editing

I have not heard of any dynamic editions of texts that the article seems to be refering to so I'll stick to what I know.

"...none of these advances in markup, nor any of these guidelines, is robust enough to accommodate all facets of the actual textual experience of editors working with primary artifacts."

This is true. I've edited both electronically and the old-fashioned way. I prefer having a physical copy to mark-up because it's very simple to keep track of what you've done and there's just something about writing that seems to make it easier. This gets bulky, though, if you're editing multiple editions of novels. Electronic editing is handy but it's also extremely fluid - instead of going through concrete drafts, the text seems to morph into something different with no trace of what it was unless you continuously save your work.

my laptop gets internet out of the air or something

I'm proud of myself for keeping up with these blog posts now :D

Ah, wireless technology. I've always been the kid with the old-school Nokia. even now I have a new (free) flip phone capable of all sorts of fancy things (pictures, graphics, ringtones that aren't MIDIs) sitting in a box because I feel like a traitor ditching my extremely sturdy old Nokia. I'm somewhere between a neo-Luddite and someone who's grudgingly accepting of technology. I don't have a landline but I also don't see the point in text-messaging (plus the data transmission is overpriced). I never respond to them. And while there's a lot of nice things about cell phones and mobile devices, one thing I hate is being kept track of 24/7. There's no excuse not to get ahold of someone nowadays. If I don't call back within a few hours, people think I'm dead and "uh, my phone was off/I didn't hear it ring/I didn't have a signal" gets old fast. I just hate being on some sort of digital leash and sometimes I romanticize the days where people sent letters instead of instant responses. I also think we now have a fear of silence - everyone is always on a phone. It seems like when people have a spare minute they call just to chat with someone. Whatever happened to just sitting somewhere? This contributes to all those etiquette problems in the Wikipedia article. I guess the bottom line is: being connected is pretty cool but it's possible there can be too much of a good thing.

As for wireless technology in general? It's good to know my laptop doesn't just magically get internet out of the air :D It's pretty convenient. I wonder why the Wikipedia article did not bring up the issue of "stealing" wireless internet (though I guess it's not stealing if it's open to anyone). I wonder if you become liable for illegal activities on your personal wireless network?

toothpastefordinner.com

e-text! or "your an idiot"

I'm going to be obnoxious and write in purple.

I think the fears regarding electronic media and computer are interesting and still very alive today. I think the book as a physical object has more staying power than alarmists realize. On the internet, I can read small articles and conversations but using it as a primary source for written text is very difficult. I'm a cheapskate so occasionally I attempt to read a book for class on the internet instead of buying it, and it's never a good idea. Somehow it's just hard to read...and less portable (I'm not whipping out my laptop on the bus). When electronic text becomes easier to read and more portable/affordable, perhaps then traditionalists can worry. But even then, I can only imagine electronic text as imitating traditional media ("electronic paper"). And there's the idea of permanence; physical books/writing has to be destroyed. Data can be erased.

They may have a point with this "erosion of language"...it's a popular complaint among teachers that students use text-speak or whatever. But is this due to the internet/computers or is it just a generation of kids ignorant about grammar who are more likely to use the internet? I'm betting the latter. I see "your/you're" and "they're/there/their" all over the internet (along with its/it's confusion and a host of other terrible things) but I think it's a result of the internet's demographic. People have probably always been this bad - we just notice now because we're using text to communicate much more frequently. Furthermore, does language "erode"? Or does it simply change? Today's common usage is yesterday's abuse of the English language.

It is interesting to know that language and form do influence content, meaning and the way things are percieved. I know the reading focused more on e-text in terms of e-books but I think other forms of electronic text are more influential. For example, more and more on a daily basis we express ourselves only through text...in text messages, e-mails, blog posts, instant messages and more. Therefore, more and more, we are represented solely by our text. The way in which we present our text, the specific language we use becomes a representation of ourselves. This blog is a prime example of this.

e-commerce

I think I understand textual mark-up a little better, at least in concept but I'm still not 100% sure about it purposes within digital culture. I guess it's just a way of efficiently organizing and synthesizing information. In a sense, everything is "marked up," even this text I'm currently presenting. This and the study of databases previously seemed pretty boring but afterwards, I think studying linguistics in the context of technology would be pretty nifty.

