Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The Internet is Large
I found this interesting image online. It's amazing how large and fast the internet is growing. I'm sure if they made one of they posted one of these images 15 years ago, it would only be half as big and would not be as appealing.
In Korea, a Boot Camp Cure for Web Obsession
I thought this was a really interesting article because I would have thought that the majority of people who are addicted to the internet are in the United States. I think this idea of a "boot camp" is a very smart idea because it exposes these internet addicts to the real world rather than their "virtual" one. It seems it has become increasingly popular in South Korea but i'm hoping it will be this available in other countries. Reading about teenagers who pass out from exhaustion of staying on the computer too much and skipping school just to stay on there is quite scary because I personally stay on my computer around 10-12 hours everyday, a lot higher than it was 2 years ago: 4-6 hours. I think these days people do not get to enjoy the true outdoors because we are overloaded with school work or we are too attached to our electronics; cell phones, iPods, PC's, laptops etc. At this very moment I am dazing off on my screen because I've been looking at a screen for the past 7 hours in school. Hopefully in the future, there will be help for those who are extremely addicted to the internet and computers all over the world.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Digitial School Library
The article, "Digital School Library Leaves Book Stacks Behind" by Tina Antolini talks about a so-called "elite" school that is getting rid of its library and replacing it with e-book online, Amazon Kindles, flat-screen TV's and computers where students can study online. The school officials had already seen the trend of student's bringing in their laptops and researching and reading more online than actual book. I disagree with the school because I believe that a library is a sanctuary where you can read a book or even go on the computer but still be quiet. Now it isn't even a library and there is a lot of noise. Some of best in-depth research is in book and Encyclopedia's and now everything is just online. As my father always put it, he used to go to the library whenever he had a research paper due and stay there for hours but then again he had time to "play" with his friends after school. As work load has increased, students are constantly working from the time they get home until right before they go to bed. I agree that technology is changing and we cannot stay in the past forever, but this is happening way too fast. With this happening, many views have been stated about this article from different users online.
My thoughts on David, Bockoven, Adam Coffey and Heather Hughes:
All of these commentators talk about how uncomfortably it is to read on a screen and by reading it could hurt the eyes but reading pages of books does not hurt the eyes although I think with books there is a longer focusing span.
My thoughts on Pat Anderson:
She claims that a lot of books are not available in e-book form. A lot of books that we are searching for for research or just for leisure will not all be available for us at this moment.Some works that are censored are not put online but are only found in libraries.
My thoughts on Mark O and M Campbell:
These are contrasting views. MarkO talks about how it is also an environmental issue as trees re being cut down to make the paper from books and taking the carbon dioxide away from our atmosphere (so it's less clean). M Campbell responds that even if trees are being cut down people are throwing their electronic reader in the trash or worse in a stream causing more problems as they contain toxic chemicals.
Overall, I thought the school went too far with taking the entire library out. Every school needs books. Some people love books and some people hate them but there is no reason to not have a place where people can read actual books.I think these electronic books should be an option as all students learn in different ways.
My thoughts on David, Bockoven, Adam Coffey and Heather Hughes:
All of these commentators talk about how uncomfortably it is to read on a screen and by reading it could hurt the eyes but reading pages of books does not hurt the eyes although I think with books there is a longer focusing span.
My thoughts on Pat Anderson:
She claims that a lot of books are not available in e-book form. A lot of books that we are searching for for research or just for leisure will not all be available for us at this moment.Some works that are censored are not put online but are only found in libraries.
My thoughts on Mark O and M Campbell:
These are contrasting views. MarkO talks about how it is also an environmental issue as trees re being cut down to make the paper from books and taking the carbon dioxide away from our atmosphere (so it's less clean). M Campbell responds that even if trees are being cut down people are throwing their electronic reader in the trash or worse in a stream causing more problems as they contain toxic chemicals.
Overall, I thought the school went too far with taking the entire library out. Every school needs books. Some people love books and some people hate them but there is no reason to not have a place where people can read actual books.I think these electronic books should be an option as all students learn in different ways.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The Boundaries of Manipulation
"In the New York Times article, the author writes: 'Indeed a manipulated image, which is often more powerful than the sum of its parts, can affect not just visual perception, but opinions as well.' Reflect on this statement. What specific power do photos have to tell the truth? Are there specific guidelines that we should follow? What limitations should there be on image manipulations, posed events, and other types of fakey? What counts as manipulation, and what counts as reasonable editing, cropping or enhancement? "
When thinking about manipulated photography, you may think of the Photoshop techniques we use in Digital Photography to make silly photographs or change the color of people’s faces or clothes but there is a type of manipulated photography that can be so convincing that we cannot tell whether or not it’s real or fake. This is the power that photographs have. When photography was first introduced in the 19th century, there was not a great deal of options as the equipment and skill was so minimal that people would believe any photograph. As technology changed, programs like Photoshop or Correll have allowed us to manipulate everything on an image. We can crop, resize, and change the color, airbrush skin, change backgrounds, really anything. For us images speak louder than words. If we looked at a photo by Matthew Brady, a well-known photographer during the Civil War, we can see the history and what happened back then. A lot of photojournalists travel to such dangerous areas and take photos of bombings, terrorists attacks and the people around the area. I believe there can be reasonable editing on photographs although people will know its fake. Retouching of blemishes or whitening of teeth is reasonable but changing the weight of someone or changing the entire image to make them look guilty or innocent is an entirely different thing. When looking at magazines like National Geographic or even newspapers, I believe they should use all original images even if the pyramids do not fit or if someone is guilty. In the consumer sense of make up, hair products and clothes I think it is more accepted by our society than images containing content of dangerous/important events. Personally, I would like to see a magazine come up with no editing because people have seemed to lose the sense of what is beautiful. Advertisements in magazines with women with the most perfect body; no skin blotches, no cellulite, no wrinkles or pimples are not beautiful because they are “artificial”. Overall, I think manipulating images in magazines and newspapers is not reasonable because it changes our judgment. Manipulation in art is different as it has no effect on the world, only people who enjoy the way you compose the image or the way you layer images together.
