Web 2.0 and User Generated Content

I loved the quote,  'I have always imagined the information space as something to which everyone has immediate and intuitive access, and not just to browse, but to create.' Tim Berners-Lee, 1999, from our readings.

The process of doing our group's final project of a Mormon Messages video has definately been a process of creation.

A screen shot taken in Final Cut pro of an interview with my niece

Additionally, in the readings, I loved the quote,  "Today’s generation are pressing ‘record’ on their video cameras and hitting their mouse keys. With a few clicks of the mouse a user can upload a video or photo from their digital camera and into their own media space, tag it with suitable keywords and make the content available to their friends or the world in general." This is exactly what our group is doing.

It has been exciting. We have been able to create near professional-quality video with the digital tools that are available to us. We have used an HD camera to conduct several interviews with different kids. Later we used Final Cut Pro in the Multi Media Lab in the campus library to begin editing the video.

The ease of the creating of video (e.g., the developement of cheap hardware and software) is similar to the development of the laser office printer and a desktop word processor that Paul Anderson mentions. Both series of developments have allowed former spectators to now be part of the creative process and conversation. I love it!

CREATE - Darwin's Adventures

For this digital literacy lab I learned how to create and created an online comic book. It was fun! I found that there are several websites available to do this. I used one called Pixton.com. I think Pixton was the most advanced (you could do the most things on it) comic book website I found.  

Final Project - Our Plan of Attack

For our group’s final project we are creating a Mormon Messages video. After much thought, planning, and discussion we have decided to create a video in which we interview little kids (ages 3-8) about their families.

We want to do interviews similar to the style of Out of the Mouth of Babes, however we want to ask them questions like,

• Why do you love your family?
• How does your family show that they love you?
• How does your mom/dad show that they love you?

A Logic Named Joe

Source: Hackaday.com

I really enjoyed “A Logic Named Joe” by Murray Leinster. It is a short story written by Murray Leinster in 1946. The story is based in the future about a “logic” (i.e., computer) that changed the world very quickly. In Leinster’s futuristic tale, Leinster correct predicts many of the technological advances that would come in the future.

I found a blog post by Mark Bernstein, who is the chief scientist Eastgate Systems, Inc.  Bernstein lists out several of the things that Leinster got right:

The Medium is the Message, Mess Age, Massage, Mass Age?

I found a great blog post on Marshall McLuhan by Maki, a senior studying psychology at Lawerence University. She provides a great summary of McLuhan and of his famous paradox, “The Medium of the Message.” She does a great job explaining what that means.

On her blog I found a link to a review of The Medium is the Message by Mark Federman entitled, “What is the Meaning of The Medium is the Message?” Federman in his essay review (which p.s. has a creative commons license which I thought was cool) makes some really interesting points. These are some of the points that I enjoyed:

Member Missionary Work

As I have been doing research for our Mormon Messages final project, I been exploring different videos that members of the church have made. I came across this video that I actually saw for first time while on my mission.

The video shows and talks about what it means to be a member missionary. I think it's really well done. It's called, "Small and Simple Things"



Continued below...

The 'Wheat of Nations'

I think by far, innovations the occurred in the 20th century are among my favorites. I think that’s because it’s easier to quantify their impact and typically their results are seen on a global scale in a relatively short amount of time. One such example of 20th century innovation that changed the world occurred in agriculture.

In 1900 farmers made up 38 percent of the U.S. labor force; by the end of the century they represented less than 3 percent. With machines doing most of the work, millions of farmers and farm laborers had to look elsewhere for a living—a displacement that helped fuel booms in the manufacturing and service industries, especially after World War II. It also fueled a dramatic shift in the entire culture, as metropolitan and suburban America began to replace the rural way of life. Source.

Social Media and Rants

I think social media is one of the premier places we experience rants. I think this is due, in part, to the fact that in social media your audience typically consists of people who understand well your humor, background, and personality.

This was a rant from one of my friends last week on Facebook that I thought was funny, as well as making a good point.
 

