GROOVESHARK
Grooveshark is a search engine for streaming music that categorizes the search results into a really nifty format and lets you make a playlist of the tracks you find. It succeeds as being interactive because you provide input and the search engine brings back results that you then interact with further. What's particularly successful about this site is the nifty layout that I mentioned. I used to use Seeqpod for the same reason, but then that died and I found Grooveshark. Seeqpod only gave a list of songs that were in some way related to the search query, but also had the playlist feature. Grooveshark, on the other hand, has an awesome interface that gives you options on how to sort the files that get returned, so you can even enqueue an entire album with one click. I use it for all my music discovery needs.
I also really like this as a "media object" because it brings back more media...objects.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Further responses to Bolter Questions
From Dan's blog:
With the merging of mediums or changes in mediums, like new media, what effect does this have on culture? or does the culture change the medium?
My response:
Media and culture seem to have a mutual influence on each other. There are different things driving change in each of them, but the changes that take place have influences on both. Technology has an influence on what types of media are available, but culture can determine which media are actually utilized. After making this point, it seems like media is poised to have a larger impact on culture than vice versa. What a culture expresses is determined by the manner in which things can be expressed, so while culture influences what media are used, the media has a say in how that influence is made. I might not be explaining this very well, but I'm going to say that media has the larger impact in the mutual relationship of media and culture.
With the merging of mediums or changes in mediums, like new media, what effect does this have on culture? or does the culture change the medium?
My response:
Media and culture seem to have a mutual influence on each other. There are different things driving change in each of them, but the changes that take place have influences on both. Technology has an influence on what types of media are available, but culture can determine which media are actually utilized. After making this point, it seems like media is poised to have a larger impact on culture than vice versa. What a culture expresses is determined by the manner in which things can be expressed, so while culture influences what media are used, the media has a say in how that influence is made. I might not be explaining this very well, but I'm going to say that media has the larger impact in the mutual relationship of media and culture.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Response to Bolter Questions
From Crystal's blog:
1. In the reading, hypermedia and transparent media both desire to get past the limits of representation and to achieve the real. Yet, all media is remediation. Do you think that remediation detracts from the ability to achieve reality?
My response:
This brings up an interesting question concerning what we perceive as reality. Really, in recreating experience, there is no other option but to resort to remediation, but in some senses maybe remediation can begin by simply emulating reality and end with a new type of reality. To quickly answer the question, it is the only way that we can achieve reality without true experience, even though experiencing something that is remediated is in itself a real experience. If remediation eventually creates something similar enough to what we now perceive as reality, then there would essentially be no need to say one was more real, only to differentiate between the two as maybe separate, and equally legitimate, realities.
1. In the reading, hypermedia and transparent media both desire to get past the limits of representation and to achieve the real. Yet, all media is remediation. Do you think that remediation detracts from the ability to achieve reality?
My response:
This brings up an interesting question concerning what we perceive as reality. Really, in recreating experience, there is no other option but to resort to remediation, but in some senses maybe remediation can begin by simply emulating reality and end with a new type of reality. To quickly answer the question, it is the only way that we can achieve reality without true experience, even though experiencing something that is remediated is in itself a real experience. If remediation eventually creates something similar enough to what we now perceive as reality, then there would essentially be no need to say one was more real, only to differentiate between the two as maybe separate, and equally legitimate, realities.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Bolter Questions
1. Bolter says "Media need each other in order to function as media at all.", but what do you think he would say about the very first media?
2. I find this passage confusing: "Mediation is the remediation of reality because media themselves are real and because the experience of media is the subject of remediation." How can mediation be a remediation of the real when remediation needs a prior mediation in order to take place?
3. Bolter says that "remediation is reform in the sense that media reform reality itself." Can you think of any examples where media have done this?
2. I find this passage confusing: "Mediation is the remediation of reality because media themselves are real and because the experience of media is the subject of remediation." How can mediation be a remediation of the real when remediation needs a prior mediation in order to take place?
