iMovie Reviews

Justinn:
First of all, I loved your topic. I think it was super interesting to pair a cultural trend with technology. I had never really considered the advances that the internet might have on one particular topic, in this case hip-hop music. Your Drake example summed it up perfectly -- I didn't know that much about him other than the fact he was on the Canadian TV show Degrassi, but it's awesome that he was able to market himself through online music sites.
As for the technical aspects of your piece, you used a lot of images and transitions which helped to keep relevant to your audio. The audio, at times, was hard to hear. However, your pacing and voice were very good and helped to move the piece along.
Good job, and again, I really liked your topic!

Jillian:
You did a really cool presentation on Couch Surfing - a network and phenomenon I never heard about. I think it's cool that you put your faith into something that could be considered dangerous, like hitchhiking, but positively tied it into a network of fellow surfers which made you feel apart of something. You also make a great point about what it takes to be a couch surfer - fluent in English and technology.
I liked how to added audio from the TechTalk, and someone else's voice using testimonials, as apart of your project. It made your audio more sophisticated.
I really enjoyed learning about this website and your experiences, good job!

Hi Genevieve!
You are my random blog pic. I was really interested from the start about ThriceColdCash and how this whole interaction between him and your boyfriend play out. You make a great point about how social gaming can be - the gaming world is quite stereotypical! I also really like the interview part of the piece, although the levels are little low, but it mixes up the movie well. You're right to bring up the concern about a stranger in the online world - the internet allows for a lot of anonymity!!
Good job on your project, it was a really cool topic!

iMovie Project

Here is my iMovie Project - hopefully everything is uploaded properly and you can see it.

Below is my final version of my script, however, a paragraph was omitted in final stages because it took the movie to 6 minutes...I figured shorter was better for viewing purposes.

When I was growing up in the ninety’s, I thought it was punishment that the only televisions shows I was allowed to watch were educational. My parents would try to tell me that learning was fun but I was so mad that I wasn’t allowed to watch Power Rangers like my other pre-school friends were allowed to. On the Saturday morning network shows, I would see ads for educational products such as ‘Hooked on Phonics’. Now, we see brands like the Leap Frog toys that use an interactive pen to zoom across the pages of a children’s book and help the little sound out the words as they read along. There is different product called Leapster , children’s version of a Kindle, a personal console that you can load with books and games to take on the go. Also, the Baby Einstein brand of DVDs and CDs teach themes from colors to animals…supposed to be incorporated to a baby’s lifestyle before he or she can even talk. This makes me question if all of these technological influences at a very young age help to make learning more enjoyable, accessible, or engaging. It all seems too good to be true to pop in a video and raise a child’s IQ!

It seems more than ever, society engages youth with technology. According to a study from the University of Michigan, children ages 2-5 spend 32 hours a week in front of a television [1] and the media is making use of that demographic. For example, there has been forty years of the Public Television show Sesame Street, who in their mission statement say they are determined to “inform, inspire, and educate,” [2]. Pairing this mission statement with new technologies, we see the furry little monsters teaching their audience about computers, email, and one character using the Elmocam to connect with others.

 These young viewers are growing up in a society where they don’t have to learn how to double click, it’s inherent to them. Programs more extensive than paint and word processing become a breeze. Their skills are influenced by computers in the home from a very young age. In one study by a local news team, a group of three year olds were given an iPhone, a smart phone with a touch screen, to play with a virtual bubble wrap application. Within seconds, the kids had figured out that pressing the circles on the screen warranted a large POP! and pressing a lot of them made a very satisfying sound. They knew exactly how to control their actions to create a reaction.

This generation is made up of the “mobile kids” and raised very closely in tie with the wireless world. They expect “instant access” to anything they might be interested in, learning they can search the Internet from a smart phone or see their favorite character or hear their favorite song while on the go.  They crave power to control, and expect to be able to have anything at their imagination within reach at any moment. Along with control, these children are able to use the smart phones as learning tools through educational games. Parents can access sites like childrenslibrary.org to call up to the screen free digitized childrens books from any location. Also, about 60% of the 25 Top Selling Education Applications from the iTunes App store targets toddlers and preschoolers, proving that this demographic of consumers is very popular and accessible [3] .

