RDMillner’s Weblog

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I started these readings expecting to learn about how search engines work. I honestly expected to read some technical jargon about how search engines do their thing.

I actually took away something about how I look for information on the web.

I remember when I first starting using the internet, back when I had to walk two miles through the snow up hill both ways to get in line for the 28.8 kbs modem. Way back then, the first thing I would do to find something was to type it into a web address. A few awkward conversations with my parents and some groundings after they found adult content in the history and I realized that typing in www._____.com probably wasn’t the best way to do things. So I found search engines.

The best methods out there were engines that searched multiple search engines at once. I used them but I never became fluent in them. They were a tool that I was forced to use. Google changed that. They made search engines better and now thats primarily what I use.

But it took more than Google’s website. When I bought my first Mac, it came with Apple’s Safari browser built in. In the top right corner of the browser, there is a Google search bar. I don’t even have to go a website now. I can search while my homepage is loading. And I do. I use that built-in search bar for every little request. I don’t even think about where something could be, I immediately search for it.

I think thats the magic of search engines. They appeal to the laziness in people. The Internet saves us from going to the library for data and search engines save us from thinking about where that data is. The billion dollar question is: what comes next? How can they make more data closer to our fingertips?

The technological feats outlined in this weeks articles are neat. Some of them, like getting directions or finding places to eat via your phone or a personal fabricator, are cool and useful. Some are sort of creepy, like having entire relationships via SMS or sending people blank messages to get a response. Some, like the guy who rigged his doorbell up to phone so he could see who was coming, just make me wonder why. Why was the recurring question that came to me throughout this weeks readings.

Why are these things necessary? Have we reached a point where we have to be connected EVERY second? Have people forgot how to breath without their cell phones? You can’t even use the phrase “cut the cord” because all these things are cordless. I guess I don’t understand why other people are so attached to their mobile devices.

I take my phone most places. When my best friend is on a break from work, we spend that half hour texting. But I also turn my phone off on a regular basis. Most nights my phone is either off or on vibrate in the other room. Depending on where I’m going, I’ve even been known to leave it in the car. And there are no games on my phone. My phone is my primay means of communication to everyone, but its still only a tool. I don’t let it govern my life and I hope I never get to that point. So I guess I don’t understand why people need their phones to do everything. If anyone can explain that to me, please do.

Oh, and if anyone knows how Japan and Finland got to be the centers of cell phone technology I would love that explained too. I keep searching for things that would tie these together but I’m coming up blank.

I’m not sure if any of the running candidates have viral videos. I don’t believe they do, because that seems too “new generationish” for the old guard. At least I haven’t heard of any viral videos from their respective camps.

The reason I’m not sure is I don’t pay attention to political campaigns. Campaigns are nothing more than advertising machines attempting to sway voters. I don’t want to be swayed, I want to make a decision based on whats important to me so I avoid them.

I use a simpler process to decide who to vote for: a few days before the election I find a fact sheet, chart or something else that sums up all the candidates’s views on all the issues and vote for the candidate most in line with my own views.

I play the online game World of Warcraft. I’ve played the Warcraft series since the first strategy game came out in 1994, a fact that makes it the longest relationship I’ve ever had. I grew up playing these games with my friends. We’d get together, start the computer and work through missions together. Having two people working on a mission made it more fun and made it easier. We played on one computer and took turns. Then, when later games came out we’d play across a network against each other.

Fast forward a couple of years and World of Warcraft comes out. Here was the chance to actively participate in the game universe I had grown up in and loved. And I resisted. I thought paying to play a game each month was kinda dumb. I resisted until some friends got it and started playing. I’d borrow their characters and play around a bit. It intrigued me so I bought it. Played for a few months then stopped. I was behind my friends so I couldn’t interact with them.

I started playing again last fall. I was sitting around with two friends, we were bored so I suggested getting copies of the game. A trip to Best Buy later we were logged in and having the time of our lives. Now I cant imagine not playing World of Warcraft.

Its a fun game. We don’t obsess over it we just log in and have fun. We mock each other, we’re constantly saying “wonder what happens if we do this,” and we die a lot. Since they’re still in New York, World of Warcraft is how we do things together. I can’t see them in person nearly as much as I’d like to but we can be together anytime in World of Warcraft. As much as this sets of my nerd alarm, we even play when we’re all together. I bring over my laptop and we set around staring at our respective screens. Its actually more fun this way because we can talk instead of having to type.

