15 weeks. What a trip. I never would have thought that I had so much to say. So what has it all been worth? A critical look at my life in relationship to multimedia and technology, though sometimes painful to consider honestly, has given me new insight into the world around me. Insight and freedom. Thinking so much about all of this stuff has kind of liberated me from the chains I've bound myself with in regards to the shame and guilt I carry about my use and dependence on technology. Like, is it cool to be techy? I guess I don't fucking care anymore about whether or not it's cool. Technology and multimedia in 2014 simply just is. I've come to terms with that. I can fight it all I want--be as analog as possible with polaroids and typewriters and vinyl and like abacuses--but multimedia is swarming my every day, and it's just easier to go along with it.
So that's it. Have I conformed? Am I seeking comfort in the will of the masses? I don't know. Hold on. I need to check my Instagram feed real quick.
What I've learned from this class penetrates deeper than my mobile operating system; I've become reacquainted with myself as a learner. Many of those same characteristics that helped me drop out of college in 2009 are still with me, but they haven't devoured me like they did last time. Whatever it was about me that didn't work before isn't as broken as I thought it was. Now, does that mean that I've signed on for a whole course load for next semester? No. Almost as important as finding out that I can be a good student is acknowledging that I don't need to connect my self worth to my academic status. Kudos to anyone who works full time and goes to school, because that shit is not for me. Luckily, spring has taken it's damn time getting here, so I haven't missed that much good weather, because being out on a bike and pushing myself in that capacity seems more important to me right now than finishing my degree.
That has been the most liberating thing about this class.
A lot of that has to do with priorities, but also with what I've learned about the world I'm growing up into. If contributions stand to count for more than credentials in this multimedia-focused world, then maybe that degree I've put so much stock into isn't as crucial as I thought. That isn't to say that I'm turning my back on education for keeps. I've enjoyed using my brain for this class, and could see future opportunities for enjoyment if circumstances allow.
But that's it for now.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Week 14 - CopyWRONG
Let's have one more go at copyright.
The people who care the most about copyright law being enforced are the same people that have the most to lose if it's not. It's a pretty basic human fear; that of losing something that you have. Especially if that something has, and will continue to bring you loads of money. The biggest shame here is how far off the copy written path our incessant greed has left us. Rather than using copyright to "promote the progress of Science and useful Art" it is more often than not that these laws and amendments are used to protect personal fortunes and prevent anyone else from taking a piece of profitable pie. Another interesting insight into greed's power over the human mind is how often the same people fighting for broader copyright boundaries become lawbook thumpers when the same rules and regulations they once rallied against for creative freedom become a means to protect often hard-earned financial gains.
We love money. We also love our American freedoms. Be prepared for shit to fly if you intend to mix the two.
What matters most to me is how this Big-Show struggle trickles down into my personal life. I am of that 70% who shares copy written material on peer-to-peer sites. I don't quake in fear that my door will be beaten down by law enforcement and that I'll be hauled off to prison for my infringements (knocking on wood). In my experience, so long as the threat I impose on other's copyrights remains local and insignificant, I can keep on with business as usual. Until what I stand to gain by blurring the lines of copyright comes from someone else's closely-guarded copy written pocket, none of this really matters.
What kind of message will this send to future generations? I can only image that as technology develops further, means to challenge these outdated rules and regulations will only multiply. Taking, for example the past 15 years of copyright hell since the inception of the first peer-to-peer file sharing network, Napster, what horrors could lie ahead in the next 15?
Something's gotta give. We've been fighting a digital war with analog weapons for way too long. Until someone figures something out, though, I'll keep downloading and sharing and remixing.
The people who care the most about copyright law being enforced are the same people that have the most to lose if it's not. It's a pretty basic human fear; that of losing something that you have. Especially if that something has, and will continue to bring you loads of money. The biggest shame here is how far off the copy written path our incessant greed has left us. Rather than using copyright to "promote the progress of Science and useful Art" it is more often than not that these laws and amendments are used to protect personal fortunes and prevent anyone else from taking a piece of profitable pie. Another interesting insight into greed's power over the human mind is how often the same people fighting for broader copyright boundaries become lawbook thumpers when the same rules and regulations they once rallied against for creative freedom become a means to protect often hard-earned financial gains.
We love money. We also love our American freedoms. Be prepared for shit to fly if you intend to mix the two.
