My Avatar A.K.A. Jessse Paulino

To the left is the avatar I created, Jessse Paulino. From the looks of him he may seem very plain and boring, however I enjoy this look on my avatar very much. I made my avatar bald for two reasons, one because I thought nobody else would make their avatar's bald (which they did not), and two because I believe I will be bald in the future. When we first created second life beings in class, I was a little shaky on the whole idea. I am a lover of The Sims, and do enjoy this virtual world to a point, however I never seen it coming into the classroom. After playing around with it, changing some things on my guy, interacting and such, I begin to like the idea of second life and everything it offers.

The clothing on my current avatar is the clothing given to me at the start of the game. In the beginning, I didn't care what my avatar looked like, I was only intersted in exploring the world and interacting with the kids in the class. As time passed, I actually changed my hair type (to bald), my height, eyes, and body shape if you will. I did not mold my avatar into what I wish to look like or a fantasy look. I tried my best to make the avatar look like me, a height around average, blue eyes, some what of a body build, and shorter torso. The bald does not currently look like me, however with the family line I believe this avatar represents me in about five years.

My experiences in second life have been nothing but fun and stories to tell. I like how one can search and go anywhere they like, and some of the things one can do in this world simply blows my mind. My favorite experience thus far is the class room meeting we conducted with the two guest speakers. I will be the first to admit I am a jokester, however behind all the jokes and goofing during the meeting I was actually really impressed. I can see why businesses may have meetings on here or other classes as well, because the ease of the communication and surroundings actually makes the meeting for fun and entertaining. I also believe the meetings through second life are a good thing because people seem to talk more through the computer, than if the meeting were done face to face. Our class serves as a perfect example, we have had people come in and talk many times and the class will keep quite, however during the meeting in second life it was almost mind blowing to see the amount of communication going on.

As time passed my overall opinion concerning second life changed a lot. When first given the assignment to create an avatar and being told the goal is to conduct a class on second life, I some what chuckled and thought what a waste of time. However, after doing the assignment and actually experiencing the meeting and virtual world, I am glad we did it. I will not lie when I say I sometimes play second life outside of school, which is funny because I would have laughed at my future self about 4 weeks ago for playing. The world is fun, and very creative, and I am glad we got involved into second life as a class.

My Aunt Mary

My Aunt Mary represents my Grandma.

Dear Grandma,
It is to my understanding that you wish to create a "Myface." First things first, the names are Myspace and Facebook, and the two are very different from each other. These are both examples of online social networks, where people communicate, send messages, share photos, comment on each others profile, send and receive friend requests, and much more. In my opinion, Myspace is for younger people and since the uprising of Facebook it seems like Myspace has been changing to keep up with them. For this reason I think you need to create a Facebook, if you are truly interested in joining this online network. In this network you will be connected to millions and have the ability to create your identity and place security options to your profile. I have a profile on Facebook and stopped using Myspace long before it began to change. I think Facebook is easier to use, and in your case easy is often the best choice. Facebook has more security features, which can restrict users to view your profile, and also carries more applications to make your profile more appealing to you. After you create your profile, you can request to become friends with others you may known, post pictures on your profile, comment on others, and base your profile appearance around your interests. The purpose of an online social network is to connect you with millions of others inside your home. Now that you know which online social network to choose and what you can do with this network, I wish you the best of luck in creating your "Myface" account.

TV Concerns

Many people are concerned that TV can basically make you stupid and also harm your body physically. Sitting on the couch all day and watching a screen is not exactly the most active or brain challenging thing to do. Growing up I was told TV could be both enjoying and harmfull. I was limited to my video game play, and watching TV was usually done in the early morning or late night. My parents did not want me in front of a TV all day and they rather me staying active and keeping my grades up. Growing up I never watched education programs on TV, it was usually cartoons and movies, which we all know will not help you physically nor mentally. Many of my family rules toward TV have stayed with me to my current age. For example, the number one rule was finish your chores and homework before watching TV. Though I am not as strict on this rule now, I still usually do my homework before playing video games or watching TV. However, I find myself watching more educational TV in my current years that can classify TV as not so harmfull.
In relation to peoples worries and television, I think people worry about violence, negative effects to body and brain, and the effects it can have on younger people. Younger children should not be able to watch violent television nor should they be able to watch cartoons all day. I believe television is already the number one source of entertainment and I think this fact can scare many people in its own. Watching TV can shorten ones attentions span and their overall education level. I also believe that those who watch television more will be less obvious to these effects, thus making them less worried about television than those who watch it less.
As television is growing and changing, I think peoples opinions are also doing the same about TV in general. With increasing number of channels, most non-educational, more people can connect and relate to a program. This connection may change a persons opinion on TV because they will feel that it may now be somewhat beneficial. After asking my grandpas concerning his opinion on TV as a young adult and his current opinion, they were quite different. As a young adult, reading the newspaper for information and staying active caused television to seem useless. However at his older age now, the amount of information on TV is greater than that in a newspaper he now has many favorite programs that relate to him.

Libs 124 Wikipedia Discussion

I choose to read the discussion and history tab concerning Speedy Gonzales. He is a cartoon mouse who helps his friends in many conflicts concerning the opposing Sylvester the cat. This short cartoon shows Speedy doing whatever it takes to help his friends, which often results in comedic painful ways to the cat. Though the cartoon is children friendly and arguably funny, it has encountered some controversy in the past recent years.

Many argue that this short cartoon represents Mexicans in a negative way. For example, all Speedy's friends are often lazy, sleeping, womanizing, and drinking. Opposers believe this is an attempt to stereotype Mexicans and their behavior, which was enough to almost ban the show after starting in 1999. The mice, including Speedy, will always wear shorts and sombreros, again appealing to the Mexican stereotype. The dialog between the mice is often English with some common expressions in Spanish. Also, the short cartoon will begin with Spanish music and the mice encountering a problem, thus having the need of Speedy. To the opposer's surprise, many enjoyed the show and its comedic approach. The show is still under controversy, however has never been taken off the air.

I believe the controversy tab in Wikipedia represents this matter very well in that it includes both sides to the story with the writer staying neutral. With this said, I do not think the article needs to be changed because it presents the conflict to the reader, and represents both sides in a professional way. After reading this, my view concerning the reliability of Wikipedia did not change. I still take cautions when reading Wikipedia and will often use it as a second source rather than a primary.

The World is Flat 3.0

I found Thomas L. Friedman's presentation very interesting. He first comes out and says a little about himself and follows with the explaining of his newly released book The World is Flat 3.0. I found interesting, that in comparison to many philosophers learned about in Wireless World, Mr. Friedman's work came about by accident. While visiting India, primarily there to receive the opposing side to outsourcing, an Indian entrepreneur told him that the economic playing field is leveling and the Americans are not ready. This then played over in his mind until he opinionated that this Indian entrepreneur is was trying to tell him the world is flat.
I completely agree with Mr. Friedman when he discusses how the world shrunk using three different eras. He states that the world went from being run through Countries, then companies, and now individuals. I believe not only is the economic playing field being leveled, but the power distribution is as well. Starting with Countries, there was no idividualality and the power was minor divided. Moving on to companies, who acquired enough power to make crucial decisions, which could then impact the country. And finally the individual, who now has the resources to make these important decisions and ultimately compete on a more individual level. I also agree with Friedman's statement that this individual era came about with the introduction of PCs. PCs began the domino effect that would later result in the world being connected as countries and individuals. He also states that individuals are now uploading, rather than downloading. I believe this means rather then downloading anothers information, we are now uploading our own. This is shown in the use of Wikipedia or blogging.
During the final interesting phase of his presentation, Friedman talked about the world changing from being vertically to horizontally. The horizontally is relating to the idea that the world is flat, and he tells a story explaining the impact of this change. In his Southwest Airlines story, Friedman tells the audience the difficulty he had buying a ticket intitally (referred to as the vertical way), and later buying a tickey using using a different way (horizontal). Buy going on the Internet to buy his ticket he acquired 60 min of productivity, and he explains many companies and now individuals are connecting horizontally because the production is increased. In support of this, a man he interviewed stated he worked in the chocolate industry, however closed down because another country could make and ship the product faster and cheaper then he could make it. Having connections, horizontally, increases productivity and thus levels the economic playing field. Rater then one company being on top and controlling all, others are connecting and giving everyone equal opportunity. I truly support Friedman's last statement that the Country who will take the challenge to control power/energy and does it best and most productive, will rule the 21st Century.
From his presentation, I do not disagree with Thomas L. Friedman in any way. He uses very strong support with his opinion, and I also believe him because I see much of what he explains. We can all see it, Thomas L. Friedman simply did the hard part and put what we are seeing into words. After watching his presentation I began to think and much of what he said struck me and I realized all he said is true. As the Indian entrepreneur was trying to say, Americans are not on top anymore, nobody is. The playing field has been leveled not only economically but in power as well. With the resources and greatest advancements, everyone now has the opportunity that years ago only few had.

