no penny necessary

Cautious Restraint

2008-04-19T23:47:18Z

I have mixed feelings about blogs--mostly because the internet gives people the illusion that its safe to blurt out deepest feelings and express what, under normal circumstances, ought not be expressed. Its always tempting to throw out random comments about what we love or what we hate with less thought to who might be affected by our outburst than what we might have if we were standing face to face with . . . anyone. And yet, it offers a creative outlet and provides an audience, size often unknown, for the secret poet, lyricist, actor, or hopeless romantic inside of all of us. As more Jane's and Joe's find their voice online, one phrase all of us ought to remember is "cautious restraint." Editorials are quickly replacing good journalism and the reporting of verifiable fact. Opinions are a dime a dozen, and too many people believe everything they read. So if you happen to be online finding your voice, please remember not to lose your mind.

Bloggers, Stand up for 1st Amendment Responsibility

2007-04-30T15:42:18Z

This morning I encountered a disturbing article about the harrassment female bloggers receive. While both male and female bloggers encounter tastless comments online, women are threatened with rape, abuse, and death, and the threats often extend to their families. Comments like these demonstrate that women-hating is alive and well in the 21st Century. The unfortunate consequence of this hate speech is that a forum meant to level the playing field is becoming an unwelcoming place for women.

]]> Many prominent female bloggers are abandoning their posts or going underground out of fear and intimidation. Some believe that the male dominated industry has some that would like to keep it that way and find threatening women in sexually explicit ways does the trick. The educated man should be outraged. It is time the blogosphere hold itself to higher standards and condemn such behavior. Some bloggers support such a move and want to create a code of conduct, but others say it will stiffle free speech. To all of the bloggers in the world who are worried about stiffling free speech: THREATENING A WOMAN WITH RAPE AND MURDER IS NOT FREE SPEECH!! Come on, people. Our mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters deserve better than this.

If you have a comment section on your blog you also need to have someone monitoring it and removing threatening and obscene comments. I also support the elimination of anonymity on blog posts. A lot of respectable organizations require that you register with a legitimate email address before you can participate in their online community. This may at least deter the fly-by crazies and allow the organization to ban certain commentors.

The men in the online community need to stand up for our women. Not because women need protecting, but because in a male dominated industry (and society for that matter), it is their responsibility.

For more reading on the subject, view the original article "Sexual Threats Stifle Some Female Bloggers" By Ellen Nakashima at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/29/AR2007042901555.html?hpid=topnews

Comminfotainment?

2006-12-21T05:15:43Z

I was reading the New York Times online and I came across an article called "The Future of Telecommunications May Be 'Comminfotainment.'" In it, Victoria Shannon summarizes her interview with Alcatel- Lucent's Chief Technology Officer, Olivier Baujard. Baujard believes that as early as 5 years from now, the telcos and mobile operators will be no more. In their places will be broadband providers offering channels of communication that will provide customers with voice, data, and video.

]]> Already we are seeing the shift to service bundles as the cable companies and telcos expand their markets and compete directly with one another. Baujard envisions a future where customers can decide how they want their bandwidth to be used and what type of traffic gets a higher priority. While faster downloads will continue to be important, the increase in file sharing and online communities that allow members to upload their own creative content will begin to influence the available rate of upstream throughput.

With the migration to "comminfotainment" comes a need for changes in policy as well as the need to adapt to economical changes. Baujard points out that distributors and retailers will not be as important to the equation when data and video can be sent directly to the home over broadband. Talk about information renaissance, this will be an interesting transformation, indeed.

For the original article, visit http://www.nytimes.com/iht/2006/12/21/technology/IHT-21ptend21.html?ref=technology

my life, the musical

2006-12-14T04:25:16Z

When I was an undergrad and my life revolved around AIM (Aol Instant Messanger, just in case you didn't know), I would pride myself on the cleverness of my away messages. Hey, don't hate. Anyway, one of my favorites went something like this. . .

]]> "Wouldn't it be great if life were a musical. I'm not here right now because I'm wandering around campus waiting for an opportune moment to burst into song."

I'm not ashamed to admit that I was raised on musicals. My brother and I (sorry bubba) would run around the house and the neighborhood singing the classic songs of the silver screen. I can think of several moments of my adolescent life that were excellent opportunities for a jazzy walk through the halls of my school or a solemn ballad lamenting the troubles of the dating world--if only I had an orchestra to back me up. All this to say, I know why ipods and mp3 players have taken off as must have gadgets. This desire to live a real life musical lies deep within all of us.

