More Term-Ending Questions

As the semester winds down in terms of time, it seems to be building up in intensity with a flurry of papers to write and last minute scurrying by profs trying to squeeze in the last bit of their syllabus into class time.
On the one hand, i have the feeling that things should, essentially, be winding down - concepts becoming clear, looming questions being answered, generally, i am awaiting some sort of satisfying finale to my third complete year at university (heaven help me!) Yet, this is not how i feel at all. After said three years completed, i feel like i am just getting wound up. The questions that are flying around at light speed in my head seem to get squeezed out faster then i can write them down. I enjoy being in an environment that makes my head hurt, and forced to think, but is the point to all of this 'education' simply to prompt me to ask more questions?? I want answers. I want a definitive answer to what power is. I want ONE interpretation of the post modern. I want to know what good all this technology is bringing us, if we are essentially in the same place as the greeks in terms of philosophy, politics and so much more! I want to hear a prof tell that the girl in the third row, who keeps arguing with him that her opinion is simply that... back it up or be quiet! (sorry - was another aggravating night in my media tech poli class - although i did make a coffee date with my prof to discuss some of the issues that have plagued me most of the semester)

I know i know... if i want concrete, definitive answers i should have gone into mathematics or something (although i hear their debates can get quite intense at times hehe)

I truly enjoy having all of these questions in my head, dont get me wrong, but i am frustrated that i cant possibly read and digest all of the books that i want/need to read to understand things people say. Example, the SAGSA conference was wonderful, and i was indeed very happy to know who the majority of the theorists discussed were. (thanks to contemporary theory!) But the fact that, although i have read some Foucault, i was no where near as well read as those presenting papers. I dont mind people knowing more then i do, hell, its even better if they can explain it well, but i took so many notes about books, articles etc that i want to read... when do i get the time to do it? When can i just sit and read book after book after book, immersed in some other thinker's words, without the hinderance of being graded on my ability to reiterate my understanding of it?

Guess its time to debug my brain - and go watch some mind numbing television before bed...

SAGSA Symposium
Conference Information
Spent almost 7 hours last friday sitting in a conference room (apprx. 100 people i would guess) listening to some wonderful academics talk about issues that surround Foucaultian theories on fear and risk as well as biopower. It was a very interesting symposium, with 7 guest speakers in total topped off with coffee, pastries, wine and cheese.

It was interesting to be in that type of academic forum, although i am still at the stage where i dont feel comfortable to approach any of the speakers. I am not ready for commentaries per se, but I definitly enjoy digesting the knowledge - eventually it will manifest itself in some conversation or other. Actually got to use a quote from Dr. Alan Hunt from his talk "Governing Through Anxiety" for my last poli sci paper, so its all good!

Media/Technology/Politics - Discussion Topics

More questions we are asked to ponder - the thread itself has given quite a few ... interesting/long winded answers that don't quite answer the question per se - but a good exercise for some to work on honing in on key points in their arguements. Unfortunately, the forums aren't open to the public, but would be good for a smile if they were.

On to today's topic: Question 1

1.In the midst of a service-oriented economic period, minds produce commodities that are data, information, binary products of all kinds. Can this still be called labor?

If the efforts, whether physical or intellectual, of one man/woman makes a profit for another, then essentially, this is still labor in the Marxist sense. The traditional structure of capitalism and its hierarchies of power are still evident in the 'wired' age, regardless of the 'type' of work that is being done.

see Barney pg.107/108 :: Ownership of the Means of Power

Thinking Technology

While working on research for my poli paper, i came across an article that discusses, among other things, the need for smarter computers to fight the war on terror. A computer that has the ability to reason - instead of simply repeat the data and sequences that has been placed into it's memory by people. Although some forms of AI appear to have independent thought, it still cannot make rational decisions with consequential actions without some form of human input.

I am reminded of J.F. Lyotard's work on something of cyborgian theory. The seperation of body and mind - and basically, he states that the one thing seperating man from machine is the inability for computers to truly think for themselves, since the very nature of coding lies in logic.

Crossing this line is potentially very dangerous - man creates machine - machine takes over man - this is a common theme in alot of sci-fi...if only the people pushing for this type of technology would heed a bit of warning from the prophetic nature of sci-fi history.