Exercize Number 2 Pg. 324

When I think of news, I think of information on current events. When looking or analyzing the news I am often doing so to make myself up to date. I want to know what is going on in the world, therefore I watch and read the news. I do not read/watch the news to find interpretations on a situation. I want to know news about factual information, statistics, and headline events that are taking place. Wtching the news I rarely care about others opinion and I take in the information to simply form my own. Another's opinion on a situation will rarely vary mine, however, facts and statistics can easily vary this. In other words, I will not use the news to take in other's opinions, though I may use it to form my own. In addition, I will also use the news to settle an argument. There is no better way to settle an argument than with the use of facts and statistics.
There are many specific criteria when it comes to considering reliable news. As with Wikipedia, I believe reliable news contains no opinion and is stricly factual. When news contains personal opinions, the information becomes one sided and ultimatley suspicious. When I think of suspicious informaiton I think of blogs and possibly news sites that are more uncommon. Reliable news has to source there information if it is not discovered or posted live by them. For example, Fox News on TV will hardley source thier information becuase they personally recieve it themsleves. If this does not occur, then the news should be cited by whom ever is presenting it. This will let readers know the information is true and the presenter has no problem saying where they got the information. I also believe presenting the information in an organized manner will also cause the news to seem more reliable.
Analyzing and thinking about "news" causes one to consider what it really means or is used for. As stated earlier, I think of news as information on current events. When the event becomes history, I then lable the "news" as infomation. One can also first think of the word "new", in that it means something that is not old nor in the future. This word literally means current, happening now, and is someghing that many may not know about. In turn, the word "news" causes me to relate to the same concept and think of news as information on current events. In addition to my meaning, I believe news should contain only factual information that should be cited, and organization is very key when considering reliable news.

October 20 Question #2

I think we do need to organize our work by assigning people into certain tasks or subjects. Organization in any way will always point a group effort twards succsess. Looking breifly at the day the class created a wiki, there was no organization and the information was scattered. The types of information, the amount of information in each catergory, and the amount of people writting on a specific topic was completley unknown. This happens because no organization is present in the class wiki. By organizing the class into groups such as sports, acedemics, greek life, majors, ect. the information will become more balanced and the quality of that information will also increase. Instead of having a large group of students writing about multiple topics, the wiki will now contain an organized list of topics and an in depth amount of information concerning each topic. These facts are also supported by the wiki itself. For example, when analyzing the class wiki I noticed a small amount of informaion concerning "Arabic Population," while I found more (with multiple links as well) concerning "Sports." This shows that the information is unbalanced with each topic. This can become more balnced with the organization of groups to concentraite on certain topic. I do not know which groups to organize the class into, however I stronlgy feel it needs to be done.
This group organization method is not used by Wikipedia itself, because it is impossible to organize the millions who use it into groups. One can write concerning any factual topic on Wikipedia, which gives the encyclopedia it diversity. This method is fine, if the wiki is controlled by such an enormous amount of people. In our case, with only twenty or so people, I believe the class needs some form of organization.
The range of information found on a wikipedia will always be very wide. Though in a small group such as ours, the information will not only be widely ranged, it will also be very short. This can change with organization to the group. As stated earlier, the organization will cause a more professional wiki and the informaiton within each topic will increase because more individuals will be concentrated on the same topic.

Ad Questions #1,2

1. The message in my ad is to show smokers how dumb they are for smoking. I used a photo of a camel drinking out of a toilet and beside this is a box of Camel cigarettes. Within the ad is a fact stating that smoking can cause damage to the brain. This fact is appropriate because the camel appears to have damage to his brain by drinking out of the toilet. The strategy I used to create my ad is looking at other smoking parodies and try to create one similar to those. All smoking parodies are basically making fun of a slogan or smokers themselves. In this ad I do both, with the camel and the toilet, and using one of Camel's slogans, "Smooth Character," to represent the camel. My parody pokes fun at both the slogan and smokers in general. I knew this would be effective because I found the picture to be extremely funny. Bottom line parodies are mostly funny, therefore if I think my parody is I also think it will be effective. Also, it contains a truthful fact to truly inform smokers how bad their addiction is,which will also make it more effective. When I moved from my concept to my design, problems arose such as, which slogan to use, which fact to use, how to visually lay it out, and which colors to use. By trying all my ideas and comparing them I was able to chose the best ones.

