The following video is a mashup created for a final presentation. It is based on Lawrence Lessig's quote below.


"After the commercial life of creative property has ended, our tradition has always supported a second life as well.  A newspaper delivers the news every day to the doorsteps of America.  The very next day, it is used to wrap fish or fill boxes with fragile gifts or to build an archive of knowledge about our history.  In this second life, the content can continue to inform even if that information is no longer sold.

Meta-Mashup

Walt Disney: The Original Pirate
Macy's 1st Thanksgiving Parade

As much as I enjoyed Lessig's "Free Culture," many of the topics he discussed seemed downright archaic, especially his perception of file sharing.

For my group's final project, I'd love to do a video mashup from various chapters across the book that relate to the millenial issue of file sharing and how these have been resolved and/or affected by torrenting. Essentially, a mashup about Lessig's ideas regarding fair use and mashups. Relevant passages include:

"If 99.4 percent is not good enough, then this is a war on file-sharing technologies, not copyright infringement." (74)

"But how, and to what extent, and in what form--the details, in other words--matter? To get a good sense of how turning the intangible into property emerged, we need to place this 'property' in its proper context." (84)

"Much of 'sampling' should be considered 'fair use.'" (107)

MASHED

A few good song mashups for y'all: the first is a Beyonce-Fleet Foxes combination (via the Hood Internet); the second mixes Paul Simon and Vampire Weekend. Also, new Girl Talk is real good.

Twitter: The Change Engine (2.0)

Wow! Definitely have a whole new level of respect for people who use iMovie on a daily basis.

Twitter: The Change Engine

Twitter, a social networking application based on the concept of microblogging, has grown rapidly since its 2006 inception, and now claims over 100 million users. In direct opposition to bloated social networking applications that overwhelm their users with functionality, Twitter users log on for a single reason: to post an update (often called a tweet) and to read other’s updates. Furthermore, a strict 140-character restriction imposes brevity of updates and can serve as a vehicle for creativity. When faced with such a low limit, users are forced to concisely state whatever information they would like to get across. This, in turn, makes it easier for others to read others’ tweets without losing attention. This streamlined functionality has been lauded by critics who appreciate the ability to use the application as much or as little as possible.

One of the most interesting features of Twitter is its implementation of “Trending Topics,” which is a real-time Top Ten list the site posts organizing the phrases most often contained in user tweets. The user can customize the list to be specific to a certain geographic region or allow the topics to be ranked worldwide. In this way, he or she has access to what are-in theory-the most interesting conversational topics in the world. The usage of trending topics to unite people from drastically different geographic regions by shared interest perfectly validates the idea of cultural citizenship.

Alternate Reality Games: Ultimate Convergence

Our reading assignment concerning Henry Jenkins' description of convergence culture, "... where old and new media collide, where grassroots and corporate media intersect, where the power of the media producer and the power of the media consumer interact in unpredictable ways," reminded me of a 2007 Wired article discussing Alternate Reality Games.

ARGs, according to Wikipedia, create an interface between the real and virtual worlds, often involving "multiple media and game elements," unraveling a story that "may be affected by participants' ideas or actions." They are usually created for promotional purposes-the Wired article discusses a campaign created by the Nine Inch Nails-in the hopes that the higher degree of interaction will yield a greater deal of buzz surrounding the product being advertised.

Recent games have embedded hints on web sites such as Twitter and YouTube; additionally, clues can often be found in physical locations that have some relevance to the game. In effect, the scope of the game is world-wide, allowing people from all over to become players. By using a variety of medium to more effectively engage the consumer, it is evident that advertising companies are savvy to Jenkins' vision of convergence culture.

The Internet: A Girl's World

A revised copy of my essay(originally posted below) can be viewed here!

Turn yo' speakers up

...and check out my ugly site :)

First Impressions of the Internet

Sometime during early elementary school I talked my parents into ordering me a subscription to Girl’s Life magazine. Endorsed by the Girl Scouts of America, the wisdom contained in the magazine was undoubtedly crucial to my survival as a preteen female. Every month I would pore over the articles describing movies and fashion, as well as weightier pieces discussing what it meant to be a young woman in America. Everything written in the magazine seemed so practical and relevant to my life! I was hooked.

In the spring of 1997 Girl’s Life chose to create an online presence for itself. The letters from the editor that year continuously urged readers to set up accounts on the publication’s newly-created website, speaking warmly of the advice forums, interactive games, and e-mail client offered by the magazine. My membership on this site was quickly deemed a necessity.

This kid is a total bad ass

When Google Instant was released last week, Stanford junior Feross Aboukhadijeh coded up a YouTube Instant prototype in 3 hours, tweeted about it, and was offered a job by YouTube's CEO--on twitter!

Commentary

via Toothpaste for Dinner

HoW BAd U R entirely dependent on user experience

The New York Times recently posted an article describing some fascinating research completed at Carnegie Mellon. Basically, it said that students were over four times more likely to admit to bad behavior on a website that appeared unprofessional as compared to its official-looking counterpart(4.7% versus 19.7%, respectively).

While the sites clearly differed appearance-wise, test subject interaction indicates further disparities in perception of appropriate usage. The fact that the students chose to use the sites in two completely different fashions illustrates the importance of considering one's audience: the presentation of a web site can completely alter its usage. In short, this research serves to prove that design truly does drive user experience.

Things I've Surfed on the 'Net

I am a huge fan of the Internet. Its profound effect on our day-to-day lives is ridiculously intriguing to me. Has anyone seen this article? We consume so much data these days--and that's a beautiful thing. Never before has the access-nor the dissemination-of information been quite so democratic.

Oh yeah! Here are some of my favorite websites, for your consideration:

Smitten Kitchen: undoubtedly the gold standard in food blogging, this weblog is updated multiple times a week with some of the most enticing recipes you'll ever find! The best part is that most of them incredibly easy to adapt to whatever you've got in your pantry. Some favorites are these brownies and this pasta sauce.

Modern Love essays: Every week the New York Times posts an essay about love of all sorts. Most of 'em are quick yet thought-provoking reads; you'll be addicted in no time! This one in particular was really famous a few years back.

Ask Metafilter: Their slogan is "querying the hive mind," and it's ridiculously effective. Basically people post all sorts of oddball questions and receive answers from other users. I've used this site quite extensively for travel recommendations over the years.

1,001 Rules for My Unborn Son: This is a pretty cute little site that happened to pop up in my blog reader while I was working on this entry. Every so often the author will post adorable quips full of advice he considers indispensable for his future offspring.

Finally, this YouTube find is perfect in its simplicity: