Music blares. Festive bubbles shower down from the ceiling. Lights distort and blur. Strangers bump and grind in the habitual mating dance, while "long-lost friends" reunite. Besides maybe the bubbles, the scene is more or less a classic one through the ages.
It is in this scene, and this scene only, that I can find text messaging to be vaguely useful.
Your phone jingle-jangle-vibrates. Your friend wants to meet up. Mom wants to say hi. An "urgent" social situation is on the rise. Problem is, you can't hear a damn thing over the screaming girls and 80's music tribute. You shout, "What? What? I can't hear you! Call me back!" and hang up, knowing that the situation won't change unless you go outside.
Therefore, our fine feathered technology of text messaging does indeed come in handy for intensively noisy situations, such as nights at the bar or for someone who works at rock concerts. "xoxo to you too, Mom," and there you go. Close your phone and go rock out.
For myself, however, I'll just let my breathren of callers desperately wonder why I'm not answering.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Left and right
A Whole New Mind has the rare combination of being easy to read, interesting, and informative. The book also provides comfort that people like "us" -- Professional Writing/Art/Philosophy/Music (etc.) majors not only have a purpose, but will be necessary in the coming world.
"Edwards rejected the notion that some people just aren't artistic. 'Drawing is not really very difficult,' she said. 'Seeing is the problem.'" (15) I especially like this quote. People seem too quick to limit themselves to what they can or can't do. These notions hearken back to the popular myth that "lefties are more creative/artistic."
Well, what if you're ambidextrous? Or what if you physically use different parts of your body for different tasks? For example, I write with my right hand. In gymnastics, I enter moves with my left foot first and twist to the left. (This "right hand writer/lefty gymnast" combination is not unusual.) I'd say that both sides of my brain are getting a hefty workout. The same can be said, of course, for many physical activities (Pink uses the example of the head turning from left to right while reading).
Therefore, I agree with Pink. Enough of the excuses that attribute your characteristics to being right or left brained. It's a whole new world out there.
"Edwards rejected the notion that some people just aren't artistic. 'Drawing is not really very difficult,' she said. 'Seeing is the problem.'" (15) I especially like this quote. People seem too quick to limit themselves to what they can or can't do. These notions hearken back to the popular myth that "lefties are more creative/artistic."
Well, what if you're ambidextrous? Or what if you physically use different parts of your body for different tasks? For example, I write with my right hand. In gymnastics, I enter moves with my left foot first and twist to the left. (This "right hand writer/lefty gymnast" combination is not unusual.) I'd say that both sides of my brain are getting a hefty workout. The same can be said, of course, for many physical activities (Pink uses the example of the head turning from left to right while reading).
Therefore, I agree with Pink. Enough of the excuses that attribute your characteristics to being right or left brained. It's a whole new world out there.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Set in stone/Assignment Zero
"Well," my brother cautioned after explaining his plans, "it's not set in stone."
The idiom caught me. Set in stone. Stone tablets were the "permanent" (and quite hefty) alternative to words on papyrus or paper. Now, the printed page has a connotation of finality when compared to the ease of publishing and editing text that remains on a computer screen.
Will we develop a new phrase, then? Perhaps "put into print" to acknowledge the solidity of one's words?
..
I'm pretty intrigued by the results of my quick scan of Assignment Zero. It reminds me of Wikipedia, but with an emphasis on current events and suggested guidelines for the direction of a piece. The fact that the editors/creators of the site can choose from applicants shows that this compilation is more concerned with demonstrating authority.
If I find a topic on there that I could report intelligently on, I'd like to contribute. I'd never heard the term "crowdsourcing" before, though I had heard about a project where anyone could contribute to shaping a movie. And now the same is being done for a novel? Heck, maybe I'll throw in my two cents. :-) And what about "open source religion?" (I see at the bottom that another contributor has offered stylistic suggestions.) These articles will, at the very least, be educational. I wonder if NeoVox has considered experimenting with this sort of interactive, constantly shifting format. It'd be an interesting forum, and especially effective if all of the contributors were voluntary; that way, the writers would put consideration behind their work rather than tossing up words to meet a minimum requirement.
The idiom caught me. Set in stone. Stone tablets were the "permanent" (and quite hefty) alternative to words on papyrus or paper. Now, the printed page has a connotation of finality when compared to the ease of publishing and editing text that remains on a computer screen.
Will we develop a new phrase, then? Perhaps "put into print" to acknowledge the solidity of one's words?
..
I'm pretty intrigued by the results of my quick scan of Assignment Zero. It reminds me of Wikipedia, but with an emphasis on current events and suggested guidelines for the direction of a piece. The fact that the editors/creators of the site can choose from applicants shows that this compilation is more concerned with demonstrating authority.
