Scott Haberman's Blog Site

2004-03-09T14:47:00.000-08:00

Today's presentations included Piracy, Safety of the internet, Internet scams, mobile phone culture and of course, Halo. Even though I wrote about video games last week, I'm going to chat about them again. The reason I want to discuss Halo is because I was addicted to it last year and still play it very often. I've never played any game more than Halo throughout the years of my video game entertainment, and that says a lot. Halo is a great game to play with your friends which is the main reason I play it. I can get lost in the game for hours with all my friends having fun and talking sh** with them, just like playing basketball outside. It may not be physical as other sports but video games such as Halo give you great "bonding" time with your peers. So those are my thoughts regarding halo and how it is involved in my life. These posts about presentations are not that long compared to my other blogs but that is because a lot of this is just regurgitation of other blogs earlier this year and I don't want to say the same thing over and over again.

2004-03-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

Alright, I finished my paper last night and chose topic #2 about the internet being transitioned from us thinking it brings us more freedom, but realistically is another way for us to be controlled. It all starts with junk-email, spam, pop-ups, viruses, etc. which are all methods that are desensitizing us to the freedom being taken away from our lives. I don't want to go into too much detail because someone could copy my same idea and use the same argument.

So basically I agree with the statement that we are being transitioned from freedom to control at this moment in time, but will not notice it for many years to come. Anyways, time for accounting and then I will get back on next week after presentations on Tuesday.

2004-03-04T18:15:00.000-08:00

Alright, time to blog about more presentations. I'm limiting my blogs for presentations to the winner of the day (by my decision of course), the group who did video games. Ok, I just got done watching the guy beat Super Mario Brothers 3 in 11 minutes, that is completely amazing. When me and my sister played that back in elementary school, I remember it taking at least a couple weeks for us to beat the whole game while playing it at least a couple hours a day. Anyways, video games do play a huge role in our lives these days no matter what anybody says. Every single person I know has played video games and have experienced them sometime in their life.

Many of my friends will play video games from after school, say around 3pm till 2am straight. I don't understand this addiction but it is a good way to get away from your normal life. Whenever I play games it is to relax and forget all the school I had that day. Since I talked about video games earlier in my blogs I'm not going to get too analytical in this one. Also when the other presenter went on about Halo. That is the coolest game of all time. My friends and I played that every day last year for at least four hours a day. The most addicting game ever, but it is really fun. It was also interesting to see what people do to games like attach a sound to a video in the game, that was rather hilarious. Anyways, that's my blog on the winner today. This weekend I will be writing my paper to finish up the class so hopefully that will go well and be painless. Until next time....

2004-03-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

Lecture has reached it's end after eight weeks and now it is time for two weeks of presentations. Yesterday our group presented on Motion Pictures and Copyright infringement. It was a rather successful presentation thanks especially to Derek, who was flawless in the design of our website. The other three topics were Online Gambling, Existence of Race in Cyberspace, and File Sharing & MP3's.

The topic that most interested me is Online Gambling. This is mostly in part because I think it is a huge hoax and anyone who plays it are the most gullible people in the world. How can you think you are being dealt fair hands or given unbiased odds when you are playing against a computer program made by a human being. This idea is ridiculous because there is no 100% guarantee you are given a fair chance which is why I would never put my money in this. I barely ever gamble, probably only going twice in my life. So I would not start now with a skeptical online gambling website. Just my thoughts though. The other two presentations were interesting but I thought online gambling sites needed to be addressed more promptly. Until next time...

2004-02-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, before I start, I just wanted to let out some shocking news I heard from a friend today. My high school basketball coach just resigned and I could never be more surprised. This guy was one of the most inspirational people I have ever known and played a huge role in my life senior year in high school. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Alright, today's topic of "Smart Mobs" and Mobile Computer was actually interesting to me even though Professor Shaviro didn't think people cared about it. I thought it was more relevant than some of the topics earlier this quarter. Alright well cell phones and their abilities these days are amazing. First of all there are cameras, internet and other new capabilities being integrated into phones. I think cameras are a great idea because, say for example you get into a car accident and you need to get proof of the damage. Well all you have to do is turn on your phone and take a picture then send it to your email account over the internet already on the phone. The technology these days is amazing and it is increasing our efficiency and amount of time we have to do other things in our daily lives.

