Computer and Movies (free blog)

My friend and I were having a conversation the other day about a new feature being offered to her by her Internet company. Her cable and Internet are provided by the same company, this new feature makes it possible to download data from the television to her computer. This means ordered movies or shows recoded from the TV can now be viewed on a person’s computer. The more I thought about it the more I realized how much of the film industry was being dominated by computers. The merging of film and computer impacts the entire movie experience. How a movie is made, advertised and viewed has been altered by advances in computer technology.

Take for instance the different between older children’s movies, Beauty and the Beast or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to a newer one such as UP or Toy Story. In older films each panel had to be drawn and colored by hand, an arduous and time consuming task. The movie Nightmare Before Christmas is a wonderful example of the hand crafting labor movies required. Each scene was crafted from clay, filmed, redone and filmed again. Comparatively, newer films shy away from such elaborate handmade work; both Up and Toy Story were created entirely by computer animation. Today most movies are done with CGI or other computer programs. The first three Star Wars movies and Avatar are perfect examples of computers making films. The fourth through sixth Star Wars (three original) were mostly done sans computers. Shooting took place in different locations for the multitude of terrains the movie required. Sets were built and actually blown up. One the other hand, the newer movies were mostly done in front of a green screen, and there were no ornately constructed puppets or costumes. Personally this was a huge disappointment, half of the wonder of the original three movies was watching all the action and thinking about how people were able to make the movies; there was such a feeling of movie wonder. Not to say this wonder has gone away, something like Avatar, which was done almost completely with computers, has its own sense of magic. However, this magic is computer based.
Advertising has a whole new medium, the Internet. Trailers now appear on YouTube exciting people and generating interest. One person can find a trailer for a new movie, and send the link to all their friends with similar taste is films. Instead of relying on traditional forms of advertisements, movie makers can put a trailer online and rely on word of mouth to get their movie out. The Internet has also cultivated our love for celebrity gossip. If Mel Gibson pulls a crazy stunt before one his movies is released and his actions are captured online, his new movie receives a lot of press. After a film has been made and advertised, it is finally time for viewing, another process impacted by computers. The theater is a dying experience; most people prefer to watch movies at home, more than likely on their computers. Movies can be instantly viewed on a computer, either legally or illegally. Sites such as Netflix have made this an extremely easy process. Now information can even be taken from the television and watched on a computer. Overall, the world of movies has been forever changed with the introduction of computers.

Free Blog

Internet communication sites engage with the non- virtual world in an interesting way; while operating online, these sites construct communities which impact real life events. This delicate balance allowed for the creation of alternative travel sites, for instance Squattheplanet.com (STP.com) and similar forums which encourage global or local travel on limited budget and resources. The site exists online, allowing travelers to retrieve necessary information or communicate with fellow squatters or housing families regardless of location and time. The communications on such a site help people locate homes, places to eat, and stay safe while traveling. Furthermore, they provide the comfort and social connections humans require. Constant travel across countries, or worlds, means leaving behind friends, family and all sense of communal ties, a situation which can become isolating. Squattheplantet.com provides members with something constant and unchanging, providing a sense of stability.
Online relationships operate in a similar manner to a normal community by providing support, aid, and information, even a space for self expression. STP provides a space to create an online profile; using these profiles people can create a traveling identity and format relationships with other like minded individuals. These profiles are less interested in relationship status and gender than they are experience with travel and being on the road. One reason I think this occurs is when people travel what becomes important in their ability to survive and go from one place to another; by focusing on these ideas the online community decides what traits and skills are important and reinforce their own social norms and values. Furthermore, it allows people to create a traveling identity. While running around the world, people are disconnected from any ties and traits they were once associated with and are given the chance to create a new persona. Because the site connects travelers to actual people, the new personality has a chance to become actualized. This is a major difference between this site and other social networking systems. Something like Facebook does not necessarily facilitate actual human contact. This site connects people from all over the world, in a virtual and physical manner.

