Let Me Google That -- Final Paper

Hey everyone,

Here is my last post for my Apple, Google, Facebook class. It has been a great term and I hope to continue explore the awesomeness that is technology and human interaction.

Below is my final paper, hope you like it!

Let Me Google That: the Expansive and Representative Nature of Google

Buddhism Paper on Sinfest

Below is a paper I wrote recently for my class on Buddhism in China and Japan. I was happy with it, and so was my professor. So, I thought I'd share. Hope you enjoy:

Bood the Buddha: Analyzing a Pop Culture version of Zen's Buddha

I unplug to ______.

Another really interesting article from BoingBoing.
As much as I disagree with Lanier. I do think that unplugging is good for the 'soul'. 

I unplug to:

• play board games
• feel the sunlight
• be physically active
• participate in meals

Why do you unplug?

Acknowledging the Change

Free! Access! Free! Access! Free! Access! [[imagine a chanting crowd]]

That seems to motto of many internet products/site/communities. But this has been fought tooth-and-nail by companies trying to maintain a more traditional business model.

Some, however, are realizing that they may not have a choice, or at least that clinging to the old business ideas are going to cost them more than it makes them. So, they are adapting.

Getty images is just one of these examples. 

Boing Boing gives a quick explanation of the shift. 

If things keep moving the direction they are, Getty will be just one of many to adapt to the new internet culture.

Neocities

I made a Neocities site!

It's not much but it was so fun to make! I focused mainly on making hyperlinks and formatting work. So, check it out and let me know what you think!

Internet Democracy isn't dead -- it evolved!

So, we have moved on to talking about You are Not a Gadget: a Manifesto by Jaron Lanier.

I'll admit at first I was very put off by Lanier's approach and conclusions. As I kept reading, my annoyance faded, but my questions grew. I had this nagging feeling that he was missing something.

As we discussed in class, Lanier views the self as infinite and wants the web to be sort of magnifying glass for the self. And his problem with the "open-web culture" is that it minimized the individual and emphasizes the group.

I couldn't help but think about Bellah in "Habits of the Heart". Bellah frames the individualizing that defines America culture as being wrapped up in ideas of democracy. The idea that our individual ideas and opinons are important and can revolutionize the whole.

That is how the internet has functioned since it's beginning. But, like any technology, its use has evolved. And to some extent, whether or not some people like that is irrelevant.  Recognizing how it has and how it continues to evolve is relevant.

I believe that the internet is evolving away from the 'democratic process' -- with foundations of individualism and self focused -- and toward a more, dare I say, socialist structure.

Now that may seem a little weird, but think about it. The focus is now on the“wisdom of the crowd" or what works for the most people. This isn't bad. It might be "un-American" (as ridiculous as that concept it). It's not the Borg. It's just different.

It's just different. And because of that our understandings and use of the internet needs to adjust with it. And being focused on the negative, focusing on the past. Why not look forward? Why not talk about what good things the "new" internet can do for us -- individually and collectively?

People vs. Twitter

Did you know that one picture, by one person, could break one of the largest online communities?

Well, it happened!

Yesterday, the picture below broke Twitter:

Not only did if break twitter, it also broke the record for most retweets!

I just think it is amazing that one photo can do so much!