Next week I have a mandatory orientation meeting for my semester abroad program. The e-mail about the orientation stressed the fact that the meeting is mandatory, but also said, “special accommodations will be made only for those students not in the New York area.” That’s me. I thought Skype might be an option, but I also thought maybe they would just set up a time to talk on the phone and give me the details. But sure enough, I e-mailed about being in vermont, and they e-mailed back saying they could “Skype me in” to the meeting if I was available at the time. I’m wondering if they will have a computer on the table at my spot where I would be sitting… like a floating head… an avatar attending the meeting for me. While I watch and listen from my computer screen.

Just like I said about being able to do my initial interview over Skype, it is nice that our technology allows us to do these things that would otherwise make these opportunities virtually (ha) impossible. I’m a little skeptical though about being Skyped into the orientation. I’m worried that something could go wrong with my internet connection and I would be cut out, or that I won’t feel comfortable asking questions…. Do I still raise my hand if I want to ask something? Hmm…

here are a few “snapshots” from my first explorations on Second Life. As of now, I’m not so into it. My disinterest may be a result of my not really knowing how to do much in the virtual world… or it may have to do with the discussion as to whether or not this is a GAME. I think if I lean towards the reasons why it’s not seen as a game – that it does not have a set path, specific end goal, time frame, etc – I realize these are the reasons why I’m not engaged. We’ll see how it goes as I continue to explore. I do, however, really enjoy having the option to FLY everywhere. My favorite place I found so far was the planetarium at the space museum. I was pleasantly surprised when I could go in it and actually see the constellations on the ceiling. And to make it just that much better, “Adiemus” played as I walked through the doors into the dark dome for a little outer space ambience….

Five days later, I am still baffled by the amounts of equipment we saw on our tour of the Middlebury servers. We take for granted every day, that we can sit down with the simple equipment of a lap top, and be “connected” to the internet, and almost anything we want, with the click of a button and no wires or extra hardware. Walking into the server rooms and seeing how much we are ACTUALLY “connected” to, made me rethink how we use our computers and other technologies. I realize how ignorant and uneducated most of us are about the technologies we use on a regular basis. How the heck does the internet actually work? I don’t get it. We’re connected to the servers, which are in a room connected to a bazillion wires that go into the ceiling and under the floors… and apparently some fiber runs underground connecting us to the internet connection in Albany… and that is connected to something else? Where is the central THING that makes the internet? And what is floating around in the air that allows us to have a “wireless” connection?

While our laptop fits nicely in a drawer and in our backpack, and we “store” things online in some seemingly infinite electronic folder, someone else somewhere is watching towers of machinery, changing tapes and hard drives that are holding all that information in a tangible way.

It’s just crazy. I’d like to see what the server rooms look like for programs like “Second Life…”

I just realized I left my phone at my friend’s house. I had a moment of panic when I realized that meant I also didn’t have my usual alarm, which I need to wake up for my team breakfast in the morning. PANIC. The best part is though, that the first thing I did when I realized this, was look for my phone so I could text someone and ask them to bring it to breakfast… duh. How stupid am I. It’s become my natural reflex though. Second nature.

I soon realized that my iHome has an alarm function, as does my running watch. But for whatever reason I don’t trust those things to definitely wake me in the morning like I do my phone. I guess thats because I rely on them everyday (rarely ever, really).

Then there’s the issue of… do I have anything on my phone that I don’t want people to find? For many people, a phone becomes a very personal device, holding text messages that you might not want everyone to read. I think I’m in the clear, but the thought did cross my mind.

Something about not having a phone … I think a lot of people would agree with me that you feel kind of “naked” without it. I’m predicting one of those mornings where you wake up every 30 minutes, afraid your alarm isn’t going to do its job.

Alanis Morissette made (what I think is) a great spoof of the Black Eyed Peas’ song, “My Humps.”

I think its A. hysterical B. ridiculous C. makes us realize how BAD some lyrics are these days. Without the beat of the original version, you can actually pay attention to what the song is saying:

I drive these brothers crazy,
I do it on the daily,
They treat me really nicely,
They buy me all these ices.
Dolce & Gabbana,
Fendi and NaDonna
Karan, they be sharin’
All their money got me wearin’ fly
Brother I ain’t askin,
They say they love my ass ‘n,
Seven Jeans, True Religion’s,
I say no, but they keep givin’
So I keep on takin’
And no I ain’t taken
We can keep on datin’
I keep on demonstrating.