2. Working on this ad allowed me to learn about advertising as a form of public communication. Ads, or in this case parodies as well, are viewed by many individuals. This also means the message portrayed in the ad is spread to all the viewers. This makes advertising as a form of public communication very important. One has to strictly follow all the guidelines provided in "Text Messaging" to fully make the print ad successful. I learned the ad has to short and to the point, and more is not always better. There may a million words one wants to say in the ad, however keeping it sweet can be much more effective. I also learned that grammar is very important when it comes to a print ad. For example, the creator may not seem very credible if they cannot even spell. The message will also get across easier to the public if easier words are used and spelled correctly.

The Election and Social Networking

Social Networking sites, such as Facebook and Myspace, have an enormous impact on this year's presidential election. This impact is enforced and shown in many different ways on these two sites. On Mypsace, when a user first logs in there will often be advertisement all over the screen for different companies and products. With the election coming up, many of these advertisements are concerning the candidate's and their "changes" to the Country. Once a user actually enters Myspace the rest of this impact is shown with groups, pictures, videos, and basically anything else the user can place on their page. Many groups have been formed to support the election on both Myspace and Facebook. Obviously in this case the two main groups are those with Obama and the remaining with McCain for president. Myspace is more known to have the fancy visuals and videos on the users page. Facebook can have these, however this site is less creative than Myspace. Visually, these two sites have a large impact on the election with their videos, either to voice an opinion or to show a specific candidate, pictures of each candidate and some times parodies making fun, and groups are formed to individually support and destroy the candidates themselves.
Above visually, these sites are also showing their impact in the election using words. A user of Myspace or Facebook can put anything they wish about either candidate in their profile. Good or bad they are spreading their opinion about the candidates and changing the opinion of others as well. For example, someone may decide to vote for McCain strictly because a friend of theirs has supporting facts why he should be president. After viewing and reading the friends profile, he decided to vote for McCain because he agrees with his friend. This is an example of how social networking effects the election. Word spreads fast and even faster on the Internet. When a user blogs, comments, posts pictures, videos, or anything else related to election, it is effecting it.
Without social networking, the opinions about the candidates and advertising would all be done through verbal communication and campaigns. Word would still spread fast, however not nearly as fast. Also, groups would only be formed in campaigns and not online. Social networking simply spreads ideas, advertising, and groups faster and more effectively. This will have a positive and negative impact for both candidates in that users are not always going to have something nice or mean to say about the candidates. Overall, there is an impact and no matter what there will always be an impact on the election through sites such as Facebook and Myspace.
Professor Troy Murphy is one of the founders of MyVote, a website that allows students to voice their opinion about the election. An individual can voice their opinion to anything such as, the economy, gas prices, importance of education, military, which candidate they like and why, or even share a personal story how the new president will affect them. This is an example of social networking and this obviously impacts the election. This website spreads opinions and allows other students to view the videos and thus compare their opinions. The impact of social networking on the election is massive bring many ways individuals can share and voice their opinions about each candidate and the election overall.

Advertising

I spend most of my time in my room, UMD campus, my basement, and my best friends house. I believe that advertising is extremley pervasive in our culture. Easily put, advertising is everywhere. Advertising is located around our driving, walking, watching TV, surfing the web, playing games online, etc. It surpised me that $800 billion every year is spent in advertising, however when thinkning about it this shows that advertising is very pervasive in our culture.
There are multiple items in my room that represent advertising and how wide spread it is. Advertising such as JBL speakers, Apple, Dell, Hawwaiian Tropic, Claritin, Right Guard, Reaction, Plymouth soccer, Univeristy of Michigan, Lawson products, Logitech, Adidas, Community Fianancial, Swisher Sweets, At&T, and many more. Logos are everywhere, thus supporting the fact that advertising is pervasive.
At UMD campus I see logos and advertising such as Subway, University of Michigan, car logos, different sorts of t-shirts, music, Dell computers, ect. The advertising is different here because much of it I see doesnt affect me. For example, I may see many car logos at UMD, however at the end of the day I still have my same car. The advertising at UMD is more directed to sell a product, while in my room I already bought the product so it affects are different.
The amount of advertising in my basement does not go much further than my room. There are multiple game posters such as Madden Football, Grand Theft Auto, and Xbox 360. There are also logos adertising HP computers, PS2 gaming, The Sims, Xbox 360, ect. Again the addvertising is differernt in my basement than UMD because the product is already purchased, meaning one may pay less attention to that logo, while in the city that logo is selling a product and becoming familiar with its viewers.
Overall advertising, whether visual or audio, is everywhere in our culture and every day life. By simply looking at where we spend most our time and the advertising located in those areas, the amount of it is amazing and does nothing but support the pervasion of advertising. I believe that advertising is growing and more money will be spent in advertising evey year. We are consumers and advertising does nothing but show us the product and make us beleive our life is harder with out it.