So cell phones and how annoying they can actually be are just new extensions of our abilities, just like the printing press was one day, the telephone, etc. We will become more advanced and we will respond by using these new extensions and will improve the quality of our life. So I'm a little depressed about the above news so I'm gonna do some reflecting and get back on this blog next week. Until then....

2004-02-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

Today's topics actually sparked my interest the most out of all other days this past quarter. The main reason for this is because I've been playing Computer Games almost my whole life. When I was about five, Nintendo first came out with Duckhunt and SuperMarioBros. My sister and I quickly became addicted. As the years rolled on, the games' quality rose along with the increase in use around my neighborhood. I feel all computer games are art because a game is an expression of many designers who created the game and it is constructed with beautiful graphics of art. But as games and systems(consoles) become more and more common, it seems as though people are being desensitized to the games' message.

One example is the army game released by the United States Army which is available at no cost and is a 1st person shooting/fighting game that you can play by yourself or live online with people around the world. This is genius by the government because they are using a tool for recruiting that almost every young male (and sometimes females) uses for fun almost every day of their life. This game by army could inspire many people to want to enlist because they may feel what they're playing is "pretty cool" and the real thing might be even better. It can be argued whether this is "wrong" or "right" by societies standards but I just think it is another channel for the army to recruit.

This example shows that video games can play a huge role in our lives even if we don't recognize it. Some people may play video games for 100 hours a week and some may only play two. But the point is, video games are art and can be used for many different reasons.

2004-02-19T15:19:00.000-08:00

Digital Art

Alright, I'm starting right off the bat. I think something is porn if it involves real pictures or videos of people having sex. The naked body is an amazing thing and can be seen as true art, but two people having sex is an intimate thing and should be private. Anything published is porn and whoever thinks differently I would definitely make a strong argument. What is the point of putting this crap online except for perverts or for someone just trying to get themselves off. I just think it is bs that this girl thinks what she is doing is art. She's just a bored person that has nothing else better to do with her life, just like hackers who think their stupid crap is art also. Go outside and take pictures of trees or draw a picture of a dog, and no, not a naked dog. Ok, just a little sarcasm that had to get out.

And now to the Mozilla Firefox, I have a headache from trying to think about what the heck this is. It's not that great of a program and I have no idea what the message they are trying to get across. I don't think my blog today is because I'm tired or angry, the material from this lecture just doesn't make any sense to me and wouldn't be surprised if I wasn't alone. So that's about it for this blog since my interest has left the building.

So if you want to ask me what art is, I'll tell you it is your expressions of your life, not pictures of other people having sex no matter how you argue it.

2004-02-17T15:42:00.000-08:00

Today's topic, Hypertext and Digital Aesthetics, didn't really catch my interest compared to other topics covered previously in this course. The only part of the topic that really interests me is the difference between getting information/reading off of different sources such as newspapers, internet, books, etc. Personally I enjoy both, but when it comes to trusting a source, currently I feel the printed editions such as newspapers and books are more unbiased and credible than a website which anyone can produce rather easily. There is so much news and opinions online these days, more and more are becoming that much less credible and believable.

As newspaper and most written sources are said to be linear reading down the same path and not choosing from a database of information, I think it is easier to understand and follow. In contrast, websites and some written sources are more pick and choose, follow your own path that you create. Basically I enjoy picking and choosing when I'm either searching for something or looking for a specific topic. But I only read in a linear fashion when I need to be lead by the author to learn something or enjoy a good book.

But I don't think hypertext is so great these days because the reason for reading a book is getting away from society and life and enjoying the fantasy of another world/life. This is why I would never read something for pleasure online such as a Stephen King book. Quality is not typically decreasing but the ease of accessing information is growing exponentially every year.

2004-02-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

I thought we finished talking about "illegally" downloading stuff from the internet, but I guess I was wrong. Today's topic was Intellectual Property and Copyright. The main discussion was about downloading music from the internet. This can be seen as stealing because you are downloading it for free instead of going to the record store to purchase it. Like I said in my last post, I think this is OK for smaller start up bands trying to spread their music to get know, but for larger groups it sucks because some people are just downloading the music instead of going to the stores to purchase it.

