Chapter 7: Going Mobile

When I went to Japan, taking the train was the best (cheapest) way to travel and I remember there wasn't a single person on their cell phone (or keitai's) probably because it's a 'no-phone zone'. I doubt anyone would obey such a policy if dart trains have the same rules in America. We are allowed to talk in the train, so why not on the phone? There will definitely be complaints, the rule just won't last very long here.

But as far as courtesy goes, people should have their phones on either vibration, silent or just simply turned off. I work at a testing center and always tell the students to turn their phones off before giving them their tests but some just won't listen! Just last week we had a student who kept texting in the middle of taking her test. My co-worker told her a number of times to turn it off and finally brought in the student's instructor to handle things. It got pretty ugly when they confronted her as the she began to yell "Damn police need to mind their own F-ing business!!!", disrupting the other students trying to take their tests. I definitely know how teachers must feel when student's phones go off in the middle of their lectures and have to deal with the ones who have the nerve to actually answer in class (we also had some students do that at the testing center). Seriously these people have no common sense or are just inconsiderate of others! If it's in a train it's okay since no one really needs to focus on anything compared to when they're in a class or taking a test.
Though..I text all the time at work..but that's why I got a touch-screen phone so I can type without making much sound.

Inbox and Spam

For every email site, there's an option to send messages in your inbox to the spam folder. Does that really work? Well, despite the fact that I still get junk mail in my inbox every now and then, I'd say yes. Because before, when this option first became available, I paid no attention to it. I kept deleting all ad messages day after day, and I keep getting similar messages so there was no end to this. Of course, my spam folder remained empty and that got me thinking, if I get rid of say this nursing ad message I keep receiving every week, will it really keep it in the spam folder? And send all it's followers down in there too?
After some weeks of trying..BOOM! No more nursing messages! I open up my spam folder, and there they are sitting in a row like a good little pack of puppies.
And now I think: Thank god for the spam folder!

Chapter 4: Instant Messaging

I had no idea, until I read this chapter, that "pos" stood for "parent over shoulder". Man that could have saved me a lot of trouble if I was aware of this useful acronym.
Not that I was always talking about non-parent-approved topics, but having the need to minimize each chat window whenever I felt a presence or heard footsteps was always such a pain! A lot of time can be saved using these acronyms and I used a lot as a grew up with the internet (except for "lol", oh, I NEVER used that term..I despise this one..for some reason)
In highschool, I misspelled/combined so many words we use commonly, just to fit the pronunciations they would have when we say them in a speedy manner. Like "Would you" or "did you" to "wuja" and "dija" or just "ja". I thought I was so cool because no one else got to this point, making me feel kind of special (now I just feel as dumb as ever). One person complained on how I typed, saying it was immature and not readable. This was on a fan art website so I thought it wasn't a big deal and continued on (maybe he was jealous that I was able to come up with such words?) until I grew out of it. Seeing more and more younger kids use them made me not want to use them anymore or else I'll feel like I'm at there level, when in real, I'm actually a lot older, mature, and knowledgeable than they are, therefore I must not talk like them. I still use acronyms every now and then, but only when im typing with one hand (usually eating with the other), or am in a hurry. And I limit to using them for when I text, and occasionally IM-ing.

the exchange of mii's on the wii

When I first got my Wii console system, I was so excited to create the "mii" characters, one for each family member and friend. Then I heard that we can connect with other Wii owners and exchange messages and mii's, I thought, how can this be possible? It's like a cell phone, only it's not..It's really fun to see how your friends have created their version of your mii and to see their reaction of the kind of mii's you made in imitation of their looks and personalities. You can share wii numbers with anyone around the nation (not sure about being able to do it with outter countries), even with online friends you haven't met before.
Man, there really is no limit to this Wii!

Using IM's, E-mail and twitter as students

Back then, when students were sick and had to skip some school days, it was a pain in the neck for classmates to walk all the way to where the sick student lived to deliver missed assignments and lecture notes. But now, we have the internet, a wonderful thing called emails that can send messages to people with attached documents and images which is way less troublesome and time-consuming. I am so glad I was born during this era of technology.
Though I found it funny how most of us ended up showing up to class even after all the messages Dr. J sent us about class being canceled.