Slow Connections

In this world of hi-tech toys and 5 minute meals, i have to say, i have completely lost the patience to sit and wait 20 minutes for a web page to open up only to get a "cannot connect to server" message. I have been working alot from school, and the time it takes for some pages to load is embarrassing for an 'institution of higher learning'.

Adjustments

Made a name change, shouldnt make that much of a difference since the space's intent is still the same, just simplified a few technical issues.

Welcome another Member

Would like to take a minute to welcome Veronika to our space. She has been a long time friend and mentor for me in so many ways. Gone are the days of 30 page letters arriving in the mail - i loved getting those thick envelopes! - and here are the days with relative instant communication. And the stamps are cheaper ....for now...

Comments Added

When i decided to create this space, it was so that there could be a form of virtual dialogue for a people who dont get much face time but still want to keep the conversation rolling. I figured out how to include a comments section thanks to HaloScan. This way, we can add direct comments to a thread, and otherwise add new content on the main page. Also, i want to thank Sashay for keeping content rolling with various issues and things to check out.

I enjoy the shared space, and hopefully this will add to the dynamic.

Another Disappointment

Coming into this semester, I had high hopes for some of the courses i had selected. My Media, Technology and Politics, ended up taking a slightly different turn from the course description in the course handbook, and i must admit, i was a little disappointed between content and description. Fortunately for the media tech course, it does not take the prize this year for most disappointing class.

I have to do general electives - otherwise known as Z courses, which are essentially classes outside your chosen field - you know - to broaden our horizons. Anyways, i was excited to see a course being offered in the Fine Arts department titled Art, Science & Technology: From Leornardo Da Vinci to Virtual Reality.
Well, Bart told me that he likes to start with a title and work backwards...i am rather fond of this method as well (since it is usually the only purely creative step in working a paper) .. Point is, this course has a great title, but damn, based on the substance, we have barely made it past the industrial revolution. Seems like the weeks dragging our heels on Leornardo means we'll need to burn rubber over Virtual reality...I understand, as the prof reminded us countless times, that we needed to learn the history to understand the now, but we barely have time to look at the now... its just not what i signed up for... oh well, three more credits done. /sigh

Another Happy Birthday

Can you believe, Everquest is 5 years old this month!

When we started playing (5 years ago... wow) we never thought the game would continue on this long, one of the longest shelf lives in my world of short attention spans. I have made many friends through this game, it taught me the delicacies of politics and brought me a trip to denmark in its honor. Now, it seems to have even been my foot in the door to my academic future. Sitting here baffled, that this game has brought so many things to my life, regardless of the negative press and evil things it has "forced" people to do, I think we should take this time to see the good things it has brought to people as well.

Marx: Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
Estranged Labor

Key concepts to define:
*inorganic nature
*estrangement (later to be known as alienation)
*Ownership of the means of production

This article is from the very early writtings of Karl Marx, and although many of the concepts seen here sound familiar in terms of his life's work, they bare different words. (From estrangement to alienation is one example) The theories presented in this work, are therefore, to be taken at their face value for the relevance of this course, and not interpreted via one's deeper knowledge of Marx and his later works.

From the order of the text, Marx introduces the piece by stating that "the worker sinks to the level of a commodity" (106) and therefore becomes the "inverse proportion to power" (106). Essentially, this diagnosis stems from the worker alienating himself from the the material of his labor. The products that he produces are not for him, and therefore creates this speration between labor and its fruits. The effect this has on an individual is that they become seperated also from realization. The more man objectifies his labor, the less realization [of self] he has. Man's worth is in his labor, and by becoming estranged from the objects produced in labor, his worth decreases. This devaluation process occurs during the activity of production. Active producing of an object that is the mere tangible objectification of the process. This makes the "active production" takes the labor outside of man - in turn causing alienation.

The only non-alienating activity in man in this situation, is those actions that are related to the animal existence of the human species. Eating, sleeping etc.

The only thing that seperates man and animal is consciousness. How does this factor in with alienation, and the fact that the work is outside of the man himself? If man is conscious of his alienation, is he still any better off then an animal, if animal actions are the only thing he has that is of his true essence?