Review of “Blogging is for lovers”

I really enjoyed this assignment. I found that reviewing Jake’s blog was a very fun and entertaining experience. He has done a great job and I feel like he was done well at meeting the learning objectives. Probably the thing that stuck out to me the most while reviewing his blog is the fact that Jake has done a great job of including interesting experiences from his own personal life into the subjects and analysis of his blog posts (My favorites examples of are his posts on sharing the gospel and evolution).

Reflections - Part 2

Source: Flickr Creative Commons, McD22

For my digital civilization class, we are supposed do a reflective post to evaluate how we have met the different learning outcomes of the class. My goal with this post is hopefully to share some specifics ways in which I have approached and hopefully met those learning objectives.

More thoughts on Final Project

As I have been doing research for our group's final project of creating a Mormon Messages video, I have come across different sources of media that members of the LDS church have created.

One source of media is a series of online documentaries called, "fit for the kingdom (Documentaries about Mormons)". These short documentaries are awesome, and I feel like they were the precursor to that "I am Mormon" PR campaign put on by the Church.

My sister was actually involved in this project. This is a documentary she created about a member family living out in New Jersey:

http://fitforthekingdom.byu.edu/?page=watch&piece=lisa

Psychology and Race

I found a very powerful video of high school student who re-performs a famous psychological study by Dr. Kenneth Clark. Dr. Clark was an African-American psychologist who, in the 1940s, conducted famous experiments using dolls to study childrens' attitudes on race.



Dr. Clark testified as an expert witness in Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) and later became the first African-American president of the American Psychological Association.

From what I was able to find, I think that Dr. Clark’s “doll” experiments are among the first attempts to use psychological research as a means of promoting social change.

CREATE! - Garage Band and Ernie's Song

For this digital literacy lab I decided to explore the many of powers of Garage Band. Garage Band is an audio media creation tool on Macs and is super easy to use.

I decided, with the help of roommate, to record a song for the girl I am dating. This song is from Sesame Street and Ernie originally sings it. I like it, because besides serving other serenading purposes, the song has subtle romantic, frontier, and even atomic age themes.

Let me know what you think!

So, I haven’t shared it yet with my girlfriend; however, I did share it in the digital literacy labs share session after class today. The song was well received and I think the people liked it. I think they were amazed with how easily you can create fun sounding audio media.You should try it out, it's fun!

Lyrics:

Well, I'd like to visit the moon

On a rocket ship high in the air

Yes, I'd like to visit the moon

But I don't think I'd like to live there

Though I'd like to look down at the earth from above

I would miss all the places and people I love

So although I might like it for one afternoon

I don't want to live on the moon

I'd like to travel under the sea

I could meet all the fish everywhere

Yes, I'd travel under the sea

But I don't think I'd like to live there

I might stay for a day there if I had my wish

But there's not much to do when your friends are all fish

And an oyster and clam aren't real family

So I don't want to live in the sea

I'd like to visit the jungle, hear the lions roar

Go back in time and meet a dinosaur

There's so many strange places I'd like to be

But none of them permanently

So if I should visit the moon

Well, I'll dance on a moonbeam and then

I will make a wish on a star

And I'll wish I was home once again

Though I'd like to look down at the earth from above

I would miss all the places and people I love

So although I may go I'll be coming home soon

'Cause I don't want to live on the moon

No, I don't want to live on the moon

Carrying a big stick – ideas of the atomic age

The political concept of “Speak softly and carry a big stick” took root during the presidency Theodore Roosevelt and ultimately helped to shape the US’s foreign policy. This was true both in the early nineteen hundreds and also in the mid-to-late nineteen hundreds when the focus of the nuclear-arms race evolved to essentially become “Forget about the speaking part, just carry the biggest stick.”

If we analyze the Big Stick ideology, the atomic age, and especially the ensuing nuclear-arms race, we find traces of ideological themes from previous generations and centuries. Many of the ideals of the atomic age and nuclear arms race found root from earlier imperialist movements. For example, in Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, Machiavelli declares,

“Hence it comes that all armed prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have been destroyed.”

