In 2009, I was visiting friends in Florida when Hurricane Wilma hit. I took many videos on my camera of action during the hurricane and of the damage the hurricane caused. I had recently written a song using Reason. Reason is a music software that gives you a virtual copy of instruments that would regularly costs thousands of dollars. I decided to make a video and found that the mood of this song would be very fitting to the situation that just happened. I used Microsoft Movie Maker to join my song and the videos I had and edited away. What came out of it was this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lya7-pdR3f8
I hope you enjoy.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
CREATIVITY
The definition of creativity is the use of the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work. New media definitely fosters creativity and we can see this in the article "The New Math of Mashups" by Sasha Frere-Jones. This article talks about DJ Reset who combines two types of songs that most people would not even think of trying to combine. In the past people did not have the technology to store or access files as easily as we can today. In today's world we have access to just about any song we want, and access to software which can edit and alter those songs. DJ Reset combined a song by Beck and Jay-Z/Pharell which kind of breaks through to a new style of music. This is the perfect example of computer music in a post-modern music world. Without new media, someone might have had the idea to create this type of music but they would not have had the tools to actually get it done.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds
Virtual worlds are such an interesting invention. Technically the idea of virtual worlds has always existed in the minds of the people, it is just through technology that this idea became a 'reality'. There are many ways virtual worlds can be used such as for gaming purposes, personal matchmaking, meeting places for businesses and even a virtual environment to help people train for real life scenarios.
As with everything else, there are pros and cons to virtual worlds. Some of the pros include two scenarios where soldiers can be trained and experience possible battlefield scenarios as seen in the article "After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot" by Diane Mehta. In the article "The Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, nurses use virtual worlds to help them make decisions quickly during an operation. Another pro is that people who are shy and are afraid to express themselves or simply don't know how to, can join something like the Second Life, and meet people. They can finally leave the comfort of their own home without actually leaving it. This allows people to 'live' instead of wither away in their home.
Of course there are also cons to virtual worlds. For my last statement regarding a pro of virtual worlds, it is also a con. While it is nice to not have to leave your home and be comfortable, this should only be used as a starting point. There is only so much to be gained through a virtual world, you still have to live in the real world whether you like it or not. Getting used to living in a virtual world can actually be more damaging in the long run as you can get so used to it that you really find no reason to try and adapt to reality.
Virtual worlds foster creativity because they allow one to express themselves more freely. They have to worry less about people directly laughing at them, they can only get laughed at virtually. Virtual worlds also allow people in far away lands to communicate and collaborate more easily. This alone will bring forth a much more creative experience whether is be in something like composition of music, political ideas or even just everyday conversation.
As with everything else, there are pros and cons to virtual worlds. Some of the pros include two scenarios where soldiers can be trained and experience possible battlefield scenarios as seen in the article "After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot" by Diane Mehta. In the article "The Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, nurses use virtual worlds to help them make decisions quickly during an operation. Another pro is that people who are shy and are afraid to express themselves or simply don't know how to, can join something like the Second Life, and meet people. They can finally leave the comfort of their own home without actually leaving it. This allows people to 'live' instead of wither away in their home.
Of course there are also cons to virtual worlds. For my last statement regarding a pro of virtual worlds, it is also a con. While it is nice to not have to leave your home and be comfortable, this should only be used as a starting point. There is only so much to be gained through a virtual world, you still have to live in the real world whether you like it or not. Getting used to living in a virtual world can actually be more damaging in the long run as you can get so used to it that you really find no reason to try and adapt to reality.
Virtual worlds foster creativity because they allow one to express themselves more freely. They have to worry less about people directly laughing at them, they can only get laughed at virtually. Virtual worlds also allow people in far away lands to communicate and collaborate more easily. This alone will bring forth a much more creative experience whether is be in something like composition of music, political ideas or even just everyday conversation.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Blog About Twitter
I actually love the idea of a Twitter discussion compared to both a blackboard and in-class discussion. I believe in the notion of KISS, keep it simple stupid. Twitter forces you to get to the point with it's limit of 140 characters per post. Between the hash tag and @ to reply to someone, you are left with less actually. I believe what tends to happen in blackboard discussions is that people tend to think their response is not long enough and start filling it with air to make it longer and 'acceptable'. This takes away from the genuine of an opinion or answer.
The difference between a Twitter discussion and an in-class discussion is that not everyone expresses themselves very easily. Some people stutter, some people are just shy. Twitter helps relieve those feelings by giving you some time to construct your thought. You cannot delete your words but you can delete characters you typed before you click post.
The difference between a Twitter discussion and an in-class discussion is that not everyone expresses themselves very easily. Some people stutter, some people are just shy. Twitter helps relieve those feelings by giving you some time to construct your thought. You cannot delete your words but you can delete characters you typed before you click post.