If copyright laws on the internet reminded me I don't want to be a lawyer, e-commerce reminds me I don't want to study business. It seems everything is getting increasingly complex. A lot of the assigned reading focused on the larger picture - corporate trading, overall business trends - rather than impact on the consumer. I know I should be less apathetic because it does indirectly involve me, but I'm not so interested in how huge corporations wish to squeeze more money out of the internet or the resulting perils. It seems when they get a little too greedy and overzealous (buy! buy! buy!) they forget their purpose and then we have dot-com busts (but again, I'm no economist).

Reading some of these articles, it seems again, corporations are wanting a larger piece of the internet pie. Apparently NBC and Universal want to begin pulling content from Apple's iTunes and offer it up on their own sites. I really don't feel like this will be successful, as it's not looking out for the consumer. It seems the sole good thing about iTunes is the range of obscure media available for purchase in one centralized place. It eliminates the hunting down of things. If these companies begin to splinter, consumers aren't going to want an account at 8 different media sites. It removes the convenience which the users seem to be all about (otherwise, they'd just spend a lot of time hunting for rare things for free, like me). Maybe I'm just a picky and lazy customer, but I only use online businesses to the extent they benefit me.

Speaking of online business, one I kinda like is threadless.com. Basically, they print t-shirts. Anyone can upload a design and users vote on individual designs. The most popular designs are put up for sale for a decent price, as far as aesthetically appealing t-shirts go. I think it's so popular primarily because of this interactive model (omg web 2.0!)...users are encouraged to upload pictures of themselves in the shirt for store credit, keep blogs on designs and be part of an overall large community.

textual markup + intellectual property II

is really confusing and esoteric. I wish the author would define her terms better. :( I'll probably understand a lot better after we discuss it.

after class I thought about Radiohead again. now I think maybe it was a clever marketing/advertising gimmick directed towards their niche-market: anti-corporate hipsters. I mean, they've gotten a whole lot of articles just because they used this method and I haven't seen any other form of promotion. oh well, it sounded more profound when I thought about it.

intellectual property

a) I am glad I am not a lawyer. b) I did not know the RIAA says you can copy music with a music-copier but not a data-video-music copier. nowadays, don't most people purchase the latter because it has multiple uses? and now they say you can't use one of its uses because of this fact? lame.

Anywho, I touched briefly on intellectual property when I talked about peer-to-peer networking. This somewhat effects me personally, as someone who likes to make art and write (although I won't be so arrogant as to assume people want to steal my work. nothing is funnier than people who go to great lengths to make sure everyone knows their crappy blog or terrible picture is copyrighted). I've known people who have had their artwork hijacked by some sketchy t-shirt company, which I think is obviously wrong.

However, like I said below, I'm remorseless and shameless when it comes to violating intellectual property laws myself, for my private use. Maybe if the prices of DVDs and computers weren't so inflated, I'd be more sympathetic.

The reading also brought up the idea of digital reproduction and transmission of information. See, I think with the right mindset a company can make money off of this technology instead of it being the bane of their existence. Netflix seems to be extremely popular and now, if you have a subscription, you can watch movies directly on your computer instead of waiting for the next one in the mail. To me, this is a lot more convenient than going out looking for some obscure indie movie on the internet, downloading it, having it take up memory and potentially getting a virus.

Then, as I mentioned below, since Radiohead does not have a record label they just decided to distribute it digitally and allow fans to pay whatever they feel like (if they even feel like paying). Or you could pay eighty dollars and get all this artwork and some records - I have no doubt hardcore music snobs will go for that and it's not much worse than boxed-dvd sets. I mean, I can't tell if it's a good business move...they're rich anyway. I just know their embrace of the free flow of internet information makes me far less resentful. and I guess (from what I have read on the internets) they're making "pure" profits from the money they are getting, since they didn't go through a distributor and they're selling pure digital reproductions - no packaging, no plastic etc. It seems win-win...some have argued this is a sneaky form of price-gouging but if they get to make money and I get free stuff, then that's so much better than the current model of "selling" information.

peer to peer networking

Well, clearly there's nothing inherently controversial about peer-to-peer networking and it can be a valuable tool. But that's not really fun to discuss. The legal implications are what everyone is interested in.

My view of P2P sites such as Kazaa and Napster (the one I use is soulseek) is sort of a vigilante ethic. I feel absolutely no guilt in downloading crappy movies and music from major corporations because in turn, they're basically media monopolies. I would probably feel guilty if I paid for certain terrible songs I like anyway.

