I have to admit that it makes me really really happy that V-Day is providing a voice on the war issue. Certainly, i see the relationship between ending violence against women and girls but i’m regularly amazed at how many members of our audience do not. Given the negative feedback we got on the first time, i was *very* happily pleased when Eve decided to open letter to the President.
::bounce::bounce::bounce::
I’m going back to school! Peter Lyman says that i can come play at Berkeley’s SIMS. YIPPEEE!!!!!!
When the US invaded Iraq, officials seemed to think that they would be welcomed with open arms. Needless to say, they haven’t been. This has outraged many and turned our goal of freeing the Iraqis to one of destroying them. People in Iraq are fighting back in the limited ways that they can. Fair? All is fair in war. And besides, we invaded.
To appreciate the intensity of the situation, here’s an article depicting the atrocities of war and how hatred mounts. This only furthers my deep belief that our troops need to come home.
Today, i received my first FAIR Media Action Item, asking me to write to the AP and express my anger over their conflation of pro-troops and pro-war issues. I have to say that i’m excited to write these letters, mostly because i feel like i’m back in school writing me 3 paragraph reflection on something that i’ve recently read. I get to try to be articulate and succinct and voice my opinion. And just like in school, no one will ever read anything that i’ve written.
Anyhow, after the whole freeping situation with the Dixie Chicks, i’m glad to be doing my part to voice my opinion against our dictator and the media that supports him. I also think that move-on’s media initiative is *fabulous* and everyone should sign up.
Oh, and if you’re really bored, i’ve included my never to be read email inside.
Apparently, folks at HP are doing work on trying to uncover the distinct social groups within larger social networks by analzying email. They are doing so through simple network visualizations.
[nature article, more focus on communities of practice]
While my intellectual curiousity drives me to read quantities of text about issues surrounding the war, i also recognize the power of visual imagery as an effective tool for reflection. Images appeal to my heart more than my mind, but that effect is so necessary in order to stay grounded. For that reason, i really appreciated this simple flash animation (anti-war propaganda).
On the spur of a moment, i wandered into a new media conference that was addressing youth culture and their relationship with technology as a result of growing up digital. My motivation in attending was primarily to hear John Seely Brown speak and i was quite glad that i did. He did a great job of taking his philosophy and making it real through stories and a fabulous presentation. Although the content was not necessarily that novel to me, i was easily reminded of why i love attending talks: they make me think and generate new ideas.
I very much enjoyed many of the talks. An ethnographer from Japan spoke about SMS culture in youth there while a professor discussed the racist and gender issues embedded in Diablo. Others talked about blogs, the value of music, the role of games, paper journalism directed at youth (it was run by the Journalism department).
Yet, the most problematic speech for me was the one by a woman who worked at NeoPets. While i had heard the name before, i knew nothing about the system. The images were so compelling and her speech pattern made it easy to fall in love with the game. The problematic component of her presentation was not actually during it, but the addictive habit that formed a few hours following the conference. Needless to say, i went home and created Zazuzen, my pet Nimmo and then proceeded to lose track of time such that at 5AM i was still playing multiplication games to earn more points so that Nimmo could get food and books about yoga and meditation. Frankly, it’s quite an adorable online site (although i was under the impression that there would be a lot less advertising than there was).
IM culture continues to pervade America. This also means that new fads and fashions emerge from it. For example, there is a whole culture surrounding away messages. [This also proves that i’m lame or getting old since i no longer participate in all discussed digital fashions.]
There is only one thing that i like about wartime: it makes people think. Intellectuals are focused on developing theories to explain contemporary situations, how people react, how science operates, etc. Engaged individuals are reading vociforously, trying to redevelop their shattered notion of the meaning of life. And thanks to technology, everyone is trying to inform one another.
On today’s reading list:
America, Europe and their relationship to power is the topic of a fascinating article about the emerging cultural gap due to a divergent view of power and control in post nuclear modernity
When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History – a great detailed comparison of the US and Germany through the lens of Hitler’s actions. My favorite is the definition of fascism:
“fas-cism (fbsh’iz’em) n. A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.”
When can we declare ourselves a fascist nation? Or must we rely on outside forces to do it for us?
Through the graphing of email networks, researchers found that they were able to correctly identify structures and power hierarchies. Ah, communities of practice… Always feels good to see my life theories validated…