Along with music you can also download games, movies and other programs. I'm a fan of downloading movies because I think it is ridiculous how expensive it is to buy a movie ticket ($9 each). Instead you can sit in the comfort of your own home, download a movie and watch it on your TV. It may not be as high quality as the "real" movie experience but it is still the same movie.

I experienced downloading games in high school where I would go to the computer lab during class and download programs call emulators which would be programs installed on your computer that play Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega and many other games. After you download the emulators, you have download Roms which are the games. It says on the websites you download these from, that you have to delete these programs after a certain amount of hours. This could also be seen as stealing since you do not have to pay money to play these games normally purchased to play on gaming consoles. Anyways, I think internet download is fine so far but may get too out of hand in the future. But the record companies trying to sue people are taking the wrong way to accomplish anything. They should be coming up with more creative ways for people to get their music cheap instead. Until next time....

2004-02-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

Alright, PRIVACY, OWNERSHIP, HACKING, AND SURVEILLANCE, as seen there were many topics covered today. Starting with viruses, computer viruses and human biological viruses have many similarities. In humans, viruses can affect your bodily functions and spread to others. Just like in humans, computer viruses can spread to other computers and the affect the way computers run/function. I do not understand why people would want to harm other peoples' computers but I think it is the same reasoning as vandalism. These antagonists need to be stopped some way and some how which is why they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the damage they do to our computers.

The second topic which are two interrelated topics Surveillance and Ownership. With Kazaa and other music downloading programs, more and more people are downloading their music for free over the internet instead of buying CD's at your local record store. I think this is wrong, even though I do it, because many bands are getting the money they deserve from the purchases of their records. Although it is good for groups in their beginning stage because it helps get their music and name out "there" a lot easier. But now it seems as though we are being watched by record companies that are trying to catch and prosecute people downloading music for free. I think Surveillance by the government is totally fine if it is for our safety because as said in class, I have nothing to hide. But when we are being "watched" for another reason besides safety, that is when the line is crossed and upsets me. So those are my brief thoughts on these topics. Until next time, "that's the way the cookie crumbles."

2004-02-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

OK, back from vacation, now time to blog like no other has blogged before. Back in class on Thursday we chatted about Posthuman dreams. The main topic of discussion was the combination of human and machines which can be good to some extent. In reality we already do combine these two such as us using artificial limbs to perform functions similar to that of our legs and arms and then contact lenses which make us see better. These two examples are fine but when you start combining computer chips into human brains, I think it is going a little too far. The main reason I do not support such ideas is because of my religion. I believe God made us the way we are for a reason and do not think we should change ourselves so drastically to the point it makes us very unnatural. Maybe this can change in the future but I do not think our society will accept these ideas and implementation of these ideas just yet.

The next topic that bothered me mainly because it made no sense at all was downloading your mind to a computer so you can "live forever." How do you live forever if your soul and body is not "there." It is just your memories and experiences on a computer, so how do you plan your backup for your memory to download on a computer. This just does not seem possible EVER. I am sorry to whoever thought of this idea, but it is totally idiotic and will not happen. Your brain is completely different from disk that you can insert into your computer and is not physically possible. Well, anyways, these are my thoughts on last weeks' lecture. I'll be on tomorrow talking about the readings and lectures.

2004-02-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

Virtual Bodies

Wow, I don't think I've been more confused about a discussion than ever before. With virtual reality I think you have more positives than negatives such as training for high risk activities/jobs. One example is a virtual cockpit so someone can learn how to fly in a small room instead of taking the risk of learning up in the air. This way the first time they fly up in the air it will be a much more safe situation. Another example is virtual war simulation. I think any soldier in their right mind would want to learn combat situations first in a live fire virtual game instead of a live fire situation in the woods. Both of these definitely reduce risk and will make our society a much more safer place to live.

Another point raised is whether real or virtual is better? This definitely depends on the situation and the person making the decision regarding to chose a real rafting trip to a video game on your computer. But a situation that definitely favors virtual would be getting over a phobia. I would definitely go virtual skydiving than real, because you know there is no chance for you to get hurt compared to the real thing. But what is real and what is virtual? I think the only thing real in this world are things not influenced by outside sources. We are made up, whether we like it or not, by other sources' (friends, family, tv, etc.) perceptions. We act the way we feel during the day, so if we wake up to a good song on the radio we will most likely feel happy, but if there is a horrible song you hate then you could be in less happy mood. Maybe I'm just blabbling on about nothing. Probably, so I'll sign off for now and will not be on till next week because of a little Blog vacation to San Francisco.

