This was yet another fiasco among the group. We did figure it out though and we managed to actually get some work done. People need to tell us when their not going to do something, but whatever, we picked a song about technology and how it is taking over. We figured out how to make a music video relate, filmed for about an hour because that is what I'm good at. I used just a regular camera, ran around Lisa's room a bit, and it was good. Cara edited for me because I still don't know how to do that very well.
Overall a good experience, although I didn't help that much for this project because I don't like the song very much and I had another idea, but its ok! I will live.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Human Rights Project
I feel very strongly about human rights and having a free opposition. I feel a person should never be tortured by another human for expressing their opinion. Although humans have treated other humans horribly since they have existed I still feel this needs to stop. To create a change from these abuses, people must know about them first. So the main part of this project is just to get people to look at some examples of human rights issues. So I made a poster with some pictures and websites that will hopefully get people thinking about these issues.
I worked with Jenn Doxsee for this project. To make this issue clear to others we put up posters in residence with pieces of information about different human rights issues going on around the world now. We looked at Burma, where people from the opposition being arrested in mass amounts, including Monks. Even though another group has done a project on Burma, I think this is a very important issue and wanted to look at it myself. When a government can completely stop a revolution from happening by simply using force without anyone else intervening is unbelievable. We looked at Kurdish issues, the chemical bombings in Halabja, which occurred in 1988. This was included in Saddam’s Anfal campaign of Arabization in Kurdish areas. We also looked at Kurds being oppressed in Turkey for simply being Kurdish.
I’ve been watching the news since I first moved to Iraq, in 1998. I’m now a news freak. I religiously check the BBC website at least 10 times a day so I didn’t really learn anything for this project, other than figuring out group work is hard. I’ve always felt strongly about human rights issues and feel that other people need to know about them.
Timeline information
Adam Mirani
Cara Gooding
Lisa Goulet
Media Timeline
The Phonograph
It is hard to imagine going for my morning jogs without having “I am a winner” by The Aquabats blaring into my ears and setting the pace, or listening to my favourite Avenge Sevenfold song when I need some cheering up. With the help of Thomas Edison’s invention of the phonograph created on December 4th, 1877 it wouldn’t be possible. The phonograph was really invented while Edison was working on the telephone. Initially the telephone was invented as a faster way to send telegraphs for the Western Union – “But the problem was that the telephone could transmit information much more quickly than a telegraph. It was not economical to slow the transmission down to the rate at which someone could transcribe it. What was needed was a way to record the message so it could be played back later at a slower speed. This problem provided the motivation for the invention of the phonograph.” (Turn of the Century 1)
The making of the phonograph was done with a needle known as a stylus. The stylus was then held up against a rapidly moving cylinder with tin foil wrapped around it. It had two separate diaphragm / needle units. One was used for recording the voice or sound, and the other was used to play it back. When a noise was picked up by the recording needle the sound vibrations would get indented onto the cylinder and would later be able to be played back.
In the North American Review written in June 1878 Edison had made a list of the things he had thought the phonograph would be used for in future times;
1. Letter writing and all kinds of dictation without the aid of a stenographer.
2. Phonographic books, which will speak to blind people without effort on their part.
3. The teaching of elocution.
4. Reproduction of music.
5. The "Family Record"--a registry of sayings, reminiscences, etc., by members of a family in their own voices, and of the last words of dying persons.
6. Music-boxes and toys.
7. Clocks that should announce in articulate speech the time for going home, going to meals, etc.
8. The preservation of languages by exact reproduction of the manner of pronouncing.
9. Educational purposes; such as preserving the explanations made by a teacher, so that the pupil can refer to them at any moment, and spelling or other lessons placed upon the phonograph for convenience in committing to memory.
10. Connection with the telephone, so as to make that instrument an auxiliary in the transmission of permanent and invaluable records, instead of being the recipient of momentary and fleeting communication.
(The Library of Congress 2)
So it was no surprise when Edison Phonograph Works also produced musical cylinders for coin-slot phonographs – aka early jukeboxes, which pointed the future of the phonograph as an entertainment machine.
You could see how much this invention had an impact on society and media as a whole. The creation of records was later created and the completion of the telephone which is still used today. A negative effect was created (and any invention would create, even today) as the starting of elitism grew larger. Elitism is just the belief that certain people or certain classes deserve special treatment by virtue of their perceived. When new forms of technology are released the pricing is ridiculously high making it so “only the rich” can afford to purchase or use it.
Vinyl
Vinyl was first mass produced by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) Victor made it commercially available in the 1930s. Vinyl had been around 50 years prior to this but it had not been perfected and was a very poor quality way of recording music. But because it was released during the depression and phonographs were expensive at this time it was not very popular. It became a more popular form of recording music in the 1940’s when Columbia Records fixed recording problems and reduced the price.
Vinyl has had a huge impact on society due to it being one of the first mass produced forms of music recording. It has also outlasted most other forms of recording including the 8-track and the cassette tape. The cassette tape also had help being produced from RCA Victor. People still view it today as being the superior form of sound quality and collect them religiously.