What matters most to me is how this Big-Show struggle trickles down into my personal life. I am of that 70% who shares copy written material on peer-to-peer sites. I don't quake in fear that my door will be beaten down by law enforcement and that I'll be hauled off to prison for my infringements (knocking on wood). In my experience, so long as the threat I impose on other's copyrights remains local and insignificant, I can keep on with business as usual. Until what I stand to gain by blurring the lines of copyright comes from someone else's closely-guarded copy written pocket, none of this really matters.
What kind of message will this send to future generations? I can only image that as technology develops further, means to challenge these outdated rules and regulations will only multiply. Taking, for example the past 15 years of copyright hell since the inception of the first peer-to-peer file sharing network, Napster, what horrors could lie ahead in the next 15?
Something's gotta give. We've been fighting a digital war with analog weapons for way too long. Until someone figures something out, though, I'll keep downloading and sharing and remixing.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Week 13 - BULL$#!T ALERT!!
It seems like Gary Hammel is assuming that the corporate Fatcats of the world will suddenly yield to will of a younger generation. No friggen way! How do you think these Cats got so Fat, anyways? Or, maybe this article is really addressed to those Fatcats in an effort to say like "Ok guys, we have to make these young shits think we're responding to like their unique desires or something. You know, make them feel special. Maybe lets trick them into thinking that they're pulling the strings for one." (At which point all puppeteering Fatcats laugh hysterically.)
Here's a little bit of bias (could you tell?). I don't think that the Fatcats of America are ever going to give up the power that they talk about in this article. This is more about adapting tactics to continue Business As Usual. I just think that these Fortune 500 companies are too big and their Fatcat CEOs lounge on too high a floor for Generation F to completely penetrate. Like, "tasks are chosen, not assigned"? I think that as long as it's someone else signing your friggen paycheck, you'll be doing the work that's assigned. Like, yeah, ok. I chose not to do this task, and I've subsequently chosen to find another job at like McDonalds. Not that there's anything wrong with that. You'd have a better chance seeing these work-relevant characteristics of online life in action at a locally franchised fast-food restaurant than you would at fricken J.P Morgan.
This all clearly gets me fired up. I don't think I need to go into that any more. After getting that off my chest, though, I will say that I've seen my employer responding to some of these charachteristics. Granted, the Skirack isn't sitting atop the towers of high finance. It's a small company that's been locally owned for like 40 years or something and has never tried to grow beyond it's one location. I think the scale and lack of corporate ladder rungs to climb have something to do with that. Smaller companies, especially if they're successful, have an opportunity to try some slightly left of center business practices. In my experience, it's been that willingness to adapt to change and try things differently that has kept the doors of the rack open for so long.
See? I don't hate everything.
Here's a little bit of bias (could you tell?). I don't think that the Fatcats of America are ever going to give up the power that they talk about in this article. This is more about adapting tactics to continue Business As Usual. I just think that these Fortune 500 companies are too big and their Fatcat CEOs lounge on too high a floor for Generation F to completely penetrate. Like, "tasks are chosen, not assigned"? I think that as long as it's someone else signing your friggen paycheck, you'll be doing the work that's assigned. Like, yeah, ok. I chose not to do this task, and I've subsequently chosen to find another job at like McDonalds. Not that there's anything wrong with that. You'd have a better chance seeing these work-relevant characteristics of online life in action at a locally franchised fast-food restaurant than you would at fricken J.P Morgan.
This all clearly gets me fired up. I don't think I need to go into that any more. After getting that off my chest, though, I will say that I've seen my employer responding to some of these charachteristics. Granted, the Skirack isn't sitting atop the towers of high finance. It's a small company that's been locally owned for like 40 years or something and has never tried to grow beyond it's one location. I think the scale and lack of corporate ladder rungs to climb have something to do with that. Smaller companies, especially if they're successful, have an opportunity to try some slightly left of center business practices. In my experience, it's been that willingness to adapt to change and try things differently that has kept the doors of the rack open for so long.
See? I don't hate everything.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Week 12 - The Long Tail. I couldn't come up with a more creative title that didn't seem dirty or immature or somehow related to genitalia.
Considering that I get 95 percent of my music and movies for free from the internet, I'll expound upon the long tail in terms of my book buying. As a snobbish reader, I typically avoid the best-sellers list. Like, yeah that's nice that you liked that book but you're probably stupid and have bad taste (while I sometimes think that way, it's by no means how I actually feel about people who read best-selling books. In fact, I know many intelligent people with good taste whose home libraries consist almost entirely of best-selling books. What it has more to do with is my innate desire to be different and unique, even if it means pitting myself against really quite nice and rather smart people who happen to enjoy popular mainstream fiction).
