Hw 6- Video Project

When I watched this video, I thought it was weird to see myself on a video. I'm in my at home clothes and had bed head. My mom's talking in the background. I was checking my mail, chatting, doing hw on the computer and eating pizza. I get a bit self conscious when I'm aware of being filmed but I acted as I normally do. I think you're more self aware when you're watching yourself on video. I was going to play music but I wasn't sure if that was background music so I didn't. My eyes are half closed because my laptop's on the floor and I managed to sneeze twice during this video. At the end of it I say 2:40 because I realized I went over time (I wasn't looking at the camera). It took me a long time to upload the video because I've never done it before. It was an arduous process and I'm feeling computer illiterate. I realize it was actually simple and I'm feeling illiterate once more and a deep kinship with middle aged people who are still somewhat new to this.

I learned something new from this. Uploading is simpler than you think and you don't need to convert your video in mp3 format, which for some reason, I was convinced I had to do. Would I want my little brother or future child(?) to spend alot of time doing this? No, I wouldn't want them to spend too much time on it. I rather they play in real life. For practical reasons- exercise, mental well being, human contact. I start getting fidgety myself when I spend too much time on the computer. The state of inertia is just too much for me. I don't like sitting in one place for a long stretch of time; which I do when I'm on the computer. But I wouldn't take it away completely either because its also practical to learn how to use it. Its not one extreme or the other but somewhere in the middle. I'd let them play with it but not too much and try to encourage them to develop more interests outside of the computer.

I think the difference between interacting with a digital device and being on a digital device is that, interacting is what you are presently doing and being on it, is the recording of what you were doing. The recording only has one angle when recording what you're doing (unless you move it around) and in real life there is a bunch of different views. Its weird watching myself though. But I think everyone's a bit more aware when its themselves and watches it more carefully.

Here's the link to it on Vimeo (I still have to learn how to imbed..I promise after I pester a few people on how to do it, I'll have it up)

update: Oh my, you just paste it on the blog. I finally figured it out. Thanks Na <3

Me playing on the computer from Yu Liu on Vimeo

Hw7- Interviews and Surveys

Family Member & Best Friend- Interview/Survey

Best Friend
What is are your thoughts on digitization? they make life more convenient because without digital technology you can't take photos

Why do you think you think that? because I'm so used to having technology around me

In class we were talking about how in Roman times, the poor was given free bread and a circus do you think that digital technology is our circus and it keeps us from rebelling against our society? NO, I think the technology doesn't keep us from rebelling, we're more in touch with the rest of the world and if anything we might be more prone to because we know more.

Can you give me an example?
The invention printing press, we can form our own opinions about how the world around us operates, whether it is doing well or not. Like the "The American Revolution" people were kept updated with the newspapers.

Me: Like, there are more women's rights movements called Women Thrive and they focus on changing U.S. policy, rather than directly giveing money to women in need and they are able to spread the message through sources such as the internet or news articles . Many charities or groups learn about causes through this information, which we would never have otherwise.

Do you think that the newspaper articles causes us to take in their opinions instead of forming our own? Sometimes. The way its presented makes you more liable to take on their opinions.

Have you ever pretended to be someone else online? No

What do you think do you think about child predators who use the Internet to prey on children? It makes it easier for them to pretend to be someone else. But it also makes it easier for us to keep track of them, since there's a website called watchdog.com that lists the names of child predators and the areas they are in.

Cousin
What are your thoughts on digitization? What?

Like the internet or the TV. When I think of the internet I think its a useful tool because its a network of networks that contains different sources including different newspapers

*explains about free bread and circus* Do you think digital technology is our circus? umm.. no I would say no b/c its too expensive to link every american w/ free internet

--well not the free part, the part of entertainment? Yes I think people would rather dream of the possibility of being rich than face the reality of being poor.

Do you think you'd be able to survive without technology? yes but I would not enjoy it.

Why not? b/c i think it would be hard due to the strain of exercising

Do you think the internet pervents you from enjoying things like going outside, to the park, enjoying the sunset? I don't think enjoy is the word...more like forced

What do you do for fun? I read books

Have you ever pretended to be someone else online? yes

Why? because it was amusing

Why? b/c i got to see how a hormone driven 15 year old boy reacted to a girl

You do not count yourself as a hormone driven boy? No, I am pure *insists*
Are you going to write down I pretended to be a girl online? or any embarrassing thing like that?

