Merely Mere

So, I really enjoyed this McLuhan video we watched the last two classes. It was cool to actually see him in action as suppose to read his work. It was also interesting to gain insight on what it was like to be around him, hear him talk and learn from him. I feel like his brain was working so fast and he has so much to say that it would have been truely amazing to see him speak in person or better yet have a conversation with him. The video really helped for me to see what he was like, a man with so many ideas and so many things in his head that didn’t always make any sense to everyone else. I don’t know if its my recent facination with observing the inner workings of geniuses that are often percieved as crazy people, but I really enjoyed learning about McLuhan’s life that didn’t always make sense but certainly produced a lot of amazing concepts that were revolutionary for his time and even our time. And of course, I couldn’t help but feel the irony of watching this “cold” video on his life.

On a completely separate note, I wanted to say a little something about us having computers in class. I always find when computers come with internet theres always a distraction to do things you shouldn’t do ((facebook, internet games, ect)), especially when you are in class. However, I find that for that very reason it is extremely appropriate that we have computers. In our class we are studying not only the impacts of the internet and computers, but the possibilities that they create for us. By having the computers in class, we are making those possibilities a reality that is right in front of us. On that note, I wanted to talk about the final project some.

As I said earlier, Jess & I were thinking about doing our project on the Alice program. After discovering the world of webkinz, we threw away our idea for Alice (at least for the project). For people who don’t know, webkinz is the new huge crazy among the young kids that are simular to beanie babies for my generation. But to connect webkinz to just beanie babies would not be fair, the webkinz world is a combination of beanie babies, neo-pets, the sims, tamagotchi pets, and every internet game that you found addicting (like solitaire and mahjong). The catch is how the webkins have not only created this world surrounded by everything that little kids would find addicting, but its educational too? Yes. The webkins teach youngsters about responsibilities, love, managing money, common knowledge trivia, math, memory, and even gardening (just to name a few)….but it does this in an addicting way that keeps kids wanting more. For example, in order to make money for your little pet monkey ((named alfonzo)) more money to buy another plant for his garden, you have to play games or get a job to earn the money. No “rosebud” cheat code for this game, you have to earn the money. There are tons of more ways the webkinz world sneaks in things that makes you want to check everyday or sometimes every hour to see whats new to make your little pet happy. Okay, so I’ve been a loser and playing with webkinz a lot this past week & a half. But my point is, you buy this cute little monkey stuffed animal and now your trapped into this non-physical world that feels like a real world surrounded by lots of cushion (the word “gay” is not in the Webkin vocabulary when you play a word game). How could that not be addicting? For the final project, I play to not only be an expert, but explore ways why Webkinz is so successful at getting childrens (and apparently college students) attention with their connection to their physical world and the imaginary one they built through their computer. I have some more ideas…but nothing else worth sharing yet.

So, as I’ve been doing my reading for class tomorrow, I can’t help but to keep thinking about our conversation we were having at the end of class regarding education. While the idea of having a computer system to teach students sounds great….it really lacks in a lot of the important things that students need. Each student is different. Each person is different. That means that they require different things out of a class. For example, I had a hard time learning how to read when I was little. I was just an average kid in second grade…except I had no idea what was going on in the classroom. By third grade my public school pulled me out of classes in their attempts to help me with a smaller class setting with other kids that had problems in the classroom. The only thing was I had a learning disorder while most of the other students that were pulled out had social or mental disorders. This made the environment even more distracting and confusing for me. The funny thing is that my public school was really advanced for that time…it wasn’t until recently that public schools started requiring more specialized help for other students. Anyways, I was fortunate to go to another school that specialized in students with learning disorders, while who knows what happened to the other students that were pulled out of classes with me. My point is that each student is shaped differently and requires separate attention that only a person can decipher. Having a computer system full of information cannot be the only medium to teach or correct information. That work is only something a human can do.