2004-01-31T20:46:00.000-08:00

I just finished my paper and I have no idea if I wrote it correctly or not. The topic I chose was the first one listed in the group, "the Web in fact has not been hyped enough." I totally agree with Weinberger on this statement because we can do so much using today's web and we do not even realize it. Some examples are ordering groceries, talking to friends, email, controlling your finances, working from home, and the laundry list goes on and on. My main arguments were my experiences using the web and how it has affected my life and the way I live. Hopefully it turns out ok, because it took me this whole day and my brain feels like goo. Wow, look at this blog, AMAZING! Great googly moogly, time for accounting: topic tonight is Current Liabilities and Contingencies. Till Tuesday, Haberman is signing off.

2004-01-29T15:31:00.000-08:00

"Living in cyberspace"

There are an infinite number of degrees of people using the internet. People can chat with friends, work, take care of errands, find a life partner, or anything else you can possibly think of. Everyone lives in cyberspace, it's just how much time you actually spend there. I do not think it is healthy for someone to be on the internet for over 12 hours a day unless they are using it for work purposes only. But people that spend their time on the web playing a video game for over an hour is affecting their real life. And by "real life" I mean birds, the sun, the sky, trees, outdoors, people, animals. Not some stupid realistic picture of those on your computer. I'm sorry but it is just sad when someone would rather play a game on their computer, by themselves, instead of going outside or just playing a board game with your friends. Let's be serious, real life is waking up in the morning, enjoying another living day, falling in love and having every experience possible in your life.

Games like Everquest and Sims can take hundreds of hours playing, just think about how you can enjoy your life more: Become more healthy by working out, talking to loved ones, etc. Ok, another thing that really bugs me, the raping in cyberspace. This person is a frickin complete idiot thinking she got raped. Oh my gosh some stupid person, sitting at the comfort of her own home and someone on the other end is controlling her "profile" on a website. Ok here's a recommendation, log off the stupid website and go play with your kids. This world is just getting more and more stupid, I have to let that out. Common sense is no longer existent today. Anyways, I just needed to let all of this out because today's topic really bothered me. Word of advice to everyone in the world playing video games and all the other stuff that is not at all productive: "Go outside, and even go play in the street." It would be healthier than sitting at your screen. Next post will be in regards to the paper I'm writing for this class.

2004-01-27T16:04:00.000-08:00

So I guess I'm not supposed to babble as much anymore, so here's my best. As you know, today's lecture surrounded the community, virtual and "real." I think I have a grasp on what a community can be defined as overall, which is a group connected together by shared interests, responsibilities, desires, geography, hobbies, commonalities. Whenever I think of a community I think of a neighborhood of houses grouped together on a residential block. Each house has a family or persons residing. I think all members of these houses are parts of the community because they all live in the same area and share the same interest because their interest is and was living in the selected area. But there is one exception brought up in class that people such as rapists and pedafiles are not part of the community. I don't believe they fit in the "community" because might try to exclude themselves from everyone else, but everyone else you almost certainly exclude them. This is the only exception I can think of in a residential community. Other communities can be thought of as a school, a team, ethnic groups, and most importantly: friends.

Bringing up the subject of friends involves the cyberspace/virtual community. The main reason I'm on the internet or using email/ instant messenger is to stay in close contact with my friends that I am far away or close to (geographically). I usually filter everything out such as news, sports and other websites because the main reason I use the internet is to talk to my contacts on the internet which can be friends, family, etc. There are many other communities out there though such as message boards that are talking about the "cool" new music group that people can talk about and form friendships and communities with these people that are sharing similar interests.

Anyways, before this lecture the only meaning I had for community was my neighborhood but after listening to everyone talk, I now realize community can be defined in many different methods/ways. This proves my ignorance once again, but I am that much more educated now after reading about communities and listening to Prof. Shaviro's lecture. Talk to you (Mr. Blog) later this week and hopefully more this weekend when I write my paper.

