In my last post, I spoke about MagiCall, a software program that enables smartphone and pocket PC owners to manage who calls and contacts them. I really think this is a nifty application. I don’t get prank calls too often but the other day, I got a call saying that I needed to pick up Chinese food that I didn’t order from a restricted number. Turns out it was one of my friends, but I actually ended up calling the operator and Verizon Wireless to see if I could find out who called me. I was told that I had to wait until the end of the month for my phone bill to come and even then, there was no guarantee I’d see the number, depending on how the called chose to block and call me. It would have saved me some grief to have had MagiCall (and a smartphone, for that matter).
This software is a godsend to mankind because we really can seem to get no privacy these days. We’re constantly bombarded with mail from NYU, Facebook messages from my friends, text messages and calls, but with software like this, we’re able to maintain some modicum of solitude from being constantly contacted.
Social norms are constantly changing around us and advancements in technology just happens to play a large part in these changes. I wrote a couple weeks ago that the smartphone itself changes the way we interact in that it dwindles down face-to-face conversation as it becomes replaced by instant messaging. I think MagiCall can also change the face of communication. Technology is supposed to facilitate our lives (even though it often causes more destruction than assistance) and this new software helps us to better exercise control over the communication we have on a day-to-day basis.
I found an article about how Japan only recently got the iPhone this past July. This shows that the smartphone revolution has a global perspective with its target market. Unfortunately for us, MagiCall can’t prevent the government from keeping tabs on us, it’s sort of comforting to know that privacy can be increased for everyone worldwide, all the while changing the way we communicate by making the internet accessible to us with a simple touch.
For you smartphone users out there, MagiCall can be yours for just $25.
Now we can start the fourth, last and richer travelogue.
You already know the drill, you choose an environment and start exploring, trying to surprise yourselves and to come up with new perspectives and understanding of the issues and debates within the new media discourse.
What do I mean by richer? Along the lines of our discussion of interface and meaning, we are going to extend our weapons of choice. I mean we are going to use more than text for our posts:
Videos
Audio (podcasts)
Slideshows
Comic strips
Software
Annotated Maps
ShiftSpace shifts
Your medium of choice here
The post itself would use “rich” media, the comments are textual.
Edit: Reminder/Clarification: I want YOU to produce the rich-media you post.
For next week:
Choose a subject.
If you want our feedback on your ideas, post them by Saturday, so you can still create the content in time.
Post your rich post.
refer to the how-to page to learn more about how to post different stuff. If you have questions, search the web, if the web has answers, share them with us.
If you still do not know how to post your thing, email me, I am very open to adding plug-ins to our Wordpress. If you want me to do that, email me after researching the plugins.
I am open to collaborations (as always in the price of higher expectations).
Post 4+ comments to your fellow students posts. Try to give constructive feedback on both content and use of media.
Dan Hill,The City As A Platform – the italicized introduction and part two only (I § highlighted its starting point: “This somewhat banal sketch of an average high street is very deliberately based on the here and now; “)
Highlight and annotate as you wish.
Jess & Jessica:
Read the article and watch the presentation.
Highlight and annotate the article to help its accessibility for the rest of you (one § highlights shift can include more than a single highlight range).
Summarize it for us in a nicely accessible post to be published by Sunday 4pm, ideally running some threads between them.
Be prepared to present the article and lead the discussion in class.
Post to del.icio.us some links that expand the discussion either about the text or about key themes in it.
When it comes to Twitter, I think the thing that makes it so interesting to watch — both in the activity of its userbase and the way it is perceived in online conversations — is the dynamic userbase it boasts.
Take a look at the chart from Forrester above from a report they did on online consumers last year called “Social Technographs.” They divide up all online users into six behavior sets like rungs on a ladder; those at the top are the most involved, and the inactives at the bottom aren’t involved at all. Users can be members of multiple rungs — they may comment and tag content, but don’t really use social networking sites, for example.
Soooo I took some screencaps of what exactly happens in /b/ and attempted to sum it up. I have to warn you that the material under the cut is probably pretty offensive, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I’ve been thinking something in the back of my head since the beginning of this travelogue and I think at the end it’s time to come out and say it: Android is the mobile equivalent of Linux. Windows Mobile is, well, the mobile version of Windows and the iPhone runs on a slimmed down version of Mac OS X, so that leaves Android as the mobile equivalent of Linux.
Aside from the obvious fact that they’re both open-source, what I’m really trying to get at is that they attract the same type of users. Linux and Android represent the same ideologies.
But it’s okay. If I ever need them I’ll check Erin’s Inbox…or their website…or their Wikipedia Page…or go to media night.
I decided to “google” the Freegans one last time before I shared my final judgements. Freegan.info came up as the top hit, and I saw Erin’s shiftspace reference, but what caught my eye was a website for Green Living Tips. Perhaps this website could redeem the cause of the Freegans once and for all.
Disney has always played a big part in my life. I could never tire of going to Disneyland, I always go into the Disney Store when I’m in the mall, and going to the Disney store on 5th Ave is a treat. I’ve even tried to be a pin collector to no avail.
Disney is a magical world and it never fails to dazzle me. Their influences are far and wide. As I’ve said before, there’s a Disney park in Hong Kong, Japan, France, and two in the United States. Imperialistic as Disney may be, they’ve touched the hearts of people all over the world. How do I know this? Because of DisFriends.
Don’t you wish that you could own that perfect ensemble Serena was wearing on Gossip Girl? Or pick up a pair of those, kicks Turtle got his hands on in Entourage?
It seems as though Japan & China are just more progressive than us, or maybe, just not enough people have killed in America yet for the mass population to stop regarding these virtual worlds as children’s games. Either way, what is certain is that the amount of freedom we are given within our virtual worlds is not as great as I had originally thought.
I was feeling kinda stuck in my travels this time around. I got to talk to some of the people in my league about fantasy football and I asked my friends a few questions while we were watching the games but I felt like I was missing something. Yeah, ok, fantasy football has an effect on how people watch the game, but what else? How could I experience the craziness that ensues during a football game and see the fans reactions? Ask the real die hards and fantasy nerds about their teams? What else could I learn? Two words…and one incredibly profitable franchise: ESPN Zone.
I really lucked out this time. This Sunday the Giants played the Cowboys at Giants Stadium. ESPN Zone may have been one of the craziest places in the country–no, the world to be on Sunday. The rivalry between these to teams runs deeper than the Hudson. Mention the Dallas Cowboys to a Giants fan and his blood boils.
I walk into the bar and find myself drowning in a sea of blue. Manning, Burress, Toomer; they’re everywhere–at least their jerseys are. There was an occasional Cowboys hat. Brave men, those ones. I went two hours before the game started and the place was already packed to the brim. Even taking into account it’s popular Times Square location, the hour and a half wait seemed excessive. Once I finally got in the place was roaring. Football was the only topic of conversation. From professional to minor league to fantasy to pee wee, these people lived, breathed, ate and drank football. PERFECT! Read More »
I’ve always dreamed of being a Disney Princess.
