The Penguin Press Presents: Together Alone

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Juan Monroy

For those interested in hearing a conversation, the first of a new Penguin Salon series, about two seemingly competing ideas about connectivity in the digital age, Eric Klineberg and Clay Shirky will be speaking at 192 Books in Chelsea. RSVPs are required.

The Penguin Press Presents: Together Alone: “The Penguin Press Presents celebrated public intellectual Eric Klinenberg, author of the forthcoming GOING SOLO: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, and Clay Shirky, author of the seminal HERE COMES EVERYBODY: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, coming together to discuss what it all means and where we’re all heading.”

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Program or be Programmed Response

Posted on December 27, 2011 by tbarber

Taylor Barber
Media Studies 255
Response

Program or be Programmed
Donald Rushkoff

I found this book very interesting and had a lot of good points. His main idea is that we need to understand the computer when using it. If we do not understand the program we are using then it is using us, instead of us using the computer. We need to learn how they work then there is no problem in using all of this new technology.
This book was a lot more optimistic than the others. For example Wu believed that the internet will become monopolized and take control. Rushkoff is much more for using the internet and the new technologies; we just have to learn how they work so the technology isn’t controlling us. He goes over ten commandments in his book that all contribute to his idea either to program or be programmed.
The book is not about getting everybody to learn programming. It’s about getting people to understand that there is such a thing as programming and that the computer is operating a certain way because it is programmed to. Just because it’s not programmed to do something else doesn’t mean it couldn’t. There’s nothing magical going on, but there’s also more potential to the computer or the internet than simply the available software.

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The Master Switch and Darkside of New New Media

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Myranda_M

Myranda McAllister

Prof. Munroy

The Dark side of New New Media

 

            On November 14, 2011group two discussed the book The Dark Side of New New Media. Yu Jiao Zhang presented her portion of the book discussion alongside Prof. Monroy.   The Dark Side of New New Media is written by Paul Levinson and is about some of the negative aspects of technology; in particular the internet.

 

            Yu Jiao Zhang provided a wealth of information when she lectured the class on The Dark side of New New Media.  She started by informing listeners about popular issues regarding the internet such as gossip and cyber-bullying.  She related how something that is good can be used for bad and vice versa by giving examples such as a pillow being bad (because they can suffocate babies and be used in a crime) and guns and knives being good( because they can help to provide food and used for protection).  This is true with the internet because not only can you find information from various resources, lies and hurtful comments can also be found on the internet.  Because of this, there are PSA’s aimed towards teenagers about the repercussions of bullying.  This sort of reversal of roles is also evident with Google Earth.  Google Earth allows users to see a certain area or find a location based on technological advancements with navigation.  This feature can also help a stalker to see a victim.  Goggle map is also used by terrorists and there may be little difference between Google gathering user information for unknown purposes.   Zhang also discussed how the internet benefited crime with sites such as Craigslist and twitter aiding terrorists.  She informed the class about how spam is everywhere on the internet.  Even though we may be annoyed by it, in order to maintain the “freedom” of the internet, it would have to be a part of life.  The reason for this is because to get rid of spam, the internet would have to be heavily controlled and would no longer be a new media form. What I gathered from Zhang is that like anything else, technology can be used positively or negatively depended on whoever’s hand the technology is in.  

            Yu Jiao Zhang also talked about The Master Switch by Tim Wu.  The master switch is about the progression of technology.  As users, we were used to using the telegraph, which moved to the radio, the television, the internet, email, and etc.  Professor Monroy stepped in to discuss the technological advancements and their positive and negative effects on society.  For instance the radio was first used in the military (like the internet) before becoming a household past-time.  As improvements were made people could use the radio within their homes to get news coverage, receive messages, and to be entertained by music and stories. In 1921, five radios were sold compared to 1923 when five hundred twenty-five radios were sold.  In two years, the demand for this technology skyrocketed! The radio also improved satellite technology. Because of this improved, the telegraph was able to become the telephone.  The negative side to radio was that the newspaper industry declined.  In the past, people could have had at least five newspapers to learn information from in one day.  With the radio, the news reached people faster and so the newspaper sales dropped. He discussed the technological advancements made by the telegraph, radio, television, movies, cable and the internet.  He also informed the class about the pattern of some technologies becoming monopolies and used for monetary gain.    

 

            Zhang did a great job explaining her portion of the book in detail.  She had a PowerPoint to visually help the class to take notes and learn.  She also used flashcards to keep her flow of thought and stick with the topic at hand.  Zhang came prepared and despite a few setbacks, she did her best.  Professor Monroy elaborated on the cycle of technology starting out as “magic” and becoming a money making machine for large organizations. He helped the class to understand that the internet and cell phones are more than just new gadgets and gave us examples about how they influences our lives. Overall, the presentation was good.  The class learned information about new forms of media and their influences on the world as a whole.

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The Filter Bubble Response

Posted on December 19, 2011 by skhoja100

I never actually thought of the information  I was looking at on the search results page every time I “googled” something. Each time I would search for something, I would always assume that everybody else’s page looked the same as mine. However, after reading Eli Pariser’s The Filter Bubble, and having had the chance to discuss and reflect upon what I learned in class during the group that had presented this book to us has made me look at the same search engine and the results page in a completely different way.

I never wondered how the searches to my keywords were performed or why the advertisements on my page’s side bar menu appeared to match what I had searched. I had just done what I had to do and moved on with a new search or navigated another site for either research or entertainment. But as Pariser and the group explained, the fact that each of our searches are constantly logged and arranged to our own personalities is fascinating.

Even though the argument of the book indicates that we become stuck in this bubble that filters out all “unneeded” information based on predictions Google has made about us, which makes it easier for Google to “hide” information from you, I still feel that as students of media or as citizens of the world it is up to us to actively take part in the information we consume. We don’t necessarily have to use the same computer to search for something, we can look on with a friend and make comparisons of his or her search page with our, we can even delete our search and cookies that the site embeds in our computers to log our information even after we are logged out of the site.

Even though this is the case, I don’t necessarily think the idea of us existing in sole a filtered bubble is a big deal although it is our job to be media literate and to be able to use our literacy to spread our knowledge, after all we are now the producers of the content and can directly influence change if we developed a personal value for it first.

 

 

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Class 14: Open Source and the Commons

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Juan Monroy

In today’s class, we discussed some of the open source projects, specifically Linux, Firefox, and Wikipedia. These examples illustrate the concept of collaborate working behind the open source movement and contribute to something Lievrouw calls “commons knowledge.” This level of knowledge is perhaps best characterized as flexible, dynamic and egalitarian. This form of knowledge production differs from the top-down system of knowledge produced by professional experts.

The movement has produced numerous advances but also many problems that are inherent to a relatively decentralized mode of production. To borrow Eric Raymond’s metaphors, the cathedral maybe be beautiful and ordered, but it is a closed system. However, the bazaar offers variety yet it might lack the elegance of the cathedral. Is exchanging quality for dynamism a fair trade?

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Respond of Filter Bubble

Posted on December 12, 2011 by zayujao

Yujiao zhang

Medst 255

The filter bubble is written by internet activist Eli Pariser. In his book, it described a phenomenon in which websites use algorithms to selectively guess what information a user would like to see based on information about the user like location, past click behavior and search history. As a result websites tend to show only information which agrees with the user’s past viewpoint. Prime examples are Google‘s personalized search results and Facebook‘s personalized news stream. According to Pariser, users get less exposure to conflicting viewpoints and are isolated intellectually in their own informational bubble.

From Myranda of group three, she mentioned that bombs were aimed at Yugoslavian Chinese Embassy. Three Chinese diplomats killed. The reason was because the Embassy was thought to have been an arms warehouse. Pres. Bill Clinton videotaped an apology that was withheld from the Chinese public for four days. China’s newspaper created an online chat forum which allowed users to be mostly anonymous and discuss their feelings in regards to the attack. The forum is popular because anonymity allows Chinese citizens’ to have a voice with China’s strict censorship laws certain words and websites can be censored on a day to day basis. Firewalls and proxies are able to allow citizens to access anti- government websites. However, most people avoid problems with the government by censoring themselves. Website availability changes daily. Porn is now available to internet users. International companies such as Google choose to stay out of government issues by allow certain items to be unavailable to China’s citizens. She also mentioned about the clouds are useful because they can store large amounts of a person’s personal information. They can also allow Government agencies to view your information. If you use Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail for instance, you “lose your constitutional protections immediately”. Most large companies use clouds to store user information. What is Friendly World Syndrome? A twist on George Gerbner’s mean world syndrome. Friendly world syndrome is when important and serious world issues such as global warming, the economy, and the human slave trade do not reach people. For example, Facebook Like Button: The more likeable a story is more likes it gets. A facebook profile will show the likes that facebook thinks a user will like or that is the most popular. Most people are not seeking out information that is shaping the world. Or, they may receive news from a blog or news feed instead of from the evening news or editors who spotlight problems. In the advertising, Oceana ran an advertising campaign to stop Royal Caribean Cruise Lines from dumping waste into the sea. The envornmental group took out a Google ad which said “Help us protect the world’s oceans. Join the fight!” It was taken down by Google after two days because the ad was violating its general guidelines about taste. Politicians are filtering messages to appeal to different groups. The political messages are targeting different groups in different ways. The filtering of political campaigns is also evident with sites like Yahoo and facebook. The companies are able to gather information about a user and display what it feels is most useful to that particular user. Postmaterialism, when humans have their immediate needs met, they care more about what is representing them. Post materialist’s value self expression and are tolerant of other’s differences. There is also more self involvement. The filter bubble pushes us to believe that our self interest are all that matter and exist.