Social Networking Sites
Myspace, Facebook, Twitter & Pintrest. It is a timeline of the history of social media sites. The first one on the list is all but dead. Held together by loyalty and pages for musicians. I was a member at one point, but it has probably been about 4-5 years since I last participated in Myspace.
Next on the list is Facebook, an updated version of Myspace that took the world by storm. I was once part of that storm. I am no longer. It seemed as though all of the people I became back in touch with just made me realize why I wasn't in touch with them in the first place. No want to share my life with 'strangers'. My girlfriend and I kicked the habit on the same day about 2-3 years ago and we have not missed it a bit. I catch her on there once in a while just browsing but that is all it is really good for, to 'catch up' on things.
Third comes Twitter, the newest phenomenon of them all. I had never really ventured into the world of Twitter as I gave up on social media after kicking the habit of Facebook. I do have to say I believe far more in the future of Twitter than Facebook. It is simpler and more to the point. I believe it's use in business is far better than using Facebook for business. You can get to the point right away and attach a trend to it so it can be easily found. With Facebook you must recruit people before you can market to them (other than paid for ads), with Twitter it is much easier to reach people you don't know about yet.
Pintrest is a newer form of social media that let's people share their thought and likes via pictures, not words. This can have a greater effect because words need to be understood, pictures can be a lot more direct. As a business you can take advantage of this by seeing trends and basing your products on those trends.
Next on the list is Facebook, an updated version of Myspace that took the world by storm. I was once part of that storm. I am no longer. It seemed as though all of the people I became back in touch with just made me realize why I wasn't in touch with them in the first place. No want to share my life with 'strangers'. My girlfriend and I kicked the habit on the same day about 2-3 years ago and we have not missed it a bit. I catch her on there once in a while just browsing but that is all it is really good for, to 'catch up' on things.
Third comes Twitter, the newest phenomenon of them all. I had never really ventured into the world of Twitter as I gave up on social media after kicking the habit of Facebook. I do have to say I believe far more in the future of Twitter than Facebook. It is simpler and more to the point. I believe it's use in business is far better than using Facebook for business. You can get to the point right away and attach a trend to it so it can be easily found. With Facebook you must recruit people before you can market to them (other than paid for ads), with Twitter it is much easier to reach people you don't know about yet.
Pintrest is a newer form of social media that let's people share their thought and likes via pictures, not words. This can have a greater effect because words need to be understood, pictures can be a lot more direct. As a business you can take advantage of this by seeing trends and basing your products on those trends.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Social Net'g
Social Networking is a very interesting phenomenon. It has opened up the exposure one can get for themselves or their business to new heights. It seems as though someone can advertise their thoughts or products within minutes. While a business might choose to do this as a paid service to get "better" exposure, with enough followers on Twitter or Facebook, one can get their message across for free. In the article "Why is Nissan Mimicking Myspace" by Kenji Hall, Nissan is using social networking within their company to help employees communicate easier with fellow employees around the world, helping to get things done quicker and more efficiently, without the hold up of getting approval from bosses who have to get approval from bosses.
The way I see it, there is a dark side to everything. Technology can be wonderful if it is used in a positive light. Social networking can very easily have a dark side. In the article "Is Myspace Good For Society" by Stephen J. Dubner, Steve Chazin says it best:
"I believe social networking technology has changed our lives for the better, but at a cost. Social networking tools have made it nearly effortless for me to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. I can know what’s on their minds (MySpace), who else they know (Facebook/LinkedIn), and even what they are doing at this very moment (Twitter). On the other hand, I’m not sure I need to know any of that."
I believe that social networking can be a great thing but can also take away something essential to a peaceful mind, that is privacy. I do not want someone to know that I just "checked in" to McDonalds, nor am I sure why someone would want anyone to know this. It leads me to believe that maybe social networking is dictating how people should act. It seems that the majority of people who use social networking on a day to day basis are trying to be a new sort of "cool" which takes away another important trait in human beings, genuineness.
The way I see it, there is a dark side to everything. Technology can be wonderful if it is used in a positive light. Social networking can very easily have a dark side. In the article "Is Myspace Good For Society" by Stephen J. Dubner, Steve Chazin says it best:
"I believe social networking technology has changed our lives for the better, but at a cost. Social networking tools have made it nearly effortless for me to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. I can know what’s on their minds (MySpace), who else they know (Facebook/LinkedIn), and even what they are doing at this very moment (Twitter). On the other hand, I’m not sure I need to know any of that."
I believe that social networking can be a great thing but can also take away something essential to a peaceful mind, that is privacy. I do not want someone to know that I just "checked in" to McDonalds, nor am I sure why someone would want anyone to know this. It leads me to believe that maybe social networking is dictating how people should act. It seems that the majority of people who use social networking on a day to day basis are trying to be a new sort of "cool" which takes away another important trait in human beings, genuineness.
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