3. Bolter says that "remediation is reform in the sense that media reform reality itself." Can you think of any examples where media have done this?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Response to Ede Questions
From Sheena's blog:
So do you believe that a text can be studied with out considering the author whom wrote the text?
My response:
Yes. I think it's fairly easy to take a piece of writing for what it is without considering who wrote it. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that any argument or point the author intends to express should be evident without the reader having to know anything about the author. It's very likely that having knowledge of the author will provide additional insight, or at least a different perspective on the writing. That said, it may even detract from the reader's respect for a work of writing to find out who it was that wrote it. Previous conceptions of the writer are, in my opinion, unnecessary and, more often than not, harmful to the writing because the reader's preconceived notions about the writer can falsely add to or detract from the writing as it stands and can stifle new, creative interpretations of the text.
So do you believe that a text can be studied with out considering the author whom wrote the text?
My response:
Yes. I think it's fairly easy to take a piece of writing for what it is without considering who wrote it. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that any argument or point the author intends to express should be evident without the reader having to know anything about the author. It's very likely that having knowledge of the author will provide additional insight, or at least a different perspective on the writing. That said, it may even detract from the reader's respect for a work of writing to find out who it was that wrote it. Previous conceptions of the writer are, in my opinion, unnecessary and, more often than not, harmful to the writing because the reader's preconceived notions about the writer can falsely add to or detract from the writing as it stands and can stifle new, creative interpretations of the text.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Ede Questions
1. In "Intertexts", Ede and Lunsford have a fairly clear theme behind the quotations used there. Regardless, the authors neglected to make their own comments on the text and therefore their intentions with the work remain unclear. Do you think this is acceptable, or that an explanation is necessary?
2. How do you feel about the possibility of completely doing away with the concept of "author" due to a philosophical understanding of knowledge and creativity being attributable to no one person?
3. As a writing teacher, would you focus on the importance of the writer or the reader in relation to text? Explain the faults in the view that opposes yours.
2. How do you feel about the possibility of completely doing away with the concept of "author" due to a philosophical understanding of knowledge and creativity being attributable to no one person?
3. As a writing teacher, would you focus on the importance of the writer or the reader in relation to text? Explain the faults in the view that opposes yours.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Response to Hampe Questions
From Raquel's blog:
How do you feel about documentaries that are are re-created, what do you think gets lost in not capturing the real moment?
My response:
Considering that the situation might not have allowed for it to be properly documented (time period, etc.), or that an important event could not have been anticipated by a potential documentarian (sudden catastrophe, etc.), I think that re-enactments can be beneficial, for sure, but that there will inevitably be some problems with it. This isn't to say that the project would be doomed from the start, but there will almost definitely be different interpretations of the event(s) and possibly very important aspects of the event(s) that would be lost due to the re-creation of it. Actors and miniatures can only accomplish so much. To reference some of the earlier readings, the "immediacy" of original footage would likely be lost and the media itself would probably be more apparent as a result.
How do you feel about documentaries that are are re-created, what do you think gets lost in not capturing the real moment?
My response:
Considering that the situation might not have allowed for it to be properly documented (time period, etc.), or that an important event could not have been anticipated by a potential documentarian (sudden catastrophe, etc.), I think that re-enactments can be beneficial, for sure, but that there will inevitably be some problems with it. This isn't to say that the project would be doomed from the start, but there will almost definitely be different interpretations of the event(s) and possibly very important aspects of the event(s) that would be lost due to the re-creation of it. Actors and miniatures can only accomplish so much. To reference some of the earlier readings, the "immediacy" of original footage would likely be lost and the media itself would probably be more apparent as a result.
20 things
1. three nearly identical clouds in sequence
2. arboretum - two rows of trees aiming at a vanishing point
3. arboretum - a tree with knots making it looks strangely human-ish
4. by the quad - two rows of flowers that would make a nice foreground/background for a picture
5-10. Krannert Center - very symmetrical scenery
11. a huge cloud that looks like two sides of a canyon caving in on itself
12. the (strange) quotes on Lincoln Hall showing through the leaves of the trees on the quad
13. juxtaposition of the sorority house across the street and the piles of dirt surrounding it from the construction being done
14. sad-looking plastic bag hanging from a tree that has been there (I know) for almost a year now
15. the beautiful collection of craft beer bottles lining my desk
16-20. assorted images from the death metal show on friday (mosh pit, stage, etc.)