If I find a topic on there that I could report intelligently on, I'd like to contribute. I'd never heard the term "crowdsourcing" before, though I had heard about a project where anyone could contribute to shaping a movie. And now the same is being done for a novel? Heck, maybe I'll throw in my two cents. :-) And what about "open source religion?" (I see at the bottom that another contributor has offered stylistic suggestions.) These articles will, at the very least, be educational. I wonder if NeoVox has considered experimenting with this sort of interactive, constantly shifting format. It'd be an interesting forum, and especially effective if all of the contributors were voluntary; that way, the writers would put consideration behind their work rather than tossing up words to meet a minimum requirement.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Dartfish
I still tend to think of "technology" as something profound and separate from me, despite my frequent use of my cell phone and computer. I'd forgotten about the video camera: that rectangular object which has dropped in mass and bulk over the years, capturing family events, my personal "artistry" as I filmed in high school, and all of my gymnastics meets.
Our coach at Cortland breaks out the Dartfish program from time to time. The website boasts that the program can do all sorts of grand things. I've experienced Dartfish as video feedback playing on a computer screen. A certain amount of time will be incorporated as a delay -- for example, ninety seconds -- which gives the athlete a sufficient amount of time to perform the skill, then walk over to watch it on the screen. The experience is more immediate than recording the skill on video and watching it later.
Then again, one can't knock the family video camera. Yesterday I watched a meet that my mom had taped. While actually doing the routine, I felt like death was imminent as I went into the air for my last tumbling pass. I landed safely and a bit surprised.
On screen, Diana ran across the floor. There she goes...hey, that didn't look nearly as bad as I'd thought! (Of course, the reverse can often be true.)
The video camera is a technology that keeps quietly reinventing itself, now recording to mini tapes or DVD. It's also a technology that actually serves a purpose, either for education or for simply capturing memories. (Which may not be so "simple" after all.) I'm excited to be working with a camera again for this upcoming project, and I'm thinking about proposing an idea that involves athletics.
Our coach at Cortland breaks out the Dartfish program from time to time. The website boasts that the program can do all sorts of grand things. I've experienced Dartfish as video feedback playing on a computer screen. A certain amount of time will be incorporated as a delay -- for example, ninety seconds -- which gives the athlete a sufficient amount of time to perform the skill, then walk over to watch it on the screen. The experience is more immediate than recording the skill on video and watching it later.
Then again, one can't knock the family video camera. Yesterday I watched a meet that my mom had taped. While actually doing the routine, I felt like death was imminent as I went into the air for my last tumbling pass. I landed safely and a bit surprised.
On screen, Diana ran across the floor. There she goes...hey, that didn't look nearly as bad as I'd thought! (Of course, the reverse can often be true.)
The video camera is a technology that keeps quietly reinventing itself, now recording to mini tapes or DVD. It's also a technology that actually serves a purpose, either for education or for simply capturing memories. (Which may not be so "simple" after all.) I'm excited to be working with a camera again for this upcoming project, and I'm thinking about proposing an idea that involves athletics.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
What a world it is
when you can find David the Gnome on YouTube.
This discovery came about from a chatroom last night. I was never the "promiscuous" sort to participate in random chatrooms with potentially sketchy old men. I knew better than that. Why preteens think that sort of situation is okay is beyond me.
But three close cohorts and I were talking to each other simultaneously on AIM. We continually copied and pasted sections of conversations to each other. Finally, someone suggested that we all just chat together. We created our own chatroom, which echoed back to the days of, "Let's all discuss our crushes together!" in high school.
I'd forgotten, however, how quickly the conversation moves when it's more than an exchange between two people. It was as if we were together, sitting in a car trying to find something to do and making fun of each other all the while. I wondered why we'd never thought to do it before.
Then David the Gnome was found on YouTube. Clearly, someone out there was feeling nostalgic. We tend to think of "future things" as having flashing lights and frightening background music. But seemingly everything put on film, ever, is now being transferred to DVD and perhaps to the Internet, as well. In many ways, technology is not manifesting itself as something new and alien. It presents what we already know in a different format, such as connecting physically distant friends and, well, capturing children's shows from the late 80's.
This discovery came about from a chatroom last night. I was never the "promiscuous" sort to participate in random chatrooms with potentially sketchy old men. I knew better than that. Why preteens think that sort of situation is okay is beyond me.
But three close cohorts and I were talking to each other simultaneously on AIM. We continually copied and pasted sections of conversations to each other. Finally, someone suggested that we all just chat together. We created our own chatroom, which echoed back to the days of, "Let's all discuss our crushes together!" in high school.
