'Tis Done!

Here lie my comments, bestowed upon these gifted writers:

http://abbird.blogspot.ca/2012/04/4-beauty-is-it-really-in-eye-of.html#comment-form

http://blibbering-humdingers.blogspot.ca/2012/04/5-look-music-videos.html#comment-form

http://snivellus-greasy.blogspot.ca/2011/11/career-mash.html#comment-form

http://izzaapizzaa.blogspot.ca/2011/09/texting-in-social-situations.html#comment-form

http://liiisaaaj.blogspot.ca/2012/03/through-looking-glass-music-video.html#comment-form

http://le-wild-mudkip.blogspot.ca/2011/11/texting-in-social-situations-how-about.html#comment-form

Web 2.0 and YOU!: Thank You for Being a Friend

Technology is all about leisure. Ease of access, ease of use- it's sole purpose is to make our lives easier. Literacy, and its many formats, is not excluded from this ideal. It makes reading simpler, writing simpler, watching simpler. From e-readers to emails, e-books to blogs, reading material is being placed right under our noses. Even its prices influence us to buy these devices; e-books are typically much cheaper than the average paperback. They also take up much less room- but are only really worth the investment if the cost of the average number of books you buy is much more than the cost of the e-reader. In this way it both influences you to read on these devices, while setting you up for possible financial doom. As well, online articles and blogs sometimes provide more information than your local newspaper. Interesting facts and information that you would have otherwise never came across is available to many all throughout the interweb. Other forms of literacy, such as the aforementioned 'video', is a completely unique and, in recent years, solely digital movement. What was once only seen in cinemas and on your television, is now available all throughout the internet, displaying advertisements and how-to's for everyone. Technology's effect on literacy is most definitely a profound and ever-changing one.

As technology advances, our own connection with it adapts to its *flux* of information. We approach it differently, and use it in new ways. With online chatrooms, we can create new identities while talking to strangers. On gaming sites, we can roleplay and make ourselves into new creatures. With Facebook and Twitter ruling the online world, all of our information, our day-to-day lives, are available for perusal. We're forced to become private, unsure of the intentions of others. Even now, corporations and other workplaces require employees to give them the passwords to whichever social networking sites they use. In fact, a Canadian teen was recently fired from his job at GameStop as they did a routine check and discovered a picture of him "planking" (that Tumblr fad that took the world by storm a few months ago) on stands filled with video games. With blogs and vlogs, and other forms of self-expression, we find ourselves invested in the lives of others, muddling our values and our wants and needs. With the unprecedented boost of technology between the time of my birth and now, my generation has become that with the most self-photographs. It's the truth; it has given us a discreet way of "bettering ourselves" through makeup and ettitquete videos, or of posting photos of ourselves that have been edited by Picnik (which has actually waved goodbye to users). It allows us to become self-indulgent, shows us how to become diligent, keeps us connected with people worldwide, and provides others with a way to monitor us.  Giving our profiles a two checks to make sure we sound approachable, without telling too much of who we are has become important. It has infiltrated our lives, and makes us more careful of who we say we are. Online, at least. 



Does not belong to me!



Sad to say that this is my last post pertaining to Ms. Powell's class. I've actually had more fun on here than I thought I would! I was afraid it would be a little too self-indulgent, but halfway through I realized that I didn;t write these posts with the wish that others would read it (other than you, Powell, ma'am), and since I'm just writing these for myself, I might as well write what I mean. In the lengthy, wordy, over-punctuated ways I tend to use. Thank you Ms.! :)

p.s. I may or may not write another post in the future. If that bothers any of yous who are possible reading my blog (I know you're out there- I'm watching my pageviews y'all!), unfollow me now. They might not be as profound as my current posts, haha. Fair warning!

p.p.s I thought I'd link to this title's namesake. To listen to this adorably crappy sappy song, click here.

A Look @ Music Videos: Is This the Real Life? Is This Just a Fantasy?

When I watched the music video, my first thought that was how relatable it was.  I related to the area they lived in, I laughed at the way the joked with each other, and I felt confused and nervous when watching one of the kid's being beaten by another random kid. And the military everywhere? It looked as if they lived in a police state. Overall, it was also quite nostalgic, the video managing to make you feel reminiscent of the summer, or what it stands for- simplicity. It makes no sense for me to feel that way, seeing as I'm living that time period of teenhood, so there isn't much for me to reminisce, but Spike Jones, the genius director of this music video, brought his Hollywood chops along with him as he evoked emotions that weren't felt in the first place. His skill and ease at transferring from film to music videos is astounding, to say the least.

