Final Reflections

Self-directed Learning / Personal Blog Posts
I feel like I have always been pretty hip on digital culture. This course helped solidify my knowledge and helped me to see everything I know. I feel like blogs and G+ posts were not used as much in the second half of the class as they were in the beginning. However, I am always reading up on Cnet, Android Central, and watching for new interesting topics. I also always read up on lecture topics after class. I think that this furthering of my knowledge really helped my husband and I connect more on his techie level because he is much more hip than I am. The documented self directed learning I have done can be view in my blog archive to the left and G+ posts can be seen on my profile stream.

Collaboration
I acted as the "group leader" of sorts. I handled all of the management and coordinating. I also did the most of putting together the blog. I contributed to the planning of the project and the blog. I acted as a consultant to other groups for the English Society being an outlet. I feel like I was a vital part of the class contributing opinion and most importantly knowledge and experience.


Others’ assistance
I have mentioned how Katie and Greg have been inspirational, informational, etc in the past. I also have to add that I have really gained respect for Casey. I feel like he has taught me a lot in many ways and most importantly contributed in my gaining of more respect for video games in general. I also feel like Curtis has been a vital part of helping to teach copy right. The rest of my group was also very helpful in learning the same material that I was studying at the same time. I feel like everyone in the class had something "assisting" to say at some point as well though.

Digital Literacy
I fee like I have always been pretty digitally literate. More this semester I feel I have become aware and confident of my skills. I have tried to be more conscious of my consuming in making sure I use digital media for positive things. I have tried to follow the news and new happenings more. I have also started using e-books and audio book recently which is something i have been pretty anti in the past. I have become digitally literate in creating with my blog, status posts, etc. I also have downloaded several photography apps and started becoming more of a cell phone photographer. Connecting has always been a huge part of my life. This is the main way I keep in touch with my family and friend not around here. I also have helped connect with my sister as she is looking for a college. I have also taken Facebook, Instagram, etc more seriously rather than wastes of time. I also follow many blogs and I feel like that connects me with the blogging community that makes me feel connected to that little family.

I feel like this was a good semester. There are a lot of things that I would change, but I am glad I took the class-- I suppose. 

Digital Culture Questions.

1) According to The Break Up 2.0, how relationships are effected by new media is:

• negatively because boys seem to be too much of pansies to break up in person
• undetermined because there is no consensus or standardization of new media manners
• positively because now girls can not only stalk  their boyfriends easier, they can also talk to the 24/7 now as well. 

• Find answer here

2) E-books have increased the purchase of print books.

• True
• False

• Find answer here

3) According to Ayesha Dawood, why does "the Internet [have] the potential to make us lose our inhibitions":

• We become less restrained by norms and conventions that then allows us to indulge in conduct that we would ordinarily not feel comfortable in.
• Anon makes us.
• We have no inhibitions 

• Find answer here

4) While most professionals are formally educated in a college setting, the self-taught enthusiast can provide equally comparable experience and expertise and will begin to flood the job market thanks to our new digital culture and tools at our disposal. 

• Find opinion here

5) While completely withdrawing from the media and technology of our society is more harmful than positive, a media diet providing balance and moderation in all things can help to keep our digital culture from over running our lives. 

• Find Jalena's opinion here

Why this blog is lonely.

Our group has finally made progress
and we are working and producing
away!



Thus, this blog is lonely and
does not get posted on very often.

For current work and happenings
please see:

http://themonstermashup.blogspot.com/

Our Monster Mess

Dr Burton asked for us to reflect on Frankenstein.

I see the connection between Frankenstein and remix
as very very clear.

when the discussion of choosing something
that has been
less remixed 
to bring emphasis to the remixing
was discussed

i see this as very possible

but i think our holding to Frankenstein
as stronger

because of how out of control
Frankenstein has gotten

you have your tons of different types of remixes
some good and adding to the community
some bad that we could do without

you also have how
the monster of Frankenstein
in the plot line
line up so nicely 
with what we are trying to push with remix

there is the good and the bad
with the monster
and with remix

and the monster evolves
and remix evolves

really it is coincidental
and lucky
because we never planned this

we picked Frankenstein
on happen chance

and it all worked out

like this is all working out

despite all the problems

Semester Reflections

I cant believe this semester is almost over
in fact I am rather sad
but only for this class.
my other classes can come to a screeching end

