Wednesday, December 17, 2008
My Final Project
Comm. Tech. Podcast
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Let's Play: My Final Project
My Let's Play:
Interview with my brother:
Friday, December 12, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Gambling: From Vegas to Online
But its the first time I had done anything of this nature, so I tried a bunch of different things to get a feel for premiere i suppose. Anyway it took me a while to put together so try not to be to critical. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV94HMhnrq8
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
DRM...the ongoing saga...
(Ok--so I have to give credit to my intro to Nate Anderson ...but I thought these words might just entice you to read further).
Hacking Digital Rights Management
http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/drmhacks.ars
I am not a music downloader. I listen to all my music on pandora.com and if I like the music I buy the cd. But...my six-cd changer has a habit of breaking and so I like to burn a copy of the real cd in case it gets stuck in my car. Imagine my suprise when I bought a cd recently and tried to burn a copy for my car and couldn't...I just paid $15 for ten songs and now I can't even make myself another copy...in a word...ridiculous.
In a perfect world DRM might work. But I agree with Jeremy Allison in his Tech News article on ZDNet that in our world it just won't work. People are sick of for many years paying for music that was mass-burned onto 50 cent cds and then marked up 25 times and the artist isn't even the one getting the money. So, they turn to file-sharing.
But in a perfect world maybe we wouldn't have to have stores carry cd's and charge overhead and it could be an ITunes model where you just pay for the songs you want and get them on your computer and you can use them how you like. However, there is always going to be illegal downloading of music...period. I agree with Allison in that, "engineers should simply refuse to create DRM for customers." These companies are in denial and it is still going to go on. Invest your dollars in other ventures as DRM isn't able to fully restrict anyway.
Even though artists' profits might be down a bit, exposure to their material is always a good thing. Getting their song out to thousands that would not pay for the music could pay dividends down the road in the form of concert tickets, t-shirts, souvenirs, posters, etc.
I do realize that people in the entertainment industry still need to make a living, but taking the time to establish complicated encryption models hardly seems worth the time, money, and frustration for all parties...but that's just my two cents.
DRM--not just music--now Google and books! http://www.drmwatch.com/legal/article.php/3781701
When I was perusing the web to see what type of commentary there was on DRM I came upon this website that tracks current news on DRM http://www.drmwatch.com/legal/
Also, if you have an opinion and would like to share it this would be a great place. They say that a 16-year old's comment is as good as Microsofts--so give it a shot!
The All Party Parliamentary Internet Group (Apig) is taking a closer look at digital rights management (DRM).
The group, which aims to promote discussion between lawmakers and the new media industries, has launched an inquiry into the issues surrounding DRM, the results of which will form the basis of recommendations it will make to parliament on how to deal with the burgeoning technology.
http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39154238,00.htm
Monday, December 1, 2008
As stated in the Good Copy Bad Copy film, copyright laws have become very powerful, and arguably to the point that they inhibit new creative works. There is really a fine line between sampling and parodies. I find someone like Weird Al Yankovic far less creative than the people who use the sampling method and create something very unique such as Danger Mouse in his Gray Album. In this case he was not making a profit and neither the Beatles nor Jay-Z was losing a profit, so I fail to see much wrong with it.
There is also the issue of each download being a lost sale, and this is clearly not the case for most people. I know very few people who will go out and buy a CD if there is one song on it that they like, they would however download it. At the same time if there is a great album out, most will give the respect to the artist and buy it.
The bottom line to me is that if there is a case where the artist is losing money , or someone else is making money by using the original artists work, this is wrong, but its generally harmless otherwise.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
You ARE the Weakest Link, Goodbye...
Ridiculous! I bought CD and intended to use it only for my own personal use. I did not intend to distrubute it, remix it, or do anything else illegal with it. But regardless of my intent, Sony was very concerned and decided to block my legal use. This was a big turning point for me. Up until that point I downloaded only very little music and the music that I did download was used for preview purposes, not in place of purchasing legally. However, since that time I have become an avid downloader of all sorts of digital content. If companies are going to put themselves above their consumers, I don't feel too bad for doing the same in reverse. I do NOT actively screw companies by getting things I would buy for free, but I certainly am not worried about using digital content without permission either. In addition, I am legally allowed to make archival copies of legally purchased DVDs and I take great joy in doing so regardless of what copyright protection is contained on the disc. Getting around their copyright protection is half the fun. I haven't met a DVD or software label yet that was uncrackable.
These practices are destined to continue and get worse. As we come into the era of increased amounts of entirely digital content, we are poised on the brink of disasterous levels of DRM and DRM-like protections. Nowadays we are seeing measures being adapted directly into hardware to prevent 'theft' of high definition digital content, even when it's not really theft at all. HDCP is an example of such measures. This protection, more here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP , is now intergrated into most new computer monitors as a measure to reduce copying of high definition content. However, HDCP protocol make no differentiation between legal unencrypted digital content and illegal unencrypted digital content. So there are certainly many instances in which this protocol will prevent or frustrate legal attempts at content distrubution.
In summation: DRM is evil and bad for consumers and merchants alike, including those people and bands that orginally produce the content. In addition, trying to truly prevent copyright violation is like trying to prevent all teenagers from having sex. You can try as hard as you want, but ultimately you're going to fail. Most attempts to prevent copyright violation are hacked or fixed before the technology even goes to market. So, to big business I say: give up and go have a cold one.
Friday, November 28, 2008
File Sharing
Sunday, November 23, 2008
File Sharing
What I think will be big for artists is now it is possible to release material on the internet that before they could only get released through record labels or film companies. There have been a couple of major label bands (Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails) that released their albums online without the record companies distribution. I know Radiohead offered a online download of their record "In Rainbows" on their website to fans who could donate money if they wanted where they could pick what they thought the album was worth. I could see this becoming a trend where artist will upload their album in low quality mp3s for fans to preview like they would on amazon samples to try it out and if they think it is worth it, they might actually pay for it. Who knows... the internet could benefit both artists and fans in getting the best product and cutting out the record labels greedy pricing.
What is Theft?
As for the DJs who take songs and mix them together and give props to the artists…I see no problem with that. Think about all the clubs in the world and all the DJ who are constantly ramping songs into each other and mixing beats night after night…that’s illegal? Plus how do they get the rights to spin the artists beats? Cause our DJ at where I work rips/burns his songs on his laptop…so someday we’re going to have a geek squad type police unit that rolls up in clubs and are like yank…no music for you…
SAW THIS COMMERCIAL THE OTHER DAY AND TOYS ARE GETTING CREEPIER!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Digital Rights Management
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289546,00.html
Thursday, November 20, 2008
"organized civil disobedience"
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
"The Youtube Presidency"
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/14/the_youtube_presidency.html
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Politics on the Internet
On to some reading...net neutrality is going to stay. I think that phone companies and and cable companies make enough money as it is that they don't need anymore. I also think that we need net neutrality to keep the internet unbiased. And although I know the internet isn't completly unbiased I hope to keep it like it is. So hoopefully since Obama is president he won't go and try to change anything!
To voice...or not to voice?
The internet is a place that the people left out of the public sphere who dwell in places such as farm-towns in Iowa or U.S. burrows, who can voice their opinions in a way that U.S. citizens can access and hear through VLOGS, YouTube, internet forwards, and MySpace Music. When web opinions reach the ears of DC, you know that the Internet is effective and can then effect the policies of legislation. After viewing Justin's YouTube post of Obama's stance on net neutrality and how "voices get squeezed out" without that neutrality, his views are reassuring to my argument that people should be allowed to voice their opinions.
Net Neutrality
Is it just me or are AT&T and Vonage trying to become the new ExxonMobil. People already have to pay to get on the internet, and by making sites pay so they can be faster will most likely make them charge for people to use their sites, or further clutter the pages with more advertisements, or even both. On top of that it could basically allow them to monopolize the internet by choosing which sites are fast and which are not, and having all kinds of influence on what information get put out there the most, and more importantly viewed the most. In the long run this would have a negative impact on the internet for everyone except of course the Vonage’s and AT&T’s of the world.
The internet works good now, and by making it harder and costly to the sites such as YouTube, and eBay and others who are the base of the internet and have had a lot to do with the popularity of the internet, we would just be hurting everyone. With these sites there is more than just an entertainment value in them and these avenues are really beginning to be explored and taken advantage of, especially YouTube. For example it is great for the advertising industry, look how much interest in generated in Al Gore’s movie. Now think what it could do for a small business to make a cheap YouTube clip and allow them to expand stimulating out currently booming economy. Or better yet, we saw how it could call people to action with Net Neutrality, why won’t this work for calling attention to other important things like a cure for cancer (not to sound like Miss America or anything) My point is right now everyone has a voice, and if we change that and allow it to be taken over by big companies, bad things will happen.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The dangerous Internet
Boo Gatekeepers
Net Neutrality
The thing I don’t understand about the telecom companies is why they think that they should get to charge for faster access to different sites. Most companies, like Verizon and AT&T, make money from other resources besides internet, such as mobile phone service, television, etc. Maybe once they get our internet connection speeds caught up to all the other countries that offer faster access at cheaper prices, then they can think about charging for ridiculous things such as selected sites that load faster than others.
SAW AN AD FOR THIS NEW PHONE APPLICATION TODAY
Here's the website
http://news.vzw.com/news/2006/04/pr2006-04-04a.html
You Gotta Fight For Your Right...to Click?
Second reading discussed companies posting amatuer-looking videos on Web sites to spark word-of-mouth and a buzz…anything new? You have the I’m a PC” commercials allowing for internet users to post there own part that could be aired in the commercial, you have Taco Bell spinning a commercial from the McDonald’s rap video, and Quizno’s Subs using the goofy looking rats who ate the moon. Companies know that internet video are successful and they know people want to be able to interact so they have contests. All in all these ads are cheaper for the companies to create and that’s more profit for them…much like reality shows compared sitcoms.
Net Neutrality...let me see here have the same speed internet be equally distribute to everyone or have cable/phone companies make you buy their faster connection…I like the way the internet works now, and seeing that Barack is the president elect we don’t have to worry about it. I make hardly any money working two jobs, but yet manager to live happily, so why do cable/phone companies who make so much profit as it is want to charge an additional fee to earn them more money? When is enough, enough? Either way I feel there’s enough people against this thought that use that internet that can keep net neutrality possible.
The Power of the "Real"
It seems the formula for promoting a product via contagious, amateur media (like Foster's Beer plans to do) is humor, preferably the "laugh out loud" humor that is usually sparked by what many call "stupid humor" or "randomness." It is a tactic used in many television commercials like one of Honda's newest commercials, which features a group of people cornered by a wild buffalo who are then picked up by a guy driving by in a spacious Honda Pilot. If political organizations are able to create a video with that caliber of randomness while still portraying a subtle undertone for their agendas, then they will have reached the pinnacle of propaganda on the internet.
Users also enjoy the "rawness" of amateur YouTube videos because they can relate more to the person who created it. They feel this connection because they see an everyday person like themselves on the other side instead of a corporation or political organization. Therefore, when corporations and political organizations can effectively portray their videos as amateur, their message has more potential to cut to the core of the viewers.
Although this is bound to have negative effects as it is essentially using propaganda tactics, I do see it as having many positive effects as well. The SavetheInternet.com campaign is one success story.
Net Neutrality
Virtual communities changing politics?
Like I said before, the internet does provide supplementary content for political citizens that may not have been accessed before. This year's election is definitely an example of this change in doing politics. The election of '08 had a larger voter turnout than the previous election and I think this could be due to the role of the internet. Sure, the internet was apart of the last election, but this time there was more interaction of users on the internet, some of the debates featured citizens posting questions via Youtube for candidates to respond to. Citizens made political videos like the last post mentioned that raised awareness of not only the candidates, but the political process in general. I don't want to fall into some kind of deterministic ideology about the internet, but it seems like it within virtual communities, user created political content, activism, etc. could benefit in more awareness of politics.
Virtually Politics
YouTube created a Video Your Vote channel encouraging voters to take their video camera with them to the polls to document their vote. They were then encouraged to submit the videos and keep an eye on PBS’s coverage of the election where they broadcasted the best ones on television.