            Along with the engagement with technology are the effects that multi-media stimulation might have on youth. Pediatricians say that children under the age of two shouldn’t spend any time in front of the TV because cognitive development can be stunted. Research also says that the more TV kids watch, the more likely they are to be overweight. So where is the balance? There are some applications which require a child to take mom and dad’s iPhone outside to look for squirrels and leaves in the park, but as kids grow up being used to engaging on the computer, will they leave less time for fresh air? According to a 2007 study from the New England Journal of Medicine, the number of overweight children in ages 6 to 19 has tripled since the 1970s [4]. Our technology today requires children to sit there to engage. There may be some mental stimulation occurring, but the constant involvement with technology may be hindering children to smell the fresh air.

            New technology for kids of any age is awesome. It’s pretty amazing that there are new things coming out every single day, but my concern is balance. As the new generation is born with a smart phone in their hands, are the parents going to be able to censor their children and create an appropriate amount of stimulation in front of a screen as well as off? Soon enough we will be able to set up our waterproof computers on the beach, but hopefully there will be enough time to break away from the screen and enjoy the scenery as well.

---

[1] http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm

[2] http://www.pbs.org/producers/mission.html

[3] iPhone for 3 Year Old - Swidley

[4] Overweight – Blake

5 Designing an I-net for kids -- Sutter

archive.org

Also, to be added in the near future, is a complete list of my sources.

-Kate

iMovie Test Project

In class, we had to make a slideshow to music (with a small video cameo!) and upload it to our blogs. Shout out to my mom!

Enjoy!

Photoshop for Democracy Piece

Lessig, chapter 4: RW, Revived

I thought Lessig's chapter 'Remix' was really interesting. I caught my attention from the first sentence about his friend being an English major (like me!) and starting to question why quotes need to be cited and who is getting upset when material isn't cited. He uses a perfect term which I only had associated with mash-ups and DJ': the Remix. Lessig questions the idea that quotations in papers, studded with information from outside sources, is another form of remix. In that sense, there is a very creative connotation to how one can write. But is it original? I think the evolution of an idea, or as we've learned in English 200, the transformation of an argument with quotes as your support, is a form of creativity. You must come up with the idea and prove it through quotes you are inspired by. Artists may be criticized for using styles other than their own, but it's usually other tools which make art outstanding.

One of the amazing facts Lessig talks about in the section about text is the fact that there are around 100 million blogs world wide. That is an incredible number! There are so many forms of connection and communication. Humans love to talk about themselves, hence the blogs which are diary like. Then there are connections to be made about interests, how-to's, hobbies and the like. Then there are fact/updates from companies...so many resources that allow creative (or sometimes just work) out put able to been seen world wide.

The next section brought up one of my favorite contemporary 'artists,' GirlTalk. (Ok Tangent! I really wanted to mention my favorite remix Bounce That and then saw one of the related video's is GirlTalk's remix 'Shut the Club Down' music video...which is remixes of all of the samples in his song. Pretty Cool/Crazy/I wonder how many people are upset about this now.) Lessig states that GirlTalk remixes, "...between 200 and 250 samples from 167 artists in a single CD. This is not simply copying. Sounds are being used like paint on a palette. But all the paint as been scratched off of other paintings," (70). This is an incredible fact - he is using an hours worth of material from 167 other people. When you think of it like that painting, as paint scratched off other paintings, it seems so miniscule that it's pretty cool that a lot of 'flecks of paint' are able to be put together to create something new. I would be honored to be an artist who is sampled by other artists. I guess it comes back to citing - is it up for Girl Talk to give props to whoever he 'borrowed' or sampled from? Should he be posting a track list with all of the songs and artists he has used in his CD? Or is it enough that he isn't receiving any money for his albums and just celebrated as a DJ when he is paid for gigs like Spring Concert 2009?

