced to, but if your hard drive clicks, and/or tries to master some old-fashioned finger popping, BACKUP YOUR INFORMATION AT ONCE!
MORE DEATH NOTES OF HARD DRIVES, grouped by device brand and perhaps also orchestral potential.
A RUNNER-UP IN THE GIZMODO SYMPHONIC DEATH OF THE HARD DRIVE project competition:
El Hardo Disko Morte
Some of these sounds might work quite well with your compositions using SOUND OF AN IMAGE and TEXTORIZER. Can't wait to hear them! You can generate labels and headings such as:
Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own
at Cool Text.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
PSA/Silly
"Reports of ludicrously sexually aggressive dolphins attempting to rape human women abound from all over the globe. And in 1994, a male Bottlenose off the coast of San Paolo, Brazil, that was noted to be fond of female human swimmers attacked a pair of human males that the dolphin apparently considered to be competition ... and killed one of them."
This is what it sounds like;
FreeVideoCoding.com
Monday, March 22, 2010
As Many As You Want
This weekend, I watched How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days. This movie, in which there are not 1 but 2 bets, and a sequence in which not 1 but 4 secrets revealed at once, got me thinking about how, in our society, we are constantly searching to create more entertaining or engaging things and we often doing this by taking things already entertaining and making MORE of them.
On that note, I was this on the daily what. I know that in my life, I don't really have the need for more than USB port at a time. But I'm sure some people are so plugged in that they need more.
But, while I did enjoy How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days, I couldn't help but feel at moments that it was too much, too outlandish, too far away from reality to be remotely relatable (which is, of course, in part why I liked it SO MUCH.) I wonder when my life gets to a point where I might need these multiple USB ports if I'll have a similar feeling...
(for more information on this subject: http://thedailywh.at/post/465723710/life-altering-usb-plug-of-the-day-gonglue-jiangs)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
reading vid
I made this video. It is the first video I have EVER made. It gets kind of philosophical about life. HOPE YOU LIKE IT.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
i had a dream and it was called the new language of the world
in the dream, this woman had claimed that all of the babbling and gurgling of babies or maybe gorillas was a language. she had broken down all of the guttural sounds into syllables so that she could stand in front of crowds of people who had paid her some hefty fee to learn what she was hearlading as "the new language of the world". as far as i can tell, the seminars seemed quite popular and the participants happy, despite my dream-self knowing it was all a sham, and obviously so.
it brought to mind the work i've been doing for the past few months in conjunction with what we are collectively building. last week, we worked individually or in groups to create a representation of reading using a number of materials, including video (caputured and created) and audio (captured and created) in lieu of pure text.
the main qualifier for a language is a grammar, which is essentially a set of rules that lay out what is and what is not language, as well as means of constructing its parts in a meaningful manner (not to be mistaken with conventions, which require two or more individuals to exist and function whereas rules only require a single individual but can be maintained by an infinite number of people). if we were to group all familiar tongues (french, spanish, german, english, dutch, etc, etc,) and their written and spoken forms in order to argue that these, in fact, were languages, we would still be hard pressed to explain the systems within these languages function. the means of transmitting language when not face-to-face has been constantly evolving alongside the rapid growth of television. a progression from letter writing to telegrams to telephones to radio to television to internet and now we're seeing and speaking to random strangers in china on chatroulette. things are mighty difference.
for a brief ending, i will argue that the new language of today has nothing to do with abandoning our knowledge of the english language, but rather using it in a new manner embracing the constant movement of technological possibilities. there is a reason that facebook is the secon
it brought to mind the work i've been doing for the past few months in conjunction with what we are collectively building. last week, we worked individually or in groups to create a representation of reading using a number of materials, including video (caputured and created) and audio (captured and created) in lieu of pure text.
the main qualifier for a language is a grammar, which is essentially a set of rules that lay out what is and what is not language, as well as means of constructing its parts in a meaningful manner (not to be mistaken with conventions, which require two or more individuals to exist and function whereas rules only require a single individual but can be maintained by an infinite number of people). if we were to group all familiar tongues (french, spanish, german, english, dutch, etc, etc,) and their written and spoken forms in order to argue that these, in fact, were languages, we would still be hard pressed to explain the systems within these languages function. the means of transmitting language when not face-to-face has been constantly evolving alongside the rapid growth of television. a progression from letter writing to telegrams to telephones to radio to television to internet and now we're seeing and speaking to random strangers in china on chatroulette. things are mighty difference.
for a brief ending, i will argue that the new language of today has nothing to do with abandoning our knowledge of the english language, but rather using it in a new manner embracing the constant movement of technological possibilities. there is a reason that facebook is the secon
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
in class project part 1 in writing
It is very difficult to read ourselves. Reading ourselves is largely a part of interacting with other people. We read ourselves by measuring ourselves against others and by seeing how others react to us. When others react to us, we are not sure how to interpret this much of the time. Other people are ambiguous and we do not know how to read them. One thing we can do to read others is to ask other people. The problem with this is that other people may read things the wrong way, and give us the wrong answer. Another problem is that different people may tell us different things. This means we might get more confused about reading a situation. We cannot rely on ourselves. We cannot rely on other people to give us the answers.
Or can we? Maybe if we got enough people to read us, or if we got enough people to read a certain situation, we can be more likely to read a situation more or less “correctly.” This is because our sample size will increase, and statistically speaking, this might help us reach a plausible conclusion to whatever situation or person we might try to read.
The search suggestions that pop up are the ones that are the most common to many people. They are all wondering the same thing and that is why google helps us read our lives. Not only because it gives us a possible answer we might be looking for, or some insight into I, but also because it lets us know, often times, that we are not the only ones that are wondering what we are wondering. There is a collective conscience that is captured through the search results.
When you think about reading life, it, cannot be separated from understanding and also drawing conclusions from what we read. When reading a book, you sometimes cannot understand what you read. It can be because the text is too complicated or you are disinterested or you are unfocused on what you are reading. The solution in this case is to reread with greater scrutiny what we read the first time. If it something you are not interested in, you will not want to reread, unless you have to. Otherwise you might have read a passage and moved on because you did not understand and you did not want to understand.
It is a waste to continue reading without understanding. The same principles are applied in reading life. Something might happen in your life and you will not understand. You can type “why did this happen to me” into google and you might get some answers. Eventually life will go on and you will be faced with a choice; you can revisit the situation or you can ignore it. When you revisit the situation you can ask people about what happened. If you ignore it you face running into the same problem again. And you still wont understand.
We must read carefully. In our lives when we read we must slow down. We must absorb and understand. I think this will help us read our lives. If you keep readings things that you don’t understand, and let it go, you will continue reading, and you may continue to not understand. Pretty soon you will have read an entire chapter and it will not make any sense. You will not reread the whole chapter.
When reading our lives, we read about a lot of things that we do not understand.
We read our lives wearing different caps. Do I read this situation as a person who sees this woman as ‘mentally ill’ or as someone who sees her as a vicious killer deserving life in prison/death.
because of technology, i can enjoy this song any time. and it is my favorite song.
Or can we? Maybe if we got enough people to read us, or if we got enough people to read a certain situation, we can be more likely to read a situation more or less “correctly.” This is because our sample size will increase, and statistically speaking, this might help us reach a plausible conclusion to whatever situation or person we might try to read.
