Navigating Information Networks - Winter 2005

Check this out

2005-03-12T11:51:00.000-08:00

Place: Experience Music Project (JBL Theatre and First Level Lobby)

Date: March 29, 2005

Time: 7:30pm

Price: Absolutely FREE and open to ALL ages

Description: Be the first to hear the new NIN album "With Teeth" - a
month before anyone else. The first 200 people to show up will receive a
limited edition poster (that only people attending the event will have).
There will also be a screening of their DVD, along with an art exhibit
from fans all over the Seattle area.

resource for surveillance,privacy & ethics

2005-02-28T18:48:00.000-08:00

A quite note to those who may be doing their final project on the topic of Surveillancs, privacy & ethics.
I just read the first novel from Dan Brown called "Digital Fortress" 1998. This is the guy who later wrote "The Da Vinci Code".
"Digital Fortress" is about exactly what we were talking about in class today. The book is filled with discussions and musings about privacy, ethics, government and the internet. It reads very fast so anyone could finish it in a weekend.

"Free-est" of Spaces?

2005-02-27T22:02:00.000-08:00

The part of the Denegri-Knott article that I found most interesting also tied in with some of our small-group discussion during class: Is the Internet the "free-est of spaces" intellectual and creative utopia some people think it is meant to be? I think an answer can be examined by considering two different definitions of 'free': that is does not cost money, and that it is lacking controls.

For the first definition, the Internet itself is literally free, but the cost of accessing it can be prohibitive. Purchasing a home computer and paying for Internet access is a luxury many households cannot afford in the U.S. Connecting Internet lines is also an expensive logistical problem in some rural parts of the U.S. and many countries in the world. While it is true that people can access the Internet without cost at a library or school, many prominent web-hosting companies charge money for hosting a site, or for a domain name. Additionally, many research tools such as newspaper archives and Lexus Nexis charge a subscriber fee. My group began to get a bit creative and suggest that even driving to the library to get the Internet costs money for gas, and time that one could be working. But even without stretching the possibilities, I think the Internet is not quite as "free" as utopian purists might believe.

As to the second definition, the Internet may be "freer" of controls that traditional publishing, but it is controlled in many ways, both overt and unintentional. My group discussed intentional, overt controls such as pricing of Internet service providers and subscription websites; obscenity filters such as NetNanny and webmasters who threaten user removal for content deemed inappropriate such as thefacebook.com; privacy policies that outline what information may be used and how; age restrictions, such as not allowing children under 13 to register for some things, or not letting people under 21 access the Corona website; and membership, such as Google's invitation-only beta version of Gmail. There are also (probably) unintended restrictions, such as: computer availability; the learning curve of different groups; resource allocation of where public funds invest money in Internet technology; and computer speed, such as users of low-end computers who cannot download as quickly and effectively as people who can afford high-tech computers; and social restrictions, such as ignoring or insulting somebody in a discussion group who makes unpopular remarks.

I greatly respect the idea of a free, equal, and decentralized Internet space, but it seems to me that people who are richer, better educated, and agree with more popular ideas will consistently have an easier and more successful time using the Internet. Based on the preceding two definitions of 'free', I think it would be fair to say that the Internet is a "freer" space, or perhaps "the free-est space currently available", but I do not agree in absolute terms that it is the "free-est" of spaces.

Do justifications make it right?

2005-02-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

Just because an artist is rich or has more money than we do how that does equate with being perfectly legitimate to down load their songs for free? We can’t all be musicians, I know I couldn’t. This is their job and how they make money. Just because their kids aren’t starving if we don’t buy their CD it doesn’t make it right.

If I publish a book online should you be able to download the whole thing at no charge if I am selling the book in print at a price and have not given you permission? If I take photographs and post them online for sale, should you be able to down load and print those photos out for free? What if I am already rich?

If an artist thinks that music should be available for everyone to download and file share allow them to post and share their music. If an artist is upset by this and not will to cooperate allow them to specify this.

Many musicians don’t just write and produce music for fun they do it for the money. Producers also don’t sign of for free. If music prices are too high don’t buy. Ban together to send a message, write a petition flood their e-mail. You may feel violate by roles that stop you from getting music for free, but why. You didn’t write these songs, you don’t work for free and most likely wouldn’t give your goods and services away for free so why would you expect someone else to?

My Thoughts on File Sharing

2005-02-25T10:58:00.000-08:00

The discussion on P2P networks and file sharing was very interesting. I do not download songs just because I don't have the time and my friends usually end up giving me cds. I never really thought twice about it when I would get these songs illegally from my friends. But, for some reason, I always thought downloading movies was wrong while I never thought that downloading previously shown television shows was wrong. The way I see it is: songs and television shows are readily available on the radio and on t.v. while you usually need to pay to see movies. These songs are played on the radio to gain more popularity and I also think that file sharing also raises popularity of a song or artist. I know that my brother and friends download a lot of songs that they then buy the cd for because they like it so much. And there are a lot of unknown artists I have heard of when friends would send me the file.

I can understand artist's fear that they will lose a lot of business from file sharing, but at the same time it is important to see that they are gaining a lot of fans from file sharing as well. Also, the presenters said that most of an artist's money comes from concerts and selling merchandise at these concerts...I really believe that file sharing is attracting more fans and therefore more people to there concerts...Stop being so greedy, artists, and just realize you guys are all much richer than the people who are downloading your music! If it was really about the music then you would be thankful that file sharing is allowing more people to hear your music!

Hollywood files more Web lawsuits

2005-02-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

"Hollywood's major movie studios filed a new round of lawsuits nationwide Thursday against people who trade illegally copied films and TV shows on the Internet. " (CNN article)

I was just on CNN and came across this article (a couple minutes after I posted my entry). This topic's gettin' hot!

Check it:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/24/technology/hollywood_lawsuits.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

Space-Shifting

2005-02-24T23:50:00.000-08:00

I thought the discussion on P2P network was really good. There were a lot of controversial issues discussed, one of which was the idea of space-shifting. After Meghan Dougherty’s example of space-shifting, I found myself pondering to the idea. From Webopedia, space-shifting is defined as “The act of copying digital content for use on a device other than the one for which it is was originally intended, such as copying a music from a compact disc to an MP3 file for use on a portable MP3 player, or copying an MP3 file onto a compact disc for use in a digital audio player.” (Webpodia: “space-shifting”) From this definition, there is no idea of file-sharing. However, does copying a digital content from one computer to another computer fit into this definition?

This leads to my next thought. File-sharing, specifically downloading music. First of all, I’m tired of this “I have to feed my family” statement from artists that complain about people downloading their music, especially from artists living large and blinged up. Creativity is not stolen when a download occurs. No one downloads music to steal lyrics or beats; people download to listen to it, and be inspired by the music; everything’s for personal benefits. I actually don’t know what is lost. However, I know that when a song is downloaded, it becomes a promotional item. “Sampling” is a good terminology to use, and I believe that’s what most people see themselves doing. It’s like borrowing the album from a friend. One wants to hear it before buying it. Hmmmm…what if someone sends an actual CD around to a community? Would this be relevant to the idea of file-sharing? Anyways who wants to pay 15 bucks for an album that has only one or two good hits? I believe that most people will go buy a CD if it’s quality. If it’s not, “can I get my money back”?

If a person buys an album, and sends the songs to his friends through digital media, is that legal?

Peace, Love and File-Sharing

2005-02-24T22:57:00.000-08:00

The topic of file sharing is a very controversial one and in doing research for the presentation I am conflicted about it. While artists like Elton John saying please don’t download, I have to make a living is absolutely ridiculous being that he is filthy rich, I do feel sorry for the more independent singers and songwriters that this might actually effect. The counter argument to that is that file sharing could actually be positive for them in that it will give them more exposure. I guess I am still more on the pro-file sharing side of the argument because in my own experience with downloading music over the internet I have downloaded songs and liked them so much that I went out and bought the artist’s CD.

Moreover, I do not feel entirely sympathetic toward the RIAA, especially after the guest speaker on Wednesday. I kind of feel that the RIAA has dug its own grave when it comes to file sharing, if they did not purposely over charge for CD’s then maybe I would feel bad for them. I also did not really think about the fact that the RIAA is trying to shut down file sharing entirely. That is a scary concept to me, that a big corporation could have regulative power over technologies does not seem right. The RIAA should find a way to harness the powers of file sharing for their own good. Hopefully there will be a way for the RIAA and file sharing sites to peacefully co-exist in the future.

What do you think?

2005-02-24T22:50:00.000-08:00

P2P networking or sharing is a very controversial topic in our society. Many feel that P2P sharing should be allowed while others primarily, the music artists feel that P2P sharing should not exist. Many music artists such as the band Metallica are strongly opposed to downloading songs for free on the P2P networks. Artists like the band Metallica feel this way because they consider it stealing and that they are losing lots of money because of the sharing of songs. Boo hoo! I think this is so stupid! I believe that artists who oppose to this topic are simply greedy. Many artists before P2P existed, stated that they perform and sing because they love the "art" of music and it was not for the money and fame. But now many of them are complaining that they are losing money when the majority of their income comes from concerts and merchandise.

The RIAA is taken this situation way out of context. Our guest speaker in class said that RIAA are comparing the act of stealing computers, t.v's, and other physical objects with the act of downloading and sharing an artist's song. This is a horrible comparison because when stealing a computer from a store you are taking away their "actual" merchandise that is a necessity for the store to sell, therefore no longer allowing them to earn profit whereas, when you download a song, the artist still has that song and the song can still be sold. I never thought of it in that way before until our guest speaker Meghan Dougherty brought it to my attention in class.

Many artists do not realize what P2P networks can do for them. In a way it is free advertisement in that I have heard many songs that I liked but would have never heard it if it wasn't for the P2P networks. I would then play these songs for my other friends and so forth causing a chain reaction (more and more people hear the artist's songs). Because of the P2P networks, I am able to sample more songs and personally I have bought more CD's than before.

I am a dedicated fan to music and just because I have the capability of downloading a song for free does not mean I do not have respect for that artist. However, when artists start to complain about money issues I begin to lose respect because artists are not suppose to complain about their fans playing their music. Sure they may gain a little more money by complaining but they will lose "a lot" of respect and fans and I think that should be their focus --to please their fans by providing creativity and talent through their music. Because after all, they are role models!

Continuing the theme...

2005-02-24T19:52:00.000-08:00

Here is another opinion from the peanut gallery... :o) Well, I went back to the website, musicunited.org to look at more opinions that singers/songwriters had on the issue of piracy. It wasn't surprising to me that they all sounded alike. "it's stealing" "its a crime" and "you are taking away from our livlihoods," seemed to be the common theme. They did make some good points that I couldnt help to agree with like that its important for us to support them as artists, and we do that by buying the CD's.

I guess I have a hard time understanding how much is really effecting them. I heard from somewhere that there revenues have dropped less than 5 % since downloading online has started (I'm sorry I dont know where I heard that information, so don't be go quoting it! Well, what did I just do?). The opinions mention that they work hard and have struggled to get there so stealing is bad...Serioulsy hasn't everyone stuggled at some point? Thats life! We are constantly being faced with obstacles and different things to overcome everyday of our lives. So the singers have struggled...now they're not becasue they are making millions, how is a couple downloads really going to affect them?

I have been a downloader in the past, but have stopped. I still know plenty of people who do though but still go out and buy the CD's after downloading the songs. Its actaully hard for me to stick to a concrete opinion about this subject, but thats just me I guess. I like looking at it from both sides and agree with Vanessa Carlton when she says that you should "get a taste of somthing before you buy it," but only to an extent. It doesnt seem though the law is backing down at all, so for all those downloaders out there...enjoy it while it lasts!

The joys of downloading

2005-02-24T18:46:00.000-08:00

I am not the most frequent downloader. In fact, up till the past few months I never downloaded anything, with the exception of a brief flirtation with DC++ in the dorms. Now however, I have discovered the joy of Bit Torrent, my own personal Tivo. I stay away from downloading movies, or music (or at least that's as much as I'll admit on the internet...). Instead I download TV shows, in particular the ones I missed the night before.

I guess I don't feel guilty about downloading TV because I don't feel like I am doing the show makers any damage for a number of reasons: 1) I catch the show live if I can, 2) The quality isn't always that great - just like a VCR, and 3) I don't listen to advertising anyway - seriously. This is my own personal self justification, that honestly, is both ridiculous and unneeded, because quite frankly, there's nothing wrong with downloading.

Say an evil downloader decides to download the latest U2 album. They've never listened to U2 before and decide that they like them. So they proceed to buy tickets to their concert in April. Well that's kind of odd... Did U2 just make money off of downloading? Why yes, they did. Now, is this stealing? I don't think so. Perhaps many of these musicians that sell out their concerts need to thank the downloaders in the audience, because I bet you, there are a few.

As for TV, I still hardly see the harm, especially since more and more frequently, advertisers are making money of off product placement within the show. All of that is still perfectly available on the downloaded version. The same could be said for movies too.

come on people, work together on this thing!

2005-02-24T17:59:00.000-08:00

I caught onto the Napster / Kazaa / Morpheus thing a little later than most people our age but once I figured it out, I became a downloading fiend. I didn't give much regard to what my use of P2P networks was doing to the artists whose music I was "stealing." I was just excited that I didn't have to pay to buy a CD when there was only one song on it that I like. I guess I could buy the single, but those things cost $7 and you get three crappy versions of the same song along with the one that you actually want. Woohoo. However, when the RIAA started prosecuting people for downloaded music, I stopped using Kazaa pretty quickly. Plus, there was the proliferation of "songs" that turned out to just be static, so it was a pain in the butt anyway.

In all of this, I was only looking out for myself. At first, I was saving money, then I was saving my spotless criminal record. I think that's why there's so much controversy over the P2P stuff. Consumers want stuff for cheap and artists want (and deserve) to make money off of their creations. As far as I'm concerned, what really needs to happen if this drama is going to be solved is for both sides to consider the opposing faction and then to sit down and work something out. Charging $15/month for unlimited downloads on Napster is not a bad idea. People pay for cable, for their cell phones, why not pay for music? However, maybe the price is too high if, when you cut off the service, all the music disappears and in the meantime, you aren't able to transfer the files anywhere else. Or even charging per song, as they do now. I'm thinking $1 is too high, but if people are gonna pay it, whatever. The fact of the matter is, we aren't entitled to get music for free just because we want it that way...the artists deserve to have some input. If they want to get their name out there and offer it for free, that's awesome. For those artists who don't want to give away their music, they ought to be a little more considerate of their fans and perhaps not buy another Bentley.

Why Can't We All Just Get Along...

2005-02-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

I have to admit…I have never spent much time utilizing peer2peer networks either in research or in file swapping of movies, music or games. However, after spending a significant amount of time educating myself on peer2peer networking and file sharing I have come to the consensus that neither side seems to be trying to compromise or adapt our reality based societal norms to the ever-changing environment of the Internet. It is this compromise that we should be in search of, rather than wasting our time attempting to control and dictate what either the producer chooses as an outdated traditional economic ethos or the consumer deems as an acceptable end-use. In the end the producers will not be able to capitalize on an enterprising industry while consumers will be kept from utilizing an extremely beneficial technology.
It is surprising to me that in a society which promotes capitalistic development and the entrepreneur, that certain factions of the entertainment industry are either too old to understand or lack the necessary, for lack of a better term, brain power, to discover that peer2peers can be controlled and capitalized upon.
Additionally, while I may not habitually download music from the Internet, (the only time I did was for a research project and presentation, which is or should be protected under the fairness doctrine, I’m assuming) I do burn copies of purchased CD’s that my friends have (in mass quantities). The difference between the two, I would like to think, is one can’t prove that I am going to use my burner to make duplicate copies. Additionally, at least one of us has paid for that album, which is already at an inflated price.
My tangent comes down to this, I really don’t agree that we should discontinue the use of peer2peer networks in favor of corporate protection of already extremely wealthy people; they really do have fantastic capabilities and bonuses for the academic and scientific world. However, I also think that file sharing of music, movies, games and software has to be put into check and the Internet elite whom think that cyberspace should be free of restrictions and sanctions need to think about how despite what the Internet may seem to be, still evolves out of a very real world and society with norms and moral behaviors.

Steal this File-Sharing Book...and other rants

2005-02-24T12:48:00.000-08:00

While doing research for our presentation I came across the book Steal This File-Sharing Book by Wallace Wang (which is ironically on-sale via Amazon.com). It has received a lot of underground press lately, most notably on Blogcritics, p2p.net, and various UK and Canadian papers. I thought the title was rather clever and if you're interested in the topic, Blogcritics does a fairly decent review of the book and a short synopsis of the topics it covers.

