A major theme in AIS this year is the media, and how it affects our lives. We all have Facebooks, some of us may have Twitters, some of us blog regularly, or follow blogs and other feeds, however we usually have to make at least some sort of effort to check them - whether it be physically going to the web page or using the app on your phone.
Well, not anymore. I recently started using a web browser, built off of the Google Chrome developer channel called RockMelt, and it has completely changed how I follow websites. On the left side of my browser, I have all of my news feeds: Facebook, Twitter, I even have multiple blogs and a YouTube app. On the right side of my screen I can update my status on either of these social networking sites and I can quickly see which of my Facebook friends are online and chat with them. I can do ALL of this without closing out of my current webpage. Plus, it alerts me when something new is added to my feed, so I always know what is going on.
It's overwhelming, weird, and scary, but it's so awesome. It is still in beta, so it's not perfect, but this is where I see social networking going. Even just staring at this blog post, everything is right in front of me. This is just an example of how the world is becoming a truly "globalized society". I am connected to everything, and everything is connected to me.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
What are the Grammy's Leaving Out?
So, the 53rd annual Grammy awards are tonight. I am very excited to watch for a few reasons. First, I enjoy all of the performances and collaborations that occur throughout the night, I really want to see who wins best alternative rock album, and I want to know who isn't going to be televised.
In case you didn't know, many of the awards are not televised. This is because there simply isn't enough time in the show to televise them, and that not as many people would be interested in "best engineered album" as opposed to "best new artist".
I did a little bit of research on last year's winners that weren't televised, and I found some pretty interesting things. We all know that most of the show is based around pop music, so it wasn't much of a surprise to me that many of the non-televised awards were for best albums in rock, jazz, bluegrass, and gospel. However, I am not completely sure why this is so. Throughout the year in AIS, we have been discussing the media's "secret messages" and how everything has some sort of implication or meaning. I wonder if it means something that people are assumed to not care about categories like "best traditional folk album" or "best historical album", in the same sense that MTV only plays music by Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Ke$ha. It makes me wonder if this censorship is purposefully done.
So when I watch the Grammy's tonight, I know that I won't get to see Wolfgang Gartner win an award for best remix (how many of you guys actually knew he was nominated?), and I won't get to see Deadmau5, or any major electronic producer, even nominated for best electronic album (how does that happen?!?!). It seems as if the Grammy's are sending us secret messages.
In case you didn't know, many of the awards are not televised. This is because there simply isn't enough time in the show to televise them, and that not as many people would be interested in "best engineered album" as opposed to "best new artist".
I did a little bit of research on last year's winners that weren't televised, and I found some pretty interesting things. We all know that most of the show is based around pop music, so it wasn't much of a surprise to me that many of the non-televised awards were for best albums in rock, jazz, bluegrass, and gospel. However, I am not completely sure why this is so. Throughout the year in AIS, we have been discussing the media's "secret messages" and how everything has some sort of implication or meaning. I wonder if it means something that people are assumed to not care about categories like "best traditional folk album" or "best historical album", in the same sense that MTV only plays music by Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Ke$ha. It makes me wonder if this censorship is purposefully done.
So when I watch the Grammy's tonight, I know that I won't get to see Wolfgang Gartner win an award for best remix (how many of you guys actually knew he was nominated?), and I won't get to see Deadmau5, or any major electronic producer, even nominated for best electronic album (how does that happen?!?!). It seems as if the Grammy's are sending us secret messages.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Our Thirst For Knowledge
I just read this morning that two of NASA's STEREO probes have finished revolving around their respective halves of the sun, and humans will now have a complete, 360 degree view of the sun. You can read the full article here.
The first thing I thought of when I saw this article was how humans' thirst for knowledge is never ending. We are always trying to make everything predictable so that nothing is a surprise anymore (this is even mentioned in the article). Thus, I related this to Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Huck used to like surprises and anything out of ordinary when he was living with the Widow and Miss Watson. He got bored with the daily routine and wanted something more, which is why he would have adventures with Tom. However, as the book progresses and Huck sees the world as it really is by traveling on his raft, Huck begins to dislike these surprises. Instead, he wants to know when things are happening, and at times even regrets getting into this situation in the first place. He hates that fact that he will not know what is going to happen to Jim when he is left alone, or even what they will do if the raft is lost. I guess this is a way of Mark Twain commenting on human nature. Humans are naturally curious, however, as we discover the dangers of the world, we begin to want to foresee them more and more. This is what NASA has done.
The first thing I thought of when I saw this article was how humans' thirst for knowledge is never ending. We are always trying to make everything predictable so that nothing is a surprise anymore (this is even mentioned in the article). Thus, I related this to Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Huck used to like surprises and anything out of ordinary when he was living with the Widow and Miss Watson. He got bored with the daily routine and wanted something more, which is why he would have adventures with Tom. However, as the book progresses and Huck sees the world as it really is by traveling on his raft, Huck begins to dislike these surprises. Instead, he wants to know when things are happening, and at times even regrets getting into this situation in the first place. He hates that fact that he will not know what is going to happen to Jim when he is left alone, or even what they will do if the raft is lost. I guess this is a way of Mark Twain commenting on human nature. Humans are naturally curious, however, as we discover the dangers of the world, we begin to want to foresee them more and more. This is what NASA has done.
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