The search suggestions that pop up are the ones that are the most common to many people. They are all wondering the same thing and that is why google helps us read our lives. Not only because it gives us a possible answer we might be looking for, or some insight into I, but also because it lets us know, often times, that we are not the only ones that are wondering what we are wondering. There is a collective conscience that is captured through the search results.
When you think about reading life, it, cannot be separated from understanding and also drawing conclusions from what we read. When reading a book, you sometimes cannot understand what you read. It can be because the text is too complicated or you are disinterested or you are unfocused on what you are reading. The solution in this case is to reread with greater scrutiny what we read the first time. If it something you are not interested in, you will not want to reread, unless you have to. Otherwise you might have read a passage and moved on because you did not understand and you did not want to understand.
It is a waste to continue reading without understanding. The same principles are applied in reading life. Something might happen in your life and you will not understand. You can type “why did this happen to me” into google and you might get some answers. Eventually life will go on and you will be faced with a choice; you can revisit the situation or you can ignore it. When you revisit the situation you can ask people about what happened. If you ignore it you face running into the same problem again. And you still wont understand.
We must read carefully. In our lives when we read we must slow down. We must absorb and understand. I think this will help us read our lives. If you keep readings things that you don’t understand, and let it go, you will continue reading, and you may continue to not understand. Pretty soon you will have read an entire chapter and it will not make any sense. You will not reread the whole chapter.
When reading our lives, we read about a lot of things that we do not understand.
We read our lives wearing different caps. Do I read this situation as a person who sees this woman as ‘mentally ill’ or as someone who sees her as a vicious killer deserving life in prison/death.
because of technology, i can enjoy this song any time. and it is my favorite song.
Making virtual reality reality-reality
I was trying to find an art history paper topic, but instead I found this. I clicked on this link because it said "virtual brownie" which (sadly?) is not what it sounds like. Project Virtual Brownie , from what I can gather from this movie, is trying to make virtual reality brownies--little gnomes, I think--move real objects. I'm pretty sure its magic.
I also learned about SUIs--straw-like user interfaces--which are machines that simulate the feeling of drinking from a straw, without actually drinking anything.
I also learned about SUIs--straw-like user interfaces--which are machines that simulate the feeling of drinking from a straw, without actually drinking anything.
more equal access
to technology land. no more technologically barren landscapes: http://http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/technology/17broadband.html
Monday, March 15, 2010
Theory & Practice of iPhone Apps
until 6:30 pm in the Slusser Gallery, Art & Architecture Building) of
how and why her iPhone has become a mobile limited fork theory studio
in which she is voluntarily imprisoned.
Bring your iPhone and/or iPod touch and download (and use!), if you
like, some of the apps as part of the demonstration. FREE apps will
be emphasized.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
this section will not be scored
my sixteen year old sister took a portion of the standardized michigan merit exam last week. the exam consists of the act, some evaluations called work keys, and a set of state-created evaluations of math, science, and social studies. she was taking the third part, which sounds similar to the late meap evaluation, and when they reached the social studies part, the proctor told the students that it would not be scored. surely, i said to her, it was not possible that the segment was not scored; in my typical fashion, i began to come up with any number of ways the exam was being used and decided that it must be a means of judging the school's progress or attendance or something. as the argument progressed, my mother grew irritated with my insistence that it was impossible for there not to be a reason for this stupid social studies test and reminded me that i do not know everything, contrary to what i might believe.
in other news: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/education/14child.html?hp !
yesterday obama introduced a plan to overhaul no child left behind and lots of people are already quite worked up about it. he's right - when it comes down to it, every student needs to leave high school with a means of doing something useful with his or her life, regardless of whether college is part of the plan.
in other news: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/education/14child.html?hp !
yesterday obama introduced a plan to overhaul no child left behind and lots of people are already quite worked up about it. he's right - when it comes down to it, every student needs to leave high school with a means of doing something useful with his or her life, regardless of whether college is part of the plan.
Friday, March 12, 2010
chat roulette
chat roulette observations
1. If another girl sees you she will next you right away. Think female-female conversations are maybe the rarest in chatroulette (on number of users alone) but obviously have no proof.
2. chat roulette map here
3. Many will ask you to "show me your boobs"
4. Sometimes I ask people "how old do I look" and most everyone guessed 20 which is my actual age. One person said 19 and one said 18. I look my age or a bit younger. Though I was wearing an anime t-shirt on that day so maybe thats why they thought that.
5. A lot of male exhibitionism, as people have pointed out.
6. I wonder if people fix themselves up for the camera. I know I felt a bit self conscious even though it is just the internet/strangers.
7. Wherever it is 1 AM or 2 AM in the world, people in those countries might possibly be more likely to go on chatroulette.
8. decoys are popular
9. Lots of black screens. Lots of surprised people when I tell them I cant see their camera.
10. Sometimes it is nice to have a black screen from the other person. The tendency to next people is very high on the camera end alone.
11. Chatroulette is worth it for the 10% decent conversations even if 90% is cybering.
12. I felt more comfortable sitting farther away from the camera.
13. Basically everyone in the world knows how to speak english to some extent. I had only one person that did not know how.
Why is chatroulette seemingly more popular among men?
Why do men on chatroulette spend so much effort trying to get girls to flash them? It seems like it would take way longer than just looking at a pair of boobs on the internet or something.
Something that struck me about chatroulette is how seemingly obvious/simple the idea is with fairly lowtech requirements (as far as I understand), but no one has thought of it until now, 2010, though webcams have been around for probably a decade or more, and it such a brilliant thing with a lot of probably good potential. There are brilliant ideas waiting to be uncovered everywhere!!
Lina
Oh one thing, we all noticed that there were a ton of French people on chat roulette. We thought maybe it was because of the time of day, but according to the chatroulette map, chatroulette is actually extremely popular in france.
1. If another girl sees you she will next you right away. Think female-female conversations are maybe the rarest in chatroulette (on number of users alone) but obviously have no proof.
2. chat roulette map here
3. Many will ask you to "show me your boobs"
4. Sometimes I ask people "how old do I look" and most everyone guessed 20 which is my actual age. One person said 19 and one said 18. I look my age or a bit younger. Though I was wearing an anime t-shirt on that day so maybe thats why they thought that.
5. A lot of male exhibitionism, as people have pointed out.
6. I wonder if people fix themselves up for the camera. I know I felt a bit self conscious even though it is just the internet/strangers.
7. Wherever it is 1 AM or 2 AM in the world, people in those countries might possibly be more likely to go on chatroulette.
8. decoys are popular
9. Lots of black screens. Lots of surprised people when I tell them I cant see their camera.
10. Sometimes it is nice to have a black screen from the other person. The tendency to next people is very high on the camera end alone.
11. Chatroulette is worth it for the 10% decent conversations even if 90% is cybering.
12. I felt more comfortable sitting farther away from the camera.
13. Basically everyone in the world knows how to speak english to some extent. I had only one person that did not know how.
Why is chatroulette seemingly more popular among men?
Why do men on chatroulette spend so much effort trying to get girls to flash them? It seems like it would take way longer than just looking at a pair of boobs on the internet or something.
Something that struck me about chatroulette is how seemingly obvious/simple the idea is with fairly lowtech requirements (as far as I understand), but no one has thought of it until now, 2010, though webcams have been around for probably a decade or more, and it such a brilliant thing with a lot of probably good potential. There are brilliant ideas waiting to be uncovered everywhere!!