As far as p2p networking goes, I have to say that the advertisement we showed in our presentation on Wednesday had me cracking up all while we were working on the project - as my group members can attest to. Why was I laughing? Because, to me, it is such a blatant misrepresentation of the actual motives behind people who download. I understand the perspective that the artist owns the work and blah blah blah...but seriously, come on. Like our guest speaker said, I can't believe the RIAA would have the audacity to create a commercial like that. Are they trying to scare us? It's a music file not a $10,000 car! I'm not downloading music to pay off a drug lord or finance my cocaine habit.

Reflecting on the logic behind these campaigns and my reaction to them, I would have to say I'm rather surprised how polarized this issue is. I mean, most people I know think that making p2p's illegal is ridiculous and mock the claims made by billionaire artists like that South Park Clip did. Yet some others are vehemently opposed to downloading anything without paying for it. They believe it is a crime and people should be punished for it. Not only are both sides stubborn, both sides also tend to radically skew and over exaggerate the issue (either for or against).

I'm of the mind of that there isn't any way to really control illegal downloading (I share files via AIM all the time). The RIAA and music artists are wasting their valuable time and what little money they have left (since us "thieves" have deprived them of their mega millions by file sharing) on a stupid cause. I mean, I love my music and I totally respect musicians, but I find it interesting that the people b**tching about this are the really well-know and therefore fabulously wealthy artists like Madonna, Dr. Dre, and Metallica. The lesser known bands appreciate p2p's b/c they help spread the word about a new band. Plus, as others have pointed out, artists only make about $4.00 / CD. And most of the time us downloaders will actually go out and purchase the CD's once we've heard what it sounds like via a p2p download. My perspective...it's all a lot of hype over what shouldn't even be an issue.

P2P...Not for me...

2005-02-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

This issue of P2P networks seems to be the most controversial topic that we’ve come across so far in class, which makes sense with the number of people that are affected by it. Many of us justify downloading music by pointing out the high price of music while others feel that it is stealing. I suppose that I would fall somewhere in between these two camps.

When Napster first appeared, I downloaded some songs but not really to any significant extent, probably less than 50 songs overall, although there are those who contend that downloading even one song is wrong. I can understand why a musician wouldn’t want their song downloaded but I can also see why consumers are turned off by high prices and the seeming greed of some musicians (i.e. Lars Ulrich as was seen in the South Park episode). However, I find it slightly ironic that the musicians we hear from as protesting against downloading are the ones who can most afford to have their music swapped. These big name bands, such as Metallica, make most of their money from ticket sales and merchandise. Contrast these to lesser known musicians who encourage fans to download their music and share it with their friends. Up and coming bands encourage downloads of their music as a means of spreading their name. However, these are the musicians who are most affected by each dollar lost. And then there are bands that fall somewhere in between. As a specific example, the band Second Coming, from Seattle, have handed out their CD’s at concerts and encouraged fans to burn copies of them and distribute them. I use Second Coming as an example because they are a big name band who can see that downloading music can translate to an increase in sales.

As a sidenote, I thought the quote from Art Alexakis from Everclear was really funny. He said that downloading music takes “money out of his kids’ mouths.” First of all, if you are feeding your kids money, I think you’re doing alright. Secondly, is anybody actually listening to Everclear? Although, I suppose if I was going to listen to them I certainly wouldn’t want to have to pay for the experience….but I digress…

When we met in small groups, I was asked about downloading music and radio because I work for an online station. For my show, I do play songs that are downloaded but only those that the artists put out. One other point that I failed to mention in the small group is that we pay royalties to play a song on the air so even if a song was illegally downloaded, the bands still receive a royalty payment.

Downloading = wrong? Then make the CDs cheap!

2005-02-24T10:11:00.000-08:00

Today our class had a discussion about file sharing on Peer-to-Peer network such as Kazza and the old Napster. A group showed a briefly commercial clip about the illegally of downloading music. The commercial started out with a quote saying you wouldn’t steal a car, purse, DVD, but you would steal music from downloading it. I have to say that I didn’t find this commercial effective because yeah, I wouldn’t steal a car, purse, or shoplift because I know I can get caught and get myself in a big trouble. I mean, I’m not stupid and why would I want to risk my life doing that? But downloading music? I don’t find it a crime or a wrongful doing because it’s there, practically free, and everyone’s ding it (downloading). In fact, stealing a car doesn’t relate to downloading music because we’re not breaking into anything. I don’t find it stealing or wrong when I want to download a song that I heard and happened to like. I feel like I’m borrowing one of their songs to make a mix.

Hearing that artists are suing corporations that allow free downloading on networks is absurd. I find the artists very greedy because they are already filthy rich and why do they feel like they should have all the money? I’m getting so sick and tired of hearing the artists complaining constantly and it’s making me like them even less. Whenever I buy a CD, I find it to be a waste of money when I only like one of their songs and the rest is crap. I rather download the music for free than paying $20 for one song I like. If artists are going to complain, then tell the CD stores to make them cheap and we’ll start buying the CDs instead!

p2p and some thoughts

2005-02-23T23:57:00.000-08:00

Today’s topic of peer 2-peer file sharing was something that I do not have a lot of experience with, because I have never gotten into downloading music or movies from the Internet. Somebody in class today asked a question about file sharing in Russia, and this made me realize that there is no real way to absolutely stop file sharing. This is so because the regulations that we were talking about today are all regulations made within the United States. These regulations do not span beyond our borders, making it up to the laws of the other nations of the world to determine whether or not file sharing of pirated music is illegal. If a person really was determined to get the music that they want they could figure out a way to share files in another country that has no regulations. This makes me wonder if a person did download and share files (illegally to U.S. regulations) in another country legally and brought their computer to the U.S., would they be responsible for illegal file sharing for having these pirated materials on their computer even if they did not get them while under U.S. jurisdiction? I also wonder if it is legal to receive or send files to and from an out of country source (I personally doubt it is legal), because they are then dealing with two different jurisdictions, also who would be in trouble?

This topic also made me think of how both ends feel about piracy and why each has a legit argument. The file sharers do have a point that these songs or films should be free for a variety of reasons, to sample songs of a band in order to see if they will purchase the rest of the cd in the future plus other arguments. Also, file sharers should not be punished for taking advantage of a situation where they can receive music for free instead of paying for it or paying for something that they may not like if they do not know what the cd sounds like before buying it (sampling). Then there is the artist viewpoint, that they should receive full reimbursement for the work that they have created. This makes perfect sense because I know that if I were to create something that took quite a bit of time and effort, and also if it were my job then I would expect to receive the fruits of my labor. I know they still make a good amount of money through other areas besides cd sales (such as concerts, etc.), but this is still there product that they have made and do have a right to what is rightfully theirs (the profits that they may be losing out on from cd sales). In the end though I find the clip from South Park to be correct when I see many of these very wealthy musicians complaining because they do still have way more than most people, and it seems like they are being greedy.

Is File Sharing Really that Bad?

2005-02-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

Navigating Information Networks - Winter 2005

One of the common debates right now is whether file sharing on P2P networks, such as Kazaa is illegal. On one hand, record companies make millions of dollars selling DVD's and CD's, which are extremely cheap to produce and then go off and sell them for high profits. On the other hand, people are in essence stealing intellectual property from the artists and studios producing these forms of media as well as violating federal copyright laws.

Recently, major record labels lost a class action lawsuit that found them guilty of price fixing the cost of CD's. This form of collusion allowed them to have very high profit margins on CD's, while cheating consumers out of hard earned money. So how is it that they can complain we are stealing their money when they are the ones cheating us??

One of the most prominent opponents of file sharing is Metallica, who claim they lose millions of dollars each year because of decreased CD sales as a result of file sharing. Legally speaking, Metallica has a right to the sale of their intellectual property as stated by copyright law. In reverse, this is a multi-million dollar band that makes way more than the average family so they should not be complaining for the loss of a $14 CD while they are busy making money from concerts, merchandise sales and endorsements.

In my opinion first of all, these artists should not be complaining because they make plenty of money and are being far too greedy and stingy with it. I do not think CD sales have ceased all together. I have also found out about a lot of artists through P2P networks, so although I may not have bought a $14 CD, I paid triple the price to go see them in concert. They benefit from increased popularity and they should be thankful for file sharing because of their increased fan base.

Although legally, file sharing violates copyright laws, I do not think it is that big of a deal. I think there are far worse problems going on right now and people that have millions of dollars should not be complaining because others are actually listening to their music. They should use their millions to help others in need and get over this issue.

The Meaning of Copyright

2005-02-23T18:57:00.000-08:00

The presentation today has made me think about what copyright is and what it will become in the murky field known as United States law. First and foremost, I think it is important to establish that copyright is essential in our country becuase it compensates creators and encourages innovation. However, while copyright in one aspect must remian intact, it will have to evolove to accomodate the Internet. In this situation, I am talking specifically about sharing music and other files on the Internet. Even though I have downloaded an uncountable number of songs and would hate the idea of not having it, I think it is stealing. I know that I am not entitled to have free access to all these songs. I do not blame the recording industry for taking so many measures to protect their product. They would not be in business otherwise. However, while I do side with the recording industry I think it would be stupid if they did not take advantage of putting their music on the Internet, becuase it is not going away. The question is, how does the industry best capitalize on this new market?

I do not know if Apple has the developed the perfect solution, but they have created iTunes and that in my opinion is the best method for the online music market. Becuase of that, they are without a doubt the leaders in the market. Furthermore it seems to satisfy the music industry, the consumer and the law. However, looking past the glorified music dilemna , more important issue to me are the future of P2P networks? The value in P2P networks is limitless. The fact that people can share files for work, school, clubs, etc. presents oppertunitys that we cannot let pass by. Through P2P's we are able to share our files that can dramatically improve the effeciency of information exchange and this can only lead to innovation that will better our world. It is therefore essential that P2P's remain on the Interent and grow throughout it. I believe the law will find a place for things like P2P's and they will help us do great things. After all, it is like what we talked about in class today regarding VCR's and the intial conflict they brought into the world of copyright. After, the law settles the issue on file sharing, it is only a matter of time before a new decive will develop that will challenge other copyright laws.

I think this future has already arrived, with technology like TIVO the courts will be constantly challenged and likely forced to manipulate copyright law. However, we as a society cannot be scared to accomodate to these new inventions and reinvent our law. We will however have to be creative and and persistent to keep these kind of technologies available and find ways to keep both the inventor and public satisfied. This is possiblle, it will just require thinking outside the box. If we can do all of that, you can be sure that people will develop new technology, technology that will continue to evolve how we share information.

ethics of p2p

2005-02-23T18:23:00.000-08:00

I thought today's lecture on p2p file sharing was very interesting as it is something that relates greatly to my life. I was one of those early adopters that began using Napster early in it's development (around 1995). Living overseas, I thought the technology was great because I was able to access so much material that I previously had not been able to access due to Singapore's strict censorship guidelines. However, as more people began using the system, I saw that it was quickly becoming abused. While I am a supporter of file sharing networks, I believe you must also support the artists that you are downloading from. While many people who used Napster also supported the artists they were downloading from by attending their concerts or buying their cd's, there were many who were just taking music from a whole cd, and in large amounts.

However, I think peer-to-peer networking holds more advantages then disadvantages due to it's ability to allow less mainstream work to pass through and spread in the system. Many performers, such as Jason Mraz and John Mayer, were able to develop such a strong following due to peer-to-peer networks. I remember that my interest in Jason Mraz was sparked 2 years ago because I was able to find his music in a peer-to-peer network and listen to it. It was through such a medium that he was able to have sell-out concerts across the country, even though his CD had not hit the stores yet.

This Is My Story And I'm Sticking To It

2005-02-23T16:22:00.000-08:00

Todays topic on music piracy or sharing has really got me steaming.
DISCLAIMER; I have been the music business for 11 years. I manage, book, promote, account, etc., etc., etc. These bands aren't mega-money makers, they are regional with a widespread international fan base. These bands record and mix their own CD's in our basement studio then pay a duplicator for lay-out of the art work, film, j-cards, jewel boxes, shrink wrap and to master the CD. Add on the price per unit for each CD or cassette. Then they go out to events, fairs and festivals and play their music all day and all night for free. Hoping people will buy a CD because that is where they make their money. They have no distributor or contract with a record company. Every single aspect of their music comes out of their pockets and they work hard to sell CD's to make their money back. Even though they are not a mega-band they still have problems with piracy and bootlegging. A search for their name will bring up files to share and a trip to a third world country will provide bootlegged copies of every CD they ever made.
I admit I have no tolerance for those who are whining about the price of music or the 'greedy' musicians (even the BIG names make approx. $4.00 per CD sold) or that music should be free. If they were really interested in what's good for the "people" why aren't they fighting for free housing or free education or free food. Those things would make a difference and the fact that these defenders of piracy are concentrating on entertainment proves to me that they are simply spoiled. There want their free music/movies for their own selfish consumption. They are not concerned with sharing music with the millions of people around the world who cannot afford music or housing or education or food because those people cannot even afford computers. They would never benefit from P2P - so I guess they don't count.
Who expects Microsoft to give away their programs for free? Who expects a restaurant to give away their food for free? The restaurant is a good analogy for those who complain that they don't want to buy a CD in order to get one song. What if they don't like the rest of the songs? You buy a meal at a restaurant and you might not like the onions in the salad but no one would expect to get that meal for free. If you go to a movie you might not like every second of it. You don't expect to get in for free because of that.
I know - I'm ranting!! It just makes me angry that there's a whole lot of people out there that feel entitled. If they are such a devoted proponent of free music then they should go sink $15 to $20 thousand dollars on making their own CD and THEN they would be entitled to give it away.

Napster Article

2005-02-23T14:39:00.000-08:00

In the San Francisco chronicle a review was written on Napsters new procedure to charge its users 15 dollars per month, with the option to stop paying and risk losing all the songs that you have already downloaded. If you would like to check out the article, here it is.
My personal opinion on file sharing is that it is reasonable to assume that it is the future, meaning that technology will advance and eventually file sharing will seem like no big deal. I really enjoyed the clip from South park that todays group presented. It really is too bad that music artists feel they need to sue Napster for providing the much poorer public with free songs. Musicians like Lars Ulrich really do sound like they are complaining about nothing. Especially when they don't really make that much profit off of CD sales in the first place. And as I mentioned in class, is it not enough that they already recieve free products and endorsements?
Napster should not have to charge its customers. They are simply trying to enjoy music and should be able to continue to do so.

Internet Freedom

2005-02-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

The article Big Brother is Us, by J. Gleick, made some very interesting points about privacy and people’s desires to stay anonymous in an increasingly “public” society. He mentioned Web cams and how people are broadcasting their daily lives for innumerable members of the public to view. Personally, I can not imagine how interesting it would be to watch H. Dan Smith at work in his office in Fresno, Calif. (Dan-O-Cam), or children and pets at play (LivingRoomCam).

This phenomenon seems to go hand-in-hand with the reality TV craze. For whatever reason, Americans enjoy watching eachother go about their daily lives, sometimes in normal situations and sometimes in more obscure scenarios (eg. Wife Swap, Survivor, etc.) Still, even when the circumstances are fabricated, the fact remains that the characters are real people, acting and reacting in realistic ways, which seems to be where the fascination lies.

Also, it seems that this fascination to watch how other people act has led to the desire to interact with real people in the form of various Internet sites, such as chat rooms. This provides a way for people to interact with others, most of whom they would otherwise never have had the chance to correspond with. Now, the question remains, how do you know exactly who you’re corresponding with? And does everyone portray themselves realistically?

Gleick says, “The use of false online identities has emerged as a cultural phenomenon. Those who cannot reinvent a new self if real life can easily do so online. Sometimes they are experimenting with role playing.”

I think this is comparable to other forms of escapism we have encountered throughout this course, including online social networks and MMOs. Obviously, the repercussions of people acting like someone else are not severely damaging in most situations. Most intelligent adults will realize that, in “chatting” or “socializing” online, there is never a guarantee as to the validity of the information being provided by and about the people on these numerous Web sites.

The danger lies primarily in the effects that these false identities can have on the lives of children. As we all know, pedophiles and child predators often find their victims on the Internet by posing as other children or young adults. Unfortunately, there is no way to expose the true identity of the person on the other end of the messages.

Gleick points out some more, less serious, instances when false identities can have unfavorable effects: “Marketers sending junk mail from untraceable sources; speculators or corporate insiders trying to influence stock prices; people violating copyrights or engaging in character assassination.”

The reality is that the Internet cannot be regarded as reality. Of course, the Web can be a valuable resource for finding information, but (as we also learned) it is important to verify sources and validity. In the case of Internet identities, it seems that it is best to simply not assume anything. Such as, the identity of the person you are talking to and whether or not you should trust them.