2. arboretum - two rows of trees aiming at a vanishing point
3. arboretum - a tree with knots making it looks strangely human-ish
4. by the quad - two rows of flowers that would make a nice foreground/background for a picture
5-10. Krannert Center - very symmetrical scenery
11. a huge cloud that looks like two sides of a canyon caving in on itself
12. the (strange) quotes on Lincoln Hall showing through the leaves of the trees on the quad
13. juxtaposition of the sorority house across the street and the piles of dirt surrounding it from the construction being done
14. sad-looking plastic bag hanging from a tree that has been there (I know) for almost a year now
15. the beautiful collection of craft beer bottles lining my desk
16-20. assorted images from the death metal show on friday (mosh pit, stage, etc.)
Hampe Questions
1. Hampe makes the point that you cannot show a concept of "lack" through pictures. I have trouble believing this. Do you agree?
2. Considering what we read of Hampe's work, do you think it would be at all possible to make a meaningful audio-only documentary?
3. Hampe mentions the situation where he is documenting the Good Mother and Bad Mother. In cases like this, do you think it's a documentarian's duty to "accurately" portray individuals, or do you think it's ethically allowable to falsely portray people in order to get across the point of the documentary?
2. Considering what we read of Hampe's work, do you think it would be at all possible to make a meaningful audio-only documentary?
3. Hampe mentions the situation where he is documenting the Good Mother and Bad Mother. In cases like this, do you think it's a documentarian's duty to "accurately" portray individuals, or do you think it's ethically allowable to falsely portray people in order to get across the point of the documentary?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Audio Project: Leproso Interview
Have a listen.
I began this project with little to no idea of what to do. I don’t particularly like writing stories, or even telling them for that matter. So I came to class on Tuesday with only a vague idea of reading some philosophy and altering it a bit to make it more understandable, more entertaining, or preferably, both. On Tuesday though, someone mentioned doing an interview. I have a friend in a metal band who’s good at talking, so I thought this would be a perfect idea. Unfortunately, it just so happens that I was ignoring the actual assignment. As a result of the positive feedback I got with the interview idea, I forgot to check the rubric to see that the entire thing was supposed to be a pre-written essay and instead wrote down only my part of the interview. The initial idea I had for this assignment was that we were supposed to be experimenting with sound to change the nature of a message, so the impromptu interview seemed fine to me at the time. I planned to add some of the band’s demo cd to the mix to give a podcast vibe, but both meeting up with the guy and getting the music proved time-consuming. After getting the interview done and realizing that tweaking a half hour of audio down to 5 minutes was neither fast nor easy, I came to the sad conclusion that my part of the audio was nearly indecipherable. I re-recorded my part of the talk and changed some words around to fit what I thought were the most important parts of the dialogue.
I always had the intention of using Garage Band’s fade tool in the interview to allow music to come in and out of the conversation as in the actual “All Songs Considered” podcast (which I mimicked), but since I was going to add my voice in later to make up for the lousy quality provided by the directional mic on my mp3 player (as well as my own frantic ramblings), I thought it would also be appropriate to use it when my questions and comments came into the audio and kind of smooth out that transition. And, since that was already happening, I decided to tweak the style of the original show to make my part of the audio more separate from my friend in the band by backing my voice (which would now be lacking the background noise of Neil Street outside of the Blind Pig) with music from their demo cd. I thought this would allow the listener to be more involved with the topic, especially if they don’t have much of a background in death metal music, and also to prevent the interview from becoming boring. After hearing the music in the background, it seemed to work for the entire thing, so I left it in and changed the volume where it seemed necessary. And by layering the elements of vocal delivery and music, as in the McKee reading, I was hoping to allow people to make a positive association with the music that was playing as they heard what Erik had to say about it. Sound effects and silence seemed out of place to me, given the background noise and the nature of the music.