Lina
Oh one thing, we all noticed that there were a ton of French people on chat roulette. We thought maybe it was because of the time of day, but according to the chatroulette map, chatroulette is actually extremely popular in france.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A book worth looking into even tho it is not free online + La Vie Quotidenne
Gambling Addiction/TechnologyMore Natasha Schull
One of the jobs I work is in the realm of social services. I deal with people: I have to pretend to be nice, pretend that I care, pretend I know the answers to inane questions. By the end of the day I just want to "zone out"--play an online game or watch tv online--anything that doesn't involve the variability, unpredictability and humanity of people. This is how some people who became addicted to machine gambling (slots, video poker, etc.) got into it in the first place. They wanted to escape into a world of two options: yes/no, one/zero, win/lose. Face-to-face or "real" gambling (like sitting at a poker table with friends) is a relic--something people did in the post-industrialized world to escape being in mechanized, invariable factories. Now that more workers are in the social services, our method of escape is also changing.
The strangest feeling though sometimes is working on the computer all day and also finding my escape here. I don't feel good after a day like that.
it's a great day for ice cream
at coldstone creamery!
when i was fourteen and a freshman in high school, my friend ashton helped me get my first real job at the coldstone creamery down the road from lahser. the store had been open for maybe three months when i was hired, and it was owned by husband and wife, terry and mary ellen. after a career in sales, terry had decided to cough up the two hundred and fifty grand to buy a franchise, selecting a spot in the strip at the corner of square lake and woodward for its proximity to a number of businesses, including a starbucks and a blockbuster, that were already doing brisk business.
until i had other jobs, i didn't realize how spoiled i had been to have terry as my first boss. despite a few odd quirks (it was entirely regrettable to get into a conversation about environmental issues with his evangelical beliefs...), terry was an excellent teacher. not only was he intent on instilling a sense of pride in maintaining a superbly clean, well-stocked store, but he also emphasized the importance of customer service. he himself was as chatty as could be, but it was never idle; rather, terry was amazing at reading people and tailoring his behavior to make every customer feel good about coming into the store.
now, here's the thing. i started at coldstone almost six years ago exactly, and probably have worked four solid years during that time, so i know everything about running the store. that is to be expected after so much experience, but it doesn't fully account for why i am so good at my job. of course i can keep the store extremely clean and running smoothly, but what i really enjoy and excel at is working behind the stone with customers.
when people come into coldstone, they are generally in good moods because they are treating themselves. my personal belief is that there are a lot of things that are difficult in life, but ice cream shouldn't be; i want every customer to walk out feeling like they got exactly what they wanted, and i'll go to any length to provide that. this is where building a relationship is crucial, because although my knowledgeability with the ice cream is crucial, it is in no way the be all end all. treating customers with respect requires understanding individual needs and adjusting to suit them.
last night, i was talking to a youngish guy as i rang him up, and i gave him one of my favorite stories: "i've been working here for six years, and i can tell what someone is going to get the second they walk in. if i wanted to, i could mouth their order to them as they told me. unfortunately, it's a skill that doesn't have much use in the real world." he was amazed. as he was leaving, i was out sweeping in the lobby, and he approached me to say something to the extent of maybe you should find some other way to use your psychic powers.
look, if you spend enough time in the store, it becomes clear that there are certain demographic tendencies as to what people will order, and that's just a result of being observant of trends. if you are a fourteen year old girl with your three friends, you will get a birthday cake remix in a like it (because you don't want to look like a pig and by the way, if you knew the nutritional facts, you would never eat it again), if you are a twenty-something male with your girlfriend, you'll get a love it chocolate devotion, and if you're a youngish woman in a pantsuit coming in after work, you'll get a love it cheesecake fantasy (in a waffle bowl if it's monday, chocolate dipped if it's been a shitty day). although i always ask, i can tell who really wants a waffle bowl and who will get one just because i suggested it.
reading customers is an art, and there's nothing more rewarding than making someone's day a little bit better. my motto of sorts is that there is a lot of compromise in life, but everyone should leave with a creation that is exactly what they wanted.
when i was fourteen and a freshman in high school, my friend ashton helped me get my first real job at the coldstone creamery down the road from lahser. the store had been open for maybe three months when i was hired, and it was owned by husband and wife, terry and mary ellen. after a career in sales, terry had decided to cough up the two hundred and fifty grand to buy a franchise, selecting a spot in the strip at the corner of square lake and woodward for its proximity to a number of businesses, including a starbucks and a blockbuster, that were already doing brisk business.
until i had other jobs, i didn't realize how spoiled i had been to have terry as my first boss. despite a few odd quirks (it was entirely regrettable to get into a conversation about environmental issues with his evangelical beliefs...), terry was an excellent teacher. not only was he intent on instilling a sense of pride in maintaining a superbly clean, well-stocked store, but he also emphasized the importance of customer service. he himself was as chatty as could be, but it was never idle; rather, terry was amazing at reading people and tailoring his behavior to make every customer feel good about coming into the store.
now, here's the thing. i started at coldstone almost six years ago exactly, and probably have worked four solid years during that time, so i know everything about running the store. that is to be expected after so much experience, but it doesn't fully account for why i am so good at my job. of course i can keep the store extremely clean and running smoothly, but what i really enjoy and excel at is working behind the stone with customers.
when people come into coldstone, they are generally in good moods because they are treating themselves. my personal belief is that there are a lot of things that are difficult in life, but ice cream shouldn't be; i want every customer to walk out feeling like they got exactly what they wanted, and i'll go to any length to provide that. this is where building a relationship is crucial, because although my knowledgeability with the ice cream is crucial, it is in no way the be all end all. treating customers with respect requires understanding individual needs and adjusting to suit them.
last night, i was talking to a youngish guy as i rang him up, and i gave him one of my favorite stories: "i've been working here for six years, and i can tell what someone is going to get the second they walk in. if i wanted to, i could mouth their order to them as they told me. unfortunately, it's a skill that doesn't have much use in the real world." he was amazed. as he was leaving, i was out sweeping in the lobby, and he approached me to say something to the extent of maybe you should find some other way to use your psychic powers.
look, if you spend enough time in the store, it becomes clear that there are certain demographic tendencies as to what people will order, and that's just a result of being observant of trends. if you are a fourteen year old girl with your three friends, you will get a birthday cake remix in a like it (because you don't want to look like a pig and by the way, if you knew the nutritional facts, you would never eat it again), if you are a twenty-something male with your girlfriend, you'll get a love it chocolate devotion, and if you're a youngish woman in a pantsuit coming in after work, you'll get a love it cheesecake fantasy (in a waffle bowl if it's monday, chocolate dipped if it's been a shitty day). although i always ask, i can tell who really wants a waffle bowl and who will get one just because i suggested it.
reading customers is an art, and there's nothing more rewarding than making someone's day a little bit better. my motto of sorts is that there is a lot of compromise in life, but everyone should leave with a creation that is exactly what they wanted.
