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[maddieee321]

[maddieee321]

wooo its wednesday

[maddieee321]

[maddieee321]

Good Bye Cell Phone

Oh boy, this mission was indeed a challenge.  Unfortunately, I know that I have very little will power when it comes to certain things, and being connected with technology is one of my faults.  I honestly didn’t realize how attached and connected I was via the Internet, my phone, the TV, and my computer.  Saturday night I decided to completely disconnect myself and get “off the grid.”  I shut off my computer, turned off the TV and put the remote away (mostly so I wouldn’t see it and be tempted), and disconnected myself from Facebook and Instagram.  I planned accordingly so I didn’t have any homework or anything I really needed to do using any technology (beside basic electricity). 

  And so it began, Sunday morning I woke up and instantly wanted to relax by turning on the TV and looking on Pinterest on my computer.  Unfortunately I quickly remembered my phone was off and the remote was gone… for now at least.  So, I decided to wake my boyfriend up and make him get out of bed before I got too bored and gave up on this challenge.  We decided that we better keep ourselves busy or else we won’t be able to keep the TV off and the computers away.  Off to the beach we went.  We decided the best idea would be to go surf.  However, we weren’t in the clear yet… I quickly realized how odd it is to drive without the radio or music.  Not only would we get in a workout on this lazy Sunday, but also we wouldn’t be able to use our phones, computers, or TVs anyways!  After a couple hours of surfing we headed home, again in silence. 

  After getting home, I really just wanted to relax and watch some TV.  But, no.  I made some breakfast and ate at the table and enjoyed looking outside at the sky.  It was kind of nice to just relax and eat breakfast without any other distractions.  After a big breakfast, I was ready for a nap! J  I took a couple hour nap (that was much needed) waking up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the next obstacle the day presented.  Sundays I usually go to my roommate’s parents house right next to the water and we hang out there.  Her house is pretty easy to stay disconnected because the water is right across the street.  So we went out and floated around in the ocean for a while, all the while the boys were fishing.  Right when we got out of the water, her two-twin girl nieces had just arrived.  Yayy! Another great distraction.  I could play with them forever.  However, every time they did something cute, I wanted to quickly Instagram it!  Too my dismay, I missed every cute picture opportunity that day.  The rest of the day was pretty easy because we basically played with babies, ate lots of food, and participated in good conversation with friends. 

  Disconnecting myself from the world was a little harder than I thought but did get easier as the day went on.  At first all I could think about was what I was missing out on.  However, I soon realized I wasn’t really missing out on anything.  If something was that important, I would have figured it out eventually.  I got to spend the day with friends and eat some good food without having to worry about my phone or what the latest post on Instagram was.  I think this mission would have been a lot harder if I sat inside all day, but I think as long as you keep yourself busy and are surrounded by good friends and food; you can easily disconnect yourself from the Internet, TV, and cell phones.  I can now say that I can live without my phone, however I don’t think I will be doing that again anytime soon.

[maddieee321]

uhh Planking???

Okay, so if you are like me, you may have heard the word "meme" and used it once or twice but never actually knew exactly what a "meme" was.  After doing a little research, I found that a meme is simply a concept that spreads person to person via the world wide web.  The first meme that came to my mind was the idea of planking.  Who in the world first thought of planking and thought it was cool?  Planking is considered to be the activity of lying face down on usually an odd or weird place or location.  Some rules include: hands must touch sides of body, must mimick a wodden plank (hence the name "planking").  You can plank with your whole body resting on something or just certain spots resting so you can hold your body in a straight line.  Supposedly Tom Green invented planking in 1994 when he was caught on a hidden camera lying face down on an Ottawa sidewalk without moving.  It originally became popular in North East England then spread to South Korea where it was called "playing dead."  Soon it moved to France where it was called "a plat ventre", Australiasia where it was called "extreme lying down", USA and Ireland called it "facedowns" , and finally Australia, New Zealand and Worldwide it was known as "planking."  Planking did not just come with fun and games.  It resulted in many contraversies because some girl had been planking with her head in the toilet while other planked in such dangerous places they got hurt and one even died.  Not to anyones surprise, people tried to create their own versions of planking.  Some of there were called "teapotting" where a person would simply bed their arms and sit in the shape of a teapot.  Owling was another form where the person would squat like an owl.  However, none of these variations ever went quite as viral as "planking" did. 