I suppose why i am so sad this class is almost over
is because i feel like our group hasnt done anything.
it is hard because i have been encouraged to just start doing something
anything
just to get other people on board
but every time i try this i feel like there is no interest
and perhaps i am just frustrated
because i just feel at loss and like all i have been doing is complaining.
but i dont know what else to do...
*sigh*

for my individually assigned nonfiction book
i read The Breakup 2.0
which i was rather disappointed in, however
i have found the idea of the internet and new media
being unable to be regulated and standardized
that the author concluded upon
a huge and important thing
that i now try to relate into everything
when i think about new media

my literary work(s)
Red Badge of Courage and Ethan Frome
both helped me see insight into
the power and wildness of the technology
as well as the downsides

this is one thing that i wish i would have perhaps
looked more into because it has been a theme that
i have drawn upon in every post
however, i didnt see it or realize until now

i just love this empowering tool we have
and i think people need to grasp it.
and people often see it as a bad thing

as for my self directed learning
i have tried to be more open in learning of course
having taken a Dr B course before
i think i have integrated this into my life
through habit and through inspiration.
i wish that Dr B's Brown Bag from beginning of the year
had been recorded and broadcast

but specifically
i have always been kind of anti video games
my husband being HUGE into them
i have tried to be more open and learn from him

i have also tried to integrate different social medias
that i havent already been using
and be more open to using them in productive ways

as for the influence and role of other students in my learning process
there are a few students that have really inspired me
i would love to learn more about graphic design
also photography
both just from students' examples

also i think connecting and sharing on g+
things that students have shared has been helpful

as for intriguing concepts
the idea of the long tail is so interesting
of course anything in education
remix is interesting of course...

i would like to learn more about

photography and photoshop

the effects of technology on people

yes.
i feel like it has been a good semester
just need to find a plan

further projection

after sleeping on it several nights
dreaming about it
etc

this is the stand i would like to take with a remix project:

Without remixed projects of literary classics, our digital society, that is growing away from the time old tradition of reading, faces the chance of losing the value and worth of literary classics in our new culture of computer based interactions and technology. However, by the creation and lasting impression of remixed literary classics, the second life and existence of masterpieces in these new remixes will bring further importance and renewed interest to the great works of our time and society. 

with that stand,
i hope to create, as stated before,
interesting remixes of classic work(s)

my thought process is that if one
reads or sees one of our remixes

this will harbor more interest in the original work
furthering the reader to want to explore the original classic
to better understand the remix project

i also found a great article about using remix in the classroom
which i think we can draw off of
for the further importance of remix
in understanding literary work

Remixing Old and New Literacies = Motivated Students by Jesse S. Gainer and Diane Lapp 
(you will have to authenticate through BYU)

there has been some discussion of using Romeo and Juliet

if we take the Shakespeare route
there are a few advantages

1) Shakespeare is highly globally known and respected
2) there is a lot of traffic from students studying shakespeare
3) there is already a lot of initiative and others interested in remixing shakespeare
4) we could possibly make the argument that shakespeare was never meant to be read anyways

or we could possibly remix several classics in several ways

drawing from the Center for Social Media nine common types of re-appropriation practices
types of remixes we could do:

• minecraft/ machinima as proposed by Gwen
• comics
• some sort of diary
• products based off of the classic (how cool would it be to make a product line based on classics)
• poetry
• songs
• recreation with the text (black out poetry, cut and pasting)
• art
• memes
• songs
• "fan fiction" meaning recreation of the plot

I think you get the idea. 

but i was really unsure for a while of what direction i wanted to take

but now i feel confident

and excited!!

digital badge of courage

i should have posted my expanded thoughts on
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephan Crane sooner

because my relation of it to digital culture keeps growing.

and now i feel like i want to move on past this onto other things

to begin the expansion. or explanation. (more cause i am ready to move past this unfortunately)

in The Red Badge of Courage (to be referred as RBOC here out)
there is this theme of war being glorified
Henry wants to go to war because he has this romantic ideal
of the war being  this great glorified thing

i think we have much of this same thing with video games
i know my husband wants to be a sniper.
and would probably enroll if i would agree
video games give their players this false sense of how war actually is
which cause people to enroll without realizing what they are going into

As a RBOC can be seen as a naturalist text
there is a theme of man being at conflict with nature

It has been a couple weeks since i read this
so i refreshed on sparknotes.
they explained this theme of man vs nature best i think:

"Henry’s realization that the natural world spins on regardless of the manner in which men live and die is perhaps the most difficult lesson that Henry learns as a soldier. It disabuses him of his naïve, inexperienced beliefs regarding courage and manhood. Shortly after his encounter with the squirrel in the woods, Henry stumbles upon a dead soldier, whose rotting body serves as a powerful reminder of the universe’s indifference to human life. As the drama of the war rages on around him, Henry continues to occupy his mind with questions concerning the nature of courage and honor and the possibilities of gaining glory. Death, he assumes, would stop this drama cold. Yet, when he encounters the corpse, he finds that death is nothing more than an integral and unremarkable part of nature. As he reflects at the end of the novel: “He had been to touch the great death, and found that, after all, it was but the great death.” Together, Henry’s encounters with the squirrel and the corpse form one of the most important passages in the novel, for it is here that Crane establishes the formidable opposing forces in Henry’s mind: the vain belief that human life deserves such distinctions as courage and honor, and the stark realization that, regardless of such distinctions, all human life meets the same end."

I think we often feel this way about internet, computers, etc
in the sense that we dont want the "bad," or the privacy crossing or any other negative thing
to continue and be the truth
we expect and hope for technology to change for us
when all reality it doesnt stop, it doesnt change, it keeps on keepin on
it all ends up the same in the end

depending on how you look at the novel,
Henry has a huge transformation of understanding war
he goes from this romantic ideal of wanting to go to war to be "cool"
to the stark realization of death no matter what and more understanding of war

with this I think a transition in the thought about our digital culture is coming
there are a lot of people who see this integrated technology as something "bad"
when in all reality it really is a great thing (kinda the inverse of Henry's experience)

this connection between RBOC and digital culture is kinda a hopeful one
in the sense that i hope people come to a good realization
and understanding of technology and such

with this same idea of Henry's thoughts and ideals transforming
there is a huge focus of his lack of understanding
which draws in the idea of man vs nature above

he has this lack of understanding about death, war, etc
which is a focus in the novel and one that we see change

this reminded me of beta publishing.
this idea of a focus on perhaps a lack of understanding per se
or more a lack of perfection

RBOC is also seen as a hugely influential war novel and transitory piece

i think this can just be tied to the idea
that what we have going on now is a transition
we are in a weird spot of not knowing how digital culture is going to play out
and ultimately replace the traditional
and everything that is happening now is going to influential to the future.

lastly, there is a interesting fact about RBOC
that Stephen Crane never actually went to war
yet he wrote this great and hugely influential novel
that has been accurately described as the most realistic

this brings up an interesting topic in digital culture
of not having to actually experience an event
yet still being able to experience it
are we really actually being able to experience it?

it is strange because we have Stephen Crane who becomes
a sort of expert and veteran of war yet he never went

and we can do the same thing through the internet

yet now i feel that there is more importance of actually experiencing things
because everyone can find out about it on the internet

which makes you wonder if had Crane published now
would the novel hold the same merit?

just some thoughts

Project Projection

first i think i should explain the differences between remix and transmedia

because i didnt know
and i think i got the two VERY confused

because they are very similar
and can almost be combined in my mind

first off i went to Dr B's Wiki 
where he has a great definition for remix
but nothing for transmedia.

after reading this article by Eduardo Navas
i feel i have a better grasp on it all.

but still not a full understanding.
because i feel like there is SOOO much to learn
so correct me if i am wrong

i have pulled out what i saw as important
but i urge you to skim it

"First, transmedia is largely linked to storytelling. It is more often than not used as a marketing device. This in effect is how ... the audience could be taken “deep into a story” in a way that would not be possible with prior approaches to storytelling."

"Remix can certainly be used for transmedia interests, that is when one takes the content from one area and remixes it to be presented in another context with the purpose to promote the original story or product. This type of remix in transmedia could be selective or even extended, but not reflexive. Once remix moves outside of music as a space of entertainment (in music all three types of remixes are primarily developed for the sake of entertainment, not criticism). Outside of music, reflexivity in terms of Remix implies a state of criticism, or reflection on the situation being evaluated. Transmedia is not designed for this, because its purpose is to promote something that is well recognized in all possible platforms." 

"While Remix is not opposite to transmedia, or vice versa, their state of production can become contradictory with deliberate strategies. It should also be clarified that the act of remixing itself is not founded on a particular political position. It can be used by anyone from the left, right, or center. Remix is more like a binder that brings elements together according to the vision of the producer. In this sense the act of remixing can be an important element in transmedia, but only as long as the material being remixed is recognized as the product meant to be sold. From the moment that it is no longer recognized properly for basically the celebration of the product or object, the act of remixing at that point becomes something else. If the producer of the remix is deliberately subverting the immediate recognition of a subject, then it could be plagiarism, or a way to subvert the commercial system; or, if it is recognizable with a deliberate critical position, then it could be read as an activist gesture."

"An example of transmedia would be the Twilight saga, which enjoys a strong fan base online, dependent on the actual films, as well as the novels, not to mention social network exchanges and trivia games. An example of a Remix that is critical of Twilight is “Buffy vs. Edward, Twilight Remix,” by Jonathan McIntosh, which combines Twilight footage with Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s. In the latter, the viewer is not only asked to recognize the Twilight franchise, but also to reconsider its relation to the fascination with vampires in U.S. culture, which has been developing for a number of years. At this point remix departs from transmedia becoming a critical tool."
"Nevertheless, the same remix could be repurposed, if desired, by transmedia producers, if they were to see value in the criticism as a means for further promoting the Twilight franchise. The point here is that Remix as a form of discourse does inform transmedia, but it does part ways with it when it becomes a tool for critical reflection. If transmedia were to be used as a critical tool (which as noted this is not its default state), it would be so through appropriation, and it would enter the realm of Remix as a form of critical discourse; transmedia would then be a remixing platform itself. Thus, while transmedia and Remix may not be contradictory, it is important to understand their default positions in culture"

if your brain hasnt exploded

much like i feel mine has 

basic, if i understand correctly, 

remix is the use of precreated things (ideas, creations, etc)
to create something new 

it could be to encourage criticism and thought process

where you are marketing other ideas
or even not reflective and just using the things as a nod

transmedia is the recreation of storytelling

into another platform to allow for incites into the story 

you are further marketing the story
adding something to a story
dealing all with the story
and a HUGE grand scale

Edit: Dr Burton further explained it this way:
"Transmedia (more accurately, "transmedia storytelling") is more of an entertainment industry marketing strategy (though Henry Jenkins may define it more broadly). It requires a strong central story property (usually a film or series) and a development team, and requires building a fan base who will submit user-generated content to create ancillary media (like the fans who created wikis, timelines and maps to make sense of Lost). I will be reluctant to approve a transmedia project because it demands more resources, expertise, and time than we can muster in a couple months"

does that make sense?

do i have it?

or am i bonkers?

so where i originally was messed up 

is that i thought they were all in the same things

but they are truly two separate topic

just with some grey overlapping

and definitely some blur

and i feel double categorizing

can any one lend some incite?

or as we say at work when we have no idea

-please advise.

so with this

i propose for a project to create some remix

i had the thought of choosing a major work

(romeo and juliet, harry potter, fairy tales. etc)

and then remixing it

so who is in?

ethan frome. youre dirtier than 4chan.

i think it is funny how

when you start to pursue one of your passions
or when something becomes a big focus to you

everything relating to that subject jumps out at you

we discussed this today in class
some coined a good phrase for it
but that phrase escapes me now.

and on a side note,
last year i took a shakespeare class
and everything shakespeare still jumps out at me

onward.

i am reading ethan frome
or more listening to it

i have gotten in a good groove of listening
while i drive to and from school
and it is working for me

this paragraph jumped out at me
from chapter 5

"He knew that most
young men made nothing at all of giving a pretty girl a
kiss, and he remembered that the night before, when
he had put his arm about Mattie, she had not resisted.
But that had been out-of-doors, under the open
irresponsible night. Now, in the warm lamplit room,
with all its ancient implications of conformity and
order, she seemed infinitely farther away from him and
more unapproachable."