The amount of videos for the Video Your Vote project paled in comparison to their previous community projects. According to a YouTube spokesperson, “The CNN/YouTube Democratic Debate was open for submissions for two months and we received 3,000 questions. The CNN/YouTube Republican Debate was open for five months and we received 5,000 questions. Video Your Vote was open for submissions for a week and we received, in a period of one day, around 1,200 submissions.”(LA Times—Nov. 5, 2008)
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Mentioned in class
http://email.bugmenot.com/ (throw-away e-mail accounts!)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
CNN Goes Star Wars
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
power to the eBay people
eBay
eBay is talked about like it makes the economy “perfect” and goods are sold at the price where demand and supply meet, and whatever. But I find its economy far from perfect. Its one thing when a valuable collectors item is sold, and knowledgably buyers bid the amount the item is worth, but there are so many times this is not the case. A Cheeto being bout for like $1000 or whatever it was, an apple core thrown away by Tiger Woods for $36,000, or a champagne soaked shirt worn by the Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers the night they won the NBA finals sold for $55,000, and many other things of the sort is just messed up. I guess you really can get anything on eBay, just ask Weird Al Yankovic….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYokLWfqbaU
The eBay economy is also cheated a little by “sniping.” I have been on both ends of this and it just seems like a very effective way to get what you want cheaper than if you bid “the right way.” In any case I think that eBay is far from the perfect economy, but I guess if you can get people to buy it for the price, it must be worth it, right. I guess that is why it is such a popular “career” for so many people…
Monday, November 3, 2008
eBay virgin
Another topic that was mentioned in the other posts was if eBay was a social networking site. Again I can only compare it to sites that I know like amazone ect and I couldn't image people using these site for anything else than just finding the things that they need, buying them and then never talking to the seller again. Or that's how I use sites like eBay and I sounds like most people have the same experience.
Find the World's Largest Cheeto on Ebay
I like the comparrison of ebay and a giant garage sale. I find this to be perfect. Its all about taking someone's junk and turning it into another's treasure. i feel that too, its about the satisfaction of winning the auction. Being the one to win the bid is gratifying in itself. I dont know if it was the actual cheeto that created such an uproar, or if it was the winning of the auction for the cheeto, but whatever the satisfaction is linked to, it is keeping ebay in full swing.
Can't find it? I'm sure eBay has one!
Additionally, eBay is becoming less and less friendly to those who are just beginning, making the traditional hierarchies of establishment equally applicable to eBay. Today, sellers are no longer able to give negative feedback on buyers. This has a two pronged affect. First, sellers are less likely to get positive feedback from buyers because sellers now have nothing to hold over the head of buyers. If a buyer doesn’t give feedback there is less ability for newbies on eBay to boost their seller rating. The second part then, is that potential buyers are less likely to buy a product from a seller with little to no feedback than they are from an established eBayer. That is similar to real life.
I don’t think that eBay is nearly as much of a community as the article portrays. I am an active eBay user but never have used it as anything more than a bazaar. I think that trying to tie in social community to eBay is a bit of a stretch; almost as though the author just needed a little bit more material for a book…
EBAY...Meg Whitman is my homegirl!!
EBay's Meg Whitman Out; John Donahoe Named CEO & Prez
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/01/ebays-meg-whitm.html
eBay Baby!
The eBay reading states, “A crucial component of eBay’s success, both economic and cultural, is its organization of the site as a series of stages allowing sellers to design, perform, and sell memorable experiences, thematically linked to goods, for which purchasers are willing to pay a premium.” Everyone would love to walk into Wal-Mart or a thrift store and be like, “I’m probably one of the four people that would ever buy this so would you mind bargaining the price down?” It’s genius. eBay is ran by the people who set up an account in five minutes and now have stay at home jobs and make a decent profit. My neighbor back in the day took pictures of items all day and posted them on the web for a store much like the 40 Year Old Virgin’s gf’s place of work We Sell Your Stuff on eBay and loved it cause it’s easy ladies and gents.
