Anthony's Ridiculously Interesting First Blog
Monday, March 08, 2004
I just realized that I only had 9 blogs...so this is the tenth one.
I've been thinking a bit about Chris' hypertext project--The Impact of DVDs. I really like this subject, and I think its extremely relevant in today's society. DVDs have changed the video market in such immense ways. Now, when I put a DVD into my player, the first thing I look for are the special features...before I even watch the movie itself. This is a growing trend I see in many DVDs nowadays. Recently, the DVD has made the home movie into more of a home experience...not only do people get to see the movie itself, they often are allowed backstage into its production, they can talk to directors and producers, or can skip to whatever scene they want.
Great job on the topic choice, Chris!
NOW THIS IS THE FINAL BLOG ENTRY...WOO HOO
Course Reflection:
I definetly believe that PWR2 and E-Rhetorics in particular has made me both a better writer and a better rhetorician. The class has forced me (which was a good thing) to expand my understanding of writing and rhetoric beyond the context of the traditional paper and visuals. Now I have come to understand that rhetoric is about the presentation of information and argument, and it is not limited to any specific form. This class will be vital to me later on at Stanford and beyond--not only has it taught me how to make a website, it has also taught me how to speak effectively in public. I really appreciate what PWR2 was able to give me in terms of practical, useful skills.
In terms of the specific assignments, I thought they all went well overall. Here's a few more specifics, though:
Blogging: I loved this part of the course. Although I honestly didnt want to do it at times, the blog assignment got me acquainted with a form of electronic discourse that was almost completely foreign to me. Sometimes it was difficult to think of a topic to write on, but after an idea came through everything was great. I like writing online--i feel like it gives me a freedom in my writing that I havnt had before.
Project Proposal: I was OK with this one. My class didnt do one last quarter in PWR 1, so it was a bit foreign to me. At some points I found myself wondering why we were even doing it. However, it did get me ready to write for my hypertext--and in that aspect it was helpful like noneother. I often found myself looking back to it while I was typing my hypertext to keep myself on-track.
Proposal Presentation: I liked this alot. This was the first time I actually felt comfortable while publically speaking--and i think this was its biggest asset for me. I do appreciate the fact that it helped me with my hypertext (to an extent), but mainly what I got out of it was public speaking skills. I loved how we got OCTs--i felt so priveledged :). They really helped me with ideas, etc. for the future.
Research Hypertext: Well, this was the big one. My hypertext and I had a love-hate relationship. Sometimes i couldnt wait to go work on it, because i realized that I was learning how to create a cool webpage with two really complex programs. Other times I dreaded the hours I would have to soon spend figuring out how to work Dreamweaver and Fireworks. Also, it was really difficult writing in a non-linear fashion for the first time--it was hard to make my nodes all sound like the same paper. But overall, now that I am done, I can say that I appreciated the skills I gained from the assignment more than I disliked the work involved in completing it.
Final Presentation: I feel about the same about this assignment as I did the proposal presentation--I really appreciate the skills I gained from the experience. I never thought I could do a 10 minute presentation before, but now I know thats not true. The OCTs helped out bigtime with this one as well.
One last thing...Blogger doesnt allow its free users to upload images, so my blog is kinda sparce. I apologize on the part of Blogger for their sad, sad ineptitude.
OK I lied. That last blog entry wasnt my final one. Neither is this one. But I promise the next one will be.
In this entry I'm going to talk about technology and aesthetics...agian. I recently was talking to one of my friends, and he said he wanted to be a product designer. I thought this was awesome...imagine coming up with the idea for the look of the iPod. But then I started thinking, and realized just how difficult this job is. Not only do you have to come up with the design of a product, you have to make the design work with the ideas/technology available from your client.
Then i started thinking about all the little gadgets I owned, and realized the thought and (dare i say) rhetoric invested in making them look good. I guess it turns out that a techie gadget is more fuzzy than i thought!
Friday, March 05, 2004
So this is the final blog...i dont know what to say...sniff*...we've been together for....so long (me an my blog, that is)
Actually i do know what to say. Im in the process of finishing up my final hypertext, I just finished my presentation, and I have to say I'm beginning to know the sweet taste of freedom. But not yet, though. This is the final "push" weekend, as they say. I just have to input a few more sources and some visual rhetoric, fix up my intro and conlcusion, and make the general flow a bit more smooth. Other than that, I'm good.
In terms of something that has to do with digital culture...I found out the name of that game that invades your life! It was called Majestic, and it was connected to a database that would call, fax, IM and email its players. This really connects to my thesis about escapism and video gaming because it shows how people need to supplement their lives with one that is more interesting, regardless of whether that alternate life may border on being scary...
