art and satire.

The above images illustrate transmediation and crossover media. All are satire piece in which images have been put together to show something funny but false. The mug shots were rendered by combining the images of the political figures and the jail setting. A St. Bernard dog is added to the famous mona lisa, and the portrait of George Washington is slipping out of the dollar bill.

New Technologies and Education

We have touched upon many new technologies in our class that open up new ways of modeling thinking, collecting and retrieving information, and sharing knowledge. I agree with my classmates who have already posted that second life is a unique, afforadable, and accessable way for students to interact with one another without losing a sense of creativity and personality. If we think of second life as a new virtual classroom as opposed to discussion boards or even back and forth email communication, Secondlife incorporates spacial interaction between users as well as offering new ways to communicate. I can definitely imagine a virtual classroom in second life, where every student is told to meet in a certain spot (like the isis oasis) and then the class could be taught through lecture or discussion, or traveling to different places. ( I can just imagine a group of 20 avatars flying together to visit an educational slurl).

As far as other technologies go, I really believe that wiki projects online are going to make an impact in the University. Collaboration in learning seems to be prominent here at Duke (from my experiences that is) through group projects, presentations, etc. Wiki's offer a new way for students to interact with each other and gain more insight into a variety of subjects.

After our discussions about the benefits of having a completely online learning experience vs. an in class learning experience, I do believe a happy medium can be reached between the two, to secure the best benefits of both spectrums. We do not want to lose all physical interaction, but the internet does offer a gigantic amount of useful tools for educating.

As for technology fads that wont last, I do agree with Aileen that I'm not a huge fan of the podcast phenomenon. I did enjoy making my own earlier in the semester, but listening to them (especially with my short attention span) can be brutal, and I don't know anyone who really commits to listening to podcasts on a regular basis.

I would also like to know the classes opinion on webcams, and if this device is here to stay. I know webcams used to be big for chatting with relatives/friends online, but I haven't seen one being used in a while. Its also interesting to think of the webcam in education, and if it provides a more personal vibe when interacting online.

sketchup

This is a building i made using google sketchup

SL urls

I found three pretty awesome SL URL's

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dive%20World/214/136/21

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Leykis/60/165/32

http://slurl.com/secondlife/La%20Reve/140/162/26/

Dive is an island devoted to underwater adventure. some cool things: the bubbles churning out of Synth's air tank; the scuba package is a full-body set-up. the background is filled with diverse and colorful creatures.

Kromatic is a new world night club filled predominantly with hispanic avatars. there are a bunch of private corners in the club. It is very futuristic, with abstract artwork among other designs.

La Reve Island illustrates the ability to express yourself on second life. The avatar Lash Xevious fills the island with a mystical atmosphere with dreamy shapes and glowing effects.

Photoshopping Culture

I took a little twit on this assignment. I had difficulty thinking of and finding an image that has changed over time similar to those of my classmates, who found great examples (che gueverra, marilyn monroe, etc). The first image--or person for that matter, that came ot my mind was Britney Spears, and how the image she portrays to the public has drastically changed over time. This first image is the album cover for Britney's first album, "hit me baby one more time." The image illustrates exactly how the media portrayed Britney at the time--a teen princess who gave away just the right amount of sex appeal.






This second image is from about 5 years later-a time I would label the peak of Britney's career. Here, instead of being a teen princess, she has become a sex iconic goddess. She exudes sex, seduction, and rebellion in this photo. At this point in her career she moved from being a school girl to the rebellious queen of pop who ruled the music industry.





Here is an image of Britney after she shaved her head last year. This is the last phase of britney the media has portrayed thus far--the derranged britney. this image encompasses many photos of britney we see today, exuding pity, sadness, and shame from most viewers.



Lastly,
this is an image I created using adobe photoshop. I layered each of the above photos to create an image of the "collective britney."




While the photos I have chosen are not reincarnated images of each other, I do feel that the image of Britney Spears, like Marilyn Monroe, is iconic in itself. Everyone sees a different person when they see Britney Spears, and I have tried to connect these three personalities.

This year I am doing an independent study in Visual Arts called "Crafting Identity." My project focuses on the notions of craft, domesticity, and the women's rights movement through the context of a series of aprons that I am making. I looked at the above images in the research of my project. The first image is an advertisement I found in the 1944 magazine addition of "Home Companion"--a popular women's magazine at the time. The second image is a still shot of June Cleaver from the popular tv series "Leave it to Beaver" in the 1950s. The third image illustrates three young women in the present, and finally the fourth image is also from the present, illustrating a women in a pink checkered apron.

I chose these images because of the presence of the apron in each, and the different ways the apron is portrayed. In the first image the apron is seen as the appropriate uniform for a patriotic war bride waiting home patiently. In the second image, we see the apron on the quintessential domestic housewife June Cleaver. She is in the kitchen, symbolically "tied" to the kitchen by her apron. The three young women in the third image shows the transformation of the apron from a coverup in the kitchen to an elegant addition at a dinner party. Finally, the last image shows the apron as a seductive garment.

The images each depict the apron in a different way; it is fascinating to think about the context behind each image.

Response to Copyright Restrictions

The EFF, Creative Commons, and Archive.org are all non-profit organizations whose goals aim to deter from law restrictions on the web. The EEF defends free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights, "fighting for freedom" primarily in the courts." Creative Commons aims to reach the perfect balance of creative control in between total control and no control. Finally, Archive.org primarily targets researchers by providing permanent access to sources.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act" criminalized production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services that are used to circumvent measures that control access to copyrighted works (commonly known as DRM) and criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, even when there is no infringement of copyright itself."(Wikipedia)

The EFF, Creative Commons, and Archive.org seem to fight against the DMCA, looking to a more open and fair use internet. I do think it is necessary to implement the DMCA, as seen in the article "Innovation, Piracy, and the Ethos of New Media," Microsoft said, 'the impact of piracy, in addition to causing higher prices,reduced levels of support, and delays in the funding and development of new products, harms all software publishers as welll as the local and national economies resulting in lost tax revenue and decreased employment.' Now this might be a tad extreme, but file-sharing is illegal--you are getting something for free when you should be paying for it. Yet it is hard to stand by this law--as I myself have guiltily downloaded for free instead of paying in the past. Individuals think that if you download one song here and there its not making a difference, but everyone is doing this, so it does in fact, make a difference.

The music industry has definitely pulled their reigns in the past years with mega law-suits against file sharers, who are mainly college students. Check out this article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48300-2005Apr12.html

I really enjoyed reading the graphic novel "Bound By Law." From a students perspective, you really gain the frustration of copyright restrictions in the problems the girl faces in producing her documentary.
I really agree with the mission statement of Creative Commons. There really needs to be a happy medium between all-or-nothing control. Fair-Use is extremely important--as seen in "Bound By Law."