Freedom to Listen (M6.1)

To be honest, I didn’t get an IPod until I was in grade 11. I was that girl who brought her Walkman to school and listened to my CDs on the bus. Walking into HMV when I was younger was probably one of my favourite things to do, I would save up my weekly allowance and that would be the first place I headed. I think at one point I owned more then 50 CDs. When I eventually got my IPod I started taking my CDs and ripping them to my computer so I could transfer my songs, I even went to the library and rented CDs –yea that was a thing, how many of you knew that? I was never one to purchase music off ITunes I went straight to the source, the CD shop. I think growing up I had a fear of downloading music, that and the fact that I didn’t know how to do it until my boyfriend at the time showed me Utorrent and Torrent sites to acquire music for free—that wasn’t until grade 12.

“Unlike underwear or swimsuits, music falls into that category of things you are normally obligated to share with your dorm mates, family, and friends” (Condry 7). Whether we purchase that CD at HMV or illegally download it from a Torrent site sharing it with others is inevitable. We blare our CDs in our cars with others we use it as background music at a party. It is almost impossible to not allow others to share music when in the first place it is there to create a social bond.

Music is to be experienced with others, and one of the first things I like to do when I find a song or an artist that I enjoy is share that music with someone I also think would enjoy it. Peer-to-peer development has progressed using sites like grooveshark, and many other social media music sites, allowing for that sharing to happen. Purchasing CDs has lessened over the years since other methods of acquiring music have been created. The last time I purchased a CD was probably when I was 19, and it was a Beatles CD. I had this obsession when I was a kid to own every one of their CDs (which has almost been accomplished). I think for me to rationalize buying a CD is if it is a timely classic, a band that will never be a phase, and one that I will enjoy for the rest of my life. I still don’t use ITunes to buy music and for a long time I was a culprit (and from time-to-time still am) to illegally downloading music—although I think the last time I downloaded a song was probably over 6 months ago. Another process for me rationalizing purchasing music is if the artist is new or they are not a sell out to multi-million dollar cooperation’s. I don’t think music should be created to make millions of dollars I think music should be created to be shared and enjoyed freely.

Since I have dabbled in the on-going affair of illegal downloads I would say that I have conflicted the practice of proper copyright regimes. Since one of the major reasons for pirates, noted in the article “A Study on On-line Pirates”, is the inability to afford content people are more obliged to acquire music for free whether that is through sharing through online sites and apps or through illegally downloading from torrent sites (Steinmetz 56). “If music is just a commodity, consumers will get it as cheaply as they can. If music is the art and lifeblood of a group they care about, fans will support that group” (Condry 26). There was a 7.2% raise in CD prices between 1999-2001 creating an incline in downloading and a decline in purchasing, especially if someone only wanted to obtain a couple songs off that CD (Condry 10).

Music creates a bond and a connection between peers or artist and fans. The ability to have access to music where ever we go is a great phenomenon that should be shared. Music is a voice to be heard and acquired freely. 

Works Cited

Condry, Ian. (2004). Cultures of Music Piracy: An Ethnographic Comparison of the US and Japan. International Journal of Cultural Studies. 7 (3), pg. 343-363. 

Steinmetz, K., K. Tunnell (2013). Under the Pixelated Jolly Roger: A Study of On-Line Pirates. Deviant Behavior. 34 (1), pg. 53-67.

A Court Room Special

I have had an interesting few years at University. A time for experience, change and figuring out a future. People always tell me to embrace these years because they will be the best years of my life. I agree, when will we ever have the chance to party, hangout with friends and experiment like we do now? Soon our lives will be filled with work, deadlines, horrible bosses and co-workers and possibly starting a family.

Although I have had many awesome and memorable moments, there are a few where I look back and think “what the fuck was I thinking” –as most people probably do. But there is one specific moment, which I thought was done and over with until my mother got a knock on her door one evening.

I checked my phone around 630 back in September and there was a very looooooong message waiting for me from my mom. I started to feel nauseous, I thought this was over, we haven’t heard anything for over a year and all of a sudden I have a court date in February. Although we were the victims, many things could have been prevented, but because of our poor choices they weren’t. At that moment thinking back to that time I started to feel the way I felt that night.

It started with a text, a threatening text, but we thought nothing of it. “They are all talk and no play” we thought. Well we thought wrong. The next thing we hear is a bang on our front door. We all looked at each other, one of us ran and locked the door.

BANG…

BANG..

