questions for Monday

On MIT Forum Video:

According to Garrett LoPorto of True Majority, what is the core of viral marketing?

Why was the apprentice/fire Bush video so popular?

Why was he hoping the NBC would sue?

Jenkins and Trippi differ, how?

On Future Active:

Why doesn’t it make sense to treat the Web as a separate realm?

What does the book include as examples of political activism?

On Why 2008 won’t be like 2004:

Why does Peter Leyden say the Vote Different video is about the end of broadcast? Do you agree?

Does Obama represent a new type of politics?

Funny Blog

My friend's brother writes this blog for fun and it's really funny. There is an entire section on the best comedy skits of all time which is hilarious. Enjoy!

http://allmydealsarelive.com/

Quick Political Humor Video

Seeing as we'll be discussing politics and the utilization of media for influence, I think this Viral Video Politician video would be appropriate.

Also, CollegeHumor is a good resource for comedic videos and pics... as the name suggests, much of the content will probably be beyond the grasp of a younger audience.

Barack v.s. Hillary

I just found this video on another blog and thought it would be cool to share. I've seen a lot of video game characters created into another game, but this might be my first time seeing a real character created into a game.

Another Insight into facebook

As is tradition this week, I have a few thoughts about Facebook. First, the chat program now available is strange. The people Ive talked to seem to have mixed feelings about it. Some jumped right on, but others, like myself, were more standoffish. I terminated my AOL chat account in 7th grade, so the idea to start back up was strange. The next day a friend from Minnesota initiated a chat, and although I responded, I quickly signed off a few minutes later. Its like sticking your toe in a pool to test the waters, and then pulling out quickly. Anyways, it got me thinking about the others programs on Facebok, that had originally seemed so foreign. The first time I got a bumper sticker request, I was thoroughly confused. The next time, and the following I accepted with some anticipation. Soon I was browsing the stickers and sending them to others. This in itself seemed like a good example of how convergence occurs in individuals, and in culture. It also depicts the idea of participatory culture. We can interact with the applications on facebook as consumers and producers. Considering how quickly facebook has transformed in such a short amount of time, I anticipate many more changes in the future. This Youtube video exemplifies some peoples' frustration with all the facebook applications.

She Has A Boyfriend

Honesetly, I think my grade in this class should just be forwarded to the staff at StumbleUpon.

I was exploring the wonderful feature that is Stumble Through, in which, as you know, you can stumble through a particular website and its content. There are several sites available at this time, but I must say the most enjoyable site, for me at least, to stumble through is Break.com.

Break.com is a website to be filed in the same category as YouTube, except devoted exclusively to humorous videos. In my perception, the Internet is mainly a tool designed to provide entertainment to the users. Sure, there are other neat things about the Internet and how it kind of connects to world and all, but I mainly utilize it to get a nice chuckle in every once in a while.

I thought I'd share a view videos with all of you that I thought were particularly fufilling:

She Has A Boyfriend, I think our brethren's humor from across the pond is vastly under appreciated; no one understand comedic timing like a Brit.

Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Who doesn't love puppets? Who doesn't like making fun of terrorists? Show me that person and I will call you a liar.

Social Security Nut Shot, and what would a reference to humor be without the obligatory shot to the unmentionables? The fact that it's an old man makes it that much better.

Where do we go from here?

I haven't found one website that I can say that really relates to the reading. But I'm more than happy to share a few that I have found interesting.

Use your mouse to see the changes throughout the day.
It reminded me of the conglomeration of images to create Notre Dame. Imagine if you could take photos of a scene

Here is another that is discussing the simplicity of Google's pageranking system (the simplicity of its coding)

However, here the best is saved for last. The MIT lab for Branding Cultures. Pay no attention to the news that it has a new website. It doesn't. Anyways it discusses different brands and marketing strategies in the world today. Its a blog that you should check out for yourself. The top blog about Neopets world is really crazyLook carefully. Disney theatre... McDonald's shop... Cereal Adventure....
This is a direct quote from the blog, quoted from Wired

"Neopets has a staggering 25 million members worldwide. It has been translated into 10 languages and gets more than 2.2 billion pageviews per month. These dedicated Neopians spend an average of 6 hours and 15 minutes per month on the site. What's more, its demographics are the stuff of marketers' dreams: Four out of five Neopians are under age 18, and two out of five are under 13."

They just start earlier and earlier don't they?

Robotic Toy Galley

Here is an interesting galley I found while looking up art. Someone set up a galley of robotic stuffed animals with their “skin” off. I would imagine this would be traumatizing for kids to see their favorite plaything turn into a hideous robot, which I’m sure is what the creator had in mind.

Creative Commons Applied!

Since we recently talked about Creative Commons in class and on the blog, I thought I would give it a try for myself. From what we learned in class, I knew that the creators wanted it to be easy to use, but I had no idea it would be SO easy, even for someone as technologically-challenged as myself. I copy-lefted a photo I took that is displayed on my Myspace page in a matter of minutes. From start to finish I was able to choose the license I wanted and apply in 7 minutes. Now my photo has this fun little gizmo under it and boy do I feel cool now! From now, on I am going to do this to all of the material I put out there for the world and I suggest you all do this same. While you're on the site, check out some of their projects, there are seemingly limitless bounds to what the site can do. Check it out and apply it to your work!

revised reading

Here is the a revised reading assignment for 4/30 and 5/5.

Reading for next Wednesday
Castells, Manuel. “Communication, Power and Counter-power in the Network Society.”International Journal of Communication. v.1 2007.

Jenkins 6

Check out political videos on youtube, websites of candidates, moveon etc.

Reading/Viewing for Monday
1. “New Media, Old Politics?” MIT Communication Forum.
2. Future Active handout in class
3. Tryon, Chuck. “‘Why 2008 Won’t Be Like 1984’: Viral Videos and Presidential Politics.”Flow.
Recommended
1. Heffner, Alexander. “YouTube Debates." CJR.