[maddieee321]

Finally... It's Friday

10:33- Remember to do you Podify Your Life if you want to do this mission… you can only do it once per day

10:34- Presentation…? Not here

10:35- Open ended discussion (Nikolas is here! Presentation at the end of class)

10:36- Current state of copyright law… What do you think? Almost seems impossible because you can take something from anywhere and you don’t know where it started. Why even have this law in the first place?  We are all influenced on our culture around us whether we realize ir or not.

10:39- If someone invents something (cure for AIDS) they should get paid a set price so they will be "set for life" then this idea should be available for anyone to use so everyone can have it and it will be cheaper for everyone.

10:40- Life patent... Pharmaceutical companies.  Opposing side: it takes a lot of money for the Pharmaceutical companies to produce these "ideas" and profit from.  They may need to make 29 samples and the 30th one is the only "good" one that can be used.  So should we pay people for their "failures"? Science is trial and error so is there really such thing as a "fail"?

10:48- DMCA: does all sorts of things... Two major things are: 1. anti circumvention devices and 2. take down notice

10:49- Looking at sites that are hosting other peoples content (before facebook, youtube, etc.) (ex: geocities) and congress looked in the future as this being a huge copyright nightmare... Everyone keeps copy someone else's information= litigation NIGHTMARE.  DMCA however protects this!

10:56- Youtube, Facebook, etc. could not exist without "take down notices."  Presumption is your guilty and presumption is you will take it down.

10:59- Does anyone feel like we should scrap this whole thing (copyright laws)??? Maybe start completely over? Now onto creative content...

11:01- Lessig first tries to take this to the court (Eldied vs. Ashcroft) about the length of a copyright and the notion that it can be continually extended. (Mickey Mouse...?? Anti-Disney...)

11:02- Creative commons (cc): even though some people want to get rid of copyright all together, it most likely won't happen.  BUT cc is a parallel.  It will allow the creator to tell people what they will and will not allow them to do with it.

11:04- Types of cc: BY= Attribution (give credit); NC= Non-Commercial (do whatever you want as long as it is not for profit); ND= Non-Derivative (you can do whatever you want with it as long as you don't change it); SA= Share Alike (whatever you do with it, you must attach same copyright it was given in the first place).  "CopyLeft"  Creators can choose which of these to put onto their work/s.

11:07- Why would you ever do this in the first place?  Too philosophical for now... But who did the Not-So-Pirate Radio mission?  How was the quality of the overall music?  Some not so good but some were awesome.

11:10- Nikolas sets up his powerpoint... In the meantime let's look at the numbers of creative commons.  Amount of content released is growing exponentially in the last nine years.

11:13- "How to Download Youtube Videos" with Youtube Downloader.  Seems pretty useful, cool! 

11:16- Questions?  

11:17- Happy Aloha Friday!  Byeee

[maddieee321]

Alohaaa Friday!

10:30- Close the door... presentations?? ugh, quiz.

10:33-Miniboss due Monday!  Make sure you have at least 250 points in one category if you want to do it.

10:34-Katie is doing a presentation on... Pickling!  Pickling cucumbers, jalenpenos, and garlic.  Yummy!  Don't pickle fruit and veggies together...  But asparagus and onions are good too!

10:40-Every single creative expression is copyright whether or not you register it.  Everything on the internet is copyright and we are breaking the law constantly.

10:41-So are we breaking the law all the time?  Technically yes, but a lot of times, copyright makers will make permissions and allow people to "copy" documents, films, etc. Copyright holder is usually unlikely to come after every person.

10:46-Breaking copyright law = organized crime?

10:49-Fair Use: predates US Copyright Law.  Some kinds of copies are legally fair (established through case law).  4 Criteria for "Fair Use." 

Must look at the purpose or the character of the copy

The nature of the original piece (list of facts is more likely to be protected than an original/creative piece)

Amount or substantiality of what you copy (Vanilla Ice vs. Queen "Under Pressure")

Effect on the value of the original work

11:02-Big problem with "Fair Use"... It doesn't really do much for people.  How many people actually know about this law? It's an affirmative defense...

11:06-There is no clear amount of what is okay and what is not because it is determined on a case to case basis (depends on lawyer, judge, jury, etc.).

11:08-Example: video of JFK getting shot.  The nature of the video was for public interest so this case was considered fair use even though the rest of the criteria was considered to not be fair use

11:12-Photographer posed Barbie dolls in a certain fashion (suburban value, "vanilla")  and was sued by Mattel; did it again with different dolls and was sued again by another company but company lost the second time. Or was it with another photographer the second time...