2004-01-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

Thursday's material really brought up a current and debated topic on the internet which is Identity. Sitting there in class listening to what other people had to say sparked a few opinions from me. First of all you can be anybody you want on the internet, such as a 20 year old black female to a 75 year old woman from Italy. I does not matter who you are, where you're from you can have your own identity and description of yourself on the internet. But your identity does not only entail your physical attributes and appearance. Your identity is your personality, who you are, your likes and dislikes, etc. This is why you can be anyone you want on the internet, it just depends on if others believe you in the way you talk to them. But people change everyday, every month and every year and so does their identity from every experience in their lives.

The topic I want to discuss more is having relationships online. Some could believe that creating and building relationships online, including "intimate" relationships could be seen as cheating on your partner. I totally disagree on this one, all you are doing on the computer is typing to someone and that is completely it. Just like talking on one of those 900 numbers, talking to someone on the computer is just a fantasy. Until action is taken and actually meet this person, it is just a fantasy. Meeting in person takes this fantasy too far and is the point when you should know you are doing something wrong or unfaithful. But whatever, I'm just blabbling my opinions off and everyone has their views and beliefs. People should just be careful of what they do on the "net" and always keep their morals in mind before taking action. As I've heard before, "Whenever in doubt, Don't!" Those are my words of wisdom for the day.

Now for my life, my shoulders are in incredible pain from IMA basketball last night after being beat up for an hour. But it's ok, because we came back from a 20 point halftime deficit to win in OT. Now this weekend I have to get my ass in gear, be productive and get my homework done. So I'm sorry but will not be on till Monday or so because of my strenuous midterms coming up next week. I LOVE SCHOOL!!!!!!!

2004-01-20T16:25:00.000-08:00

Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Relief. My two Co-Facilitator dates are now over. Now I can breathe a bit easier at nights. Today's class was a little more clear than the last time I did the Co-Fac (The Medium is the Massage). My notes and what I understood from the readings were almost right on from what Prof. Shaviro was talking about in regards to Globalization and Networks. But I don't want to blabble on about that in this blog since I did that last night. Instead I would rather talk about what he said during the second hour. First the email about the Dell Help line clarified how our world is networked and how we outsource jobs to totally random places around the world. Second, I could not believe people buy items in a video game on eBay, that is just ridiculous. You already spend money for a game, that some people say is a waste of time, then you spend another couple hundred to save time by actually buying items in the game. I completely do not understand this.

I think the part of networking closest to me today would be people networking for a job. Today it is all about who you know. It's not totally about your education and experience it's the people in high places that you are friends with that can get you "there." It pays to be a people person, socialize and get your name out there. With that thought, I need to email some friends. So I'll be back in a couple days after the readings and lecture.

2004-01-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

I'm back once again, I finished all my reading for my second and last Co-Facilitation and do not feel like writing my opinion on what it means. Instead, my notes which are pretty much all my opinions on the readings for this Co-Fac. will be used to explain my thoughts. They are modified from my original notes but they work. So here it is, hopefully someone reads this blog and understands where I'm coming from. I will get back to my beloved blog tomorrow after class when I confirm my thoughts on these articles and do an awesome job as a co-facilitator, or confirm my idiocy and totally blow my last co-facilitator.
What is a network?
A network is an always increasing group of individuals that create and exchange information and ideas. But there are always those that are left out of these networks due to their inability to enter and maintain their status. In our technological age today, many poorer countries are not improving very much because they do not have the resources/money to enter into these networks. As we advance further into the future and as our technology increases, these countries will be advancing at a snailÂs pace if at all. The time it takes to relay information has been drastically decreased due to the internet, as it was discussed in class last week. So these countries are left uneducated or with minimal education while students in nations like ours have the resources and ability to learn much more.

How does it help us (USA) be more productive?
We can relay any information quicker than ever before, spreading our ideas to one another around the world in seconds.

How does the network society affect countries ability in war?
It was said in one of the articles that a country that has advanced technological networks can fight and finish a war in hours/days. This has seen to be amazingly true in Iraq last year. There we planned our strikes and movements of troops over a highly technical network of military personnel. Generals did not have to send out messengers to get their plans to the troops on the battlefields. Instead these soldiers could get their orders the second their instructions were thought up. This has advanced great leaps compared to wars still being fought by such countries around the world that are still fighting their wars years after it began.

What does Globalization mean?
From all of the readings, as there can be many ways for globalization to be defined, I interpret globalization as a nation being able to reach out anywhere in the world, spread information to any person no matter where they are located, influence and create cultures and share ideas.