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Final Exam Available Now, Due Monday December 19, 6:00 PM

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Juan Monroy

The final exam is now available. If you did not receive, or have lost, the handout with the instructions, you can download a PDF.

Complete the exam on Blackboard. Navigate to the Assignments section of our course, then to Final Exam.

You must submit the exam by Monday, December 19, 6:00 PM. Late exams will not be accepted.

Good luck, and enjoy your break.

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Amateur versus Professional?

Posted on December 11, 2011 by nicole

Nicole Turney

Response to Group 5

We left off our discussion in class last week thinking about the distinction between ammeter versus professional and whether greater participation in amateur work makes the quality of work go up or down? This is a good question considering the numerous online communities all over the internet. I think I’m stuck in the middle along with some others from class last week. When it comes to thinking of LOLcats I think you have to take it for what it is, people coming to the site for a laugh. Those who collaborate in the community understand each other, they have their own online culture. From one post to the next I think those of “quality” can be justified by the most creative phrase and picture collaboration. The photos of the cats are never professional looking, nor do I think the members in the LOLcat community are expecting to see the best photos or the best graphics. Its defiantly interesting to consider a site like this contributing to a greater good but the fact that the community gets talked about at all you have to think these creators must be doing something right.
Another example I immediately thought of when thinking of amateur versus professional was You Tube. Millions of people come together on You tube to upload videos, and its up to the user to distinguish the good quality videos from the bad. You can find plenty of professional and plenty of amateur work, yet the amateur work isn’t always the bad in my opinion. Graphic design is my minor and sometimes I’ll look to online tutorials for guidance if I’m trying learn a technique I‘m not familiar with. Of course there are plenty of sites devoted strictly for designers but you can also find plenty of tutorials on You Tube from professional graphic designers/design companies and amateurs like who use adobe design software in their spare time. When it comes to the arts its interesting because professional and amateur can at times be hard to discriminate because good artists aren’t necessarily professionals in the field with any technical training. Amateur artists can have great work because of their passion and love for the art. At times I can find tutorials from other college students that have quality, these are the ones that are easy to follow with impressive end results, and on the other hand I can also find amateur posts that have no relevance to the topic they’re claiming to instruct. I think determining the quality of something (that is not scholarly) is a value judgment and can easily change from one person to the next. Again going back to LOLcats, one person may find the site to be stupid and a waste of time, whereas the next person may see quality in the pictures because they get enjoyment from them.

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Class 13: Is This Surplus Just a Bunch of Noise?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Juan Monroy

Today, we celebrated the possibility of making communal and civic minded media when we covered the possibility of the cognitive surplus in our digital world. However, I still can’t get over the Lolcats. I understand Shirky’s point that once someone has crossed over to the line of the role of creator, it is one that has empowered consumers in ways not as possible before the advent of digital technology, but lolcats doesn’t really seem to me as something counts as adding to our collective surplus, or “cognitive intelligence” a term coined long ago by Henry Jenkins.

Another thread that I wanted to discuss was the idea that as new media make production easier, it creates a lot of new work. With the advent of the movable type printing press, there were a lot more printed works, not just the important or sacred ones. Overall, the average “quality” of the work decreased, but there were new marginal works that would revolutionize culture. Those marginal works were those that led to the Protestant Reformation and the scientific revolution, arguably the two most disruptive moments of the last 2,000 years. (Wow!) The true value lies not in the quality of the work, but in the capacity of the marginal work to effect culture.

To ensure we value between the great revolutionary works, like those that begat science and logic, and those that are of little value, like lolcats, it is up to use to judge the difference between the two.

One last thing. Consider the differences between amateurs and professionals. Those terms have connotative meanings: the former meaning “cheap” and aesthetically impoverished, and the latter suggesting well-made and polished. But consider the other meanings. Amateur, as Shriky reminds us, derives from the Latin word “love” and there is a love to contributing. Professional literally means someone who gets paid to perform work. A professional creates because of an extrinsic reward, one rewarded by a market exchange. And as Shriky suggests with the example of the Israeli childcare facility, once the relationship moves to a market-based activity it is almost impossible to regain the communal value.

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Is it Me, or is it Hot in Here?

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Juan Monroy

IMG 0124

IMG 0125

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