Going on vacation!
Therefore...My videos and stories may be put on hold for about a week. It's Christmas, you guys! Which means jack-all is going to be done. =_=; I'll try to do as much as I can but if not, you'll hear from me in a bit!
Last final tomorrow...It'll finally be over tomorrow ;_;
After the final, there's the long drive back, then family, then sleep, then...writing? Maybe? Just have to dust off my notes and dive into it. Go back to my usual stay-up-till-six-in-the-morning routine XD; Because that's the only one that ever works.
Well, now that class is over...-sniffle-
I decided to use this blog as a...blog.
Keep people up to date on my dA account and all that. Haven't written anything in forever and I kind of miss it.
Keep people up to date on my dA account and all that. Haven't written anything in forever and I kind of miss it.
Holy crap......
Michael Gregory of the Gregory Brothers played Wikiwars with us.
Excuse me while I freak out... owo
Excuse me while I freak out... owo
My experience with Internet Studies...
As a finicky underclassman, I dove into the class without knowing much about the major it represented. I used it as both a learning experience and a way to either convince me to or dissuade me from sticking to my decision. I must say, I'm happy about the random change from Creative Writing to Internet Studies. After years of placing technology on par with human beings, I realized, "This might be what I want to do for a living...". I wished to learn more about what made computers tick, but I was unsure as to how and where to start. So...why not everything?
Internet Studies was an engaging yet relaxed course with an informative, funny professor. Blogging, while not one of my pastimes, helped me learn more about classmates and share my interests. The in-depth discussions usually ended with me being fascinated with the topic of the day. About halfway through the semester, I already declared my major and was looking up more courses to participate in. Lucky for me, I have Stanovsky as my professor again! This was one of my favorite classes hands down, and I'm a bit upset about how quickly time flew. If any future students read this, I have this to say: read the material, speak up, and blog, blog, BLOG. That's all you have to do to both pass and enjoy the class.
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Brett Gaylor Interviewed by Hulu
Hulu asks RiP! A Remix Manifesto director what everyone's been thinking: Did he succeed in pissing off lawyers, among others.
Developing Nations License
Here's a link to Lessig discussing the Developing Nations license, a derivative of the Creative Commons law. This license allows citizens of developing countries to freely make derivative works while the original authors still gain profit. Everybody wins!
Creative Commons: A Creative Way to Beat the System
U.S. Copyright was founded in 1790 and used to protect
scientific and other progressive creations for up to fourteen years (LIBGuides).
The copyright extended numerous times the past few decades, giving creators
exclusive rights for the approximate length of two lifetimes. The consequences
for refusing to abide to these laws can range from substantial fines to jail
time. Wishing to create a more obvious solution than contacting the owners of
creative works and enduring an excruciating approval process, Creative Commons
was created. Creative Commons is defined as “a nonprofit organization... [which
aims to] promote copyright law to allow greater access, use, and repurposing of
creative works (Media Factory)”. It was founded in 2001 with the support of the
Center of the Public Domain. It had a Board of Directors with copyright reform
supporter Lawrence Lessig as a member. He and the others wished to add to the
definition of “fair use”, even going so far as to add the Developing Nations license. After all, what use would the copyright infringement penalty be
if the "culprit" was unable to afford it?
There are several Creative Commons licenses that can be
chosen by creators: Attribution (CC BY); Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND);
Attribution –NonCommercial Share-alike (CC BY-NC-SA); Attribution-Share-alike
(CC BY-SA); Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC); and Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
(CC BY-NC-ND) (. The following essay will be a breakdown of the licenses’
individual aspects, which are represented by letter pairs. Attribution (BY) is used the skeleton of the
more specific licenses. It allows users to do what they wish with another’s
work, so long as they give the original author credit. This is including, but
not limited to, distributing, remixing, and copying. It is represented by the
simplified silhouette of a person. The Share-alike (SA) license gives users the
opportunity to distribute derivative works under one condition: the derivative
work, like its origin, must also contain a Share-alike license. This is
represented by a reversed C, which is better known as the “copyleft” symbol. Non-commercial
(NC) is the same as Attribution, but it prevents creators who use it to their
advantage from selling or advertising their work. To identify it, look for a
dollar sign with a line going through it. Finally, there is the No Derivative
Works (ND) license, which is the strictest of all of them. If one’s art is
under this copyright, licensees can only make verbatim copies. This license is
labeled by an equals sign. Creative works-themed sites attempt to enforce these
laws to prevent art theft, but it is mostly a courtesy.
Some DeviantArt users are victims of art theft due to others
failing to comply with the Creative Commons law. Though most artists create
their own works, whether it is drawn, sculpted, or photographed, it should be
known that displaying them on websites with traffic at the millions poses a
great risk. Therefore, dA gives you the option of adding a Creative Commons license,
hoping to scare thieves away. It is not always successful. I have been made
both witness and prey to this crime. There are vigilantes who either expose the
thief on Deviants’ comments section or report them to the higher-ups. Based on
my experience, the retaliation ranges from severely delayed to a simple slap on
the wrist. It is understandable, since it is the art site with the most traffic,
but is also worrisome for those who are affected.