I'd forgotten, however, how quickly the conversation moves when it's more than an exchange between two people. It was as if we were together, sitting in a car trying to find something to do and making fun of each other all the while. I wondered why we'd never thought to do it before.
Then David the Gnome was found on YouTube. Clearly, someone out there was feeling nostalgic. We tend to think of "future things" as having flashing lights and frightening background music. But seemingly everything put on film, ever, is now being transferred to DVD and perhaps to the Internet, as well. In many ways, technology is not manifesting itself as something new and alien. It presents what we already know in a different format, such as connecting physically distant friends and, well, capturing children's shows from the late 80's.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Associative logic
The themes of Dr. Franke's Evolution of Writing class often cross over with those of Writing in Cyberspace. A particularly interesting point that we've been discussing lately in class is the idea of hierchical v. associative logic, as well as linear v. multilinear reading and writing. Hypertext has been at the heart of this discussion. In theory, it links us to connected pages that are not dependent on the main idea of the first page, but can stand on their own.
Sometimes I find hypertext distracting. It can be difficult to focus on one article when underlined words are emphasized so frequently in a sentence, almost implying that you're missing out by not clicking on them. Hypertext can also easily lead the reader astray, if the reader chooses to keep clicking and finding tangential concepts to explore.
Yet such "surfing" can also prove educational. Today I decided to explore what the news was on Long Island, so I went to newsday.com. In the "World" section, beyond news on Iraq, I found an article about British people being allegedly kidnapped from Ethiopia by people of Eritrea. That was a new name. I googled it for an answer and found it on Wikipedia. This search then led to Oriental Orthodoxy. I got as far as Ecumenical council, and then realized that I had to find some sort of focus in my life.
While entertaining to find new facts, I often stray too far from my purpose and find that I've lost time in which I could have been "useful." I don't think we can abandon the purely linear page/book just yet. We need something that will keep our attention in line, after all.
Sometimes I find hypertext distracting. It can be difficult to focus on one article when underlined words are emphasized so frequently in a sentence, almost implying that you're missing out by not clicking on them. Hypertext can also easily lead the reader astray, if the reader chooses to keep clicking and finding tangential concepts to explore.
Yet such "surfing" can also prove educational. Today I decided to explore what the news was on Long Island, so I went to newsday.com. In the "World" section, beyond news on Iraq, I found an article about British people being allegedly kidnapped from Ethiopia by people of Eritrea. That was a new name. I googled it for an answer and found it on Wikipedia. This search then led to Oriental Orthodoxy. I got as far as Ecumenical council, and then realized that I had to find some sort of focus in my life.
While entertaining to find new facts, I often stray too far from my purpose and find that I've lost time in which I could have been "useful." I don't think we can abandon the purely linear page/book just yet. We need something that will keep our attention in line, after all.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Snow Crash time
Okay, now that I have regrouped...
I'm not disappointed in an "opening ending;" I just did not feel that all of the connections and the characters came together in a coherent manner. Hiro's retelling of the Sumerian legends, especially the me, were easier to follow than the original exchange with the Librarian. I suppose the implication of reading the nam-shub is that all of the listeners will speak in tongues, and eventually diverge into separate languages. Or is it? Either way, the people of the Raft will be freed by words. Almost an enlightenment, of sorts. It's only through something ancient that these people can be released from their present state.
Yet...the narrative began to feel like a video game or an action movie with historical facts tossed in here and there. Is this the future that Stephenson envisions, one more focused on movement and dazzle rather than reflection and substance? Our society is indeed fixated on all that appears deadly or fascinating. We embrace both danger and comfort. But I can't imagine a lawless state rising in place of a government. How can jails exist in the novel if there are "rules" but not laws?
In the end, some things will remain fiction.
I'm not disappointed in an "opening ending;" I just did not feel that all of the connections and the characters came together in a coherent manner. Hiro's retelling of the Sumerian legends, especially the me, were easier to follow than the original exchange with the Librarian. I suppose the implication of reading the nam-shub is that all of the listeners will speak in tongues, and eventually diverge into separate languages. Or is it? Either way, the people of the Raft will be freed by words. Almost an enlightenment, of sorts. It's only through something ancient that these people can be released from their present state.
Yet...the narrative began to feel like a video game or an action movie with historical facts tossed in here and there. Is this the future that Stephenson envisions, one more focused on movement and dazzle rather than reflection and substance? Our society is indeed fixated on all that appears deadly or fascinating. We embrace both danger and comfort. But I can't imagine a lawless state rising in place of a government. How can jails exist in the novel if there are "rules" but not laws?
In the end, some things will remain fiction.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