Online courses

I have never taken an online course (because of all the bad reviews I read about how instructors care less about their online students than about their normal lecture ones) but I think it's a great way for students to be able to take classes who live far from school or have temporary family issues for the semester, but especially students with kids. What I also like about it is that since I am a shy person who doesn't really like to speak out in class (in fear of asking stupid questions), I love online class chat sessions (like the one we had a few weeks ago) because, for the first time, I felt like I was a part of the classroom, I actually participated in conversations. It was really interesting, especially the whiteboard drawings we did, though it caused some distractions. It was a great experience, great way for us to interact with one another as students and teachers.

Chapters 8 and 9, Communication and Technology

First let me mention how glad I am that Dr. J assigned us these two chapters before assigning the research paper, for it was after reading them did I decide to choose their subject as my topic! Thank you professor!

This might sound pretty similar to what's written in my research topic blog but it's about the impact the media has made on language. As technology evolved, life has is now so much easier and convenient for us that it has become a huge part of our life. We have grown accustomed to it that we (at least the majority of the youngsters) can't imagine life without it. Our social lives have changed greatly as well! Internet users have so much friends (online) and can interact with them anytime through instant messaging either online or by phone, all while staying indoors all day. But that's not all you can do while sitting on your but 24/7, you can shop and even order lunch/dinner and have it delivered straight to your door with just a few clicks. What does all this have to do with our language? Well, too much convenience can be a bad thing, it can lead to laziness (which is a sin in Christian beliefs, as I hear); specifically when sending messages. Why do you think so many acronyms, net lingos, and so many alternative abbreviations exit now-a-days? We've gotten so lazy in even our writings. The real con is the habit that is born from this laziness. Before we know it, we're using all those "short-cuts" in our formal writings for school or job letters. I have personal experience, and it was quite the embarrassment on my case. It started out with just a "Hey" as a replacement of "Hello", and now things may be getting out of hand. Let's hope more and more people start to realize this and be more careful when they write.

What I found interesting in my blog research

The first part was pretty much what I wrote as a comment in the convergence site but just in case I was supposed to post it as a blog, I'll put it up here.

Judging by what I saw in most comments (of various blogs), people seem to love using blogs as a source of arguments about common topics. I barely see any “Oh, wow I didn’t know! Thank you for telling us that!” but more “No I disagree, you don’t know anything!” then curse words get mixed in, turning the topic into endless arguments.

I often have minor health issues like slight pain here and there that sometimes concern me to the extent where I just have to look up the cause online. What I usually come across are blogs written by people with similar problems who are either going through it and asking for help or have already gone through it and is posting for future reference. Either way, it helps me greatly not only thanks to the author of the blog, but also all the comments that suggest cures and preventions through they're own experiences as well. I think blogs are great sources of information, not to mention free!

Topic for my research paper

I have an interest in all the various types of impacts the media has on people. But there's too many to cram into a 6-page paper so I'm narrowing it down to a specific 'branch' which is something that not much people realize since it's become too much of a habit, "How the media is changing our language".
In just one generation, it has become so easy and convenient communicate that even a couch-potato can be considered social. But thanks to all of accommodation with the new media, people have become lazy when messaging each other. This is where the "globespeak"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3125891.stm), internet acronyms, comes in. So many words have been have been shortened that even the most common greetings like "Hello" and "Goodbye" have been made obsolete. Standard American English (SAE)is slowly being replaced! (Crossing the Digital Divide by Barbara Monroe, pg. 50)
This is only part of the argument I am trying to improvise. I also believe this linguistic change is starting to affect the way we write, be it cover letters, stories, reports, blogs, basically anything that requires formal English.
When I wrote my first blog in this class, Dr. Johnson, I would have left it as that unnoticed. Now, I am being extra careful with words and hope to get rid of this unnecessary tendency, at least when typing. As for texting, well I don't really see the need to be formal since text methods by phone aren't really used when talking to formally important people like your boss or professor. So I'll probably stick with the acronyms just to be able to text faster.