As Gleick says, “In public opinions surveys, Americans always favor privacy. Then they turn around and sell it cheaply… For most, the abstract notion of privacy suggests a mystical, romantic, cowboy-era set of freedoms.”

There is definitely an irony to the “freedom” of the Internet.

Navigating Information Networks - Winter 2005

2005-02-22T20:02:00.000-08:00

In Tokyo, Japan, 10 million Japanese commuters use smart cards to pay for train tickets. A service planned for January 2006 will allow them to use their mobile phones to pay for train tickets. The cards will be inserted with a tiny computer chip to allow payment without cash. Users will also be able to use cell phones to pay at some restaurants and stores and later online purchases as well! This proves that the uses for cell phones is continually widening. Now features are allowing the cell phone to be used for things that have nothing to do with communication... I found this article on cnn.com http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/02/22/japan.smart.phones.ap/index.html

Web Site for Breaking Up

2005-02-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

A new Dutch website gives tips and ways to dump a love before moving on. "The site suggests women tell their partner they want a baby and men buy their girlfriend underwear that's too big," said the CNN article on the site. The site also provides two downloadable documents that you can use to end relationships in writing. I thought this article was interesting in showing just how extremely communication technology is increasing to the point that it is used for making love as well as breaking it.

The site is at: http://www.dumpjeschatje.nl/
The article about this site is on cnn.com at http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/02/22/dump.site.reut/index.html

Romantic Relationships in MMORPGs....is this ok?

2005-02-17T23:50:00.000-08:00

Navigating Information Networks - Winter 2005: "MMORPG"

I found an essay on a web site called the HUB - which explores "the psychology of MMORPGs" and one research essay I found particularly interesting discussed romantic relationships in MMORPGs and whether or not this is normal. The research done by the author, Nicholas Yee, proved that many relationships are formed online.

He found that when he asked if you became good friends with someone online, almost half of the females surveyed and about 40% of the males surveyed said they had with a few people. In addition to that, 28.5% of females and 6.9% of males have physically dated someone they met online, and 50-60% said some of their online friends are better than their actual friends. (http://www.nickyee.com/hub/relationships/intro.html).

What I found interesting about these statistics is that females are a much higher percentage than males for all three of these statistics. I believe that this is because females in general are more mothering and personal and many go online for other reasons just than to play games. Does this also show that females can build relationships faster and more frequently than males?

Is having a relationship in MMORPGs okay? According to the essay, studies have shown that "people are more honest and forth-coming over a computer channel" (http://www.nickyee.com/hub/relationships/disclosure.html). In this case it leads me to believe that online relationships are beneficial because you are more comfortable and honest, helping to build a stronger relationship with someone than you would in person. On the other hand, can you have a true relationship with someone in a virtual world? I feel like relationships require some type of face-to-face interaction, which is absent in MMORPG relationships, so can they really be strong and true if this is the case? Can you really build a strong relationship, platonic or romantic, when you never physically see the person and when it is based entirely in a virtual world?

Essay can be found on: http://www.nickyee.com/hub/relationships/home.html

Artivism & Culture Jamming

2005-02-17T23:33:00.000-08:00

The Internet, like circulars, pamphlets, newspapers, and cable television before it serves as an outlet to express a multitude of opinions, experiences, and ideas in an accessible place. Ideally, these mediums allow people to search out and access those ideas that correspond best with their opinions. However, unlike previous communications devices, the Internet is unique in its qualities because it gives the average citizen the capability not only access information but also allows them to create and publish information as well.

A prime example of this is the topic of artivism and activism, which we discussed in class on Wednesday. I was extremely impressed by the sophisticated nature of some of the artivism that we saw presented in class and was even more so as I searched the Internet for myself. An interesting clip that I hadn’t seen before, but that I thought creatively depicted President Bush’s recent State of the Union address, where in instead of promising to the nation that no child in America will be left behind with regard to education, he promises that each child will receive free nuclear warheads.
About.com features hundreds of links to various artivist pieces with regard to national and international politics, especially caricature representations of President Bush. The ability to utilize or recreate symbolic representations of actual figures and commonly known event such as the State of the Union Address and infusing them with opposite meanings and contradictory statements, really leads artivist representation into the realm of culture jamming. Combined with the ability to easily disseminate and retrieve information on the Internet, the effect of artivism and culture jamming is quite effective and is often recited and re-circulated through society from those involved with academia to those who thrive on pop-culture.

How to build a Nation

2005-02-17T23:05:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, we had the opportunity to play around with some text-based online gaming. I played this game called The Nation and pretty much the objective of this game is build your own nation and state. The player gets to decide the nation’s political, economic, and social statuses. For example, a player can decide what type of government to run the nation. Furthermore, a player can invest in different types of development to build his/her nation. One can also form alliances with other nations. The objective of the game is pretty much an opportunity to build a nation with the given resources.

Allow me to share my experience. I did not have a clue what I was doing. I was constantly checking the status of my nation and just investing in resources such as food and oil to satisfy my population. I had no clue how the exchange system works and no idea how to start industrializing my nation. However, I must admit I got excited about the idea of the game, and I start to think of how nations today are built. Nations like China, US, France, Germany, Russia, all the big nations with long histories.

The big turnoff is this – this is a text-based game with no visuals (maybe a chart or two). Plus, the game is not that exciting! I mean, the idea of the game is cool, but nothing is appealing about this game. All the player gets to see are numbers going up and down that decides the conditions of the nation. The game is pretty much about satisfying the population.

The positive thing about this game is that it gets the player to think logically based on numbers and to picture the visual. Text-based games are generally old school, but they help develop the foundations to visually appealing games we have today like War Craft.

CultureJamming: Vandalism?

2005-02-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

I read and did a presentation on the concept or artivism and culture jamming. I have seen many articles of this type of communication but never before had a name to attach to the act. I thought the article Culture Jamming Ads Under Attack was very interesting. It proposed the idea of changing ads and billboards in order to change their message.

The concept is interesting and entertaining. I loved looking at examples of Culture Jamming and Artivism. Ad busters, the Culture Jamming article and other individuals and web sites support responding to ads (advertisers) by physically tampering with marketing ads on billboards. I understand the idea that we all are feed up with all of the ads surrounding us. We did not ask to be inundated constantly with these messages presenting messages about what is cool, what your body should look like, what is normal. On the other hand, it seems like vandalism although destruction is not the primary goal. This could cost companies real money, and time affecting their success.

If I painted a mural somewhere, which I felt, displayed a message I wanted to get out, or even purely artistic I would be very upset if someone destroyed it, or altered the message. If you destroy someone’s private property you can be prosecuted and charged with the damages. Although the cause may sound noble, I am not altogether certain that it is just. I understand people’s frustrations and the idea that in reality this may be the best most visible way to talk back to ads. This is a concept that I will have to continue to contemplate.

prodeath.com

2005-02-17T21:50:00.000-08:00

I found the activity suggested by the activism/artivism group very interesting. One particular website that caught my attention was a death penalty supporters' site called prodeathpenalty.com. The website is actually being developed as a site for researching for pro-death penalty information and resources. This website is very powerful in its views of the death penalty. Using pictures and quotes from victims of those on death row, the website successfully delivers its message. Because the subject of capital punishment is an emotional subject for many people, the site tries to emotionally affect the audience to gain support. The website also offers many links for more information on closely related topics and encourages interactivity by providing a link for its chat and discussion boards. If you are confused about your stance on the issue, or just want to find more information about capital punishment, I think this would be a great site to visit.

Hackers: Heroes or Villians?

2005-02-17T19:33:00.000-08:00

During the discussion on Wednesday there seemed to be a general feeling of unjust regarding hackers. While I don’t necessarily buy into the media’s (movies, etc…) romanticized notion of hackers as the heroes of cyberspace, I don’t view them as virtual villains either.

In one of my classes last quarter, Kris Erickson, from the geography department, gave a guest lecture on the hacker subculture. He described hackers as having their own 6 part ethic, consisting of:

1. Desire for unlimited computer access
2. Freedom of information
3. Mistrust of authority
4. Desire for existence without “ism’s” (racism, sexism…); only skill level
5. Creation of art and beauty
6. Change life for the better

If one buys into this claim, hackers can be viewed as high tech explorers, seeking information and using their expertise to accomplish goals (dare I say modern day Robin Hood’s?), rather than as intrusive criminals wreaking havoc across the web.

As a bit of a side note, PBS did an interesting piece on hackers which can be accessed here.

Meme alert!

2005-02-17T19:15:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone has noticed a bunch of "I heart [whatever]" things in the past few months... The heart symbol has been around for a long time instead of the word 'love', but actually saying 'heart' is newer (I think - but I also don't consume much media so I might just be oblivious). Probably the first mainstream application is the movie "I Heart Huckabees" from October 2004. The "heart" thing couldn't have been mainstream because many movie marquees wrote "I Love Huckabees" as a natural conclusion from all the promotional material showing a heart symbol. Since then however, whenever I see a heart symbol I think "heart" instead of "love".

Since the premier of Huckabees, I've seen the occasional "I heart whatever", but last night at work I heard a few co-workers tell other people "I heart you!" over and over. Really hitting me over the head with it. A Google search of "I heart *" reveals 1,400,000 hits. A search of "I heart" -huckabees still shows an amazing 673,000 hits. Interesting ones include:
-iheartrealbitch.net
-iheartjake.com, the self-proclaimed #1 site for Jake Gyllenhaal fans
-a site where you can customize and order your own "I heart..." rings
-people who "heart" everything from wool to toes.

The websites that had dates ranged from November 2003 (legitimately original - an innovator)to yesterday (late stage adoptors). The movie was probably the tipping point.

Does anyone else have good "heart" examples from before or after the movie release?

MMO'S Harmless or Harmful?

2005-02-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

I found an article on the BBC’s website about online gaming and whether or not it is addictive. They talked to a gaming counselor and a gamer about whether or not they feel that online gaming is harmless or harmful. The counselor said that she thought that gaming could be just a harmless way to pass time or distress, but for some people it can go beyond that. People with addictive personalities tend to get addicted to games more easily to the point where they do not really have a choice about playing the game, they have to play it. It is like any other addiction and they begin only to live in the fantasy world they have created and neglect their own surrounding. One thing that I found really interesting is that Ms. Woolley, the counselor, said that some gaming companies make sure their game developers have degrees in psychology, in order to make the game more addictive. Woolley’s own son committed suicide as a direct result of being addicted to Everquest and that is what prompted her to really research gaming addiction. On the other hand there is Lynn Hall, an online gamer who maintains that online gaming can be a good distraction and waste of time. Her and her husband both participate in RPG’s and realize that any online game can be addictive, but according to her, “It all boils down to whether you have enough willpower to tear yourself away from whatever is keeping you amused.”

To read the article go here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4273125.stm

Online communities - are they really communities?

2005-02-17T18:28:00.000-08:00

Mondays class got me thinking about the merits of online gaming communities. I know for some people these communities are as real and as important as communities in the physical world, but I question if that can really be the case.

Can we interact with these people beyond basic text ? Can they see the expressions on our faces ? Do we actually know what they are like to hang out with, or what they are like in handling a crisis ? We could be friends with a person over the internet for years without knowing who they really are in their everyday life. So another question arises, does that matter ?

I think it does. As I mentioned in class, I have a friend who got wrapped up in these communities so much that during his senior year in high school, he was playing about 60 hours a week (his estimate not mine). That is one and a half times a full time job. That year, those games those people he interacted with were very important to him, but as time has gone on, he looks at those hours spent with a certain level of regret. Those friendships werent the bonds that they seemed at the time. Those people couldnt fulfill his life that real communities could. To him, those were 60 hours a week thrown away.

For all that we can say that online gaming is a new form of community and life, I have to argue. Maybe thats true to an extent. Maybe it is valid to a certain point, but there is a line. And when that line is crossed, it becomes a problem not a source of amusement.

2005-02-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

I'm thrilled to see the class contemplating Artivism, Activism and Hacktivism. It's great that there is discussion going on and people are looking for more information.
After the presentation and reading your blogs I started to think about how these three things compare to each other. Or not.
Instead I think I'm beginning to see a pattern or an evolution in how these work together, not in competition. It seems to me that Artivism is most useful in supplying the 'shock value' for a cause. Acting as a kind of advance guard or avant guard, Artivists identify a problem and work up some type of theatrical statement. They raise the alarm and capture our attention.
That's when the Activists should take up the torch. Their job should be to consolidate the energy, channel the outrage and motivate people to get off their butts and do something about it.
When the problems are just too far out of our reach (e.g. the censorship of the internet in China that Adrienne told us about) then that's a job for the Hactivists. They need to be our cyberguerillas and right the wrongs brought on or perpetuated by the misuse of technology.
In a perfect world these three factions would work together seamlessly. Or maybe I'm just dreaming. But this actually does sound like a good idea for a MMO!

"The first rule of journalism is..."

2005-02-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

I had every intention of writing a nice little entry about activism and artivism for this week’s blog assignment… until I saw the Daily Show last night. In it, Steven Colbert had a piece about the legitimacy of bloggers and blogging and it was too good to pass up. (Click on "'Fact' Obsessed Bloggers" from the list of Steven Colbert's reports.) A little bit of background: Jeff Gannon is a Washington, D.C. correspondent for some right-wing online newspaper and everything is going fine for him until a blog posting states that in fact, he has a different name and owns a bunch of gay porn sites. If you want more information about this story, you can click on the "Blog Cabin Republican" from the Daily Show Headlines or check out the Washington Post article.

But I’m not going to talk about the Gannon issue, I’m going to talk about what Colbert had to say about the fine art of blogging. In the span of his four and a half minute conversation with Stewart, he “admitted” to being Adolf Hitler’s grandson, to being a Colombian drug dealer, and to killing and eating a panda. (All of this in jest, of course.) His point was that he could “ruin [bloggers’] scoops” by alerting the world to this information himself. He was worried about everyone finding out because so-called “attack bloggers” are “reporting on reporters” instead of acting like the mainstream press who “transcribe” and “repeat” government press releases. “The first rule of journalism,” he said, “is don’t talk about journalism.” Stewart countered Colbert’s attack on blogging by asking if bloggers haven’t gained a certain amount of legitimacy, given that they’ve been correct in many instances. Furthermore, as long as they are checking their facts, they are pretty much doing what all other reporters do. Colbert replied that legitimacy leads to “complacency,” which is what has happened to the mainstream media. Is his statement true? Certainly, traditional media forms are controlled by a select few, and it’s fair to say that they complacent to their owners. However, is the declaration of legitimacy the key ingredient to becoming complacent? Once people trusted radio, tv, and newspapers, commercial enterprises got involved (bought companies, advertised, etc). Then, those media did lose their power to report on some controversial information because of who was connected to them. Will the same thing happen with blogging? Once people buy into this new system of getting their information, will bloggers stop giving us innovative news because outside powers will be too invested? Or are blogs even a useful, trustworthy source of information?

Colbert, S. (2005, February 16). "Fact obsessed bloggers. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

A Refection on the Presentation and Yee's article about MMORPGs

2005-02-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

After hearing the presentation and reading the MMORPGs article, I learned that people view their character online as real just as much as view their life in the real world as real. I do not agree with this attitude becuase I think that if people are not happy with their life in the real world than this will serve as an excuse to focus their efforts into creating an amazing life online. As a result they will neglect their life in the real world. However, I cannot disclaim the interactions and relationships people develop online as anyhting less than genuine. In addition, there is something truly special about a life online becuase it seems like every demographic wants one and every demographic is looking for things online that we all can get in the real world.

But why would people go online to find things they can get in the real world? The answer is simple, these things that are so desired are amplified online. Things like power, money, and friends are simply more exciting and intense.One way to think about this, is when someone goes to college and joins a fraternity. Within this group people will do things that they would never do otherwise and inturn have a more exciting life. The other part of this is that users think that these games also improve their real world lives. Couples believe that participating in these games allows them to highlight their individual differences and become closer from that. Parents believe that is gives them the oppertunity to watch their children interact in socoial situations. This makes it a win-win situation for gamers and based on that seems logical that there would be such heavy particiaption in these games.

The scary part to me is that while I expect people to put a maximum effort in making their real life enjoyable and meaningful, I cannot blame them for developing another life online. I mean if it gives them everything they are looking for in their life and as such they should put 40+ hours into its development, even 60 for that matter. If an online world gave me everyhting I was looking plus more, then I would do it too. I also think that gamers have a lot to look forward too. Games are only going to get more interactive and complex leading to a larger user base. This will lead to more people investing more time into their online lives. If my forcast remains true and the value of an online life continually grows, then I see it becoming incresingly difficult for people to justify putting any effort into their life in the real world.