With the “impromptu interview” idea, I got some the little funny parts and background noise that give it the feel of immediacy and “there-ness” that I like so much about it. This is apparently not the intent of the assignment, but as far as learning about sound within messages, I have a far better understanding of the work that goes into such projects.
Looking back, my voice was far too quiet and I should have enunciated better and I should have recorded my voice where there wasn’t a computer fan whirring loudly in the background.
I began this project with little to no idea of what to do. I don’t particularly like writing stories, or even telling them for that matter. So I came to class on Tuesday with only a vague idea of reading some philosophy and altering it a bit to make it more understandable, more entertaining, or preferably, both. On Tuesday though, someone mentioned doing an interview. I have a friend in a metal band who’s good at talking, so I thought this would be a perfect idea. Unfortunately, it just so happens that I was ignoring the actual assignment. As a result of the positive feedback I got with the interview idea, I forgot to check the rubric to see that the entire thing was supposed to be a pre-written essay and instead wrote down only my part of the interview. The initial idea I had for this assignment was that we were supposed to be experimenting with sound to change the nature of a message, so the impromptu interview seemed fine to me at the time. I planned to add some of the band’s demo cd to the mix to give a podcast vibe, but both meeting up with the guy and getting the music proved time-consuming. After getting the interview done and realizing that tweaking a half hour of audio down to 5 minutes was neither fast nor easy, I came to the sad conclusion that my part of the audio was nearly indecipherable. I re-recorded my part of the talk and changed some words around to fit what I thought were the most important parts of the dialogue.
I always had the intention of using Garage Band’s fade tool in the interview to allow music to come in and out of the conversation as in the actual “All Songs Considered” podcast (which I mimicked), but since I was going to add my voice in later to make up for the lousy quality provided by the directional mic on my mp3 player (as well as my own frantic ramblings), I thought it would also be appropriate to use it when my questions and comments came into the audio and kind of smooth out that transition. And, since that was already happening, I decided to tweak the style of the original show to make my part of the audio more separate from my friend in the band by backing my voice (which would now be lacking the background noise of Neil Street outside of the Blind Pig) with music from their demo cd. I thought this would allow the listener to be more involved with the topic, especially if they don’t have much of a background in death metal music, and also to prevent the interview from becoming boring. After hearing the music in the background, it seemed to work for the entire thing, so I left it in and changed the volume where it seemed necessary. And by layering the elements of vocal delivery and music, as in the McKee reading, I was hoping to allow people to make a positive association with the music that was playing as they heard what Erik had to say about it. Sound effects and silence seemed out of place to me, given the background noise and the nature of the music.
With the “impromptu interview” idea, I got some the little funny parts and background noise that give it the feel of immediacy and “there-ness” that I like so much about it. This is apparently not the intent of the assignment, but as far as learning about sound within messages, I have a far better understanding of the work that goes into such projects.
Looking back, my voice was far too quiet and I should have enunciated better and I should have recorded my voice where there wasn’t a computer fan whirring loudly in the background.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Response to Shipka questions
From Nick's blog:
1. Shipka talks about how the choice of particular words/ideas affects what is produced. How do you change your style of writing when you're putting a post on your blog?
My response:
This question brings up other interesting questions, like how a person defines themselves in different situations. I personally try to be fairly consistent in the way I speak and write, but the writing that goes into my blog does tend to be more casual than what goes into something like a 6-page paper that makes up half of my grade. I always like to use concise, descriptive words to make my point as clear as possible, but I don't spend as much time trying to get the perfect word as I would in a more "important" assignment. And since this is more about initial impressions than final conclusions, it allows the content to be more spontaneous, so that's what you'll see in my blog.
1. Shipka talks about how the choice of particular words/ideas affects what is produced. How do you change your style of writing when you're putting a post on your blog?