First time meetings at Conventions

I wouldn't say I'm against this whole thing with people being friends with people only through the web and never meeting in real life until the day of the whatever convention but from what I saw on Frontline, these people need to get a life! They talk about how long they stay sitting on their computer chair all day playing online games without breaks like they're proud of it, which I think is ridiculous! I know as an ATEC student I should probably be proud and supportive of all this especially since I'm more of an indoor than outdoor person but still I believe there are limits to how long you keep yourself glued to your computer. Hello people, it's Spring now. Get up! Get out! Enjoy the awesome weather of Texas! No sarcasm!

This week's Frontline: Digital Nations

The first thing I recall from this video is the part where the army uses video games to recruit kids as young as 13. Now I do believe this is a progressive way to get children interested in joining the army but why at such a young age? I mean, I don't think kids are dumb enough to not be able to differentiate between the game world and reality and think it's okay to go out there and start shooting people. There are many similar first-shooter games out there but they are rated for older audiences for a reason, at least I believe so. Kids should stick with playing more peaceful, bright, colorful jolly games instead of those violent and aggressive ones the army is having them play because kids can just get brain-washed so easily and can be sensitive to what their minds absorb and bloody war games should the last thing they should be thinking about. You don't want to hear you're kid saying, "I wanna shoot people's brains out!" when asked what they want to be when they grow up. If you ask me, I'd be on the rebelling parents' side and yell out whatever it was that was written on their posters.
The second part is the Korean kids gluing their faces to the computer screen in the gaming center all day. I think it really has caused a serious disorder and more psychiatrists should acknowledge its threats so more parents can be aware of it as well. I'm not too sure if the camp idea is helping much because according to what Frontline was showing us, all those kids were thinking nothing but of going home to their beloved computer games. But what they're teaching the second graders (especially the song) is a good start and hopefully the next generation's kids will find better ways to spend their childhood lives than just playing games all day.

Culture Convergence Conclusion

I must admit I did quite a few skimming through some of the chapters because it was just getting way too redundant! I wasn't really surprised to see the same concept of how great collective intelligence is in the online world rephrased for the last time in the book's afterword and conclusion.
The only difference I see between each chapter is that the author just uses a different example just to support the same idea over and over again. And like someone had mentioned in class, the reader most probably would've been able to understand what the author was trying to say in just one paragraph for each chapter. Yes, the whole the book could have been summarized in just one chapter.
The only thing I learned pretty much is that there are some CRAZY fans out there that will do anything to get their hands on almost any type of information. Jenkins did more than a good job with his supportive examples to express his thoughts on that.

blogs online

I took an ethics course last semester and remember reading that social networking all started with blog sites. A whole bunch of people gather to talk about politics and current events and such by posting and commenting blogs. But how do those people find those blogs? Through google and other search engines, of course! Whenever I need to look up something like "What's the best way to get soap scum off of tubs?" or "What's the best way to deal with brothers and sisters-in-law?", I am usually led to some interesting blog posts that written by people who went through similar problems as me and most of the time they are pretty humorous! It is really an excellent way for people to share ideas about common facts and wonders.
Not that that is why I created a Blogger account(it was a required for some of my classes).

chapter 5, Growing Up Online

I do believe that the president of the PTA (I think it was) is a bit paranoid but considering possibilities of online bullying that lead to kids committing suicide, parents should keep track of their children; not to the point where they ask for account passwords but to at least have a chat with them every now and then just to make sure they're not secretly living a miserable life. It's definitely hard to stay in close contact with teens keep track of them will most likely irritate them and might cause them to drift away from the family but as a parent, you must be responsible of your kids' actions and is your duty to help lead them on the right path.
If I had a teenage kids, I don't think I'd let them keep a computer in their own room because I know as teens, they'll probably lock themselves up in their rooms never participating in family activities, but at least I know they're not chatting with Lord knows who all day. I don't want to be a lousy parent and rather be a proud one. Kids these days are much smarter than we think but there still are naive ones that can seriously use some parental guidance. Based on what we saw in class today, I think "To Catch a Predator" is a great starting point to show young teens what they may be getting themselves into from too much online chatting!
I hope I don't sound TOO much like the crazy mom..