There are a lot of ways we can relate to this idea
simply alone

in relation to our lives in a digital world

one take is a nod to what i touched upon in my last post 
this idea that when people get deep into the internet
a whole nother (woah infix anyone) side and personality comes out

"'Likewise the Internet allows us to indulge in conduct that we would ordinarily not feel comfortable in. We traverse and /or indulge and express our innermost unconscious desires.'"

being outside allows ethan to feel irresponsible enough
to be making moves on the young hired help
while his wife is sick inside

much like people tend to do ballsier things
when they are on the internet and feel unaccounted for
or even texting and feel the same

the second nod. has slipped my mind.

why is it called an eyephone?

the beginning of this semester

i had a sort of amazement 

with how integrated eveything is 

(mainly thinking google products).

 ie gmail, gchat, blogger, and google + 

are all seamlessly integrated. 

not just between the google products 

but also onto my android based phone. 

every time i think of this integration i think of this episode.

perhaps are we starting to become TOO integrated?

John D Sutter of CNN did an article 

discussing how smartphone have made us superhuman. 

this idea that the smart phone

is a super power comparable to 

that of superman less the flying

after some overwhelming push back from readers in the comments

he turned around and said perhaps we are super-stupid

with the irresponsible use of these devices

which brings back this idea of

are we becoming too integrated.

which ties in this idea of 

perhaps we should do a media fast to see 

"what slaves we are to the technology"

if we look at our use and integration of technology

in the light of something we can fast from

that makes it comparable with that of food

which food is a dire thing

which mean that then our media and technology is a dire thing. 

i dont think we are slaves.

i think that we are using the tools we have been given

to better enrich our lives

and make them fuller and better

im struggling to find explanation and words

to back my feelings

i wish that i could find something written 

that is really profound that played into these ideas

that we are not slaves. 

sure we can do the same with food

this ideas of overindulging that so many people thing we do now with media 

over eat and become obese

as we can with anything. 

but i dont think we need to 

fast so that we can have this experience

isnt the idea of fasting to grow 

closer in spirituality? 

not to see what it is like to be in a third world country

thats like saying we should all go

toke up so we can have the experience of drugs 

and make the decision we dont want to do drugs

in the end 

i dont think that the expansion 

and further integration of our

digital culture is something that we can stop

no matter how we feel

and this plays into a rather controversial topic 

with no answers

that no one will ever see eye to eye on 

/rant 

brief thoughts on the red badge of courage

i just finished reading
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
for my 363 class.

it has a lot of things i can see in relation to digital culture

here is a brief list with themes in RBC on the left and relation to technology on the right:

war be glorified --through video games
man's conflict with nature --internet instead of nature
transformation in thought about war - transformation in through about digital culture
influential war novel -- internet is influential
Stephen Crane had never been to war -- internet shows us how things are with out being there, very detailed

expansion soon to come

what do you think?

internet indulgence digression

I have been thinking
a lot about the LONG TAIL.

and how much we are able to indulge
in things we normally would not be able to

like strange music:

explanation:
i like Circa Survive (Oct 15!)
Anthony has a side project called The Sound of Animals Fighting
weird stuff.
like some things are really good and interesting
but its not something i would ever really buy i dont think
yes through the web
i can indulge in these things i else wise would not
perhaps

long tail:
circa survive. (anthony green)
deftones (Oct 17!) (chino moreno)
love them both
bam! they did some side work together
would have never know
was it not for these new "suggestions for you"
thanks to: the lonnggg tail

digression 2 :
in the last year, i have watched ALL of the seasons of:
Weeds
The United States of Tara
Breaking Bad
Avatar
White Collar
Anthony Bordain No Reservations
LA Ink
NY Ink
Man vs Wild
Wilfred
and I am working on Sons of Anarchy right now

not to mention all of these shows
have SEVERAL or more seasons

how many hours of tv have i watched in the last year
thanks to that of netflix
and some handy internet skills of my husband

this is something we would never do
if it werent for the internet

we would never sit down and be able to watch
ALL of the episodes of a tv show

I found this article
Web of Darkness? by Ayesha Dawood

i just scanned it
but it is something i plan to read in depth

and i love it
because she has done
what we have just looked at now
and are about to do ourselves
in comparing internet to Heart of Darkness