11:15-Fair use is VERY complex.  We live in a culture where we can and do copy things freely, but we are often unclear if it is technically legal or not.

11:17-See ya later!  Woo weekend!

[maddieee321]

Hawaiian Sign Language

http://news.yahoo.com/hawaii-sign-language-found-distinct-language-182356712.html

Everyday, walking around anywhere on the island, I will hear locals talking pidgin and I often can't understand them.  I think throughout the decades, local Hawaiians have developed their own "slang" or language that it particularly hard for the average mainlander to understand.  I recently read an article on a "secret Hawaiian sign language" that very few elderly Hawaiians still know.  I think this is interesting because 1. I didn't really ever think of different languages having different signs for different words, and 2. they just found out about this sign language.  I kind of always assumed that sign language was a universal language, but obviously thinking about it now, that doesn't really make sense.  I think Hawaii having their own specific sign language is significant because it really separates Hawaii from the rest of the country.  It really is secluded and and island and in turn, they  had to find their own new and innovative ways of doing things.  There is a girl on the swim team who is deaf and I was "talking" to her about different languages in sign language and I had asked her if she knew any other languages.  She looked at me like I was crazy because I didn't know that there were different languages of sign language.  Anyways, she didn't know any other languages.  However I think it is odd how many people do not know about different sign languages.  

[maddieee321]

To Vote or Not To Vote

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2013/feb/27/supreme-court-strike-down-voting-rights-act

Recently I have been reading and hearing a lot about changing the voting laws in this country.  When these laws were written, it was during a time of segregation and discrimination so these laws and acts were put in place to make sure everyone had the right to vote.  Basically the law that they are trying to reform now allowed African American people to vote and it made sure they would not be discriminated against.  The US Supreme Court is saying it may not be necessary anymore and that it should just be taken out.  I think for the most part, discrimination and racism has been abolished and sometimes I think it goes in favor towards African American people.  For example, I saw a commercial on TV the other day about a website called "blackpeoplemeet.com" that was basically an online dating site just for African American people.  I don't think there is anything wrong with that but at the same time I have to think "would this be allowed if it were called "whitepeoplemeet.com"?"  However, I think there are also some places in the US that are still somewhat racist.  I think this law should be left alone since it is really not hurting anyone and if it's not really causing any problems, why change it?

[maddieee321]

Snail Mail

http://news.yahoo.com/desperate-postal-tries-cool-factor-220301707--sector.html

I recently read on article about how the US Postal Service is quickly running out of money and is almost bankrupt.  Does this really surprise them (or anyone for that matter...)?  I think the US Postal Service has been slowly declining ever since the internet started.  The internet was the first big "new thing" in communication because instead of waiting a couple days to receive a letter or note, it could be sent and received within seconds via email.  After the internet, texting started and now I feel like everyone communicates via texts unless it's something long they need to talk about.  "Snail Mail" really is one of the slowest ways to "talk" to someone.  Besides delivering packages, you can do almost anything through the internet, like sending "Evites" or virtual thank you cards.  Sometimes I do wish people used "snail mail" more because I do love opening envelopes because it's like a surprise and you never know what it's gonna be!

[maddieee321]

Gun Control...

The topic of gun control has been a huge issue over the last few months due to the rise of shootings happening in our country.  I was looking on Yahoo! news and found an article about Colorado's new gun control law.  Basically the new law that was passed in Colorado was to help control guns but not quite restrict them all together.  I think this is an important issue that has risen due to the recent shootings.  As to what my opinion on gun control, I think everyone with a gun should have a permit and should have some sort of background check before they are allowed to buy a gun.  Although this seems somewhat invasive on someone's personal life and privacy, I think it will greatly help in decreasing shootings and gun problems.  However, at the same time I think this would be very unlikely to happen because this kind of invades people's personal privacy and most probably would vote against it.  This topic is a hard topic to agree on because every situation is different.  Even though some shooters may have a past of some sort of violence or psychological disorders, others have no history of that and it would be hard to determine who is and is not allowed or should have a gun.  So I guess basically, I have not really decided what is right or what is wrong on the topic of gun control, but I definitely think something needs to be done.

http://news.yahoo.com/colorado-house-passes-gun-control-measures-014109714.html

[maddieee321]

NBA 2K13: Ludus or Paidea

In the last few classes we have been getting into the "nitty, gritty" of games and play and whether or not video games should be considered art and what should one categorize a game.  We played many games in class, some for time, some for a concrete goal, while some were simply "time-wasters."  Each of these games can be placed into a certain category and each one could be considered art.  Since I don't play too many video games (aside from guitar hero...) I had to turn to my boyfriend and his friends to the one game they played ALL THE TIME when it first came out... NBA2K13.  I figured since they seemed to love it so much and play for hours, how bad could it be?  So, I set out on a mission to play for as long as it took me to decide whether this game would be considered ludus or paidea.  