Vinyl also took us through the intense rock ‘n’ roll years involving bands like Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. This form of music sharing was most popular during the time when these bands were around. Bands would put large amounts of money into producing the artwork display on the album covers which became an important part of making music. Because vinyl records were so big, around 12”, the cover had a lot of space to put things. Bands took advantage of this and we can see record covers becoming a very popular art form.
The Cassette Tape
The cassette tape was responsible for many social phenomena since its
creation in 1963 by Philips Electronics. But there is one main connection that the cassette tape has to culture of the 1970s-90s, and it is that of the hip-hop culture. Small and compact, the cassette tape was the first portable piece of audio equipment with recording on the piece. With the help of the Sony Walkman in 1979, this was made possible for individuals to mobility with audio recordings. This is where one can see the start of hip-hop culture becoming more popular, because MCs and breakdancers were provided with the mobility to spread the idea of hip-hop culture. This culture would be blown away with what would come next. The highly anticipated, large-and-loud style boombox, or ghetto blaster, was created in 1981, further advancing the breakdancing scene, because now, breakers could make an entire style out of carrying around this huge music playing device. Relating back to the cassette tape, these two aspects of hip hop culture were a result of the cassette tape, and essentially, pushed the hip hop movement to a great start.
Bellis, Mary. "The History of Sound Recording." About.com. 2007. New
York Times Company. November 25, 2007.
Bellis, Mary. "The History of The Cassette Tape." About.com. 2007. New
York Times Company. November 25, 2007.
"Boombox Birth." Pocket Calculator Show. 2007. Boombox Museum.
November 25, 2007.
Donna Yankowitz , The Turn Of The Century, The Phonograph. 2007
Dr. James H. Billington,The Library of Congress, Inventing Entertainment: The History of the Edison Cylinder Phonograph, 2007 < http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edcyldr.html>
Mobley, Max. "A Brief History of Listening." Crawdaddy: The Magazine of Rock May 16, 2007 November 20th.
Cara Gooding
Lisa Goulet
Media Timeline
The Phonograph
It is hard to imagine going for my morning jogs without having “I am a winner” by The Aquabats blaring into my ears and setting the pace, or listening to my favourite Avenge Sevenfold song when I need some cheering up. With the help of Thomas Edison’s invention of the phonograph created on December 4th, 1877 it wouldn’t be possible. The phonograph was really invented while Edison was working on the telephone. Initially the telephone was invented as a faster way to send telegraphs for the Western Union – “But the problem was that the telephone could transmit information much more quickly than a telegraph. It was not economical to slow the transmission down to the rate at which someone could transcribe it. What was needed was a way to record the message so it could be played back later at a slower speed. This problem provided the motivation for the invention of the phonograph.” (Turn of the Century 1)
The making of the phonograph was done with a needle known as a stylus. The stylus was then held up against a rapidly moving cylinder with tin foil wrapped around it. It had two separate diaphragm / needle units. One was used for recording the voice or sound, and the other was used to play it back. When a noise was picked up by the recording needle the sound vibrations would get indented onto the cylinder and would later be able to be played back.
In the North American Review written in June 1878 Edison had made a list of the things he had thought the phonograph would be used for in future times;
1. Letter writing and all kinds of dictation without the aid of a stenographer.
2. Phonographic books, which will speak to blind people without effort on their part.
3. The teaching of elocution.
4. Reproduction of music.
5. The "Family Record"--a registry of sayings, reminiscences, etc., by members of a family in their own voices, and of the last words of dying persons.
6. Music-boxes and toys.
7. Clocks that should announce in articulate speech the time for going home, going to meals, etc.
8. The preservation of languages by exact reproduction of the manner of pronouncing.
9. Educational purposes; such as preserving the explanations made by a teacher, so that the pupil can refer to them at any moment, and spelling or other lessons placed upon the phonograph for convenience in committing to memory.
10. Connection with the telephone, so as to make that instrument an auxiliary in the transmission of permanent and invaluable records, instead of being the recipient of momentary and fleeting communication.
(The Library of Congress 2)
So it was no surprise when Edison Phonograph Works also produced musical cylinders for coin-slot phonographs – aka early jukeboxes, which pointed the future of the phonograph as an entertainment machine.
You could see how much this invention had an impact on society and media as a whole. The creation of records was later created and the completion of the telephone which is still used today. A negative effect was created (and any invention would create, even today) as the starting of elitism grew larger. Elitism is just the belief that certain people or certain classes deserve special treatment by virtue of their perceived. When new forms of technology are released the pricing is ridiculously high making it so “only the rich” can afford to purchase or use it.
Vinyl
Vinyl was first mass produced by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) Victor made it commercially available in the 1930s. Vinyl had been around 50 years prior to this but it had not been perfected and was a very poor quality way of recording music. But because it was released during the depression and phonographs were expensive at this time it was not very popular. It became a more popular form of recording music in the 1940’s when Columbia Records fixed recording problems and reduced the price.