Lara Croft: Feminist Icon or Cyberbimbo

2005-02-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

I came across an article on Game Studies entitled Lara Croft: Feminist Icon or Cyberbimbo and, in light of all our recent exposure to virtual personalities, was quite intrigued…

This article highlighted the different perspectives from which Lara Croft is viewed and the ideals they create:

1) Feminist Icon – Lara Croft is a strong, powerful woman, cast in the lead role in a traditionally male genre. That is, in video games, women are generally depicted as the love interest or the victim, in need of rescuing by the (male) hero. Lara abolishes theses stereotypes and fights her own battles.

2) Cyberbimbo – Lara Croft has long hair, large breasts, a small waist and lots of fetish gear, including her holster/garter belt, guns and sunglasses. She performs extraordinary feats, which real women are not capable of, and was simply created to fulfill some inexplicable male desires.

At first I thought this was all a little far fetched and paranoid, but not so. Apparently, men desire “hot” animated women and once again, I am perplexed by how virtual people have taken the place of real ones. Upon further investigation on the internet, I found innumerable websites dedicated to naked pictures of Lara Croft, amongst other virtual sex goddesses. There are even animated “porn” websites, so you can watch Lara Croft in action!

So, as far as the first theory on Lara – the one about her being a feminist icon – I think that’s pretty much null and void by now. At some point in time, I’m sure her character had the potential to become some sort of female role model, just for the simple fact that she gained popularity in a “male” market and broke down gender roles on video games. However, it seems that the sexual aspect of Lara became the defining factor in her success.

The article goes on to discuss the fact that, since Lara is the object of sexual desire by players, well, what if those players are female? And what if Lara is a lesbian!? I suppose, in the twisted world of male fantasy, this wouldn’t be a bad thing. As the article points out, Lara has no sexual or romantic encounters within the game, giving her no sexual identity or subjectivity. I think they did this because guys wouldn’t play the game if they had to actively pursue, or even rescue, a male character. It might make them feel gay, or something.

I have never played the Tomb Raider video game, or any other video games recently (actually, the last video game I played was Super Mario Brothers!), so I'm not pretending to be an authority. I just wonder if this is actually a decent video game, or if guys play it primarily because they find Lara sexually appealing??

Aritvism, activism and "the truth"

2005-02-16T23:42:00.000-08:00

Today’s presentation was based on topics that are very prevalent in society, activism and artivism. These actions have become important to many people and organizations movements to attempt to provoke some change. I know there are many activists that have put in a lot of time to try and get a message that they feel strongly about into the publics minds, but I feel that artivism is much more effective. I feel this way because artivism can be more widespread with the images and other visual aids in helping put their message into society. These visuals can be easily spread whereas activists may only reach people in a certain area or have a website that people may not know about. Activists can become more effective by using art and artivism to display their message through a new communication channel.

Most of the activist sites that we looked at in class were not very interesting and in fact I had never heard of any of them before. This just goes to show how artivism is better to use in order to convey a message than activism without the use of art is. These activist sites would usually only be found by people who are already with the activists side of an issue and are searching for sites with similar interests as them. So these sites are not really useful in getting more support for an issue, instead they are really only talking to those who area already on their side which kind of defeats the point of using a website to try and gain support.

While we were learning more about activism and artivism I began to think about one of the most influential or successful activists that have gotten their message out through artivism. I am thinking of “the truth” campaigns, an anti-tobacco artivism campaign that these activists have used to spread negative facts about how detrimental smoking and chewing tobacco can be. These ads are so effective because they provide good stats and are it is not apparent at first what their message is with each commercial but later on hit you hard with what their facts pertain to, tobacco. These commercial show their activism through creative means, which really brings the viewer into paying attention to what message is being advertised. Without this creativeness the ads would be less successful in conveying a message and probably less people would pay attention when these commercials are on. People may or may not agree with their messages, but they are paying attention (because of the creative activism they display) to the messages due to their widespread commercials that can reach almost any household. They have had the most commercials shown on TV (at least recently) that have had to deal with a particular message being made by an activist group, enough so that I would first think of them when these topics of artivism and activism were presented today in class.

Today

2005-02-16T23:23:00.000-08:00

Today in class, we went over the issues of culture jams and hackers. Culture jams are very interesting in that they provide a political view. This political view is not always from the right. It is interesting that people are creative and artistic in that they are able to manipulate a piece of art and alter the meaning of it. My favorite one that I saw was the Camel light ad where one person took away the c and e and changed the L to l, which then read am I dead yet? This is really creative to me and I found it intriguing.

In class, we also discussed about hackers. I personally, believe that hackers just lead to unpleasant things. It is just the fact that nowadays, we correlate hackers with phishing, which is a type of hacking that gives them a bad rep. Phishing is where someone hacks into a system and tries to get information about other's identity. An example of this is the bank e-mails that are going on now. The e-mail just says that there are hackers who are trying to break into the system and that you must click the link and enter information to counter act these so called hackers. I found it intriguing that in class today we talked about good things about hacking and it made me think about hackers with a different point of view. With the topic of hackers there are two extremes like the examples in the movies Hackers and War Games. In Hackers, they use their computer skills to prevent war whereas, in War Games they do the opposite where they use their skills to eventually start a war.

Today, the lecture opened my eyes to different views of hackers and their purposes. It is significant that we see our society today automatically assume hackers are bad people but there are some out there that do hack for reasonable intentions. I learned this today in class.

blogs reach the mainstream media

2005-02-16T23:13:00.000-08:00

This is randomly another post about The Daily Show with John Stewart. I happened to be watching today during one of Steven Colbert's reports in which he was talking about bloggers invading the world of journalists. I found it interesting that a show which is watched my many, many people watch is beginning to look at the world of blogs. I checked the website to see if the piece was available for viewing, but, it wasn't up yet.

Now, up until this class I had never really thought about the effect that blogs have in the US. I actually had no idea how widespread they actually were. The show talked about how the people using blogs don't have to go through the project of fact checking to ensure the validity of their statements. However, when facts are checked, the blogs can be used as a viable source of news. This made me think about whether or not other notable news sites are reporting on this. I checked cnn.com and found an article from the beginning of this month about blogs being used following the State of the Union address (view it here). This article talks about how blogs are the future of media. That they are created every 7.4 seconds, etc. Now, it makes me wonder if there isn't more out there about the future of blogs. Are news sites and companies not reporting about the validity of blogs because they are afraid of them? Are they threatened by a blog's ability to take away from their readers or viewers?

I think that blogs completely replacing all forms of news is a bit far fetched. At this time, I wouldn't really knwo where to start when it comes to searching for my news online, but, with shows like the Daily Show talking about the future of media, the resources may be coming quickly!

John Stewart's Originality.

2005-02-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

Talking today about activism and artivism and their many forms made me think about The Daily Show With John Stewart, one of my favorite shows. This idea of activism/artivism is an attempt to convey an opinion about something or someone, such as jib jab's video of Bush, in an artistic manner or in a protest manner.

In my opinion, I think that John Stewart has combined these two, to form an original version of activism/artivism, something like Stewartism. The Daily Show simply makes fun of people when they make mistakes or say something that, when looked at twice, is considered stupid. The focus is mostly on politicians, which makes it funny, and he also takes no sides. This is where I think that he differs. He points out the stupidity of people with no favoritism, does it in an artistic and comedic fashion, and his viewers will laugh, therefore pretty much agreeing with him. I would honestly say that no one could in their right mind challenge anything on his show, simply because he takes the news and the people in it, and makes fun of it. He makes news entertaining while at the same time showing how stupid Republicans or Democrats can be.

I feel that John Stewart and his posse of news correspondents are activists and artists trying to get points across to the American public that essentially say, that we are being led by people no smarter than the average joe. They lay the truth on the table, even when it hurts, and are not afraid to put it on the website so that viewers can watch the clip over and over. In my opinion, John Stewart is the smartest man alive. He is the one that made news entertaining and I don't know if I will ever watch regular news again. That right there is activism/artivism at it's best.

Hacktivism

2005-02-16T16:44:00.000-08:00

For my blog this week, I choose to take a look at the website presented us today in class, www.thehacktivist.com. My first reaction to the site, was bit of a confuesd one. I can’t tell you what I expected to see, but this wasn’t it. It is neatly laid out with a typical news website feel, the middle portion briefly states the purpose of the website and current issues involving hacking or hacktivism. That is where your eyes get drawn to first. On the left side, there is a general navigation bar and on the right side, there is a place to sign up to become a member. I really didn’t want to sign up, but found it easy to navigate through without being a member.

By only using the knowledge that I gained today in class on hacktivism and hackers in general, I was surprised when I read the purpose of the site. It seemed that it wanted to take an active and positive role in evolving hacktivism. When I clicked on the link of hacktivism, I came across the definitions that we went over in class and more of their goals that they want to accomplish with this site. What I found really interesting is that one of them is to turn around the image of hackers being negative. When asked in class today of what we thought of when we thought of hackers, that is what I immediately thought of, where nothing good could come out of what they do. It seemed that they wanted to stress that hacktivism was more of an art form and that they were creating something that can expresses themselves, rather than just a way to “vandalize” computer systems.

Overall, I found the site to be very informative for people like me who didn’t know too much about hacking and hacktivism, and be able to really see a different point of view, other than the stereotyping of hacking.

Jib-Jab

2005-02-16T14:09:00.000-08:00

Today in class, the group showed us a clip from jib-jab that was making a statement about Bush's second term in office. As a fan of the site, I thought that it would only be fair to bring to everyones attention the one that was created during the elections entitled This Land. It is sung to the tune of "This land is your land, this land is my land..."

What I like about this one in particular is that it mocks both Kerry and Bush. I know that a lot of judgements are passed about people who mock Bush and say that he is an idiot. But this one mocks Kerry as well.

The internet is a great place to express your feelings and I feel that parodies are one of the best means of doing so. Remember Weird Al Yankovic and all his parodies. My favorite has always been "I'm fat!" which he did to mock Jackson's "I'm Bad!" The great thing about making fun of something is that you can make a point, share an opinion, and it is not as if you are attacking someone. Humor is light-hearted so when you make a political statement that is funny, I think that people can just take a step back and laugh at the truth or irony.

CLASS ACTIVITY: Online Artivism/Activism

2005-02-15T21:42:00.000-08:00

Class activity: Explore some of the links to online artivism/activism sites:

The Billboard Liberation Front
Billboard Liberation
Jib Jabs “second term”
MoveOn.Org
Backspace
Critical-art
Velvet-strikehttp
Screen Toys
Subvertise
adbusters
Protest.Net
Gay and Human Right Campigns
Pro Death Penalty
e-paranoids
Men's Activism
Not One Damn Dime
feminists.com

MMOs

2005-02-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

Today in class, we had a group present about MMO (Massively-Multiplayer Online) and the main ideas about MMOs. I found the presentation to be interesting of how MMO can attract a variety of people from all kinds of age and personality. I, personally, never had any experience with MMO or really had any idea of what it was about. I knew it was some type of game online, but never knew it was so popular and so many people are actually active to the game. I also found it shocking that senior citizen are also active in MMOs. I could never image my nana playing online games expect for solitaire, but MMOs? I don’t know.

At the end of the group’s presentation, they made us to do some experience online game from Netnexus. They had games such as Arcade games, Lemonade Stand, Nations, Terran Legacy, Archimedes Daggers, and Other games. I tired to enter the Nation game, but for some reason, the link wouldn’t allow me to enter so I ended up playing Asteroids under Arcade game till the end of the presentation. I’m not sure if I enter to the wrong site or the wrong place because it wasn’t exactly a MMO that I learned from the presentation, but I found the site to be lame and confusing. The game I was playing was kinda silly because all you had to do was move the spaceship by moving your arrow keys to the left or the right, but playing this game made me wonder, who would play this game? I felt so childish and didn’t find it very much entertaining. However, some people could find this site entertaining where they feel they can play this game on their spare time or something for employees to do during their lunch break, but I think I would rather play solitaire or spider solitaire under the game category from Microsoft program.

More MMO stuff

2005-02-14T14:33:00.000-08:00

I was one of the people presenting on MMOs today and I was surprised by the vast amount of information I found when researching this topic. Not only are MMOs played for enjoyment, but also (as Charlotte mentioned) as a chance for parents to connect with their children. Imagine that, rather than sitting around the dinner table, trying to figure out your child you can hop onto the computer for a few hours of role playing games! I just found the range of people and reasons for playing the game to be fascinating.

Specifically, knowing that retired people spend time playing MMOs! I know that my grandmother enjoys playing computer games (namely blackjack) and given the opportunity and the initial guidance she would love playing a graphical MMO. I was surprised by the fact that only 25% of users are teens, I would have guessed this age group to dominate the game. They obviously have more time to play MMOs than an adult working 40 hours a week! It is really surprising that over a third of MMO users are married. Personally, if my (hypothetical) spouse spent 20+ hours a week playing a game I would be furious! It's a wonder that married couples can find that these games bring them closer.

And finally, it was really interesting that through playing these games another community was created- those that felt "widowed" by a significant other obsessively playing an MMO. A simple computer game can not only influence those that play it, but those around them as well, forcing those people to reach out to complete strangers for help and advice. In a way, is it that different from what their MMO-addicted partner is doing while playing the game?

MMO's

2005-02-14T14:14:00.000-08:00

I found today's lecture on MMO's to be very interesting in how it can attract such a diverse group of people. It was interesting to find that the "geeky kid in basement" stereotype has been broken, and that many different types of people are using it today. What surprised me was that families were using MMO's to increase their social interaction within themselves. While I had known that women and men usage was up, I was unaware that MMO's were being used within families. I think that this is a great mechanism for families to grow and bond, as it educates both the child and the adults in the family, and allows for an activity to be done together.

At the netnexus site, I was surprised to learn how addictive MMO's could be. After searching through a series of games hosted on the site, I ended up trying Legend of Green Dragon. I found this game surprisingly addictive as even though our work session was over, I still wanted to play the game. This helped illustrate to me how people can be playing MMO's for such a long period of time. I had only been playing it for 5-10 minutes and I was already hooked! You quickly get pulled into the fantasy world created, and you can't help but wonder what will happen next. You start asking yourself questions about whether you used the right move, or whether you should have gone in a different direction. It was only after I had died and was forced to stop playing by the game that I could pull myself away and write this blog entry.

MMO Reaction

2005-02-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

It is really hard to believe that 8% of the population interviewed spend 40 hours or more playing games in virtual worlds. I can accept it, I just can not understand why someone would take a second job to live a life in a world that does not exist. I can not say that I do not enjoy using the internet or playing an occassional game. But spending so much time in front of a screen seems like a waste of time. Being an athlete, I dedicate a lot of time to sports. But I could hardly say that I spend more than 15 hours each week playing a sport. You can only go so far with sports and I feel the same way with games. It is just staggering to think that there are people out there who spend more time than I do no school work and sports combined, to play a game on a computer. Call me ignorant.
To help curb my ignorance I have some questions that I would be interested in having answered by those to spend a significant amount of time using MMOs:

1. Do players have time to do other things? It seems to me that an employed person would hardly have enough time to eat, sleep, and have a social life. How do they balance it all?
2. Are the 40+ hours spent playing the same or different games?
3. In what ways do players feel that their relationships online are similar to their real life ones?

Knowing these answers may not change my opinion, but it would help me try to figure out how 40 hours can be spent playing games.

To young to be addicted?

2005-02-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

This summer I was a nanny for four children, two boys and two girls. Personally, with the exeption of spyder solitaire, I don't play video or computer games. This last summer, I witnessed the power of computer games and just how addictive they are. The two boys I watched this summer were with out a doubt addicted to their computer games. The thing that surprised me most is that these boys are 5 and 7 years old and addicted. I found myself having to unplug the computer so that they wouldn't spend over two or three hours a day on their computers. I would reward or punish them based around their computer games. Young boys should be out swimming in the pool, turning over rocks and looking at the cool bugs under them, or building a tree house, not inside playing intense multi-player games.
What facinated me even more was their ability level in these games. A few times they tried to teach me how to play, and I have never felt so incapable of something in my life. Their skill level at ages 5 and 7 were beyond me. While they were learning secret tricks of the game and building power, I was trying to figure out which key stroke was run and which one was to shoot the gun. It amazes me how these computer games can attract such young generations and even more so, be so addicting to an age group that usually has such a short attention span. I would expect the boys to get sick of playing the games and move on to the next best activity.
I would have thought the addicted MMO player would be a bald, overweight, middle aged, single male working in information technology field. Who knew it could reach two little boys who are obsessed with soccer, basketball, catching bugs, legos, and skateboarding.

The Facebook. How many friends do you have?

