For this week’s blog post, I am choosing to respond to “Missed Connections”. I enjoyed reading this article because it highlighted issues that I feel are important to speak about and bring attention to. The internet is beneficial and helpful in many ways, and with the same amount, extremely dangerous. The power of a search engine is magnificent and can educate many people on all sots of things. Unfourtatuntaley, the education isn’t so well placed and unfairly so. In this article we see how putting a woman of odor into a search engine to learn about culture, heritage, history etc, but instead of that coming up first and foremost, pornagrophy related sites and articles come up. The problem is, that the internet hows the ability and power to teach so much, and it is placed in such a terrible way. We need to do better. We need to improve the machines to us, before it overcomes, as with any device. We need to be so cautious with what we allow to be seen and how it affects us an future generations, and this article highlights one example. I took from this reading how crucial it is to be on top of ourselves with technology. To say it even better, the video we watched in class the other day, the subjegation to technology, screams exactly what I am trying to say.

For this week’s blog post, I chose to respond to Lev Manovitch’s Visual Semiotics, Media Theory, and Cultural Analysis. In the essay Manovitch mentions how  text became relateable to how we study visual arts and media, based off a work that he read. He himself found, through his own study, that certain ways of readin texts ina computerized way, is impossible. From this I realized that even when we want to progress, and keep doing so, we will have stumbling blocks. We live in th age of computers, and therefore we think we are invincible in that field, but this shows me otherwise. As much as we live in the year 2018, and we already have self driving machines, and computers, and anything that comes after that is just a continually fixed or progressed edition or version. With that being said, we need to keep ourselves in check. We aren’t invincible. We cant play higher powers that can from the impossible overnight. We are humans, who hit bumps in the road, and this paper really showed me why.

For this week’s blog post, I opted to read “Comparative Textual Media” by Rita Raley. This reading really stuck out to me because it highlighted issues that really irk me in regards to technology and media. I never understood why, when texting, A texts B, but because it seems “difficult” to text out all the words so the message is shortened. Whenever I see that, my image of the communication process is lessened, or weakened, because I feel that the communication isn’t what it could be. I see that form of communication in technology a way of weakening our minds, and intelligence. It kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth when someone responds that way to me. I see our words and way of communicating, so much more crucial and vital,  now more than ever, with the future “Skynet” around the corner. How we speak, how we talk, how we learn, and read, we need to hold onto it, and the ways of the “old”, because technology wouldn’t existed without its’ foundation. We need to make sure not to lose ourselves to the future that is technology,  and it could start with how we text each other. That’s how I see it at least.

I chose to upload this photo because I found it extremely relatable to my story as well. While the story has great ending, and it is a light story, the setting is somewhat dark. My great- grandparents were both coming out of the war, having lost most, if not everything, and coming together with nothing. It was a dark, turning to light, quiet, not-so-sure-what-is-happening-next kind of time, and I think this picture represents that. It’s calm and peaceful, eerily quiet, coming into light.  This photograph represents the beginning go my great-grandparents story perfectly. For as we all know,  at the end of a dark tunnel, there is always a light.

“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light”- Albus Dumbledore.

For this week’s blog post, I chose to write about Marshall McLuhan’s Medium is the Massage. I absolutely loved reading this work because I believe it is extremely valuable, and imperative for the young generation of today to hear. McLuhan states that all the technologies that were ever created are the messages themselves, not exclusively the messenger, delivering the message. Technology is something that was originally created to help mankind, to benefit us. Today, it has become something that, while yes, it is super beneficial, and is so helpful and quick in everything, has crippled us and made us addicted to, on top of what Marshal calls the  “Age of Anxiety”.  Anxiety is definiltey one of the top words I would put hand in hand with technology. I can say from personal experience how any times my outlook and stress level would’ve been better had I not been attached to a device or connected to a technological relation of some sort. I won’t sit here and write how we would’ve been so much better off before smartphones, or advanced robotic equipment, because everyone is born in their right time. Not as second to early or late, and how they navigate this world is intended for this time period. But it is so crucial to check in with ourselves, to make sure we aren’t falling to prey as much as we unfortunately do nowadays.

For this week’s blog post, I am choosing to respond to Lev Manovitch’s “What is Visualization”. I thought this reading was very interesting to because it really put into perspective how far as a society we have come in regards to our communication, but even more so, the subcategory of visualized communicatinon.  Visualized communication can be dated pretty far back, pretty ancient, and each visual presentation, demonstrated or presented a story. Stories are what they had, myths, legends, family history was the history of the time. That is what was documented. Slowly but surely, we build up to some sort of textual documentation, and eventually, after constant editing and progression, we end up to today, and how out visual communication is transcribed in this day and age. I think it is so cool and fascinating to see how far the world has come. With our paintings, and art, and texts, and stories, it’s amazing what could be accomplished with the power of effort, science, and imagination.

For this week’s blog post, I chose to write about Mark Nunes’ “Email, Post, Letters”. I enjoyed reading this chapter because Nunes focuses on many things that attribute to the technological side of mail and what that entails. When we send an email, we don’t think of much when we type it, when we send it, and when we recieve a response. There was so much that went into the construction of faster mail delivery, that it became what we know as all sorts of different forms of mail. Letters, post, delivery, mail they are all such awesome and complicated services that have been     progressing for our “well-being”. The amount of number associated with daily deliveries is mind boggling. The amount our world had progressed from snail mail or no mail at all, depending on your geographical location, we have come so far. These words highlighted for me, how far our world, and our societies have come, what progress we have made in all ways. Technological, biological, and even  subcategories of just those areas of lie or so rich and filled what information, data, and onward and upward movement. That concept is awesome to think about, to know that if we apply mail and delivery progression, imagine so much more how much the world progressed in other departments, e.g. the Indsutrial Era, to name one.

For this week’s post,  I chose to respond to Ted Nelson’s Literary Machines. I left the reading with a load of spiraling thoughts, and focused to write about the progessiveness of Ted Nelson’s Project Xanadu. Project Xanadu was Nelson’s way of  eventually improving the World Wide Web and created the first hypertext project. It’s purpose of creation was similar to the purpose of creation of the Printing Press. To benefit mankind in many, many ways, to better science, to better education, etc. I enjoyed reading Nelson’s work because I I chose to look and how astonishing and formidable, the progression of putting text on to a computing technological level is. It’s facsinating when you read up on the work of a trailblazer. You see how much time and effort they put in, what their goals are, what they hope their creation will achieve for mankind and society. It inspires you, or me, to go out there and contribute to society in a productive way. To benefit mankind, to make us greater, and better, and live lives we are proud and happy living.

For this weeks’ blog post, I am responding to Brian Winstons’ “Introduction”. Brian chooses to touch upon the subject of how technology and humans relate to one another, and how the progress and production of technology changes and how it benefits us, as mankind. As technological production happens, we have to be careful to maintain its inferior position to humans. Yes, technology has its perks and is definitely beneficial,  but we do not want technology becoming the next superior artificial intelligence corporation taking us over. Seems a bit extreme, but that is how my favorite movie of all time started, The Terminator. We must appreciate where technology ideas began, its’ production, its’ continuous progression, its overall history in the past, its education in the present, and its potential in the future, but at a cost of caution.

In his work, Winston says “It is my contention that the received understanding of our current technological situation the view that we are living in the midst of an “Information Revolution” or at the start of an “Information Age” can be seen rather diffrently if the histories of the technologies involved are considered.” I could not agree more. We all have different ideas or thoughts on how technology is with us, how it is helpful or harmful. Either way, our job is to be on top of it and be helpful to ourselves and one another.