Then the yelling started and the banging became more forceful. The glass shattered, the door that was once locked was busted open and five roided out, drunk guys staggered through my front door. The door frame hanging by a nail. The next few moments was a blur. I had no idea how to handle the situation, so I ran upstairs with the police on the phone. Hysterically trying to explain what was happening, I’m pretty sure I made no sense. When I came back downstairs there was blood on the floor and chaos all around me. We informed them the police was called, still yelling they ran to their car and drove off, but not fast enough. The cops pulled them over a couple of blocks from my house and they were all taken to the police station.

Another police car came rolling up my driveway, where they entered the scene to ask us questions. Eventually we were crammed in the back of the police car, worried and confused by what just happened. We were all separated and put into different rooms and one by one we were interviewed. The event happened so fast, I couldn’t even described what the intruders looked like. After a long night the cop drove us back to the house, where we blocked our front door with a couch. Feeling frightened and nervous we all sat in the living room until the early morning dissecting the situation that just took place, somewhat growing closer to each other after our trauma.

Its been over a year and a half and all of us have gone our separate ways and now here I am today, feeling the feeling I felt that night. Worried, confused and unaware. Court is in a few days and recollecting that night is far from my memory. Now we will all be brought together forced to be in the same room. Could I tell you what they looked like, no. Do I want to confess why they came busting down my front door for in a court of law, no. Due to legal obligations, I have to. My dilemma is unfortunate, but in ways I guess deserving. So here I am struggling between the conflict of court or jail. Here’s hoping my future can somehow proceed to work, deadlines, horrible bosses and co-workers and possibly starting a family.

GettingGlued… to your TV (M5.2)

(http://getglue.com/see_bomb)
GetGlue is a new form of social media I have encountered through the use of this course. Overall, I enjoyed the experience of the site since I was able to connect with people of similar interests and able to read and learn more about the shows I enjoy. Throughout January I checked into GetGlue 10 times, not always remembering to check in when I watched a show or a movie since I was a little confused about the concept at first. Once I began exploring the site and getting use to how it works, I thought that it was an interesting and unique way to connect with others. Also, I enjoyed the fact that it shows you other movies or shows you may be interested in based on others who liked the same shows as you. It is a great way in finding new shows, but a big distraction since that’s what I invested my time in rather then homework—oops 🙂

A checkin service like GetGlue allows individuals to explore movies, shows or sports they enjoy and permits connection with others who have similar interests. The service allows people to comment and critique things they have watched giving the user a voice by broadcasting their opinion (now a days everyone wants to be heard). GetGlue builds an online community giving users information by everyday people simply expressing how they feel about a certain show they watched. This site, in a way, is similar to sites like Rotten Tomato, but anyone can give an opinion—making the decision of whether or not to watch that new sappy romance you heard about a definitive no after reading the poor reviews viewers had.

GetGlue definitely promotes the usage of watching more television, yet it also distracts the user from the show they are watch, getting lost in the world of others opinions, thoughts and similarities. The idea of unlocking stickers made me more interested in the social media site since I was curious in how to acquire those stickers and inevitably leading me to liking more and checking in more of my shows and movies. Also, the idea of being able to comment and like posts creates more of an engagement with the content and the community allowing people to stay connected.

Further, the reward system of stickers gets the consumer more active in the site since they become more engaged with what is being offered. Instead of simply watching TV shows or movies, the audience can now connect with others and comment about what they just watched creating a more active audience since they are able to produce, instead of just consume. By collecting more stickers the user becomes more engaged in the environment and connecting with others. It can also situate users as “couch potatoes” (as one of the stickers I acquired suggests) since you are able to see what people have watched or like to watch. With the aspect of stickers users are able to connect with those with similar stickers, illustrating their similar interests in the culture of consuming movies, shows and sports.

GetGlue is able to connect users and boost ratings of TV shows by creating a connection with its users and allowing them to have a voice and opinion of what they are watching. Since society has become more involved in wanting to express their feelings GetGlue allows that opportunity, yet it causes people to become more involved in the social world rather than the movie or show itself. The video How the Second Screen is Shaping the Future of Television notes how Tablets and phones are becoming a more prominent feature when people are in front of a television screen. Are people becoming more involved in the smaller screen, compared to the bigger screen? Focus moves from the Television to the Tablet creating a whole new experience in how one watches a show. Furthermore, with the availability of checking in we are creating an identity for ourselves through what we like to watch as noted in The Art of Checkin: From Location to Content to Brand. We stay connected allowing us to contribute to the online community and giving us more topics to talk about with others. Ever have a moment where you are staring at someone wondering what to say next. Sites like GetGlue give us the opportunity to contribute to conversations and create an identity you want your online community to know you as. You have the ability to like or not to like a show you are watching, (embarrassed by that girly TV show you watch—then don’t check in and no one will know your secret indulgence) showing your followers the type of person you are through your movies and television shows you watch.