2. Jenkins 4
Sites to check out:
http://www.moveon.org/
http://www.campaignads.org/
http://www.meetup.com/
http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
http://www.mittromney.com/
http://www.mccainblogette.com/
http://politicalremix.wordpress.com/
http://www.theyesmen.org/

Efaceharmony.com

While doing the reading for tomorrow's class - and also procrastinating on facebook of course - I thought that there HAD to be some funny videos about this whole facebook/myspace/social networking identity concept. Check out the first video below, it's a parody of an eharmony.com commercial but with facebook and its 'relationship status', 'looking for' and poking features. It's funny, because it's true.  

On a more serious note (though this one is still pretty funny) the next video below is interesting in the fact that it touches upon the whole concept of young people today losing face to face interaction with their technological connections with people - phone, text, email, blog, facebook, etc. It says how facebook gave these guys the ability to be social - in today's world I guess it is true!

Whether you want to think of your facebook page as a serious way to express your personal identity or solely to fulfill your voyeuristic tendencies and spy on everyone you know, you should enjoy these videos because they bring a lot of humor to the fact that most of us probably spend a large amount of time on these websites - and actually think like this sometimes!

Facebook Stalking

With all of the new features on facebook, including the buddy chat, I couldn't help but wonder what exactly these features do for us. Yes, facebook is a cool program that allows people to connect with others and see what they are up to but the more I thought about, the more I realized that it really has no point. It just promotes stalking and people being judgemental of others. Case in point: this article from last month. What do you guys think: Do you like facebook? What does it provide for you?

Facebook Chat

Looks like DU and its surrounding networks finally got the chat feature rolled out today on Facebook. I'm not sure how I feel about it, personally.

One girl made this discovery before my Human Rights class started. "Oh my God! Facebook has chat now! There's a buddy list and everything! Everybody get on. This is going to change everything." (In reference to chatting throughout class. This didn't end up happening, though, since the professor let us have a bit of class outside, instead.)

The guy sitting next to her just scoffed and made a pretentious remark about Facebook becoming MySpace all over again--ever since Apps, and now chat.

Three people have initiated chat sessions with me as if the feature had been there since the beginning. It's convenient, and drop-dead simple, so it'll probably be a success. Unfortunately, like the rest of Facebook, it's still a completely closed system, so no integration with desktop applications like Adium (Mac) or Pidgin (PC), which is a deal breaker for me.

Cat 5 Compliant Wedding Set

I just love how some people come up with these kind of things. The Cat 5 wedding ring apparently is sold now and it worries me if that many people bought the ring or the place only had a few to sell in the first place. This might be an option for some people as a wedding ring.

DIY Media Discussion

I wanted to post some information related to the event last Thursday that many were unable to attend.


The conference, held at the Cable Center, was titled "Untold Stories: Truth and Consequences." The presentation, "YouTube & Do it Yourself Media: Challenges to Traditional Media from Outside the Maistream Fewturing Stories from Diverse Communities" was led by our very own Dr. Adrienne Russell, along with a number of staff/contributors to Denver Open Media: Tony Shawcross (read his advice for an 18 year old letter), Deborah Lastowka (Outreach Coordinator, crator of "The Key of D"), Ann Theis (creator of "VLogTV"), Paula Rhoads (producer of talk show "Brainiacs"), and Emmanuel Eliason (pastor for World Gospel TV).

The discussion centered around the idea of public representation, and the ideas of the do-it-yourself forms of media. The concept of public access television is dualy shown through what is broadcast by DOM. Each submission is guranteed to air once, and may be shown again based off of the votes it receives from viewers, who are prompted to vote via a scrolling marquee on the screen giving the instructions. Here at DU, channels 56 and 57 are the DOM broadcasts, with 56 being the "fresh" shows, and 57 giving viewiers those

Also, through Deproduction/DOM, video services and media education programs/workshops are offered, allowing for the public to pay to learn various media skills related to video/film, such as field production, Final Cut, and web video workshops. It is this effort that enables the public to contribute to the DOM television to take their first steps into the public realm via filming.

Also discussed were issues of television censoring/censorship and the application of a 3-strike policy by DOM, as well as a brief bit about the Digital Divide and access to the means for production, as well as viewing of the shows provided. They also discussed Drupal, a free and open source modular framework and content management system (CMS), which is used to manage the television shows and viewer voting interaction. They also spoke to community interaction and the Creative Commons, with the use of ccMixter, and also the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

There was much discussed between the six presenters, and the Clarion has a piece covering some of the event as well, for those of you interested.

Taking away the internet's Viriginity

With a title like that I better back it up. It hasn't been very big in the media in the US mainly because it is affecting the internet in Europe. Specifically its Virgin Media's stance on Net Neutrality in Europe. Virgin Media is one of the larger internet providers in Europe and Virign as a international conglomerate has huge amounts of funding to back up any issues it chooses to take a stance on. When you look at the website all of the small squares on the right are links to other people's responses to the Virgin media net neutrality issue. My personal problem with net neutrality lies in how it would really upset the internet's economy. The internet's economy is only just now settling down and it is hard enough supporting personal or commercial websites that don't sell material goods. Advertising fluctuates and something that fluctuates month to month isn't great to depend on for all of your income

Beyond that there are some companies that are battling Net Neutrality in their own way
Comcast was having a hearing on Net Neutrality at Harvard. Specifically FCC was having the hearing to investigate Comcast's practices. So what does Comcast do? They hire people off of the street to "hold" places in line so that their "employees" can attend the hearing. They admit to doing this. Many of Comcast's critics and the general public weren't let in to the hearing because of this practice. Think about the Obama speech, granted this didn't draw as big of a crowd, however it wasn't in as big of an area either. Companies will go to huge lengths to save face as well as get their way. This can blow up in their face, but there will always be loopholes that will be exploited. It all just sickens me. ~~Andrew

Scoopt

While studying for the test this week I kept thinking about how the Scoopt website can relate to a lot of the things we have been talking about.  It is a user generated website that not only provides pictures, but also provides news headlines.  When someone uploads a picture, the picture is licensed exclusively to Scoopt for 12 months, while they try to sell it.  Depending on their opinion of the quality of the photo, the picture is placed in Getty Images gallery or Scoopt's gallery if the photo is not very "hot."  Ok, so the program is run by Getty Images corporation, not by governments, or just being consumer run.  The site is a great example of collective intelligence, but the corporations decide what is "hot" and what is "not."  The copyright laws play out uniquely on the site, such that Scoopt claims exclusive rights for 12 months and then the producer is free to do what they will with it.  It is also a major example of convergence, participatory culture and produsage, because not only are producers putting up images, they are also being confronted by other content.  Thus, Scoopt is a greta site to visit to see how Web 2.0 is working. 