It reminds me of an episode of Ally McBeal (did anyone else watch that show?). Basically, someone told Ally (Calista Flockhart) that to help give her confidence she should have a theme song that she sings in her head as she walks down the street. One day, she started dancing to her theme song and one by one all of the people walking next to her started to get down. It was hilarious. I have had several personal theme songs since then. Perhaps, my dear readers, I shall one day share my current theme song with you. Until then I say unto you, good bye, "gooood byeeeeeeee."

hark, dost thou speaketh true?

2006-12-11T17:46:47Z

During my senior year English class in high school, we did a unit on Renaissance England complete with field trip to a Renaissance Fair followed by the production of our own renaissance fair in the hallways of our school. We researched the era, made or own costumes, and even learned a dance that we performed every 20 minutes or so for the visitors (underclassmen and teachers). It was actually a lot of fun and not cheesy and embarrassing at all. The best part was trying to speak Elizabethan English for two hours.

]]> Usually when people break into their best Elizabethan speak, they end up quoting from Romeo and Juliet. But I would like to submit for your enjoyment, a poem by Edward de Vere.

LOVE THY CHOICE.

Who taught thee first to sigh, alas, my heart ?
Who taught thy tongue the woeful words of plaint ?
Who filled your eyes with tears of bitter smart ?
Who gave thee grief and made thy joys to faint ?
Who first did paint with colours pale thy face ?
Who first did break thy sleeps of quiet rest ?
Above the rest in court who gave thee grace ?
Who made thee strive in honour to be best ?
In constant truth to bide so firm and sure,
To scorn the world regarding but thy friends ?
With patient mind each passion to endure,
In one desire to settle to the end ?
Love then thy choice wherein such choice thou bind,
As nought but death may ever change thy mind.

Earle of Oxenforde.

Realism in Renaissance Art

2006-12-11T02:11:59Z

While studying art in my undergraduate years, I sculpted a rough block of soap stone approximately 4x5x10 inches into three figures. Soap stone is so named for its relative softness (a chisel and mallet were still involved), and my first time around, I managed a figurative expression of human beings. I think it turned out pretty good. After having that experience, I am all the more amazed at the detail with which the renaissance artists created realistic--and large--figures in marble and bronze.

]]> According to the National Gallery of Art, the monumental statues of the church of Orsanmichele in Florence created by Nanni di Banco, Donatello, and Ghiberti are the first recognized works to be considered Renaissance Art. The statues combine the realism of antiquity and the spiritual expressiveness of the Middle Ages, but one cannot fully appreciate the detail and craftsmanship of these works without examining them for oneself. Since I cannot take you Florence (and indeed, I have not been myself), I'll do my best to explain how wonderful these sculptures are, in particular, Nanni di Banco's Four Crowned Martyrs Saints.

The four figures were carved out of three pieces of marble. The details that stand out to me are the soft folds of their clothing. It's a paradox in stone. Originally, their hair, beards, and the edges of their clothes were also gilded. The original white marble and gold gilding must have been breath-taking. Over the centuries, the statues have lost the white glow, but I still long to go to Florence and see them myself.

For more information about the statues of Orsanmichele visit the website of the National Gallery of Art at
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2005/orsanmichele/index.shtm

No Penny Necessary

2006-12-10T18:49:46Z

Since a weblog is essentially an online journal, and my name is shared with someone whose career path draws a lot of attention on the internet, I decided to give my blog a name that had relevance to both the concept and my experiences in CICS. The title of my weblog originated from the saying “A penny for your thoughts,” but my colleagues at the Center can also appreciate it for the reference to a practice by one of our professors. Dr. Jay Gillette has the habit of giving someone a penny as a token of wealth in exchange for a piece of information, because “information is wealth.” In this case, I am offering my thoughts, and any information they might contain, free of charge.

Info Renaissance: Powered by Google

2006-12-09T03:24:02Z

A major catalyst of the European Renaissance was the invention of the printing press. Books could be made cheaply and were distributed to people that didn't have access to such writings before, spurring growth in the economy, human thought, and artistic expression. Thanks to the internet, another type of renaissance is occuring in our lifetime. But the internet with its millions of pages would be impossible to navigate without search engines like Google.

