In today's reading, the big topic was avatars in video games.
An avatar is the virtual representation of ourselves. With it, we can become anything, anyone, and can look anyway we want. Some people create them to look somewhat like them, whereas others create them to be the complete opposite. And yes, even I am guilty of this.
However, the majority of people do not make them either way. Instead, they make them to look like what they WISH they were, not what they actually look like. They do so to present the perfect image to the world.
As was the case in the Alter Ego Profiles in the book, people do this to try and break the social barriers around them. Where in reality you might be dissuaded from getting to know certain people because of their looks, with avatars you do not have that issue, instead giving people a different face to the same person. This provides them the chance to get to know the person behind that face right off the bat, without the public social hindrances.
In addition, avatars give us the chance to become someone else. Where in reality you might be a grocery bagger at Wal-Mart, in the gaming world you could be the ultimate zombie killer or a level 80 Blood Elf Paladin. You get to live a different life for a few moments, giving many people a chance to forget their real world problems for a time.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
The Digital Age
In the assigned reading (page 160 of Envision in Depth), the article in question was speaking of Internet sites, specifically Soompi, a chatroom website typically used by Asians, predominantly South Koreans. While the article specifically speaks of how Asians across the world use it to help in learning cultural skills they cannot learn from the people around them, lying beneath the surface it speaks of something even more.
As the article mentions, Soompi is used predominantly by Asians, especially those who are not living in Asia. Many of them wish to learn more of their Asian culture, something especially difficult for some who have no one living around them who can teach them. Others go for the sense of community, other people with similar interests that they can meet and become friends with, making them feel part of a group, some for the first time.
No matter their reasons for joining, the help and camaraderie many have found there will forever impact their lives, mostly in a positive way, helping shape them to be better people in the future.
Lying beneath the surface of this, is how the Internet has changed everyone's lives. The first page of the article mentions how 15 years ago, communication and cultural identity was limited into certain categories: geographical, language, and others. With the emergence of the Internet however, our generation, and to some extent older ones, have shattered those boundaries. Instant communication across the world, the ability to find answers to nearly any question, the chance to make friends with people you might otherwise have never met, all of these and more have made the modern world more connected than ever before.
As the article mentions, Soompi is used predominantly by Asians, especially those who are not living in Asia. Many of them wish to learn more of their Asian culture, something especially difficult for some who have no one living around them who can teach them. Others go for the sense of community, other people with similar interests that they can meet and become friends with, making them feel part of a group, some for the first time.
No matter their reasons for joining, the help and camaraderie many have found there will forever impact their lives, mostly in a positive way, helping shape them to be better people in the future.
Lying beneath the surface of this, is how the Internet has changed everyone's lives. The first page of the article mentions how 15 years ago, communication and cultural identity was limited into certain categories: geographical, language, and others. With the emergence of the Internet however, our generation, and to some extent older ones, have shattered those boundaries. Instant communication across the world, the ability to find answers to nearly any question, the chance to make friends with people you might otherwise have never met, all of these and more have made the modern world more connected than ever before.
Monday, September 5, 2011
English Blog 5 - Photography
Today im discussing a few articles from the same chapter that was discussed in my last post, as well as a segment on evaluating sources.
The first article we read was by David Pogue. In it he discussed how different websites were more useful than others for different purposes. I've heard of some of the sites he mentioned, but to be honest I never heard of Flickr.com till now. Others, such as Shutterfly, Photobucket, and Snapfish I have heard of, but never used. At the end he mentions that three of them are technologically fool-proof, even for technology illiterate people, which I think is a reference to the beginning where his mom was spending hours trying to order pictures from Flickr, something he could have done in 10 minutes.
The second article was a piece YouTube, and how we all watch it because we see little pieces of ourselves in each video.
The first article we read was by David Pogue. In it he discussed how different websites were more useful than others for different purposes. I've heard of some of the sites he mentioned, but to be honest I never heard of Flickr.com till now. Others, such as Shutterfly, Photobucket, and Snapfish I have heard of, but never used. At the end he mentions that three of them are technologically fool-proof, even for technology illiterate people, which I think is a reference to the beginning where his mom was spending hours trying to order pictures from Flickr, something he could have done in 10 minutes.
The second article was a piece YouTube, and how we all watch it because we see little pieces of ourselves in each video.
The final piece was on the topic of checking our sources and making sure they are valid (this being for papers and the such, not photographs so much). It told us to ask questions about sources, such as if it’s on topic, or if the publishing date makes it relevant. An example: a book from 1980 on Biology won’t do much good as a source on modern biology these days, as we have advanced so much that nearly everything in it is probably underrated.
English Blog 4 - Representing Reality
We were asked to read a chapter discussing rhetoric in photography. Photography has changed the way people view the world. Its changed what people think, what they see, and how they feel. It gives them a picture of what other people have really seen. But even this is another method people use to persuade us. If you were to take the same object, and take pictures of it from different angles, you could end up with a completely different picture that what it originally looked like. By taking a situation, and taking the picture in a certain way, people are able to change what people may believe about that situation, even flip their opinion into a 180 turn from their original stance.
One of the articles in the Chapter was a piece by Lenore Skenazy. In it he discusses Kodak moments. He mentions how they couldn't recall their kids acting like annoying children, and how all their pictures reflected that. People don't want to remember the bad times, or the common moments in life, only the perfect moments, despite these being rare. People always want to take pictures of the perfect times, not our daily lives which seem so common, despite them being the most important times of our life.
A quote from the end of his article strikes me as some great words of wisdom we should always remember:
"When we don't have pictures of the toy-strewn house, mom in her bathrobe, grandpa drinking his soup, the life we really lived disappears. By the time we want to remember it, we can't. We have gained a Kodak moment and lost the story of our lives" (EID, Ch 14, pg 487)
I think we all should strive to remember this in our lives.
One of the articles in the Chapter was a piece by Lenore Skenazy. In it he discusses Kodak moments. He mentions how they couldn't recall their kids acting like annoying children, and how all their pictures reflected that. People don't want to remember the bad times, or the common moments in life, only the perfect moments, despite these being rare. People always want to take pictures of the perfect times, not our daily lives which seem so common, despite them being the most important times of our life.
A quote from the end of his article strikes me as some great words of wisdom we should always remember:
"When we don't have pictures of the toy-strewn house, mom in her bathrobe, grandpa drinking his soup, the life we really lived disappears. By the time we want to remember it, we can't. We have gained a Kodak moment and lost the story of our lives" (EID, Ch 14, pg 487)
I think we all should strive to remember this in our lives.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Paper Topic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeJmrC5NoV0
this is my topic for my paper. :) every1 knows progressive
this is my topic for my paper. :) every1 knows progressive
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