Reformat the Planet
First off, sorry for the late post. It’s been a hell of a week.
Anyway, in searching for information about the chiptune scene, I came upon this trailer for an upcoming documentary entitled Reformat the Planet. It basically documents the ideologies and experiences of chiptune artists and fans. There’s plenty of little catchphrases within the trailer that hint at what I considered to be the crux of the movement – the nostalgia factor of hearing all of these old sounds placed within a new context. People in the trailer also made mention of using the technologies, but not really as I would describe it. One guy says, “It’s not reappropriating art, it’s celebrating the things about it that work”. The term “reappropriating” seems, in my experience, to be a term used by software pirates and hackers to legitimize their actions, so maybe the chiptune artists are trying to distance themselves from that. I’m not sure if Nintendo could sweep in and claim copyright on the soundboards of the GameBoy and Famicom, but I doubt they would anyway.
Also, I had no idea that the artists were actually mashing on their GameBoys on stage, since I’ve been too lazy to get out to a show since I’ve gotten in to the music. That’s awesome, in a really, really nerdy kind of way.
Are you Army Strong?
For my second Journal I would like to explore America’s Army Game. America’s Army game is the ‘official game of the US Army’ and it allows players to gain an inside view of the US Army and have a virtual role that presumably gives an accurate depiction of a soldier’s experience. Â
- America’s Army Game was created by the US Army and has become one of the five most popular PC action games played online. I would like to explore how the US army uses this ‘America’s Army Project’ to market and gain the interest of civilians to join the army.Â
“The game is an entertaining way for young adults to be educated about the U.S. Army and see some of the career opportunities available to Soldiers in the U.S. Army —all this as a virtual Soldier. America’s Army emphasizes teamwork, values and responsibility as means to achieving the goals.”  Â
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I guess I would like to explore the environment by trying to play the game and/or visiting the community events that the site and game provides for its players. I am very interested in how this community of online players and the experience of the game contributes to a greater understanding of being a part of the US Army and the effects having a virtual role in the ‘war of terror’ has on the players.Â
- I imagine that by instilling the values and honor that comes with being a soldier in the army through the game creates a feeling of power and gives players the ability to make a difference in the virtual world in a way they are unable to in the real world.
- I would like to explore how this virtual role is transferred to an interest in a role in the US Army, increasing civilians’ applications to the army –which is presumably the purpose the US Army had in creating this game.Â
Brief: Travelers Log #2 – Feb19th
I have decided to change the rules of the game but keep the main principle the same. For now lets put the two groups idea aside and try to all manage our group attention. For next week you are all getting the same assignment and as a group we will try to decide together which posts to discuss. The new rating module I added might help us (and it might as well stand in our way, we’ll have to see).
Anyway…
- During this week post at least once to the blog reporting from the new media environment you have embedded yourself in. Please be sure to format your posts in a way that would make it accessible to scan through before reading or would make it inviting enough for the rest of the students to read and hopefully comment. Use images, titles, block-quotes, links, video embeds, audio or whatever you think might make your post more appealing to read and provoking to discuss. Foster the discussion on your post and try to learn from it. These post should be mainly reporting on your experience from within the environment you chose. No conclusions are necessary yet.
- Comment on at least 3 times posts (at least).
* You are welcomed to post and comment whenever, it will be up to your strategic decision, depending on your reading of the blog’s dynamics (with the obvious goal of having your posts and comments contribute to a live discussion on the blog and in class)
Recommended Reading for next week:
- Clay Shirkey: “A Group is it’s Own Worst Enemy“
- Dana Boyd: “Social Network Sites: Public, Private, or What?†(available as audio as well on the same link)
Doron & Eric:
- Read the three articles
- Summarize it for us in a nicely accessible post to be published by Sunday, ideally running some threads between them.
- Be prepared to present the articles in class
- Post to del.icio.us some links that expand the discussion either about the text or about key themes in it.
- Enjoy.