fanfiction

What makes people write them? Same reason why doujinshi mangas exist, fans just want more and if the authors don't give it to them then they just got to do it themselves. I don't write fanfics (not one of specialties) but I have done a few Zelda doujinshi mangas back in high school when I was full of questions like who Sheik really was and who the fierce diety masked person was in Majora's Mask before I was able to beat both games. I didn't have easy access to the internet at the time so I decided to make up my own answers by making up my own Zelda comics.
Even after finishing the games, some people may not have liked with the way things ended(like with character coupling) and create fanfics, modifying the story to their satisfaction. There's also cross-over fanfics where fans completely change the story by introducing characters to others from a different show/game/movie just to see how it'd be like. I honestly don't like those types of fanfics, though.

Chapter 4, Folklore and Pop Culture

I've been reading about the difference between folk and pop culture and from what I understood, the only difference is pop culture started out as folk culture but is now spread around the world coming from the same source. I also understood that pop culture was created with the help of the digital world; people who share the same traditional folklore stories come together and talk about legends and the like that was passed down by their family lines, letting others know about them and spread the word. As they spread, stories are added upon and modified, becoming more and more popular as they grow.
Star Wars, of course, had one of the biggest impacts in the digital world. I remember watching Japanese cartoons when I was a kid and was always sick of seeing KFC sponsored Star Wars commercials with American kids fighting with light sabers and the same music playing in the back over and over again; it was THAT popular (and I never cared to watch any one of its movies even till now).
I would say that anime is also a good example that shows how much folk and pop cultures' collision in the digital world. Old Japanese stories made up for kids to help guide them on the right path and not do wrong turn into base story lines in now-a-day popular anime series and now since anime is wide-spread around the world, so many people know about those stories too.
There's a series of short story Japanese cartoons called "Nippon no Mukashibanashi" that are all based on the legends and sayings that have existed in Japan for centuries and they can all be found on Youtube for the world to see!

http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Research/popularreviews.html
http://www.units.muohio.edu/psybersite/cyberspace/folklore/intro.shtml

facebook vs. twitter

I just never understood the point of twitter when no one can really comment on your status like you can in facebook. I made a twitter account a long time ago because I was invited via email and was somehow convinced that it was a good way of keeping track of people. But I completely forgot about it the very next day. The only thing that kept reminding me that I had a twitter account was the countless emails I got almost every week saying that I have a random person following me. You can't even post pictures much less have people comment on them like you can in facebook. I can't think of any other negative factors on Twitter as I can't think of any features..since it doesn't even have any! Facebook does have its downfalls but it should definitely knock Twitter out of the program! I have no idea why it hasn't already..

Chapter 3, transmedia and the Matrix

Like the origami unicorn in Bladerunner, the Matrix also had its "key" which grabs the viewers' thoughts and twists them around, causing those viewers to be curious and full of questions which can be fully answered once they watch the sequels of the film. In the meantime of course, fans would shift onto web sources and begin to share ideas of what was understood and what might happen in the upcoming sequel.
So what's the key that created this whole transmedia phenomenon around the net? The combination of different genres mashed into what supposed to be just a simple sci fi movie? Can't tell for sure yet as I haven't watched the second nor the third movie and vaguely remember what the first one was about probably because I never even understood it. According the Jenkins, that was one common issue among the viewers that started this online collective intelligence around the world. There were people who were clueless and had the urge to know more and the people who understood and were moved by the film. So, forums are created, then questions are asked and answered.
This article shows an interview with Joe Pantoliano who explains why the Matrix was such a great hit. He mentions that this film was filled with scenes that have never been seen before, amazing scenes that would blow all the viewers' minds away. Also, that the second two movies were too redundant to be amused by for a second and third time.
http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/04/24/watch-this-joe-pantoliano-on-why-the-matrix-sequels-failed/

texting

Chapter 2 in Convergence Culture says that texting became popular thanks to a certain show, "American Idol". Whether that's true or not, I am really glad it was invented. A lot of people like talking on the phone but there also are many who prefer messaging. I am one of those who likes to text more than talk. You might think that people can't express their feelings as much compared to when talking on the phone which may be right but then again nothing beats face-to-face talk. I disagree with that, there are many people who are real shy to say things directly to others and it really helps to be able to say it through messages. You can add some expressions and emotions by using smiley face symbols, and what people call "emoticons", not to mention exclamation marks.