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Wow. Progress in my research hypertext is coming along, albeit slowly. During one of the nights I was working untill 3am on it, i realized that i had gotten the hang of 2 completely new and confusing programs--Dreamweaver and Fireworks. I definitely felt a bit proud of my accomplishment, but it was quickly overshadowed by the fact that it was 3am.
Recently ive been looking into video games that cross over into real life, and ive found a few really interesting things. The game Majestic, which was released in 2001, is a game that calls you, leaves you voice messages, faxes, and ims. The point of the game is to unravel a conspiracy that involves the murder of public officials. Both the actions you take in reality and what you do on your computer contribute to your progress within the game. I thought this was really interesting because i feel like the presence of such games is very telling about the escapism within the players. I would ask myself, "What kind of life do these people have such that they needed a game to make it interesting?". Then i realized that this was essentially the purpose of all videogames--to provide an interesting (albeit false) supplement to everyday life. Games function as an escape from the unavoidable monotony that so often accompanies life.
Monday, February 16, 2004
In this blog i feel like writing about my research topic...gaming and escapism. Through my research, I have been led to believe that games are made for fun and/or addicting purposes, but they also promote escapism. This tendency to promote escapsim in its players makes games a definite force in modern society. And, as games and video gaming become ever more widespread and popular, so too does escapsim. The positivity of the effects of this growing trend is debatable, with more and more people blaming video gaming for negative social behavior and even violence.
As my research hypertext continues to develop, I will post many more interesting things i find.
Monday, February 09, 2004
THIS IS A PREFACE TO THIS BLOG: Ok, so i just figured out that "create a new blog" does NOT mean "create a new post"---so this post is an attempt to consolidate my other blog entries into one, unified, PWR2 assignment-completing, blog. I actually wrote this post a while ago, but i just figured out....well, you know.
Digital culture--It used to be a tangible phrase, and the idea it described was definitively separate from "regular," everyday culture. Now, no such border exists. Digital culture IS popular culture, and more importantly, visa-versa. I used to be able to picture, when someone described a "hacker" or "computer geek" a nerdy little guy with thick glasses, typing away in a dark room devoid of any real-life stimulus. Now, all one sees in movies are these cool, sexy portrayals of hackers--people who live in an underground world with mysterious powers that are hard for anyone to fully comprehend. I have even seen hacking refered to as an "art" several times in many popular movies...
Does this romanticism of the formerly geek-ridden world of hacking signal the coming of a redefinition of what is "cool" and what isnt?
I just am typing to say that I definitely have some opinions about anonymity and the internet. I believe it facilitates the opening of a person's psyche, and its expression onto a medium with no apparent immediate consequences. This can often cause many problems which i will conveniently ignore because i dont feel like talking about them, so I will focus on the subject of humor. Score!
Often in regular everyday life I know people often refrain many jokes, and subdue their sense of humor for fear of being ridiculed or thought of as "not funny" or "lame". The internet provides a medium where this is no longer an issue that people regularly have to face. The result of this is that all of it floods out--often offending many people and being seen by others as extremely weird. But who cares! Its the internet!
This scenario happened over and over again in my PWR2 class...and i thought it was interesting, so i decided to write about it on my blog.
Thursday, February 05, 2004
This whole blog thing is getting slightly confusing....Do I post here, or create a new blog? If your reading this you know which one I chose...hehe.
ANYWAYS...I went to the Cantor Arts Center today and it was amazing. It was so cool seeing all the old videogames and how they developed; I DEFINITELY had flashbacks of my Super Nintendo...Whoa. The exhibit was very well-prepared, and it thoroughly held my interest for a surprising amount of time. For all you PWR2 students out there who are reading this and go to Stanford and didn't go to the class trip...You should all definitely attend; its worth it.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
There is a pretty significant trend that I noticed recently with the vast majority of the gadgets, computers, etc. That are being released. There is a major discrepancy between how simple a gadget might look and how technologically sophisticated that object might be. The iPod, for example, is extremely simple-looking, but is one of the more complex gadgets there is on the market. Also, several other gadgets are designed in a very "retro"-looking way, but are extremely complex as well. This trend led me to conjecture about what this might mean for the advanced society we live in today. Is it that we don't want to see the technology we create? Many people say society is infatuated with technology, but to what extent is this actually true? Could it be that we all are really just technophobes, yet are obsessed with features and convenience that technology brings?