When thinking about manipulated photography, you may think of the Photoshop techniques we use in Digital Photography to make silly photographs or change the color of people’s faces or clothes but there is a type of manipulated photography that can be so convincing that we cannot tell whether or not it’s real or fake. This is the power that photographs have. When photography was first introduced in the 19th century, there was not a great deal of options as the equipment and skill was so minimal that people would believe any photograph. As technology changed, programs like Photoshop or Correll have allowed us to manipulate everything on an image. We can crop, resize, and change the color, airbrush skin, change backgrounds, really anything. For us images speak louder than words. If we looked at a photo by Matthew Brady, a well-known photographer during the Civil War, we can see the history and what happened back then. A lot of photojournalists travel to such dangerous areas and take photos of bombings, terrorists attacks and the people around the area. I believe there can be reasonable editing on photographs although people will know its fake. Retouching of blemishes or whitening of teeth is reasonable but changing the weight of someone or changing the entire image to make them look guilty or innocent is an entirely different thing. When looking at magazines like National Geographic or even newspapers, I believe they should use all original images even if the pyramids do not fit or if someone is guilty. In the consumer sense of make up, hair products and clothes I think it is more accepted by our society than images containing content of dangerous/important events. Personally, I would like to see a magazine come up with no editing because people have seemed to lose the sense of what is beautiful. Advertisements in magazines with women with the most perfect body; no skin blotches, no cellulite, no wrinkles or pimples are not beautiful because they are “artificial”. Overall, I think manipulating images in magazines and newspapers is not reasonable because it changes our judgment. Manipulation in art is different as it has no effect on the world, only people who enjoy the way you compose the image or the way you layer images together.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Digital Truth
People in today’s society rely on the media to find the best shops, the best food and drink, the best restaurants, best hair product etc. As people in the 20th and 21st century have grown up to be so visual and connected to technology such as the television and internet, there is no doubt that they see digitally enhanced photographs or advertisements. People buy what looks good. Companies do not want to get a amateur photographer to take a photo of their product, they want a professional who also knows Photoshop to make their product look as perfect as possible although to the general public, we know it’s false. When we see pictures of women in magazines with beautiful hair and flawless skin, we know its fake even though in the back of our minds we want to believe its real. I think the media has wired us to think that although it’s slowly deteriorating people’s perceptions and how they should look or what they should buy. A product that looks nice in advertisements, costs twice as much but does half the job as an unknown brand that cost less is all based on our decision making. Our media is reaching us in so many ways: internet, TV, magazines, newspapers etc. that we are so dependent on it. This can cause of problem in our sense of judgment as we give in so quickly and easily to these false images. Our generation has already grown up thinking that being skinny and having the latest looks is all that matters, think about the next. The media is covering up what is real and we can’t possibly “break the habit”. There is a reason why it’s called digital truth and if it becomes exposed, companies will suffer, people will think differently about themselves and their habits and maybe our world would be more realistic rather than fake and hidden.
Friday, October 23, 2009
My Favorite Blogs
I love to look at fashion/art/photography blogs. Here are a few that are amazing to look at. Even though most of them do not have a lot of writing, the images are spectacular and the stories told in them are very interesting. Some of them are in different languages...
www.yvanrodic.blogspot.com
www.facehunter.blogspot.com
www.rodeo.net/signe
www.thecherryblossomgirl.com
www.leblogdebetty.com
www.johnnysbird.com
www.luxirare.com
www.leloveimage.blogspot.com
www.theselby.com
Extra:
My favorite GEEK site :D
www.geekologie.com
www.yvanrodic.blogspot.com
www.facehunter.blogspot.com
www.rodeo.net/signe
www.thecherryblossomgirl.com
www.leblogdebetty.com
www.johnnysbird.com
www.luxirare.com
www.leloveimage.blogspot.com
www.theselby.com
Extra:
My favorite GEEK site :D
www.geekologie.com
Monday, October 19, 2009
While watching the news....
Did the news broadcaster meet the criteria for what is news? Explain. What news was relevant or useful to citizens of the local area, including young people? In what way was it useful or relevant?
