Web 2.0

1. How will emerging technology (ie: blogs, videos, e-readers,e-books) affect literacy?
Emerging technology affect literacy because people tend to use shortcuts for words. For example, a person would type "u" instead of "you" or "because" as "b/c". Nowadays, people don't carry around books because they have an e-reader. It is easy to use and less intimidating but it defeats the purpose of books. Also, with the way communication is very different. Sending a letter was the way of communication and now everything can be done by using e-mail, MSN or Skype.
2. How is Web 2.0 challenging us to "rethink ourselves" (ie: friendships, work, education, community, family etc...)?
Web 2.0 is challenging us to "rethink ourselves" by thinking of how much we depend on computers. We shouldn't let it take over our lives because it will change our future. Many technologies will be very advanced and we will depend on it so much. We might even depend on it more than our families and friendship. But sometimes, technology isn't all that great. It can change our spelling of the most simplest words. Maybe in the future there won't such a thing called getting letters, it will change the way we communicate.

A look at music videos

My thoughts on this video was, "man, this is really amazing. It must've taken forever to film this!". The animations are really adorable. One of the principals of designs in this video is, proportion. When the lead singer sings to the song by himself he is bigger than the pictures in the background. It is more focused on him. The animations in the video have rhythm and balance. I think the directors used these principals of designs to make the video look unique from other music videos. It is very unique. A fantasy or dream could have influenced the directors and the band to make the video. Since some parts of the video are in animations. Also, there is some unrealistic scenes. For example: Fight scenes with a yeti, huge lizards, and aliens. The animations go really well with the music, whenever the lead singer comes on they are still animations in the background. It was very consistent and constant with the animations. This music video influenced the reception of the song by showing really good animations making interesting to viewers. 

Media and self-esteam

Why do you think people are portrayed this way in the media?
I think people are portrayed to have a perfect body by the media because advertisements are everywhere.

How are you affected by the images you see?  
I do not get too affected by advertisements because I know that pictures have been edited by using Photoshop. I'm not so focused on pictures of a girl with a skinny body. I do not think people should think that they have to look like the models in magazines. Also, people should not expect another person to have a perfect body shape. No one has a perfect body, everybody is different.

What can be done to reduce the amount of young men and women that are negatively affected by these images?

There should be a lot of advertisements on how there isn't a perfect body type to influence girls that they don't have to look skinny to be beautiful. It will influence guys not to think that girls have to have a perfect body. The girls will be less pressure to look perfect.

What would your reaction be to a magazine cover where the subject isn’t all glammed up? Is this a possible route that society should take? Why or why not?

If I saw a magazine cover where the subject isn't all glammed up my reaction would be content, I don't really care for magazine or the images because I know that most are photoshopped. Society should take up that possible route of where the subject is not glammed up because the subject would look like a regular person. It will be more realistic to look at and relate to. 

To share or not to share, that is the question

My personal opinion on file sharing is it can be very useful. But there are a few consequences. I have to admit that I have downloaded a few things in the past. I personally like buying music because the music itself will have better quality than downloading it from a file. I would not download movies, it takes up a lot of space on my laptop or computer and i'd rather see a movie on my TV or in the cinema. Even though file sharing can be very useful it is neither right or wrong, it usually depends on what the file contains.

If I produced my own piece of art/song/movie, I would hold the same opinion because if people were downloading it for free, I would be loosing money. I would not go too far by suing people large amounts of money. But I would appreciate the fact that people did like my own piece of art of some sort. I do understand why people who downloaded the Hurt Locker were sued, large productions can be loosing money which can lead to not having enough for another movie.

In reality, it is not acceptable to download copyrighted material because it is still stealing. Yet everyone still does, it is the easiest way to get things.

CareerMash

On October 28, 2011 the media arts/communication students went to a trip to Roy Thompson Hall for the career mash presentation. Before the trip I wasn't planning to go into a job that had to do with tech. The presentation was very interesting but didn't change my mind about anything.

I think I'm more of a problem-solver. I like to help people with problems with software, and answering questions with my own knowledge. To become a problem-solver you have to take specialized community college programs, training programs for tech companies, and also going to private tech colleges and schools. Problem solvers are relied on deeply by people, they don't get very famous but they can be very helpful. The cool thing with jobs with problem solving is that you can mash it up with audio/video technologies which I am very interested in.

One job that goes with problem solving is, a video game tester. For this job, there is no specific education to becoming a video game tester but it is a good thing to have DES. Another interesting job in mind is becoming a technical director for video games. To have this job you have to have a Bachelor's degree in computer engineering, art history or related disciplines and also have a college diploma in technical integration of multimedia, 3D animation or related disciplines. This job puts the video game all together with the characters movements. For both jobs you have to have really good skills in teamwork and in software.

The trip to Roy Thompson Hall was very interesting and somewhat made me think of a backup plan for my career in the future.

Texting in social situations

I actually enjoy texting and I could say I text a lot. Texting is a really good way to communicate with people without looking at them face to face. A text is received faster than writing a letter.

What are your thoughts on texting in social situations?

I think texting in social situations is okay. It has its pros and cons. When someone is talking to you and you're only paying attention to your phone, I find it extremely rude. It's like that person doesn't put effort into the conversation. But if you're alone texting is perfectly fine. It passes the time and it can be useful in awkward situations. 

Do you find it rude if you're talking to somebody and they proceed to text continuously on their cellphone?

As I said previously, I find it extremely rude when I'm talking to someone and they still decide to use their phone to text. It's inconsiderate. Like who is so important to text when I'm talking to you about something. The person would also just not pay attention and think it's so important to effort into the conversation. 

Five etiquette rules for texting:

1. Avoid using your phone during movies, no one likes a "Tommy texter"
2. Do not walk and text and the same time, especially when crossing the street. Same goes for driving.
3. DO NOT TEXT WHILE SOMEONE IS TALKING TO YOU. It's rude. Enough said.
4. Spell properly, unless you have a block phone without a full qwerty keyboard there is no excuse for not spelling properly. Why is it so hard to spell "lyke" as "like" or "u" as "you"
5. Do not use texting for bullying, it's just not right.