Windows 7

If anyone with a school email is interested in buying Windows 7 for $29.99, pass this site along. I know that alot of people use MACS, but just in case you have a PC, you might like this deal.

http://store.digitalriver.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayHomePage&Locale=en_US&SiteID=msshus

It's legit. I got it last week.

CouchSurfing

I did my social network project on CouchSurfing.com. It is a means to meet people around the world, and either stay at their home while you're away or meet them for coffee. You, in turn, can reciprocate when they visit our area. It's a really interesting concept and seems to work out well for almost everyone who utilizes it. I spoke to a few classmates at the art show and they seemed to be really curious. If you're interested in learning more, please get in touch with me or check out the report and slideshow posted on Cyberduck under SLynn. I'd be happy to share what I learned if you'd like to send me an email or post.

Blogs

Since completing our last assignment, I have a new perspective on blogging. Although I don't forsee myself blogging too often, I am beginninng to see its more positive qualities. My report was on CouchSurfing, which is a social networking site linking travler's with people in local commmunities around the world. Members agree to host the traveler, (a stranger), by allowing them to stay at their home for a night or more free of charge. The blogs on the site become extrememly important to the members. They allow members to validate or discredit the host or the guest. This becomes an invaluable resource for a member looking to CouchSurf. The blog can also be used to communicate with the entire community while traveling. Members can document and rate different places, which gives the network community a better sense of an area they might want to visit. I originally looked at blogs as being a place to write a public personal journal, and couldn't imagine my involvement. Although, when used as a tool to communicate pertinent and necessary information or to share knowledge, I might consider it. Since there are no blog rules, maybe the internet police should post a warning stating something like, Writer's Descretion Advised, or use a rating system like PG-13, R, X. Some people seem to have have no morals, while others seem to have no common sense. I suppose that in the year 2030, they'll all look back and wonder what we were all so uptight about.

School-Work

The 5 page, single-spaced research paper with accompanying slide show is finally behind me. I turned it in last night. Now I can start on my cultural art and 18x24 painting which are soon due for another class. It seems like all the major assignments are due around the same time. I feel like I'm on a tag team hurrying to the next point; only my hurry is to finish the projects so I can start the next one. I forgot to mention that in between the major projects, I have discussion questions to answer and blogs to write. So, its 5:30AM, and I'm writing this blog before I get ready for work, so I'll be mentally freed to devote my energies toward my Color Theory assignments. Actually, I'll have to finish this blog tonight, because it’s time to go get ready for work. Always seems that I'm running to catch up.

Networks

I really enjoyed viewing the drawings we did in class depicting our personal social networks. I found it intriguing that they actually looked like pieces of art, and that they were all so completely unique. I suppose one could compare the different representations in our small class to the many variances in our societal networks in general. No one person’s social network diagram would ever look the same as another person’s portrayal of their network. There are as many opposing viewpoints about social networks on the internet as there are about life itself. What fascinated me about our class drawings is that they were as beautiful as they were complex. Such is the state of the human condition, I suppose. I’d be curious to know a psychiatrist’s interpretation of our masterpieces.

This is It

I was going to continue blogging about blogs, but I just got back from seeing Michael Jackson, This is It, and couldn't stop thinking about our digital media culture. Earlier this week, I did the Marshall McLuhan reading assignments and watched "Growing Up Online," and I'm beginning to realize just how the human psyche is affected by media. I agree with McLuhan's observation about there being both positive and negative effects from any new media. I'm sure that the issues shown in "Growing Up Online" are just as alarming to today's society, as was the music and media surrounding the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969, or the introduction of Impressionist Art in the 1800's. What is consistent is that everything evolves and changes. Also consistent, is the social reaction to change.

Whether media be print, music, art, or via computerized format, it has, and always will be a means of societal communication and individual creativity and/or expression. Personally, I have a Love-Hate relationship with media. I do love the fact that I have the option of picking and choosing what to ingest. I always wonder why other people don't realize that they have that same choice. Yes, media can be quite a scary or quite a wonderful thing; hazardous or harmless. A quote from the movie, A Field of Dreams describes media perfectly; "If you build it, they will come," and good or bad, people always come.

I suppose you're wondering what Michael Jackson's, "This is It" has to do with any of this. It was one of the most compelling, creative, and artistic pieces I've seen in a long time. What made it work so well was its authentic extension of self from a true creative genius. Not to mention that he left us with an incredibly powerful message. Definitely a good choice of media for me! Check out the trailers.....if you choose.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810109568/video/15558738/20090914/150/15558738-100-flash-s.93160672-,15558738-300-wmv-s.93160664-,15558738-300-flash-s.93160674-,15558738-700-flash-s.93160675-,15558738-1000-flash-s.93160676-,15558738-700-wmv-s.93160669-,15558738-1000-wmv-s.93160671-,15558738-100-wmv-s.93160663-,15558748-2700-qtv-s.93160680-,15558748-6800-qtv-s.93160681-,15558748-10300-qtv-s.93160682-

Blogging

I couldn't think of anything worthy to write a blog about this week, so I finally decided to do some research on blogging itself. I could probably write a book based on the volume of information that I found, but I will limit my comments to the blogging trivia I found to be most interesting. For instance, did you know that the collective community of all blogs is known as the Blogosphere? It leaves me wondering who comes up with these words and how they gain acceptance into our vocabulary? I think its probably a pretty good word for all blogging since the earth is in the shape of a "sphere," and the term is generally used to describe everything within that circle, or sphere. So Blogosphere is really quite relevant to all blogging within the bubble of earth's hemisphere. Who comes up with this stuff? I wonder if there was contest for the best word describing worldwide blog? When I think about it, I wonder who came up with the word "BLOG" in the first place, or any of the other blog associated words, such as, VLOG, PHLOG, or SPLOG.

Since there is so much information to be found about blogging, I've decided that this is a good topic for me to discuss in my weBLOG, or WeB Log (in case I got you curious about how the Blog word was conceived.) My next blog will be about some of the ways blogging is used.