7/16-7/22 Post 2: Personal Dynamic Media

Where to even begin? This article is definitely food for the soul. The introduction to the article is breath taking. There is just so much information and history. I am astonished with what Kay and Goldberg discovered. While reading this article I felt like I was taking a flashback in time and there when this was happening. It is so amazing to read about the invention of the notebook computer and that they did not know what would come of them. One could only dream, and their dream became more than just a reality, it changed the world. And to think that they invented this from imagination and creation?! Today, no one thinks about the click of a mouse button and how it actually works or how/why it was invented. This article tells us all about that. I have a niece and nephew, ages 4 and 8, who will probably never think that the laptop is cool because they are growing up with it already existing in their lifetime. To think a 4-year-old has an iPod touch? It leaves me speechless that my niece does. Today, I still find the multiple-window display to be amazing and would love to get on the “other side” of a computer just to see how it works. And a little girl programmed a painting and drawing system, WOW. How she came up with the ideas of a menu and different options for brushes and what not, I wish I can have a great idea to change the world.

7/16-7/22 Post 1: Navigating Technomedia

I found this article to be very interesting and educational. It took information I already knew and taught me something more about it. There are a couple of ideas I would like to touch base on. The first is, "New media technologies became an integral part of not only the discourse of modernization, but of global justice," (2). I find this completely true. Things like medicine can be produced and provided throughout the world faster, safer and more efficient because of technology. The next thing is the definition of "technomedia". I now know that what Hulu does and the Xbox with Netflix for instance fall under the category of technomedia. The last thing that I found interesting and would like to point out is a quote from Richard Dienst, "The dreams of television were already global…televisaulity was immediately imagined as an all-encompassing putting-into-view of the world," (9-10). Now people can view the world from their own homes without having to move (Though it is not the same as being in the place, people now get a visual of what Japan or Spain look like). The television has also gone from making everything transparent in the world to very complex and virtual with all these sci-fi and fantasy shows.

7/9-7/15 Post 3: Second Life

This article, "Second Life," was interesting to say the least. I found numerous things though provoking and intriguing but I will touch upon a few. The first being the introduction to the article. I though it was great. It gave the readers an explanation and some examples about Second Life. It also gave readers a good tidbit about gender roles and avatars. A quote that struck out to me was, "As virtual spaces have been popularized, they have been both celebrated as an opportunity for liberation from conventional gender roles and criticized as white–male shaped spaces, filled with pornography, sexualization, and increased commodification," (6-7). This quote makes perfect sense though it is contradicting itself. This brings up another concept that people who participated in Second Life were "feeling pressure to fit in," (11). The virtual space was designed not to feel pressure and escape judgment, criticism, ridicule, etc. Virtual spaces were meant as an escape from real life yet people created it to be just that. The next thing I found interesting was the concept about autoenthrography. An interesting concept because it's about a connection between the individual and society through personal connection projected in Second Life. The last thing that I'd like to mention is what disturbed me about this. That is, female body parts were being sold in the virtual space. This is shown on page 14 in Figure 2. To me this is definitely stereotyping.

7/9-7/15 Post 2: From Computer Power and Human Reason

I found this article to not be so difficult to read. It definitely caught my attention. The fact that it was done and written in the 1960s has yet to cease to impress me. It's amazing the concept behind the conversation between the computer and person. I am always astonished how people come up with thoughts and inventions that later change the world. I can barely think straight. The project ELIZA/Doctor was able to hold a conversation for quite some time given the circumstances of input/output and the computer not knowing what it meant.  In the article, when the words "new media" were used, I could not help smiling and laughing thinking about what it means today compared to what it meant back then. It is also crazy how during this study, people expressed their inner most thoughts and feelings to the computer. Emotional bonds were made only after a short period of time. I still think this is true in today's world. I know I freak out if I misplace my computer or phone and lots of people revolve their lives around their cars and technology. Lastly, ELIZA being only a simple small step in research has had  so much impact and significance on technology and computer to humans today.

7/9-7/15 Post 1: The Technology and the Society

Like most of the articles I have read this semester, "The Technology and The Society," was another challenging article to read yet an interesting one. In the first page alone, there was so much information given. Cause and effect of everything, between everything is so complex. I have never thought of connecting television and psychology and technology and society for instance. He goes on in detail later on to discuss these versions of technology and the causes. Another interesting aspect is that of technological determinism. "The steam engine, the automobile, television, the atomic bomb, have made modern man and the modern condition," (pg 3). What an interesting concept. I thought man made all those things. But to look at it from this viewpoint, we are capable of doing more and are almost restricted as well. Technology is a gift and a curse to humans. And the last interesting concept I found intriguing was the change in the meaning of the word "mass". It went from meaning "the mob" in the 19th century to 'large numbers" in the 20th century.

6/25-7/1 Post 3: Community Media

In the article, Community Media,” the author goes into detail about what community media is, and where it is headed. I found this article to be very interesting once I had a better concept of what it was about. I had to come back to this article because I had no clue what it was about at first. There were a couple of points that struck me. The first is the quote, “Don’t hate the media, make the media,” (3). I wish that society believed this and followed through with this motto. People could stop caring about what others think of them and their views and focus on furthering their selves as individuals and politically. The second thing that intrigued me was the quote, ”It is not about having a gripe with the establishment necessarily, but it is about asserting difference – either from other aspects of the media or just in general.” If people knew how to debate or take constructive criticism, society would be able to have open discussions about anything and everything. Unfortunately people are afraid to disagree. Lastly, the quote, “Whatever I say, whatever I do, I can’t influence the government,” (8) definitely tugged at me. What most of society doesn’t realize, which makes me sad, is that they don’t realize they run this country and that the government simply is just there to represent them. Meaning, they have much more power than they allow themselves to have.

6/25-7/1 Post 2: Just Like Me Only Better

While reading, "Just Like Me Only Better" I found myself drifting off because of the stale language used to write it. The topic is extremely interesting and intriguing though. There was definitely a lot of material that was covered and I had to reread some parts to make sure I understood it. The concept of this Second Life just amazes me. It is so funny that people focus more on the appearance of their avatar than actual communication. Today, social media is all about how people look so it makes sense that people would focus on that rather than communication. Not only the appearance of their avatar, but its genitalia to be specific. And stereotyping the avatars, Caucasians to have straight hair for instance if female also amazes me. I would have never thought to research or study this subject at all but it definitely helps us get a better understanding of humans and social media.