The Principles of Media Arts tend to be:

duration

hybridization

interactivity

point of view

In this music video, most everything was sequential. Only the beginning, when we see the ginger boy battered and bloody collapsing behind a dirt hill, do we see a short glimpse of the future. This story did not take place over months or years, but in one day. 

There was not much hybridization in the art form, aside from the fact that this was a music paired with video. One great aspect was how the video did not seem superfluous in regards with the song. While the song is good, the music video only compounds that, as it manages to mystify and prompt us into reading the lyrics for a double meaning.

 Because this was a music video, this was not an interactive form of art. The most form interaction we can participate in is the empathy we feel for these characters living such an inexplicably haunting life.

Physically, the camera's point of view stayed at eye level, though the camera was not smooth at all times. Often it felt prying, the camera acting as a person who lurked on the outside looking in.

Honestly, I believe that the musicians created the video because it was a single. Though, there is something to be said for artistic expression, and how Spike Jones did not hide that he was, in fact, inspired by the band. Their lyrics must have prompted him to make a music video such as this. Themes of regret, of loss, and of temporal and uneasy happiness pervade the video. Because these themes do not reflect positively nor negatively on Gospel Values, it cannot be said if it is accordance with them or not.

War torn countries or those being steadily demolished by their ruling powers may have influenced this video. Many people, specifically those in developed countries, are desensitized and unable to connect to the horrific images we see of wars around the world. They see wars as something they read in history books, not a history that is being made in many places worldwide. Maybe the thought of our comparatively boring (suburban life is nearly synonyms with boredom, after all) life- and I say that not to crassly downplay the atrocities performed on millions, but as a extremely simplified description for the sole purpose of this blog post- compared to that of other countries made an interesting contrast. It is possible he simply wanted to see these two cultures- this militant, totalitarian culture and our more stable, pacified culture- collide.

The whole video was slightly washed out in colour, its paleness adding to its ominous feel. The ways the teens were with each other seemed normal, from the way the weaved their bikes close together, to that one couple who kept to themselves just on the edge of your group. Storyline was a bit dodgy, as we really don't know anything other than what we are seeing, but it was well-executed regardless. The only special effects that were added were the armoured helicopters that flew in the sky as the kids watched on, and while it wasn't quite realistic, it only made the video more surreal. The lyrics seem do go hand-in-hand with the video with lines like /But by the time the first bombs fell/We were already bored/. The music's eerie quality further agreed with the lyrics and video, being its main driving and unifying force. The visuals enhanced the song for me, making the song more fascinating to listen to with the corresponding video.

I enjoy this song more because of this music video. I do not see myself putting this on my iPod, but I do see myself stopping myself and watching the music video if it came on the boob tube. The music video appealed to me more than the song did, to be frank. I definitely enjoy the song more now that I've seen the video, and picture it whenever I hear it played simply to remember the emotions I feel when watching the music video.

 Simply because a) more music can't hurt, and b) I was debating between these two songs and something extremely old school (Bohemian Rhapsody maybe... Wonder what drivel I can pull up from that music video), here is another music video that intrigued me:

Lonely's Lunch - You Say Party

Beauty - Is It Really in the Eye of the Beholder?: I'm so Beautiful, I'm Gonna be a Supermodel!

 *Some esplainin': Today's title are lyrics from the song Supermodel, from the movie Clueless. Fitting, no?

The media is a complicated creature, with it's wily ways of deception (I sense a rhyme coming on...), projecting images of perfection. Their level of physical perfection makes us want to emulate their looks, while not acknowledging that behind each beautiful celebrity is a team of makeup artists, Photoshop, and a whole lot of time. Part of the selling point for actors, actresses, musicians and the like is the way they look. They have to spend a lot of time and money on keeping up their appearance, which often times average citizens just don't have at their disposable. It would hardly be fair for us to compare ourselves to those whose main job consists of keeping up their good looks. The companies around the world know this, and exploit the idolization we hold for these people. They drown us in advertisements in an effort to make us buy the products that gave these stars their beauty. They shove useless information down our throats, and now we have grown to gobble it up; buying into their their paid programming and purchasing their new products. We have fallen victim to the media's thirst for money.

