Virtual Deciet!

I really thought this summed up this article quite well: "The Internet did not create grifters...if anything, the Net has simply changed the dynamics of the game."
Yup, my thoughts exactly : ) It also said because of the mediums vulnerability to deception that Internet users should "adopt a healthy scepticism when online." I'm a mostly trusting person, but I keep a safe distance, especially emotionally, from strangers and strange things online as well as in real life. Keeping my guard up online comes natural to me since its always served me well IRL.
I do feel bad for the people who ended up feeling betrayed by the story. The sense of belonging to something, even simply praying for a cause, is very powerful and when those trusts are damaged...well this article points out exactly what can happen. I think Debbie knew what she was doing. I totally don't buy her "Oops, I didn't mean any harm" bit at all. She wanted what every 'cool blogger' wants...readers! It was wrong letting people comment and support and gather around this 'story' knowing that everyone else thought it was real. She should have let them in on her little secret earlier, like right away. Too bad they couldn't revoke her blogging license or something : )
So that brings me back to the beginning...people like this exist, with or without the Internet. Be careful who you choose to trust, period.

the End of Paper!

Besides the creativity inspiring things Coover discovered in his workshops, which I will address, I thought it reassuring that "the very proliferation of books and other print based media, so prevalent in this forest-harvesting, paper-wasting age, is held to be a sign of its feverish moribundity," was stated so perfectly well! : )  I know I'm concerned for the generations to come. Electronic teaching, reading and writing practice all save paper, and the planet!
Secondly, this quote made me smile: "But they also engage in continuous on-line dialogue with one another, exchanging enthusiasm, criticism, doubts, speculations, theorizing, wisecracks. So much fun is all this, so compelling this 'downright celebratory' experience..." Does this sound familiar to anyone? : )  I know I enjoy classes like these where we all engage and encourage each other, make some new friends.
Last, I wanted to know if anyone would be interested in a blogging "Hotel" like the community created one in the article? Jk, but how fun of an assignment would that be for a fiction writing class?!
Good luck on our 3rd test everyone!! Ciao for now, Sharxjay.

Blogging and Privacy

First of all, let me just say that I was amazed at how far Karen McCullagh went to define privacy. I did a ‘wiki’ for Dr. Coopman’s 181 class last semester on a similar topic I entitled “Privacy and Social Networking: Managing Your Personal Information” (if interested, found at http://comm181.pbworks.com/w/page/38889344/Jay-B ) and of course defined privacy management…once. This woman went above and beyond, and there were two or three definitions of just ‘privacy’ that I wish I’d used. The simplest was Warren and Brandeis definition as “the right to be left alone”. I got a kick out that one. Also, I liked what Westin offered, “the claim of individuals, groups, or institutions to determine for themselves when, how and to what extent information about them is communicated to others.”

As did I in my more Facebook oriented paper, McCullagh raised the point that the expectations of individual bloggers is the key. You are posting potentially dangerous information that is archived and stored for potential predators to sift through and possibly hurt you with. It is important to realize and plan for this each and every time you post anything to the web, be it Facebook, Blogspot, Twitter, Yelp or whatever.

Lastly, I really enjoyed how this article discussed why we take the privacy risks in the first place…the rewards of social interaction! I omitted this type of thing from my paper, delving more into an educational type of warning for individuals to watch their online behavior for their own sake. But as a newfound blogger myself, I wish I had a least touched on the positive aspects of SNS and blogging, cause they are real and immeasurably wonderful! : D

Ciao for now, Sharxjay.

Lit Review Topic

I am going to do my research project on the wonderful, magnificent, and in all other ways utterly amazing PlayStation 3. As it is much more than just a gaming console, this devise, one I dragged my feet to purchase, has become the entertainment hub of my household. It has enabled me to meet a variety of new friends from numerous countries, and enriched my life in ways I never imagined possible before Internet gaming existed. Since Blockbuster and Hollywood Video both closed down in Gilroy, we stream movies through this ‘gaming’ console from Netflix, PS Store and Vudu. My son and I play games. My wife shops and collects and sorts music. My daughter, who’s 3, is learning to read. It is an amazing device that has changed the daily routines of my household. So, although it needs some polishing, my research question will be something like “what is PS3 and PSN and how/why do they rock so hard?” Okay, so it needs a lot of polishing, but you get the idea…til next time, Sharxjay.

Personal Dynamite Media!

How cool was that article?! I thought the introduction "from a cafe, on a computer that fits in an overcoat pocket" really summed up my take on this article. I learned, first off, a bunch of old acronyms, like PARC, and that Silicon Valley locals, Xerox, had a huge role in the development of some of the pioneering research that led to me having some seriously cool gadgets that make my daily life a ton easier...and waaaaay more fun!
I really liked (I think it was) figure 26.2, the one of the "mock dynabook." Nothing mock about that anymore, just ditch the keyboard and you've got an iPad! Lol. Sometimes the age of the writings gets to me, but then some like this hit a home run. The way things were predicted by forward thinkers of the past astounds me sometimes.
To conclude I'd like to mention my 6 yr. old son's Nintendo DSi. This is a gaming device my Mom paid $159 for to give to a 4 yr. on his birthday. I thought she was crazy, but my son now draws, writes, films short footage pieces, edits them with sound, sends instant messages to his buddies who also have WiFi, and of course plays video games both solo and versus others via the Internet on...and it fits into his coat pocket. Wow, when I was 8 I thought Pong was cool. 'Til next, Sharxjay signing off.