Blog Choice

Based on Kiska's presentation, Clay Shirky's analysis of blogs, my own reading of the political blogs, and our class discussion, I choose The Daily Dish to follow the 08 election. When first visiting this page I was impressed with the professionalism, layout, and organization. Andrew Sullivan, the blogger and author, seems to be a very reliable source. He is constantly adding to the site with videos, pictures, updates, and blog entries. This tells me he is interested in what he does and dedicates much of his time to it. I further understand my information with the use of more pictures, rather then words, which is supported in The Daily Dish with the numerous amount of pictures and videos. The fact that Mr. Sullivan uses videos tells me he has proof for his information and thus is a reliable source. Andrew Sullivan is not the only author on his site, however he does a great deal of the writing while also posting writings from others. An article which I enjoyed and remembered by Mr. Sullivan, tilted "Goodbye to All That: Why Obama Matters", where he points out aspects about Obama many may not know. He takes a look at Obama outside the campaign and simply proves he is normal, not a saint, or a celebrity.
The Daily Dish is a blog that stood out to me when comparing the others. This blog looks professional, has many videos, numerous pictures, and most importantly the authors and information seem reliable. I also enjoy the way Sullivan writes in that he not only looks at the facts but also outside the facts. He again goes above and beyond by constantly updating every piece of information to keep his followers up to date. Overall I am choosing to use The Daily Dish to follow the election of 2008.

Question #3 on Text Messaging

I agree with Florida's generalization that this generation is a very creative one. With the constant uprising in social communication, technology, and styles one would have thrown out many years ago, believing his generalization is easy for me. Florida also states that youths feel the need to constantly change and change what is normal. New trends in clothing, music, and free time activities are created by these busy youths. To contradict this, Conner says that youths feel the need to follow others. That there are still those who feel the need to change the normal just not everyone. I agree with Conner in that I also think there are two different groups of people in this generation. There are those who follow, often many more, and those who are creative and want to change the norm. There is nothing wrong with following, shopping at the same store, listening to same music, etc. But I dissagree with Florida in a sense that every youth does not feel the need to change the norm. Overall I agree with certain aspecs with both Conner and Florida, and I aslo dissagree with some points.

Collage

When looking at this I first noticed the pink color covering most of the collage. In addition, I also noticed the African American woman whose head is covered with multiple items. I like how the collage is not perfect, in a sense that everything is not cut to square and aligns up correctly. I think the use of multiply colors, shapes, and items causes the collage to stand out more and ultimately become more appealing. I dislike the overlapping of multiple items in the upper right hand corner. This part of the collage confuses me because I cannot clearly see every item. I am not sure what this collage represents or is trying to say. This may be an African woman's religion or vacation visit to her home country that shows all her encounters and experiences. Overall I think this collage is very interesting and strikes my curiosity.

Exercise #1

My alarm clock wakes me up with the same old buzzing noise to get my day started. I check the days weather on my phone and pick out cloths to match the temperature. Using my electric tooth brush, I brush my teeth and watch the ESPN for sports updates on the TV. Afterwords, I rush downstairs to grap something to drink and my stuff for school. To avoid the most traffic, my cell phone chooses the fastest route to my college and step by step directions to get there. Waiting for class to start, I text my best friend to see when he gets out of school. While texting I make plans to hang out with him after school and possibly go see a movie. During my drive home I synced my Ipod with my stereo and listened to my favorite music. My friend and I decided to play catch with the football, play some Madden on xbox, download some the new songs out, and later that night go see the new movie "Righteous Kill." We both thought the movie was intense and awsome. Following the movie I texted my mom letting her know I planned on staying at my buddies house for the night and I would be home tomorrow afternoon. Driving home in his new Ford Fusion, we played the music louder then usual and enjoyed every minuite of it. At my buddies house, we played some more Madden, used my laptop to update our Ipods, and fell asleep watching "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel.
After finishing my day I quickly realized how my usual routine and favorite activities completly revolve around technology and popular culture. By simply waking up to an alarm clock, watching TV, listing to popular music, texting, hanging out with my friend, or even checking the weather, I am expressing popular culture. My daily interaction with popular culture is impossible to erase and will never end. I also now realize that popular culture is truly anything and everything we do. In response to a question from the book "Text Messaging," What isn't popular culture?, I believe everything is popular culuter.