I’ve only bought one thing off eBay because psychologically I don’t completely trust it. The lack of communication from the seller and buyer and going off a customer feedback doesn’t really sell me because I like to see what I’m buying and waiting for mail is boring. Also there's ways of improving your customer feedback without actually selling items (so I read once in a book.) To me eBay has this you’re either in or out concept and I feel I’m not up to date to buy or sell things on it anymore. It’s a community of individuals who range from being completely legit business owners to scam artists who are all about the Benjamins and I my friends am nether.
EBay users, “communicate their self-identity by announcing their fandom and fan authority through engaging in rituals of possession and divestment.” I’ve noticed eBay now a days is all about showing off and how big of a fan you are to something. I can think of a lot of other ways to show my appreciation for something and I do. I say if you have the time do it, if you don’t you’re life will still go on.
eBay and autonomy
What I see working within eBay is a form of control against bad consumer behavior. They use the feedback system to try and discourage people from cheating others and to provide a place where people can feel confident in buying and selling. It then becomes a matter of "personal responsibility" of each user to dictate their buying or selling actions. eBay works as a mediator for buyers and sellers which gives the idea of a community rather than an online store you'd purchase items from. I tend to question if buyer and seller's actions on eBay are fully autonomous, that they are without constraint or guidelines. I think people may act solely out of a fear for negative feedback. I remember someone I was speaking to told me that they were given feedback that was negative for giving a seller negative feedback for not packaging the item correctly. He did everything right in terms of exchange, but the seller gave him negative feedback only because he was upset with his purchase. I think that the idea of this being a fully independent market is effective for the majority of the users, but I think it may be impossible for all users to consent to these community values no matter how fair they seem.
Why eBay Does Not Portray Perfect Price
Lillie
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Ebay
One great thing about Ebay is the way that they do try to prevent scaming of the buyers. The ratings system is a good way to know if you are purchasing from someone who actually is going to ship you your goods or not. Whether the ratings system is accurate...that's up to you to decide I suppose.
Another thingt that I do agree with is that Ebay is a way for fans to show off how much they like something. The first thing that I bought off of Ebay was a Dave Matthews Band poster and the people bidding were crazy. Luckily I was just looking for a poster that wasn't the most popular, because some of the posters were going on there for $200+ which is just nuts to me because you can buy one if you go to the concert for $30. Another thing about this is the "perfect price." I don't know what the "perfect price" to many things would be since not everything has as much popularity as others. I am sure if you were looking for something on a random Tuesday night and the bidding was close to being over with you could get a heck of a deal on an item that isn't really wanted. This brings me to my last thought which is that I don't think Ebay is the place for anything and everything, at least not if the seller actually wants to make money. For now I am going to just stick to real stores...they might not have better deals then Ebay, but they sure don't leave you wondering if/when you are going to get what you bought.
Gillespie
Ebay
Ebay
Friday, October 31, 2008
It's the Same Thing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfd5g8Y_Jqo
Thursday, October 30, 2008
JIBJAB.COM GOOD FUN...
here's a website were u can create videos just by cutting out the heads of friends from pictures and jibjab does the rest to create videos...here's a presidential video...
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
memetrollsandgrievers
Last class the question was asked, What makes an successful Web 2.0 website? During the readings, I asked myself what makes a good meme? Why do some things like Charlie goes to Candy mountain or Second Life become such hits and other things just don’t. Is there a magic formula, or just the luck of the draw? I am certainly no expert, and initially thought it was just luck, however I am starting to think there is really something to it. Weather its YouTube or another video site, or Facebook vs. MySpace, there is usually a reason that one is preferred to another, and for me at least it seems to be more about the format than the content.
Also the Nike ordeal was eye-opening and sad at the same time. I like how someone really confronted Nike about their practices, but at the same time most of us are guilty of supporting it. Just about everyone has a pair of Nike shoes, or shorts or something, including the guy who bought a pair even after all the melee.
The whole trolling article was just sad? How are people so heartless as to do that to someone whose kid just committed suicide? They are going through quite enough without people calling them up and harassing them. Would people do that if they actually had to do it face to face, I would like to think not. To go along with this is the grievers who just go around and generally make things miserable for everyone else. What is their motivation for this? People reactions. They are just like the school bully, who one people stop reacting to, has much less fun and eventually moves on to someone who will react. What a sad world this is.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Meme, Internet Meme
I am guilty of BWN. At times I feel useless at my job because it is so INCREDIBLY boring, that I dink around on the internet to pass time. This is when I find myself watching the recommened youtube videos; I am then contributing to "contagious media". I feel that if youre not participating in the harmless form of contagious media, you are then greifing. This is the first time Ive heard of griefing. I feel its a waste of time, but is BWN a waste of time too? Am I falling victin to griefing because I am dinking around on the interent at work, not doing producting things, making myself feel useless?
memes, trolls
Memes and Trolls
I agree with one of the readings that says that the goal is for everyone to have fun. I think that it is totally possible to have fun trolling the internet. But some people just have to know when they have gone to far. Also who gets to make the decision of what makes a good meme and what falls short? I know that youtube is a big place to share and get a meme started but really what makes people find that one amazing video and email it to all of their friends? I guess those people who have lots of time on their hands and enjoy spending it on youtube are the main meme starters...
Trolls and Viral Phenomena
What I keep struggling with is why they actually do this… what do they really get out of it? I think the Schwartz and Gregson articles both question trolls and griefers on why they do what they do. The answer seems to be for many different reasons. These could include boredom, attention and most interestingly, a heightened sense of the media. What I mean by the last point could mean that they are aware that what they are using is a tool… whether it is a game, a forum, or a Youtube comment. They are just having fun and pointing out the absurdities of the medium. I think a lot of trolls are doing it because they feel better than the people they are messing with.
In the Schwartz article one of the trolls explains, “Trolling will end as soon as we all get over it.” If people can just ignore what these people are doing maybe they will subside, but as long as there are people getting defensive about a trolls reaction to them, there will be trolls there to counteract. I think anonymity has a big part of trolling as well. Tina’s post responded to trolling and cyber bullying to the extreme, but I think there could be something else to that. Is there a way to regulate what is being said if it goes beyond certain lines. Would trolls say the same things to a person’s face that they would post online? The Schwartz article touches on free speech on the web… Is it possible for there to be enforcement on the internet to limit what people can say to others to reduce the risk of things like someone killing themselves over a troll? How would you feasibly have the resources to do that over something as expansive as the Internet? I don’t know.
I find Internet memes incredibly interesting in how they become too popular. The main reason contagious media is so viral is because of the social aspect, as the Peretti article says, contagious media, “is the kind of media you immediately want to share with all your friends.” Along the same lines, people tend to remember things that are social rather than informative. I feel like this is the reason many companies are driving toward viral marketing because it is more often remembered than traditional advertisements. It seems to be hard to predict what forms of contagious media will be successful or be forgotten.
I cannot imagine anyone, including the creator of peanut butter jelly time, would think that it would become such a widespread Internet meme. So who decides what will be successful and what won’t? It comes back to the social aspect of memes and viral marketing… the power is no longer in the hands of the advertisers, it is up to the people on social networks, interactive mediums, forward e-mailers, and even basic internet users of what will be spread around the community. The emphasis of media on the Internet is going toward user created and manipulated content. Audiences have been a large part of what we see in media, but more than ever we are deciding what to do with the media and how it should be presented.
Don't Feed the Trolls!!
Meme
Contagious Media
First of All i'm No Griever...
The Wikipedia reading about internet memes allowed for me to put a name with a face. All the videos I send friends and family that I find are funny are considered internet memes. Any parody videos posted on Youtube that gets a “cult” following or reference back to a form of popular culture are consider memes. Something intriguing about this reading had to be the use of the words vanity sites. These are your Myspace, Facebook pages that include personal information and are mainly used for entertainment and communication. Like I said before the reading basically broadened my vocabulary skills for whenever I run into a web critic down the line.