So I dig deeper. Let's say I find an author I like. There was a time where I was playing a lot of pool and smoking a lot of cigarettes and listening to a lot of Tom Waits. Someone mentioned Charles Bukowski as a sort of literary equivalent of what Waits had done with music. I went to the old Brick and Mortar book store down the street, found a copy of one of his better known works, Ham On Rye, and resentfully paid full price for it. Resentful because I knew I could go home, look on Amazon and get it used for a buck and shipped for four and that guy at the book store seemed jaded and kind of like he didn't even like me. Ham On Rye was the last Bukowski title I could find in the greater Burlington area, so it wasn't long until I was on Amazon.
Now, I will say that I get certain twinges of guilt any time I buy anything from Amazon. I'm left with a dirty feeling, not unlike how I feel once I've left Wal-Mart. That sense that every penny I spend there is another nail in the already almost sealed coffin of the Mom and Pop Stores of America that can't compete with Amazon's pricing and inventory, and often times end up employing jaded and resentful cashiers whose subsequent disposition I'm in some part responsible for. Anyway, there must have been six or seven of his books I found. All used, all under five bucks.
Then, after crushing Bukowski's canon, I went after one of his biggest influences, John Fante, who, apparently, has less hipster acclaim and isn't counter-culturally influential enough for shelf space in the two bookstores in town. Amazon flexed it's long tail again. I found and bought probably five books in all. Some were more obscure and I may have paid 12 dollars for one but it didn't seem so bad considering of all the other deals I was getting away with. The further down the rabbit hole I went, the more obscure the books got. Apparently, Fante was obsessed with this book called Hunger written in the 1800's buy a Norwegian guy named Knut Hamsun. Of course, Amazon had it, and my local book store didn't. It was used and cost less than a sandwich, even though it kind of smelled like one. Once I figured out when to order new books so they came right around when I finished another, it was like I didn't even have to wait. Not to mention how easy Amazon makes it to impulsively buy whatever you want by saving your credit card and shipping information, pummeling the physical American Book Store just a little bit further into the ground with every click.
I guess you can't blame Amazon. Looking specifically at the sale of books, the tail is just too long to be contained to a storefront on Church Street. Maybe I'm still miffed about the snarky store owner who looked like he just smelled a fart when he rang me out. Mind you, I didn't fart.
So I dig deeper. Let's say I find an author I like. There was a time where I was playing a lot of pool and smoking a lot of cigarettes and listening to a lot of Tom Waits. Someone mentioned Charles Bukowski as a sort of literary equivalent of what Waits had done with music. I went to the old Brick and Mortar book store down the street, found a copy of one of his better known works, Ham On Rye, and resentfully paid full price for it. Resentful because I knew I could go home, look on Amazon and get it used for a buck and shipped for four and that guy at the book store seemed jaded and kind of like he didn't even like me. Ham On Rye was the last Bukowski title I could find in the greater Burlington area, so it wasn't long until I was on Amazon.
Now, I will say that I get certain twinges of guilt any time I buy anything from Amazon. I'm left with a dirty feeling, not unlike how I feel once I've left Wal-Mart. That sense that every penny I spend there is another nail in the already almost sealed coffin of the Mom and Pop Stores of America that can't compete with Amazon's pricing and inventory, and often times end up employing jaded and resentful cashiers whose subsequent disposition I'm in some part responsible for. Anyway, there must have been six or seven of his books I found. All used, all under five bucks.
Then, after crushing Bukowski's canon, I went after one of his biggest influences, John Fante, who, apparently, has less hipster acclaim and isn't counter-culturally influential enough for shelf space in the two bookstores in town. Amazon flexed it's long tail again. I found and bought probably five books in all. Some were more obscure and I may have paid 12 dollars for one but it didn't seem so bad considering of all the other deals I was getting away with. The further down the rabbit hole I went, the more obscure the books got. Apparently, Fante was obsessed with this book called Hunger written in the 1800's buy a Norwegian guy named Knut Hamsun. Of course, Amazon had it, and my local book store didn't. It was used and cost less than a sandwich, even though it kind of smelled like one. Once I figured out when to order new books so they came right around when I finished another, it was like I didn't even have to wait. Not to mention how easy Amazon makes it to impulsively buy whatever you want by saving your credit card and shipping information, pummeling the physical American Book Store just a little bit further into the ground with every click.
I guess you can't blame Amazon. Looking specifically at the sale of books, the tail is just too long to be contained to a storefront on Church Street. Maybe I'm still miffed about the snarky store owner who looked like he just smelled a fart when he rang me out. Mind you, I didn't fart.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
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