2005-02-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

I feel a majority of people on college campuses have gone through a phase of being addicted to the Facebook for some period of time. For some it may have lasted a few days, others a few months. But the begging question is why? Why is the facebook.com so addicting? It offers no real entertainment value such as video clips, games or anything else. Essentially the entertainment is looking at other people and their profiles. Adding people to your friends list and searching for those long lost high school classmates. Over one million college students from across the country are involved in this phenomenon and it has become as common as checking your e-mail. Wake up, check e-mail, check the facebook, go to class. It has become part of a routine of many college lives. But why are people becoming so infatuated with this site? In my opinion, it's entertaining to read about other people's interestes, look at pictures, and find other people who go to your school that are interested in the same things.
I am willing to admit that I have spent coutless hours looking at profiles of friends, poking people, sending messages, and meeting new people randomly through groups or friends. I currently have 157 friends on my facebook account. How many of those people do I talk to on a regular basis? Maybe 45...I will admit that there is a sense of popularity on the site. I remember one of my friends bragging about having over 200 friends on the facebook and witnessing an arguement between two of my guy friends about the different levels of friendship and why accepting someone as a friend when you don't know them is "cheating." Their view of the facebook is a race to see who can get more freinds fast.
The facebook has different meanings to different people. But sites like this have become increasingly popular, and I think that they are a great way to communicate with friends and meet new people.

An interesting tagboard

2005-02-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

Many personal blogs feature what is known as a tagboard. This is where nonbloggers can make comments and start conversations with each other. I've always had a tagboard on my blog, but it wasn't until recently, on another friend's blog, that I realized the potential of tagboards.

About 2 months ago my friend updated his blog about a conversation he had with a friend about universal healthcare and whether or not the US should have. A rather loaded subject yes, but I never expected the response his update got - and is still getting - on his tagboard. One of his friends made a comment against universal healthcare, another made one for it. Pretty soon a small group of his friends - from several different states - were debating the subject on his blog. Even I have been offering my two cents every now and then.

Two months later, this conversation is still going on. I can't even begin to explain it. My friend has started updating his blog solely with the tally of the conversation. I can't believe how philosophical and in depth it has gotten. This is something I would never expect on the personal blog of friend who typically only writes about his daily life, but there you go. Just another example of how the internet can surprise you where you least expect it.

Facebook

2005-02-11T03:23:00.000-08:00

I've been on the facebook since November and I still can't believe how intensely some people take it. I've had friends from highschool, or even earlier, find me on it and add me as a friend. As I look at their profiles I find out all sorts of details about their lives that I am amazed to know. I personally treat my profile as a joke. I have yet to write anything serious on it. Other people, however, will put anything on it - from that crazy night of drinking they just had to their home address and telephone number. Why anyone would be willing to share all of this information on the internet is beyond me.

I also noticed that some people do take it less seriously. I was added as a friend by one guy from the University of Illinois. I had no idea who he was but decided to confirm him as friend just in case I had forgotten him from the past or something. Apparently he has a goal of adding everybody on the facebook as a friend. He has hit just about every school and has at least 50 people as friends at each one. I found this to be a very interesting way to enjoy the facebook.

online games and identity

2005-02-10T23:41:00.000-08:00

"...the individual will have to act so that he intentionally or unintentionally expresses himself, and the others will in turn have to be impressed in some way by him" (Goffman, 2). I kind of think that this is a good way of summing up the use of online gaming for identity presentation. The characters that are created and the ways that the people who play go about things seem to be a way of impresing others through their expression. The creation of characters and the choices you make in where you go, the houses you 'buy' or build are all an expression of who you are, or who you want to be.

I think that the idea of who you want to be is a bigger point. If I were an online gamer, I would probably make myself a bit different than who I actually am. People who use online games as there social lives obviously feel like something is missing here in reality. Why would you go and spend your time online doing the same things you can do offline? I can understand why the pictures we were shown in class were often different than the actual person. They all had aspects of the person, or at least of their personality. I think that online games are a great outlet for a certain type of creativity. By impressing through their online skills of expressing, online games create an environment to further a person's sense of self.

Video game addicts

2005-02-10T22:43:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that video games are a part of my life, just not a substantial part like they seem to be for many people discussed in the Nicholas Yee reading. I have played video games for the majority of my life, but it has never taken over my life. I play the games as entertainment and a way to have fun with my friends or when I am bored. I tend to play mostly sports video games unlike many of the users in the article do. I like to play these because I like to be able to control the players/teams I see on TV and hear about, but it is also a way to play my favorite sports at any time (no matter the time, weather or if there is anyone else around to play). Unlike some of the players in the article, I would rather do something real though, like play the actual sport with my friends or do something else in the real world (not a fictional world displayed on a computer and TV screen).

The article made my eyes open wide to the amount that the average MMO player surveyed plays (22 plus hours). That is a lot of time invested in doing something that will not benefit most people (besides in their game playing skills). I also found it amusing that about a quarter of the people surveyed said that their online play contributed to their best moment of their week while one third said that game playing contributed to their worst part of their week. These are significant amounts for a game that has little importance in the real world for most of the people (some video game players are “professionals”). For video games to be such important and a consuming part of these people’s lives is interesting to me. I would like to talk to some of these people to see how in touch with the real world they are? I also would like to know if they consider the video games to be “real life?” I enjoyed this reading because it gave me some insight into something that I enjoy doing occasionally, compared to the people surveyed.

neopets??? so confused!

2005-02-10T22:40:00.000-08:00

I have always assumed that in games, there are winners and losers. The games I played growing up, monopoly, life, twister, and even nintendo games, there's an objective. Money is earned, a destination is reached, or someone falls down and winners and losers are determined. I had a hard time accepting the concept of MMO's during lecture because 1) I have never played it before and 2) I've never considered games to be just a role playing-social interactivity. Massively-multiplayer online role playing games are just another medium for entertainment and interactivity.

Creating my first Neopet during class was quite a task. I felt pretty pathetic clicking on the 18 and over age group icon to sign up for my virtual online pet. When I finished creating the pet and finally started my adventures on the website, I was surprised to find out how complicated everything was. I had to read over the instructions on what to do, how to do it, where to go, etc. There were numerous steps to follow through in order to keep this pet 'happy.' I could've never figured any of this stuff out during my childhood…I could barely learn it in college! I guess everything changes with time, including games.

Online Gaming

2005-02-10T21:52:00.000-08:00

This one’s on avatars and online gaming. I thought I'll take this opportunity to share what the popularity of online gaming in Taiwan.

Online gaming is probably one of Taiwan’s hottest past-time activities right now. There are just as many internet cafes as there are bubble tea shops (that’s right, bubble tea is from Taiwan). I should define what internet cafes are like in Taiwan. Its NOT what you have in mind - the regular coffee shop with wireless connections or stationary computers for people to check email. Nooooooo…not like that in Taiwan. Internet cafes in Taiwan consist of a big space filled with 50 or more desktop computers – each hardware built to meet online gaming needs with high resolution and speed. There is no coffee served, but you can ask the waitress to make you some bubble tea or ramen. Furthermore, there is an executive CEO leather chair to each computer. Online gaming is so popular that people spend hours (12+) in these internet cafes. This indoor activity is part of Taiwan’s pop culture.

See, I never got into online gaming. I can never picture myself sit in front of the computer and devote time to playing computer games; I’ll rather watch TV. However, I can somewhat understand the fun in online gaming – you get to compete with someone else and maybe he’s on the other side of the world.

One game I found interesting in Second Life. Hence the name, it is a game where the player gets to create their own characters, avatars, and live in a virtual community. You get to do everything: buy a house and decorate it, post billboards, mingle with other avatars, etc. You can even rally up people and protest. I think you can get a lot of creativity from these games, but a lot of time may be wasted. I prefer socializing in the real world than letting my characters do the pimping for me.

I think it’ll be interesting to research on how a player creates an avatar they way they have created it. Does the avatar symbolize anything? I think when it comes to creating characters people spend a good amount of time and effort to create something desirable and ideal, especially in online games where the character lasts.

Do you think an activity in an online game counts as an experience? For example, one can buy a house in Second Life, and probably has to go through similar processes as buying an actual real estate. Will that virtual engagement count as an experience?

HTML tutorials

2005-02-10T21:34:00.001-08:00

The midterm last week wasn’t so bad, but I have to admit, I was panicked about having to write HTML. In class a couple weeks back when we were learning the stuff, I was really excited about being able to add links, pictures, and horizontal rules. But orange backgrounds, lists that are organized in A.B.C. format and creating tables were way above my head. I was really flustered until I discovered a couple of websites that I thought I’d share with you guys since we have to make a website later this month anyway.

The first one that helped out a huge amount was for W3 Schools which has HTML tutorials (as well as JavaScript and other stuff that, quite honestly, means nothing to me). This site answered all but one of my questions about writing the HTML for our test. And it was easy to understand (if talking about HTML can be easy). I could follow along and do stuff on my own. Furthermore, the site is really easy to navigate because it has a local navigation bar on the left hand side with options like “HTML basic tags,” “Formatting,” “Tables,” “Lists,” and more. Further down the page, you can find other useful stuff like “HTML colors” – although there’s a better site for working with colors mentioned below. The other fun thing about this particular site is that there’s an HTML Quiz. It’s 20 multiple choice questions about HTML tags; for example, what’s the correct tag for making text bold. The questions aren’t all that simple, but it’s a fun five minute distraction from doing homework, even if some of the questions are a bit above my own personal know-how. I got 65 % (ouch). Test yourself!

The other site that I found useful was for implementing color into HTML. It was an article called "So you want a color code, huh?" by Joe Burns. It’s a little bit easier to follow than the information offered at the W3 Schools site. It tells you how to make full-page text color, change the color of the links on your page, what color the links will be after clicking on them, and background stuff. The only thing that's missing is a link at the bottom of the page to a color graph which would tell you the numbers for each color, e.g., orange was FF6600. But hey, you can get that at the W3 Schools site.

I don’t know if either of these sites will help anyone out at all, especially since it seems a lot easier to use the SimpleSite tool that the UW Libraries offers, but I figured someone might be interested. In the very least, you can test your HTML knowledge...since I know that’s what everyone wants to do!)

Finding Love Online

2005-02-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

I read an article in the Seattle PI by Carolyn Hax. It was an advice column that centered around meeting people online. The title of the article is, “Tell Me About It: Make friends face to face, not on the Internet. A 17 year old girl had written about a guy that she met online and wanted to meet and was looking for advice since she wanted to be safe. Hax tares into her in the article saying “why can’t meet friends in real life, what is wrong with you?” basically Get a Life! She also launched off about how you can’t trust anything that someone tells you on the internet and that at least when you meet someone in person, at a bar… you know something about them.

Is that really true though, if you go out to a bar, a club, the grocery store how much do you know about a person. Can you know if they are safe and trustworthy? No! You will have a pretty good chance of being able to tell sex, race, age, attractiveness, but is this a real measure of a person’s trustworthiness.

Another thought is, what if you work long hours and already have a set group of friends (none of whom you want to date), and don’t like going out to the bars, is it really that awful to sign up for something like match.com or a similar cite looking for someone with similar interests?

What do you think? Does looking for love on the internet automatically make you a looser? Although I am skeptical of internet romance I have seen first hand positive relationships form. A good family friend was engaged to a guy she met on the net. Another one dated a girl he met on line for six months (the longest relationship he had ever had! I’ve also so the other side where people met internet romance in real life and were shocked/disappointed by the difference in actual appearance.

With a fast passed society, eve growing faster will more people turn to the web for love. And if so will it become an acceptable form of wooing a partner? I don’t know.

Facebook: taking over the world ... one college student at a time

2005-02-10T21:29:00.001-08:00

I have been a facebook member since November but have paid little attention to it since I joined. One of the things I found interesting was how many people, like me, like the movies Office Space and Zoolander. I feel those are kind of cult hit movies on facebook. There are even several clubs like dedicated to the movie Zoolander that have several hundred members each. Many of the profiles seemed fairly similar in that people listed their favorite things. There were varying degrees to which people seem to take their profile seriously. Some people gave long descriptions of themselves and their personalities, other people seemed to joke around more with their information listing things that were more funny than serious in their profile. I also found it funny and kind of discouraging how many people had no favorite books or would put things like “yeah right” or “I don’t read” in the books section.

When I conducted a search for my favorite movies called Donnie Darko, I found that 567 people had also listed it as one o their favorite movies. There seemed to be a good mixture of girls and boys and they were all fairly diverse. There were many different types of music listed among the people as well as different interests, ages and majors. The movies seemed to be the most common link among all of us.

As far as my profile is concerned I am fine with it. I would be happy to let my parents and anyone else see it. It is fairly harmless as I did not take it terribly seriously. I did not pour my heart and sole out on it or have a high level of disclosure. I think to some extent the profile gives a glimpse at my personality. There is only so much you can list on something like this so it does not completely define me, or really anyone who is participating in it. It gives you an idea about the person but since there are so many more aspects to people then favorite movies, music, books and general interests, it does not allow you to automatically know someone from reading their profile, at least that is my opinion. I think my profile shows me in a favorable light I guess and same with my friends. None of us have listed anything terrible on our profiles, they are fairly tame.

the facebook

2005-02-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, and acquaintance of mine began telling me about this little online thing she called 'her addiction'. I had no idea what she was talking about when she told me what it was actually called - the facebook. Now, I just thought this was one of those things that those technologically forward people participated in, but I now am able to call it one of my addictions.

Now, what makes me like it? I think the biggest draw for me is the ability to change other people's 'walls'. The conversations that go on usually turn into a dialogue of banter that goes back and forth. It isn't always nice, but, we kid, because we love, right? I spend most of my time looking at the same pages of friends who I talk to on a daily basis. I have many friends on there, like other people have said, who I never talk to. Why would I do this? I think that facebook is kind of becoming like an online memory book. The ability to change the wall, send messages and 'document', in a way, the friends who have been a part of your life or crossed your path at one time or another. Even though there is the 'elitist' facebook users, I am an all embracing facebooker. Why refuse someone the right to be your friend? I don't, however, go searching for people to request, but if someone feels that I have touched their life in some way significant enough that they want to immortalize me in their facebook for all time, who am I to stop them?

What ever Lola wants...

2005-02-10T21:27:00.000-08:00

I looked up the NeoPets website, yesterday during class. I was quite excited to make up a pet but got annoyed really quickly when I had to type in a lot of information about myself to actually sign up. Once that was said and done, I was able to pick out a character of my choice. I choose a yellow bird that was tall and lanky and named it Lola9Lola95 (unfortunately the name I wanted, Lola9Lola94 was already taken, darn). Then I was off searching around the NeoPet site in search of something to do. Right off the bat, I had trouble with the navigation part of the site. Nothing was really labeled clearly, so I found myself just clicking on random links to try to get me somewhere that was interactive. I first found myself in a castle where I was able to get an omelet for Lola. Yum! Then I found a game where I had to shoot down all these red puffs before they hit me. I was able to advance to the third level before I got a game over. I was disappointed when I couldn’t find a place to interact with other Neopets, other than being able to “fight” them and I really didn’t want to find out how do that. Overall, I found the site to be a little bit cluttered and geared towards children. This seems ironic to me.

I have never been into the whole online gaming thing, but I have been almost addicted to the Sims (not the online version though). I didn’t ever get to the point of playing 30-40 hours like some people have done, but there was plenty of times when I would sit in front of the computer for 2 hours and feel as though only 15 minutes had passed by. I really like the concept of this game, where I feel like a giant overlooking the little Sim’s world. I haven’t really played since I have been in college and decided that if I did put the program on the computer, that would be playing the game rather than studying. Since the good ol’ times of the first Sims edition, they have now made a University version, which sounds AWESOME! I will try to stand my ground and not purchase this item, but I can’t make any promises. :o)

What is it with Online Games?

2005-02-10T21:24:00.000-08:00

Navigating Information Networks - Winter 2005

I will admit I am an old-school Nintendo addict. My friend and I spent one of the rare sunny days in Seattle trying to beat "Mario 3" for hours! This is why, when I read that some people spend 20-40 hours a week playing online games, I was not surprised or disgusted. Games can be addicting and have an amazing power of turning a few hours into twenty minutes; however, after I saw what these online games are like, I am now seriously concerned that these online-gamers' socially inept.

These people that excessively play online games basically go into character and create a new life. It seems like the people that spend this much time playing these games are either very insecure or have social problems, which will not be solved by hiding in a virtual world. People like this cannot face their issues by turning themselves into someone else and spending time with others that do the same.

I first of all do not understand these online games. They did not seem entertaining enough to be played for 40 hours a week. I think that it is normal for people to be somewhat entertained but when does this entertainment turn into an obsession? How can people spend so much time pretending to be someone else? In my opinion it does not seem healthy, but if anyone has an opposing viewpoint please share it with me. Thank you!