Musicovery

Well since signing up for StumbleUpon last week I am officially addicted and am finding some really fun and interesting stuff on the internet. I was getting really bored with the usual sites I was visiting so the Stumble button is creating more interest in my daily internet time. 

Using Stumble I found this site called Musicovery. Its a site that can lead the user to new music, but does it in an interesting and highly visual manner. You can choose a spot on a perceptual map of Calm to Energetic and Dark to Positive. You can also pick and choose which genres you would like to explore. The web like music map on the side changes with each new song you play connecting similar songs. Since I am always searching for some new great music this has become my new favorite tool. 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Check Check it out.

The Next Wii

At long last the device everyone (or maybe just me)has been waiting for has arrived, the power to play video games with your mind.

Emotiv has invented a new device that detects patterns produced by the brain's electrical activity with 14 strategically placed head sensors. From the sensors the device will be able to react to the player mood and change the music of the game to match the user's tension or make the game harder if the player is board. While the first generation hitting store shelf’s soon ($299 retail)isn’t meant to replace the controller as much as complement it, a few generations down the line this could replace everything we use for human-to-machine interaction.

NOROVIRUS of DEATH

The Norovirus, also known as "halls virus" or "that crazy shit that is killing people in halls", tried to claim my life on tuesday night. I spent all of Wednesday in the hospital. 9 IV bags later 
I am alive and thought I would post an ode to the horrible virus. WASH YOUR HANDS! Even if you dont live in halls, this terrorist virus can still attack you when you weak. Beware and careful.
The above link will direct you to a site that talks a litle bit more about the plague.

One Nation Under Banksy

We've been looking at issues of privacy a lot lately, mostly related to the internet. I have been following one of my favorite graffiti artists, Banksy, through the British blog Londonist. Last week, he tagged what might be his biggest piece to date, One Nation Under CCTV that obviously addresses issues of privacy and surveillance. CCTV is the the varying systems of surveillance cameras that we see (or don't see) in shops, work places, outside stores, etc. Banksy plays off this by having a child painting the message, with a security guard watching him. Surveillance is a huge privacy issue, and something that societies everywhere are dealing with more and more. It is also important to Banksy personally, as he is extremely private and keeps himself from being 'discovered.'

I thought it was interesting that Banksy is addressing the issues at the same time our class is. Not to mention, I love the excuse to show his work.

Danny and Nina

"A very good friend of mine once told me, "Denver's the smallest big city in the country." At that point I was still fairly new to living in the city, having clawed my way out of the suburbs' stultifying grasp less than a year prior, and I didn't understand what she meant--everything seemed so new, there were so many places to explore, so many people to meet. ...Now it's been a few years, and she's gone, and as I walk and ride my bike around I feel exactly like she must have. I know what she meant. Denver is a small town masquerading as a major U.S. city. I see people I know everywhere."

These were the words of my friend and bandmate, Patrick Kelly. He left today, a permanent move to Boston. At his moving away party, I solidified some friendships with his friends, and I'm beginning to think this my first steps in what may end up being a similar path as him.

In particular, I had a nice conversation with Nina Barry, who is a local artist, and teaches at Metro. I hadn't realized it before now, but she and her fiancée, Danny, have actually learned to embrace the social web quite a bit.

They moved here from Brooklyn, about a year ago. They didn't choose Denver, it was chosen for them. They set up a website, Danny and Nina - Our Lives in your Hands, where visitors would vote on the city from a long list. The first city to 1,000,000 votes would be their new home (Denver narrowly beat out Waco, TX). And they love it here. They'll be officially tying the knot this year, and are looking at purchasing a home.

Now they run a Design Consultancy, in addition to Nina's artwork. On the side, Danny and Nina work on a project called Haiku for You, where visitors send stories to them, and they select stories to convert into a haiku, set to a artwork. Some time ago, I sent in a story, and they converted it to this haiku entitled "Time Slips Through Fingers."


They work on other projects, including The Donnybrook Writing Academy, and Minty Forest. But I highly recommend everyone check out the aforementioned Haiku For You and send in a story.

New Websites to Share

Since everyone loves to find more things with which to fill their procrastination windows ... here's a couple more sites for you to explore! The first - on a more serious note - is the city lover's guide to everything. From good food, fun events, interest groups and music sharing gothamist is an urban encyclopedia to guide any city going adventure. 

Also ... on a funnier note check out the FAIL blog - try hard not to laugh, please.

iPhone and Net Neutrality

I find it interesting that ATT is always used as an example when speaking about Net Neutrality. ATT went against Net Neutrality by having an exclusive contract with Apple for the iPhone, this means that the iPhone and its features can only be used on the ATT network due to the SIM lock. An unauthorized application called Fring allows for the use of Skype on the iPhone or other VOIP applications. Many people have also unlocked the iPhone allowing for the use of the iPhone on other GSM networks like T-Mobile. After doing more reading and research I found out that T-Mobile tried to obtain an exclusive iPhone contract in Germany but this caused a legal stir because in Germany, phones are not allowed to be locked to a SIM card. I found that after studying abroad in France, Europe definitely has more Net Neutrality when in comes to phones. You can use any phone on any network and hardly any phones are locked. For example, the phone I use is an unlocked Black Motorola RIZR that I bought from Europe on Ebay, the black color is unavailable in the U.S. because only T-Mobile carries this phone in the U.S. and only offers the phone in Blue and Rose in the U.S. Also, because my phone is unlocked, I can just change the SIM card and have a number and cell phone service without roaming no matter what country I travel to.