The other reading that hit home was the one about griefing. As a multiplayer gamer at one point in my life, I’ve experienced griefers who either lag (slow) up a game, kill their own teammates, and break any other rules in the game. People’s moods change so quickly these days and some find it acceptable/therapeutic to go online and lash out. There are options in every game where players can boot an individual or report them so their griefing rein will end, but people can always make new accounts. People have to realize that not everyone is happy in the world and even though Second life or WWE Universe may be your home away from home get away place, it’s a playground for someone else who’s going to test your limits. If a person goes to far you can get jail time I guess after reading this article of a couple divorcing in Second life and one hacked the other’s account and may serve 5 years in prison…
http://www.itexaminer.com/divorced-woman-kills-husbands-avatar.aspx
The best part of the reading is where it states, “The key point here is that everyone has the same goal – have fun. Unfortunately, for one group – the griefers – achieving their goal precludes other users from reaching theirs.” Everyone has different ways of having fun and in my mind if you can’t take the heat get out the kitchen. You read about people killing themselves because someone bullied them online and all this stuff; there is a point were enough is enough and people have to realize there is a log off/off switch option available if someone is really bothering you that bad…be the bigger person.
From my online gaming experiences I’ve learned that if you don’t like someone who’s online gaming with you and they’re giving you a hard time, go head to head (1v1) against them and if you win talk trash, if you lose log off the game so you don’t have to hear them talk trash…easy concept I know, but you wouldn’t believe how many people take it to the next level.
PS when you end Facebook official status be prepared for the consequences…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7676285.stm
Lulz....trolls...and hackers...oh my!
The Repulsive Troll - this troll will use words or images to attempt to shock and anger users; if shock or anger is expressed then he wins.
The Argumentive Troll - this troll is looking for an argument, and can usually win it. Any disagreement can turn into a major victory for this troll, the only way you can win is to agree with him.
The Personal Attack Troll - This troll has the mind of an elephant and never forgets; he or she files away any info you have posted about yourself to possibly use against you later often with embarrassing results. The more personal information you reveal about yourself the worse this troll will abuse you with it later.
The Disinformation Troll - This troll loves to disinform people; he might go edit wikipedia or post fake articles on message boards sites to see how many people take the bait.
The Joke Troll - If you bite into this trolls bait the joke is probably going to be on you.
The Character Troll - Plays upon stereotypes etc. such as pretending to be a member of the opposite race, or the opposite sex to make their point.
The Long Troll - This is a longer drawn out troll over an extended period of time; long trolls can range from a few days to months. Most long trolls require gaining the trust of other members before baiting them. Our forum member Oldlurp recently faked his death resulting in a couple of users calling an ambulance for him. It took about a week for Oldlurp to be reborn and come back to the boards.
Here’s a couple great examples of funny trolling supplied by a couple members of our board…
And, I would like to add that when we talk about trolling all I can think about is those little plastic dolls from my youth with the stringy, magenta hair on my computer screen in place of the pointer...just fyi!!!
memeology
To help support the idea of contagious media and contagious ideas, its as if you start out with an idea that "inspires conversation, provokes debate, or moves us to tell a friend" as the seed that is planted underground. When you begin to water that seed with social investment through the use of communication technologies and multiple recipient consumption, the idea seems to "spread on its own, like a self-replicating virus." With the example of the 'sweatshop' shoes, the artist wanted to construct an idea that would speak to Nike on how he felt about sweatshop labor. He even used the company's own resources to simply relay his views, which is really genious. When Nike refused his request for the 'sweatshop' shoes, it then turned into the seed of the contagious creation that it became through blogs, message boards, and email forwarding.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Memes, Trolls, Etc.
The Jonah Peretti article about Nike was interesting mostly because it was ridiculous how the George Walden guy freaked out over what had happened to Peretti. The guy seems like he just assumes that Peretti had some big agenda to attack the Nike Corporation and bring them all this negative media attention, but it was just something interesting that Peretti passed along to a couple friends, who then passed it on to their friends, and so on. I suppose, though, that anything that gets as big as that did is bound to have people criticize it, no matter what it is, though.
The second Peretti article about contagious or viral media made me think about all the different ways that companies use contagious media to promote their products, like how they create websites to promote their latest video game. It starts with a few people discovering it, then it spreads, and eventually you have people dedicated days and weeks to figuring out what exactly is being promoted or anything else like that, going through the site or whatever information they are given over and over for the smallest details. It seems like that is always an almost sure-fire way to gain interest for your product, and I’m surprised that it isn’t employed more than it actually is.