What is it doing for businesses?
Businesses and corporations can sadly outsource their work and manufacturing plants to other countries around the world which takes away work and the quality of products that could be made here in the US. There they pay their workers very little only to increase the profits for upper-management employees and to avoid the high-level environmental restrictions placed here in the US but not in other developing countries. One positive example of globalization and networks would be in Europe where they created one currency, the Euro, instead of using the many different types that each country had. This improved trading throughout Europe and the world.

Is this a new age surpassing the Modernization age?
This ÂGlobalizationÂ age seems to be increasing so much that our culture has changed enough to be said we are moving out of the Modern age and into a more advanced technological era. While the modern brought the increase in communication and advancement of interactions between groups/nations around the world, Globalization has taken this a step further and has changed our society but not just for the better as said in the previous question along the lines of business. Business/Corporations seem to be the main player in this globalization age which is driving the need for more networks around the world only to countries where they can better themselves.

While the modernization age helped poverty stricken countries grow, is the globalization age helping or hurting it?
Globalization has certainly affected many more countries than the Modern age. But all of this was not for the better, as some countries are now getting worse (more poverty stricken for example) whereas a select few are increasing their standard of living. If a country is left out of the network they will not experience any benefits from globalization.

Is it separating the ÂRichÂ nations from the ÂpoorerÂ nations further and further apart? Or is globalization bringing together nations for the good?
This new age of Globalization is not at all bridging the gap between the ÂrichÂ and ÂpoorÂ nations. Instead countries that do not participate in these networks have to advance their standard of living/lifestyle themselves without the help of ÂrichÂ countries. But even if these countries do participate in this globalization age, and capitalist nations spread and outsource their manufacturing and production to these ÂpoorerÂ countries, they will still not be 100% better off. There usually are little or no environmental regulations so the pollution in these countries gets worse and the workers are paid as little as possible. And as this strengthening of capitalist corporations is occurring throughout the world, the erosion of unique cultures is also happening due to the spreading of our beliefs throughout the world

There was one article I wanted to point out because this was an interview in 2001 and we went to war in Iraq a couple years later and are still trying to rid the country of certain Âenemies.Â

ÂNo one thinks that Iraq is really a threat for the Western world. At the most, it poses a threat as an element of the terrorist network that is part of the new geopolitics, but that is a different kind of war.Â

The Primate Programming website was hilarious but interesting. ItÂs sad but this is probably what the world is coming to, as we only pay people in 3rd world countries to work for $1 per day if theyÂre lucky.

The Remote Labor System website is a great idea because it can keep products made in USA become cheaper and will help to influence business using third world country to manufacture their products here in America.

In a capitalist country like ours globalization and networking increases the decentralizing of labor and production to other countries around the world, specifically third world countries. There we can hire labor for very cheap and manufacture products with little or no environmental restrictions. These jobs may seem great for the workers, but from our view they are still poverty stricken with corporations only paying these workers, say one dollar a day.

Well, there it is, hopefully it made sense to whoever reads this and I will talk to you Mr. Blog again tomorrow after my fun day of class.

2004-01-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

Ugghhh, Another 6 1/2 hour day over, but that means the weekend has begun. So after the readings and today's lecture, it is nice to reflect on how the internet, cyberspace affect society and raise up many opinions and thoughts about it. I enjoyed listening to all the info today in class and the readings but there was a good point that was raised, how you do not realize how big of a role the internet plays in your life until you lose it. Think about this concerning the internet and media. I'm sitting here on my couch with my laptop connected to the internet, watching TV and listening to music. It's incredible how much we can do these days just sitting on the couch. But even more amazing is what you can do on the "net," for example, instant messaging your friends and family, emailing anyone in the world, checking updates on news, stocks, sports scores, ordering groceries, TV's, computers. It can make us more productive due to it's convenience. I don't think cyberspace could ever take over other forms of media, because we need those normalcy things such as the newspaper, or regular TV to keep us "human/sane." But maybe that's what they thought back when the radio was invented, who knows.

