Last Chance, Wrapping it All Up

     I learned so much in this class. I learned to use a lot of different Apps that allow me to create art and to share as well as attain information and ideas with the world. The World Wide Web is sort of like a playground for opportunity and I never really knew that. I was always under the impression that online Apps like website building, photo editing, and even blogs were for the tech professionals. It was cool and almost installed a bit of confidence in me when I learned that all these things were for me to use to. All these Apps are wonderful resources that, I feel, we should all feel privileged to have so readily available to us. The web allows us to connect with people, weather it be through Facebook or that we wouldn’t have had the chance to otherwise. The web allows us to gather any sort of information we want, whenever we want and I think that is truly amazing.

     One of my favorite things we’ve learned in this class, that goes along with what I’m saying, was the Ted Talk given by Kevin Kelly. He pointed out that the Internet is only 5,000 days old and that, according to his prediction of the next 5,000, Internet technology would only become a million times more advanced. It made me really think about what an exciting time this is in the world of technology. This is only the beginning. The Internet is so young and once it grows up I feel as if we will be blown away. It will be really cool to look back one day and see how far we will come although I have no idea what it will look like. Though I suppose that’s the exciting part.

      I learned that I’m not as scared and “bad” at computers like I had thought in the past. I learned that quite honestly I’ve just never token the time to learn and discover. I was a facebook girl and occasionally watched some Netflix but now I want to make videos, edit photos, and keep discovering what else the web has to offer. I’m most exciting about re-creating my blog. It’s really cool because now I know how it all works and I can actually have the confidence to go ahead and do it! I want it sort of be like a diary where I can share my experiences with people. I want to share with people in hopes that they share back with me or just read it and maybe connect in some sort of way. The possibilities are endless when it come to the web!

Life is One Great Big Re-mix

Not going to lie, I felt pretty bad for Lawrence Lessig as he tried to get across his points on Copy Right Law being out of date during his interview on the Colbert show. Colbert of course had no problem playing “devil’s advocate” because it seemed a bit ridiculous to make an issue out of but that was Lessig’s point. Lessig explained that Copy Right laws are incriminating 70 percent of teens. I’m totally apart of the 70 percent and you probably are as well. I completely agreed with Lessig as he explained that the law should be focused on more important issues. Unless someone is completely stealing my work and taking credit for it, I would want them to use it as a source of inspiration. When I took a college painting class I couldn’t help but question why we would have assignments to paint and re-create an original piece of artwork from a famous artist. I learned that we were doing this, not to steal ideas and to copy, but to honor the artist. I don’t think we should abolish the copyright laws completely but, as Lessig was getting at, rethink the strictness of them as to keep up with the current times. All the remixes that were created as spin offs of the original interview are, in my opinion, completely okay to do. They were funny and if Colbert ever tried to sue anybody under copyright laws (which legally he may be able to do, but obviously wouldn’t) it would be ridiculous. I guess that was the point of it all though. I really enjoyed watching the Ted Talk given Kirby Ferguson who fully supports remixes. He believes that “everything is a remix and that this is a better way to conceive of creativity”. He makes a great example out of the legendary Bob Dylan. He gave evidence to support that two thirds of his songs were “borrowed”. This was really eye opening to me and made me look at the bigger picture. Nobody today would look at Bob Dylan as being a thief I don’t think. I look at him as a unique individual producing music that no one could compete with people because he has his only style and his music speaks for itself. He simply gathered inspiration from previous artists he’s heard throughout the years and made it completely his own. I mean it’s okay for a painter to incorporate splatter paint into their painting without getting accused of copying the legendary Jackson Pollock. Everything has already been done already if you want to be picky about it!