There are some popular artistic methods whose position in
copyright is left ambiguous. Fan-made works are prime examples. There are trillions
of drawings, comics, parodies, and music videos that have not-so-subtle
connections to television shows and video games. The main concern is the commercial use of
someone else’s plot and characters without permission or acknowledgment. In my
opinion, these derivative works are more helpful than harmful, so long as the
works are not wrongfully claimed. Without understanding the references, the jabs
at the media represented would not be nearly as entertaining. They would
encourage the confused audience to search for the source, therefore supporting
the originators. The same applies for fan-fiction. Despite sufficient details
being vital to a good story, some fan-fiction authors subconsciously assume
that their readers are aware of the original plot and leave out important facts.
In these situations, they add new characters, they formulate an entirely
different story, or do both. Due to their growing popularity and aforementioned
promoting, the creators of the originals tend to look the other way. In some
cases, like Black Rock Shooter and the
50 Shades of Gray series, the
derivative is made into its own original piece and exploited for profit.
Therefore, despite something being a blatant portrayal of something else, it
could commercialized if differentiated enough.
This essay is under the CC BY-NC-SA license. It is intended
to be informative and it would be beneficial to its purpose if it was shared.
Any creative derivative works will more than likely extend people’s interests.
It may also encourage others who would never have thought of it previously to
pursue the original work. Parodies of cartoons and recorded video game guides
are constantly promoting whatever original work is shown, increasing and
captivating the audience of old and new media. Which is why, I feel, that as
long as nothing is being used for personal gain, these creations should be left
alone.
Cites
“About the Licenses.” Creative
Commons. Creative Commons. Web. 27 November 2013.
“Copyright, Copyleft,
and the Creative Commons.” LIBGuides.
HUHS Library Media Center. Web. 26
November 2013.
Corbett, S. “Creative Commons History” and “Lawrence Lessig.”
Creative Commons. Media Factory.
Web. 27 November 2013
“Creative Commons license.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Web. 26 November 2013.
“History.” Creative
Commons Wikia. Creative Commons. Web. 26 November 2013.Meanwhile..
Is The NFL Committing Copyright Infringement By Using Photos Without Consent?
Article shown here. It reminds me of the discussion we had on Tuesday. Guess there really isn't a clear law about photographs..
Some stuff by Henry Jenkins
This is (yet another) TED presentation. Jenkins talks about Participatory Culture and the many methods of communication that date back to the 1920s. This is his blog.
The Internet: The Most Used Invention Turning into the Most Useless?
The Internet is a support system that merged with society a few decades ago. Its original stage was not exposed to anyone outside of the military until the sixties. The device, labeled RAND, disguised itself as a set of nodes during the Cold War. This coaxed enemies into attacking decoys with hopes of destroying battle strategies. This valuable source of data had noble purposes, but it soon spiraled into what is now known as the Internet. A Short History of the Internet and science fiction author Bruce Sterling described the nodes’ journey as “fungal” and “bread-mold”. It spread so rapidly that it surpassed its parent network ARPANET. Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the World Wide Web, took advantage of the large quantity of information that anyone, anywhere could reach. He probed the functions of the brain and discussed his findings in Weaving the Web. Aware of people’s contribution to the Internet, he made the Web coincide with the way people ticked (p. 4). Berners-Lee literally developed a web of data, creating hyperlinks. Both authors expressed their and others’ dependency on the somewhat new invention; however, dependency is not necessarily positive. The Internet’s anticipated purpose, to control chaos and improve the scientific world, was long forgotten after it was left in the hands of the people.
The Internet’s usage spread like a virus throughout the world. It simplified tasks and was used by the masses, but it was not vital to existence. When RAND evolved into ARPANET it was used by scientists for work and, eventually, for play. SF-LOVERS, short for Science Fiction Lovers, was a mailing list used back when the Internet’s features was severely limited. It soon led to “mail, discussion groups, long-distance computing, and file transfers” (Bruce Sterling, p. 4) which is not all that today’s Internet has at its disposal but was a start. This triggered the contribution of Berners-Lee. Formerly titled Enquire Within upon Everything, it was not stumbled upon by mistake. Instead it was something he mulled over, starting with his father’s speech. Its subject, which was “how to make a computer… complete connections as the brain did,” (Berners-Lee, p. 3) sparked the idea. What if not just all computers but the information they provided was linked? With a plan in mind, Enquire was born. Like several others envisioned, it was never meant as the perfect problem solver, but to make addresses more easily reachable. This led to computers being a source of information, commerce, entertainment, and everyday pastimes. As Sterling foretold, the straight-and-narrow plan for the Internet in the nineties shifted to the unpredictable will of the people. The little structure it had staggered once computers became more available. They were originally purchased by individuals who wished for either an easier alternative for data-sharing or a faster source of news and gossip. Soon computers became mass-produced, appearing in universities and households throughout the planet. Berners-Lee’s creation only encouraged people’s desire to tinker with the cool new toy. Creating websites, blogging, video uploading, and other pastimes came to be thanks to something that was meant to protect the United States from another ambush.