Vinyl has had a huge impact on society due to it being one of the first mass produced forms of music recording. It has also outlasted most other forms of recording including the 8-track and the cassette tape. The cassette tape also had help being produced from RCA Victor. People still view it today as being the superior form of sound quality and collect them religiously.
Vinyl also took us through the intense rock ‘n’ roll years involving bands like Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. This form of music sharing was most popular during the time when these bands were around. Bands would put large amounts of money into producing the artwork display on the album covers which became an important part of making music. Because vinyl records were so big, around 12”, the cover had a lot of space to put things. Bands took advantage of this and we can see record covers becoming a very popular art form.
The Cassette Tape
The cassette tape was responsible for many social phenomena since its
creation in 1963 by Philips Electronics. But there is one main connection that the cassette tape has to culture of the 1970s-90s, and it is that of the hip-hop culture. Small and compact, the cassette tape was the first portable piece of audio equipment with recording on the piece. With the help of the Sony Walkman in 1979, this was made possible for individuals to mobility with audio recordings. This is where one can see the start of hip-hop culture becoming more popular, because MCs and breakdancers were provided with the mobility to spread the idea of hip-hop culture. This culture would be blown away with what would come next. The highly anticipated, large-and-loud style boombox, or ghetto blaster, was created in 1981, further advancing the breakdancing scene, because now, breakers could make an entire style out of carrying around this huge music playing device. Relating back to the cassette tape, these two aspects of hip hop culture were a result of the cassette tape, and essentially, pushed the hip hop movement to a great start.
Bellis, Mary. "The History of Sound Recording." About.com. 2007. New
York Times Company. November 25, 2007.
Bellis, Mary. "The History of The Cassette Tape." About.com. 2007. New
York Times Company. November 25, 2007.
"Boombox Birth." Pocket Calculator Show. 2007. Boombox Museum.
November 25, 2007.
Donna Yankowitz , The Turn Of The Century, The Phonograph. 2007
Dr. James H. Billington,The Library of Congress, Inventing Entertainment: The History of the Edison Cylinder Phonograph, 2007 < http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edcyldr.html>
Mobley, Max. "A Brief History of Listening." Crawdaddy: The Magazine of Rock May 16, 2007 November 20th
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Facebook Poster
Click on the image to make it larger.
We first made the poster, then I took a picture of it, put it on the computer and played around with it through photoshop. Then we put together the writing and facts, put it all together in that template, and bam, there we had a page of cool information. There's a picture of Lisa Goulet with the poster before it was completely finished.
Media timeline
Our timeline project was a little hectic because of trying to figure out who would do what part of the project. When assigned these different parts some people wouldn’t do their piece or would be really slow at it, so that was a tough obstacle to get around. Cara freaked out a lot, but she does that all the time anyway, so it’s ok. We made it through. , We’re making a little technology thing that I will post pictures of soon. Our project was focused on forms of projecting music or information. Music is considered a form of social opposition when it is used in that way, so the way music gets around is a big factor. Its creation had to do with making a better quality in music, as technology progressed people’s demand for better forms of it rose.
I picked to research vinyl, which was an important form of recording music from the 1930’s up until now even. It was most involved in the hippie movement of the 60s, when psychedelic music and rock ‘n’ roll were a huge part of society.
I picked to research vinyl, which was an important form of recording music from the 1930’s up until now even. It was most involved in the hippie movement of the 60s, when psychedelic music and rock ‘n’ roll were a huge part of society.
Facebook project
For the hegemony project we picked Facebook. Although Facebook is not a company like Disney or Viacom, it definitely has the potential to become a huge source of personal information for companies like these to use to their advantage.
We put together a poster with snippets of information, we all watched the movie about Facebook, then researched the companies involved with the funding of Facebook. I learned that many firms involved with the collection of personal information have focused their attention on Facebook. With Facebook now boasting over 40 million users, these companies feel compelled to be involved. With that amount of people at their finger tips, manipulation is quite easy.
This new form of medium is still in its beginning stages. Not many people know what the outcome will be. Although Microsoft has bought a piece of Facebook some people are skeptical about it. Social networks can lose their users as quickly as they gained them. With the emergence of a better social network, people may leave Facebook for that one, causing Microsoft to lose a lot of money.
We put together a poster with snippets of information, we all watched the movie about Facebook, then researched the companies involved with the funding of Facebook. I learned that many firms involved with the collection of personal information have focused their attention on Facebook. With Facebook now boasting over 40 million users, these companies feel compelled to be involved. With that amount of people at their finger tips, manipulation is quite easy.
This new form of medium is still in its beginning stages. Not many people know what the outcome will be. Although Microsoft has bought a piece of Facebook some people are skeptical about it. Social networks can lose their users as quickly as they gained them. With the emergence of a better social network, people may leave Facebook for that one, causing Microsoft to lose a lot of money.
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