Jenkin's 'Photoshop for Democracy'

How is Jenkins using the phrase "Photoshop for Democracy"? Find, post, and discuss an example as it relates to the reading


In this chapter, Jenkins uses "Photoshop for Democracy" as a way to further political statements (and other social statements, I suppose) through the use of upcoming technologies. He says that an idea needs to be furthered through "broad circulation" -- much like an advertisement (207). Some of those same principles are used for that circulation, using images that are " vivid, memorable, and evocative," (207). Such as the political statement featuring President Bush and 'The Apprentance' star Donald Trump, the two were mashed together through video editing to create a statement about 'firing' the President. The idea that the video went viral means that links were forwarded through email, posted on blogs, and featured on news sites. This resulted in more and more viewers reposting and forwarding that message, and also led to more followers for the cause. One interesting aspect about this video is that creator, LoPorto, was desperate for the NBC Corporation to sue them over copyrighted material so that the video would become even more public and possibly global. 


This chapter also talks about being effective with these statements, using public images (such as Donald Trump's executive duties) as media convergence and collective intelligence. These pieces of media already have a certain impact on consumers, so political activists are using those general ideas through media to make others think about their idea in a certain way. 


He talks about Photoshop, in particular, as a tool to create nice quality graphics at a low cost, and allows the public to "manipulate and recirculate powerful images to make a political statement" (221). This is a fairly accessible way for society to create a mixture of pop-culture and political opinion. To me, it seems like the home-version of a political cartoon. You can pair any celebrity snafu with a mistake by the Leader of the Free-World, and it can become popular and discusses around the watercooler. I feel like the people who create this type of art will be younger, more in touch with technology and the program, but the ones circulating would be anyone who is able to press 'FWD' on their emails.

Technology Autobiography

After wrestling with Audacity for a few different sessions, I have a version of my Technology Autobiography that I am excited to share. Through this writing, recording, and editing process, I think I have turned into an official Mac girl -- I had a really hard time on my laptop trying to figure out Audacity, and the most efficient way to edit my piece. I ended up recording it about 3 times, taking bits and pieces of the best versions, and mashing up the phrases as best as I could. I am proud to have figured out the levels and filtering out some of the background noise! However, I think my speaking voice was the most unnatural it could have sounded...I guess I'm not used to hearing myself talk!

I think it will be pretty nerve-wracking hearing my voice over the speaker system of the MacLab...but I do like the piece that I've ended up with. I'm very excited to see what other people come up with and if they choose to use music. Anyway, this is for sure an example of a Technological process, from start to finish!

Enjoy!
--Kate's Technological Biography

Playing with ZoomRecorder

Our File!

Response to Jenkins

Jenkins: Introduction.

Convergence, as discussed in this introduction, is about many forms of media overlapping one another and entering each others forms. We think of 'media' these days as almost anything able to give us information and this spans across both print and electric. Characteristics of Convergence include "circulation of media content" and why someone chooses to spread that media, and less of the technology behind the circulation.

I suppose one way convergence is submersed in our lives is the way we use our phones. Technology has made it so that, the iPhone for example, has everything you need to make something on it (from a text document, mp3 file, or movie) and it can automatically get spread at your command (through email, networking sites, YouTube). We now have the power to be connected at our fingertips and able to spread media, our own opinions, in a flash.

Just something I found...

This is a cute segment I heard while scanning the radio this weekend - I guess it was on WHMP. It's called Typography and author Tom Pappalardo did something much like we will be working on in the next few weeks - but his is all about the snobbery of 'typeface'. I thought it was cute and I can appreciate the work that goes in to making a segment like this, so I thought I would share.

Also, he tweeted me back when I asked about the segment being posted online. So that's pretty cool too. :)

Check it out!

Audio B&G Intro Response

Using Audacity, I recorded and made an MP3 of my response for class today. Check it!

Trial Audacity Project

So, we had to take two audio samples and put them together using a program called Audacity.
I used two databases and picked a random, publicly owned (I think is the term) song by a band called My Morning Jacket (that sounds really familiar, I think I might have read about them in 'Nothing Feels Good' which I read forever ago in high school). I really liked the intro to the song I heard and ended up using that as a backdrop (a cool, funky backdrop) to...a Shakespeare Sonnet! #18 - the most popular, but it puts a whole new spin to a 'summers day'.