NOW as remixer of time, space, experience (some moment shuffling)
Thad and Sarah Lawrence use Photoshop to create a surreal photo album
documenting their relationship
At the linked site, images are used to tell aspects of the Thad and Sarah story not possible to tell in other pen and paper means. The image to the left is from fiveprime.org/hivemind. The easy distribution, the quick sharing of information encourages fresh collaboration in the possibility of responding as situations unfold. An enhanced sense of what is occurring in an apparent simultaneity is another possible benefit of rapid sharing. Now becomes more complex. It is a most peculiar encompassing as each now is a mutation of Now; now is a reference variable to refer to a local experience in a moment that may be defined within limiting factors of usage only in that instance of usage. The nows are not the same. The experience of time is not the same. And when scale is brought into consideration, any now may be configured so as to contain an infinite number of sub-nows referring to incredibly local architectures of experience linked to time and space. So a denial of universals based on one's personal situation is also possible, especially as temporary connections bifurcate further and further (a potential that chatroulette has a great opportunity to exploit well).
Now does not occur only in the present; in fact, to encounter now in reading this post, is to encounter a now linked with the past moment in which Ityped type now and a now that is tethered to the now that is the moment of a user's encounter, tethering past and present. Also tethered would be all that those nows encompass, hierarchically; this post as a temporary center. The images from Thad and Sarah are likewise experienced, for all the rapid sharing, in the complexity of now that is a quivering bridge of present and past. Daniel Altshuler's paper Meaning of ‘now’ and other temporal location adverbs provides an analysis of now
7:33 pm est: Google Trends in a now that's past (time now7:34:14 pm est):
The MARTIN EDMAN EN SAMBANDSCENTRAL
blog offers: Martin Edman en sambandscentral: I want to be somewhere else right now, as the 24 October 2009 entry (an image of that entry appears to the right). This complexity of now, the now when the 24 October 2009 post was made, the now of my encounter with the post, the now of encounters with my post about an encounter with the 24 October 2009 post, each encounter a remixing of now.
There is also a Facebook group exploring this complex remixing of the moment: I Would Rather Be Somewhere Else Right Now
A dozen members in the now of my encounter with the group.
The 17 March 2009 post of the thisiskeith blog is titled We're somewhere else right now.
Stacey Schuett's book Somewhere in the World Right Now offers a dynamic now that is a range of independent events linked by consideration in a single sweeping moment of consideration. Linking events gives them (temporary) access to each other; the moment of the story allows the events to collaborate, to interact in shared temporary context. You can see inside Schuett's book here right now. On Schuett's website, this description of the book is available: "Somewhere in the world right now, it's deepest night..." Elephants sleep in the African darkness. A London baker bakes bread. In Madagascar, a little girl dreams of tomorrow. 'But somewhere else, tomorrow is already here." A rooster crows in India, while an Australian kangaroo takes a nap. And in Chicago, commuters speed toward home as the day draws to a close. How can all these things happen at once? This book--filled with lush paintings, a gentle text and a multitude of maps--takes the mystery out of time zones, while showing children the varied richness of the world they live in. Reading Rainbow Selection .
Those time zones themselves are featured on a colorful map divided by the spine of the book at the end of the book. Of possibly even greater benefit is the pen friends suggestion at the end of the book, the social studies and social connection opportunity of seeking information about the now of other children with whom to correspond. An adaptation of chat roulette, a filtered adaptation and perhaps primary school edition, for instance, could allow children to meet each other and exchange information in a now.
Sharing of interest in being somewhere else is the basis of a group at the experience project. Ten stories have been posted by members of this group, including Yeah, Pretty Much Anywhere Else! by trixi (text of trixi's story: Do you know that i havn't gone out by myself (except to the grocery store and town) in over a year? i havn't done anything fun and spontaneous, wreckless or adventurous for sooooooooo long i'm afraid i will lose the capacity. lately, my biggest adventure is travelling to other schools with my son's basketball team. ok, this is fun in a way cuz i get to see new places and meet new people and it makes me feel like i've actually done something for a change. but as i'm driving home, i always say to myself , " i wish i could just keep on driving and never come back" i want to see how far i can get on a tank of gas and then stay whereever i end up until i get bored and then go somewhere else. i have an adventurous spirit, but it's slowly dying cuz i A) have noone to do things with and B) have my kids pretty much 24/7 and have no opportunity to cultivate it. i do have the capacity to find the sublime in the simple and the everyday, and thank goodness for that because otherwise i'd just wither away to nothing. i just wish i could go somewhere.).
This page of the experience project offers a guide for how to wanna be somewhere else. Each group has it's own guide. The I Wanna be Somewhere Else guide is brief: If you want to know How To Wanna Be Somewhere Else, you can find the help you need here. Our members who share the experience, 'I Wanna Be Somewhere Else' contribute their tips to build a living book of how to information that can provide help, advice, tips, cheats and tricks on this topic. And everyone can vote to help promote the very best how to instructions! Finally, you can find free how to videos and books here as well. The guide page also feature books, movie clips, and user-generated videos related to the group's theme, and of course invitations to join experience project and submit your own stories (as of this moment, 4,083,471 experiences have been shared at —oops, make that 4,083,478 experiences shared at experience project. To share experiences with more of a gamble, adding ability to tell the story verbally (and webcam-to-webcam) to a stranger anywhere in the internet-connected world, consider chatroulette. Actually building a where somewhere else and inhabiting that construction in a constructed avatar is part of the lure of second life where you can remix and reconfigure realities, worlds within worlds that sometimes interact, including the virtual with the 3-dimensional or spatial. Rules and boundaries are also remixed and reconfigured.
The Accidental Traveler blog's Slavery is not Somewhere Else post returns to a convergence of now and here, a focusing to a point that can be any point, that can be in any location to emphasize a likelihood of human trafficking connecting, on some scale, with any location of human occupancy
—in any time zone; closer inspection can help reveal underworlds (sometimes sweet versions are the worlds under other worlds), under-where's even in Schuett's beautifully crafted drawings and text that when uncompressed can reveal gaps, cracks, moments and places where less-sweet events can emerge from time to time, even flourishing somewhere else sometimes and sometimes here.
documenting their relationship
At the linked site, images are used to tell aspects of the Thad and Sarah story not possible to tell in other pen and paper means. The image to the left is from fiveprime.org/hivemind. The easy distribution, the quick sharing of information encourages fresh collaboration in the possibility of responding as situations unfold. An enhanced sense of what is occurring in an apparent simultaneity is another possible benefit of rapid sharing. Now becomes more complex. It is a most peculiar encompassing as each now is a mutation of Now; now is a reference variable to refer to a local experience in a moment that may be defined within limiting factors of usage only in that instance of usage. The nows are not the same. The experience of time is not the same. And when scale is brought into consideration, any now may be configured so as to contain an infinite number of sub-nows referring to incredibly local architectures of experience linked to time and space. So a denial of universals based on one's personal situation is also possible, especially as temporary connections bifurcate further and further (a potential that chatroulette has a great opportunity to exploit well).Now does not occur only in the present; in fact, to encounter now in reading this post, is to encounter a now linked with the past moment in which I
7:33 pm est: Google Trends in a now that's past (time now7:34:14 pm est):
The MARTIN EDMAN EN SAMBANDSCENTRAL
blog offers: Martin Edman en sambandscentral: I want to be somewhere else right now, as the 24 October 2009 entry (an image of that entry appears to the right). This complexity of now, the now when the 24 October 2009 post was made, the now of my encounter with the post, the now of encounters with my post about an encounter with the 24 October 2009 post, each encounter a remixing of now.