Technomedia

It was nice to read something that is relatively new, compared to some of our foundation readings at least. Sam Han does a great job of illustrating his points about how far media has come, and possibly where its headed. The first idea that caught my attention was the 'digital divide' stuff. He says "for those whom the promise of globilization had yet to be realized, new media technologies became an integral part of not only the discourse of modernization, but of global justice." I couldn't agree more that it isn't fair that some people live without the technologies that shape most of our lives. I can't imagine life without my cell phone, or even my PS3's capabilities to play versus thousands of other gamers from around the globe. But what's the answer? How do we fix the fact that it isn't cost effective to set up billions of dollars worth of equiptment to serve the 12 people who live in Nowhere, Montana? And do those 12 people even care about being connected? Could the Safeway thats 200 miles away afford to bring them their Internet ordered groceries anyway? My point is, their experience with the 'missing' technologies would be vastly different than mine is anyway.
Secondly, I thought the Mechanical, Electric, and Broadcast period breakdown was cool. Even though we sorta studied the 'history' in the earlier reading, I found this one more interesting. Especially since he touched on the coming 'virtual' phase. I do agree that we're moving toward that. Has anyone seen the holographic keyboard you can get for your Ipad? It's so cool, reminds me of something out of Star Wars...
Very cool read, see you all soon, Sharxjay.

Second Life

Wow, this was a cool article. I'm growing rapidly more and more interested in Second Life, and I might just have to check it out pretty soon. Although I'd hate to end up spending my IRL (in real life, cool acronym!) money on some sweet Adidas or something for my virtual self!
The one really main point was interesting for sure. That gender plays a significant role in the way your Second Life player is perceived and interacted with online should come as no surprise at all. I mean, it makes a huge difference in real life, too, right? Chivalry still exists, at least for gentlemen like me :-) and I know I interact much differently with women than men not only IRL but in online gaming worlds as well. I've mentioned the blow 'em up style racing game I play plenty in my past blogs, so I'll beat that drum again. When I play versus men (or unknown) characters I'm my usual villainous self, whereas when I know I'm up against a girl I'm much nicer and way less vengeful for instance, so the findings of this article are of no surprise to me. Ciao for now, Sharxjay.

Computer Power and Human Reason

   For starters, let me say I'm not so sure I fully understood this article. Or I did and it was incredibly simple...one or the other. It seemed to me Wiezenbaum was trying to tell the therapists from the 70's to calm down, and that his 'doctor' program couldn't go on to be a fully automated theraputic program because computers lack wisdom and reason. The real underlying problem, according to Wiezenbaum (and as a Comm. major I agree), is that the computer lacks the basic understanding of the language because it was recieving input out of context. The importance of the context of what's being said is huge in actually understanding any given situation. And even though in the Rogerian theraputic form, which simplified things for the programer because it basically just regurgitates whats been said to keep a 'subject' talking, the out of context understanding the computer demonstrated made it obvious to him that it could never replace human interaction in therapy sessions.
   What I found myself thinking, however, is how we are all programed, to a certain degree, to respond to certain things in certain ways. I mean, the 'how are you?' question we've all been asked a million times is almost always answered 'fine, and you?' even if your not fine, and don't care how they are. The difference, as Weizenbaum points out, that we read and understand the context of the situation, and can therefore alter the feedback/response accordingly. I hope that's what we were supposed to get out of this article, cause that's what I got...until next time, Sharxjay.

TV and Society

  
  
   Hmmmm...What did I learn from this reading? Well, the word 'thence' (apparently meaning 'then hence') for starters. And that Mr. Williams' 'z' key on his typewriter (1972!) didn't work (realiSe, organiSe, too funny :). Seriously though, this reading was a trip. It did make me think about how we decide to use (or not use) any new given technology is what makes or breaks its social meaning. And I did learn a lot about the history of the development of television.
   More interesting (at least to me) to write and talk about, though, was this particular quote early in the chapter:
"If television had not been invented, this argument runs, we would still be manipulated or mindlessly entertained, but in another way and perhaps less powerfully."
   I guess we know Mr. Williams' stance on TV! Mindlessly entertained?! He had obviously never seen America's Got Talent. I mean male pole dancers, high dives into blow up pools, Sharon Ozborne...need I say more?! Ok, Ok, my sarcasm's getting the best of me again.
   TV is a very powerful form of entertainment that does manipulate us to a great extent. And I found it very interesting that he predicted had TV never been invented that we'd have been 'mindlessly entertained' in some other fashion...did someone say Facebook!!? I partake too, not baggin, just calling it like I see it. Perhaps not less powerfully, Mr. Williams. You should see how addicted the teens of today are to the Internet in general and especially sites like Fb. Great insight from the 70's, and a great read...'til next, Sharxjay.

Just Like Me...Only Faster!

   I found a number of things interesting in this article as I am a ‘gamer’
with a few avatars myself. I play very little “first person” anymore, as I’m
addicted to one awesome racing game, Blur, at this time (I’m represented by a
Grim Reaper avatar…so scaaaarrrryyy 8-0) and I’ve never been involved at all
with “Second Life.” But I certainly followed the ‘a lot like me’ results they
found in the article with the virtual style, first person games I have played
in the past.

   The one quote which caught my attention and I’d like to touch on is this
one: “The aesthetic reference for Second Life does not appear to be, however,
exactly the same as that that prevails in the media, in particular, that that
rules in fashion.”

   One of the cool things about online gaming is the normal rules of media,
fashion, heck acceptance and judgment even, don’t apply anymore. So it’s not surprising
and definitely a plus in my book that this holds true. When we already have to
deal with the pressures of regular life’s regulatory rules of what’s cool and
what’s weird, I think it’s fantastic to have a virtual place to escape that
exact kind of thing and go just be me…only faster! Go Grim Racer Go!!