Category Archives: Student Blogs

blog 10-sm

Both the hacker manifesto and the cyborg manifesto argue that they are not all alike. By “they” I mean woman and teenagers. Both Donna and the mentor believe that people stereotype too much. The mentor believes that adults think all the kids are the same “Damn kid. Probably copied it. They’re all alike… Damn kid. All he does is play games. They’re all alike.” Donna suggests that women are not all alike but are equal to men. “There is not even such a state as ‘being’ female, itself a highly complex category constructed in contested sexual scientific discourses and other social practices.” (pg.7)  My manifesto is the freedom of online information. Today in society we use a lot of online information that we don’t even know when to stop. In my point of view we are over using it and taking advantage of it. There is so much information we can get off the internet today and anyone can put it online, sometimes we don’t even know if the information is true. One example of this is the state farm commercial when she believes everything that’s in the internet and according to her she goes on a date with a French model which by his physical looks it’s clear that he is not.  The freedom of online information should be thought as a privilege and not as a right. We should limit ourselves with the kind of information we can find online. We can literally find any kind of information online and can access most of it for free but how can we make sure if it’s accurate.

Blog 10

@starlingpreston

 

A manifesto is a “public declaration of policy and aims” (Merriam-Webster). Both the Hacker Manifesto and Cyborg Manifesto encompass multiple views of freedom and power. One such example is racial stereotyping. The Hacker Manifesto declares that hackers  “exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias…” (1). Similarly, The Cyborg Manifesto touches upon feminism and how new technologies are increasing growth for women’s jobs in the paid work force, “especially for many white women and people of colour” (Women in the Integrated Circuit para. 5). So these new technologies are not only increasing power for racially diverse people in the work force, but will continue to increase their power online, where race is no longer a factor.

Furthermore, I have decided to create my own manifesto about the lack of validity of online racial stereotyping, The Online Racial Manifesto. First off, I declare that online racial stereotypes are invalid because people can portray themselves as different or multiple races. In other words, a white woman may have a black male avatar. Therefore, any racial stereotyping is illogical. Furthermore, the anonymity that an avatar gives a person can create openings for discussions about race. For example, a black male’s avatar could be portrayed as a white supremacist, which would allow him to discuss racial views with other white supremacists. In person, these people would never be able to discuss their views because the white supremacists would be unwilling to speak on a level ground with blacks.

Blog 10: Online info.

@kylemcgee77

The world has truly been blessed with the internet. The number one blessing that comes from the internet is the freedom of online information. Think back to the times before the internet. Where did people get all of their information from? They got them from books! But things definitely changed when essentially all the information in the world became available through a computer. The internet allows you to obtain infinite knowledge. But along with the freedom of online information, a stereotypical false claim started to arise. Claims such as, “I know I’m right. I read it on the internet” has become a way of justifying our answers. The obvious problem with this is that not everything you read on the internet is legit. Have you ever come across an advertisement or headline about health remedies or celebrity gossip? Things like this are read online daily and millions of people believe it! But shouldn’t they? The information came from the internet, right? We might be absorbing false information and not even knowing it. Another negative part of online information fake personal information. There are people that completely spill all their personal information to people via social networking. But sometimes, the person you think you are talking to really isn’t who they say they are. This can lead to many problems down the road (some being dangerous such as abduction). The freedom of online information in many cases really is “too good to be true.” Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

#dtcv

Freedom of information

@JacobWalton
The Internet has been around for almost 20 years, and yet very few people seem to understand how it works. Every time someone makes some new form of art-a video game, a movie, or some music-it is posted online. However, in digital space, it is tremendously easy for people to pirate it. This often deprives the creator of a vast amount of monetary gain. To defend their art, many corporations have reacted violently to internet piracy. For example, many video game companies, such as Blizzard, now only allow their games to be played while connected to the internet, even if the player is playing alone. though it makes the game harder to steal, it leads to so many people being online at once that the server crashes, and then no one can play the game. I believe that companies have a right to protect their property, but they must find a way to do so without limiting the medium.

Blog post #10

@chrisdtc101

The freedom of online information has been a touchy subject among people lately, and has even grabbed the attention of the US government who tried to pass the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) in the end of 2012. I believe that in today’s world, musicians, authors, film producers, and other producers of electronic goods need to recognize and accept that the Internet cannot be policed as well as they would like. If a producer chooses to release their product online, whether as an eBook, posting a video on Youtube, or releasing a song on spotify or iTunes, they need to realize that it is going to be taken and misused by other people on the Internet.

We live in a unique era where people can “pirate” and steal things easier than every before. I believe that anything that is posted online with the knowledge and approval of the product’s creator is free for use as long as it is cited and credited when used by someone else. This is an easy decision when concerning individual blogs, youtube videos, and websites, but is harder when the product is an important source of income for the producer. For someone who films writes on a blog for a living or runs a website, use of their writing without consent or citation is a serious problem.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where we cannot post anything online and expect the masses to respect private property and not pirate something. It just isn’t realistic in today’s society. I think that producers need to post their content online only if they are ok with it being reused by other people.

week 10 post

@CailinJohnson

The gamer culture is very interesting and very complex. Stereotypes about gamers include, that they are antisocial, lazy, and couch potatoes to name a few. However, in a video describing how video gamers could change the world’s problems the previous stereotypes of gamers will no longer be valid. Just as “hackers program because programming challenges are of intrinsic interest to them” gamers game because it interests them.  (Hacker Work Ethic p. 150-151) Videos games provide a completely new world that has its own characters, communities, methods of communication and relationships. Gamers use this as an opportunity to escape from the world that is their reality however the problems that they are solving in their games can be used to solve current world problems. (Gamer video) Also described in the video is that gamers could fix all kinds of world problems such as the economy and war situations.  If gamers could take the skills that they use in their games and apply it to the real world the stereotype surrounding the gamer would change. They would no longer be considered couch potatoes, lazy and antisocial they would be considered intelligent, outgoing, and politically or economically active. However this will be challenging. Gamers are socially awkward and that is why they enjoy being in a game world hiding behind their avatars than out in the real world solving real world problems. They would need to change the way they operate socially to change their stereotypes but if they could they would change the way gamers are thought of entirely.