"An interesting analogy of the Internet as having the potential to make us lose our inhibitions can be made. Is the Internet a jungle, replete with uncharted territory and lack of social, political and economic constraints? The further that one goes into the abyss of the Internet the less restrained one is by norms and conventions. As Joseph Conrad in his acclaimed novel, Heart of Darkness, suggests, the further you go into the jungle the less constrained and more uninhibited we become. The jungle is an abyss - a place of darkness and untold secrets; the deeper we sink into the abyss the more our unconscious allows us to be. The jungle is also a place of acceptance. Due to the lack of standards of what is acceptable behavior we all have the potential to indulge in the deeper, darker inner recesses of our mind."

is this why young girls go wild on the internet?

is this why we lose touch with things we would normally and conventionally do?

according to her:

"Likewise the Internet allows us to indulge in conduct that we would ordinarily not feel comfortable in. We traverse and /or indulge and express our innermost unconscious desires."

I guess my innermost  desires are that of drugs, tattoos, and wildlife survival.

The Breakup 2.0

I read The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting Over New Media by Ilana Gershon
I was very interested in this idea of how
technology is affecting our personal lives.

This is my review posted in Goodreads:

"While this book was funny and entertaining, Gershon's conclusion limits the further exploration that the subject could provide if there were more hard and fast facts to look into. Gershon explores how social media has come to effect our lives and relationships and, in particular, our breakups. However, she simply concludes that so many new medias are changing so quickly that their impact cannot be determined because everyone uses the media in their own way. Simplified - how relationships are affected can't be summarized because this is just all too new and just too evolving and varying. However, she did bring out an important and interesting idea that there is no standardization in new media. There is no consensus in how it should be used, what is appropriate, or even how it is perceived. Thus, what method you use to break up through is defined on your feelings of the media. We then all interpret things differently as our own social analyst, so a break up over text may seem bad to one and okay to another. Despite the limitation of Gershon's book, she provides a fun sociological look at new age media that is still interesting and though provoking."

While I was disappointed by the lack
of exploration into the idea of relationships
I still found interesting insight
into this idea of the internet and new media
being unable to be regulated and standardized

there really is no way to say
this is the hard fast way things are done
because there are so many varying uses to the internet
and everyone uses it in their own way

and then interprets things in their own way too

in short, the internet is just a beast that cannot be tamed
and that no one has the answers for

the self taught enthusiasts vs the educated professionals

I have had a particular experience
on my mind as we have been discussing
digital culture this week.

a year and a half ago (boy, time flies)
my husband and i traveled to denver
to see one of our favorite bands -deftones
(artist of the namesake song)

while at the concert
we were right in front of the gate
while this was great for being
right within arms reach
of the band and tour memorabilia
and of the guards to protect us from
drunk wailing fan girls

we were specifically pointed out
in the crowd and told to put away
our phones and cameras and especially video recordings

while we still got our pictures
and others who were farther away from the front
have since posted their videos on youtube

i have pondered this experience in relation to
this idea that Jalena happened to also comment on:




perhaps they really just didnt want us taking pictures
but i keep going back to this idea,
of what i will call,
the replacement of the educated professional 

if everyone in the crowd is taking pictures,
taking videos, posting them online
this takes away from the professionals
who are paid to be there and do that exact thing.

this launches into some discussion.

on Jalena's post above
i commented:

"I think this is a very good point. I have dabbled in photography which is something where specialization in the field is becoming unappreciated because anyone can go out and buy a fancy camera. However, I dont think people really realize and appreciate how much specialization and actual schooling contributes to these fields. Sure, you can get really good at working a DSLR and figure things out; but I think a lot more can come from an actual degree. But there is a lot of debate on this... hmm blog post and research to come. "

obviously this is the blog post and research.

back to the photography.

how many "momographers"
have started up their own photography business
and volunteer to shoot weddings
to put your special moment in the
hands of their self education

not to get too offensive here

but there is a lot of respect and devotion
that used to be given to professional photographers
who slaved over a degree
practiced thousands of hours
learned the intricate details of the trade
so that they could have a reputable degree.

