Second Life

Ok this is pretty cool even though it eats up alot of memory. I was anticipating that so I ran out and bought myself another gig of memory. The funny thing is it still takes sometime to function at the speed I would like it to. Overall, Second Life is rather engaging. There would be no problem losing several hours of my first life in my Second Life account. The graphics are decent and this type of interacting with others makes it more fun. The progression of Second Life, if it hangs in there, will be nothing less than unique. In case, anyone wants to play with me on Second Life my name is Stina Xi. See you there!

Blog @ Your Own Risk (#3)

If you are a blogging fanatic, the existence of this form of communication has enriched your life. You are a faithful commentator on various subjects. The majority of your leisure is spent online contributing to discussions. For the most part, you belong.

From my own personal observation, it seems as if it has become easier to communicate through online forums or blogs, then in traditional settings such as classrooms, offices, etc. The growth of this type of communication has brought together like minded people.

A big part of being a blogger in online society is having something to say. At first, making your blog appealing may be a challenge. Overtime, you are quickly socialized into the world of blogging which is rapidly becoming the newest form of media and community.

Web logs are not just a place for building networks and communities; it is also home to a new form of journalism. The presence of Journalism in Web logs has caused much controversy among experts in the field. Their biggest fear is losing sight of what is familiar.  While most are excited about the potential this form could hold. Donald Matheson claims “Weblogs need not be revolutionary, but they are indicative of one way in which journalism is changing, under pressure from reformers who are aware of a new medium with its concomitant new economic, social and production contexts (447).

 

Either way you slice it, web blogging is here and may stick around for awhile. When considering the possibilities, could this new media actually create unexpected problems? The introduction of anything new usually stirs up some push.

Take into consideration the uniting of like-minded individuals. This can quickly begin to cause segregation. What if by uniting such groups we stop appreciating our differences? We all can bring something to the table of existence, like-minded or not, but if we are filtered into only the groups that accept us, what will happen in the real world?

The television is a good example of an electronic device designed to deliver entertainment and communication among the masses. Most of the work the TV does is for the media.  Of course there is still entertainment value in watching TV but at whose expense? Most of what is on television is ridiculous and marketed towards specific groups so advertisers can expose them to what they known we will buy into. It won’t be long before they invade blogs as well.

At the moment, blogging is a great way to interact. The freedom of choosing what you expose yourself too is great in theory, even though it is one of the simplest ways of selling known as transfer of ownership (Sustein, p.58). When you put a new product in a consumer’s hand, such as a cell phone, you are actually painting the picture of ownership to the customer. That is what is happening here with Weblogs.

Before you decide to blog make sure you are aware of your environment and what you decide to digest and yes this blog about blogging is a contradiction.

 

Citations:

Matheson, Donald   New Media & Society, 2004.

Sunstein, Cass  Democracy and Filtering, 2004

What’s your ringtone??

Just curious what song everyone has their cell phones set to… here is one of the many ringtones I have on my phone. Right now “Dare” by Gorillaz is set on default. Check it out…. the video is pretty sweet too! Work it out!

i-mode commerical

I found this i-mode commerical for everyone to check out. There is also an i-mode demo that I got from one of my online classes but I can’t  post it on here since wordpress doesn’t support windows media. If you want to check it out click this link and scroll down until you see the windows media file then follow the instructions.

Extending Communication (#2)

It comes as no surprise that we live in a world influenced by choices. From kitchen countertop swatches to the flavor shot in your espresso, we are constantly being indirectly asked to make decisions. Even the way we communicate involves a preference. For many, communication may still be considered an interaction that only occurs  in the company of  another party.  The progression of communication begs to differ.

Since the introduction of the telegraph in 1844, communication has transformed the way we interact. The development process of instant communication has pushed forward opening many doors for social networks to develop, giving its users various avenues to explore. The evolution of the cell phone is eagerly developing to become the “remote control for your life” (Hirschhorn, qtd. in Rheingold, 11).