]]> In The Search, John Battelle writes about the search engine revolution that has both changed the face of business and the way we use the internet. Larry Page and Sergey Brin started Google while studying at Stanford University in the mid to late 1990’s. It began with a project called BackRub that determined what sites were back-linked to a URL. The two then created an algorithm called PageRank that ranked links in importance in relation to what it was linked to. Page and Brin realized they had created something that would be incredibly useful as a search engine and Google was born. Since that time "to google" has become a verb, and the internet is a useful tool for millions of people around the world. It has spurred technological advancements in the way we communcate with one another, how people do business, and even how we express ourselves. Welcome to the new renaissance.

The Renaissance Woman in Me

2006-12-05T04:25:17Z

The European Renaissance is the period following the Middle Ages that spans the early to mid 1400’s and 1500’s and is noted for its advances in the availability of information due to the invention of the printing press, economic changes that led to a more informed and affluent middle class, as well as profound changes in philosophy, art, and architecture.

]]> In the same way, the era in which we live today can be called the Information Renaissance. Thanks to the internet, information is literally at our fingertips. We can communicate with one another from different sides of the world in real time and can exchange, collect, and supply information with the touch of a button. It has changed our economy as well as the way we create and share artistic content.

As I thought about the European Renaissance, I came to see a similar transformation in my life. I’ve always been a pretty good student--sometimes referred to as a nerd for enjoying school and making small talk with the teachers. However, as an undergrad I remained unfocused, jumping from major to major. I graduated with the plan to get a masters degree so that I could eventually support myself and earn a comfortable living. In the mean time, I would see what the world was all about. Of course, life doesn’t always turn out as we plan, and I found myself in need of some immediate direction as far as my career was concerned.

I found direction at the Center for Information and Communication Sciences at Ball State University right here in my hometown, and with it, my own personal renaissance. I find myself constantly flooded with new information and different ways of thinking about the world around me. It is a “rebirth” of my own intellectual and professional existence, a period of transition into the next phase of my life.

For more information on European Renaissance http://www.learner.org/exhibits/renaissance/index.html

ESP. . . . N

2006-11-28T05:51:53Z

The weirdest thing happened to me tonight. I was minding my own business doing some work on my computer when I decided to check my email. That's all I did, I opened a new window and clicked on the email link in my favorites. All of a sudden, I hear this click sound--as if I was navigating a page--and ESPN radio starts coming through the computer's speakers.

]]> I thought to myself "what is this?" I looked at my AIM buddy list because sometimes if you rollover their advertisements accidently, you end up listening to who knows what. Nope, target ad. I closed all my windows, radio still coming through loud and clear. Is this a prank? I check my task manager, the only thing running was a webpage that was open to Cisco's website. Pretty sure cisco doesn't have an ESPN news feed.

The mind boggles. . . I had to turn of the speakers so that I could focus on my work. Are you kidding? I can't focus!! Why is ESPN radio hijacking my speakers?? I must know the answer to this question. The only thing I can figure is that somehow the wireless network is picking it up and feeding it through the computer somehow. . . Nah, that doesn' t make any sense.

And so my fellow techies and information scientists, if you have any idea why sports updates are interrupting my study time, please let me know. Until then, I will distract myself with, lets see, how about some Christmas hits.

still old-fashioned

2006-11-24T19:54:04Z

Yesterday, my family piled in the ol' station wagon and headed to Ohio to visit our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins and so forth. I noticed my brother had some kind of odd contraption in his pocket, but I didn't inquire as to what it was as I was still trying to pack up the car. I had chosen a few of my favorite CD's for the two hour ride and slipped them in my bag. Afterall, there's nothing worse than splotchy radio.

As we were pulling out, my brother took out his girlfriend's iPod and told my dad to put the radio on a certain station, proudly declaring he had brought his friend's iTrip with him. Well, I thought I was pretty up-to-date when it comes to new technological toys, but apparently no one sent me the iTrip memo. What is this iTrip he speaks of, I wondered.

]]> Well, the iTrip is a little attachment that creates an FM signal that sends the musical content of your choice to the nearest radio. How brilliant!!! No USB cables, compatability problems, or "me next" arguments all because of a little ingenuity with RADIO waves! Wow, I was flabbergasted to say the least, the only thing I could think to say was that I brought some CD's because I'm still old-fashioned. Well, then I had to laugh because I used CD's and old-fashioned in the same sentence. I mean its not like I was refering to good ol' scratchy vinyl. (That's another blog entry entirely). Anyway, we had an enjoyable trip thanks to the musical stylings of my brother.