Online Racial Stereotyping

@PerrinKyla

Another news story about racial profiling was on the news. Another article written about the racial stereotyping online. The African Americans are the ones stealing and robbing places, the Latinos are the ones dealing drugs, and they are both killing people.

They’re all alike (The Mentor).

“I do not know of any other time in history when there was greater need for political unity to confront effectively the dominations of ‘race’, ‘gender’, ‘sexuality’, and ‘class’.” (Haraway Pg.7).

Video games are a big cause of this racial stereotyping.

Young boys and sometimes girls are the ones to play these games.

“Approximately 80% of video game programmers are white, about 4% of designers are Latino, and less than 3% are Black” (Jones).

Clearly white people’s perspective on other races is not as subtle as they think.

We need to be the ones to help change the racism.

Change the perspective that all of the white people are “all alike.”

Our generation may not be like the older generations, but we have the ability to change how people treat others. There is a “need for unity” (Haraway Pg.5) to bring all races together to prove that the stereotypes are not always true.

Yes, there are times when the stereotypes are true and that could be due to the online information that is presented to children and young adults but it is up to us to be the change!

It’s pathetic how parents let their children grow into racist adults.

We can stop this racism, be heroes, and change lives.

One step at a time.

Blog Post 10: Gamer Manifesto

@DTC_AlexTDTran

We are gamers.

Stuck between the physical and the non-physical… The virtual perhaps? But otherwise, we ourselves are fractured. What is fractured? Our identities. What IS a gamer? (Haraway 5).

We are not like the “gamer girls” who call themselves gamers just because they played some retro game.

They’re all alike (Mentor).

We are the kids that sit on a computer and control it.

Regardless of whether or not we make a mistake, we’re on it.

We’re are the damned kids that all we do is play games (Mentor Par 10).

We aren’t your average people..

 

We can be super heroes.

We can be villains.

We don’t even need Gods…

Because we can be our own Gods.

There is no end to our potential and there is no stopping the inevitable.

People do not see who we truly are.

We don’t even see who we truly are.

Now that’s definitely a problem. Our identities are so fractured that we fail to apply our knowledge of the virtual to reality.

We are so engrossed in our own wants, our own games that we feel that we can stay there because it’s easy.

Life is too hard.

This is why we fail. We are too engrossed in our easy games. We have the potential to create a better world, not just because we play some petty games but we’ve become optimistic. We welcome challenges and aim to beat them. (McGonigal, TED Talks).

Pathetic almost, how we fail to step out of our own X-realities and step back into reality.

True reality.

You may not like us, but we are the future.

Only we can change the future of society.

Step out of your x-reality and come back to the real world.

They need you.

Weyman – Media

Media changes the user in several different ways. In today’s times, Facebook and twitter are so tied in with society that almost every single person has an account. Not only that, but almost everyone has a direct method to access their accounts, whether it be smart phone, laptop or tablet. From personal experience, I know that I almost always have Facebook open on my computer at home. I also receive notifications on my smart phone, which puts a “real time” effect on it. This is what Shirky was talking about when the idea of media becoming part of us was mentioned. Media offers people a way to communicate without having the delay of things like meeting up, mail delay, etc. Some people even rely on media as a sort of backbone to a life that they always wanted. This can be seen in games like World of Warcraft and Sims, where the character is totally customizable and can be set to even look like the real player. A big question that I have, is how would people who are friends on media interact in real life? If there are two people who are friends online based on what is seen, then would they be able to interact in real life? Shirky talks about this by bringing up the idea that media is becoming a common thing to all people, so common in fact, that I believe one day we will be so tied in to media, that it will be a basis for our lives.

Blog post #9

@chrisdtc101

The explosion of social media over the past several years has given people with access to new technology and the Internet to live a second life. This second life takes place in a virtual world filled with interactive places such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and games like World of Warcraft that allow us to create and customize our avatar. Coleman and Shirky state in “Hello Avatar” that, “an avatar is computer-generated figure controlled by a person via a computer.” The avatar is customized to our liking and gives people the chance to live what they would consider their ideal life: The life they wanted but could never have in the real world.

Media changes us because we can hide behind a computer and express our thoughts while avoiding any confrontation if we want to. We can make friends we would likely never make in real life. Either a type of person who wouldn’t want to associate ourselves with in real life, or someone who lives across the world and would never enter our environment without the Internet. Interacting through people on a computer gives us anonymity and allows us to pick and choose what the world sees of us. On social media websites like Facebook and Twitter, we can portray our highlights and the happy moments in our lives while leaving out the bad parts of our lives. This can alter the perception people on the Internet have of us.

The Internet changes us because it gives us the power to create a different interpretation of who we are. We only have to tell people bits and pieces of ourselves, and we can make ourselves seem more socially acceptable or more popular on the Internet that we may be in real life. The Internet gives us a chance to escape into our ideal world and for most of us, our ideal world is not the one we’re currently living in.