You create YOU online, allowing an identity to falter and change, even through the basic shows you watch.

Produced and Over Consumed (M5.1)

Consumption… production, consumption, consumption, consumption…production.

We are all consumers of the online world, struggling to find an online voice with our Twitter accounts or Blogs. Within the last year I dabbled with the idea of blogs, creating then deleting and then creating again. My struggle is finding an online voice, with a central theme. I mean anyone can talk about themselves on a blog and I will admit I am a culprit of this act, but finding a central theme to your blog that has the acceptance of the general public is tough. That’s why I became skeptical in furthering my productions of creating, which further illustrates my consumption, rather then production.

On a normal day after waking up I do have the habit of checking social media cites. It was more prominent when I first created my Twitter and Instagram accounts last year. Now, I usually find my self on social media sites when I’m bored or in awkward situations. I’m getting tired of talking about my self or hearing others talk about themselves, which is a product of both Twitter and Instagram. Blogs have become personal journal entries about “Finding One Self” or “My Struggles”. After thinking about this assignment I realized, I like producing fictional stories that stem from actual experiences. As Thomas S. Hunter states, “Fiction is based on reality unless you’re a fairytale artist”. I am encouraged to produce material because I enjoy writing and being creative, but I inhibit myself because I’m afraid of creating something that might not be accepted by my audience. The urge to be heard is a common theme today since most of the youth culture like to promote themselves through their online personas.

“If you’re not liked online, how can you be liked in reality?” “I have to have more followers than people I follow.” —The general consensus of our generation. I hope these trends don’t continue because we will soon further ourselves into a virtual reality rather then actual reality.

In the past year I have consumed YouTube videos, music, gossip, personal thoughts and expression, recipes, poetry etc. through social media and more generally the Internet. My production lacks, which I want to change this year in hopes of finding an online voice, that isn’t just rants about myself.

None of my online contributions as a “producer- consumer” are copyrighted, allowing the online audience to take any material they feel like. Not to mention none of my accounts are private, allowing anyone to access my material, whether its pictures, tweets or poems (not that my material is noted enough to have material “stolen” from me—but that’s besides the point). As Hilderbrand mentions in his article YouTube: Where Cultural Memory and Copyright Converge, “Copyright law was developed to stimulate publication of new works for the edification of culture”. New material is hard to come by now a days, since “remix culture” has become an acceptable norm. Online communities all posses copyright laws, yet the Internet is available just about anywhere you go, so access to information is everywhere. Society just needs trust that they are able to put material online.

To produce something online isn’t that hard, but to produce something that is worthwhile and original is hard (although now a days anyone can become “Instagram Famous” with the right amount of tags). Consume, but don’t over consume and produce, don’t copy.

“Suckers put Hope in the Future” Alan Watts

“Future” is nothing but a concept we have created through language. We cannot live in the future, we cannot live in the past, all we can live in is the here are the now- the present. Each moment is an experience created in the present, the past is just a memory of what once was. The past is nothing but experiences we can learn from, but should never dwell from because mistakes or heartbreaks or regrets will pass. Who you become will thrive, if you let it. While the future is your mystery, it is what can come. You can know your future, if you plan for it. If you place a goal for yourself and achieve that goal. Only if you work for it will your future become your present. We can make prediction or assumptions, but we can never be certain, until it happens in that present moment. 

Enjoy your presence in the present and forget about the past and future. 

Cell-Phones a New Place to Hide (M4.2)

Communication takes many forms and many varieties, whether it’s a telephone conversation, text messages, face-to-face interactions or virtually over the computer. The use of technology allows access to these interactions, which can take place quickly and effectively. Imagine a time where we had to send letters to communicate with someone 1000 kilometers away, a generation where a simple conversation takes weeks or even months to get through. Now when we want to talk with someone we throw our friend a quick text, eliminating the process of mail or even personal quality.