Visualizing Online Social Networks

2005-02-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

I found this pieve while researching online social networks for the search assignment and thought that since we are studying facebook, this would be an interesting article to present. Visualizing Online Social Networks is a piece by Jeffery Heer, a student of Professor Marti Hearst in at the University of California, Berkley. He specializes in information systems. The site provides information about a new technology that enables people to visualize their network of friends in a web design, much like that of kartoo.com or webbrain.com called Vizster. Through his research about how to translate friend networks into a complete visual design, he provides a great amount of information about how social networks are technically created. The site argues that technology like Vizster will allow people to visualize and search online social networks in an easier, more convenient way. The site links to social networks mentioned like friendster.com and orkut.com. It provides links to software and equations used in the creation of Vizster.

Basically Jeffery Heer is developing a technology that would allow the user of an online social network like thefacebook.com to view their whole network of friends in a web layout with their picture in the middle and all the pictures of their friends branching off of it. You would be able to click on the pictures of your friends to link to their profile. From their profile their picture would be in the middle of the page with all of their friends branching off of them. I am not sure if this would really make it all that much easier to search thefacebook.com because with some people having so many friends, I am not sure it would be a very efficient way of organizing things. I am interested to hear what other people think about an online social network like thefacebook.com being layed out this way? Would it make it easier to use?

To link to the article and see pictures of what Vizster looks like go here: http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~jheer/infovis/final/

Prove Your Popularity

2005-02-10T21:03:00.000-08:00

Navigating Information Networks - Winter 2005

The reason I joined Facebook was because my friend Kim needed more friends. At first I thought it was a great way to reconnect with old friends from high school that I sadly lost touch with. After browsing these people's profiles and pictures I have to come to realize that Facebook is merely a popularity contest for high school "has-beens". I am a Facebook hater.

I promised myself I would not invite anyone to be my friend, and I also promised myself to reject anyone that I have not talked to since high school....but I felt too bad. So now I am stuck with a list of people I don't talk to and did not ever talk to in high school all because they feel the need to prove they are so popular and well-liked now.

Although Facebook can be somewhat addicting, and yes I will admit I am entertained by it, it is hardly proving to be the social network I was hoping for. Instead of reconnecting with the people that mattered, I have a list of people that I do not care to catch up with. A social network is supposed to provide you with contacts and prospects, but seeing as I didn't find the people I was hoping to connect with, it is fair to say that Facebook will not overtake the traditional face-to-face networking that I have gained so much out of during college.

Why do people add friends to their list that they don't even talk to? If you are trying to build a social network, why do you just add them to your friends and then never network with them? Because of this, it is fair to say that the majority of people do not see Facebook as a social network but instead they see it as a popularity contest.

Catalog of Faces

2005-02-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

The FaceBook. Everyone is talking about it!It seems like something that all the freshmen know about, and I just now heard of. It was very interesting to check out peoples pages. My cousin posted a crazy photo of herself with quotes about getting high, and "I can't even remember how drunk I was last night." Until April came and guest lectured I didn't relize that TA's and Professors had access to Facebook too. I just think of all the things that people post and wonder if thier Prof has ever seen them. It would be kind of funny:)

My profile is pretty bland, like many of my friends. A lot of my friends profiles have goofy pictures, on of them even posted a picture of his dog. These practically unrecognizable photos may help them to feel more anonmys. Since I don't have anything posted on my account (there that a tame picture), I wouldn't worry about a family member, friend, or professor stumble accross them. I am very leary of posting anything. I remember a few years back I posted a picture of my friend and I on yahoos equivalant to FaceBook. I included some quotes and stories just for fun, but felt really imbarresed when a coworker said they thought they saw me on yahoo personals. Ever since them I've run pretty light on the information I choose to include.

I tried to find some of my friends from back home, but didn't have any luck. I think it would have been fun to find some of my friends from High School. I think that most of them have graduated by now though anyways.

Don't Try This At Home

2005-02-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

Listen, I was around when the first video and computer games were introduced. I was even old enough to get into the places they kept them. Back then I saw them as a waste of money, time and brain power. Evil, soul sucking viruses. I still do. My warnings went unheeded. A few of my closest friends then were heavily involved in the beginning of the computer movement , kind of East coast Steve's Bill's and Paul's. These folks were on the fringes of society to begin with and tinkering around inventing code and languages just served to push them over the edge, and into their own nanosecond of fame and fortune. I resisted, while they slid euphoriously deeper into their virtual worlds. They spent an ultimately unhealthy amount of time in the inner realms of cyberspace which predictably mutated them into Other Life Forms. They would chant, eyes glazed, fingers clawed, "We Create Something UnkownTo Mankind!!" They believed they were magicians or gods, creating something from nothing. They didn't just play "Dungens and Dragons", they lived it. Existing simultaneously on a multitude of planes, in uncharted territory.
Of Course, they all eventually self destructed or returned to the Mother Ship.
I told them so!

the FaceBook is...

2005-02-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

probably one of college’s hottest meme right now, spreading across campuses nationwide (well, of course via Internet). I swear, this online social network is clicking. I’m sitting at Mary Gates Computer Lab right now and I can see 5 people checking out FaceBook.

So what do people use FaceBook for? For me, it’s the best way for me to keep in touch with people back in high school. I went to school in Bangkok and after graduation, everyone just dispersed across the US for college. Well, I only got a couple people on my network because I’m just too lazy to look through the yearbook and add everyone. Second reason is just to check out people and see who knows who. I haven’t tried this, but has anyone met a new friend from FaceBook and just added them because the other person is cute?

Rather than going through the discussion questions, I’ve decided to record what I found interesting about FaceBook.

The first one is picture. Most people have a picture of themselves, or an image of something else, for example, a celebrity (I saw a profile with Denzel Washington’s pic). What’s interesting is the photo people put of themselves in relation to perception. Does the picture represent how they want to be perceived by others? Whether, it’s hot and sexy, athletic, casual, or formal, I think the photo qualifies as first impression. I think the picture plays a big role in interest.

One aspect I found interesting is asking whether there is social pressure for a student to maintain his/her profile. By this I wonder if competition comes to play to see who has a bigger network, and does that drive people to spend time and effort on their profiles and network. Is it a popularity contest?

Online fun?

2005-02-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is pretty much a rant, but I just don't get the online game fascination. Maybe it's because I was brought up without video/computer games (not even Nintendo and boy, was I jealous of my friends) so now I don't really get them. I figured I'd give it a shot though in class, but the first game I tried, NeoPets, I couldn't figure out. What am I supposed to do? I tried to play around with some of the games, but literally "died" in seconds, before I could figure out the game. Considering this is a popular site for children, I am way behind the times to not be able to figure it out. (A four-year-old techie in the making gave me the following computer tip: If you have trouble double-clicking fast enough, click once on an icon then hit return to make it open. Wow.)

Then I tried RuneScape, figuring it was closer to my age bracket so maybe I could figure it out. Wrong again. The only part I was excited about was creating my avatar, and I couldn't see how to do it. I created an account, but then was ushered straight into "world 63 - Seattle" without being able make my character. I think I'll just wait until I have kids and make them explain it to me.

Goffman applied

2005-02-10T19:59:00.000-08:00

Even though the Goffman article was incredibly dense and seemed to be written as impenetrably as possible, it has a lot of important and applicable ideas similar to those I learned in my COM 270 Interpersonal class. I thought the article was kind of worthless until we got questions about it, and then I realized how applicable it is. For pretty much every question, I could think of a dozen examples in real-life. Here are the three questions I thought most interesting:

1. I think the play metaphor for social interaction is a good one. Unless people think they are alone (and hence does not qualify as a "social" interaction), they are conscious of others' opinions and will to some degree consider those opinions, even if it is only to decide they don't care. Roles can differ slightly or a lot depending on the person. I try to be pretty consistent, but do naturally act somewhat differently around my grandma versus my roommates. Some of my friends are quite different with different roles. One even has a "family voice". When his phone rings, I can tell within three words if it is a family member based on his voice. I thought the example Goffman gave of intentionally Carefree (oxymoron), Methodical, and Kindly Preedy were pretty funny, because I think a lot of people will have a particular image of themselves and act in a way to make others think so too, even if the act is sort of transparent.

3. I thought the "Shetland islands" example where the person at home sees the visitor consciously put on a pleasant face before ringing the bell was great. I have worked various customer service jobs for about six years, and am very experienced with the intentional smile before greeting customers, even over the phone. You also see the look when you've interrupted or annoyed someone and you can see a quick facial adjustment before they look up.

5. Goffman also states that someone can be taken in by their own performance. In one psychological experiment, a group of people were randomly split into prisoners and prison guards and given appropriate clothing, and told to act as such. Within a week they had to disband the experiment because people were getting into it too much. There have also been memory studies about people repeating stories often enough that their memories can blur and they "create" memories that they wholeheartedly believe are true. As a weird personal example, I have a friend who looks a fair amount like me and we have similar humor and interests. I have joked so much that he is my brother, and our other friends reinforce it so constantly, that I'm sometimes surprised to remember he's not ACTUALLY my brother.

Thefacebook

2005-02-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

Before this class I had never even heard of thefacebook. If we were not told to sign up for it in this class, then I probably would have never thought of registering on to it. To me the whole idea of thefacebook is kind of weird. It seems like it is a way to get in touch with old friends, new friends or even try to make friends with somebody who has similar interests. I figure if you have to use this to try and get in touch with old friends, then you probably are not that good of friends in the first place (by not having another way to contact them). I also am not sure this is the best way to try and meet new people because you cannot be sure of who these people really are by just reading what they have posted about themselves (how much of it is actually true).

I did find some things about the site to be interesting. First, I was able to find, with ease, many people who I am friends with and was surprised as to how many people I know who actually use thefacebook. Some of these people I know fairly well and would not have suspected them to sign up for something like this (or to be so into it, with how extensive and updated their profiles were). I also found it interesting to just look into random peoples profiles, which is kind of different since I do not know them at all. I am not sure I would like the idea of random people looking at my profile if it were fully completed. Not that there would be anything they should not see, but that I think it is unusual to be able to look into a persons profile that you do not know. Especially since some people put their full addresses on it and some personal stuff that they may regret if a stranger were to see it.

Maybe this type of thing is just not my kind of thing and I am being a little negative due to that fact. I guess if I were to give it a try by actually fully updating my profile and responding to my friends’ profiles then I might like it, but as of now I am not all that excited about this site. One thing that I did like though was the how easy it was to use the site. For example, I could find a person I was searching for by looking up many different networks or connect them to other people I know that they also know. I wonder if thefacebook trend will continue to grow, die out soon or if there will be many other social network websites popping up all over the Internet?

Massively-multiplayer online computer reality?

2005-02-10T19:21:00.000-08:00

In class on Wednesday, I was once again introduced to a realm of the virtual world which I was completely unaware existed: Massively-multiplayer online computer games. I had no idea how widespread this phenomenon had become!

In relation to thefacebook.com, I think these online games are another opportunity for people to portray images of themselves that are either highly exaggerated, or completely false. I realize the characters in the games are not necessarily meant to represent the people behind the controls, but there is always the option to create the avatars as resemblances of reality.

Of course, “reality” is open to interpretation, as well as desire.

As we saw in the pictures in class, people may create their avatars to look like themselves, but they are usually new and improved versions – what they think, or wish, they looked like. Then too, perhaps they find themselves acting in ways that they don’t have the confidence or opportunity to in the real world. Maybe they are too shy, feel too unattractive, or simply lead an isolated home or work life, and these games provide an opportunity to “socialize.”

I guess this is not an entirely bad thing. I mean, sometimes it can be beneficial to escape either the daily stresses or the monotony of reality, but I think once again, that some people take it too far and it then decreases the quality of life. This is especially true, when people begin to value their virtual relationships over their real-life ones.

The results of a survey were reported in The Psychology of Massively Multi-User Online Role-Playing Games, stating, “When asked to compare the quality of their MMORPG friendships with their material world relationships, 39.4% of male respondents and 53.3% of female respondents felt that their MMORPG friends were comparable or better than their material world friends.”

This is unbelievable to me. I don’t think that there is any substitute for human interaction, even when it resembles reality.

“The one with the most friends wins!”

2005-02-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

I only recently discovered thefacebook.com and created a profile, but never put much thought into who may look at it, or what the consequences may be. Personally, I would never put anything on my profile that I wouldn’t want people to see, but I also understand that everything is subjective. I would hate to think that my relatives or a future employer would judge me based on a picture, quote or comment.

That said, I do think that this Web site is specifically designed for younger people (just out of high school), who may not realize the potential ramifications of their actions and post things on their profiles in order to gain popularity...

Popularity does seem to be a major component of this site. Specifically, how many “friends” you have and, thus, how “popular” you are. Why does this matter? I don’t know, mostly because a lot of these connections are virtual. That is, you’ve never even met your “friends.”

Furthermore, as Goffman points out, “Sometimes the individual will act in a thoroughly calculating manner, expressing himself in a given way solely in order to give the kind of impression to others that is likely to evoke from them a specific response he is concerned to obtain.”

Still, some people seem to become obsessed with the number of people they’re connected to. I don’t know if this is for an ego-boost, to gain others’ admiration or just out of sheer boredom. There are people on this site that have friends numbering in the hundreds, at schools all over the country.

Surely, this includes many people they don’t really know, or maybe have barely spoken to. I guess this is fun for some people. To me, this fits into the “waste of time” category, along with playing virtual computer games for hours a day!

To each their own.

A Reaction to Yee’s The Psychology of MMORPGs: Emotional Investment, Motivations, Relationship Formation, and Problematic Usage

2005-02-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

Yee presents a through examination into the world of people that have been caught up in role playing games online. The level of dedication that people put into MMORPGs is astounding to me and by dedication I mean both time and emotional investment. In Yee’s article, one player described the actions of another as the greatest, most selfless thing he has ever seen, demonstrating the real life nature these games posses for many users. These games take on a life all their own, the complexity of these games is so intricate the gamers can spend over 40 hours a week playing and never finish. The point is not to finish, but to improve your numerical attributes. This seems pretty simple, but why would people be willing to put so much into these games when there is no ending?

The answer to this question is many-sided. People join for a variety of reasons. One person might do it because they lack control in their life and this gives that or perhaps a person feels isolated and this gives them that personal interaction they are looking for. Any person is going to have things they want to change in their life and it is awesome if these games serve as an escape to get away from their troubles. However, a fine line must be drawn between a person that uses these games as a temporary escape from reality and a person that uses it as an alternative to living their real life. This line is important; it is a line of moderation, a principle that we should all practice in every aspect of our lives. I think it easy to see when you look at the examples of alcohol and drugs.

For me personally, I know I have had trouble controlling my play on Xbox online, specifically Madden 2005 (a football video game). For me, when life feels a little out of control, I would sit down with my friend and “pop-off” a game of Madden. I always use the term “pop-off” because in my head I think the game is going to be quick and I am right it usually is. But when I play that third and fourth game, the hours begin to add up and I have once again been sucked in. The worst part is when I win, I expect myself to, but when I lose I feel like a got short-ended and need to play again. I derive few positive feelings from the game anymore.

When people find little enjoyment in the game anymore, and instead do it to avoid negative feeling they know that it has hit the point where they are obsessed. When they get to this point, they need to step back and reevaluate what they game is to them. Otherwise the game will take on a meaning that it never intended to take on, the meaning of your life, as opposed to a temporary escape from it.

A Young Person's Approach to Facebook

2005-02-10T13:42:00.000-08:00

People join Facebook with a humorous, lighthearted approach to meet people and have a good time doing it. When people create a profile they want to keep up with the rest of society. At this point, joining Facebook is nothing new and nothing that will make you stand out, it is rather a function of keeping up with your peers. It is important to note that when people sign on, even though they have no expectations, I believe there is a hope deep down that they will meet someone new. I know I do. When you look through Facebook profiles you will find coincidences and differences in the same places. First with regard to pictures, I believe that people take two extremes: (1) they go for the model photo, the photo that will make all of UW swoon for them or (2) to have a photo that will make everyone laugh. They point is that people want to get noticed.

People seem to have a lot of the same interests and I think this is because everyone is virtually from the same age group, so it would make sense that they like the same thing. However, to me the noticeable differences come from the quotes and that is how you gain a true sense for the person. A quote can range from a deep thought of Ben Franklin to something funny someone said at the bar the night before. Through quotes you gain insight into how they think, including what is funny and important. A lot of the other parts of Facebook like favorite books and movies are so mainstream that differences are rare. With this said, do I think Facebook portrays a person accurately and do I think it is worthwhile? The answer is yes with certain conditions.