Cyberspace is an endless phenomena because people can keep putting more and more "stuff" there and it will never get too crowded, instead of what happens to "physical" things in the real world. As I sit her typing this, I'm talking to my friend from high school's roommate over at WSU this contact would never have happened if it was not for the internet. This is one of the positive arguments for it. So anyways, I need to get going so I can be on time for a BAP (the coolest accounting fraternity ever) meeting. So this weekend I'll be preparing for my 2nd and final co-facilitator on Tuesday. The Great "NETWORK SOCIETY." Dun Dun Dunnnnn --- notice the dramatic sound effects. Alrighty then, till this weekend. Toodles for now.

2004-01-13T20:30:00.000-08:00

Alright, finally after a long day of 6.5 hours of straight, strenuous school I'm finally back to my true passion: BLOGS!!!!! Anyways, I finally almost fully understand what McLuhan is trying to say in his book, "The Medium is the Massage." This after an intense co-facilitation for the first hour of class. I think it is an awesome idea to get people to discuss their thoughts on a topic, because there is no wrong or right answer, but a time for you to voice your ideas which can make you think a bit more about what the author is trying to say. Ok, so going back to what I said yesterday, or whatever the heck I said yesterday about this book, "Mediums" are all around us and are there are new advancing mediums happening all the time throughout history. For example, after listening to the lecture, it seems as though the printing press was one of the most important extensions ever created because this new way of spreading writing/books helps to create a society of uniformity. This uniformity makes society more productive and efficient and lead to the building of large cities, printing money that led to trading of goods at great distances and even standardizes languages.

Then the radio was invented and became "more important" than text because it could reach many more people over great distances. Technology is a "huge" medium that has been advancing more and more as the years go on and this makes it easier for the media to "massage" their message into you. Then mediums such as the computer that were originally invented for only mathematical reasons advanced to have the capabilities that they have today such as email, writing documents, internet, etc.

Anyways, I thought this was an awesome book and am glad I read it because it woke me up to what is actually happening around me from our society's technological standpoint. So, next Tuesday will be another appearance of yours truly as a co-facilitator and this weekend will be filled with preparation for that and the paper that is due next Thursday. Don't you love it how your "easy" class turns into the hardest one? I never thought Accounting would be my easiest subject with English taking the title of "Class that makes me work way too much." Besides all the work, it is a fun and interesting class and am happy to be taking it. Tonight will be more fun and excitement from the world of Economics wish me luck with the cursed supply and demand.

2004-01-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

We'll I'm finally back and I have some fun info about "The Medium is the Massage" while reading the book I quickly figured two things, either the author was completely out of his mind and overdosing on drugs or he was a brilliant human being who understood society and the way human beings function. Originally I thought the book was about a guy just predicting the future, but I now feel as though he is interpreting how society is reached by a certain medium (newspaper, art, TV, radio, etc.). The medium is the channel (newspaper, radio, etc.) that is being used to get the information to a person and the Massage portion of the title represents how the information is absorbed by a person.

The Book was written in a very interesting order with regular pages (left to right reading), then pages with shocking pictures, and some pages with words written backwards. I think it is the authors way of showing that information can be absorbed in many different ways. It's not the news/opinions that is of importance but the method in which it targets you with. Today's internet was not even born when this book was written and McLuhan (author) speaks of a Âglobal villageÂ and how everything is simultaneously happening and communication is increasing very quickly. This seems to be related to todayÂs internet and where we have come in the past 40 years since he wrote the book. I think he saw this coming somehow and I'm sure it is explained somewhere in the text or some of his different materials, I have not found the exact source of it yet.

In the book it clearly says that todayÂs media (TV, newspapers, etc) are shaping your thoughts, character, the person you are instead of the traditional parent. So instead of your parents influencing your thoughts and teaching you about life, children are getting this education from the TV instead. This brings me to a point I thought of while reading the book. Most news channels content is biased and it seems as though when you follow a news story such as an ongoing court case such as the Scott and Lacy Peterson trial, the news seems to influence you a certain way before anything is proven. The reports put out by the media always seems to be leaning one way even though it is never expressed. There's a picture on page 42 of a Judge saying the "Sentence comes first then the evidence." It is very similar to todayÂs court cases that are very high profile. Such as Scott Peterson case I spoke of, where you make your judgment first from the information given in the media then you see the evidence given.