Now, think back to a moment when you wanted to tell someone something that was difficult to do, a break-up for instance, was it hard to do face-to-face? Did you think about doing it over the phone, through a text message or email? With technology the aspect of personal face-to-face interactions have become limited since people utilize virtual space to communicate. This expansion to technology is making communication less personalized and more virtual, creating social interactions as awkward or difficult to do. For instance, do you prefer going up to your professor for help, face-to-face, or would you rather fire off a quick e-mail to get him to help you with your essay?

To be honest, I’ve never been the type of person who communicates very well. I’ve always been the girl you’d have to pick and pry to get a piece of information out of, especially when it comes to feelings and personal issues. Maybe it’s because of how I was raised or maybe it’s because of growing up in an era where technology has become a basis to our everyday lives. Either way, technology will never disappear it will only expand and by constantly having it in our lives we need to adapt and use it productively. Gerard Goggin notes in the article “Ubiquitous Apps” that the “use of mobile broadband, mobile Internet, mobile media and wireless technology devices continues to grow” (Goggin 149).

The obsessions with apps and personalization to phones to create an online identity have become a big part of our lives in recent years. We become obsessed with Tweeting our feelings rather then communicating our feelings personally. Blogging is even a profession now where people can sit at home and virtually communicate with their followers while making money. We have become a generation who is consumed with creating a virtual identity to reflect who we believe we are; yet we are constantly monitoring and changing to the things we say on the internet to how we want people to conceive us in our online world. Creating our identity has become a large part in our lives, illustrated in the article “Adapting the Mobile Phone” where Goggin notes how our generation “care intensely about the mobile as a signifier of fashion and identity” (Goggin 237).

Furthermore, the use of telephones, specifically, is “extensions” to the human body, seeing as we carry it everywhere we go (Campbell 372). The cell-phone creates a personalized way of communication and individualizes mobile device where a new personality is created through how we choose to use it. Micro-coordination and hyper-coordination are two distinct ways we personalize our communication while using a cell-phone (Campbell 375). I find that my generation, generation-y, possess the hyper-coordination of utilizing a cell-phone where we use it all the time to communicate and keep in touch with our friends. We create an identity through our phones becoming the conversational mode of connection (Campbell 176). I know most of my generation has had long chats through text messages, when a simple phone call could have made the process of that conversation a lot faster. Just like the letter, the telephone call is slowly become less and less frequent as we constantly refer to texting before calling. Why do we feel the need to send a virtual letter instead of simply picking up the phone to make plans with our friends? We have become so dependant on texting that I feel like our generation and the next feel scared to pick up the phone and call someone. We have become to use to relying on the easy click of buttons to express our feelings and personality that our connections become virtual.

Although we feel like we are more socially connected I feel like we are further from connecting and communicating. Try setting your phone down and leaving the house without it, go for a walk, talk to a friend over coffee, leave the worry of not having your mobile device and focus on the person or environment you are in. Remember there are benefits of face-to-face conversations; communication is the leading skill to success.

The Day Lady Died –By Frank O’Hara

It is 12:20 in New York a Friday

three days after Bastille day, yes

it is 1959 and I go get a shoeshine

because I will get off the 4:19 in Easthampton   

at 7:15 and then go straight to dinner

and I don’t know the people who will feed me

I walk up the muggy street beginning to sun   

and have a hamburger and a malted and buy

an ugly NEW WORLD WRITING to see what the poets   

in Ghana are doing these days

                                           I go on to the bank

and Miss Stillwagon (first name Linda I once heard)   

doesn’t even look up my balance for once in her life   

and in the GOLDEN GRIFFIN I get a little Verlaine   

for Patsy with drawings by Bonnard although I do   

think of Hesiod, trans. Richmond Lattimore or   

Brendan Behan’s new play or Le Balcon or Les Nègres

of Genet, but I don’t, I stick with Verlaine

after practically going to sleep with quandariness

and for Mike I just stroll into the PARK LANE

Liquor Store and ask for a bottle of Strega and   

then I go back where I came from to 6th Avenue   

and the tobacconist in the Ziegfeld Theatre and   

casually ask for a carton of Gauloises and a carton

of Picayunes, and a NEW YORK POST with her face on it

and I am sweating a lot by now and thinking of

leaning on the john door in the 5 SPOT

while she whispered a song along the keyboard

to Mal Waldron and everyone and I stopped breathing

 

– I was introduced to this poem in my creative writing class and even though I was never a Billie Holiday fan, this poem in someway made me remorse her death. When a poet is able to evoke emotions, even for something I have no idea about, it really showcases their talent. The last line is a great wrap up to the poem and truly hits home.  