Facebook presents a tremendous opportunity to meet people from all different walks of life. However, when a person uses Facebook they can not look at it as the sole medium through which they have friendships. It must be looked at as a catalyst, a doorway to a world of people that you can meet. When Facebook is used to meet people, it is an excellent tool that can not be beat. But it can not be foundation of your friendship. You have access to so many people about the same age in every region of the country and that is an opportunity we have never seen before. But if you get caught up in making your profile really cool and or just skimming through endless profiles of other college students you will waste hours and when you are done get nothing out of it but a few laughs.

So where does Facebook go from here? I think Facebook will grow larger over the following months and plateau out. Then Facebook will either expand with new features that revolutionize this online community or a new community will pop up online. We will go through similar process all over again drawing new lines between relationships in reality and relationships online.

What ever Lola wants...

2005-02-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

I chose to look at Neopets yesterday in class! I was really excited to go onto this site and create a new little buddy! That feeling died down quick when I had to start filling out a lot of information about myself. But when everything was said and done, I was left with my pet, Lola9Lola95 (I tried for Lola9Lola94, but it was already taken, darn). It was a yellow bird that was tall and lanky. A very cute bird I have to say! Once I started navigating through the site, or the lack there of, because it was quite confusing on where to actually go, I was sad that I didnt see my character moving around with me! :o( Where had Lola9Lola95 gone?? I searched and found a castle from the neo world page and ate an omelett! yum. Next I tried finding games, I came acossed one where you shoot down these red puffs as they flew towards the computer screen. I made it to the 3 round before I had got hit too many times to proceed. I was also disappointed when I couldnt interact with other neopets! I found where you could fight them, but I really didnt see the point of that. That would be one thing that I would do to make the site better.

I have never really been an online gaming player but the closest thing that I have gotten to it was The Sims (not the online version). I would spend hours playing the game in high school, where a coulple hours seemed as though 15 minutes had passed. I liked feeling as though I was the giant watching the little people move about their world. I always taught them to go to the bathroom when they needed to and to stay caught up on their studying. Such good little sims. I did refrain though from downloading it onto my computer when I came to college knowing that I would be playing that rather than studying! Its especially hard now since they made a University version! ahhhh! But I will try to stand my ground and not buy it! I just might have to find someone that has it so I can test it out and go to all the little sim frat parties!

The Facebook...ugh....is anybody reading these??

2005-02-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

-- Ok granted, the topic of "The Facebook" has been a little overdone on this web log. However, considering we spent half of class on Monday logging on and examining our fellow face-bookers, I figured discussing the experience once again would be relevant, though EXTREMELY repetitive. I recently read an article from a small Chicago paper called Log Off: The case against The Facebook. Author Jason Thurlkill definitely perceives this recent phenomenon from a very dystopian perspective. At one point he even states "Friendster and The Facebook aren't just deceptive. They are also emerging threats to many American youths' emotional and psychological well-being." Come on now Jason, that's a bit strong don't ya think? However negatively Jason viewed these new online social networks, I did agree with him on several points, which are illustrated in excerpts from my own blog posting via The Pros and Cons of Living from 02/02/2005:

So I finally broke down and joined trendy-ole' thefacebook.com. For those of you not in the "the know," The Facebook is basically a one-stop shopping arena for creepy stalkers. Look-up basically anyone you want as long as you have the name of the school they attend now or the high school they went to - provided they're insipid and nondescript enough to join the network. (Ok, that might have been a little harsh, but my first impression was not good. As Thurlkill pointed out, "Perhaps living in a consumer culture encourages people to market themselves as commodities" which is exactly the first impression I got. Explanation below...)

I mean sure, it's ALSO a popularity contest (just to make note, I believe I have around 10 friends at this point (23 today...I'm so loved), where girls who were popular in high school can rekindle that feeling online with scantily clad photos suggesting they are, in fact, the sluts you always assumed they were. As for the boys (there are no men and women here, this is strictly for the high school through college demographic), well there seems to be a competition going to see who can have the most random photo posting; anything from dressing in drag to live-action stripper flash-photos. (Again, this insight of mine was similar to that of Thurlkill, "many resort to listing popular books, movies, television programs, and quotations in an attempt to create a particular image: intellectual, hipster, punk, elitist, or rebel." Similar to the information contained within a profile, the photo really suggests whether you are a "emo-kid," "comedian," "nonchalant," "self-absorbed," or "popular." Those deemed popular generally feature more than themselves in a pic and boast 200+ friends. And if you're lucky enough to be the one in a million friend of a "popular" guy or gal, you will have hooked onto a Kevin Bacon of the network. Suddenly, any random person you click on will be connected to you via this "Kevin Bacon" figure. Moving on...)

My picture, for those of you who are illustrious members of such a network, is an accurate rendition of myself - taken last year in Bellingham at Casa Que Pasa. Next to me is Ryan McIrvin (one of the first to add me as a friend - thanks buddy!) but I had to cut him out of the picture for fear of him nabbing the spotlight on a pic that is supposed to make those ex-boyfriends from high school jealous. (In class we navigated through The Facebook network trying to determine whether or not people were showing their true selves. For me (as I point out above), it's all real (except for the occasional random friend who adds me to increase his popularity stats). As I got to thinking about it, a surface analysis of this network may reveal that people are "faking it" and creating images of themselves that aren't accurate. However, on closer examination of some of the people I know in my social network, I discovered that no one was actually portraying themselves inaccurately. It's all a matter of the personality type and their interaction with the network. Some take it seriously and honestly answer the questions, some are obviously trying to hard, and others take it less seriously and their answers to questions are very clearly sarcastic. If you actually know the people you add on The Facebook, you can probably determine how ironic, forced or factual their information is. And for those of the more sarcastic variety, this presentation of themselves IS accurate - they are witty and ironic people).

Most people don't take the forum too seriously (great example would be a guy I know from UW mentioning that in his spare time he likes to "eat batteries so others don't have to"). It's also a good way to track down people who may not have gone to your high school - provided you know the high school they did attend. I found my roommate's cousin, old friends from CYO-camp, and several people from my almost-high-school Snohomish High. (this would be the most addictive part of the network - finding those people you know you know but haven't thought about until now.)

All and all, a perfect way to waste the day and join groups like "1.50 Costco Hot Dogs" and "Cougar Grads Will Eventually Bag My Groceries" (which is true). So join why don't ya? Or not...whatever. Just think of it this way, it's not like you have anything better to do. And the longer you wait, the more you'll be "out of the loop" as they say.

--I found that even though we are all participating in the meme of the day (for those who just joined, we would on the wrong side of the bell curve of innovation) it really is a fun experience if you approach it lightly with a more utopian attitude. If members want to make themselves appear popular online, go ahead. For those analyzing the network in a positive light, we understand that even though you boast 578 friends, chances are you're only really close with several. If you keep that in mind, portray yourself accurately in the tone of your profile, and not get too bogged down in the "popularity thing" you can actually enjoy yourself.

EverCrack and On-Line Gamers Anonymous

2005-02-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

Inspired by our discussion yesterday of MMORPG's, I did a little scholarly research in the UW database and found an interesting article from the U.K. on gaming addiction. Apparently playing in a virtual world is a new kind of addiction that has just recently sprung up with the development of virtual realities that seemingly never end. According to author David McCandless of Just one more go: Online games are so addictive, some players just can't stop - even if their lives depend on it, "Addictiveness has always been the sign of a great videogame...But a natural safety catch has always stopped it getting out of hand - boredom. Gameplay becomes repetitive and games usually get dumped after a few weeks...with online fantasy games such as EverQuest and World Of Warcraft, the more you play them, the better they get. These alternate realities offer lush visuals, challenging quests and social interaction 24/7. Boredom is not an issue."

McCandless mentions several stories of poor souls who have lost their job, the marriage, even their life (or the life of a loved one as one man did when he put his baby in a cupboard for over 24hrs so he could get some undistracted gaming time). Personally, I was shocked. I mean, you make fun of people (or "dorks") who spend their whole lives with computers but you never actually think that it goes this far. McCandless mentioned that psychologists are viewing this phenomenon similar to addiction to drugs or gambling, both of which can become VERY dangerous. I know that Adrienne mentioned a website called "Evercrack" where family members of intense gamers lean on each other for support. But what about the gamers themselves? Is there any hope for the 15% of US gamers who play 50+ hrs a week?

Fortunately McCandless article did mention a salvation in On-Line Gamers Anonymous. I checked it out and while a little overtly religious, apparently it does the trick. Again, I was shocked at how real an issue this is. If you or anyone you know needs to be cured of any online addiction, another site to check out is The Center for Online Addiction.

EverQuest, Online Personalities, and Why It's Going to Be OK

2005-02-10T01:22:00.000-08:00

Considered the first and most successful MMO, EverQuest recently released its second edition to rave reviews. According to an article written in The Computer Gaming World, "From the moment those of you uninitiated in RPGs create your characters with simple class and race choices and board the "refugee boat" for your first in-game tutorial, you will feel sure of what to do. The tutorial explains step by step how to do everything from moving a character around to wielding a weapon, picking up loot, and talking to NPCs. Everything in the main Options menu is easy to understand and a newbie-friendly first quest introduces many city features, including your initial player housing" (Cook, Denise. Feb, 1, 2005. p 70).
Today, over 90,000 players are visiting the EverQuest fictional world of Norrath. As Adrienne pointed out in class the other day, auctions have begun occuring on ebay for MMO's. It is a craze that some of us find hard to understand why anyone would waste hours playing online games. Or why would they spend all their money on games?
I think that a lot of people do this because it gives them another identify. They are safe to be gay, or a monster, or represent themselves in a different light than in the real world. The best example that I can think of is the boy in the wheelchair who created a Star Wars character to be his online representative. This boy is strapped down, can't walk, and has tubes connected to him. It must be a nice release to play a game that allows him to walk around, without the tubes, and do things that may not be real, but give him some sort of way to be released.
Sure some people, with full capability to walk or take action in the real world, play these online games too. And sure it may seem like a waste of time to some of us. But you can't have a closed mind about this sort of thing when there certainly must be some things that you do that others think may be a waste. Why drink alcholol when it just means that the next morning you may have a hangover and waste your day eating bread and watching movies?
I don't use these games but I do not see the harm that they cause. I am interested, however, in how far we will go in my lifetime to create bigger and better games and devices. Will I be playing games when I am 50?

sorry...another facebook blog

2005-02-09T22:30:00.000-08:00

It was interesting to find that different group of friends almost always had the same types of profiles on the facebook. Friends share same style pictures, similar interests, and even belong to much of the same groups...including me! I signed up for the facebook in October and been addicted to it eversince! WIth the facebook, I was able to communicate with people I haven't talked to since high school, and now have become better friends with many others.
I think the facebook is a great way of social networking among college students and alumni. The facebook is so amazing that even NBA players are on it! Josh Childress from the Atlanta Hawks and Emeka Okafor from the Charlotte Bobcats are among those who network on the facebook. Check it out for yourself!

The Sims: Over-analyzing sexuality

2005-02-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

I finished reading the third article for network games about The Sims and sexuality. I must say, I really feel like the author was over analyzing this one! To begin with, does it really matter how many combinations are allowed with each skin tone? The study that was conducted found that the sim creation possibilities for the lightest skin tones were greater than those of medium skin tones or dark skin tones. Ok, big deal, it wasn't like it was by a significant amount-- something like 12. Then the author, Consalvo, goes on to compare the total amount of medium and dark combinations and found the total creation possibilities were much greater than the lightest skin tones, which basically contradicts her first point. I felt like there were about three pages of the text that seemed fairly pointless. I have played (embarrassingly) hundreds of hours of The Sims and have never noticed a difference in the possible combinations. In fact, I've always thought it was cool how you could create sim characters with the exact same facial combinations in different skin tones.

Another point I felt was over-analyzed was the detail to which Consalvo broke apart each sim object that supported sexual behaviors between men, women, and same sex couplings. Once she discovered that sim characters are asexual until the computer user directs them to be romantic toward another sim, how much further in depth did she really need to go before realizing that The Sims was not harboring homophobic tendencies? Personally, I feel that the article took a very simple, basic, non-prejudiced game and disassembled it until it was no longer the light-hearted fun (I believe) the creators intended it to be. Of course, it did make some good points- but overall I feel that the author over examined the game based on it's sexual and possibly biased nature.

More Facebook

2005-02-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

I'm not exactly anti-technology, but I just don't get into it like a lot of other people do. I refused to get a Facebook account until a friend basically hijacked my computer and signed up for me. I still don't really like it. There seems to be something really high school-ish about it to me, with people bragging about having 120 friends at 48 schools or something. I could see the fun of leaving a quick note on someone's wall or reconnecting with an old high school friend, but simply put, there's not much online that can hold my interest for long.

My biggest concern is privacy. Even though the odds of anything bad (cyberstalking, identity theft, annoying messages, etc) happening are very small, I'm just a private person and don't like have my information at large for people to see. I think a closed network like Livejournal offers would be more my style if I were looking for an online outlet. Frankly it just amazes me what people often show: phone, address, classes, relationship status, IM, pictures (compromising or otherwise), birthdays, favorites, even where they last logged in from (kinda bizarre to me). I'm such a privacy freak that the only personally identifiable information I have is where I work and my classes. I don't even have up a picture of myself. (I looked at Adrienne's profile and she doesn't have any information up, which is sort of odd to me since she seems like she gets into online communication stuff a lot).

One thing I thought was interesting was I searched for "Catcher in the Rye", and of the people who had that listed in their profile, it seemed like a higher-than-average percent had "artistic/unique" photos of themselves, which I sort of expected from people who have that book as one of their favorites. One girl even had a looping GIF clip from Napoleon Dynamite! Another interesting thing is I got an invitation from some random guy with my last name, and a couple days later an invitation from another random girl with my last name. I checked their other friends and they had a bunch of random friends from random schools with the same last name. I guess that's kind of a cool idea, but it really creeped me out at first because the guy has the same full name as my dad.

From a psychological study point of view, Thefacebook is really interesting in the way people present themselves, like I found the pictures of real people and their avatars interesting. From a user point of view, I'm just not that interested.

MMOGs

2005-02-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

Massively Multiplayer online games “are highly graphical 2- or 3-D videogames played online, allowing individuals, through their self-created digital characters to interact not only with the gaming software but with other players all around the globe,” according to wikipedia media culture encyclopedia. These games according to a Zona, Inc press release Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG’s) are projected to make a profit of USD$2.7 billion by the year 2006 increasing from 2002 where they only produced half a billion U.S. Dollars in the technology sector. This says a lot about how MMOG’s have evolved and become a staple in Internet culture.

The beginnings of MMOGs started with text-based spaces wherein people would gather to chat and find commonalities or become something other than what they were in real life. Today, the basic premise of the MMOGs are the same, they have just evolved to look more like the real world but with the capability of assuming characteristics of human imagination. People will often assume personality traits or characteristics which they do not possess in real life and spend their time immersed for hours discussing with others.

However, in addition to technology advances in MMOGs, they have raised several other new issues as well, such as internet-or cyberspace crimes done in character by subscribers, public versus private domain and even the extent of protection provided to the virutual world by the First Amendment. I think that it is ironic that the same people who tend to utilize MMOGs, in whatever capacity, are usually looking for some imagined reality wherein they can change their personality to something that they create and control however, at the same time those people who want to participate in their imagined world also want to incorporate reality based ideas of First Amendment protection, the idea of private property and space, politics into their space. Don’t some of these defeat the purpose of leading a double life in spaces like Simm City because you are actually grounding you true beliefs from your expericences in reality into your created character? I think for now I’ll just remain in reality, it’s more than entertaining enough for me at any given time!