Times are changing: The Facebook Generation

After reading the article “The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500” written by Gary Himmel, I wanted to cry. I mean, yah, I’m sort of exaggerating but this article definitely intimidated me as it seems as though this generation, my generation, has a lot of high expectations to attain in the working world today. The article outlines what Himmel describes as “Internet-derived expectations’ that every business will hold to if they want to “make it”. He explains all the “main characteristics of online life” that divides the former fortune 500 generation from the Facebook generation. At first I really thought that I’d hate everything on the list but turns out the norms of the web world are very exciting and nothing is really black and white. The charecteristics are exciting and out of the box. They’re much less boring then the Fortune 500 generation seems to be. Here are the 12 different characteristics: 1. “All ideas compete on an equal footing”- all ideas on the web are fair game. Ideas get a chance versus ideas either getting shot down or accepted right on the spot. 2. “Contribution counts for more than credentials.”- the web is more focused on content verus your accidemic acheivements. 3. “Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed”- Authority on the web is gained by how powerful your presence is there not because somebody appointed you that particular job. 4. “Leaders serve rather than preside”- Leaders are forced to naturally have a good balance. They are not the dominant leader, no one on the web can be. You have to rope in followers by serving them in a humble way. 5. “Tasks are chosen, not assigned”- You choose what you want to work on. What you want to contribute to and be apart of or what you want to skip out on. There is a sense of freedom where you can focus in on what you want. 6. “Groups are self defining and self organizing”- you can choose who you want to communicate and make connections with. 7. “Resources get attracted, not allocated”- you don’t waste your time on projects that aren’t fun and alluring in the web world. 8. “Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it”- you share your ideas and get them out their before someone else does instead of keeping information to yourself. 9. “Opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed”- good ideas will reveal themselves to be good all on their own through easily gaining a following. Good ideas speak for themselves in a way. 10. “Users can veto most policy decisions” – the users have a big say so keep them happy even though you built whatever it is they have a big say about. 11. “Intrinsic rewards matter most”- you can contibutue to society in a big and rewarding way on the web. 12. “Hackers are heroes”- a rebelous sort of fame in the web world. I think this all means that the Facebook Generation needs to be an active part of the online world in one way or another. We all need to contribute to the web in one way or another whether it be big or small. The world is changing and the web is broadening life and breaking barriers between the cubicle and the real world. It's an exciting time.

Long Tail

I thought it was really interesting when Chris Anderson described himself as being in the “forecasting” business as he was explaining how Internet trends work. He explained that all important technology goes through four different phases; “critical price” then “critical mass” then “another technology” and then “free”. You can understand this as sort of a timeline for technology. He explains all of this by relating it to the life of a DVD, which follows these exact phases. Basically the DVD started out super expensive and in the end, after the technology advanced, it pretty much became free. I think it’s sort of the same with music downloading and purchasing music. I remember about 6 or 7 years ago when it seemed as if everyone I knew was buying songs for a dollar a pop and now it just seems as if everyone is either downloading music for free simply because they can get away with it. Everyone (not just computer savvy hackers like it seemed to be in the past) these days seem to know how to download free music. In the life of ITunes I would say that the “another technology” phase would be when Pandora and Spotify were created. This whole long tail thing makes me really wonder what sort of technology is in the early phase of “critical price” and what its future holds.

Podcasting for Dummies

Tee Morris talks about "Podcasting on a budget" on the iTunes podcast series "Podcasting for Dummies". He recommends that people use Adudecity.sourceforge.net where you can download a program in order to allow you to creat a podcast using just your computer without having to buy anything fancy. Podcasting on a budget is simply recording your voice whether your using a microphone to connect to your computer or you can just use the built in microphone on your computer without having to own anything “high end” and expensive. He explained that you aren’t supposed to edit a podcast which I was really surprised by. The true meaning of a podcast really clicked for me when Morris explained that a podcast is meant to get across to the audience what you can't quite get across through text alone. This was the most important thing I learned and definitely the most helpful. I'm a writer, well at times I think I am, and the times I feel confident in my writing ability are the times when I know that I am clearly expressing emotions through the words I choose to use as if they are alive and jumping off the page. Podcasts seem really cool to me just simply because I think it would be awesome to be able to empathize certain words and really get a certain point across to the audience.

On the go vlog :)

FISH TAIL VLOG :)