the media and our attention spans

One of the things I found interesting in the article is the explanation of how Sesame Street came to be. It came from the Lyndon Johnson presidency(maybe my favorite president). I think it's interesting that teachers began to blame Sesmae Street for kids misbehaving badly in their classrooms. However, a quote at towards the end of the article made me think about it a different way. It says: "It makes sense that the teachers whose role was threatened by the television version of education would fear this powerful rival." (594) Perhaps teachers just felt threatened by this new program since the article mentions that there has been no evidence to support there claims. At first, it would be easy to assume that teachers should be able to tell if there is a change in their students. However, it may have been them just jumping to conclusions.

The article doesn't really say if televsion shortens a person's attention span. It does have a quote from a well-known movie director who began his career in television. Sydney Pollock explains: "In television, you are always fighting for the viewer's attention." (592) However, that may just be because of the form of telesvion. There are commercial breaks and most programs are only half-an-hour long. I used to think that there was no question that television shortens a person's attention span but it does teach kids a lot of things so I'm not sure which is more important. This article also mentions that there is no evidence to support the idea that televsion shortens a person's attention span so my conclusions may have been hasty and unfounded.

cyberspace

I think it's really strange and weird that people wil use the Internet to make up stories about their lives. The lady who made up the girl who had Lukemia must have had a brain disorder of some kind. Even if, she was just a pathological liar I think that its sill a brain disorder. I just think it's strange that she let it go that far. She even let people mourn her death like she was a real person. This makes it easy for someone to lose trust in cyberspace. It makes you question what is real and whether that person you have been talking to is even the person you think you are talking to. This makes cyberspace a scary place for some people.

The article concentrates on the people who were victims of this lady's hoax. It shows how some people really have no choice but to believe the people they encounter in cyberspace. It makes a person accountable for believing the lies he or she is told.

nomadic power and cultural resistance

One of the things I got from the article is the fact that many people thought that technology would help inmcrease the freedom people have. It has actually taken an opposite turn. Corporations are teh ones who seem to benefit the most from the advances in technology. Our country is democratic but we live in a country that is based on capitalism. This makes it difficult for people to use technology to their advantage since the people who have money are the ones that are in charge of the decisions. This means that big corporations are benefiting the most. It was believed that since we live in a democratic country technoplogy woudl help people advance their lives more. All it has really done, according to the article is allowed corporations to use technology to make more money.

The article also asks what the purpose is of the new technology in media that is being created. Should we to use this new technology as a way to create a virtual world that lies outside our everyday lives? Or should the new technology be used only to report things that are tangible? This is an intersting question since it seems to serve both functions. I am not sure which is more important, escapism or realism.

According to the article, the Interent is creating Nomadic power among people. This means that no one has any real claim to power in cyberspace and power can be gained by virtually anyone. This is causing a panic in some people who are worried that power will fall into the wrong hands.

teachers and students

http://redtape.msnbc.com


I read an artcile that talked about the INternet and how teachers and students are getting mixed up in Facebook. It had one story about a teacher who was fired for posting a deragoatory remark about her students on her Facebook page. It does remind me of the artciel I recentlyu read about how some employers use Facebook to hire or fire employees. I think if a teacher gest drunk and posts pictures on her Facebook page she should get a warning. Its; almost like they are expecting teachers ot be operfect people when they are just like everyone else. Some like to get drunk and some don't. It's becoming common sense not to post these types of pictures but some people still think that their Facebook pages are private. I think a teacher should get warned and told that it doesn't present a good image for the students. I'm sure they would stop.

I don't think teachers and students should ever interact on Facebook. I think it's okay through a school website where everyone can see what you are doing but not privately. The article even talks about how throughout the world teacher shave engaged in behavior they don't want other people to know about. However, I think this goes back to the fact that teachers are just ordinary people. Thee are some who like to get drunk and some who don't. There are those that are pedophiles and those that are not.

Knowledge isn't power

I really enjoyed reading this article. I was surprised to learn that is was first printed in 1986. It has some ideas that are ahead of it's time. It helps put to rest many myths that are associated with computer technology. For example, it mentions that most people think that having computers will level teh playing field more. However, this may not be the case. According to the article, since computers will take important jobs away from people it may leave only mediocre jobs such as janitor available for people. This will actually lengthen the gap between the wealthy and poor.

The article also debunks the myth that computer technology will help make smarter people. However, this isn't the case. The article exlpains that the only way for this to occur is that people actually know how to and are able to use the technology. Many people can't because they are unable to read. Langdon Winner explains that these computer enthusiasts (as he puts it) should be concentrating in making sure public libraries have the necessary tools to help educate people. Winner states: "While it is true that systems of computation and communications, intelligently structured and wisely applied, might help a society raise its standards of literacy, education, and general knowledgeability, to look at those instruments first while ignoring how to enlighten and invigorate a human mind is pure foolishness. "(593)

Winner also thinks that knowledge isn't power. winner says that some people may have teh knowledge but don't have the means to act on that knowledge. This debunks the idea that knowledge is power. Winner thinks that knowledge is power only if it can be directly applied. For example, if I got a job because of all the computer software programs I know this is a way that knowledge would be power.

question 2

I learned what avatar means. I knew it was the images we choose that represent our profile pages but I wasn't sure exactly what it meant. According to the article, an avatar is what a god was called whenever they visited earth.