A friend of mine is going out with someone now and I say that they owe it all to texting. The guy was the shy type and decided to ask the girl out by texting her. Later he was able to ask her again in person (though she had already said yes through text). I believe it was the texting that gave him the courage to ask her face-to-face later. It is much easier to tell someone something through messaging, in my opinion at least.

Chapter 2, Advertising

My sister recently came back from New York and wouldn't stop talking about how 'wonderful' time square was with all its ads and liveliness and now wants to move there after she graduates to look for jobs. I've never been there but don't think I'll really like seeing bright screens flashing in my face talking about products I'm not even interested in every corner I turn. As if tv commercial messages isn't annoying enough, but it seems like that's just how desperate they are with all this cluttering.

Still, I don't think that's really going to get people to start wanting to buy their products, it just makes it a nice place for people to hang out in. I'm sure after walking around there will make me go "Oh my, I have a big wish list to make!" by the end of the day. I'll probably just want a couple of advils to fix my headaches. The article I read about has the page filled with pictures of all the ads (or most of them) found while walking around in half an hour in Time Square.
http://www.ironicsans.com/2007/01/every_ad_in_times_square.html
and that was a LOT of scrolling just to get to the final column of pictures. And, just like the author of the article suggested the reader would be thinking, I thought that man they sure have a lotta time on their hands instead of being sucked into their world and just start wanting to save and spend like crazy.

At least this way though, advertisers won't have to worry about zappers since the people don't really have a choice unless they wanna walk around with their eyes closed. I for one am a zapper(though I don't watch tv that often) and would mute the tv and go check my mail or even do hw while I wait for the commercials to end. Veoh actually has little dots at the bottom of the video that indicate when there's going to be a commercial break, I always keep an eye to see if it was getting close the dot and when it does I click right passed it, managing to skip right through it. Some commercials are pretty amusing though, with their creativity which sometimes have NOTHING to do with the actual product they're trying to advertise. But then again, it's only fun to watch the first time, then you'll start zapping again.

the power of Youtube

Years ago, before youtube came along, I had a lot of trouble trying organize videos that I have created and burn them onto a dvd so I can send it to a friend overseas. I didn't have a laptop and the home computer had very little space for me to do anything on it, so I had to do things the old-fashioned way anyway. I'd connect my video camera into the TV, record it with a video tape, transfer that into a dvd THEN wrap it up and send it away hoping she'll get it within a week or so. That was a heck a lot of trouble I had to go through just for ONE person to see a video. Now, thank goodness, there's youtube! I am able to save loads of time by just simply uploading any number of videos I want, whenever I want, and anyone, anywhere can watch it at any time!
Thank you technology!

Culture Convergence Chapter 1

I've never watched Survivor but I definitely know how it's like to have my excitement on shows spoiled. I used to always visit forums related to a show I was currently interested in whenever I was puzzled on something, like who the father of the main character is and such. After a while, i stopped going to those sites, either because I got all my questions answered or I read more than I wanted to know.

The author of the article I found that's related to this topic talks about how he (James Poniewozik) has a hard time writing about the season (re-)premier of Battlestar Galactica due to the fact that he might ruin it for people who are waiting for the show to air or for the people who aren't caught up yet. His job is to write reviews for TV shows and he wonders why he has to care about who might read his opinions since it's not his fault those fans just felt like looking up review sites for a show they don't spoiled to begin with.

Lately though, many forums have a new rule in which threads that contain spoilers must include the word "spoilers" in the title so people who want to figure things out themselves can avoid being disappointed. Fan fiction sites also have users include a warning sign that reading their story may spoil the original for whoever has not yet been caught up with recent episodes or chapters of the show, book, movie, etc. Now, there shouldn't be as many complaints from those fans.