There is also a Facebook group exploring this complex remixing of the moment: I Would Rather Be Somewhere Else Right Now
A dozen members in the now of my encounter with the group.
The 17 March 2009 post of the thisiskeith blog is titled We're somewhere else right now.
Stacey Schuett's book Somewhere in the World Right Now offers a dynamic now that is a range of independent events linked by consideration in a single sweeping moment of consideration. Linking events gives them (temporary) access to each other; the moment of the story allows the events to collaborate, to interact in shared temporary context. You can see inside Schuett's book here right now. On Schuett's website, this description of the book is available: "Somewhere in the world right now, it's deepest night..." Elephants sleep in the African darkness. A London baker bakes bread. In Madagascar, a little girl dreams of tomorrow. 'But somewhere else, tomorrow is already here." A rooster crows in India, while an Australian kangaroo takes a nap. And in Chicago, commuters speed toward home as the day draws to a close. How can all these things happen at once? This book--filled with lush paintings, a gentle text and a multitude of maps--takes the mystery out of time zones, while showing children the varied richness of the world they live in. Reading Rainbow Selection . Those time zones themselves are featured on a colorful map divided by the spine of the book at the end of the book. Of possibly even greater benefit is the pen friends suggestion at the end of the book, the social studies and social connection opportunity of seeking information about the now of other children with whom to correspond. An adaptation of chat roulette, a filtered adaptation and perhaps primary school edition, for instance, could allow children to meet each other and exchange information in a now. Sharing of interest in being somewhere else is the basis of a group at the experience project. Ten stories have been posted by members of this group, including Yeah, Pretty Much Anywhere Else! by trixi (text of trixi's story: Do you know that i havn't gone out by myself (except to the grocery store and town) in over a year? i havn't done anything fun and spontaneous, wreckless or adventurous for sooooooooo long i'm afraid i will lose the capacity. lately, my biggest adventure is travelling to other schools with my son's basketball team. ok, this is fun in a way cuz i get to see new places and meet new people and it makes me feel like i've actually done something for a change. but as i'm driving home, i always say to myself , " i wish i could just keep on driving and never come back" i want to see how far i can get on a tank of gas and then stay whereever i end up until i get bored and then go somewhere else. i have an adventurous spirit, but it's slowly dying cuz i A) have noone to do things with and B) have my kids pretty much 24/7 and have no opportunity to cultivate it. i do have the capacity to find the sublime in the simple and the everyday, and thank goodness for that because otherwise i'd just wither away to nothing. i just wish i could go somewhere.).
This page of the experience project offers a guide for how to wanna be somewhere else. Each group has it's own guide. The I Wanna be Somewhere Else guide is brief: If you want to know How To Wanna Be Somewhere Else, you can find the help you need here. Our members who share the experience, 'I Wanna Be Somewhere Else' contribute their tips to build a living book of how to information that can provide help, advice, tips, cheats and tricks on this topic. And everyone can vote to help promote the very best how to instructions! Finally, you can find free how to videos and books here as well. The guide page also feature books, movie clips, and user-generated videos related to the group's theme, and of course invitations to join experience project and submit your own stories (as of this moment, 4,083,471 experiences have been shared at —oops, make that 4,083,478 experiences shared at experience project. To share experiences with more of a gamble, adding ability to tell the story verbally (and webcam-to-webcam) to a stranger anywhere in the internet-connected world, consider chatroulette. Actually building a where somewhere else and inhabiting that construction in a constructed avatar is part of the lure of second life where you can remix and reconfigure realities, worlds within worlds that sometimes interact, including the virtual with the 3-dimensional or spatial. Rules and boundaries are also remixed and reconfigured.
The Accidental Traveler blog's Slavery is not Somewhere Else post returns to a convergence of now and here, a focusing to a point that can be any point, that can be in any location to emphasize a likelihood of human trafficking connecting, on some scale, with any location of human occupancy
—in any time zone; closer inspection can help reveal underworlds (sometimes sweet versions are the worlds under other worlds), under-where's even in Schuett's beautifully crafted drawings and text that when uncompressed can reveal gaps, cracks, moments and places where less-sweet events can emerge from time to time, even flourishing somewhere else sometimes and sometimes here.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Chat Roulette was scary for us!
Here is a video we made to express our feelings about chat roulette
FreeVideoCoding.com
we were subject to exhibitionism, voyeurism, french people, and some very excitable teenagers. While taking a breather outside Clara and I decided that this made us feel a bit STRANGE.
Maybe it should be closer to 2AM when I do this next.
Also I will be wearing a HAT.
FreeVideoCoding.com
we were subject to exhibitionism, voyeurism, french people, and some very excitable teenagers. While taking a breather outside Clara and I decided that this made us feel a bit STRANGE.
Maybe it should be closer to 2AM when I do this next.
Also I will be wearing a HAT.
Some late thoughts on Chatroulette/"Copying"
None of you deserve this, but I did not enjoy using Chatroulette at all; it was nothing but trouble for me and, well, somebody has to take the deluge. I did not talk to a single nice person. Not one. The prospective sight of my boobs was a popular topic of conversation:
I also forgot to mention that whenever I refused to show my boobs, people either "nexted" me, or got very angry. I didn't record one conversation I had that was particularly interesting, probably because I actually was somewhat involved in the conversation, which was not the case with any of the conversations I captured. In this conversation, he and I were both visible but muted. He also seemed to be struggling with English. I decided to ask him where he was from, and he refused to tell me and insisted that I take a guess. I guessed incorrectly several times, and once again, the boobs came up. I refused to show him. He was mad. He responded by saying "You are whole slut" (I think he meant to say that I was a total slut) and then he said "son of beach" (he obviously meant to say "son of a bitch"). He also was the third person to ask me to take off my glasses. People either wanted to see my boobs or didn't want to see my glasses. I refused to take off my glasses. NEXT (he seemed to say), and he went away. Oh well. So, Chatroulette is not a good way to find friends. Or it isn't a good way for me to make friends.
Also, My freshman year in East Quad, I had to pay 3000$ for downloading 1 song on the U of M network (stupid).
I saw this recently;
I also saw the sequel;
Does anything like this ever worked?
I also forgot to mention that whenever I refused to show my boobs, people either "nexted" me, or got very angry. I didn't record one conversation I had that was particularly interesting, probably because I actually was somewhat involved in the conversation, which was not the case with any of the conversations I captured. In this conversation, he and I were both visible but muted. He also seemed to be struggling with English. I decided to ask him where he was from, and he refused to tell me and insisted that I take a guess. I guessed incorrectly several times, and once again, the boobs came up. I refused to show him. He was mad. He responded by saying "You are whole slut" (I think he meant to say that I was a total slut) and then he said "son of beach" (he obviously meant to say "son of a bitch"). He also was the third person to ask me to take off my glasses. People either wanted to see my boobs or didn't want to see my glasses. I refused to take off my glasses. NEXT (he seemed to say), and he went away. Oh well. So, Chatroulette is not a good way to find friends. Or it isn't a good way for me to make friends.
Also, My freshman year in East Quad, I had to pay 3000$ for downloading 1 song on the U of M network (stupid).
I saw this recently;
I also saw the sequel;
Does anything like this ever worked?