CNN:
-“Balloon Boy” drama was staged, sheriff says
-Third “Sweatbox” victim dies in Arizona
-All-male college cracks down on cross-dressing
While watching CNN for about 30 minutes these were the top three headlines that stuck in my mind. These headlines were from October, 19th 2009 in the evening. In the beginning, I was watching BBC news but they were not broadcasting headlines, rather stories from people living in England and Ireland. After 10 minutes of watching BBC, I switched to CNN where I found interesting headlines. I was surprised these made the top stories because they seem very irrelevant for people all around the world. They all had somewhat big headlines which gives the viewer a larger impact although these stories do not affect the world so much.
The “Balloon Boy” story was finally said to be staged by a sheriff as the parents just did it for a publicity stunt. When this story first came out I thought it was very irrelevant to be on CNN and BBC because it is about a boy in a small town and does not affect many people except for the people in their community. Personally, it seemed more like “entertainment news” rather than news that is actually important for us to know. I do not think this news is very important for the people living in Israel or other parts of the world (unless coincidently they are relatives of the boy or they are close friends). CNN spent way too much time (more than 45 seconds by the way) to put this story across. There are other things in the world that are more important than a boy in a balloon, who is completely safe now.
The death of Lizabeth Neuman, age 49 and a mother of three were very startling to see on the news in Israel. It took place in Arizona at a self help program in Arizona. When I saw the world “sweatbox” I wanted to know more about what it actually is. I think by using these bizarre words, it pulls the viewer into watching more about the story. They also showed images of what a sweatbox looks like. It was a dome shaped structure with blankets and inside, hot rocks that create steam. The self-help expert James Arthur Ray said he would take all responsibility for the death and police are conducting a further investigation. Two other individuals also died from being in a “sweatbox”. For people in Arizona, this is startling news and very informative to people who were planning on going to these treatment centers. For people around the world, it may be important to know the dangers of these “sauna-like” structures although police or health professionals do not have a direct answer as to what happened to these three victims.
The last story I watched was about an all-male college in Atlanta, Georgia that is tightening the belt on its dress code. As I am doing student rights for my Senior Project, I thought it was important for a certain aspect of my project, freedom of expression. Out of all of the stories, I thought this was the most important as well all should have rights. I understand how a school wants to keep an "image" by not letting students smoke outside of school or putting rules on what you can and cannot wear but schools should not be so superficial because it's whats on the inside rather than the outside. Unfortunately, that's how a lot of people, businesses, corporations, organizations are like today because they know that a first impression is everything (everything=money)
CNN:
-“Balloon Boy” drama was staged, sheriff says
-Third “Sweatbox” victim dies in Arizona
-All-male college cracks down on cross-dressing
While watching CNN for about 30 minutes these were the top three headlines that stuck in my mind. These headlines were from October, 19th 2009 in the evening. In the beginning, I was watching BBC news but they were not broadcasting headlines, rather stories from people living in England and Ireland. After 10 minutes of watching BBC, I switched to CNN where I found interesting headlines. I was surprised these made the top stories because they seem very irrelevant for people all around the world. They all had somewhat big headlines which gives the viewer a larger impact although these stories do not affect the world so much.
The “Balloon Boy” story was finally said to be staged by a sheriff as the parents just did it for a publicity stunt. When this story first came out I thought it was very irrelevant to be on CNN and BBC because it is about a boy in a small town and does not affect many people except for the people in their community. Personally, it seemed more like “entertainment news” rather than news that is actually important for us to know. I do not think this news is very important for the people living in Israel or other parts of the world (unless coincidently they are relatives of the boy or they are close friends). CNN spent way too much time (more than 45 seconds by the way) to put this story across. There are other things in the world that are more important than a boy in a balloon, who is completely safe now.
The death of Lizabeth Neuman, age 49 and a mother of three were very startling to see on the news in Israel. It took place in Arizona at a self help program in Arizona. When I saw the world “sweatbox” I wanted to know more about what it actually is. I think by using these bizarre words, it pulls the viewer into watching more about the story. They also showed images of what a sweatbox looks like. It was a dome shaped structure with blankets and inside, hot rocks that create steam. The self-help expert James Arthur Ray said he would take all responsibility for the death and police are conducting a further investigation. Two other individuals also died from being in a “sweatbox”. For people in Arizona, this is startling news and very informative to people who were planning on going to these treatment centers. For people around the world, it may be important to know the dangers of these “sauna-like” structures although police or health professionals do not have a direct answer as to what happened to these three victims.
The last story I watched was about an all-male college in Atlanta, Georgia that is tightening the belt on its dress code. As I am doing student rights for my Senior Project, I thought it was important for a certain aspect of my project, freedom of expression. Out of all of the stories, I thought this was the most important as well all should have rights. I understand how a school wants to keep an "image" by not letting students smoke outside of school or putting rules on what you can and cannot wear but schools should not be so superficial because it's whats on the inside rather than the outside. Unfortunately, that's how a lot of people, businesses, corporations, organizations are like today because they know that a first impression is everything (everything=money)
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