and now soccer mom decides she wants a fancier camera
so she bought a budget friendly entry level dslr
that has a basic kit lens and auto mode
and BAM shes a photographer!
of course she will shoot your wedding!

having experienced both ends of the spectrum
-a professional photographer shooting my event
and a "momographer" in the same position

you can really see the difference in having a degree

you have the professionalism
and knowledge that comes from
taking the classes and working to earn
this knowledge and education

of course, this isnt knocking on self taught enthusiast
(myself being one)

this is acknowledging the almost unfair
situation that our creative occupations
are being replaced by amateurs  who can fake
the comparable skills at half the price

however, if you look at it in a few different angles:

surgeons.
we dont want our surgeons
self teaching themselves off the internet
and then being hired on to preform
open heart surgery on our newborn child
because they can pose comparable skills

so why do we want a "momographer"
documenting our once in a lifetime moments

but in this same yet different light

i have a friend who has stopped
taking classes at BYU because
she doesnt like her classes
and she just wants to write her book
and who looks at her degree for that anyways
--authors are historically self taught

but you can go to BYU
and get a degree in creative writing
so why is it offered if not really needed

and how is this so different then noted above

author situation aside,
it is because we have come to the point where
if we like it, if it looks good enough,
if we can get it for cheaper,
who cares about the credentials

we can learn how to do anything
ourselves online for free

offer similar products for half the price.

and who needs a degree.

the internet can solve anything
it just takes some self will

and not that this is all a bad thing.

this past summer when the Aurora Massacre occurred
 a few people on reddit compiled wonderful
coverage of the happenings concerning the shooting

while journalism is fading,
was this unbiased coverage
and collection of time events not a wonderful
and refreshing
solution and resource for this time of disaster

so perhaps we can do things better in teaching ourselves and being self taught enthusiasts

but then again
how do we find this confidence that
replacing our formal knowledge with
that of simple research on the internet
is really that better.

in my own life, however,
i have been directly blessed due
to the capability of becoming self taught enthusiasts

my husband has taught himself
some workings of information systems

this has lead to him be able to get a great job
due to his self directed learning

while this has been a great blessing
does it really replace a degree?

not right now.
in the future though?
is there a reason why a degree
or the same experience
will be better than one another

I found a great article related to this:
"Self-Taught Programmers vs CS-Educated Programmers"

he explains the difference in
programming specifically
how a degree and non degree differs

Loved this (long) quote that so well explains it:

"For example, I love learning new spoken languages ("Obrigado!") and have spent a good time learning them through Pimsleur language learning courses. I even own some texts. But when I learn a new language, I'm not learning the concepts of language all over again. I already understand grammatical structure, the relationships between subject/object/verb and the uses of prepositions. Learning a new language simply teaches me to communicate the same thoughts and feelings but in a different way. This is the same with programming languages: you accomplish the same tasks in a different language that has different syntax.
But language is simply a vehicle to manage communication (amongst the other ways we communicate). We use it to do much more complicated things like tell stories, convey metaphors and similes and express emotion. In this same notion, languages are simply used to create complicated algorithms, large platforms and other complex uses.
So what's the point? Formally-educated computer science students are better programmers? No.
The point is that learning a language and learning to program is really one small piece of computer science. The truly talented self-taught programmers are really self-taught computer science students. Also learning to program and learning a language isn't exactly equivalent to a formal education."

So where does this leave us?

where does this leave me?

in a very scary place.

thats where.

i have X amount of debt in student loans
when who knows if teaching is close to follow
that of photography and journalism

in the same breathe
because of this great new
wide acceptance of the self taught enthusiasts
my husband has been able to work
doing servers from his self taught experience
and put me through school

im on both sides of the boat.

what is the correct answer?

who knows.
i guess we will find out.

scar cissue

this summer i was interested in reading
a particular memoir that i had heard was good
by the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

I dont remember how it all happened
but i ended up looking around online for
"Scar Tissue" by Anthony Keidis
when i ran across a free ebook.

now this wasnt just any ebook...
it was more a scanned in copy
of all the pages of the book
and then made into a PDF.

i knew that the copy was rather sketch
but it wasnt until half way through
that i realized what was going on.