“From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved. The reply is, that one ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved”.

Who’s Who is the world of Keynesian Economics

I am currently in a Managerial Economics class where we are learning all about how the government influences the money supply, interest rates, and government expenditures. With our discussion of Keynesian economics, there have been a lot of technical names and terms thrown around. In order to understand Keynesian Economics, similar to a play, one must understand who the main characters are.

The goal of this post to help explain who few of the main characters/ideas are in Keynesian economics and what their role is:

Federal Reserve - The Federal Reserve was created in 1913 and essentially is a bank for banks. The Federal Reserve is a USA’s central bank and they determine/control the amount of money that is present in the economy. They also help determine interest rates. (This is important because when the Fed, being a bank for banks, lowers their interest rates, the easier and cheaper for banks to borrow from and the government and in turn lend to you).

The Mormon Messages Project

For our final project our group is going to create a Mormon Messages video for the LDS church’s International Video contest. From the contest website, the stated purpose of the contest is the following,

The purpose of this video contest is to give more members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints an opportunity to strengthen their testimonies as they share their talents with worldwide members and to "join the conversation" in sharing the gospel with the world.

Our group is excited about the idea of creating a Mormon Messages video because we will be able to use many of digital literacy tools we have learned this semester in order to better consume, create, share (i.e., connect) with others inspiring and motivational content. In essence, we want to use our newly acquired digital skill sets to be able to “join in the conversation”

Suggested themes for the video are as follows:

•  A gospel principle
•  My life as a Mormon 
•  Mormon life in general
•  Mormon music video
•  Homefront Ads
•  Humanitarian projects
•  Kids´ view of the gospel
•  Service
•  Mormon youth
•  Strength of youth

We are still in the process of deciding what theme we would like to do. We would love any suggestions or ideas you may have!

Doctors of the American Frontier

I was in library in the HBLL doing research for a blog post and found this awesome book completely by accident while taking a break. It’s called Doctors of the American Frontier by Richard Dunlop. It was published in 1965 and provides really interesting insight into what frontier life was like for many people living on the American frontier during the 19th century.

I feel like often times there is a romantic ideal of what discovering the frontier was like.

                                                                   *Source: FatWallet.com
However, Dunlops paints a very vivid picture to the contrary,

Technology: the New American Frontier

This is quote from one of our Fredrick Jackson Turner readings about America and the Frontier,

“From the conditions of frontier life came intellectual traits of profound importance. The works of travelers along each frontier from colonial days onward describe certain common traits, and these traits have, while softening down, still persisted as survivals in the place of their origin, even when a higher social organization succeeded. The result is that to the frontier the American intellect owes its striking characteristics. That coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness; that practical, inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things, lacking in the artistic but powerful to effect great ends; that restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and for evil, and withal that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom these are traits of the frontier, or traits called out elsewhere because of the existence of the frontier.” (italics added)

Mormon Messages Project Beta Website

Hey all,

This is the beta version of our website. It is still a work in progress, but it will be fully complete by tomorrow. :)

https://sites.google.com/site/mormonmessagesfinalproject/authenticity

The Psychology of Business

Consistent with the growth and development of modern psychology, there has also been a growth and development in books and resources designed to help business people better understand and use psychology in order to improve interpersonal and business relationships (which has been great for me as an accounting major).

One of the first and classic self-help books is How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Carnegie, who was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud, has long been considered the father of the self-help movement in business.

 

Modernism and stream-of-consciousness

A few concepts of Dr. Burton’s post on Modernism stuck out me in particular. One of the idea that interested me the most was the idea of stream-of-consciousness writing. I decided to do some research and found some examples of stream-of-consciousness writing in William Faulkner’s The Sound and Fury.

A quick background on the book

The Sound and the Fury is about the decline of a once noble Southern family that ultimately falls prey to vices that are commonly viewed as causing problems in the reconstructed South (e.g., vice, avarice, racism).