Thursday, 16 May 2013
Lots of discussion of terrorism-related issues
A youtube video contrasting Dixie Chicks and Pussy Riot was the cornerstone of journalistic slant today.
The Dixie Chicks were vilified for saying that in the Bush administration, but years later Pussy Riot has wide western support for their own protests. It was our object lesson in Worthy and Unworthy victims. The Unworthy were the Dixie Chicks who insulted president Bush, while the Worthy were Pussy Riot, who insulted the untrustworthy Russian government.
Of course, according to the American media, Bush was a Worthy victim, while Obama is an Unworthy victi. I see regular death threats to Obama from public sources that seem to see no consequences:
I like Obama a lot more than Bush, to explain my bias, although I'd like him a lot more if he wasn't, you know, droning people to hell, but it's still an interesting contrast.
Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas
The Dixie Chicks were vilified for saying that in the Bush administration, but years later Pussy Riot has wide western support for their own protests. It was our object lesson in Worthy and Unworthy victims. The Unworthy were the Dixie Chicks who insulted president Bush, while the Worthy were Pussy Riot, who insulted the untrustworthy Russian government.
Of course, according to the American media, Bush was a Worthy victim, while Obama is an Unworthy victi. I see regular death threats to Obama from public sources that seem to see no consequences:
Nugent, who last April said, "If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year," and in 2007 stated, "Obama, he's a piece of s**t. I told him to suck on my machine gun. Hey Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless b***h," (Source)Nugent saw no jail time, no media demonizing, no wide-scale boycotting, and was even invited by a Republican politician to sit in on Obama's state of the union address.
I like Obama a lot more than Bush, to explain my bias, although I'd like him a lot more if he wasn't, you know, droning people to hell, but it's still an interesting contrast.
The Wayback Machine
Over at Archive.org, there is a magical device called the Wayback Machine, which contains a lot of the internet of days past. I've used it extensively, but not exactly for scholarly purposes.
I've actually had an easy time in this class learning all the materials, because due to my particular internet prescence (spending too much time on the computer since 1998), I've actually used most, and if not all some very similar services, over the course of my internet 'career'.
It's my mom's fault, really. When I was 12 she told me about fanfiction. And being as into X-Men as I was, I immediately alta-vista'd it. The first result was a story about the New Mutants character Wolfsbane committing suicide. Apparently that wasn't traumatizing enough to keep me off the internet.
Anyway, how this relates to the Wayback Machine is I've read (and written) and enjoyed a variety of fanworks and original fiction over the past decade from that inauspicious beginning, but! Nothing is permanent on the internet. Sites and posts go away. Hosting isn't renewed. Files are deleted. People leave. But the Wayback Machine has helped me re-find almost all of them, if I can just dig up the original link.
Webpage building, file organization, information organization, information sharing, are all part of participating in fandom and anytime what I've done all these years as a hobby turns out to be useful I'm a little surprised. But it's good. It means you're always learning.
Also, it turns out I can't write so great when there's other voices going on.
I've actually had an easy time in this class learning all the materials, because due to my particular internet prescence (spending too much time on the computer since 1998), I've actually used most, and if not all some very similar services, over the course of my internet 'career'.
It's my mom's fault, really. When I was 12 she told me about fanfiction. And being as into X-Men as I was, I immediately alta-vista'd it. The first result was a story about the New Mutants character Wolfsbane committing suicide. Apparently that wasn't traumatizing enough to keep me off the internet.
Anyway, how this relates to the Wayback Machine is I've read (and written) and enjoyed a variety of fanworks and original fiction over the past decade from that inauspicious beginning, but! Nothing is permanent on the internet. Sites and posts go away. Hosting isn't renewed. Files are deleted. People leave. But the Wayback Machine has helped me re-find almost all of them, if I can just dig up the original link.
Webpage building, file organization, information organization, information sharing, are all part of participating in fandom and anytime what I've done all these years as a hobby turns out to be useful I'm a little surprised. But it's good. It means you're always learning.
Also, it turns out I can't write so great when there's other voices going on.
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
New uses for google drive
I already use it for documents and slideshow presentations (for story ideas), but google drawings is a new one. The teacher opened it up for all of us to edit and it immediately ended in horror.
Filled with drawings, doodles, and layer after layer, until someone suddenly started deleting everything.
RIP tiny star I made.
For funsies, here's our other group 'work':
Filled with drawings, doodles, and layer after layer, until someone suddenly started deleting everything.
RIP tiny star I made.
For funsies, here's our other group 'work':
Sorting myself out with Mindmeister
Create your own mind maps at MindMeister
Working out what I'm doing on Mindmeister. Beyond an expose on my cat, I'm not sure what to do about another youtube video.
Yesterday was a wash
I woke up with a migraine, and so apparently did the city. I'd intended to skype into class, but the power had been knocked out and with the sometimes update from Aaron, I discovered class was canceled. So I slept.
My own internet was spotty so all I could do was plan a future post.
This class is teaching me about the importance of information presentation, which influenced me to revert back to a more old-fashioned sort of internet communication platform for an upcoming collaborative writing project with my friend and sister.
Specifically, I created a forum. More on this later.
My own internet was spotty so all I could do was plan a future post.
This class is teaching me about the importance of information presentation, which influenced me to revert back to a more old-fashioned sort of internet communication platform for an upcoming collaborative writing project with my friend and sister.
Specifically, I created a forum. More on this later.
I chose not to monetize my brand in the end
Thanks to Leah's advice, I now have a facebook page for my blog and twitter!
As with blogspot, it offered me options to put ads on my site for money. While it's not worth it for school accounts, it's an interesting idea for the future.
As with blogspot, it offered me options to put ads on my site for money. While it's not worth it for school accounts, it's an interesting idea for the future.
Monday, 13 May 2013
Sunday, 12 May 2013
My podcast
A bit about one of the crime cases that I've thought of a lot since it happened.
CBC: Sting operation helps convict Manitoba man of murder
Winnipeg Free Press: Cryptic letter has community on edge
Winnipeg Free Press: Cryptic letter has community on edge
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