My love (love), my love, my love, my love (love)
You love my lady lumps (love),
My hump, my hump, my hump (love),
My humps they got you

The spoof definitely dramatizes the effect of the lyrics being silly and absurd, but I still think it’s a point worth noting.

For my week of being disconnected, I chose to stay off Facebook.

In preparation for this, I also decided to change my Facebook settings so that I would not be notified by e-mail if there was any activity on my page by other Facebook “friends.” Even just choosing to do this, made me realize that I don’t always think about Facebook when I get on my computer, but I always check my e-mail which ends up having a facebook notification, which then draws me in right away. An hour later I realize I’ve wasted 60 minutes of my life, looking at pictures of people I haven’t even spoken to in years, or looking through my own photos that i’ve already seen a gazillion times. HelloO0oO0oo0O  they don’t change when you log out!! We all do this…

I think my week without Facebook was made a little easier due to the fact that I was away with my lacrosse team, traveling for our spring training and 4 away games. We had a busy schedule with 4-6 hours of practice each day, games on game days, meals out, and traveling on the bus from middlebury – wesleyan – gettysburg – rpi – middlebury. But still within that busy schedule was hours of down time in our hotel rooms, where there was YES, complimentary wireless!! I did use the internet to check my e-mail because I’m in the midst of applying for study abroad and summer jobs, but I even did this to a minimum. If my roommate had her computer out, I would ask to check my e-mail quickly before she put her computer away. Other than that, I was pretty much computer-free. I realized how often I go on the computer simply out of boredom or to procrastinate. Being constantly surrounded by teammates, I didn’t have much need to be on a computer, especially face book.

Of course since we need to always have the option of being connected in our generation, we even had wireless internet on our bus. I did  go online to see if any friends were on iChat to talk to, but I quickly logged off to read my book. I looked around at one point while I was reading and realized that the only non-electronic activities going on on the bus were sleeping, eating, and making friendship bracelets. I think maybe two other people were reading a magazine, and one of my coaches was knitting. Other than that, I saw lots of computers, ipods, a Kindle, and most often we had a movie playing on the bus TVs.

When I got home on saturday, I logged back into Facebook. I remembered laughing at the guy in the documentary who checked his Facebook and had like, 3 notifications after not using a computer for 3 weeks. But then I had to laugh at myself because I had little of anything extraordinary that was new to my Facebook profile after the week of not being logged on. I had 3 friend requests (one person I don’t know), 3 inbox messages, and 3 notifications. The rest of the action on my page was just event invitations or page suggestions, of which I always just hit “ignore.” I had not told anyone that I was disconnecting from Facebook, because I didn’t want that to effect the activity of my page while I was gone. I did, however, put up a status “Spring Break, Middlebury lacrosse!” before I left, so that could have made people assume that I wasn’t using a computer.

Overall, the most important thing I noticed is that how often I go on my computer simply because I don’t take the time to think of something better to do. I felt a certain liberty being disconnected from Facebook, and had no problem finding things to do without it. In fact, I felt a whole lot more productive and days felt fuller and longer. Even if I ended up using a different medium of technology, like watching TV, at least I was engaged in watching something new, sharing the entertainment with my roommates, and was totally relaxed doing it, not thinking about the social worlds left behind at Middlebury or NJ.

I may not be able to cut myself off totally from Facebook forever, but I’ll certainly try to be aware of when I’m on for no reason, wasting away what could be valuable minutes of my life. For now I think I’ll at least leave my settings so that I won’t be e-mailed notifications.

example of a remix? remix technology – – pop music meets politics.

please enjoy.

It’s amazing how quickly technology changes these days…. even if its just the design of the product. I’m always blown away by how rapidly Apple products are changing…I got my MacBookPro less than two years ago, and I feel like it already looks old because of the new laptops Apple has come out with within the last year. I’m constantly wishing I could update my technology so that I would have the newest, most sleek looking devices.

I was thinking of these rapid technology changes because last night I by accident clicked on my old AIM icon on my dock…. instead of iChat. My old screen name logged on, and I heard the sounds of AIM which have now become almost foreign to my ears. At the same time, they brought back a kind of sentimental feeling, remembering early high school and middle school when that was the program I used at home when I got my first laptop, or on the desktop in the family room before my laptop.