The most fascinating phenomenon about the cell phone is not the accessibility it provides to our social networks but in the way it provides that accessibility. There is no doubt that the cell phone is paving the way for us to stay connected to our social environments. Take into account that on average most of us live busy lives. In order to balance the hustle and bustle of everyday life, there is a need to stay connected to the outside world. One way that cell phone functionality is making this easier is by way of text messaging. Text messaging, or SMS, provides users with a way to stay connected when making a phone call is not an option.

Mizuko Ito, an anthropologist, investigated “how identity and place are produced through and within digital media infrastructures” (Ito, Rheingold, 4). This study was conducted by observing the way the youth of Tokyo maintained interaction with their peers. What Ito found was that text messaging, among this group, gave them access to another world. A world that allowed them to converse in the physical and digital world at the same time.  The popularity of  text messaging allows its users to stay connected to their peers while enabling  them to be in two places at once.

Above and beyond being a catalyst for communication, text messaging bridges the gap between time and space. By digitally connecting us to each other Rheingold acknowledges that being present in a physical form is not necessary with the aid of text messaging:

As long as people participated in the shared communications of the group, they seemed to be considered by others to be present (Rheingold, 6).

According to Rheingold, “The unexpected success of texting was also a sign that people were once again appropriating a communication technology for social purposes, as they had done with voice telephony and with Minitel in France, where the chat tool was literally stolen from operators by the users, and with email, where it was the driving force behind the growth of the landlocked Internet” (Rheingold, 15).

According to an article in USA Today, “Teens, techies and other early adopters leading the charge to text say it’s a great way to communicate when they are too busy to talk or when making a call would be rude or impractical. Parents keep tabs on kids. Business people silently check facts in meetings. Young professionals’ text-flirt at concerts. And teens gossip with friends, anytime, anywhere” (usatoday.com).

The article also goes on to quote Rheingold, “Communications behavior is filling parts of our time that used to be idle or devoted to talking to strangers or noticing parts of the world that we’re not going to notice as much anymore. That has an impact on individuals as well as on cities. More and more, people are walking down the street communicating with people who are somewhere else “(Rheingold, qtd. in usatoday.com).

Even though text messaging may never replace making and receiving phones calls, it sure has made its mark in society among all groups. As long as we have a need to be filled and a technology to fill it; the future of how we communicate may always be changing. But one thing will always stand true, “That’s what humans do: We come up with new ways to communicate and new ways to build civilizations” (Rheingold, qtd. in usatoday.com).

 Citations:

Rheingold, H.  Smart Mobs.
New York: Perseus, 2002.

Kornblum, Janet (2003) Tapping into text messaging (Electronic version) USA TODAYhttp://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-06-02-text-me-main_x.htm 

About…

What you should expect here is anything but the norm. The foundation of the discussions that take place are to be challenged by persuasive intellects that share the same common goal; creation. To create gives us the freedom to dream and the inspiration to live that dream; always remembering that the most important thing that we create is ourselves.

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw

…dreamsndigital

ICM 501:Response Paper #1

           

           Imagine. That is half the battle. The beauty of perpetuating thought! Many times our thoughts get the best of us, sending us on long journeys through a labyrinth of options for what can become a reality. Realizing that not every thought is sound in function and form, is admitting that there is room for imperfections and space for growth. Though many may squabble against the relevancy of the message Vannevar Bush (1945) was trying to express in his piece “As We May Think” (1945), it was still merely a thought.

            This piece was published in the Atlantic Monthly the year 1945, a time in history best known for the end of World War II.  Vannevar Bush (1945), Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, recognized for his orchestration of American Scientists in the battle of using science as a means to warfare (1945),  conveyed his theory of where scientists aught to flex their muscle.

            “Science”(pg.1), according to Bush, “ has provided the swiftest communication between individuals; it has provided a record of ideas and has enabled man to manipulate and to make extracts from that record so that knowledge evolves and endures throughout the life of a race rather than that of an individual” (pg.1).  For knowledge to cultivate beyond the present measures available in 1945, it was Bush’s (1945) belief that a system of organized information needed to exist that was not only easily accessible but specialized (1945).