My primary character just hit level 57 yesterday. I have a lot of time invested in him. Hes not as close to me as a pet and I don’t miss him when I’m not playing but hes part of my life. I can imagine life without that character but I’ve come to depend on World of Warcraft. This is how I interact with friends who aren’t around.

Last Saturday when I was supposed to in class, I borrowed a video camera and went home to make a movie. Apple was sponsoring a contest called the Insomniac Film Festival and I decided I should be involved. The rules were simple: 24 hours to write, record, edit and submit a movie that featured as many of the items from the list of required elements as possible. The list came out at 9:00 AM Saturday morning and consisted of the following: a park bench, a bird cage, a character named Robin Darjeeling, radio static, a tuxedo, a Dutch Angle camera angle, a dream sequence, an edited match cut scene, the phrase “don’t tempt me” and someone dressed as an old person.

This was the greatest experience of my life. I’ve never had so much fun, laughed so hard and learned so much in a single day. To make it even better I had three of my best friends with me every step of the way.

I’ve only really used a video camera several times. I’ve never directed anybody. I don’t know the technical terms to articulate what I wanted to do with the camera. I’ve only edited once. Two of my actors had never acted before, the other one had only done a plays. The contest was set up so we couldn’t do any prep work ahead of time. This was very much the blind leading the blind. Later this week I’ll post the movie we made.

As I walked into my apartment today, my landlord caught me and said he had something for me. I sighed and immediately wondered how long this would take (I affectionately think of him as the time burgler). He came back with the front page of Friday’s New Haven Register.

Remember how Halavais said he and some professors sat around and discussed Facebook? It made the front page, above the fold. While he’s not directly quoted, I still find it amusing he didn’t tell us reporters were present at (what it seemed to me as) a quick discussion.

Heres the article.

I must disagree with Jenkins’ “Worship at the Alter of Convergence,” I think we’re much closer to the black box than he thinks. My brother-in-law has a computer in his living room that holds his music, controls his cable, records tv shows, plays dvds and does all the things a traditional computer does. Its always on, always connected to the Internet and uses a wireless mouse and keyboard set so he can control it from across the room. If he was willing to enter the legal gray area of software emulation, he could play most of his video games on it also.

Look at a cell phone. In addition to making calls, my cell phone can (if I’m willing to pay for it) watch videos, stream tv, take pictures, record quick movies, store notes to myself, play music, act as a planner and connect to the Internet for email and browsing. Thats a lot of features that comes pretty close to Jenkin’s mobile “black box” idea.

Of the two examples I’ve given, I think the cell phone comes closest to proving Jenkins wrong. I went to a store and bought that, just like anyone could do. My brother-in-law had to build his system, which requires slightly more specialized knowledge than swiping a credit card. Jenkins is a preaching about a mass produced device that anyone can buy that will control all media, just like my cell phone.

We’re there Jenkins, “black boxes” are all around us if you know where to look.

Lord of the Rings meets The A-Team is the subject of my mash-up. This makes me laugh everytime I watch it. I like it for a lot of reasons: it combines two wildly different subjects, it combines old and new, Gimli in Mr. T’s role makes me laugh, I could go on and on. This mash-up’s use of movie clips with a different audio track seems to be the most used mash-up formula out there.

What I don’t like about this is when it starts editorializing. The A-Team had four characters, all of which are shown in the video. Adding Gandalf and Frodo lessens the mash-up because the video is no longer doing the work, the creators are voicing their opinions. Instead of showing those extra characters, the creators should have spliced in different scenes from the movies or ended the theme song.

I’ve been discussing with Michele about whether Internet blogs should follow grammar rules. My personal opinion is that unless you’re blogging for a reason (an assignment or the blog is used as a resource on a topic) you don’t have to use proper grammar. My blog is a recollection of my ideas and thoughts on a variety of topics, and if my ideas don’t require grammar I won’t use it. (Before I get comments, I’m a grammar nut. I even use it for text messages, I blame a string of forceful English teachers in high school.)

Given the rise of Internet slang usage (thank you Michele) does grammar even apply to the web based communications? Do I need to put punctuation after AMHIK (ask me how I know)? If I’m substituting letters/numbers for words (U,2) in a sentence, does the rest of the sentence have to use grammar? If grammar rules are needed, who will create them? English grammar is based on centuries of English language usage, who will create the rules for Internet grammar? Even since I’ve been online, the slang has changed. How do you adopt grammar for a constantly evolving language?

I don’t expect answers to these questions, I’m just curious what other people thing.