Chattin with Master Debators
I was just forced to talk to people smoking stogies in France who wanted to talk about Charles Bukowski, some sororities girls at Oklahoma State who want to add me on Facebook because my last name is Hickey, and of course, plenty of men pleasuring their lonely selves.
I think the best part is that you don't get to choose who you talk to. Like how the people on the other end of my connections didnt get to choose to address the pinata doll acting as my chat proxy, but they all got a good laugh out of it. The key is to just swallow the super-awkwardness of the whole thing and accept that 5% of these encounters might turn out well. But the ones that do, are like running into those random people you find on the streets sometimes that keep you thinking about them for a while, wondering what drove them to wear such funny hats, or say such awkward things, or publicly exhibit their self-love.
Here's a boring but albeit surprisingly casual encounter with a French graduate student whoe is traveling to New York but lacks confidence in his English command:
You: ohhh i see, well you seem pretty good so far
Stranger: Thanks dude
You: you will be fine in NY, there are so many people from so many different places, and so many different languages spoken on the street
You: my french is terribly rusty
You: i tried to learn for a short while, but i speak only english and spanish
Stranger: Yeah, different language
Stranger: Difficult sorry
Stranger: What time in Michigan ?
You: 8:17 pm
You: late at night there?
Stranger: here is 02:18AM
Stranger: Yeah i'm tired dude
Stranger: Do you have Facebook ?
You: yeah i was about to ask you the same
You: my first name is Thomas
You: last name Hickey
Stranger: unfortunately
Stranger: I'm erased my account
Stranger: recently
Stranger: :-(
You: to try to get a job or just beacuse?
Stranger: because, we see alot of useless things
You: i agree
Stranger: adress email ?
Stranger: here mine : xavier.senatore@gmail.com
Stranger: no facebook sorry
You: yeah, my e-mail is -- hickeyt@umich.edu -- , you should let me know what you think of the states, and possibly recommend me more good movies
You: it was a good conversation
ChatRoulette, you creep me the f out, but thanks for the flashes of greatness.
I think the best part is that you don't get to choose who you talk to. Like how the people on the other end of my connections didnt get to choose to address the pinata doll acting as my chat proxy, but they all got a good laugh out of it. The key is to just swallow the super-awkwardness of the whole thing and accept that 5% of these encounters might turn out well. But the ones that do, are like running into those random people you find on the streets sometimes that keep you thinking about them for a while, wondering what drove them to wear such funny hats, or say such awkward things, or publicly exhibit their self-love.
Here's a boring but albeit surprisingly casual encounter with a French graduate student whoe is traveling to New York but lacks confidence in his English command:
You: ohhh i see, well you seem pretty good so far
Stranger: Thanks dude
You: you will be fine in NY, there are so many people from so many different places, and so many different languages spoken on the street
You: my french is terribly rusty
You: i tried to learn for a short while, but i speak only english and spanish
Stranger: Yeah, different language
Stranger: Difficult sorry
Stranger: What time in Michigan ?
You: 8:17 pm
You: late at night there?
Stranger: here is 02:18AM
Stranger: Yeah i'm tired dude
Stranger: Do you have Facebook ?
You: yeah i was about to ask you the same
You: my first name is Thomas
You: last name Hickey
Stranger: unfortunately
Stranger: I'm erased my account
Stranger: recently
Stranger: :-(
You: to try to get a job or just beacuse?
Stranger: because, we see alot of useless things
You: i agree
Stranger: adress email ?
Stranger: here mine : xavier.senatore@gmail.com
Stranger: no facebook sorry
You: yeah, my e-mail is -- hickeyt@umich.edu -- , you should let me know what you think of the states, and possibly recommend me more good movies
You: it was a good conversation
ChatRoulette, you creep me the f out, but thanks for the flashes of greatness.
Expletive as title
Chatroulette is confusing.
I don't like talking to people on airplanes or making eye contact with people on the street or pauses in small talk. I use my computer and my phone to avoid them. But now, I can use them to create those moments. Because my computer was busy processing these misexhilerating moments, I had to use something else to diffuse my anxiety. Luckily, Design Lab 1 has these empty pinatas. The internet makes me okay with prop/physical comedy because irony is too hard. My second life avatar was outrageous, and I made a pinata dance
Now, I think that everyone I see has a second chatroulette life.
I think that I just gave most of my insight to the fine film Morgan is editing now. This experience illuminated something else to me: webcams always make me feel like I am hosting a public access tv show by accident.
I don't like talking to people on airplanes or making eye contact with people on the street or pauses in small talk. I use my computer and my phone to avoid them. But now, I can use them to create those moments. Because my computer was busy processing these misexhilerating moments, I had to use something else to diffuse my anxiety. Luckily, Design Lab 1 has these empty pinatas. The internet makes me okay with prop/physical comedy because irony is too hard. My second life avatar was outrageous, and I made a pinata dance
Now, I think that everyone I see has a second chatroulette life.
I think that I just gave most of my insight to the fine film Morgan is editing now. This experience illuminated something else to me: webcams always make me feel like I am hosting a public access tv show by accident.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Bieber Fever
On Youtube, there is a full length video of the girl crying over Justin Beiber, because she knows he loves her, too. There is also a video of her mother reading comments left on the videos to her, as well as several videos from the family to Justin. These were recorded after he sent them to Disney World.
I just got to thinking about how this whole encounter was product of technology. A long time ago, Justin Beiber was just a somewhat handsome (arguably not, though it could be blamed on that awkward time in life that tweendom) boy with a great voice on youtube. He was discovered via youtube, and (after a bidding war between Usher and Justin Timberlake) became the hottest tween popstar since Zac Hanson sat behind a drum set.
But Justin's sound also changed. In his you tube videos, he is playing acoustic guitar, really using his pipes, and covering singer/song writer ballads such as Edwin McCain's "I'll Be." But when he became signed, he got a make over, had songs written for him to appeal to a young audience. His voice, which won him recognition on Youtube, has been auto-tuned. Technology allowed him to become an entirely new person. A person designed to draw in young girls en masse, but also to be someone their mom's could like, too.
Then, we have Cody, the young girl. Cody's mom chose to film her crying, and then posted it on youtube, where much like Justin, her videos became popular. Jimmy Kimmel then decided that it was worth the time of the American people to showcase this video and bring and end to young Cody's sadness. He also thought people at home would be entertained by this story. And who wouldn't be? There's probably no one who hasn't, at some time, felt a connection to a celebrity, however unwarranted or ridiculous.
In the video, Cody first makes contact with Justin on a cell phone, before he enters the room. When he is in the room, she actually tries to hid behind the phone, because she is so surprised to see his physical being. After all, she has never really seen him before, only his image.
While there are certainly bigger questions to pull out of both of these stories (why did a mom put her daughter sobbing about Justin Bieber on youtube? Why does she facilitate the relationship between her daughter and the people who like her? Why is the little girl in love with someone she only sees on tv and hears on a cd? What does it say that Justin is a "sex" symbol -or object of desire for so many young girls - at 13? Are these desires genuine, never before expressed at such a young age, or are they the product of how rapidly children are maturing in such a technologically advanced world, what are the ramifications of this?) I find it interesting to read the technological imagery which seems so secondary, but without which no part of this story could have been written (not to mention my own watching the video on you tube, and your reading this online.)
Justin also has an open twitter, in case this story gives you Bieber fever, too. The family in question also has a youtube channel, in which Mr. Bieber is very often mentioned. For better or worse, this family is tied to Justin Bieber through the technology that made them famous: Youtube.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
If at first you don't succeed....
A few late thoughts on Second Life;
"I don't like the ramifications of an online universe. There are just too many things that can go wrong."
I first tried Second Life a long time ago. I didn't get the point of it and I still don't. When I first tried it, I wanted my avatar, Zobeida Deezul, to look something like this:
I remember my mother walking past and peeking over my shoulder and saying something like "That doesn't look a thing like you!" Is it supposed to look like me? At the time all I wanted to do was mess with other people on the internet (even if occasionally in bad taste, still all in good fun), but I felt safer goofing around as an orc/jedi/dwarf/zombie/wizard/campy Lord of the Rings gibberish as opposed to goofing off as a virtual version of myself under a silly name. In other words, I was immature and almost frightened by the idea of a virtual version of myself.
The next time I ever heard anything about Second Life was when I saw a news segment discussing dating and marriage via Second Life. The only concrete thing I remember about the segment is that every individual included did not look anything like their avatar. I also noticed that no one had an avatar like this:
I was wrong again. I thought about it again; maybe the point is to do whatever it is you would normally do, but if you want to, you can do it looking like this:
Because maybe in real life, you look like this:
Or maybe the point is to live in this way:
As opposed to living in this way;
Well, that's not exactly right. Second Life is just as messy, if not messier than real life. That brings to another unanswered question I have about Second Life: Is there a judicial system? I don't mean Second Life's privacy policy, I mean actually within Second Life, is there a judicial system? Maybe that's the best way to put it, but who can stop Zobeida Deezul from tearin' her clothes off all over Orientation Island if she can fly and teleport? And who can judge (and I mean critically, not legally) Zobeida Deezul when she can deflate or inflate and lessen or accentuate her jowls whenever it's necessary?
Also, I know Second Life is a venue for business meetings and classrooms.
Something like this;
Or this;
I really would love to see how that works. What if a student or business associate has that has a virus or a computer with continuous system errors?
Then again;
Looks like fun!
"I don't like the ramifications of an online universe. There are just too many things that can go wrong."
I first tried Second Life a long time ago. I didn't get the point of it and I still don't. When I first tried it, I wanted my avatar, Zobeida Deezul, to look something like this:
I remember my mother walking past and peeking over my shoulder and saying something like "That doesn't look a thing like you!" Is it supposed to look like me? At the time all I wanted to do was mess with other people on the internet (even if occasionally in bad taste, still all in good fun), but I felt safer goofing around as an orc/jedi/dwarf/zombie/wizard/campy Lord of the Rings gibberish as opposed to goofing off as a virtual version of myself under a silly name. In other words, I was immature and almost frightened by the idea of a virtual version of myself.
The next time I ever heard anything about Second Life was when I saw a news segment discussing dating and marriage via Second Life. The only concrete thing I remember about the segment is that every individual included did not look anything like their avatar. I also noticed that no one had an avatar like this:
I was wrong again. I thought about it again; maybe the point is to do whatever it is you would normally do, but if you want to, you can do it looking like this:
Because maybe in real life, you look like this:
Or maybe the point is to live in this way:
As opposed to living in this way;
Well, that's not exactly right. Second Life is just as messy, if not messier than real life. That brings to another unanswered question I have about Second Life: Is there a judicial system? I don't mean Second Life's privacy policy, I mean actually within Second Life, is there a judicial system? Maybe that's the best way to put it, but who can stop Zobeida Deezul from tearin' her clothes off all over Orientation Island if she can fly and teleport? And who can judge (and I mean critically, not legally) Zobeida Deezul when she can deflate or inflate and lessen or accentuate her jowls whenever it's necessary?
Also, I know Second Life is a venue for business meetings and classrooms.
Something like this;
Or this;
I really would love to see how that works. What if a student or business associate has that has a virus or a computer with continuous system errors?
Then again;
Looks like fun!
gender relations in the virtual world
fascinating study about avatars in the virtual world. click here to find out more!
"Thanks to video games and blockbuster movies, people are increasingly engaging with avatars and robots. So Karl MacDorman of Indiana University in Indianapolis, Indiana, decided to find out how people treated avatars when faced with an ethical dilemma. Does an avatar's lack of humanity mean people fail to empathise with them? The answer seems to depend on gender."
More info in article.
Happy national margarita day, you all! google's number one search term of the day.
"Thanks to video games and blockbuster movies, people are increasingly engaging with avatars and robots. So Karl MacDorman of Indiana University in Indianapolis, Indiana, decided to find out how people treated avatars when faced with an ethical dilemma. Does an avatar's lack of humanity mean people fail to empathise with them? The answer seems to depend on gender."
More info in article.
Happy national margarita day, you all! google's number one search term of the day.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Die Antwoord aka "The Answer"
I think this music video is worth sharing.
Actual music video start 53 seconds in if you want to skip the monologue.
Also features a real life Progeria survivor.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Michelle Trachtenberg Spitting Nicki Minaj in the Holland Tunnel As Filmed By James Van Der Beek
For everyone else who grew up watching the WB and now likes Nicki, here are so many of your favorite things in one place.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
early language exposure and iq
Early Language Exposure
This link is basically plugging some technology but it features a study I hear on NPR a few years ago about how the amount of words that a child is exposed to early in life is strongly correlated with IQ later in life. The more words a toddler hears during 0-3 years, the smarter they will be later. I think this is probably true.
This link is basically plugging some technology but it features a study I hear on NPR a few years ago about how the amount of words that a child is exposed to early in life is strongly correlated with IQ later in life. The more words a toddler hears during 0-3 years, the smarter they will be later. I think this is probably true.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
a personal field study in brain relaxation
Two weeks ago we were talking about exposure and how it's critical to the learning process, and how we need to give our brains time to rest
I had an exam to study for in my operations management class. Instead of studying relentlessly for several days and cramming as much as I could, I would study for an hour and a half max and then not do anything for an hour. I slept a lot at night time. I did this for 5 days before the exam, studying way less than usual by about 25-30%, and got one of the highest scores on the test.
Thylias' method works.
I had an exam to study for in my operations management class. Instead of studying relentlessly for several days and cramming as much as I could, I would study for an hour and a half max and then not do anything for an hour. I slept a lot at night time. I did this for 5 days before the exam, studying way less than usual by about 25-30%, and got one of the highest scores on the test.