            The mere thought of a collection of works, all relative to one another, was an astonishing yet profound ‘thought’ for the early information age. To fathom an idea such as this, so early on in the development of information technology, not only was logical but exciting. Bush (1945) acknowledged the need for a new method of research claiming,

 Professionally our methods of transmitting and reviewing the results of research are generations old and by now are totally inadequate for their purpose” (Bush, 1945, pg.1)

Through this perspective, Bush (1945) already had evidence that technology was, at that time, a gateway for future progress:

Certainly progress in photography is not going to stop. Faster material and lenses, more automatic cameras, finer-grained sensitive compounds to allow an extension of the mini-camera idea, are all imminent. (Bush, 1945, pg.2)

            Using the camera as an example to further explain his purpose, Bush (1945) conjures up possible directions technology could lead the camera. Predicting a tiny camera worn on the forehead of the user, the size of a walnut, with a cord that runs along the arm extending to the hand where a switch or push button trips the shutter enabling him to record images that can later be enlarged ( Bush, 1945). Through the path of his imagination, Bush stumbles upon, what to him was just an idea, and what has become reality to the modern technological world; the digital camera.

 

 The proof in the pudding you say? Let’s cite some more facts.

 

            This was not just a tiny camera that sits on your forehead with some fancy “James Bond” type trip wire, but “The lense is of universal focus, down to any distance accommodated by the unaided eye, simply because it is of short focal length. There is a built-in photocell on the walnut such as we now have on at least one camera, which automatically adjusts exposure for a wide range of illumination. There is film in the walnut for a hundred exposures, and the spring for operating its shutter and shifting its film would once for all when the film clip is inserted. It produces its results in full color” (Bush, 1945, pg. 2)

            Understanding that at this time in history, there was no preconceived knowledge of what ‘digital’ was or what role it was to play in the future; while also accepting the fact that Bush (1945) did not predict the ‘tiny camera’ in the fashion that we have come to know it as today; does not disprove what he was describing is the foundation of what was to become and now is the evolution of the camera.

            Not to shabby for 1945. Remarkably this was not the most impressive aspect of his article. The real clincher (getting back to organized information) was Bush’s (1945) idea of the “memex” (pg.6) Once again, imagine, a compression of all the world’s data and facts, an information warehouse, where the user can gather research on any area of interest with the stroke of the keyboard.

            Beyond encouraging scientific development among his peers to bridge the gap between research and the thinking of man, Bush (1945), unbeknownst to him, had ‘imagined’ the basis to what we have come to know as the Internet.

            Describing the “memex” (Bush, 1945, pg.6), as a “ … device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory” (Bush, 1945, pg. 6)

            The “memex” (pg.6) was a desk with ‘slanted translucent screens’ (Bush, 1945, pg. 6) that would project the information for easy reading (1945). While only one end is set aside for storage, the rest is ‘devoted to mechanism.’ (pg. 6)  Inside the “memex’ (pg.6) were loads of ‘microfilm’ ready for access. The microfilm contained, “…books of all sorts, pictures, current periodicals, newspapers” (Bush, 1945, pg. 6)

             Bush (1945) claimed that it could store ‘material freely’, since microfilm was so thin. The device also had a copying function that introduced the use of ‘dry ink photography’ to enable information to be transferred from the “memex” (pg.6) to paper. In edition to the plethora of obtainable information, another relevant function to the modern day computer / Internet is that of indexing. The “memex” (pg. 6) allowed its user to store bookmarks, or go back points, in his research to allow for quick access at a later date.

            A phenomenal idea for the times it was indeed. Unimaginable that something relatively close would emerge some thirty to forty years later. Taking into consideration, that to modern society, a contraption such as the “memex” might seem like a complex way of accessing information,  but then again, try explaining how the Internet works to Vannevar Bush (1945).

References

Bush, Vennavar.  “As We May Think”. The Atlantic Monthly 1945.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/194507/bush

Daily Inspiration…

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson