The End of Books- Robert Coover

Okay, seriously, the end of books would be my definite worse nightmare ever!!!

I think my favorite quote is definitely the introduction, "...in the world of video transmissions, cellular phones, fax machines, computer networks, and in particular out in the humming digitalized precints of avant garde computer hackers, cyber punks and hyper space freaks, you will often hear it said that the print medium is doomed and outdated  technology, a mere curiosity of bygone days destined soon to be consigned forever to those dusty unattended museums we call libraries" (706).

Hahaha, 'avant garde computer hackers'? 'Cyber punks'? 'Hyper space freaks'? Was I the only one that cracked up at this? I seriously laughed so hard...But anyways, it's pretty funny how the 'futuristic' image of the cyber world is so different than it actually is.

"...the print medium is domed and outdated technology, a mere curiosity of bygone days destined soon to be consigned forever to those dusty unattended museums we call libraries". This is seriously my worst nightmare!!

I love reading and would hate for print to be eliminated! I wonder what Coover would have to say of the world now...with texts, emails, etc.

This reminds me of how my boyfriend has been asking me over and over if I want a kindle or a subscription to a website where I can download audio books. As cool as that sounds, I love having the actual book in my hands and being able to feel the pages and display the book on our shelves.

Anyways, so sorry for such a space cadet-y post! I'm off for some pumpkin carving!!!

Have an awesome Halloween weekend!!!

Just Like Me Only Better

I found the article, Just Like Me Only Better, pretty interesting in that while I had heard vaguely of Second Life, I wasn't completely sure what it was. The first thing that came to mind for me was an episode of The Office where Dwight has a Second Life account and if I remember correctly flies around a lot. So, based on what I remembered from The Office, I thought Second Life was a game where you could make an avatar and fly around.

I was immediately pulled into the article because I'd always wondered where the term 'avatar' came from, and here, in the very first sentences, I was being told, "The term avatar comes from Sanskrit and originally referred to the form that the gods assumed when the visited thew world". The entire introduction was new information to me and I was curious to find out more.

Reading this article cracked me up at points because Second Life (in my opinion) seemed to have one of the cheesiest mottos I've heard of, "your world, your imagination". Based just on the motto I was quick to figure out Second Life and problems with this kind of 'game' became easy to come up with. I mean, solely based on the fact that you can basically create an entire second life for yourself I can count numerous problems. From an interpersonal level (beyond the cyber world) this just can't be good.

For example, I have a friend who is very into online chat rooms and has basically created an entire life on these. Recently he's been going through some relationship problems (with his online girlfriend) and when I asked him if he had some friends he could talk to he replied, "My online friends...". When I asked if he has friends he could lean on besides his cyber friends he could only come up with two or three. Clearly something like this in problematic.

Mythinformation

After a long week of midterms I could not focus myself to follow my reading! I had to re-read the reading several times over to pick out the main points of the article. However, I did find three things that were new pieces of information to me.

Winner talks about using the metaphor 'revolution' to describe and celebrate the coming of computerization. Winner disagrees that this is a reasonable metaphor, "Unfortunately this is not the case". He goes on to discuss how books, articles, and media specials aimed at a popular audience are usually content to depict the dazzling magnitude of technical innovations and social effects (589). He questions this metaphor further by making several thought provoking statements such as "One might suppose, for example, that a revolution of this type would involve a significant shift in the locus of power, after all, that is exactly what one expects in revolutions of a political kind" (589).

Another interesting point he discusses is his concern for the political meaning of revolution, "My concern for the political meaning of revolution in this setting may seem somewhat misleading, even perverse" (590). He talks about other technical revolutions such as the industrial revolution to bring up his point.