Sterling and Berners-Lee are without a doubt fascinated by the Internet, albeit for different reasons. Despite their support of the Internet and its development, the prediction of it spiraling out of control came true to some degree. It became impossible to accurately define the Internet once it became public. Anything goes and it is free, save for smaller companies using it for profit. Those who shared such a prominent invention without a healthy sum in return claim that they do not regret their decision. Regardless of the inventors living luxuriously, there may have been truth in their words. The Internet’s rise to fame may not have occurred if fees were involved. A recent form of Web usage, the smartphone, did not exist until the 2000s, but it can be found in the hands of many, young or old. Nowadays it is difficult to even engage in an argument without using search engines to bring it to a screeching halt. People, particularly those born in recent generations, cannot last a day without consulting the all-powerful Internet. This could be viewed as constructive since computers are far from impractical, but they tend to be used for trivial activities daily. Progress is inevitable, but it sacrifices older methods like the card catalog system, books, television, and sometimes our own brains. As Sterling stated in a Knowledge Ecology Studies interview, “access to data [doesn’t] equate to ‘knowledge’”.
Cites:
Berners-Lee, Tim and Fischetti, Mark. “Enquire Within upon Everything.” Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web by Its Inventor. Harper Collins Publishers, 2000. Web. 27 Aug 2013.
Sterling, Bruce. “Life, The Internet, and Everything.” KEStudies Vol. 2. 2008. Web. 5 Sept 2013.
Sterling, Bruce. “A Short History of the Internet.” The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. F&SF Science Column #5 “Internet”, Web. 22 Aug 2013.
The Internet’s usage spread like a virus throughout the world. It simplified tasks and was used by the masses, but it was not vital to existence. When RAND evolved into ARPANET it was used by scientists for work and, eventually, for play. SF-LOVERS, short for Science Fiction Lovers, was a mailing list used back when the Internet’s features was severely limited. It soon led to “mail, discussion groups, long-distance computing, and file transfers” (Bruce Sterling, p. 4) which is not all that today’s Internet has at its disposal but was a start. This triggered the contribution of Berners-Lee. Formerly titled Enquire Within upon Everything, it was not stumbled upon by mistake. Instead it was something he mulled over, starting with his father’s speech. Its subject, which was “how to make a computer… complete connections as the brain did,” (Berners-Lee, p. 3) sparked the idea. What if not just all computers but the information they provided was linked? With a plan in mind, Enquire was born. Like several others envisioned, it was never meant as the perfect problem solver, but to make addresses more easily reachable. This led to computers being a source of information, commerce, entertainment, and everyday pastimes. As Sterling foretold, the straight-and-narrow plan for the Internet in the nineties shifted to the unpredictable will of the people. The little structure it had staggered once computers became more available. They were originally purchased by individuals who wished for either an easier alternative for data-sharing or a faster source of news and gossip. Soon computers became mass-produced, appearing in universities and households throughout the planet. Berners-Lee’s creation only encouraged people’s desire to tinker with the cool new toy. Creating websites, blogging, video uploading, and other pastimes came to be thanks to something that was meant to protect the United States from another ambush.
Sterling and Berners-Lee are without a doubt fascinated by the Internet, albeit for different reasons. Despite their support of the Internet and its development, the prediction of it spiraling out of control came true to some degree. It became impossible to accurately define the Internet once it became public. Anything goes and it is free, save for smaller companies using it for profit. Those who shared such a prominent invention without a healthy sum in return claim that they do not regret their decision. Regardless of the inventors living luxuriously, there may have been truth in their words. The Internet’s rise to fame may not have occurred if fees were involved. A recent form of Web usage, the smartphone, did not exist until the 2000s, but it can be found in the hands of many, young or old. Nowadays it is difficult to even engage in an argument without using search engines to bring it to a screeching halt. People, particularly those born in recent generations, cannot last a day without consulting the all-powerful Internet. This could be viewed as constructive since computers are far from impractical, but they tend to be used for trivial activities daily. Progress is inevitable, but it sacrifices older methods like the card catalog system, books, television, and sometimes our own brains. As Sterling stated in a Knowledge Ecology Studies interview, “access to data [doesn’t] equate to ‘knowledge’”.