Marx goes on to discuss the 'product of labor' as something that holds power of man, and the act of production is also action alien to man in these terms of not owning the means of production.

Inorganic nature - is essentially that of which is not of the body, but that is natural. Anything that is natural (not man made) is considered inorganic nature - even though nature is found in human consciousness, it isnt ''of the body". Being "of the body" is in terms, the universality of man as species. All men of body are the same but do not share the same consciousness - as in nature.

When man is estranged from the inorganic nature, or body, he is seperating himself from not only self but from species as well. This alienation "changes for him the life of the species into a means of individual life." (112) By estranging man from species into the individual, he then changes the purpose of life and creates an abstract "estranged" form.

Marx then looks at the consequences of these actions of man in paradigmatic proportions. What happens when man seperates self from species? He says, that by doing so, he is therefore seperating himself from man, and essentially creating the paradigm of self and other. And only in the face of this "other" is he made aware of the estrangement from both man - or other - and species, leading to true alienation.

How does fit into the political and economic structure that is capitalist society?

By defining who these actions belong to, Marx clarifies where this new, estranged man, fits into the meta-structure.
He goes into discussing private property as the product of this type of labor, and not its cause. Private property is in essence, the product of alienated labor as well as the means of this alienation. Admitting that this is a cyclical and potential contradictory explanation, he claims that this is in effect because of the very nature of estranged labor.

And so, instead of wages being an exchange of labor value, it becomes a consequence of the sacrifice of self to the other. Increase of wages becomes nothing short of "better payment for the slave" (118) since all types of labor that alienates the self, is in essence forced labor.

And so, this is my deconstruction of Marx's "Estranged Labor"
There is one more page that i could go through, that ties this into the larger frame of society - but alas, the exam is in thirty minutes!

Hannah Arendt: The Crisis in Culture

Concepts to look at:
*Colere - Roman word and concept meaning to cultivate, to dwell, to take care, tend and preserve. Originally used in relation to agriculture - as means of tending and cultivating the land hor human habitation. Represents an attitude of loving care. Cicero is responsible for first using colere in terms of the human mind and spirit with the term "excolere animum" and "cultura animi".

*Culture- [as defined by the Greek] the attitude toward, or more specifically, the mode of intercourse prescribed by civilizations with respect to the least useful and most wordly of things.

*Paideia - Opposite of being a fabricator or creator of art works. In ancient times, things that were of culture, were supposed to rise naturally out of nature. And so, as an artist that fabricates works of art, the art itself was admired, but the artist was looked upon skeptically in terms of technique and skill which was in direct opposition of how 'art' and essentially 'culture' was to come to being.

*Philistinism - described below

Arendt runs through several ideas throughout this article. The common view of this article has been that she is criticizing mass society and mass culture. But to read the article and to understand it through her definitions of mass culture, culture and society, it becomes clear that she is not criticizing per se, but distinguishing the difference between traditional culture and mass culture. In the center of this dichotomy lies philistinism, which Arendt is most critical of.

Historically, culture was reserved for the privileged few who were not tied to the burden of physically exhausting labor.[Marxist ideas here] In past societies, there were significant distinctions between each class in terms of their leisure time. In this sense, with leisure came the luxury of [appreciating] the arts - culture. With modern times, the concept of one's leisure time [in a western/european context] has expanded across the classes as the lines, although still existing, are blurred between where each strati meets. In the increase of leisure among the working class, culture is now accessible to them as well. Arendt clarifies that the type of culture that the working class is now open too is still limited in forms of entertainment rather then true [lasting culture]. With the present society being that of a consuming one, the entertainment sought is also consumptive in nature. The 'culture' being produced for this purpose, therefore, is not designed to last. In Arendt's definiton of true culture, the ability to outlast human life is its primary defining characteristic. And so, this is how the line between Mass culture and culture is drawn for Arendt.

So, Arendt does not attack mass culture as being the destructive force of traditional culture, as some have interpreted her works as saying. The destructive force is actually what she calls "philistinism". This is essentially the act of people who strive to be more 'cultured' by simply absorbing culture for the mere sake of it. To read the classics in literature, because one is expected to read them when one is cultured. Arendt describes that the "trouble with the educated philistine was not tha he read the classics, but that he did so prompted by the ulterior motive of self-perfection, remaining quite unaware of the fact that Shakespeare or Plato might have to tell him more important things than how to educate himself..." (203)

And so, this education without depth is truly what kills culture, not mass culture - which creates and consumes its own form of culture as entertainment.