SIM locking
iPhone unlocking on wikipedia

Denver Artists Sticking it to the Man

So I am really interested and fascinated with the amount of art of all mediums that is going on in Denver. Sometimes I think that we as students get so caught up in work that we don't really have time to explore the cultural offerings of this great city. One group that is getting a lot of hype lately is the Magnet Mafia. They are a collective of artists and just crafty-types who produce original works of art on magnets and then stick them well...everywhere. Check out their website to get an idea of how far the reaches of this collaboration go! It's really cool to see how these magnets can unite people from all over the world in promoting art for the public. 

Browse through the links on the site as well. A few of my fave linked sites are the You Are Beautiful Project, 30 Pieces in 30 Days and this fun graffiti forum.

If you are feeling crafty yourself, you can find some sweet inspiration and how-to's at Make Magazine.

Happy clicking friends!

cool instillation: i want you to want me

The War in Iraq: A Soldier's Perspective

This is yet another product of StumbleUpon to be shared with the class. A while ago I posted a photo blog of a young soldier currently serving in Iraq. I liked how it showed a more artistic perspective on the conflict and how at least one person is taking advantage of the situation that he has been thrown into. I stumbled upon this still animation a couple month back that also brings in a fresh point of view on the war. It's a short movie entitled "Men in Black" created by U.S. Army Specialist Colby Buzell. In it, he recounts the events of a particularly intense day and his part in its operations. He aims to describe his personal experiences and perhaps those of the individual soldier rather than an artistic or a political agenda. Overall, the movie is very moving, albeit not in a "Notebook" sort of manner. I even went through the trouble of finding a high-def and uncensored version for all of you. I think having bleeps over the profanities detracts from the effect.

Enjoy.

Cool Video

I saw this video on stumbleupon.com and thought it was really interesting to watch. It seems as if computers, specifically Macs are moving in this direction and it is pretty cool to see all the different tricks and tools that the future holds for these programs.

Interactive Tables

Here are a few fun links to some interactive tables.

The first table is used more for entertainment, as it uses photo-sensors to change what is displayed.

This table is one that allows you to interact with data files in an abstract form, utilizing a concept that the computer table is an aquarium with fish. This is a rather visual touch to the room, compared to the computer furniture that also happens to have a more direct association.

The third reactable table may be used to produce electronic music through the use of external devices, which utilize rotation and proximity to effect sounds and produce music.

The more intuitive technology becomes, the easier it will be for many to become more accustomed to the way in which it may be used. This allows young children to become raised, with the digital realm very familiar to them, entering at ages younger that predecessors; in this, it holds great potential to allow them to become more culturally and socially aware, as with the musical table, giving them the opportunity to learn concepts and methods in music creation and manipulation, able to cross over into the traditional manner of instrumental performance.

Sony's Thin Thin OLEDs

From April 16-18th, there is a Flat Panel Display Exhibition in Tokyo, Japan. At the exhibition many large company showed their new technology and I would like to pick up the Sony's thin OLEDs. In December 2007, Sony introduced the world's firstOLED TV XEL-1 in Japan (out in the US now), which is 3mm (0.118in.) thick (the actual panel itself is 1.4mm (0.055in.)). Now at this exhibition they introduced an even thinner display 0.2mm (0.0078in.) for the 3.5in display and a 0.3mm (0.0118in.) for the 11in display (These are panel thickness). Although these new thin displays aren't ready for the public yet, nice to see that Sony is actually working on the OLEDs.

Russia wants WiFi devices to be registered

Russia seems to want all the WiFi devices to be registered. It says registering 1 WiFi device would take 10days and even longer for access points. People with multiple laptops and hand held devices with WiFi would have to fill many papers out. The article didn't exactly say why the Russian Agency wants to do this, but this could mean that Russian Agency could monitor people using WiFi and monitor what they do on the web. In class, we just had a discussion about China filtering certain content on the web and Russia seems to be doing something similar.

Article

South Park on the Patriot Act

I forgot to mention this short clip during my presentation.

Someone on youtube.com used South Park to explain the Patriot Act. I thought you guys might enjoy it!

Also, I remember the question of religion being Cruise's motivation for being upset - and then I remembered that SP has done other satire's on other religions...

Red Hot Catholic Love: is about how molesting little boys is part of the Catholic religion and it is a satire on the Catholic church.

To watch the episode click here, then click on 6th season, and scroll down until you see "Red Hot Catholic Love," all you do is click on it and you can watch it! You don't have to download it at all! And it's free!

The creators of SP also made an episode to get back at Isaac Hayes for quiting the show. Click on the above link, but go to the 10th season, it's called "The Return of Chef"

The creators took things that Isaac Hayes' character Chef had said in previous episodes and created a new episode out of it! And they literally roast him!!!

P.S. In order to watch the episodes, put your clicker on the image, text will show up and click on that, ignore the Urgent message, just wait, and then it will show up!

Super Mario Theme

I just found this video that is very creative. Someone decided to play the famous Mario Theme song using glass bottles and an RC car. The guys seemed to have some trouble at the beginning, but at the end they did a pretty good job in playing the song.


Mario Theme Played with RC Car and Bottles - Watch more free videos

Midterm Review

social web/web 2.0
convergence
participatory culture
produsage
collective intelligence
free culture
control over internet
IP
filtering
government
net neutrality
Google
ATT
Creative Commons
Patriot Act
EFF

Creative Commons

You can watch the videos from class and much more at Creative Commons.

presentation schedule

4/14 Jackie

4/23 Ruben

4/28 Greg

4/30 Andrew

5/5 Carly

5/7 Eric P.

5/12 Takuro

5/14 Nick

5/19 Jenna and Megan

5/21 Jaimie

Bloggers Guide to Saving Money

Since most of us are always looking for ways to save, I thought I'd introduce this site that presents the blogger's paradise to coupons, sales and even 'deal discussion'. Slickdeals.net says that it's main goal is to "feature the best deals found by the deal community". Users simply create an account and inform the site's organizers of great deals that should be shared. 

Through the years the site has upgraded its usability and now contains specific features that make it easier for its users and members to navigate the site. With things such as voter preferences and discussion boards, the site provides a truly user based community of people who wish to find and share great money saving options. Though people are not compensated for finding great deals, they are rewarded by the mere pleasure of helping others and also finding ways to help themselves in the process! 

Check the site out - who knows maybe you can finally buy that new electronic toy or those summer sandles sooner than you thought!

Micro Who? Google Rules The Ad Roost

This article on the business transactions of the major Internet companies and their 
effects on surrounding businesses brings to mind the interesting video that was shown during one of the presentations in which there was a progressive merging and integration of the many popular Internet and media players. Each company has unique and highly specialized 
focus areas that are attractive and mutually beneficial to surrounding companies. These companies 
will sometimes attempt a mutually beneficial partnership, and sometimes attempt to initiate 
some form of merge or acquisition. The modern-media business world is taking on its own, highly currency driven, evolutionary system in which it is still unclear as to who exactly are the "fittest". It is clear, considering cases such as Google, that in the current web-driven business realm, those who can find a need and evolve to satisfy such can become 
overnight superpowers. 

Getting the word out

I really enjoyed the recent presentation on student films. I wanted to talk about this site but thought it might be better if I could just show the class over the blog. One of my best friends since I was a child used this website/tv show to get his films out there. After getting his 6 minute film on Current tv's VCC(viewer created content) section he was hired by the Travel channel. This is really the next step in student films, getting paid(or garnering funding for the next film) and getting attention of different studios. He has been down in Louisiana doing films on the impact of Katrina over the long term.


He filmed all of this while working on a documentary on Capoeria. He found the job through Idealist.org an amazing website that connects people wanting to work for non-profits. It is one more way for people to gather their resources and combine their ideas to benefit others.

Here is the next video he has been working on its really amazing work as well.

Onliners! Fighting Crime!!!

I found this article on the wired website about a stolen car that was tracked down after postings of the news from the victim went up online.

A guy was selling a car and allowed it to be test driven (naturally). After awhile, however, he realized that it had been stolen.

He went online and posted what happened on couple of sites and soon enough the suspect was caught and arrested!!!

The article also talks about GPS, which is a system that tracks cars. When I was in highschool my parents wanted to get GPS installed in my car so that they could track online where I was at-all-times!!! They didn't though! But if anyone has seen Hogan Knows Best, you'll know that the Hulk has GPS to track his daughter!!!!

Digital Pageantry

This past weekend I attended the Mrs., Miss and Miss Teen Colorado International 2008 pageant. The final competition and crowning was in Loveland at a small high school gym on Saturday night from 7-9 p.m. My friend and I went, not knowing what to expect. We were writing an article about the pageant for the Clarion, so we needed to get a feel for the atmosphere and competitors. Shockingly, we were the only media coverage present, and when we went online to find more information we came up pretty short. There is a website for the international pageant, but it only shows the competitors that make it past the state level. The website is pretty crude and not updated regularly. Even now, they do not have the results posted from Saturday. The only really interesting part of the website was that it allows viewers to vote for their favorite contestant. With all the digital capabilities, I find it interesting that the pageant is not more inventive, especially considering the emphasis they place of the vocalization of platforms.

Eighties Jams!

So, I was yet again indulging my StumbleUpon addiction, and I came across this little internet gem. Eightiesjams.com is full of, not surprisingly, full of popular songs from the 80's. It's really interesting to watch these "oldies" and compare them to popular videos of today. Why do we consider these things weird today, when twenty years ago they were the talk of the town, if you will.

Companies Are finding new ways to Advertise

An interesting article I read from Technology Review writes that more and more companies are trying to send their advertisements through mobile phones and the internet. With the invention of Tivo, companies are realizing that people are fast forwarding through the commercials and just getting to the good stuff: the show of their choice. Ad network Quattro Wireless is setting up more and more of their companies to use alternatives methods such as sidebar ads on an internet website or even a text message advertisement sent out on your cell phone. 

3D Virus

A grad student at MIT has found a way to take the source code of computer viruses and visualize them into a 3D space. This model is created from the source code of the NetSky virus, the only things added were the color and the lighting effects, everything else was created by the recurring patterns in the code.

I’m not sure how much computer scientists will be able to conclude about the inter-workings of a virus from the models, although it does make some cool art and may give a non-computer literate person a better metal picture of what a computer virus is.


Link to full gallery

Google on TED

Sergey Brin and Larry Page: Inside the Google Machine

This TED talks features Sergey Brin and Larry Page talking about the international reach of google and also the large load it has to maintain in as little as a minute. They also talk about expanding with a social network idea, Google foundation project, AdSense. There is also a bit about artificial intelligence search engines. This was a talk done in 2004, but gives a good inside look of the big idea train of thought which has lead to the success of Google. 

They talk some about having fun in the office, and going against the business norms like changing their logo on a regular basis. Most business people would say is unsuccessful for the brand, but for Google its their identity to a tea.

convergence in collaboration

This year at DU, a variety of people got together to create the first student run art group on campus (different than ISMS by being completely organized, developed, run, and headed by students). This group is a kind of convergence by bringing in not only the visual art students, but also kids involved in theatre, performance, design and music. Any one is welcome, so long as they are interested in participating in an installation each quarter. The group began as Artists of DU and has transformed into IRIS (Imagination with Reason by Inspired Students). This was the first quarter, and I was lucky to be a part of the installation revolving around the theme Power. One memorable piece was a performance of reading out loud mini-feed updates on Facebook, looking at how we present ourselves to each other online, and how accessible our information is to everyone. A notable collaboration piece was a graffiti wall that was covered over and over throughout the day, inviting people walking around campus to add to it. You can check out the progress of the wall through the day on Drew's Flickr page.

In relation to our current discussion in class, there was a question of 'freedom of speech' at one point when someone had tagged "fuck" on the wall- a suit and tie DU associate came and warned us that 'some people were worried' about the language. I imagine they didn't want anything on campus to reflect poorly on our university. Luckily for him, we had already redone that area of the wall, so it was no longer an issue. I wonder if he would've made us change it on the spot if it had still been around?

If any of you are interested in joining this group, check out the IRIS link through Facebook, and you can help on this coming quarter!