My response:
This question brings up other interesting questions, like how a person defines themselves in different situations. I personally try to be fairly consistent in the way I speak and write, but the writing that goes into my blog does tend to be more casual than what goes into something like a 6-page paper that makes up half of my grade. I always like to use concise, descriptive words to make my point as clear as possible, but I don't spend as much time trying to get the perfect word as I would in a more "important" assignment. And since this is more about initial impressions than final conclusions, it allows the content to be more spontaneous, so that's what you'll see in my blog.
Shipka questions
1. Can you think of some other ways that Shipka's theory on sound could be applied?
2. Would you have liked to have an Oblivious Ed-style band for your classes? Do you think it would have the same benefits for other subjects?
3. Have you employed Shipka's idea of soundness in paper-writing before reading about it? Was your reasoning different from Shipka's?
2. Would you have liked to have an Oblivious Ed-style band for your classes? Do you think it would have the same benefits for other subjects?
3. Have you employed Shipka's idea of soundness in paper-writing before reading about it? Was your reasoning different from Shipka's?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Talking more about the image project
Crystal -
My first thought was that it started off with the minor inconveniences that we in Champaign have to deal with and then was followed by instances of real hardship in other cultures, but when the images that looked school-related came up, I couldn't make sense of it, unless it a return to the "Champaign life".
Dan -
Random set - I'm getting a claustrophobic feeling from the images of the stacks in the dark. The addition of the random pages and Dan searching the shelves makes it seem like there's supposed to be a narrative.
Ordered set - Looks more like a narrative. The lights going on and off seem to be following a pattern(?). And Dan only shows up somewhere in the second half, so it looks like the isles light up before he gets there, but in a kind of creepy way that makes it look like there wasn't a person planning it, or that it was almost frantic/haphazard/etc.
HK -
I couldn't quite pick out what was going on in this one. I saw some contrasting images, but I couldn't tell what topic they were arguing over. The holocaust victims did happen before some anorexic girls, but the rest had what looked like government protests of some kind, but I couldn't see what they were rallying around.
My first thought was that it started off with the minor inconveniences that we in Champaign have to deal with and then was followed by instances of real hardship in other cultures, but when the images that looked school-related came up, I couldn't make sense of it, unless it a return to the "Champaign life".
Dan -
Random set - I'm getting a claustrophobic feeling from the images of the stacks in the dark. The addition of the random pages and Dan searching the shelves makes it seem like there's supposed to be a narrative.
Ordered set - Looks more like a narrative. The lights going on and off seem to be following a pattern(?). And Dan only shows up somewhere in the second half, so it looks like the isles light up before he gets there, but in a kind of creepy way that makes it look like there wasn't a person planning it, or that it was almost frantic/haphazard/etc.
HK -
I couldn't quite pick out what was going on in this one. I saw some contrasting images, but I couldn't tell what topic they were arguing over. The holocaust victims did happen before some anorexic girls, but the rest had what looked like government protests of some kind, but I couldn't see what they were rallying around.
Podcast analysis mini-assignment
I listened to NPR's "All Songs Considered" podcast. This time there was a guest DJ: Björk. She talked about some artists that she liked that were doing interesting things with music and who she essentially wanted to share with people. The elements that I noticed were limited to voices and music. There were no sound effects that I could hear, but I suppose it could be argued that some of the music used sound effects. The dialogue was very conversational, but relatively seamless, so there was almost certainly some editing done to give it "that polished feel". And since it flowed well, there wasn't much silence, except maybe between questions or where it would usually occur in conversation. The music would come in very soon after the talking ended, but the music would fade out and sometimes stay very quiet as the voices came in and the interview started back up.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Talking about the image project
Megan -
This one begins with the interior of buildings, focusing on the geometry and unnatural shape of them, and looks at a lot of exit signs, finally going outside. It kind of seems like an escape from the hard-lines and influence of humanity on the environment. When it moves to Allerton, there are man-made sculptures co-existing with the natural, organic shapes of the park. It seems very "pro-nature".
Nick -
I'm seeing movement from the city to the country. Maybe emphasizing the way campus is surrounded by farmland? The city stuff looked particularly "foreboding" (for lack of a better word) and under construction, so it looks like the pictures are favoring the natural aspect of the environment.
Raquel -
The image album is called "out with the old", and the pictures center around construction on campus. It looks like a collage type of collection, but beyond the common theme, I can't tell if the order makes a difference. I didn't see a positive or negative spin on it from the pictures, so it might only be about the way that the campus is always changing and being updated.
Rasheena -
It looks like there's a recurring sequence with something being introduced, Rasheena interacting with it, then the little girl doing something with it as well. I can't immediately see something that brings it all together, but I like how there is a distinction between the black and white and the color. That might mean something.
Susmita -
(I was late to class)
This one begins with the interior of buildings, focusing on the geometry and unnatural shape of them, and looks at a lot of exit signs, finally going outside. It kind of seems like an escape from the hard-lines and influence of humanity on the environment. When it moves to Allerton, there are man-made sculptures co-existing with the natural, organic shapes of the park. It seems very "pro-nature".
Nick -
I'm seeing movement from the city to the country. Maybe emphasizing the way campus is surrounded by farmland? The city stuff looked particularly "foreboding" (for lack of a better word) and under construction, so it looks like the pictures are favoring the natural aspect of the environment.
Raquel -
The image album is called "out with the old", and the pictures center around construction on campus. It looks like a collage type of collection, but beyond the common theme, I can't tell if the order makes a difference. I didn't see a positive or negative spin on it from the pictures, so it might only be about the way that the campus is always changing and being updated.
Rasheena -
It looks like there's a recurring sequence with something being introduced, Rasheena interacting with it, then the little girl doing something with it as well. I can't immediately see something that brings it all together, but I like how there is a distinction between the black and white and the color. That might mean something.
Susmita -
(I was late to class)
Arguing with Images (turns into a monologue)
When I began the project, I had the very vague idea of doing something with a beginning and an end. I thought about doing life to death, but I wanted to do something more specific. With that in mind, I started looking up images that evoke beginnings and endings.
Maybe a life’s story? Lots of pictures on the beach seem to mark important events in people’s lives, so I thought that might work out. Then it turned out that finding people on the beach at different points in their lives was more difficult than I thought and it might be tough to make the connection between each of them.
So, then I moved on to the life of the beach. That was doomed from the beginning and quickly turned into a much more general concept of beginning and end that could be interpreted in many different ways, but shown through the impact of people on the beach. And it’s all being shown through the beach pretty much because of the cool sunrise and sunset pictures that would frame the whole thing.
Problem #1 – People on the beach always have cheesy grins that make the picture look contrived. So I got rid of the people.
Problem #2 – Finding ways to show people were there. This was tough, seeing how I needed to do many, many image searches in order to find different things on that beach that give the impression that people had left their mark, while making sure there weren’t any cheesy, grinning people playing volleyball or dour environmentalists picking up garbage to ruin the mood. Also, good pictures of beaches without people are almost ALWAYS stock photos. I was not going to use any photos with a © or a website on them, so this meant more work.
Problem #3 – I wanted to give it a story. I really wanted to have the whole beginning and end thing work out without the project turning into a bunch of pictures of empty beaches with a sunrise and sunset, so I arranged the pictures so that the sunrise had no sign of humanity, and as the set progressed, it became more difficult to ignore the human influence, eventually ending with the footsteps walking away and then a moonlit scene with a dilapidated bit of what may have been a boat at one time.
Overall, I can see this being a commentary on the way humanity is ignoring its influence on the environment by leaving things to rot and then walking away when the fun is over. The set begins with toys and umbrellas and picnic benches, and ends with things that seem more foreign and even permanent to the environment than the things in earlier images. I had this in mind when I added the last picture, because I wanted to have something to show the beach after all the people left. That can be taken as any kind of "moving on", but I meant it more as "being forgotten".
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