Regarding commercials, and billboards, and radio ads, and magazine ads, and newspaper ads, and any other possible type of advertisement possible (product placements becoming more popular), I really have become desensitized towards it all. They have become a regular addition to everyday life. If one seems particularly interesting, I'll bring it up, or show interest in purchasing their product. If their catchy jingle gets stuck in my head, I will sing it. If it makes me laugh, I'll show it to others. It is possible that I am buying into their propaganda of sorts by participating in such activities- after all, they are all the kinds of promotion that these advertisers want us to do. But I'd also like to think that being aware of how I act puts me a step ahead of them. If only. I know that the way I act is a direct result of all of the advertisements I'm surrounded by, but I also like to think that me knowing that I am participating in it gives me more power over the "control" it has over me. This makes me feel less affected by the images around me, as I give conscious thought into why I sing that song, or what caused me to think of it in the first place.

Retouched photo of a girl in a beauty pageant

I believe that doses of a harsher reality are needed to reduce the number of young men and women who are effected negatively by media. They need to know the truth; as the much overused adage goes, no one is perfect. They must come to terms with and accept their own imperfections- it is what gives them that inherently unique quality we all have. It is what keeps us from becoming the same through our mutual unique qualities. They also have to learn that others have just as many imperfections. Teaching these young people to accept their "flaws", which really should not be viewed in such a negative light to begin with, is the most that can be done.

 If I saw a magazine with a model that was not subject to a complete makeover, I would be shocked, to say the least. Society has some weird, severely made-up image of beauty, and so countering that ideal by being natural comes as a shock. While disappointing, it is a truth which we have to face; the natural  has become unnatural. I don't believe that society would necessarily become a more natural environment, but I do believe that many people would agree that natural is more simple, a fact which appeals to everyone. I cannot imagine that society as whole would unanimously stop dolling up their models, or not promote the sale of cosmetics. Yet, it does not go unnoticed when actors or actresses appear in magazines with a fresh face that's a clear of make up, for a change. While it is blatantly a self-plug of sorts, used to stress how similar celebrities are to "regular people", it still is something that people comment on, and speak about with others. And while society and culture does put such a huge pressure on the young men and women of today, frankly, they shouldn't. The need to beautify, should not come from the necessity of fitting in, or some other drivel. It should come from a passion for beautification, or the need to express yourself, or even for it's simple joy. We should want to change for ourselves, because of ourselves. Not due to others. So, society should definitely change and become a accepting place for people of all shapes, sizes, skin colours, and any other definitive factor. The fact of the matter is, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 For the sake of itself, I'm redirecting you to a video of a model wearing a year's worth of makeup, in one day. Click here.

To Share or Not to Share... That is the Million Dollar Question...: Guess Things Happen That Way

*Lemme explain: Today's title is the 10 billionth song bought on iTunes. Johnny Cash, anyone?


Being honest, I'm actually okay with file sharing. My general rule is to download whatever interests you, and if you start foaming at the mouth from excitement, show that artist/actor/person respect by buying their album/movie/thing. Maybe it's because I don't see its harmful effect, but I don't think it's that wrong. Why do we have to worry about giving celebrities more money, when the yearly income of our parents/providers, are less than an quarter of what they make in a month? And if I have no real motivation to stop, why would I?

SOPA destroys Megaupload

It's difficult for me to justify something that appears so immoral, but maybe the war with SOPA will help provide me with a way of explaining. If you are an experienced participant in file sharing, torrents are not a new concept. And the best place to download these torrents is indefinitely The Pirate Bay. They are the big wigs of the file sharing world, and are currently loudly protesting against SOPA. They recently released a press release that explained why their stance was so strong. It's general statement was that The Pirate Bay and Hollywood are one and the same. Due to Thomas Edison's patents for motion pictures, all aspiring film makers relocated to California, founding Hollywood. As well, at this time there were no copyrights to speak of, allowing studios to copy old stories and make movies out of them. This means that the whole industry was based on "stealing" the work of others. The Pirate Bay, and other file sharing websites are all doing the exact same thing that was done during the making of Hollywood; they've circumvented their rules and demolished the monopoly held over the public.  As a person who uses file sharing, I am allowing myself to freely access media. I am helping create our own, virtual Hollywood while using what I am given. Ultimately, I would still hope that whoever wanted my theoretical art/song/movie would want to buy my piece after they had downloaded it. People taking my work and using it freely is something which naturally accompanies making my art form available to the public. Deciding whether that really matters to me is what is important. Regardless, the most important factor should not be whether I'm not receiving money from people who choose to download my music or not. It's about whether they listen to it at all, and what they think of it. The money that comes from what I love is just an added bonus to using my passion to do what I love successfully. 


Want to read all of The Pirate Bay press release on SOPA? Click here.

Career Mashing!: Mix It All Together & You Know You Got the Best of Both Worlds!

I looked through the CareerMash website, not expecting to find much answers to the conundrum that is my future. While going through a CareerMash chart, I found a career that seemed to appeal to whatever pre-set personality traits that I could relate to! While I'm not about to vow that this will be the job I'll work towards, it's definitely one that I would have overlooked if I hadn't been on the CareerMash website.

A network manager monitors, operates, protects and provisions networked systems. Some duties they are assigned include keeping the network running smoothly, monitoring the network to spot problems, keeping track of the assignment of resources, performing repairs and upgrades, and configuring network resources to support a given service. Their all around job is to manage the network, to make interacting via technology an easier and more enjoyable process.
A university degree in computer science, information technology or electrical and computer technology is the standard starting point. You can find specialist concentrations within degree programs such as networks and security at the University of Windsor; communications networking at York University; or a networking an IT security stream in information technology at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Carleton University and Algonquin College partner to offer a degree and diploma in network technology providing courses and practical experience in such areas as design, IT security, the physics of communications and network simulation and modelling.

Twitterverse network is HUGE.

Bob Shwarz is a blogger who spends his days watching for the network of computers that he manages. In a post he wrote, he shows how the everyday life of a network manager is never boring. His day starts at 4:30 AM and can continue until 8:00 at night. It all depends on the number of problems he finds that day, or what his schedule looks like. He could have anywhere from 10 to 18 hour days, and if a major problem arises, he works around the clock to get the network back on track. 
Since I loved writing a list so much for my last post, I believe I will do so again.


Mellat's Three Rules to Being an Effective Network Manager:

1. Your agenda is your biffle.  Being a network manager requires a lot more time than you can actually log, so find your magic number and increase your productivity by scheduling wisely.
2. Remember food? Yeah, you should eat some. Skipping meals to save time will result with you drooling on your keyboard by the end of the day. To be efficient you have to be conscious, so take care of yourself. Eat your fruits and veggies, kiddies.
3. WORK. Perform a scheduled maintenance, check your uptime monitor, troubleshoot problems, make service changes and do everything your job requires of you. 

Since I'm not affluent in tech-speak, I can't translate all the words I read from the various websites I have been on, reading about network management. While I hope what I wrote was not too much of a regurgitation of those websites, please excuse any, ahem, paragraphs, you've seen elsewhere. Of course, anything taken from other does not belong to me.

Here are some useful links:

CareerMash: Network Management

Bob Schwarz: A Day in the Life of Network Admin

Texting In Social Situations: Ping Me Baby, One More Time!

Coming from a girl who is currently sans-cell in a tech dominated world, texting in social situations is a really big annoyance. Usually it's tolerable, since most people aren't huddled over their Crackberry 24/7, but there are many people who don't understand that their texting can be a bother.Text in public all you want, just not when you're attention should be otherwise occupied by the living, breathing person in front of you frowning at your lack of attention. My advice: Know when to text, and when not to.

When you pull someone aside to have a conversation, or are mid-explanation of something increrdibly important, the last thing you want is to be interrupted by a small, hand-held device. I think that people believe that texting is much easier and faster than calling, and just assume that it is okay  to whip out your phone and send back a quick response to the last text you received. In reality, it isn't. These quick responses usually end in replies, and these replies create conversations that interrupt the one we're having person to person, face to face. Wanting to make conversation with people is okay. Wanting to make conversation with multiple people at a time isn't. You wouldn't talk to me and the person next to you at the same time, so what makes texting any different?

Mellat's Texting Etiquette:

1. Place your ring on vibrate. Trust me when I say no one wants to listen to you live "la vida loca" as you reply to your texts.
2. Be discreet. I'm sure what your buddy Brian told you was funny, but you don't need to laugh that loud.
3. No need to flaunt your texts. This ties into the one above: Yes, I'm sure Brian's joke was top-notch, but no that doesn't necessarily mean I want to know how it went.
4. Those "PING!" options on the Blackberry? A lot louder than your average vibration.
5. I'm not going to third-wheel in a conversation I'm not part of. Don't start a conversation you're not going to continue. Prada or nada, baby.

Ms. Powell, I know I'm supposed to be done, but while my opinionated juices are flowing let me say that I really don't have anything against this texting business. It may be a smidge irritating, with a smattering of annoyance, but it really isn't as bad as I made it out to be.Texting is like any other form of communication, just one where the boundaries aren't so obvious.