So, I’ve been super sick and missed last class….but I got notes from my super awesome friend Jess about the project ideas that the class came up with. Initially I wanted to do flickr for a project…because I love taking pictures and observing other people’s pictures. But, I had a hard time coming up with a more original idea that seemed different. Then Jess told me about Alice software that helps to create 3D representations…of almost anything! I played around with it and feel in love. Of course I loved the name (I too share a love for Alice in Wonderland)…but the easy to use software has potential to not only show all the possibilities that the program provides, but also to help create a completely unique project. Problem solved!

On Thursday I went to see Eric Miller speak about the internet. There was a huge assortment of people that combined in the room providing a good turn out for Miller’s presentation about the internet. I learned a lot of random information that I wasn’t exspecting during his speech. Particularity about the creation and problems related with mashups. I admit, I know some information about the internet (mostly introductory information about making html websites that I learned in high school) but hardly enough to say that I really know what I’m talking about. But I really appreciated learning about the web itself from an expert that helped to create it.

So today in my business class (ironically located in the same room as the Miller presentation took place) we were talking about the use of technology in businesses to help the function. Its humorous to watch my much older business professor describe his experiences with the internet. He talks about obsolete computer systems with holes in cards to remember information before he gets to his real point. We talked about how companies use technology such as the internet to communicate between co-workers. My professor unfortunately spent the class arguing how he would much rather receive hand written letter over an e-mail. Many of my classmates failed to challenge him on his statements. According to my professor, the internet has hindered people because of its improper use and poor grammar.

Yes, I know I make many grammar mistakes in my writing and my words may not always be “proper”, but I do believe that what I have to say has importance and its petty for my professor to get so caught up in the details rather than the significance and positive impact e-mails have on companies.

This whole discussion in class reminded me of many things Miller discussed about how businesses rely on the internet. Miller had a lot of valid points about how imporant it is for companies to use the internet to help the public and themselves learn more about their company. I agreed especially with how important it is for companies to use the internet to advertise for their company. Its true that in this day in age, an easier to use website that relates to the product can only help a company.

Well, I think that this is enough rambling for one night….

So this is my first blog post. I’m not completely certain what to write since this is my first blog for school. But I’m not completely new to this either…the whole writing thing. I’ve always kept journals. I use them mostly for a place with no rules; a place for my ranting rambles, sketches, poetry and things that just don’t make any sense. I will try to avoid this messiness in this blog. But I can’t completely garentee that I won’t ramble…that comes naturally to me in these types of things.

Well, the other night I happened to open my book The New Media Reader for class. I was doing the reading and found myself going on a tangent in my head about the internet. The book describes the “digital medium” as being many things, including the internet. I thought that it was funny to describe the internet itself as a medium. It made me think about art class when the professor asks you to describe the “medium” that you have used: acrylic paint, pen and ink, charcoal, blood & tears, mixed media, or anything else. But the internet? I feel like I would accused of plagiarism if I gave that answer. Certainly the use of computers has become a medium for art, but the internet? The book further convinced me how the internet is a form of expression….different from just going on it to check your e-mail. Everything these days ends up being related to the internet.

The introductory reading also reminded me of something we talked about the first day of class and in many other classes here at Mary Washington: how much people are dependent on the internet in todays society. It certainly isn’t always dependable and I find it funny how much it surrounds our life. Over break my house didn’t have internet for two days. When the internet first came down, My mom was running around pulling cords from our router in the basement (my mother is not very computer savvy) trying to fix the problem…so she could finish her work. Of course this did not help the temporary intenet problem, but made it worse when she started inverting unknown cords. The next day were awful, my parents were offline and clueless. My mom finally found a way to check her work e-mail over the phone by talking to a robot that didn’t know what she was saying when she screamed “skip” into the phone reciever. My dad found himself re-treating in his office away from home so that he can use the internet there. They discovered ways to get around not having internet two days….well, sorta. Finally, after talking to the Comcast Gods for two hours on the phone, it turns out that the IP address got messed up on our modem for our computers and that we were entitled for a new free modem since ours was so old. The Comcast people came to my house and replaced our old one. Problem solved. But it scary to think how much the world comes to an end when theres no internet. Have we all really become so internet dependent?

Well, maybe next time I’ll talk about class related things more…