As a human who belongs in the society of this world, I personally think that we, people, should know when to be in the boundary of 'reality' and when to be in the boundary of 'technology'.
The final film that I would like to feature on my blog is Avatar Days. This particular film reveals the relationship of a player to his avatar. But before anything else, I think it would be better to share first my own personal experience with avatars being a player myself.
Having my own avatar is like me having a piece of my imagination turn into a reality. I've always liked RPG games and not just for fun of the game itself, but also the freedom to make your own avatar. I often choose a female as my avatar for I am a mama's boy! (HAHAHAHAH!!!) Furthermore, I choose a female character since I'm a male and I believe that a girl's looks can be deceiving and fool other players' avatars. Moreover, I prefer that my avatars get a magical abilities instead of being a simple soldier or a simple archer and many more. These things I couldn't have done in real life but in the world of avatars, that's a different thing. This different world allows me to explore the things I've always desired even though its a fictional world, do things I couldn't do , and dream things I couldn't have dreamed. And I guess that's the relationship that exists between me every player to his own avatar.
Limit doesn't exist in the world of simulation, just as boundary and rules. And people often want that, to have a little time where they are not pressured to live their life and follow the norms of the world. But we always have to remember when to go back to reality.
The plot of the film goes with a guy suddenly woke up from his day dreaming when an untimely timer that drips for an hour alarmed. This made him particularly focused to make what he had to make, and do what he had to do. He, firstly, made several blocks, as appeared to be buildings, and then tried to decorate them. He put colors and tried to make "his world" the most realistic of all. In the latter part of the film, it was revealed that all the things that the guy built was for his lady who appeared to be wearing hospital clothes. She made her way through the made-up world with glee, however, I could sense some sadness in her smile as if something is missing. I've thought and thought about it and I think it's touch, human touch she was looking for. Yes, there were many beautiful things that surrounded her yet she keeps on searching for something, someone who can accompany her in this almost perfect, little, made-up world of hers which is NOT going to be replaced by any other technological advancements. I felt sorry for the guy, as well as for the girl, who can't be with each other and feel each other's presence.
So you see, even in an almost perfect simulation or any technological process for that matter, there are still drawbacks to consider, there are still things that lack even in an imaginative world run by technology. Thus, it makes me wonder if this video truly shows what 'humans' will be in, in the present and in the future.
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer and businessman. Often referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contributions to music, dance, and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The seventh child of the Jackson, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971.
In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with breaking down racial barriers and transforming the medium into an art form and promotional tool. The popularity of these videos helped to bring the then relatively new television channel MTV to fame. With videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" he continued to be highly visible on MTV in the 1990s, and also began to forge a reputation as a touring artist. Through stage and video performances, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B, pop and rock artists.
Jackson's 1982 album Thriller is the best-selling album of all time. His other records, including Off the Wall (1979), Bad(1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995), also rank among the world's best-selling. Jackson is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He was also inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame as the first and only dancer from pop and rock music. Some of his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records; 13 Grammy Awards as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; 26 American Music Awards, more than any other artist, including the "Artist of the Century" and "Artist of the 1980s"; 13 number-one singles in the United States in his solo career, more than any other male artist in the Hot 100era; and the estimated sale of over 750 million records worldwide. Jackson won hundreds of awards, which made him the most-awarded recording artist in the history of popular music. He was also one of the world's most prominent humanitarians and philanthropists; personally, and through his Heal the World Foundation, he donated more than $300 million in charity, holds the Guinness World Record for having supported the most charities out of any pop star and echoed these themes throughout some of his notable songs.
Aspects of Jackson's personal life, including his changing skin colour, appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of child sexual abuse, but the case was settled out of court and no formal charges were brought. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of further child sexual abuse allegations and several other charges after the jury found him not guilty on all counts. While preparing for his concert series titled This Is It, Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication on June 25, 2009, after suffering from cardiac arrest. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death a homicide, and his personal physician was convicted of involuntary. Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and as many as one billion people around the world reportedly watched his public memorial service on live television. In March 2010, Sony Music Entertainment and Jackson's estate signed the largest music contract ever, with a $250 million deal to retain distribution rights to his recordings until 2017, and to release seven posthumous albums over the decade following his death.
Box office hit Avatar portrays technology as a destructive tool and as a powerful weapon to change the society we live in today.
The film stars Sam Worthington as Jake Scully--a disabled corporate military veteran recruited to command a remotely controlled alien body--his avatar--in the hope of infiltrating Pandora's native humanoid species, the Na'vi. At first, his mission is a peaceful one--intended to help negotiate a peaceful settlement between the natives and the human colonial settlers. The evil techno-corporate types came to Pandora to dig up a priceless natural element, Unobtanium. Curiously, the audience is never let in on what it does, but the villains need it and they'll commit genocide to get it. Scully is the only hope to fend off what looks like unavoidable war.
I’m a junior education student from the Philippines majoring in English…. I joined this course primarily to gain new experiences from a different kind of instructional system. I’m also intrigued by the title which says E-learning and Digital Cultures. I know technology but with this course I’m put in a new space and I’m curious than ever. I’m interested and I’m ready to learn!!!
The invention of cooking allowed the body to use fewer resources in eating and digesting food. The digestive tract shrank, and the brain grew. Primates usually spend half the day chewing tough raw food, but we don’t need to, so early humans could spend the time on other things.
Learned at: A Brief History of Humankind (Hebrew University of Jerusalem/Coursera)
Extra credit: Invention of cooking drove evolution of the human species, new book argues (Harvard Gazette, 2009)
The Former South African president and a national hero Nelson Mandela passed away early December making people from all over the world mourn for the loss of a great man.
Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was South Africa's first black chief executive, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalized racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. A Xhosa born to the Thembu royal family, Mandela attended the Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law. Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-colonial politics, joining the ANC and becoming a founding member of its Youth League.
In 1962, he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the state, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.
Mandela served over 27 years in prison, initially on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. An international campaign lobbied for his release. He was released in 1990, during a time of escalating civil strife. Mandela joined negotiations with President F. W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to victory and became South Africa's first black president.
During his tenure in the Government of National Unity he invited several other political parties to join the cabinet. As agreed to during the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa, he promulgated a new constitution. He also created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses. While continuing the former government's liberal economic policy, his administration also introduced measures to encourage land reform, combat poverty, and expand healthcare services. Internationally, he acted as mediator between Libya and the United Kingdom in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, and oversaw military intervention in Lesotho. He declined to run for a second term, and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki. Mandela became an elder statesman, focusing on charitable work in combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Mandela gained international acclaim for his activism, having received more than 250 honors, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Soviet Order of Lenin and the Bharat Ratna. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata ("Father"); he is often described as "the father of the nation".
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
A famous quote from Nelson Mandela reminding us that a man who uses power aiming to hurt other people is not being brave, but the one admits his own mistakes and tries to solve the problems by the best way possible, that’s braveness.
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