NBA2K13 is essentially a virtual basketball game.  You can play the computer, stangers, or some friends sitting right next to you for some real heated competition.  The game is updated frequently as the real life season is played so you can pick your team and it supposedly will play similar to how the team is actually playing in real life.  

To start, I will say NBA 2K13 should be considered a ludus type of game.  Games can be divided into two categories--Ludus and Paidea.  Simply put, ludus games are highly structured and have a set of rules that are to be followed, while paidea games are "free" and though they may still have rules, they are free and are subject to change.  Alright, so going back to NBA2K13 being ludus.  I would consider this game ludus because there are strict rules and a definite winner and loser at the conclusion of every "game."  Furthermore, the game very much "ludus" because you are directed by how the teams are playing in real life.  Even though you can control what moves each player will make, if you end up playing a team that is ranked much better than you in season, you will most likely lose.  Like in real basketball, there are rules that you must abide by (no pushing, or interfering, no going out of bounds, etc.) and if you break these rules there is punishment, like a penalty.  All of these are factors that contribute to this game being more ludus than paidea.  All in all, NBA2K13 is a fun game to play if you want to play some basketball without getting (too) sweaty in the hot heat of Hawaii but be ready to get a little frustrated for there are things you can not control and rules that you must follow...

[maddieee321]

Finally it's Friday!

10:31-we are boring.. Or liars 10:33-Madison is giving a presentation on MATLAB. She's an electrical engineering major but doesn't like computer programming. 10:36-MATLAB is confusing... Kind of like a calculator for engineers...? Sounds complicated but cool idea. 10:40-Engineering seems hard and lots of math. Good thing I am not an engineering major. But from what I got from MATLAB is that it is a huge calculator. But she's making an amplifier... That's pretty cool! 10:44-Argument against procedurality. What is proceduralism? Video games as naratives until Frasca said they should be looked at as games or luda. What are the rules, structure, win/loss? Study of games. 10:47-Design philosophy. Opposite of looking at the ludeology of the game. Example is game of "dys4ia." 10:50-Katie volunteers to play a game... With terrorists and civilians? Wait, but it says It is not a game because there is no winning or losing. However, it displays a message. This is what proceduralism leads to. 10:53-Civilians are turning into terrorists. Message of the game: War on terror is going nowhere. Criticism of a certain way of approaching things. Collateral damage-one thing starts a bunch of other problems. 10:57-Does it matter whos playing the game? Yes-different people will react differently and therefore act differently. No-there's only one thing you can do in this game. Shoot. Everyone will shoot. 11:03-Looking back on the first reading. Is there a way to get from point A to point B? Does everything from a game come from the rules of the game or something else? 11:05-Where does the "something else" come from? The players ethical values...? Major flaw in ludological analysis is that you never look at how the players come into play. 11:09-Does this mean rules don't mean anything and you can throw out all the rules? 11:12-When a game doesn't have rules, it is more like art. 11:13-You must consider the player and they should be the driving force of the design of the game. 11:17-Yayy happy Friday! Weekend!

[maddieee321]

The Niners...

Ugh, I can't believe they lost.  It was such a nail biter and I wanted them to win so bad! I am from the Bay Area so the Niners winning the SuperBowl would have been awesome! First the Giants win the World Series, then the Niners win the SuperBowl, and then who knows, the Sharks win the Stanley Cup!  Aww... Bay Area sports basking in the glory of winning.  But unfortunately not.  After a nice catch up after the surprising power outage, the Niners lost in a way that I thought was unfair... but I suppose I am biased.  Plus, I had morning practice riding on this game!  My coach, also from the Bay Area, was rooting for the Niners of course and too give them some extra encouragement, he had the whole swim team rooting for them.  How you ask?  Incentive!  He told us if the Niners won, we got Monday morning off and we could sleep in :)  The whole swim team was sitting around a TV anxiously watching the poor Niners lose to the Ravens.  Oh well, til next year I suppose... But how about those Sharks?

[maddieee321]

It's Wednesday...

10:30-Aloha! Happy Wednesday everyone. It's surprisingly loud today...