Thylias' method works.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
In the World of Facebook
In the World of Facebook - The New York Review of Books
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23651
I thought this article was interesting because it touches on the concept of "digital homes," which I feel like we spent some time exploring today with Second Life and other forms of digital space. He makes comparisons between the "working class aesthetic" of MySpace and the more elitist Facebook, comparing Facebook profiles to "suburban front lawns." I especially liked the part where he was talking about how we use it and how it reflects this obsession with irony -- adding Celine Dion to your favorite music or being in open relationships with your friends or using fake pictures to promote this attitude of nonchalance. Here's a good part on social networking:
"What is "social networking"? For all the vagueness of the term, which now seems to encompass everything we do with other people online, it is usually associated with three basic activities: the creation of a personal Web page, or "profile," that will serve as a surrogate home for the self; a trip to a kind of virtual agora, where, along with amusedly studying passersby, you can take a stroll through the ghost town of acquaintanceships past, looking up every person who's crossed your path and whose name you can remember; and finally, a chance to remove the digital barrier and reveal yourself to the unsuspecting subjects of your gaze by, as we have learned to put it with the Internet's peculiar eagerness for deforming our language, "friending" them, i.e., requesting that you be connected online in some way."
a 2nd life for noise
You need to have Flash installed to listen directly on the site. Install Flash or you can download the recording instead
Recorded from RjDj is an application for iphones that records sound and regurgitates a remixed version of all the noise. I can record myself saying "i hate second life," and some baby/dwarf/goofer version of me will return, "iiiiiiiii hateHATEhate sesesecondcond lifeLIFE." The words all change, some of them are erased, and ambient noise I would not have noticed in real time will be spat out by RjDj as a great boom of static. It's a tiny little P Diddy, dedicated to the remix, baby. But what's great about RjDj is that the sound landscape created by the remix application retains the feel and tone of original recording (it's EVEN better than a Puff daddy remix). Just follow the link and listen to swine flu... I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm catching the pig disease. A little infected pork for our limited forks.
On the subject of remixing, check out this Gil Scott Heron remix of Robert Johnson's blues classic:
What gets me about the video, besides Heron being one of my heroes, is that it expresses so much more than a simple guitar and a good blues singer ever could... it may just be a music video, but it's an interesting study on how an old blues standard can be rediscovered and remixed in the digital age.
REMIXING EVERYTHING
We Edit Life
Video from Vicki Bennett, one of the most INSANE proponents of plunderphonics. From UbuWeb:
This is the first in a series of films using documentary, industrial and educational film footage from the Prelinger Archive and The Internet Archive. The film explores the theme of technology, showing how the future can be edited and manipulated through advances in computer science. As the narrative in the film says "The art of computer graphics is only in its infancy yet it is already stimulating creative thought in far out areas where research is likely to get complex and unwieldy".
Video from Vicki Bennett, one of the most INSANE proponents of plunderphonics. From UbuWeb:
This is the first in a series of films using documentary, industrial and educational film footage from the Prelinger Archive and The Internet Archive. The film explores the theme of technology, showing how the future can be edited and manipulated through advances in computer science. As the narrative in the film says "The art of computer graphics is only in its infancy yet it is already stimulating creative thought in far out areas where research is likely to get complex and unwieldy".
"The Entrepreneur's Guide to Second Life"
Making Money in the Metaverse
When i first stepped into second life the first thing that popped into my head was not "how can I make money off this?" Quite the contrary, my initial reaction was to run around like a doofus and wreak minor havoc. I even had a gang with me to annoy people. This book looks hilarious. A barrel of laughs. But this is a very serious topic. Daniel Terdiman even says so: "You can only make money in Second Life if you are totally serious about it." That means I would really have to get my act together if I plan on making my first million through the internet.
Terdiman also has a blog, where he interviews and discusses Second Life entrepreneurs and innovators.
BLOG
Some of the advice given also applied to the real world. For example: "To do well in business in Second Life, pick a product that people will buy over and over, not just once, such as clothing, hair, skins and fashion in general. People don't buy a new couch very often, but they buy lots of clothes."
On the other hand, one featured innovator gained her fame by creating "tiny" avatars, which is something unique to the second life world.
I guess since I have no business drive in the real world, it wouldn't really be possible for me to have any in a virtual world. As soon as I think of something goofy to sell i'll give it a shot and let you guys know how it goes.
discussion: classes in second life
what are possible pros and cons of having a class meet in 2nd life?
pro: shy people may be more likely to contribute because of greater anonymity and more time to think before articulating a thought. could facilitate greater participation.
poll - should i blog about business school?
pro: shy people may be more likely to contribute because of greater anonymity and more time to think before articulating a thought. could facilitate greater participation.
poll - should i blog about business school?
Big Girls Don't Cry
I have been thinking about this video since I took a car trip to Ferndale to see a concert in early January, when I had just begun learning about Limited Fork Theory. This song first struck me because it was a remix of a song that is several years old, Big Girls Don't Cry (the earliest date I can find for it is 2007) while Fergie's album, The Duchess came out in 2006. I head this remix as a male imagining a response to Fergie's lyrics, like a fictional dialogue between the two of them.
The original version of this song was also used at the end of one of the seasons of the Hills, when Lauren and Heidi were fighting because Lauren would not allow Heidi's boyfriend Spencer, or anyone who associated with him into her life because he had offered to sell a non-existent sex tape of Lauren to various media outlets. Heidi begged Lauren to forgive Spencer, but ultimately decided to loose her friendship with Lauren and move in with Spencer, though she repeatedly tried to get Lauren back in her life.
So for me, this remix conjure up not only an imagined dialogue between Fergie and Sean Kingston, but also one between Lauren and Heidi (with Lauren, of course, as Fergie.) I find interesting the way in which the meaning of this song, a song about a girl needing some time and space to figure out who she is, was morphed through it various cultural applications.
Tour of Texas State Second Life Campus!!
Would you rather enter this virtual classroom than the ones you are used to for learning and discussion?
not 2nd life
I really like this TV show called Death Note. I have watched it twice and recently received the Manga box set on 2/14/2010. After playing 2nd Life I wondered if there were any 'Death Note' games...because my mind connected 'games' and the gift I got and the fact that I lost my trading card earlier. The Death Note is the most advanced/evil technology in the world. You can write someones name in it and then they will die in 6 minutes and 40 seconds. A student gets a hold of it and decides to RID THE WORLD OF ALL EVIL. It is super interesting. Also today I realized that 40 seconds/60 seconds is .66 = 6.66 = soo evil.
2nd life
2nd LIFE
I tried to open and play it but i did not really feel like learning how to do it even though it would not take very long to learn. I just did not want to play it. This is the same feeling I felt when I tried to play the TEXT BASED MUD. I guess I am just really not into virtual games.
The reason that I did not dive further into 2nd life is because I realize that for it to be fun, I will have to figure out all of the various commands and things you can do in the game and that is learning that takes time. I think that is a waste of my time because two things will happen, either I will become 'addicted to 2nd life' and play a lot at later times when I should be doing something else, or I will kind of stupidly walk around 2nd life, not really figure out how to do anything, and not play again which is pointless, more pointless than playing. I noticed everyone was having fun playing it, but I joined about an hour after every body else due to my initial disinterest. When I finally joined and everyone was already 'into' the game, it just made me less inclined to learn about it.
That is why I did not play 2nd life.
Lina
I tried to open and play it but i did not really feel like learning how to do it even though it would not take very long to learn. I just did not want to play it. This is the same feeling I felt when I tried to play the TEXT BASED MUD. I guess I am just really not into virtual games.
The reason that I did not dive further into 2nd life is because I realize that for it to be fun, I will have to figure out all of the various commands and things you can do in the game and that is learning that takes time. I think that is a waste of my time because two things will happen, either I will become 'addicted to 2nd life' and play a lot at later times when I should be doing something else, or I will kind of stupidly walk around 2nd life, not really figure out how to do anything, and not play again which is pointless, more pointless than playing. I noticed everyone was having fun playing it, but I joined about an hour after every body else due to my initial disinterest. When I finally joined and everyone was already 'into' the game, it just made me less inclined to learn about it.
That is why I did not play 2nd life.
Lina
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