I found his discussion on information and ideology interesting as I am currently studying ideologies in another online class I'm taking.Winner discusses how "mythinformation is noteworthy as an expressive contemporary ideology" (595)

MySpace shared user data with advertisers: WSJ

I found this article really interesting and while I no longer use Myspace (and haven't been active on it for quite a few years), it was still of interest for me. According to The Wall Street Journal, MySpace has been giving advertising companies data that could identify members of the social networking service.
Apparently MySpace users have unique user ID numbers that are associated with users' names, pictures, gender, etc. From what I understand, MySpace has shared these IDs with a third party which has resulted in that third party having access to users' private information. One MySpace spokesman said that the information shared was 'nonpersonally identifiable information' and that MySpace's terms of services prohibit third party developers from sharing any user data, including these ID numbers.
The controversy in this whole thing is that apparently this third party has violated those terms.
I thought this was interesting because whenever I sign onto Facebook(my social network of choice) or even browse any random internet site, it seems as though the internet has been reading my mind with advertisments seemingly geared right at me. I personally find it kind of creepy but I guess I do post information on my Facebook that would make the advertisments geared at me. For example, after my sister got engaged, I posted the news in a status and since then I've been getting ads for engagement rings, wedding planning services, photographers, etc.

At the very end of the article I learned something new about MySpace. Apparently they are relaunching their services by targeting a younger audience and 'putting a premium on "self expression'"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101023/ts_alt_afp/usitinternetmediamyspace

Lame!!!

I just noticed that TWO of my blog posts that I had 'scheduled' to be posted never posted!!! I guess this just serves as a reminder to double check!!

:(

Disclosing the Ethnographic Self

The article is broken down into mainly 2 key points. These points are 'disclosing in face-to-face conversation' and 'virtual exposure and disclosure'. Both points are pretty self explanatory. Self disclosure in face-to-face conversation basically depends entirely on the person. For example, the first time I met my new neighbor she told me she was recently divorced, she might move back to Switzerland, she had a lesbian affair and was going on a lesbian retreat in Yosemite all in about 3 sentences. Entirely opposite of that, I know some people you almost have to beat over the head to get any information out of them. There are also occasions and situations where it is/isn't appropriate to disclose personal information. You wouldn't tell a new employer about your hang over the night before just like you wouldn't sit in silence if a close friend asked you how you were doing. It's all just a matter of balancing.
Virtual exposure and disclosure is similar, just via a virtual medium. A social networking site like Facebook calls for a lot of self disclosure with status prompts like "What's on your mind?" and information blocks prompting users to "Write something about yourself". While people often put information up without a second thought, disclosing information could send you in the wrong direction. Thankfully Facebook has an option to group friends together and allow specific friends to read or not read your postings, see or not see your pictures. For me this is pretty much a lifesaver. I have quite a bit of family on my Facebook so I make sure only certain things are available for them to see. I also have an option to allow or not allow them to read my status updates since I often write about Erik and I living together. Being a good, Catholic, church go-er doesn't really mix well with 'living in sin' so there are a good chunk of things I block them from. Haha.

Personal Dynamic Media

I really enjoyed this article because it was interesting to see the beginnings of something that we all use in one way or another every day. I didn't know about the Dynabook so I liked reading about it. I thought it was kind of funny how they had all of this speculation in their writing saying things like "Imagine if..." and "What if..." and "Wouldn't it be ______ if..." The Dynabook  would be the size of a notebook and could be used by everyone, it could have the power to virtually handle all of it's owner's information related needs. Kay and Goldberg write, "Imagine having your own self contained knowledge manipulator in a portable package the size and shap of an ordinary notebook" (394). Imagine not having that! Haha, most of us carry something similar to that with us everyday, with cell phones becoming more and more useful we all have our own Dynabooks right in our pocket or handbag. I didn't know the idea for something like this existed so long ago. The picture of the mock up of a future Dynabook had be laughing because it just looks like a big Blackberry or a clunky iPad. There was a lot of discussion of children using the Dynabook and it being effected their attention span levels, "Their attention spans are measured in hours rather than minutes!" (394). I thought this was ironic because now we're trying to get kids to spend less time on computers and focus their attention on other things. I can't really remember a time before having a computer. I remember my family always having one and playing on it pretty young. Here's a picture of me and my sister. This picture was taken before my brother was born so I was max 2 and a half. My sister was around 4 and looks even more deranged than I do so I covered up her crazy little face. Haha. This big clunker (a Macintosh, if I remember from what my dad's told my boyfriend...) was from 1991 or earlier. Haha

I enjoyed reading about early paint and word processing programs because I loved to use paint programs to scribble on the screen and word processors to type nonsense. Anyways, it's pretty interesting to see how ideas from so long ago (the Dynabook) are super similar to technology we use today.