Online Collaboration

The video showing the bassist overlaying his tracks over the white stripes album reminded me of another band that was created through online(and snail mail) collaboration: The Postal Service. The Band is a collaborative effort between of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer James Tamborello of Dntel, Headset and Figurine. They exchanged tracks and ideas over post and internet to make the songs for this band. Even though there was no copyright infringement involving the music because they were creating a new band, it was ironic that the U.S. Postal Service sent the band a cease and desist letter, citing its trademark on the phrase "postal service". I was also reminded of another artist that has strong roots in the online community: DJ Danger Mouse. Around February of 2004 he made a mash-up of Jay-Z's Black Album and The Beatles' White Album and titled it, The Grey Album. He was faced with complaints from the British label EMI for his use for the Beatles' tracks. Ironically, Jay-Z made his own rock mash-up album later in the year with Linkin Park. Danger Mouse went on to collaborate with Cee-Lo Green to form the band Gnarls Barkley which has had commercial success, and whose commercial success has come in most part from downloads on the internet. These examples show how the internet and its communities have already had a great affect on the commercial music industry today. These artists had released their albums for free download which built them a fan base, which allowed them to achieve commercial success later on. Selling out? Maybe, but the commercial record giants are also giving in to this changed market and being more fan oriented in a way.

More info:
Wikipedia Articles
The Postal Service
Danger Mouse
Gnarls Barkley
The Grey Album
Collision Course

Websites
http://www.postalservicemusic.net/
http://www.dangermousesite.com/

Media Convergence on the John: A Dissertation Proposal

According to Henry Jenkins, "We are living in an age when changes in communications, storytelling and information technologies are reshaping almost every aspect of contemporary life -- including how we create, consume, learn, and interact with each other. A whole range of new technologies enable consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content..."

So prevalent is this change in communication that we're failing to see it right before our eyes. Spaces once thought private have become public; technology has altered the ways we interact with each other, in particular, in the bathroom.

In my dissertation, I intend to explore this notion, what I call "bathroom convergence" using the "Jeff Goldblum Is Watching You Poop" phenomenon, which spread throughout the Johnson MacFarlane residence hall in early April 2008, as a framework. A brief synopsis of the phenomenon is detailed below.

On April 1st, 2008, black and white copies of a photo of Jeff Goldblum, captioned with the text "Jeff Goldblum is watching you poop" in bold, upper-case letters, were taped onto the door of every bathroom stall in the Johnson-MacFarlane residence hall.


By the end of the first week, modifications were being made to the original. Some halls, including MacFarlane 1-1, went as far as to take the images down entirely.



In the days following, residents grew restless with the constraints imposed by Jeff Goldblum, and began their own campaign known as "Bryce Anderson is watching you poop." Here, residents employed new, cutting edge technology: downloading a photo from Mr. Anderson's Facebook page, modifying the photo with Microsoft Paint, and printing the photo using what is commonly referred to as a "Laser Printer." These were taped next to the remaining Goldblum posters.

Before I was able to document this phase, others began utilizing their own cutting edge technology, known as "Sharpie" permanent markers, and began to modify these new posters.





Through the metamorphosis of the "Jeff Goldblum is watching you poop" phenomenon, I will analyze in greater detail this "bathroom convergence" process, and its greater implications for bathroom culture.

mtvU stuff from Wed. presentation

Since we're allowed to use the same content from out presentations as weekly blog posts, I am going to hook you all up with the links from my presentation on Wednesday. 

To keep tabs on what's going on here on campus check out the DU Clarion. If you are interested in what mtvU has to offer check out mtvU's website.  There you can find all kinds of links to music, activism, and video. The student film portion of  the site that I discussed is Best Film on Campus . My personal critic's page is here. The advertising company that caters specifically to college audiences is Youth to Media . Check out their site because it's really interesting to get an insight into how the corporations market directly to our demographic. Also check out mtv netowrks and Viacom's site to learn more about the corporate side of media. Happy clicking!!

Portable LAN Party?

Being able to play NES games and other old games on a cellphone or an ipod isn't really new, but someone has managed to play a multi-player game, which is DOOM3 in this case, on the IPod Touch using the WiFi technology. Since the IPod Touch has the touch screen technology, players can shoot by tapping on the screen. The "Accelerometer" technology is used to move the character on the screen.

One to watch

Here is a great video on social bookmarking. I think that it is very applicable to this class. I could say more but class has started.

Books

It's funny to think about the way that technologies progress, and the manner in which new mediums of information change the world, as well as shape cultures. What is new used to be feared by many, but slowly curiosity won out over the skeptical, and new becomes old. Nowadays, however, it seems that this generation is not only lacking fear over many new technologies and updates, but rather expects and anticipates the change.
Working at the library, I see the way in which books and technology have been working together, integrated more and more through e-books, e-book readers, etc. I then recalled this YouTube video, which seemed appropriate, and came across a new advancement, which looks to be quite interesting.

Amica Commercial!

I was watching tv the other day and I kept seeing these Amica commercials. It took me three times of seeing the commercial to realize that their ad, as well as their company is based on convergence.

The commercial shows examples of how things are converging, such as a cell phone also plays music. After the commerical shows many different people using converged products, it talks about how Amica is your insurance for everything. Amica offers home, health, auto, life and retirement, personal liability and marine coverage! Wow! All the insurance you need from one company, instead of having one for each different type!

For any of you who have to pay bills, you know what I'm talking about - keeping track of eight different bills you have to pay each month is crazy. Amica definitely makes it easier!

Check out their website here

Finder's Blogger's

Last week I received an assignment for my art class that incorporates finding random objects for inspiration. My teacher suggested that we check out FoundMagazine to get us started. She warned us that the site was addictive, but I had no idea! This site literally has thousands of items from notes and pictures to graffiti that people have found in various places, then posted on the internet for all to see. There are even musicians who are recording songs using their finds. Brilliant! The sheer amount of comments that each item gets is mind-blowing! I think that this is really interesting in the sense that many people are uber concerned with their privacy on the web, yet they forget that every aspect of our lives puts us out in the open. From sticky notes to shopping lists, people are constantly leaving little snippits of their private selves everywhere. There is even an entire sister-site devoted to found items of a scandalous nature at DirtyFound. I love that the web provides for niche communities such as this to be accessible and flourish. 