The Pros and Cons about online game playing

2005-02-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

Pros:
*something to do for your spare time
*experience
*cooperation
-people ask you if they can train you, etc
*fun
*plenty of area to explore and mobs that can be taken on by yourself*vivid and colorful environments.*lots of detail in the world and characters*tons of cool loot*all of the classes can hold their own, but each still have a specific role with groups*large community
*low cost reproduction, maintenance, and distribution
*free downloads
*can make friends through chat rooms

Cons:
* Ten Reasons You Don't Want to Run a Massively Multiplayer Online Game
*people spend too much time online instead of being active in the real world
*people will spend 20-50 hours/week playing online games
*using MOOs or MUDs to escape from reality
*possibility of losing friends, social contracts, communication skills
*frustration when learning some of the skill because they are so complex
*easily to become hooked
*miss out what life is like
*online games are not portable
*may not allow users view both system and document well enough
*not all downloads game are free
*can take a long time to download

A Dirty Word

2005-02-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

For the past few months…well since the beginning of the school year, thefacebook has been just another dirty word (my opinion) to add to our ever-widening pop-culture dialect. To me it has been just another Internet ploy I have tried to avoid (successfully I might add, until this class) and another nuisance reminding me about the interconnectedness of everyone through the Internet. Despite these inconveniences however, the real reason I have neglected to join thefacebook is simply because I don’t feel the need to validate myself, or my friendships, by confirmation or rejection.
When I first heard about thefacebook I was actually going to join since it seemed like a safe alternative to chatting in rooms with anonymous strangers (which I only did once when I was 13 and had a very BAD experience) or instant messaging, which I’ve tried. Since I can’t multi-task with screens popping up though, I tend to get angry at people who IM me, so for the sake of our friendship, I stopped.
Anyway, it was around the time that my friends started their profiles on thefacebook that I learned how you could accept and reject friendship from people and that there were several contests to see how many people you could get to become your friend. When I discovered this, I was instantly reminded of high school and couldn’t believe that so many people, including my own friends, still felt the need for validation or felt so insecure about themselves in college that they needed the ego-boost.
Simultaneously, however, being a journalism major I felt compelled to find out what it was all about and had planned over Christmas break to join and do research on thefacebook in order to come back to school and interview my friends about the benefits, draw backs and self-esteem issues thefacebook produced. However, over break or shortly thereafter the Seattle Times did an article on thefacebook, so I just read about it.
Now that I have joined it for class, I can see that some of the benefits are worthwhile, I was able to connect with people from high school, many of whom I haven’t talked to since graduation and I can keep in touch with girls from my sorority as well as people that I have had in classes. However, I still don’t understand why anyone would feel compelled to ask someone to accept them as a friend? I feel like its very degrading, especially if you have a current relationship with those people.

The new trend

2005-02-09T18:28:00.000-08:00

When people are at college, many want to build some sort of a social network. Someone did just that and created Facebook, the newest thing, the newest trend, the newest drug. Everyone is on this network and all you need is a college email address to sign up.

About a few months ago, I noticed that many of my friends were using this network and was constantly updating their profile. Then I started to notice that people in my classes were on this network as well. I always wondered why everyone was on this Facebook, I thought they were all crazy. They would spend so much time on Facebook and I had no clue why. Until, about a week ago, I finally gave in and signed up myself. Boy! Did I get hooked, I am on this thing like everyday it is so interesting.

I have made contact with so many people from high school that I thought would never speak to ever again in my life. This network is a very smart creation and I am glad that there are computer guys who can create stuff like this.

In class, we did an exercise with Facebook. The exercise made me realize a few things. I noticed that there are 4 main types of pictures on Facebook.
1-sexy pics, 2- casual with friends, 3-celeb pics, 4-catchy pics
Throughout many profiles, they are generally the same. I could find out people's favorite movies, their interests, class that there taking, what school their attending, and so on. What is unique about this is that I found many profiles with their addresses and phone numbers which I felt was pretty shocking since many can access the network if you have a valid college email address.

For the most part, my profile looks like every other profile but I don't have any personal info like phone number or home address. If a family member or employer somehow had access to this site, I would be fine with them viewing my profile. The things that I do provide are the truth about me and I believe that majority of what others present on their profiles are for the most part accurate about themselves. Of course, you get a few who give completely false info on their profile. Here is the link to Facebook, if you don't have an account with them yet then get one "everyone's doing it!"

Losing yourself in a game...

2005-02-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

While I can understand the novelty of playing some of the games that we discussed in class, I'm still blown away when I hear that people spent so many hours playing them. I guess it's a form of escapism to create a character than can serve as a sort of alter ego but I don't understand the absurb amount of time people put into this. For example, the screen shot we saw of the people playing The Sims. I can see why it would be fun/funny to be a part of the group that was putting on the fake tv show but the group of people that had their characters just sitting and watching other people seemed strange to me.

I can't think of any specific examples but I know I have played some games where you create a character but I always find it far more entertaining to make the character look as much like me as possible. I noticed Adrienne's character looked fairly similar to her as well. I guess if I'm going to be pretending I'm off on some grand adventure I'd rather it seemed like I was actually there.

However, I do know a few people who spend a large chunk of their time playing these games so I think I'll recommend the Everquest widows group to their significant others.

more on the facebook

2005-02-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

It seems like the majority of people in our class are concerned with security issues (understandably) and what future employers might construe based on profiles, pictures, and walls. What concerns me more is what my mom would think if she saw my profile. Granted, she doesn't have access to theFacebook, but I can just picture her looking over my sister's shoulder (she's in college, too) while she is on theFacebook and innocently asking to see my profile. The picture isn't bad and it's not as though I have my home address, cell phone number, etc. listed so my mom wouldn't freak out about that.

However, my number one favorite interest is listed as "drunk karaoke." I could probably tame it down to a simple "karaoke" and most people would know what I'm talking about because, well, who sings to a bunch of strangers when they are sober?! Then I have "picking up sketchy dudes at sketchy bars." It's a joke about a couple times I've been out and met some interesting people, but I don't think I want my mom to know that. On top of my interests, there are the clubs I'm in. I've tried to avoid ones that imply I'm a lush but I still have a few that suggest otherwise. They also make me look really lazy, too, which isn't exactly the image I want my mom to have considering she's the one who's footing my tuition bill.

Obviously, we aren't creating profiles for our parents to look at. And that's great because I think it allows people to be more open about their interests and their personalities, but I think sometimes we go a little over the top in an attempt to protray a certain image about ourselves. Maybe every once in a while, it'd be worthwhile to consider the reactions of the people who shouldn't see our profiles.

Online games

2005-02-09T13:29:00.000-08:00

Today in class we talked about mmos, online virtual games. What is it with these games? I personally do not understand it but I guess I could see why people would play them.

On the lecture slides there was a picture of a little boy in a wheel chair and he played a character of full machinery. Although this character is fantasy in the little boy's mind he is real. He walks, and looks a certain way that in reality the little boy cannot do.

This is interesting to me that there are other people who play these online games religiously. I mean don't take me wrong it is fun to play video games because I have like every single game system that has been made such as, X-box, Gamecube, Playstation 1 & 2, Dreamcast, Super Nintendo, and of course old school Nintendo.

I think that virtual online games are cool but I just think that a person should not play it every single minute of everyday. I think these online games are a good way to help build networks and meet other people but come on people get out of your chair and away from your computer and do something in the real world like sports, shopping, talking to the opposite sex, and so on. Again, I am not saying don't play these online games, I am just saying to play for a few hours not the whole day.

I believe that everyone should take a break from "reality" and have some fun and place their minds into a "fantasy" world but only to a certain extent. I found a website where if you want you can play games online without downloading anything: games

The Facebook, Another Opinion

2005-02-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

In general, I tend to avoid trends or at least tend to be a late bloomer in those regards. For instance you won't see me wearing Uggs and a mini-skirt anytime soon. But with The Facebook I was a surprisingly early member. A friend had told me about it over the summer, so when it first popped up at UW I anxiously joined and have ever since, enjoyed my membership.
As we discussed in class the other day, what makes facebook unique is its closed membership to college students/alumni. From day one, knowing this I truly did feel more comfortable with putting up information like where I work, my aim screen name, my hobbies, etc. The picture that I posted went up because it displayed me in a good, albeit sexy light, that I knew my parents would not see. Now my only concern is that teachers may look me up and judge me by it, but so be it.
One of the things that I love about facebook is how you can reconnect with old friends or make new ones. One day my friends and I had the brilliant idea to ask college athletes to be my friend and now I am friends with most of the Stanford baseball team as well as some big names in college hoops and the olympics. It's pathetic, I know, but being a sports fan it gives me the chance to check up on my favorite athletes and message them with praise or game reports.
My friends joke that I'm the most likely person to get married to someone I've met over the internet. No worries there, that won't be happening anytime soon. But the relationships that I have developed over the facebook are fun and enjoyable, nothing more.
I really have only one complaints. It is so addictive that I find myself checking my profile multiple times each day. I have a theory that once the novelty goes away, people will just not care about it anymore. Once that happens, will depression ensue? For someone who is addicted, I don't like thinking that someone may decide they don't like me, and will stop being my friend. Or that I will stop getting any more messages. Not that it will ruin my life, but withdrawl seems like a possibility.
We should all have accounts already set up. Get your friends to join too, even the ones who think that it is stupid. What's so dumb about having something notify you of a friends birthday or that gives you the chance to rekindle old friendships?

Facebook

2005-02-09T08:26:00.000-08:00

The exercise we did in class for the facebook was really interesting. I had already had a profile on the site with probably some of the least personal information listed compared to a lot of my friends. I can't believe that some of the people on the facebook list their home addresses! That is just asking for trouble, if you ask me. Irva, who was working with my grounp, said she heard it only costs $21 to obtain someone's social security number online from just their birth date! Even if that isn't true I quickly changed my profile to only include my birthday month, rather than the entire thing.

I know people feel safe listing their personal information because only UW affiliated people can view it, but just think for a minute- Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a student at UW for several years! I don't think everyone at our school should be considered "safe" just because they walk the campus with us. Maybe it would be in the best interest of the facebook to put a disclaimer on their website, reminding students that while the information they post is somewhat restricted to people affiliated with their school, it is still on the public Internet which can potentially be accessed by anyone. Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but personally I think it's creepy to know some psycho can locate me and my friends through a seemingly harmless facebook profile.

making it work

2005-02-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

I thought the midterm was a very interesting exercise into using what we learned in class in real settings. Though I thought the beginning essay questions helped us establish what we had learned in class, I really enjoyed the more practical qusetions with regards to searching on Google and designing the webpage. I liked the Google question because it had a very real feel. Though I normally only rely on library sources such as Proquest and LexisNexis, I was impressed at the calibur or resources you can find on Google. I feel that Google has come a long way in the line of search engines and can be a very powerful tool in doing research on the internet.

The webdesign section of the exam I found to be the most time consuming and frustrating. Although I was proud of my end result, I feel that hand-developed HTML is not for me. Finding directions on how to develop the code was easy to find online, it was understanding those directions that I found difficult. Even the coding 101 stuff was very difficult for me to understand. I eventually got the hang of it by looking at other source codes from other websites. By dissecting each line of code slowly and applying it to my own page, I was eventaully able to understand and put together something that had a small resemblence to what we were supposed to have. The most frustrating thing I found with the code was doing cascading style sheets. While I was able to determine Verdana as the font for my page, figuring out how to do font size was another issue. Hard as I tried, and as many sources as I looked at, I was still unable to fix this problem by the time I emailed my exam in. For my final project I will most likely be using Microsoft FrontPage or Dreamweaver to produce my site as it is faster to use and more visual to understand.

haven't seen you in awhile!

2005-02-08T23:03:00.000-08:00

I thought our introduction to thefacebook was a really interesting way of showing us how networks connect people. For me, I have been a subscriber to Friendster for over a year. I found Friendster to be a great site because it allowed me to connect with my close friends from Singapore, my home town. My friends are all over the world from Singapore to New York, to France and Britain, and everywhere inbetween! I found friendster to be a great site because we were all able to connect to each other just like we had when we were all living in Singapore. In addition, there were smaller social networks within Friendster, such as the one that represented my high school. I love how I can see how everyone I remember from high school is doing today, and it feels like a great way to keep the people in my life from Singapore with me.

What I thought was greet about thefacebook comapred to Friendster was that people seemed to divulge more information. While on Friendster, people provided much information about who they were, the information they provided on thefacebook was much more detailed, and much more frank! I think this is due to to those using the network feeling like it is more of a closed forum for interaction versus friendster. I was surprised to find how much personal information such as phone numbers and addresses that people would post! One of the things I found amazing was that only about an hour after I had posted my profile, a boy from my year in Singapore found me and asked to connect to me. The speed in which he found me on the system and wanted to connect with me was surprising! It just further shows the strength and possibilities of this technology.

Only in America

2005-02-08T20:01:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about writing this blog. I wanted to write about my shock over the amount of personal information that people put into their Facebook profiles. But that was before I sat down to do some more research for my discussion group on Activism/Artivism.
I was checking out web sites with videos to find something really interesting to show the class when I came upon a site called "Guerrilla News Network" http://www.gnn.tv/ . Clicking around the pages I noticed a small link to "create your own profile/blog" and I thought "They have got to be kidding!" What self preserving activist/anarchist/artivist/(insert any other "ist" here) would be crazy enough to set up a profile on a guerrila web site? This is probably the FBI's home page so they can monitor it 24/7. I'll bet every PC at the CIA has this site on their desktop. Or, more in the style of my paranoia, it is probably run covertly by Homeland Security. I was stressing just being a visitor, you know, cookies and all. I figured that THEY could probably trace me and already had me on some list back at headquarters.
But these folks really do have profiles....with pictures, well some of them are real pictures, some look like police artist renderings, and some like mug shots. Don't let anyone say these folks don't have a sense of humor. http://gnn.tv/users/ . Their names are even scarier. This is like a domestic terrorist clearing house. A chat room for misogynists. Well, like my immigrant husband says, "Only in America!"

People who have changed since high school

2005-02-08T10:33:00.000-08:00

Today in communication 301 class, we did an activity on thefacebook.com. We were asked to find some type of similarities and differences that we noticed between our profile and other UW students. Instead of finding the similar and differences between my friends, I decided to do it with the people in my high school under my high school search. After reading a couple of profiles of people that I knew really well in high school, I found some of their profile completely BS. It was so obvious that they wanted to impress others and act so cool because they’re in college now. It didn’t even sounded like them like how I knew them from high school, but there’s been a saying that college changes everything. On the other hand I found some interesting to see what they have become as soon they enter freedom, a.k.a. away from the parents.

I came across one girl’s profile from my high school that was a year younger than me and found her profile shocking. She was always a straight A student, a sweetheart, a good girl who doesn’t drink or do drugs, and always seen on the bleachers supporting every sport at school, but in her profile, she had a picture of herself looking drunk and holding a beer can. For her interest, she wrote down drinking and shacking, and had “UW drinking team” and “I love to drunk-dial” in her group. I was really stunned to see how much she has changed, even though she’s only a sophomore now. It almost looked like she’s been waiting to come out of a shell for awhile. But at least she’s enjoying college and having the time of her life.

Its not me!

2005-02-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

Well, since the topic is the face book, I decided to take a really close look at my own and compare it to some of the points made in class today. My first look is at how my picture would portray me to others looking at my profile. If any of you have seen it (and I know a couple of you have), you would have seen me being a little bit of a lush or partier...I am not really embarrassed about the picture because I would have not put it up if I was, but a point made today, what if a future employer found my name? That would definitely not be the image I want him/her to think of me when they think back to our interview. Though the event happened (obviously because I have a picture to prove it), I would not consider this an often recurring act in my life. It was just a snap shot of a one second event but may cause people looking at it to see me in a different way for the rest of the time that they know me.

When I looked at my bio in my profile, I was happy to see that it was a lot more consistent with my everyday behavior rather than one occasion. When reading my profile you would hopefully see that I'm pretty laid back and a little on the goofy side (ok, so maybe a lot on the goofy side). I am some what sarcastic if you know me, but that doesn't come off like that in my bio. This is good because its hard to distinguish sometimes when people are serious are not when you are not talking to them face to face.

One last point I wanted to talk about was on the reading and the struggle that I have about us as "actors" and if we are really just putting on different masks in a given situation. This means that you necessarily wouldn't being showing your true self all the time just because you feel that you have to act a certain way to gain acceptance in a situation. OR, are we made up of a lot of different selves (that are truly us) and we just use part of who we are in a given situation. I think that Goffman hints towards the first idea of wearing different masks. For example acting like others around you to fit in. This wouldn't be your real self but mocking the actions of others. I don't think there will ever be a concrete answer to which one of these is true since both have strong sides to them but still interesting to hear what others think on the subject.

the romanian song

2005-02-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

Here's the song I was talking about, it's not the real video, but it' pretty funny. The real name of the song is DRAGOSTEA DIN TEI. Enjoy.

the romanian song

2005-02-02T14:49:00.000-08:00

K, this isn't a link to the actual video, but it is pretty funny and it has the song. http://www.orapois.com/br/arquivos/01122005120941567g.swf
The song is actually called DRAGOSTEA DIN TEI.

Political Blogs

2005-02-02T12:12:00.001-08:00

Cnn.com has a great article on the advancing world of blogging. According to Technorati, a new blog is created every 7.4 seconds!! The article focuses on the instant feedback that blogs are giving especially with politics in the U.S. (such as with analyzing presidential speeches). The article raises the argument that possibly blogs are the new form of media and that they are more popular and powerful than ever. Despite rising popularity, blogs are still limited to a certain demographic of Americans, apparently "62 percent of online Americans don't know what the word 'blog' means"...

Here's the article: http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/02/union.blog/index.html

Political Blogs

2005-02-02T12:12:00.000-08:00