because it was a scanned in copy
not all of the letters came across correctly
as you can see here:

funny thing is that
the entire book i though that he
was calling drugs "elope"
and it wasnt until i was actually done
that i realized "dope" was transcribed into "elope"

despite all of these other factors
i had been given an opportunity to borrow
a tablet from my work as a demo
and thought this would be a great way
for me to read my "ebook"
and not have to tote around my laptop.

what i am getting at here is that,
while i had read ebooks in the past on a computer,
the difference in actually having a tablet to read on
made all the difference

in fact when i finished "Scar Tissue" i was disappointed
that i could not find another free book that i wanted
to actually read and was interested in

this brings me to my personal thoughts
about ebooks vs print books

first,
i dont think that ebooks will be a "big"
thing until everyone owns an ereader

however, i was surprised at how many of
the local youth that live around me own
kindles and got them for christmas

but second
even if everyone does buy ereaders,
i think there needs to be some sort of
"netflix" for ebooks. or better pricing
on individual books.

because in my mind, i would rather buy
the actual book for $10 than have a digital copy

which brings me to this article posted in the
Denver Post entitled "The New Way We Read"

he makes several points of how ereaders
have completely replaced that of the hard copy book
and how they do a good and better job

but the last point made is one that makes me so sad:

"PRINT BOOKS:Collecting rare books, including first editions and antiquarian books.
DIGITAL BOOKS:There's no equivalent so far. Hermitage owner Bob Topp says he sees quite a few new customers who've become fans of an author after reading several digital books.
"It's a whole new group of people discovering a new world of older books, a dimension they never knew about," he says.
"They come into our store, and the look in their eyes is 'Book! I just gotta touch a book!' They've read the e-book on the plane, but now they want a book they can hold in their hand."

This makes me so sad! but it raises
a very interesting point which he states in the opening paragraph:
"E-books have increased the purchase of print books"

which is interesting and i think proves 

that ebooks and technology can never 

completely replace the actual product

because we depend so much upon the human experience

this makes me want to go out an buy all of my 

favorite books in hard copy

because i also have a feeling that 

print books are going to go up 

in price more and more as the ebook 

becomes more popular.

and print books become

more and more rare

just something to think about. 

but perhaps i am wrong?

me the digitarian

for those of you from byu, you know i am taking a digital culture class
for everyone else- i am taking a digital culture class: English 326

to begin, i wasnt ever planning on taking this class.

one. i dont need it.
two. i didnt have time in my schedule.

#2 changed when i got my american heritage waived
... those of you from byu, I know right!
... everyone else, lets just say i am one in a million

#1 changed, semi-related, since i no longer needed american credit
i now could justify taking 326 and not needing it

flash forward. digital culture.
i have been mulling over this
and what it means.

this is something that is hard to pin point
into just one single phrase

something that is hard to give a definition.

i feel that i myself have always been
rather tech-savvy.

thus i just coined the term
DIGITARIAN.
(its already on urban dictionary
so i suppose i cant claim all the credit)

i am married to a computer man
i have grown up always having
the latest and greatest cool gadgets
and i have always been good with computers
oh, and did i mention that for a living
i work with cell phones- more smart phones

so when it came time to enroll for Shakespeare
Dr Burton offered a different type of class
and then later that semester he suggested
I take his new digital culture class
i thought "meh interesting but i dont need it"

flash forward to now.
as per above BAM i am here.

i suppose this mentioned tech-savvy-ness
is what originally drew me all into this mess

this mess we call digital culture
for the lack of better words
i think that digital culture is
US. ME. YOU. WE.

it is this culture where
technology has become an
essential part of our lives

some may say that it rules our lives
but i think it is more true that
we choose what we let rule our lives

and if it does rule each of us
i dont think it is a bad thing

and this is where The Matrix
comes into play....

will the machines we depend upon
end up being what kills us?

as my mom said today (concerning the election more than machines),
"we already know the world is going to end in war
then what does it matter"

and thus i leave you with these words
of wisdom from Morpheus
(speaking of if the prophesy is not true):
"Then tomorrow we may all be dead,
but how would that be different from any other day?"

thus i support that
we should embrace technology because
if our digital culture doesnt take over our lives,
then wont there just be something else?

and this launches us into this fun fun semester
of embracing digital culture
and exploring the great unknown.