I thought it was interesting that we choose our avatars according to what our ethnic and/or culture is. For example, many people from the western world used avatars that illustrate what beauty is in the Western world. Similarily, gender also play a role in what avatars people choose. Most women will pick avatars that are associated with femininity and men will choose avatars that refelct masculinity.

A cyborg manifesto

I always thought of a cyborg as being a robot but Haraway gives the correct defintion. A cyborg is actually both robot and human at the same time. This is similar in how people and animals are the same thing. I never looked at a cyborg like that. She explains how women are being oppressed and that looking at the problem as a women's problem is not the right thing to do. She wants women to be treated equally. This will only be achieved if men begin to look at women differently.

The cyborg idea is a result of the dualism in people. For example, mind/body. This makes Haraway wonder why women get put into one category if they are obviously more than that. She feels that the oppression will only end once men realize that all women are not the same

a cyborg manifesto-research

here is an article I found.

http://tcs.sagepub.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/content/20/3/65.full.pdf+

disclosing the ethnographic self

The main idea I got from teh article is the idea that giving away too much information about yourself can take away your credibility as a researcher. When you have a project to do it difficultto give out personal information because your informants are supposed to be gathering information outside of yourself. Your self becomes less important. This is why he also watches how much he says whenever he replies in an email. This keeps his identity intact as a ethnographic researcher.

He brings up Facebook. He explains that this is how he communicates with soem of his informants. However, he must also watch what type of information he tells people about himself in order to keep the integrity of the project he is working on. He explains that even though he may 'Friend' someone on Facebook he must still keep his personal information to himself. This helps him keep his identity and it allows him to be able to carry out the research without any interference.

new media

The main thing I learned from the article is how personal computers came to be. There came a time when it was time to find a way for everyone to have access to a computer. It shows how all the technology we have now got created. It was similar to the invention of television. It was out of necessity. I thought the article did a good job forecasting the advantages that personal computers can provide for a person.
I found the idea of Smalltalk to be interesting because it shows how a computer can run complex programs. The fact that a language was created specifically for computers shows how advanced this creation was. This is why we depend on computers for everything. Anyone who has had a computer crash knows how important they are in our everyday lives. A person can take that a step further and wonder what our lives would be like if we didn't have computers.
I never really pictured a computer being able to advance a persdon's skills but I guess it does have the capability to do that. For example, a person who can't draw will find drawing much easier on a computer. This shows how computers are not only for storing information. They can actually be used as a tool to improve a skill that a person wants to improve.

reason vs. computers

The main thing I learned from the article is that computers may be able to calculate things quicker and more effeciently than humans but they have no emotion or wisdom. This is why the idea that machines and/or computers will take over is a very scary thing. Since computers have no emotion they will make decisions that are not what is in our best interest. Although, on teh surface it may appear so. For example, what if computers begin to dictate what patients get opetrated on and what type pf prcedure is used. A computer will only use facts when making their decision. They will not base their decision on what is in the best interest of that person.

That is the scary thing about computers. They lack reason. Our reason is what some people see as our essence for existing. That is also the scary thing about the program called "Doctor". Weizenbaum belives that when people see this program in action they will make the mistake to assume that a machine can really replace a doctor. A doctor knows a patient personally and most of the time makes his or her decisions based on that. Leaving it up to a machine to decide what is the appropriate step to take, in Weizenbaum's opinion this isn'e the wise thing to do.

Does the Internet give you ADD?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/09/16/internet.brain.carr/index.html


I found this article that talks about how the Internet may make it hard for people to keep a long attention span. Nicholas Carr has writtten a book on teh subject. The book is called, The Shallows: What the Interent is doing to our brains. Carr explains, "I fear that we have been too quick to assume that computers and the 'net are good for students." This made me reflect on my INterent use and it makes sense to me. When I was constantly going online I could only write short stories. However, whenever I work on my longer stories I have to stop gping online completely. This may be in part to my need to stay focused on my story but it may also be because breaking away from the Internet is the only way for my brain to get in the right frame of mind. When we are on the Internet we process small bits of information really fast. Carr believes that most people don't see a problem with this because it reflects the way they live their life. However, if you are a person who values things like creativity and attentiveness then the Internet may be doing more harm than good.

They are in the process of doing a study that is going to research the effects that the Intenrnet has. It will either prove Carr's hypothesis right or wrong. From a personal point of view I already agree with him. Most people don't really care about what the Internet does to them. They value things like fast and readliy available information.