The article continues to describe why and how culture and concepts of beauty and taste are political in their true form. This idea comes from Platonic theory of law and society (and perhaps further back) that the polis was the realm which set the limits to the love of wisdom and of beauty. This goes back to a political structure that was based on cultivating human virtue. [i knew that plato course would come in handy some day!!]

The dangers of philistinism in the context of political concepts of culture, is that culture is supposed to be useless except to cultivate the mind, spirit and soul. Philistinism takes this concept and puts utility in the mix [for social advancement] and by adding utility, the attitude of culture is then destroyed by its very nature. Politically, this has consequences because the philistines will "judge action by the same standards which are valid for fabrication, demand that action obtain a predetermined end and that it be permitted to seize on all means to further this end." Culture is also threatened by philistinism because it will be judged in terms of utility essentially leading to a devaluation. By definition, things that are of culture are to carry their own, independent - intrinsic worth. Philistinism takes this away forcing art and culture to have utility - which further means that once its function has been fulfilled, it can be cast aside.

Active Study

Getting ready for an exam on tuesday for my poli tech course, we are looking at Arendt's The Crisis in Culture: Its Social Significance, Marx's Estranged Labour and Heidegger's The Question Concerning Technology. This is the first exam in my three years that i have the exact concepts to look at. So, Today, i will spend my time reading and posting what i think each article embodies in terms of what the prof is asking. Can't say that i will be right, but if i can get it out of my head today, chances are it will flow on tuesday. Stay tuned...

The End Result

To the mulling mentioned below, here is my tentative course outline - granting i get into honors this year...

SUMMER 2004
GAME STUDIES – READING COURSE (HOME)
COMPARING DEMOCRACIES (INTERNET)

FALL 2004
SOCIOLOGY OF MEDIA - 341
SOCIOLOGY OF OCCUPATIONS - 342
MASS COMMUNICATION - 360

FALL/WINTER 04/05
HONORS SEMINAR - 409
RESEARCH DESIGN & ANALYSIS - 410

WINTER 2005
POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY - 333
URBAN REGIONS - 355

Aging: State of mind or biology?

Quite off topic, but this is something that has been in my head since Wednesday night. In my Field Research class, we discussed the international black market for people's organs. Besides all the common ethical questions, Tamara asked me something that I havent had the time to look into. Could someone live longer, stay young longer by getting organ transplants from younger people? Say you are 70 years old, could you replace your organs with someone who is 20 and be revitalized? Is aging in the brain or in the organs?

This brings me back to some of the cyborgian concepts i posted about a while back [re: Lyotard, post-humanism] To have artificial organs brings someone closer to cyborg in concept (again, according to literature i have read), where does human organs that are not your own place you? If they serve aesthetic functions and not necessarily health ones, in the sense of replacing organs for rejuvenation purposes versus liver transplant due to natural malfunction... would this constitute a cyborgian-type mindset, seperating the need for want?

I have to think about this a bit more, not sure where i want to go with the idea. My mind is turning to beauty products and anything (manufactured by man) that alters our natural state as entering the cusps of post-humanism as defined by Stuart Sim in The End of Everything.

Yet another thing to clutter my brain - wonder if this is what my psyche does to make me incapable of producing papers on demand? Heh

Digging and Mulling

Pretty much what i have spent the last two days doing. Digging for articles for this Game Studies Course i am working on for summer session, am almost finished, and it has been a blast conceptually, but the digging and the scanning of material has taken me hours! And all i could think of is, there is no way i will ever get to read everything! For a field that is relatively new, there is so much literature! Sure, there are very few books per se, but the amount of academic papers and conference proceedings is astounding. At this point, i see several distinct catergories within the literature [to be outlined later]. Its been alot of fun - i think i found my new procrastinatory pass-time (i know - its not a word! but i like it heh)

The only problem with digging so much is knowing when to stop. It has been two days of "ooh i want to add this... ooh!! that too" I can only pick 20 articles at most, and have decided to start [another] personal bibliography of articles i want. The wonderful thing about digital and game studies, is the majority of the literature can be found online and for free. Figuring the cost of ink and paper, i just printed out about 17 articles (ranging from 8 pages to 45) for the cost of about $55. Not bad at all, considering the cost of coursepacks and academic books.

From digging to mulling. Finishing up another year of my BA, i am more then eager to get it over with and move on. With another full year worth of credits ahead of me, i have been contemplating squeezing them in before Christmas. Scheduling and rescheduling with much agony for several days, i think i have found a course outline that might put me over my idealistic time frame by one semester, but i finally get to take that Mass Com. course sashay has been encouraging me to take. (now lets hope werber is still teaching it!) Nonetheless, the soul searching it took for me to decide to take things a step slower to, essentially, get more in then simply graduating early, was well worth the end product. If i am lucky, the IT University of Copenhagen will have an english program by the time i am finished...

Just had to get all that out!
Off for now until procrastination gets me again!

Perceptual blindness

This is an interesting article that shows how most of us wouldn't notice if a gorilla came on the floor during a basketball game, if we'd otherwise been given the task of counting the number of pass plays during the game. It is based on a scientific study that aimed to show that memory isn't reliable.

I'm not explaining it well - just go read the article and you'll see what I mean.

Friday Five

1. What was the last song you heard?
-Shut Up song by black eyed peas [grrrr]

2. What were the last two movies you saw?
-Down with Love + Finding Nemo

3. What were the last three things you purchased?
-Vase for my bamboo [the bay], Latte [javaU], Oven ready Silocon muffin tray [Loblaws]

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?
-Dig through articles for course content - re:Game Studies
-Help Kiana with Science Fair project (with two other kids coming over - saturday)
-Write a Fiche de Lecture for my Enthnolinguistics Class
-Write a reply for the critique on my paper for Contemporary social theory
-Laundry if we are lucky

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?
-Stephanie (in person)
-EQ friend - Durgin[Allan] - MSN
-Anton - MSN
-EQ friend - Murgao[Keith] - MSN
-Nerrissa (in person)

Friday five

I'm going to start a new thing here. I'm going to start answering regularly the Friday Five blog questions? We just won't bother letting the blogger who runs the blog with the questions know that we're participating privately.

Kell/others: Go ahead and create a new post, copy and paste the questions and answer them yourself. Or just answer below my answers.

Today's questions?

1. What was the last song you heard?

Sashay: "A little less conversation" from Jon Peter Lewis on American Idol *sigh*

2. What were the last two movies you saw?

Sashay: "Adaptation" and "Shrek". Preferred "Shrek".

3. What were the last three things you purchased?

Sashay: A pedometer from eBay; A pumice stone from Pharmaprix (due to Kell's influence!) and a box of frozen chicken breasts from M&M Meat Shops in Laval.

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?

Sashay: See a play at Centaur Theatre; Go for dinner at my in-laws; Read further in my Weber book; try to get one room in my house painted and therefore start the more serious cosmetic overhauls upstairs.

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?

Sashay: Hubby; Boss at work; Two co-workers; A barrista at Brulerie St-Denis in Laval

:: Youth culture ::

Found this excellent article in The Weekly Standard about youth culture. Seems a fairly balanced view and it really makes me want to take that 400 level sociology course on youth culture during fall term this year.

Fun with Google

Via one of my soci mailing lists, found out about a neat beta service available at Google called News Alerts. Basically, you enter in the keywords of anything you want to track that might happen in the world (i.e. "video games") and Google will mail you a daily summary of news on that keyword topic.

Digital Memory

Was talking to a friend of mine recently about this blog, and it's contents.

/log on
Killkell: it is essentially its my brain digitalized
(a)Mark(6): umm, ok
(a)Mark(6): guess backups are easier if you do that
(a)Mark(6): can go out and get ratasred and if you wipe no matter, you can reload all data from a webpage :)
(a)Mark(6): sweet
Killkell: hahha... hmmmmm
Killkell: makes me wonder ... would i want this stuff put back into my head
Killkell: the whole point is to get it out.....
(a)Mark(6): well thats the beauty of backups, you can selectively reinstall

I have to say, after i had this conversation, i had to think... would i really want all this put back into my head? How much of this blog is "me"? Is what i say here essentially who i am or rather a quest of the potential me? What if i took this thought process and continued to blog in terms of what i would want to be "reinstalled" ... I wonder how different it would be.

Happy Birthday!!

My brother gets one year older today - looking at the symmetrical face of 33 I believe. Three cheers a more beers to you jelloman =)
I miss you tons!

Moving this blog

A college student has created a whole new way to blog that actually looks like it might be easier than Blogger. Want to try this out with me?

Fun in games

While bopping around Ludology.org and following some of the links in the blogroll, I came across this post and the following quote really struck me as interesting:

"Games are pleasurable because they are rule-based, because they are well-defined (and definable). It is the formal nature of games that makes them fun."

What do you think about that?

Also, just what is ludology? I've noticed a lot of references to it.

:: Defining the post-modern ::

While meandering the net, I came across this page that encapsulates a whole bunch of facts and concepts within postmodernism. Seemed pretty good overall.

Asking vague questions but expecting specific answers

I had a job interview by telephone this morning and I came out of it feeling...bemused. The guy doing the interview wanted to gauge the degree of my technical knowledge and expertise. A rather specific thing, it would seem. And yet, to determine if I was technical enough for this job, he asked very vague questions.

(Example):

Him: I'd like to see what you know about Internet security.

Me: (pause) oookay.

Him: What do you know?

Me: (pause) In what sense? Can you be more specific please?

Him: Which is more secure, FTP or HTML?

Me: (pause) Can you give an example please?

(/example)

And so on the interview went in this vein.

Not sure how I did as a result, but I do know that there are very few people in my employer's company with my mix of tech knowledge, project management expertise, people skills and writing/presentation abilities.

gameCODE news

Upcoming talk sponsored by the Montreal GameCODE Project and
the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University

Political Videogames:

Press “START” to Change the World

Gonzalo Frasca
(Center for Computer Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen)

Thursday, March 18, 2004 at 3:00 PM
In LB-677 (1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W)
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University


Abstract: Even though both the military and educators have been using videogames for non-entertainment purposes for several decades now, we are seeing more and more examples of videogames that aim at conveying specific ideas. Corporations develop webgames in order to advertise their products (advergaming). Organizations such as the U.S. Army or Hezbollah are using games for propaganda and as a way to recruit soldiers. Last year, we were able to play the first videogame to be officially endorsed by a candidate during the early U.S. Presidential Campaign.

This talk will review different examples of political videogames, exploring what is the potential (and limitations) of this new form of political speech. The author will also comment on the development process of his two latest political games: the “Howard Dean for Iowa Game” and “September 12th”, a game about the U.S. led war on terror.


About the author:

Gonzalo Frasca is a videogame researcher and developer, currently working at the Center for Computer Games Research in Copenhagen. He has recently produced and co-designed the first official videogame ever commissioned for a U.S. Presidential Campaign. He publishes Ludology.org (a “seminal game studies site” according to the International Game Developers Association) and is also a Review Editor at Game Studies, the international journal of computer game research. He is also a former head of videogame development at Cartoon Network LA and Editor of Science and Technology at CNN (CNNenEspañol.com).

Background on EFF

The EFF is an interesting organization people by both total lefties and ultra-conservatives. I've followed it since its inception in the mid-90s, particularly because some of the people I find noteworthy like John Perry Barlow, Esther Dyson, etc.

Mytake on them? They're very influential at certain levels of government in the US, mocked by many other levels and by many people in the technology industry and they're pretty obscure and unknown in Canada.

Now what?

The tentative schedule is out for next year's classes, and it looks like I'm screwed! Most of the courses aren't offered at night next year and the ones that are seem to all be offered in the same time slot!

Now what do I do? I'm not yet financially ready to go back full-time days!

What color do the good guys wear today?

While sifting through the internet with the key words of technology, freedom and terrorism googled, ive come into some interesting reads. The most interesting link ive come across to date is the Electronic Frontier Foundation Hits the nail on the proverbial head of my topic [check out the USA Patriot Act]

With such organizations made up of intelligent, upstanding citizens - it is very sad that people can get banned from flying within their own country based on their publically stated political views.