Me: No, I'm just writing what you say

How do you think this has changed your life? I gained weight.

....I think it also depends on the people you ask. Their answers can range on the same question.

Street Interviews

Young Man
Do you believe there should be a time limit to internet or digital usage? No

Do you think the internet is bad? Good if used properly

How many hours do you use digital devices? 40 hours a week

What do you use those hours on/which digital devices? 10 video games, 30 internet

Shonna photographer- (I thought she had alot of interesting things to say)
Do you think people would be happier without it? They can live without it.

How many hours do you use digital devices? Several

How many hours do you use it a day? That's a good question. I've never timed it. 3-4 hours

What do you think about children's access to it? Do you think it should be limited? I think you have to take care. Some people don't give a crap which is very unfortunate because there's so much good stuff. 1/5 of the time should be games and the rest not. You guys are so lucky. I was 35 when I learned to use the computer and that was when it became that you had to.

How do you think the view differ from us who grew up with it to someone who saw it change? The world is at your fingertips and you don't even know that. We use to have push phones, where when you call someone you would have to push buttons.

Me: Yeah, we had those phones where you had to turn it to the number. *makes motion in air*
Shonna: You guys remember that?
Na: Yeah.
Me: I still had an antenna tv till awhile ago.
Shonna: Oh yeah, its quaint for you guys that stuff.
*thinks not really*

Shonna: I live with my grandparents and so they still have a 1950s phone number. The phone numbers were based on where you live. They lived on Murrey Hill so it was MU and Chelsey was CH, BU was butterfield.

Me: Wow, I didn't know they did that.

Shonna: Its a 59 year old phone # and when I tell people that they are always amazed. It makes me feel ancient.. but excited that I adapted you know? Older people today are much younger. It was very proper back then the way they dressed and everything. We're always influenced by the things around us.

*agrees, she seems very young even though she's older*

In what ways do you think it has changed? You're tapped into so much, the world, one another. We used to call and leave message on machines, its nonstop. The access everyone has to each other. You can be anywhere in the world and call someone. We wrote letters and not phone calls or e-mails. Vacations are no longer vacations, you read a book, and your e-mailing. We didn't do that back then because it was inconvient. It was just easier to write a letter than to call someone.

Do you think we can live without it? No. Everything was so slow, now everything is so fast. There's instant communication and unless they took it away from everyone, it would be like you're denying yourself change and you'd be stuck in your ways.

I'm going to -----, do you know where that is?

M: *thinks* No
S: It's across the bridge and its so nice, you can see the sky. It's a concrete jungle here, and its easy to get closed off in NY, in your own orbit, but its so important to see the sky. It reminds you that you're not the only one and when I'm there I'm small compared to the rest of the world. Get a perspective you know? Sometimes new yorkers are so focused, not in the good way, like horses wearing those *cups the sides of her eyes*
M: Blinders?
S: Yes! wait that doesn't sound quite right
M: Yeah, but I get what you mean.
S: I try to keep myself open. People can be rude sometimes but I don't be rude back, I try not to be like that because I believe we recieve what we put out there. Instead kill them with kindness. I'm pretty friendly, right? I was talking to this lady on a line, it was a very long line like a hundred people and I didn't want to wait forever so, I walked up to where the first ten people and started a conversation with this women and we exchanged numbers afterwards.
M: Thanks for letting us interview you, you gave very indepth answers and that was nice.
S: Oh, I'm just very relaxed right now.

I thought she brought up alot of interesting points and gave some good advice too like the being rude thing, since I agree, if you're rude to someone they'll probably be rude back or vise versa. I liked the phrases she used, it was very quotable.

I think the questions depend on who you ask.. as some people respond more than others depending on their mood.

Hw4 & 5- Comments & Response

Jia Min:


Hey Jia Min!

I agreed with what you said about the many many versions of one technology can get a tad bit obsessive at times especially when the only change they made to it was change the color and add a button or something. Its nessary because they want to make it more advanced, although, for me I think as long as it has the basics its fine. I liked all the little comics you added to the blog after each paragraph, its like a short break or breather.