Check it out, enjoy!

18 + Groove

-Kate

W 9/23

Test Link to Sound File

B&G Introduction

This reading, the start of a much larger book I believe, was a very interesting read about my peers and our roles in technology today. The author is writing to an audience about twenty-years older than I am, and talks about the University-aged students as 'Digital Natives'. We are the ones who cannot separate ourselves from our real and online lives, do not serve under multiple identities, and Tweet as easily as we text...and not so easily as speaking on the phone. I think my parents did me a great service asking me to use the phone as well as handwriting thank you notes growing up because I feel like I have the skills to differentiate myself in these two departments. I mesh myself through online profiles, seeking out common bonds with my real friends who I've connected through via Facebook, but it is certainly scary to think about privacy and who else can see these facts. We were taught at an early age about 'Stranger Danger' and how important it is to keep ourselves safe online, but as we become adults I feel that these Dangers have slipped out of mind. The internet and user sites should not be as forgiving as we believe - anyone can sign up for them and we can friend anyone who may not have the proper intentions always. I think it's important to remind our generation that maybe we should only be friends online with people we can trust in real life. Screening acquaintances and releasing contact information which could be screened as well might be in our best interest as well. This introduction also mentions how my generation impresses, scares, and annoys those older than us, and I think it is something that should be brought to our attention. My next thought is, well who should teach this? We don't live in a society where etiquette is taught in schools (although my 3rd grade teacher would beg differently), but perhaps it should be a regulation of Universities to require ways to protect ourselves online (c'mon OIT - more posters, please!!) as well as within the major, be given skills to connect with the written world. I think every major other than English requires their Junior Writing class how to correct sentences and create cover-letters, maybe the English Dept. should offer How-to-Not-Write-on-a-Computer classes as well. Our generation needs to take the ear buds out of our ears and smile and talk with others, but it is so embraced amongst my peers, perhaps we are too far gone.

Baron, Wesch, and Powers Reflection for 9/21

For this class we were assigned to read this, watch this, and read this. Just like that, I've connected you all to my source of information. Now go watch it yourself...just kidding. The point of the video was to show how the digital age as transformed us. How quickly we are able to edit and improvise apart from a pen & paper and how comfortable it is to spread information through computers. And in practice, I am able to transform my ideas in to a blogs (did you know that a new blog is born ever 30 seconds? crazy!). The creator of the video used type, and visual media to portray his voice through these changes in media. Similarly, Powers wrote his essay using his voice as well, and didn't even touch the keys of a computer. Using voice recognition, he is able to speak his entire thought process at up to speeds of 300 words per minute, faster than any of us can write by hand or typing! I know when I type, I write sentences that have formulated well in my head. It is much like the way I speak, but to transfer thoughts to the screen take a little bit of careful, 'Does this sound right?' planning. Thinking before I speak...which doesn't happen in the real world. This author is able to draft a book through speaking, giving himself raw unaltered ideas to edit in the future. There is something organic about this process, almost like a psychology experiment, yet I could see to some how he is not considered a writer. The Baron piece focus on societies' transition to the digital era. We can only move forward, like this piece suggests, with acceptance of change and the ability to try something new. However strange speak-writing and digital link-age might be to technology, it seems important to accept the change and move forward to allow us to learn much more.

Assignment One - Brainstorming Ideas

We are going to be using audacity to record a short essay on our own technology autobiography. My original idea was to speak about how my grandparents - surprisingly both on my mom & dads' sides were influences in greater technological learning. Directly, my Grampa Bond always was showing my mom, I assume, bits and pieces from his job as a camera operator for KETV Omaha. He was the first one out of our family members to get a computer, get online, use a cell phone, and use a webcam. What ever sweet new gadget was found online would ultimately be a Christmas gift the following season. He instilled in my mother the ability to use a computer proficiently, and being the type of person who had to do EVERYTHING my mom did, I was hooked as well. My other set of Grandparents couldn't use a computer to save their lives, but they always had a CB Radio hooked up for those long car rides. I thought it was such an odd piece of technology to be using...especially able to use in the car! They did not use it for complex tasks other than getting directions or listening to traffic patterns from the truckers on the interstate, but I did think it was a cool piece of technology.