Anyways, this is enough blabbling and do not want to bore you with more of my on-going opinion/blabbling, I need to prepare for my Co-Facilitation tomorrow which should be very interesting considering I could only understand half of the information in the book. The main point is that news/opinion sources work their info into you in many different ways (I hope that is what it is saying or I totally missed the boat). But hey, I tried hard reading this book, so wish me luck in my understanding of this "most-hard-to-understand-book-of-all-time." I will update you on what is said in class and hopefully confirm the thoughts put on this blog. Until then, I love Accounting and English and have the best Stress-high this week so far!!!!

2004-01-09T16:19:00.000-08:00

- 1/9/04 -
BLOGS AND BLOGGING

There has never been one time in my life, I have heard the word/words "Blog, Blogger, Blogging, or Weblog." Before this class started, the only meaning I could think of behind the word blog would be some sort of computer virus that likes to change the sound on your computer at random times (how fun would that be :). It is hard to believe weblogs only started a few years ago and I am sure they have grown out of control with millions of people in the world recording their opinions, thoughts and ideas on the world-wide web. This also brings me to the subject of free speech, which I thankfully will not go to in-depth on. Since you can write whatever the heck you want on your Blog, there's always the issue of free speech. I've never kept a diary(with little cute pink bows and a lock on the front) um..., yeah, never kept a diary but blogs seem like the new "cool" way to let your thoughts out in writing instead of talking to yourself in your car or writing in a journal. I learn something new each day and I'm glad I learned about blogs and hope that many of my friends will get into them to, because it actually does feel like I'm getting stuff off my chest even though it's for class and I'm writing about how technology has changed my life and the people around me.

One of the articles posted about a girl with a blog writing about her experiences with cancer deceived a large group of people into thinking she was dying of this horrible disease. Instead there was an investigation into this matter and it was a "bored out of her mind" mother with nothing to do, writing in this blog and when readers of the blog called this "girl" the mother would have her daughter answer the phone and pretend to be the fictional girl with cancer. This kind of stuff disappoints me, although it is almost like a book where you feel like you know the person and can actually feel their pain and anguish. And as said in a recently awesome movie "A Walk to Remember": If there is no pain, there would be no compassion. It's good for people to express and feel many different emotions but it is very sad that someone would make up this fake person for so long. Those are my thoughts on that mother.

Writing in a blog can also help you release your inner most thoughts that you have to get off your chest. I have many but will not reveal unless it drives me crazy enough (Maybe I'll have to get out my diary just in case, whoops... uh, I don't have a diary) Back to the matter, I can reveal anything in a blog, and hope, that the person I don't want to get hold of it actually sees it. Such as a crush on a girl, the outcome might be good or bad if she accidentally sees it. It's stuff like this that you can throw onto your blog and feel a tad bit better. Anyways, my brain hurts from reading about blogs, although it is truly interesting, so I'm going to take a couple day break from blogging and come back with the exciting world of MARSHALL MCLUHAN AND MEDIA THEORY later this weekend. Until then.... One day at a time.

2004-01-09T01:54:00.000-08:00

- 1/9/04 -
Well, finally! My website is up and I could not be more excited about revealing my masterpiece. And also relieving the accumulated stress I acquired earlier in the day, mostly from trying to figure out Dante and all of UW's fun and stimulating directions on how to create your own web page. It's 2am, just got back from a night of protesting various activities, watched one of the greatest movies of all time "A Walk to Remember," next week the sequel, "A Run to Forget." The movie was surprisingly good, though the acting could have been better performed, I give it 3 out of 4 stars for my emotions that we're so truly touched. I know this is not a diary website rather a place to post my thoughts on the readings. But lucky for the readers, I have not read any of the "Readings" yet but within the next couple of days you will be reading my creative thoughts on Blogging. Along with my thoughts on readings I will keep the world updated on my current events and all the joy which is school that occurs throughout this quarter. I have procrastinated so much this week, that I have already reached my regular high stress level that won't go away until week 3 (happens every quarter). So this weekend, I will be participating in regular readings, homework, washing clothes, stressing out, lifting metal objects, throwing some roundballs at orange rims, driving through the streets of the eastside and the university district, sleeping as much as possible, eating wonderfully tasting food and finally, trying to figure out the meaning of my life. Until then..... Happy thoughts on Accounting, Economics and English

2004-01-09T01:44:00.000-08:00

12/8/04 - Please finally work!!!