Terranova Chapter 5

• Is it true that people are being brainwashed by the media?
• As individuals are we being subject to think that images in the media tell the 100% of the truth of whats going on in the World?
• Have we become desensitized to the evil in the world because of mass media?
• Or in general do we just not care?
• From Terranova: Is our problem really that media propaganda is used to cover up the truth?
• Or is it that the Truth is not covered up any more because what is important is not to shield people from the truth but to have an effective strategy that is able to capture  and hold together a certain type of intensity?

            After reading chapter 5 of Terranova, it seemed to be the only chapter that I understood, the only chapter that I felt had real substance to it. I realized for years I did not care about the news, what was going on in other countries, the wars the US have found ourselves in, ad etc, but as Terranova mentions, the internet is changing a lot of that. I've been so used to seeing the same kind of shows on the air,  either real conservative right-winged republicans, or extremely liberal democrats fighting, slandering, and failing to come to some type of mutual agreement. Only being told what they think we want/need to hear, instead of the whole story. As an audience of the mass media, I believe I'm just as fed up as Terranova, and tired of being told what to think. How to feel. Where my allegiance should ally. I just want to know what is really going on in the world.

              I feel the internet has done this for a lot of people and is continuing to do so. Though you'll still find those liberals and conservatives on the web, as a participant in this World Wide Web, we have more power/control to dictate what it is we want to entertain us, or what we want to be informed about. Though it is never guaranteed that the info we receive is 100% accurate , it still acts as a mediator between the mass media conglomerates and their audiences.

You're not a Gadget "Why it Matters"

Jaron Lanier,  throughout "You're Not A Gadget" has not only brought to light the good things of the new technology that is  continuously  advancing, but also the disadvantages of this "simpler" way of life. The birth of the internet brought along the birth of a generation of schemers, as Jaron mentions later in the reading.  The way humans live their life in this day in age, at least a majority of the world, runs through the World Wide Web. Due to the World Wide Web, people are given more ways than one to draw up a their own get-rich-quick-scheme. As a musician and artist, it has become easier to access mass media and create and distribute ones own art. When it comes to matters of actually succeeding in this field, that is not as easy. My problem with the World Wide Web and music is that it "makes" art look easier than it really is. The way that we use the internet today, would cause the founders of such theories to turn in their graves. After reading Jaron Lanier thoughts on why it matters that we as people do certain things as we did before such technology was invented, I have a few suggestions myself as to why people in Urban areas should have a concern to what the internet is doing to that culture. 

My issue with the internet came with the disruption of education. As an elementary student I remember the times we were required to attend computer lab to practice our spelling, typing, and ways to sneak to play Oregon Trails and Solitaire. As we aged so did technology and the things we can do with it. By time I was a freshman in High school we were sneaking to network on MySpace, or laugh at video from youtube. In my Syracuse public education system we weren't taught how to form expand our mind beyond what the screen showed/told us to do but to give into what it was saying. We used Microsoft office every class, but what is that really teaching us? What is that preparing us for in the future? My generation has enough typing skills from texting, AOL instant messenger, MySpace, and Facebook. Having a computer lab in the public education system I feel is more detrimental to the growth and maturity of the students than helpful. If the teaching strategy changed maybe things would be different, maybe if the history behind the internet and mass media if brought up in early education maybe the use of the internet would be different today. Maybe today's "artist" would not be subject to putting up senseless videos on youtube, and actual works of art instead of posting something that took you the same time to create as it takes to view it. ( Lanier, 21)

The fact that nothing takes time anymore due to the vast technology of today, the lack of face to face communication,  it's as if we are the gadgets themselves. We are locked-in as people. I do not believe that the internet should be subject to those who only are educated in the field of mass communication, science, etc, but that we watch how the ignorance of our children has made matters worse when it comes to the use of this unstable new technology we call the internet. Most students now-a-days believe in this fantasy that they just need the right break because of the way the internet works, and how many success stories come from it. Never realizing that many more people fail than succeed, back-up plans are still necessary such as some form of education.

My First Blog

Hello (DigiNet) class,  and other followers,
                                                                Sorry for the late start to blogging I have had thr roughest week when it comes to technology. My HP laptop, which I've only had for a year, has been overheating in the middle of me doing work or browsing the web. As of Thursday January 27, 2011 my laptop overheated in my third attempt to start blogging, as well as Friday January 28, 2011 I was told that I would be required to take a leave of absence for the Spring '11 semester. Luckily as of February 1, 2011, 4:00pm I was told that I had been granted the permission to continue my studies here at the colleges, so I am here to inform you that I am now officially a blogger and apart of the class blog. Let's get this thing rolling!! More blogs are to come soon tonight.