Face my book

David Kirkpatrick ‘s book The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World really explains what about Facebook is so unique and captivating. As the title suggests, the site deals with connecting people, and does so by changing the way people communicate. The Internet opened up new mediums for human interaction, and most of these are available on Facebook. This gives the site a great amount of power and prestige, something early investor such as the Washington Post and Accel noticed. There is a lot of worth and potential in a site which functions as a social interaction space. These early investors saw this and acted quickly and in the case of Accel hungrily. The willingness to pay millions of dollars for interest in the company demonstrates not only the power of such a site but the overall future want from Internet users.
Where once going away to college meant being disconnected from friends and family, Facebook has all but eliminated this problem. The site connects people, and allows for continuous communication through such features such as writing on people’s walls, poking and leaving messages. One interesting component mentioned by Kirkpatrick was the addition of photos to the site. Mostly used by girls at first, the posting of pictures adds an additional form of communication. Where once the happenings at a party had to be told first hand to others, it is now possible to go on Facebook and see what took place. In addition to telling story though picture, these photos also inform the world who people are friends with and what sort of social interaction they have with one another. As the author quotes, “I consider these people part of my life, and I want to who everyone I’m close to them” (155). By posting and tagging photos, users construct a type of hierarchy. Pictures are proof a person attended a party and how the other party goers interacted with that person. This can also be seen with groups, joining a group means the person has an interest, or at least wants other to think they have an interest in a particular idea. Joining certain groups creates an online persona for that user. By adding pictures or being tagged and joining groups, people can become “cool”, compared to others. The social interactions which ran high schools are now available online.
This idea of Facebook hierarchy even appears with online advertising. Advertising on Facebook almost guarantees the right people see certain advertisements, for example the Gwen Stefani “Hollaback” song. The advertisement was aimed at cheerleaders with the hope they would adopt it for their performances. Soon the song became popular during football games; being a cheerleader meant having first access to the song and a step up on this social hierarchy. Facebook may have changed how we communicate and connect with people, but certain parts of social interaction, for instance popularity, still remain.

FACEBOOK

After reading the first few chapters of David Kirkpatrick’s book the Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World, defining Faebook as the social network makes sense. Today the Facebook phenomenon connects peoples from all parts of the world on a single space, making it a social network. The origins of Facebook also play into this title, Facebook is the child of social networks. Putting aside the lawsuit between the Winkelzoss twins and Divya Narendra, it is hard to say exactly where the concept or idea of Facebook originated. Sites such as Friendster, Paxo and MySpace and the numerous others Kirkpatrick mentions in his work, all existed before Mark Zuckerberg created his site. These preexisting sites provided necessary information on how to properly run and expand the Facebook idea. From looking at these past projects Facebook could determine what ideas or products would help the site survive or fail. For instance, from watching the problems facing Friendster, Mark and his team knew they had to carefully monitor new member use or the site would become slower and less enticing. One of Facebooks biggest and earliest competitors, MySpace allowed anyone to be anybody when creating a page. Doing so made “it difficult to limit your connections to genuine friends.” (75), Facebook took a more restrictive approach. The insured user validity limited whose profiles could be viewed by whom, making the experience about connecting with people. Additionally, the creators relied on real world networking to make Facebook happen.
Facebook heavily depended on Sean Parker’s previous experience dealing with investors and online companies . Parker’s connections lead the Facebook team to their first major investor Thiel. Parker’s previous experiences made him taught him how to protect the autonomy of the site, and to abandon the Wirehog project, both valuable pieces of information. Networking with Sean Parker contributed to the success of Facebook. Facebook has become a revelation, its success in part dependent on personal social networks and already existing networking sites.