I can imagine someone who locks themselves in their room and plays the computer or video game and that's all they do. Imagining that can see how this could negatively impact our health, mentally and physically. You know how you said that your eyes kind of hurt in the beginning of the blog? I'm kind of feeling it right now, the glare of the computer screen is hurting my eyes! Lately my eyesights been getting worse and that's a pretty bad sign. Probably a testament to how much I use the computer. I'm wondering if I say I use it to read does that make it seem less bad. I actually do use it for that DX. But if it hurts your eyes....then we will have bad eyesight together!~ haha. Actually...that's not a good thing.

I think you can develop more about the parents comments about technology it was a bit random because it wasn't talked about too much. I think its true people say things like that, not neccesarily limited to our parents...though its probably more likely coming from them. Maybe add a conclusion that connects everything together. But other than that I thought it was pretty good.

When you talked about moving to a rural area, I wondered that too, what it'd be like to just up and move to the country or something like that. How it'd be like to fare without all the electronics for awhile. I think the change in scenery would be nice. It also makes me think how much we use the electronics is influenced by how necessary they are in our environment. Its like we have tv and a computer because alot of the things we do require it of us; like hw, printing, researching. Its also one of the primary things that are used to keep us entertained in this culture. Maybe if we lived somewhere where work was the only thing we had time for, where its not needed as much, we wouldn't be using it so much.

I liked reading your thoughts, it made me think more about some things like the idea of disconnecting for a while from the technology, and how there are new social mannerisms to account for technology, like having headphones in your ear and how some people think its rude. I'm excited to read a new post from you!

Amber:



Hi Amber,

Hearing your thoughts on this topic was pretty interesting. You used alot of different examples to support your arguments which made it stronger. Like the way some people use technology to be updated on other people. I also liked that you spaced your paragraphs out or made it distinct so its more neat.

Alot of what you said was about how it was taking up our time and if we could manage that time we'd be able to "control ourselves" and stopping from using technology so much. It made me think about how much I use the electronics and how much time other people do as well. I think we can get on without it, but in this time and age, its neccesary for how we live. So it'd be impossible to unplug totally unless we lived as hermits or something. I think we can go without a day or a month as long as we don't have to do anything on the computer because right now for school, we need to, almost daily.

I guess I would say, some of the points could be shortened to be more succint like the point about us being able to live without electronics if we tried, that could be one paragraph instead of being part of two. There are some points where it doesn't seem exactly related, "People seem to care more about what is going on with other people and tend to know more about their friends instead of their families. The reason for all this is that when not engaging in using the digital and electronic devices, people tend to be doing the things that they need to live like eating and sleeping, then they resume their use of electronics." What does the use of electronics have to do with why people know more about their friends than family? Address what specifically they do, whether its reading their friend's update on aim or facebook or just talking to them more. I think if you proofread or got someone to proofread for you it'd help. It's pretty good, you still have some ways to go as a writer, but you'll get better as you write more. The topics are good, just need to be developed. Its decent so far. I feel somewhat like Simon on American Idol after writing this...But really, I'm not trying to be mean so don't get the wrong idea? (My friend usually asks me to proofread her essays and somehow I got stuck in that mode reading yours. Soo this might be why I'm so focused on this right now, that and I am supremely sleep deprived/tired at the moment. *Is proofreading sleep deprived paragraphs so grammatical errors are limited and is readable* Point is, I'm very neurotic when sleep deprived.)

When I first read "Looking at the environment we live in now, nobody would be able to survive a day without any digital/electronic media usage, unless if someone is willing to take the risk, the question is who will be the first to do so?" I thought I think that many people have gone a day without digital/electronic usage because I was thinking of someone I knew who went on vacation and left all electronics at home and just brought books but then I think most people probably don't do that. See, I can't help but take questions at face value. I think there are approximately 7 billion people on this earth. At least a few million have done so. But if I think more generally, in our society that's pretty rare since someone always has some electronic device with them, whether it is a cellphone or mp3 or radio and while it may not be the "first to do so" it's still pretty rare.

Anyways great first post Amber! I look forward to seeing more ideas :)

Jia Min:

Thanks for commenting, even though it was for hw I enjoyed reading it. I appreciated the thoughtful tone of your post, it makes it seem like you really thought about it and came up with your own original ideas relating to it.