10:31-Quiz time... uh oh

10:33-Quiz over.  Topic today: Are video games or can video games be art? Neither person in reading give a very good description of what art actually is.  Difference between looking at the actual game as art or is the actual playing of the game art?

10:36-I think video games can be art.  "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  Art is a display of someone's creativity and makes you think about it.  It is different for everyone.  Thinking about art this way, a video game can be someone's interpretation of art and is a display of their imagination or creativity.

10:38-Art has to be created.  So, is a mountain scenery in nature art?  We must look at the culture behind a piece of art.  Art is personal.  And I think this goes back to "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  

10:42-Institutional theory of Art.  If it is in a museum, than it is art.  If it is not, than it's not.  However there are many other ways to look at art. 

10:46-Art functioning on the aesthetic level.  Making something beautiful.  

10:51-Can a game be art?  Thinking about ludus and padea.  Yes, games contain art, but can the game at play and rules meet the criteria of being art?  Looking at participatory art...  Thinking about art in a different way.  

10:53-Video games have story lines.  So if we look at art as something that gets you involved and makes you think then video games are an art because you aren't playing emotionless.  You end up getting involved in the game.

10:55-Are video games the revolutionary end?  Are the people that create the video games artists and are you playing the game an artist?  Thinking about it this way... I'd say yes and no. I think the people that created video games are like artists.  But, I also don't think playing a video games makes you an artist.  Hmmm...

11:01-The art of playing a video game.  Example being sports video games.  There is an art of playing a game well.

11:04-Can establishing the rules for a game have aesthetics or be a skill or craft? Yes, limiting the amount of resources you have generates an emotional response.  

11:09-Affectivity of a video game.  However, lacking of aesthetics in video games.  "Fluff" or "Theme."  Example: Adding haircuts in Grand Theft Auto.  

11:11-Make a Wish!  Aesthetics as a questions of style.  

[maddieee321]

Almost Done

It's hard to think that by this time next month, I will be done with my swimming career.  I have been waiting for this day for what seems like forever now.  I have been swimming since I can remember, so probably around 4 or 5.  My family has always been part of a swimming community, starting with summer cabana club, then year around swimming and high school swimming, and now I'm finishing it out with college swimming.  Don't get me wrong, I love swimming and it has truly taught me so much but after 15 plus years of doing it, I'm ready to be done and close this chapter in my life and move on.  I think swimming is a hard sport to stay with, just like any other, because it is so time consuming and it really is hard to do something everyday when you lose passion for it.  I think after a few months break I will probably start to miss it because I don't think I have had more than a few weeks break from swimming since I started.  But I definitely know I will not miss waking up at 5:30 in the morning to go to morning practice, or staying in on Friday nights because of practice Saturday morning.  I think once I finish swimming I will greatly appreciate sleeping in and waking up when the sun is already up!

[maddieee321]

Spoiling Survivor

This chapter in Convergence Culture discusses the act of "spoiling" and applies this term to the ever popular show of Survivor.  The term "spoilers" applied to Survivor is a great example of this because it can be done in almost any possible way because there are so many ways to "spoil" this show.  I remember when this series first came out the season finale was the biggest event on TV to look forward to.  Even a couple of days before you could go online and figure out who is going to win Survivor via the Internet.  Like Levy explains that while not one person knows everything, everyone knows something and the internet is a good meeting place where everyone can come together to display the information he or she knows.  Everyones information can then be put together to form a lot of bits and pieces to form a collaborative piece of knowledge.  This is shows quite well in blogs and posts about Survivor because though one person may not know everything, when they post one thing and someone else posts another thing, it can quickly be spread and put together to form one story.  I think spoilers in the game of Survivor almost make this job of "Spoiling" their job.  They spend every waking minute when the show is on to disect, watch, and rewatch each episode to try to find clues to who is the "Soul Survivor."  I think after the first season, Burnett realized that this show has gotten so big and spoiling has become such a large part of the obsession that giving easy clues was no longer an option if he wanted this show to be as great of a success as it is.  Finally, I think the most interesting part of this chapter for me was a very small part but I still find it extremely important.  I think the idea that "spoiling" could be applied to a bigger issue like politics, is fascinating.  For how many people try to spoil Survivor, I am surprised more people don't try to spoil something bigger like the Presidential elections.  I think sooner or later people will figure out how much attention they can get from spoiling something big, like the Presidential Election, and will soon do it.  And, like always, collective intelligence will be a new problem in something else and people will have to find a new way to do things.