Some of the other things to think about are:
-The roles technology plays in my life
-Popular gadgets in the house
-What does it mean to be technologically literate & who is the most technologically literate person I know?
-My technological literacy compared to others (pshh there's a master right here.)
-What items do I carry with me/want the most? (all I see in my mind is a giant APPLE. brainwashed much? In my defense they do have the swankiest items around)
-What technological problems do I see arising in the future?

This assignment should be an anecdote or  story, something about me which I'm pretty good at. It reminds me of the project I had in Earth Science my freshman year of High School - an audio project on Elephant communication. Mr. Flight said I had a wonderful 'radio voice' and I will be excited to put it to use...6 years later.

Yay for projects! We'll have to see what I end up with a few days down the line.

Response on technology in society from Bruce & Hogan reading

A line from this article which really surprised me and shaped the way I read the rest of the article fame from page nine, suggesting the audience think about how technology is used to accomplish goals and how those decisions can liberate or oppress a society. I think at this modern age, technology is moving so rapidly forward that there is no question whether it is a positive or negative transformation - it just happens and we adapt as a society. As also mentioned in this article, society starts to accept new technologies, as done over centuries, and sometimes new items just become tools of everyday living. Think about how some strange thing we used as a kid (maybe like this mechanical pencil right next to me) has become so routine we no longer need to distinguish what kind of writing utensil we need - this is simply a 'pencil'. How has this integration to our society either liberate or oppress us? Are we free to think whatever we want about our comfortabilty with tools, there is no second guessing why we are using it or how we came to be? Or are we oppressed because we do not have a choice - technology enforces standards?

This is a little bit like the computer in schools example from Bruce & Hogan - teachers now expect any homework outside of class do be done on the computer, assuming everyone has access to a computer. Perhaps in inner-city schools or rural locations this is still not the case. Those communities might resort to a community location, such as a library, to access a word-processor while so many others have multiple computers in their own homes. Even though technology is moving forward, it is requiring people of all different classes to do the same when those resources aren't always available. This is oppressive because class mobilization won't be possible without skills to move, and without the tools to obtain those skills, it is still a setback. However, liberating, is the institutions which encourage the underprivileged to obtain those resources whichever way possible (maybe this is seen through financial aid?).

Response on literacy to Brandt reading

Genna May, compared to her grandson Michael May, shows how different and relevant literacy was to their own lives in different generations. For Genna, her greatest accomplishments were receiving a certificate at the University level for learning typing and penmanship. There never seemed to be a stress in her family to write or read much more than what was needed for work. As a child, Genna was not influenced by her parents to read or write, even commenting that paper and books were not in abundance at her household. Even though she progressed to the University level, Genna was using her skills late in life to “record recipes, balance her checkbook, and send holiday…greetings to family members,” (73).

She is shown in contrast to her grandson, just a few years old at the same time Genna was described doing these tasks, learning with magnetic letters under the care of his parents. Genna’s grandson was involved with writing to community leaders (even when in elementary school) and eventually worked on a home computer, being taught how to messages on it. Their story talks about the differences between Genna growing up in a rural community where it was more important to work than be well rounded to the next generation living in the suburbs and acquiring different skills. They both used skills in communication, while Michael was brought up to learn in new forms (such as the letter magnets, computers, and in social situations), Genna only had a few resources to work from (assignments from teachers, some typing, practical/household use).

This contrast helped to show that learning a variety of skills, at a younger age, helps to advance literacy skills. The BabyBoomers and older have trouble adapting to technology as fast as their children because we are used to a new idea and playing with it. We have so many inventions and ways to communicate now that the older generation never played with growing up. Brandt’s studies do examine socioeconomic differences as well as generational differences, but it comes down to what advances have been made in the field, more particularly inventions and accessibility to those new gadgets, and how quickly society can adapt them to our own use.