What was helpful was hearing your own thoughts about it because it makes me think more about the things I said as well as the new points you brought up. Such as when you talked about reality tv and youtube that it makes the person stand out and popular and as observers you talked about how "a lot of times, we take it for granted, and what I said before, people entertaining other people but as we comment on their videos or blogs, etc do we actually appreciate it or are we just saying thanks so easily?" It made me think that about why they are so popular because we want to turn our attentions to something and be entertained and they fulfill that purpose. But at the same we don't always appreciated it, we just take it in and watch and if we enjoyed it we'll like it. Maybe that's our way of appreciating something that we think is done well-- by enjoying it. I think that's why they create it in the first place anyway, so people will enjoy it.

It also made me realize I could have expanded more on that topic because I only talked about how it made people famous and how people seem to have a great need for it that they're willing to put their lives on view to the public eye. So I could have talked about the audience more, why we're so willing to receive that and watch. When you talked about how sometimes it'd be easier if your life was on tv, I realized that I thought that way once or twice in the past. I use to think if this was out on display it'd be easier because then I wouldn't have to explain anything or maybe something funny would happen and I think I wish we captured this on film so we can share this with people.

We both seem to be interested in how the digitalization affects us and our lives- what do you think will happen to us in the future? Thanks for reading :)

Thanks Na o^u^o

I'm really glad you liked it. Plus you go in depth about what our technology is doing to the planet. Kudos, because its affecting us right now and its sometimes easy to forget that when people are online or using the electronic devices.

Digitalization is like a cheat sheet and its the quick way to get an answer, that's pretty true with google and everything, though we may end up wasting our time anyways with it. I think even though things like google do make it easier to do things like research, that doesn't make that method any less valid, its a natural developement considering humans like to do more things in a way that expends less energy on their part.

I will add more cons to it next time. I liked reading the tone of your comment hehh.. it was fun and like how we usually chat on aim so its easy to read. Plus its very encouraging XD

I didn't really notice any grammar mistakes in your post anyways ^^

Bye Na, thanks for reading! =D

HW3- Thoughts on Digitalization

For me personally, I don't think its strange, the digitization age we live in now. Because we grew up as it was developing and as it was changing the way things have been done before. Sometimes I think because of this, we're very use to having communication instantaneously since it was what we have always known. Snail mail is replaced by e-mail, researching is made simpler when with the press of a button you can pull up any subject via Google, we can text instead of passing notes, call anyone anywhere, be cool in the summer heat, etc. I guess what's strange is how dependent we seem to have become on these little technological advances. Many people can't see their lives without a phone or a computer because it has become that ingrained in what is everyday life. There are the good and the bad of course, as there is with all things.

One way it has changed things is in the way of social etiquette. Social etiquette has become since a lot more informal than it has ever before. I think in part because we can communicate the way we do, through texts and ims. Although many of the things that have been considered "normal" or "appropriate" by the older generation, is not the same for us because of this. I think some of this can be seen in the way people e-mail or smiley faces or even aim lingo. Some young people do this even for a job resume or when communicating to their boss and for people who are not use to this, it can be surprising because it would usually be considered very inappropriate in a business setting. The way we use to speak has changed. The norm has changed. Part of why this is the global world, television is able to show many different areas, people, cultures. With being connected to so many people there's really no longer one trend or one set standard anymore.

In terms of TV and television, fame is more accessible to people. Its pretty interesting how much "Reality TV" there is. The amount of people willing to open their lives to the public and the amount of who are people willing to tune in is a testament to how into this world that people are. Celebracy has reached new heights. There is Internet celebrities, YouTube stars, Blogger and more. Many people have been able to become more famous through YouTube and land a record label that way. There's so much going on the internet, many niches and communities have sprouted up because of that.

For me, I can see two paradoxes to the way we can communicate now. In some ways it can bring us closer and “connect” us into this community, ie sites such as FaceBook or Twitter. In other ways it can alienate us from other people. Like when people talk on the phone while they’re with other people, its like they’re there but not really. Some people find it even easier to talk to people online than face to face in the real world. They find it easier to communicate online. In some ways it is so personal because its impersonal because there is that computer between them because it makes it less real it somehow easier to say things you normally wouldn't say in person. That's all well good but communication tools such as facebook and aim should by no means be replacement for real life human contact but a supplement to maintain your relationships.

There's also the environmental aspect to consider. What is it taking to fuel this digital world? Alot. Many resources are used up in order to generate electricity and fill those cars we drive. Pollution is a problem in many areas where there are nuclear power plants or landfills. All changes in consideration what does this mean for the future, for our future way of life and the future generations'?