TV and its invention

One of the main things I learned from the article is how television was created out of necessity and it was a progression of the other technological devices that had come before it. This was mainly the radio and the telegraph. I also learned that the invention of television was delayed by war. Televsion should have came tio be in the late 1930s or early 1940s but sinxce wat broke out it didn't come to be until the late 1940s and early 1950s.

The article also talked about broadcasting and the role it played in forming the programming on television we see now. People needed a quicker and more effective way to transmit stories and current events. The radio and telegram were very limited in this capacity. This is when television came in to play. It was a way for people to send and receive images and messages at a greater rate. The book explains, "there was an evident need for a new form, which largely traditional institutions of church and school could not meet." (296) This led to the eventual formation of the press. This is why people now go to the press for their news. It was how the press came to be.

What I also found interesting in the article is something I have felt for a long time. That being the idea that television is, "an inferior kind of cinema." (299) Raymond Williams thinks that people began watching television because it was the easy thing to do. People were craving a medium that provided them with instant access to current events. This realization came thanks to teh invention of the television. He describes it was an ,"inferior immediate technology." (299) It may have been readily availabe but it was still an inferior kind of technology.

requiem for the media

The main point I got from Jean Baudrillard's article is that we must not look at the media as a process of consumers and producers. Baufrillard believes that only through interaction can the media truly become the entity it was originated to be. Baudrillard wants the media to become a tool for socialism. He mentions how the Left wing people are creating a paraniod vision of the media. The Left wing people want us to believe that the media kas kind of a mind control over us.

Baudrillard talks about how owning a camera or TV doesn't mean a person is communicating. This is where Baudrilard sees the problem in how the media is represented. Baudrillard explains, "We must understand communication as something other than the simple transmission-reception of a message." (280) From this perspective it's clear that Baudrillard doesn't believe the media is communicating effectively with us.

Baudrillard makes the interesing point that, "Even God would approve of socialism." (282). If Baudrillard stance is unclear it should be clear after reading this quote. Baudrillard doesn't agree with our friend McLuhan when he says that the medium is the message. Baudrillard believes there should be more to it than that. Baudrillard thinks that this perspective gives the media too much powe. The way he sees in correcting the problem is to strip the media of all its power and give it back to the people. His article is a call for socialism.

man vs. machine

At first the thought of man-computer symbiosis sounded intmidating to me. Then after I read the article it actually didn't sound as bad of an idea as I first thought. It's different when you have facts to help shape your view. My first reaction was fear that computers will take over the planet and the world would be run by a bunch of machines with no human emotion. However, the article explains how man and computer can each do things that may work better if they can be merged. For example, a computer can process information much faster than a human but it has no rationale behind its decisions. This is when a human being can come in and help. Many things have already been replaced by machines. They seem to be taking jobs thta shouod be done by people. However, we live in a world that depends on technology and getting done things the quickest and easiest ways possible. Therefore, this idea of man-computer symbiosis seems to be a very real thing.
The artcile uses the example of the insect Blastophaga grossorum. It explains how the insect lives together with the fig tree and one can't live without the other. Together they form a partnership. This is similar in how computer and man can also form a relationship that creates something productive. It sounds intimidating to think that computers can outhink humans since humans were the ones that created them, but it shows how computers have evolved into something else. They are now the main tool that most business' use. This is why it's not unlikely for this type of symbiosis to occur. If people can find a way to get past all the language and other problems facing ths issue it really can be a relationship that will be productive and thrive.

the medium is the message

Before there was television people used to get their news from the radio. Now television uses images in order to get a news story across. However, just like television is a medium that delivers a specific type of message other news media sources also deliver a pecific type of message. Therefore, I believe McLuhan idea has evolved since radio and television were the primary forms of media. Nowadays, newspaper, television newscasts, and magazines have more power over what types of messages they can give a person. This makes it a person's job to decipher between the different types of media and know which ones are credible and which ones are less credible.

McLuhan's idea seems accurate in that most of the time people know which types of media to avoid. For example, an article in Star Magazine will not have the same journalistic integrity that an article in Newsweek will have. McLuhan believed that television changed the way messages could be sent and also what messages could be sent. Nowadays, news sources know the power that images have. This is why they always flock to things like accidents and robberies. They meant to get the shot that will make a great top story. Unfortuntaley, some news sources also know how dependent people are on their stories. Some of those news sources try and take advantage of that.

Introductory Post

My name is Julio Rangel. I took a couple of communication classes over the summer and liked what they have to offer. I learned many things that are applicable to our everyday lives. I enjoy to read and slo to watch great movies. I am a big Charlie Chaplin fan and think that for a lesson in communication a person only has to take a look at his movies. People from many diffrent cultures and races enjoy watching them. I think it's importnat to find things that connect us since the things that seperate us are obvious.

I grew up in San Jose but I have also lived a big part of my life in Modesto. I think this has helped give me a unique perspective. I enjoy San Jose better, but I also enjoyed the small town living that Modesto offers people.