Oh the good old days.

new, sleek, iChat

old, box, AIM

Today I had an interview with admissions officers from the Tisch program at NYU. Thank god for technology and the ability to interview over Skype, or I wouldn’t have been able to interview at all, which means I wouldn’t have been able to apply for the program in the first place.

When I was asked to interview, I got an e-mail that said: “please let me know your availability for an interview this Friday, or early next week. Are you able to interview in New York? I assume not, in that case we would prefer a skype interview if possible.” I was so pleased to see this, because I was certainly not going to be able to make it to New York… not without missing many classes and lacrosse practices, and falling behind in work.

I was nervous for the Skype interview, just as much as I would have been to interview in person. I mean, in many ways it was the same. I was still speaking to the interviewers and able to see them at the same time…. It is certainly not the same though as actually being in the same room and interacting face to face. For one thing, I could have been wearing pajama bottoms, because my laptop camera only captured me from the chest up.

I guess also, even though I was nervous to talk to the admissions officers whom I’d never met before, there was a certain amount of comfort knowing I was just sitting in the Middlebury library study rooms – a familiar place that I only needed to walk to 20 minutes before my interview started.

Aside from being nervous about what they would ask me to talk about, I was being obsessive compulsive about making sure I was hard wired into the internet connection, logged onto Skype properly, and had enough battery power to last through the interview. After all my preparations, the last thing I would want to happen would be to have technical difficulty and be cut off in the middle of our screen to screen interview!!

Different media allow us to change our appearance from an online perspective… this website for the Swedish broadcasting fee allows anyone to ….. well. you’ll see. Don’t ex out… the important part is just a minute or so in, and it’s only a couple minutes long.

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1268622236318RA37

I don’t really have anything academic or brilliant to say about this one.

I just love dogs, and think its cool that using slow-motion and particular music can make the most every-day experience just that much cooler and more emotional.

thanks to my friend sarah for showing me this. check it.

Although we are all aware to some extent of our connectedness, through cell phones, e-mail, Facebook, etc. I think we are all reminded of it even more so when we spend time with people of other generations. My parents use many modes of media technologies for their work and everyday communication and they recognize how important these advances are in their own lives, but they still laugh at how connected my peers and I are. My parents were up visiting for the weekend, and my dad could not hold back from commenting on how often I checked my text messages. Nothing new. He comments all the time, and has been since I got an “unlimited” texting plan three years ago. I do text an absurd amount … but is it still considered ABSURD if most people my age text that often? Then shouldn’t it become the NORMAL amount? Then my dad should be considered the weirdo who barely knows how to use the T9 function. I don’t hold that against him… what I DO wish he’d realize is just how often he checks his BlackBerry. He says, “it’s work” or claims to have not been checking it at all, when I watch him take it out of his pocket during dinner. He used to not be able to do any business while we were on family vacations, unless he brought a huge briefcase of papers to read. Even then, he would only be able to do work early in the morning at the kitchen table. Now he just brings his BlackBerry down to the lake with his book, and stays caught up on e-mails. Although I wouldn’t give up my phone because I like to be in touch with my friends, I think Daddy’s connectedness should be cut off so he can fully enjoy his vacations like he used to, completely getting away from work for a week or two. Like the good old days when he used to have to leave a house number with his secretary…

When looking for an example of a “remix,” I wanted to try to find something different than just a mash up of songs, like GirlTalk or SuperMash Bros. I decided to look at videos on YouTube, and came across “David After Drugs.” I think this video is a good example of how someone can make a short work, (whether it be music, video, a play) that is very funny, but only because of the original work that came before it. Before “David on Drugs,” a dad posted “David after Dentist,” a short video of his son in the back seat of the car, genuinely confused by his feelings after being “drugged” at the dentist.

Because youtube allows amateurs to share their work or just funny home videos like this, people all over the world now know about David’s post-dentist escapades. When they got tired of laughing at the real David, people decided they would create their own remix of “David after dentist” to appeal to different audiences, and play off the original content. “David after Drugs” is just one of MANY examples.

Standing alone, this video may be funny … but really, a large chunk of its humor comes from the fact that we know it is mocking / remixing the original video of a six year old child, post dentistry.