Chemoreceptors: An Urgent Hunt

Flapping and gliding through plants,
vivid colours,
up, down, side to side, back and front.

Floating North,
greens and browns
kaleidoscope eyes,
hoping for purples anywhere around.

Drumming my legs against each plant
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, next.

Again the wind takes me
flapping and gliding through the smooth air.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, my time’s running out, only a day to live
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, my time’s running out, only a few hours to live
1, 2, 3, 4, my time’s running out, only a few minutes to live
green, it will have to go here.

1, time’s up.

To Text or Not to Text? That is the Question (M4.1)

Ahh, the cell-phone, a construction that has developed and been immersed in our society for the last decade. We use it everyday, for virtually anything. We stay connected through phone calls, but more popularly through text messaging. To be completely honest, I don’t even know anyone’s phone number off by heart anymore, unless I remember it from my pre cell-phone days. We use it to check events through our calendars, see what our friends and family are up to from our social media apps, play games when we are patiently waiting at a doctors office or to keep track of our diet and exercise with our diet tracker. Everything in the palm of our hands. Access to almost anything—well, depending on your phone plan and your access to apps.

Cell-phones are great tools and I couldn’t imagine a day where we didn’t have them, even though I never received one until grade 10. We’re able to access things more quickly, such as banking, rather than having to go to the bank to transfer money. We can call anyone if in need of an emergency, such as when you get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and need to call a tow truck. Our day-to-day routines don’t have to be interrupted by the little things, letting us focus on our important tasks of the day. Not to mention a day planner by your side 24/7, seeing as most of us can’t go a day without our phones. Organization can become easier once accessing the apps that can help you stay focused and on task, which can also remind you about things, such as birthdays that can be easily forgotten.

Although the cell-phone has many benefits, we must use those benefits productively. Now-a-days face-to-face conversations become almost impossible. Having a conversation with a friend is sometimes interrupted by a loud and occasionally annoying “BEEEEP”, alerting them they have a text message. Communication becomes distant as their face-to-face partner is distracted by what seems to be a more important conversation through virtual space. Also, although apps may have many helpful productive uses, some are over used distracting the user from other necessary tasks for the day. I know come exam time I utilize Twitter and Instagram WAY to often checking something I checked ten minutes ago. Distraction at its finest.

Now I remember a day back in the summer where I lost my phone because of some traumatic instances. Since it was the, let me think, THIRD phone I lost, I told myself I wasn’t going to get a phone for a while as punishment. I went two months without a phone, and this was in the summer, where people plan events left, right and center. I figured if they wanted to get in contact with me they would find a way, which is very difficult since I’m living in a student house without a landline. Facebook became my means of communication and I loved it. The people I actually cared about and actually cared about me would reach me, all the others were filtered out. I began having more face-to-face conversations, engaging with my friends and family more since the small mobile device in my hands didn’t distract me. The only reason why I ended up caving was because my parents wanted to contact me easier since Facebook chat was my only means of communication as they live in Hamilton.

We can become consumed with our technology and not even realize the consequences it can cause. Although there is multiple benefits form the use of our cell-phones we must consider the people around us and engage not only virtually, but also physically.

Pinterest: A World of Opportunities, or Distractions (M3.2)

(http://www.pinterest.com/seebomb)

Technology, a growing fad in today’s society that is used and seen everywhere in this generation. With my pinterest board the story I am trying to convey is how technology is basically apart of our lives in almost every little aspect. Because technology is apart of our day-to-day routine we must learn how to use it productively, rather than destructively. There are apps that can help productively and apps that promote distractions. Even the apps that help with productivity can become distraction.

As a generation obsessed with being in the know and having the ability to get access to almost anything through the palm of our hand, we must not loose the value of personal interactions. Almost everything can be done online, with a click of a button we can transfer funds, send a mass email, see what our friends and family are up to and make a quick phone call. Technology should be a tool to help progress society in a way where individuals can promote awareness or make a difference. Technology should not be a tool that takes over our lives. We should still have mindfulness of the real world and never forget about face to face interactions because with the slow declined to personal interactions, personal communication will become a harder challenge to face in our day to day live, causing problems for acquiring jobs and relationships.

To be a human in the information age is to have access to so much information quickly and efficiently to help productivity, but we mustn’t let it take over. We must remember it should not be our master; it should be our servant in helping us find information that can be useful for our future. Teacher’s must not use it as the only tool for learning, they should use it effectively to help promote better understanding of how technology can benefit their students. 

Mindfulness and and moderation is the key to surviving the information age.