Midterm Blog

My group purposefully chose a topic which was highly debated, the decimalization of Marijuana. After reading through the page and examining the resources it soon became apparent the page was written by people who supported the use of Marijuana. This was done mainly by misrepresenting information or quotes and neglecting to present information. For instance, the decent section of the decriminalization article included sentences and ideas which, while not necessarily supporting Marijuana use, didn’t give solid reason for opposing the use either. While presenting the facts, writers were able to sneak in their opinion, reducing the page’s validity. My group noticed this when addressing the question “what is missing?” That, to me, was a moment I really noticed how much Wikipedia can sway a page. Writers not only control what is written, but also what is not written. Wikipedia acts as an online encyclopedia, and should represent all the facts, not just the ones which help to create a particular opinion. Information is not about presenting a single side of an argument, but clearly documenting all facts so readers can make their own decisions.
The appearance of opinion along with the amount of inaccurate information which appears on the site means Wikipedia cannot be classified as a scholarly source. Not to say that Wikipedia does not have a place in this world. A great deal of information does exist in a single free space. This allows anyone to access knowledge on any subject, the trick is knowing how to use the site. Wikipedia acts as a great first place to look. The site provides an overview of the main facts on any subject. However, a person must look past Wikipedia to gain a full perspective. This was another interesting part of Wikipedia, almost all the information on a Wikipedia page is already available somewhere else on the Internet. While investigating every resource was time consuming, it is also what is necessary to gather facts. Wikipedia plays into our cultures want for everything at an instant. It is possible to find out the information on Wikipedia from other places, just not as convenient. We currently live in a world dominated by speed, Wikipedia pays into this obsession. Americans are accustomed to having everything at the touch of their fingers, information is no exception. The problem is gathering facts and insuring their accuracy is not a simply process. The popularity of Wikipedia demonstrates a trend for people’s preference for fast rather than accurate information. Wikipedia provides the world easy access to information at the expense of knowledge.

Made to Break III

Giles Slade’s chapter “Chips” from Made to Break, introduces the idea of “knowledge, training, and skill sets as victims of obsolescence”, however I didn’t feel as though he demonstrated this point as thoroughly as others in his book. Glades first sections summarize the origins of computers. These early beginnings, especially compared to modern times, were less focused on obsolescence and more concerned with invention and creation. Computer programs designed during this time period followed a similar pattern. The invention of spreadsheets, described on pages 205-6 , made it unnecessary to make similar charts by hand, saving time and increasing productivity. However, the skill of making and understanding charts has not really become obsolete. Spreadsheets are nothing but a page of rows and columns if a person does not understand how to impute and manipulate the information seen. The skills and knowledge required to work a spreadsheet by hand are also required on a computerized one. Slate’s argument of Word Processor changing typing seems to follow the pattern of one skill set replacing another. Slade’s assertion that “the ability to type flawlessly and quickly” (208) is lost may hold some validity, however the amount of people today who can and do type makes up for this lost. Women worked in typing pool, and traditionally the ones typing “40 to 60 flawless words per minute”(207). In today’s time most people may not type that fast or well, but most people type. Everyone in this class, male or female, writes a blog once a week demonstrating knowledge of this skill. Word Processor in the home introduced a new skill set, typing, to the general population. In addition, jobs still exist, for instance taking a deposition, which require a person to type quickly and without error. The skills required to make a spreadsheet or type are still present and available to the general population.
The following chapter contained a section on selling poor technologies to Russians during the Cold War, a questionable form of obsolescence. The intention of the inferior technologies was to malfunction, and stall Russian intelligence. While perhaps a form of obsolescence, these technologies were not sold with the intention of creating a mindset, but stalling a war and protecting America. In comparison, cell phones, which are often throwaway while still working for a newer version, demonstrates obsolescence as a consumer mindset. The problem of what to do with leftover technologies has global repercussions. Not only are American landfills infested with outdated and functional technologies, but poorer countries feel the effects of our consumerism. The processes of burning plastics taking place in “India, Pakistan and Bangladesh” (279) causes direct harm to these countries’ environments. However, the world shares its water and air, and the contamination of the environment is not limited to these countries. America exists in a society which craves the latest products, and everything from the economy to social networks encourages this mindset. Living in such a world it is easy to ignore the negative and global consequences of instant gratification.