On the home front

One more way the digital age is invading our homes. This time it comes to our kitchens and our cookbooks. (scroll down a bit) What better than a cookbook that doesn't crumble with age, one that can be organized how you want it to be and reorganized in multiple ways. It can even print out your grocery list, making it an essentially painless process. And for those of us who are not neat and tidy the cookbook is covered in plastic that can be wiped down. Extending this concept further, what if you could submit your recipe's online to a community, Google Cookbook perhaps? Download your friend's or just post it online so that you can look at it again on your Aunt's computer at Thanksgiving. No longer would you have to pay a huge premium to buy a cookbook with hundreds of recipes when you will only use a fraction of them.

This is all coming from Momeld a blog for modern living/modern design. It brings together and reports on various designers that are looking at things in novel manners. Another interesting blog post that I liked was the way the UK coinage is changing. A 26 year old designer won the competition and now all the coins will form the Shield of Royal Arms. The article is 1/4 of the way down.

MediaBytes 11.05.2007

We briefly talked about advertising in class, but I wanted to take another look at it. If we continue to rely on the model of advertising we have right now, television programs will not be able to financially support their programs anymore. Networks depend on advertising to fund their shows, but if people are not going to watch ads, companies will be less likely to pay for t.v. ad space. We talked about one alternative, which is already growing, which is product placement in shows and films.
Through searching advertising on YouTube, I found a clip of a MediaByte with Shelly Palmer from November 2007. He talks about how Facebook is going to start advertising by showing the places you've recently shopped on your profile. Im not sure how well that would be received by Facebook users, but my guess is that it would be an optional application. It sounds invasive to me, but there may be some people who enjoy it. It will be interesting if the new method is effective in promoting the company.

Expressing Yourself ... Digitally?

While doing this week's reading and also looking at the blog posts thus far - I keep thinking about identity. It is pretty crazy to think that the way in which people expressed themselves even just twenty years is completely different than today. Twenty years ago people probably used the way in which they dressed and the music they listened to as the main forms of expression ... when today the use of technology has changed everything to digital expressions of 'who i am'.

facebook, MySpace, blogs, ring tones, iPods --> iPhone, email, digital photography, laptop, cellular phone, satelite tv ---> satelite surveillance .... the list could go ON and ON and ON about the ways in which technology completely consumes, molds and directs our lives. Yea - so what? We already knew this right? I'm sure that everyone understands this ... but this post is basically just an attempt to ask everyone to take a look outside themselves and see how much of their personal identity is expressed digitally (in ways that could not have been expressed twenty years ago.)

For example - these are only a few of the ways in which my identity is expressed digitally: I have a ringtone that is my favorite song that people hear everytime my phone rings (I actually use http://mobile17.com/ regularly to upload music from my computer as my ringtones for free) . I use facebook and MySpace to keep in touch with my friends. I create photo albums on both to share personal digital pictures with friends and family. I email with my family (some weeks more than actually talk on the phone) to send them digital pictures of what I am doing. My iPod is constantly plugged into my car stereo or always in my purse. My interests on facebook and MySpace include my favorite television shows and sometimes websites. Many conversations I have with friends include some topic about new media and new technology --- usually without us even realizing it.

So this may seem boring ... but if you really take the time - only a couple of seconds - to analyze how it is that you express your personal identity and who you are you might be suprised. It would be interesting to hear ways in which people use technology to digitally express themselves other than what I mentioned before.

Married Couple Sues Google

A married couple is currently in the process of suing Google for invasion of privacy due to a photo of their home appearing on Google maps. I think that this is a stark contrast to the "collective memory" idea because like this couple, I am sure that there are many people who are against making contributions to the collective memory. This is very different from the utopian ideology of technology of technology as a uniting force, because some people would be more interested in keeping their content private. These users may still be prosumers, but only for the limited audience of themselves, family, and friends. Another interesting idea on collective memory that I found came from this website which explains that collective memory is dynamic, it changes and memories become lost or less important from generation to generation.

what the internet is really used for

The Onion is one of my favorite sources of "news" stories out there. They recently wrote an article Naked Woman Picture Gains Popularity On Internet helping us to become aware of the surprising attention that a nude woman's picture will get online. Who knew the internet was used for things besides email and educational purposes (although I suppose a picture speaks a thousand words so it's educational to an extent, right?). It even jokes about the trend not being able to sustain itself, which we know is not a problem. I thought this was a good laugh at how internet is used. The guys in the class might enjoy the photo as well.

Making Something More Out Of The War

So I was appeasing my rampant StumpleUpon addiction, and I came across the photo portfolio/blog of a young soldier currently fighting in Iraq. He's taken his camera along for the ride and has produced many beautiful and dynamic images to send back the US. His pictures range from pictures of his brothers in arms to the people he has been sent to "liberate." Whatever your stance on the current war in Iraq, these pictures are definitely worth taking a peek at, I know I've wanted to set one or two as my desktop background.

Computer Learns to Play Clarinet

At the University of Rochester they have found a way recreate the physics of a clarinet and clarinet player inside of the computer. What makes this unique is that computer wouldn’t just be playing a recording of the song, but replaying the notes the same way the original player did down to the backpressure in the mouthpiece. The main advantage of now is it creates incredibly compressed music files, about 1,000 smaller then an mp3. Although if this technology ever goes into completion, it would revolutionize how programs like GarageBand create music.
Link to Article

Integration: Slowly but ... Surely?

High Schools have always been the slowest educational sector to adapt to cultural and technological changes. This, in my opinion, is because they are much less student driven then are universities, and are entirely under the control of parents and teachers. It is almost always up to the teachers, or the parents with the highest donation rates, to initiate change. These people are almost always older and are often less "in-tune" with the latest changes. In universities, students have a stronger voice, and therefor are greater components of technological and cultural change. The Hardin County High Schools, however, seems to be doing a fairly good job of embracing the emerging educational technology. They are integrating tablet PC and electronic whiteboards in order to 
"digitize" the student participation process. My observation would be that the school is making an admiral attempt at engaging students at a higher level, however, will eventually fail for a couple reasons.  First, if you are going to go digital, it needs 
to be all the way. There has to be digital textbooks, assignments, tests, quizzes, etc. When a student spends all of his class days in a technology rich environment, he is going to very pessimistic about having to go home and read sixty pages from a textbook. The same goes with a quizzes and tests. Students will begin to claim that they cannot concentrate when they are using a pen and paper. They have to take tests online, etc. This is just an observation, but it seems to me that technology could become a reliance and an excuse as opposed to a helpful aid.