The people at the EFF have their work cut out for them

It's due when?

Just finished reading your post, Kell, about your paper topic. I don't have enough time now to share all my thoughts on the topic.

Can tell you this right now, here, though.

I'm eagerly awaiting its arrival in my email inbox so that I can read it once you're done! Sounds fascinating! Seriously!

Wow!

Technology, Consumerism & Terrorism

I figured out my topic for that poli sci class.

to contextualize the topic a [very] brief commentary about Chomsky's 5 Filters - the last one is Communism as a justification for defense budget etc.. (yes its dated a tad) The professor made comments that although terrorism seems to have replaced communism in this sense, terrorism hasnt been the drive behind technological innovation as the cold war's fight against communism was. (at least my interpretation of his lecture)

I disagree - and will make this the basis of my paper. Terrorism and its justification for the development of security technologies (from face recognition software in airports, massive amounts of cameras placed throughout cities such as Longon, and the willingness of the american citizen to give up freedoms for the sake of freedom - oxymoron i know - in the form of incredibly advanced identification cards being developed etc. -there is alot of this seen in Wired magazine etc.)

Many people have stated that "it [the technological advancement] is not on the same scale as the cold war"... Well, i see this as part of my industrialized-turn-technocized society theory and why it is important to look at our society under its new technocized light rather then the aging idea of the industrialized.
The importance, and essentially the impact of the technology currently being developed may not be as "important" in terms of political strength and size[equated to physical destructive value i suppose] but it is incredibly important to understand how it redefines concepts of freedom. And personally, that can be equally as destructive [from physical destruction to more of a mental or intellectual form of destruction...control] as a bomb.

It is dangerous to think that the 'war against terrorism' hasnt pushed the technological envelope towards more subtle and even more dangerous things.

Downsizing...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113105,00.html

With much post-modern theoretical debate surrounding McDonald's and its "SuperSize", I wonder where this latest development leaves George Ritzer and his theories of McDonaldization?

Songs like Matthew Good Band's 21st Century Living will now become an anthem of times past. But will it really make that much difference? Can you really undo a problem by taking away the physical perpetrator? The 'supersize' seed has already been planted, and has become much of western society, ingrained in its culture.

Will sit and think about this a little more re:Ritzer

Textual analysis

Reading through my soci email lists, a post that spoke of this site popped up and I thought that Kelly might find it interesting. The resource list in particularly might be helpful as you set out to code and analyse your text chats.

What is celebrity?

Now _there's_ a topic for conversation. What is a celebrity?

According to Dictionary.com, it is a "widely known person".

Fame / renown would seem to be the one absolute necessity then.

By that yardstick, yes Matthew Good is a celebrity.

Unfortunately though, talent or skill are not a prerequisite. Hence we end up with people like that Heung guy from American Idol with his "she bang" routine, who gets on talk shows and gets record deals.

Who is Vigo

Vigo Mortensen is one of the key actors in the LOTR cinematic juggernaut. He play Aragorn, the king of the clan of humans.

Not Sure...

I feel slightly ashamed to say that the blog made little sense to me other then character ramblings. Although, i did read both disclaimers - as the posts being part of creative dialogue of public persona for the sake of an rpg, i can't say that i even recognize who the celebrity is supposed to be.
Interesting concept, though: Actors as puppets, who would have thought!

The only other game that comes to mind for me is the Sims with a dialogue. But then i've only watched Nerrissa (my daughter) play.

I dont mind if you ruin the punch for me - i am actually very curious.
Makes you wonder about celebrity blogs. But then again, is a Canadian politically vocal musician considered celebrity?

Multi-realm gaming

Read this "celebrity" journal.

Recognize him?

Not so fast. Now go read this - and read carefully.

Whaddya think? What game are they referring to?

Matt Good - move over theory, its back to politics!

In between my bouts of work, welcomes procrastination. I was sitting back, listening to Matthew Good (damn i love that guy!) and started dilly dallying looking for a good pic for my desktop [ya ya, im as shallow as the next guy!] and i stumbled upon Matt Good's blog. Very good, very poignant and very useful for my media, technology & politics class.
Please take the time and read it - there is some valuable food for thought.
http://www.matthewgood.net/