Cites:
Berners-Lee, Tim and Fischetti, Mark. “Enquire Within upon Everything.” Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web by Its Inventor. Harper Collins Publishers, 2000. Web. 27 Aug 2013.
Sterling, Bruce. “Life, The Internet, and Everything.” KEStudies Vol. 2. 2008. Web. 5 Sept 2013.
Sterling, Bruce. “A Short History of the Internet.” The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. F&SF Science Column #5 “Internet”, Web. 22 Aug 2013.
Tim Berners-Lee has a Twitter by rasberrycloudserendipity
"Internet Studies Class Blog: Tim Berners-Lee has a Twitter: and I think it's hilarious. I only think this because Tim Berners-Lee is so different from my idea of a typical twitter user. I just ca..."
A short blog that points out how people are more willing to read about the trivial or shameless accomplishments of celebrities than something more insightful, even by the creator of the Web.
I'm guilty of it too...Not long ago, I took note of how political news came second to celebrity news on Yahoo! as I skimmed yet another article about red carpet fashion. XD;...
A short blog that points out how people are more willing to read about the trivial or shameless accomplishments of celebrities than something more insightful, even by the creator of the Web.
I'm guilty of it too...Not long ago, I took note of how political news came second to celebrity news on Yahoo! as I skimmed yet another article about red carpet fashion. XD;...
TvTropes
Okay, so the sites I signed up for are mostly for promotional purposes so the chances of me making a friend within the next seven hours is pretty much nil.
I was a little bit surprised that not many people knew about TvTropes, one of the few sites I visit regularly. It gave me the push I needed to do what I wanted since I found out it was a possibility from a friend: I became a TvTroper. You can be one too. It's basically a relaxed version of Wikipedia that focuses on pop culture, like Stanovsky said. It uses tropes, of course, to categorize certain events, characters, and theories from television shows, movies, literature, web series, video games, and more. Every time I finish something, I go to this site to see what I missed or get a good laugh. I strongly, strongly encourage you all to give it a try if you haven't already!
I was a little bit surprised that not many people knew about TvTropes, one of the few sites I visit regularly. It gave me the push I needed to do what I wanted since I found out it was a possibility from a friend: I became a TvTroper. You can be one too. It's basically a relaxed version of Wikipedia that focuses on pop culture, like Stanovsky said. It uses tropes, of course, to categorize certain events, characters, and theories from television shows, movies, literature, web series, video games, and more. Every time I finish something, I go to this site to see what I missed or get a good laugh. I strongly, strongly encourage you all to give it a try if you haven't already!
I'm such a socialite, you guys...
...and I have proof here and here. The first link leads to GamerDNA, a social network for gamers, and the second is gogoyoko, which is for musicians and music enthusiasts. Facebook has the same general idea of connecting people with similar interests (so-and-so likes this band, show, movie, etc.), but these sites focus more on certain types of media. My usual method of befriending people is by asking about their favorite game, if they play any, and music genres, so these netowrks are perfect for me.
Jonathon Zittrain: The Web as Random Acts of Kindness
About a year after the publication of The Future of the Internet - And How to Stop It, Zittrain displayed a more optimistic outlook toward the Internet during a TED (the source of Tech News Feed) presentation. Recorded in 2009
Blog Stats
The number of hits is around 250, a fourth of which probably being me tinkering with my music player. That seems about right since I haven't done much on the blog the past month or so. I noticed a few hits from Russia, which is pretty cool. It may have something to do with the video pertaining to Lessig and their Internet. I...I hope I summarized it correctly...Hm.
All the cool kids are doing it...
...looking up stuff on Wikipedia, I mean. There's no particular reason why this gadget was chosen. It just reminded me of the impending Wiki Wars and made me giggle like a child.
So, y'know. Use it or something.
So, y'know. Use it or something.
My First Computer
Isn't it a beauty? My first exposure to computers and eventually the Internet was my orange iMac G3. Even though I was given this model when I was six, I'll never forget its appearance (it was so...orange...). It took ages for my parents to move the hunk of plastic from the living room to my room, but once they did, oho boy...
I would play with Microsoft Sam and Nickelodeon.com for hours. I had educational point-and-click games manufactured by JumpStart and Humongous Entertainment that triggered my first rage-quits. At one point I adopted a Neopet but since I was unable care for myself, much less another "living" creature, its days were numbered.
When I wasn't playing house with my Beanie Babies or failing miserably with my yo-yo, I would tinker with my cool new toy. We were practically inseparable!
Then laptops happened.
About Tech News Feed...
Okay, so this is a blog about any and everything technology-related, whether it's video games, attachments for your computer, software updates, whatever. It's a section of a larger site called TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. If any of the articles pique your interest, feel free to follow the blog like I did!
A little late, I know.
Okay, so I tweaked my page a bit, made it a little less depressing. I added color, a sample background, changed the template...Not much yet, but once I get my hands on that HTML...
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