The sad news is when I got home to check out this iTrip gizmo, I found out that it has been discontinued by Griffin Technology (http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/itrip/) probably because Apple did not appreciate someone else profiting from their beloved iPod (that's also another blog entry). Sad indeed. Fortunately for us, there's always Amazon and Ebay. Hurry while supplies last.

team 2 dcc test

2006-11-20T02:02:41Z

This is a distributed collaborative community experiment with the Weblog for Team 2.

]]> Hey team,

How's it going with the typing of the theories? Let me know your availability for Monday and Tuesday as far as meeting with Mr. Thomas of Children's Sanctuary. When you get the theories typed up lets post them on our ilockers so we can begin to get an idea of where we are as a team.

it's okay, I'm not crazy

2006-11-20T01:05:18Z

Well, its official. I have jumped on the bandwagon, went along with the crowd, I've become a lemming, jumped off the bridge, conformed, or however you want to put it. I didn't really like it, I made fun of people who used it, and even now, I still don't know how I feel about my recent purchase. That's right, you guessed it, I have taken one step closer to a Star Trek existence. In a word, Bluetooth.

]]> Yes, Bluetooth. If you see me walking down the street talking to myself, its probably not because of the stress. Actually, if you look closely at the blue light, you'll be able to tell. . . if it's flashing, it's the stress, if it's solid, I'm on the phone so, shhhh. On the one hand, its nice to be able to talk on the phone and fold laundry with no wire getting tangled up with my socks. On the other, I feel like next there will be a surgical procedure to insert an earpiece and microphone right into my head. Perhaps my apprehension surrounding Bluetooth technology is silly, stemming from too much sci-fi growing up. But it makes you wonder, how did we ever get along with out all this technology, and will we ever get to the point where we say, we don't need anymore technology, but thanks?

"Creativity is Born of Necessity"

2006-11-12T23:40:30Z

The other day I was thinking about the phrase "Creativity is born of necessity." As a new mom, I have come to appreciate the phrase for its insight. It makes me wonder whether the phrase was first coined by a mom, or perhaps we just made it popular. Afterall, I've also heard that "Creativity is the mother of invention." So if Necessity is the mother of Creativity, and Creativity is the mother of Invention, then Invention is the granddaughter of Necessity. My question is then, who is the father of creativity and invention?

]]> I'm not sure I can answer that question, and I would even venture to say that there isn't one gentleman that Necessity can point to for sure. Now lets not be too hard on poor Necessity, she's had a hard life and knows what it's like to be without. She was scorned by Resources so we know he's not the father, at least not of Creativity. Perhaps, Ambition knows something about it, or maybe Passion, or quite possibly Industry. Well, until we begin an investigation or do a DNA test we may never know for sure. In the mean time, it's fun to speculate.

Enough about rights, be responsible

2006-11-07T03:06:11Z

In the Monday October 24, 2006 edition of the Muncie Star Press, a high school student expressed his disgust over a woman winning $11.3 million over what he called petty name-calling in the blogosphere. The Florida woman sued another woman for defamation after she called her a “crook,” “a con artist,” and “a fraud” on Fornits.com.

The first problem I have with his criticism is that he seems to have little understanding of first amendment rights. It seems the only lesson he could extract from the lawsuit is that we “should keep our thoughts to ourselves” while the greater lesson should be that the whole country needs a refresher course in constitutional rights.

]]> It seems there have been several stories recently about teenagers (and adults) blogging recklessly. For example, a few weeks ago, a teen was questioned by the secret service for posting threats about President Bush on her MySpace site. Honestly, what are they teaching in school these days?

Since blogging is a relatively new phenomenon, many bloggers assume that the law can’t touch them, especially if they remain anonymous. While anonymity might protect you for a while, the laws surrounding illegal speech such as defamation, libel and slander should still apply to online activity, and the courts are quickly filling in precedents to insure that this is the case. According to USA Today, there have been 50 blog lawsuits in the past 2 years, and I’m sure there are many more to come.

But seriously, people, the next time you want to post a blog in anger or frustration that attacks a person’s reputation and livelihood and is not based on fact or clarified that it is opinion, perhaps you should take a deep breath and count to three . . . or else hire a lawyer.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-10-internet-defamation-case_x.htm

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_popculture_blog/2006/10/zomg1_teen_leik.html

http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061024/OPINION03/610240308/1014/OPINION

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-10-02-bloggers-courts_x.htm