Group items tagged

Dennis Allen posted this item in the blog "The Tenants of Colson Hall" a few weeks ago. Originally, the seller was auctioning this item for $399.95 and then for $599.95 and finally for $999.95. No one bought the item, but I think it would make for an interesting discussion related to Kenny Goldsmith's Uncreative Writing. I'm wondering if the intent was serious (similar to the retyping of On the Road) or if it was meant to be comical? Either way, it would make for an interesting discussion on the materiality of language.

Our reading this week touched upon the idea of "sock puppets," or fake users "often created for the purpose of talking up or praising a product" (Crumlish and Malone 305). This article explains how a company that creates and sells a program for learning and mastering guitar was fined a quarter of a million dollars for fabricating online reviews.

I don't have much experience with video games (I still rock out with Sonic on my Sega Genesis), but this could be a gateway game for me. I love the concept of adapting and crossing lines of genres and mediums, but it's interesting to note some of the dramatic differences and losses that must take place in translation. In this example there are some real game changers (I'm not sorry for the pun) involving plot and narrative. It's as if Dante has suddenly been inspired by Mario and must save the princess from the castle. I wonder what the equivalent of Yoshi would look like in the 7th ring of Hell...

We talked about "digital badges" in class a few weeks ago. This article explains how a competition, "Badges for Lifelong Learning," could allow digital badges to become legitimate evidence of non-traditional, "DIY" learners' skills and knowledge. Digital badges come into the picture because these individuals won't have a degree to show for their work.

Dare to do this? "Paul Miller gave up the Internet at midnight Tuesday. Miller, who was and still is a senior editor at a tech news site called The Verge, plans to stay offline for a full year. When he needs to post something to the website that employs him, he will hand his editors a thumb drive with his stories saved in offline files. If he needs to look up a phone number, he'll get on the phone and start calling people -- who hopefully know people who know the person that he's trying to reach for an interview."

DO IT!

While I'm not a fan of reading online/on a computer screen-yet-I am interested in this transition from paper to digital texts (textbooks). There seems to be several advantages, such as constantly updating and affordable ($49 for a science textbook?!).

Argument (with some decent solutions/suggestions) for making the transition from paper to electronic publications.

another plug for e-texts

Useful for Mac Owners

Interesting yet slightly morbid. Does immortalizing the dead on a social media platform that by definition requires interaction among the living to fulfill its purpose reveal yet another narcissistic impulse? For whom are we writing? Obviously not the dead (unless you can make some sort of argument that they check their feeds from the afterlife). For ourselves? If that were the case, we could just as easily sit at home and mourn a photograph. It seems more like this type of mourning is much more performative and public than that...

Can social networking work as a tool beyond networking for academics? Can it in fact further the cause of specific disciplines?

Mozilla is jumping into the ring with a mobile OS platform. Still in development, but this is the main page for info about the new platform

What strikes me as especially interesting about this book review is that it emphasizes and leads with the buzz surrounding its predominantly digital publication instead of the controversy about the popularity of hardcore erotic literature for women.

Of the different online accounts I have, Tumblr is one account I don't have and after reading O'Reilly and looking at the site I have to admit I'm a little fascinated by it. It seem like in many ways it's taken the parts of Myspace, facebook, and twitter that work and pasted them all together at once. In some senses this seems overwhelming, but just from the sample pages, what I see doesn't look entirely unlike what I'm creating for this class. I intentionally linked to the about page since I think there is a great deal of interesting info that feels like it came almost came straight out of O'Reilly's book especially in regard to building communities and allowing for participation, customization, and interaction. The home page also has some useful pieces worth exploring I think.

This article questions the value of LinkedIn, noting that many users are members without involvement. This raises questions about professional identity in a social media atmosphere-- is it worth it for the user to create a brand for herself here?

I really liked the idea from this week's reading that we should look to gaming for the future of interactive interfaces for social media. This article explains the ways that computing could be transforming in the future with motion sensing input devices like the Xbox Kinect. It's crazy to think that some of these things are possible!

While sites like Facebook and Google seem to be taking over the world, it would be nice to be able to eliminate some of the sites we all are constantly having to check or update or interact on or remember logins and passwords for! Just think: no more Blackboard, you're already on Facebook all the time-why not post for class while you're there? :-)

Useful if you find yourself using a lot of special characters on your website. For example, in reading responses to the ELO works, it can be useful for some authors' names).

Google is offering a Chromebook and cash prizes totaling $1 million for anyone who can hack its Chrome browser at the CanSecWest security conference next week: $40,000 for "partial Chrome exploit" and $60,000 for "full Chrome exploit." This event illustrates a concept from this week's readings: community collaboration can increase a service's effectiveness and bolster a company's success. The Google Chrome Security Team even stated that the contest provides "a big learning opportunity" and ultimately enables them to better protect users by revealing bugs and providing information about hacking techniques.

It is like at the start of Sneakers when they are paid to break into banks and show the various security issues. Also, it would be pretty sweet to log $40,000-$60,000 in that short a period of time. I suspect there would also be a job offer that came along with it.

Lawmakers are finally putting a stop to this practice. Since we broached the topic of rhetorical strategies in making arguments in class, the argument one law expert makes is interesting: ""It lays down boundaries on what you can and can't do. It takes a gray area and makes a bright line ... The bill is a win for employees who want to protect their data security and their personal content passwords. But it's also a win for employers. ... Employers don't want to have access to this content. With access comes responsibility."