RescueTime

On the first day of class, I mentioned I was using a time management program. I thought I would introduce that more formally here.

RescueTime works for your computer a lot like last.fm's scrobbler works for your media player. It keeps track of the active window, logs how long it's used, stores it, then uploads it to the RescueTime server at a given interval. It also differentiates between websites as if they were separate applications.

Once it's online, you can tag each application and website with, for example, "personal," or "social," or "work." Then, you can assign each tag with a productivity rating -2 to +2. From this, it'll give you an efficiency rating, which it will then also compare to the rest of the RescueTime user base to come up with a productivity rating. All of this is scalable, too. You can look at just one day, or years at a time.

The above is a look at my "social" computer use and my "school" computer use on April 1st. You can see pretty clearly where I slept and napped. I'm also surprised by how much (little) I use social networking websites. When I think about the time I spend on the computer, most of what I remember is Facebook/MySpace, but it typically takes up no more than a quarter of my time.

It's a little weird, because I'm oddly addicted to these stats, which doesn't make sense, because clearly, I know what websites and applications I've been using (the same works for last.fm's scrobbler; clearly I know what music I listened to).

Anyway. I highly recommend it. It's given me some insights into my productivity. (For example, in the above graph, my school usage drops to nothing during the late evening, and then picks up before I head to sleep. Clearly, that means I should plan to do homework before that time.)

Compact Technology

In our modern era, technology strives to be both powerful and relatively small, working to fit more functionality into smaller packages; it also works to make daily tasks easier, while being as comfortable a transition as possible. In the spirit of this process, I came upon three similar devices that work to integrate the digital realm of the computer with everyday life.

The first is NoteTaker software (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjNGR6yss-U&feature=related) that works with normal paper to integrate your marks into the computer. This allows for a greater connection to the computer, capable of being used as an input device (such as a mouse), or to convert hand-written words into images or text.

The FLY Fusion Pentop Computer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ObizFuZaWE&feature=related) is similar, though is itself a mini computer, capable of processing gestures and commands to provide feedback with an available headphone jack and speakers. The potential to add other features allows this to be of greater academic value, while adding cultural value through the inclusion of a music synthesizer in its notebook. This product, however, requires brand specific paper, and costs extra for additional software, making this a more intricate, albeit costly item.

This third unit is comprised of a set of pen-type objects that collectively form a functioning computer. The work is currently under development, and would bring about quite a change to computers, as they would be portable, but definitely not suitable for laps. More images may be found here (http://boldt.us/things/computers/pen-pc/).

The Teacher's Side To Technology

In class the other day we saw a video on this generation's technological world and how it affects their education. I recently read a blog by a teacher who shows the counter side to this argument about this generations' multi-taskers. In it, she talks about ways in which teachers and boards of eds need to embrace this world. What is interesting to me is that she talks about using simple tools such as email instead of face to face contact after class, and other tools such as Blackboard and a digital dropbox. These suggestions, although they are useful and many other schools have already adopted these habits, seem like they are just scratching the surface.

http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/03/20/dinkins

DU to assess learning outcomes

Yesterday when I signed into WebCentral I noticed this new article that is being published in the DU Today newspaper about DU wanting to "assess student learning outcomes." Since accreditation is coming up in a couple of years this is a way the University can figure out if the teaching that is being done is successful. I'm not so sure how they will be able to assess this in a totally credible way. I hope it doesn't come about through surveys at the end of the quarter like teacher evals because by that time students are too burnt out and ready to be done that effort isn't too high. 

I do also find it interesting they are seeing how they are doing since we have been talking about how the classroom is different these days with technology and such. Are kids at DU learning a lot? Not all professors allow computers for distraction, but are kids here interested in what they are learning and truly learning it and taking it in not just cramming for tests? Maybe this assessment will offer some insight.

Here is a rubric from Georgia State University that breaks down their learning assessment plans... I'm wondering if DU will go about in a similar way.... effective?

April 1st, Best Day for the Web?

April 1st or April Fools is obviously the best day for the web. Every year a lot of sites have introduced cool stuff on this day and this is the same for this year as well. I have many sites that I would like to introduce to everyone, but that'll be too many so I'll introduce a couple.

XBOX
This site is introducing multiple new version of Xbox360.

This is a youtube movie having Altair (Character from Assassin's Creed) in the MGS4 environment. Two different game character/Two different company collaborating.


AbleComm
On the opposite hand this site forgot what day April Fools is and uploaded false info on the web

Reading link and discussion questions

Here is a link to the article Code is Law

And here are discussion questions for Monday's class.

Jenkins:

What is collective intelligence?

Levy argues that new political power will emerge from the current forms on online play (like spoiling). Do you agree?

Why might be the knowledge production taking place via spoilers be more democratic than the traditional modes of knowledge production?

Do amateurs control the internet?

Lessig, Code is Law:

What are some of the things that code determine and in turn can threaten or protect our liberty?

How is code changing (and how has it changed since this was written)?

Does Lessig advocate regulation or not and why?

"Learning to teach Tech-Savvy Students"

In light of our discussion of "A Vision of Student's Today" I thought you might enjoy this article, which was posted for members of the DU Technology Council to read before our meeting tomorrow. A very different vision of students! If you have a chance I'd love to know your thoughts on being called the "Me Generation," on professors who won't answer emails, or anything.

Phelps profile

Here is the profile of Fred Phelps I mentioned in class.

Produsage discussion questions for Wednesday

1. What is different about user-led content “production”?

2. Why does it need a new name?

3. What is social software?

4. What are the wider economic and legal questions raised by the emergence of produsage as an alternative model to production?

5. How does he open his book up to produsage of his readers?