However, with smaller bands I realize the money is probably actually going to the band and whatnot, so I don't mind purchasing their CDs. If I really like something, I'll buy it. If anything, I think P2P networks can be used to help artists and filmmakers disperse their product to an audience who would otherwise not be exposed, no different than a library. I think the legal implications are pretty clear cut...it is technically stealing. It gets murky if you actually own what you're dispersing though. Regardless, the technology isn't going away and companies need to learn to harness rather than fight it. Interestingly, Radiohead's new release is going to be downloadable for whatever price you choose so I think they're no longer struggling with this legal intellectual property battle.

databases

Hm, what to say. I was kind of unaware of all the possible database uses in the humanities. I see how it would be very useful for helping find certain passages (example: Bible) but I never thought it could be used interpretively. I guess I still don't fully understand how it could be but hopefully I'll learn more. I pretty much just use them to locate journal articles and books :P

So since I don't have a whole lot to say about databases, here are some awesome visual representations of the internet!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internets_(colloquialism)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes

Privacy on the internet? I should think not.

I think the issue of privacy and social networking sites is interesting simply because people are so contradictory about it. Generally, social networking sites have decent privacy controls. If you don't want everyone seeing your profile on Facebook or Myspace, you can limit it. You can even get pretty specific about the information you limit so I see very little problem with the actual privacy features.

However, the fun part begins when people expect things they make public to be private. Example, Facebook introduced the new "mini-feed" feature which essentially updates you when your friends change anything. For some reason, people were outraged because they thought it would give people the ability to "stalk." I found this puzzling because if you don't want people to "stalk" you (and the term "stalk" is used veeeery loosely), you probably shouldn't have a Facebook to begin with. If the idea of strangers reading your profile or friends knowing updates is troublesome, then you have the option to make your profile private or better yet, not volunteer information about yourself publically. Interestingly enough, most people forgot about the stalking scare and kept their Facebook.

Then there are people, for example, who post really unflattering pictures (naked, intoxicated, whatever) on some corner of the internet. These people generally get mad when their parents/boss/students/teacher finds these because they expected them to be "private" while posting it in a public space. If you value your privacy, you have to think about what you reveal.

Also, I think it's kind of funny that as Americans, we seem to value privacy. We would never allow the government to keep a database with everyone's name, picture, work history, classes, phone number because it would be violating...but yet we seem to "database" ourselves willingly. I think in a sick way, sometimes people enjoy turning the private into the public.

Style Sheets Rock

Although I was absent for the XHTML, I think I got the style sheets pretty quickly. I wish I had known about them earlier - for some reason I was under the impression they were really complicated so I never used it. Now I realize they're pretty easy and are a huge time-saver. ...hm, don't have a lot of commentary so I'll sum it up. CSS: it's pretty okay.

Second Life

While it's really fascinating from a sociological/psychological standpoint, I really don't personally understand virtual world things like this. The concept of paying actual money to recieve virtual/money and property is weird, to say the least, if only because it's so impractical and intangible. And so you can do what?

The problem with a virtual life is that it requires time and energy away from your "real" life. I'm not into these visual chatroom type things, but I have played the Sims. And I wonder why paying bills and making food virtually is exciting when I've really done nothing productive. Why is the concept of virtual reality so novel when we have real-reality (the graphics are pretty awesome)?

I see how it would be useful for roleplaying purposes, though. And possibly as a form of escapism - obviously reality is limiting in regards to certain things. Like the Sims, I'd probably have fun building things and creating characters but when it comes to actually interacting for extended periods of time, I'll stick to people I know in person.

the tyranny of blogging and xhtml

Yikes. I suppose I've encountered one of the problems with blogging - remembering to update. D: <- that's my horrified emoticon. Anyway, to make up for it, I think I'm going to post on all the subjects I forgot to post about. Just pretend like they're on different days.

XHTML...well, I was absent for the exercise because I had a pretty unfun doctor's appointment but I'm somewhat familiar with XHTML because when I was in high school, I made two websites for myself to display my art. They're pretty amateur-ish but a massive amount of trial and error went into it and I tried to hand-code a lot of it because I could never figure out Dreamweaver. After awhile, I just gave up and decided webpages were far too frustrating for me but still, it was always a little satisfying when everything worked.

http://sovietposter.blogspot.com/ also here's a blog I found on here that's pretty interesting (probably only to me). I like studying propaganda.