Los problemas de mente sencilla

wk 12 makeup- Research and Collaborative

2008-05-07T19:21:00.002-05:00

Let's see if I can knock out both of these two in one go. I found out that Digg started out being a heavier tech oriented website that originally focused on the latest computer gadgets that were coming out. The founder Kevin Rose had started off as a host on a television show called Screen Savers for Tech TV, a channel dedicated to computer related topics. I believe that this explains its mostly male demographic. When first exploring Digg, I didn't know that it had gone through such tumultuous periods with the way the voting system initially worked. It began with what was called the Tyranny of the minority which really isn't as bad as it seems, but presented an oligarchy on how information and content was published to the front page. While social circles within the Digg community worked in promoting content on the internet, it also hindered the democratic way that stories made it to the front page, creating an editorial gate that was ruled by algorithms and a select few of highly motivated sumbitters

It also never really occurred to me to use Digg as a way to get people to visit other people's websites to promote advertising. I can see this as a great way in intertwining capitalist techniques to democratic processes while educating and entertaining.
To relate these stories together, I found out that Netscape is NOT dead and is currently trying to reconfigure it's objective from news portal to content aggregate similar in fashion to Digg and Reddit! However, unlike Digg, Netscape plans to capitalize on internet traffic and social circles by paying people to find content on the internet, submit it, and then share it with their friends. This is a list from oen of the articles that I use as a resource.

One of smaller thing but no less interesting things that I have found while researching my topic about surveillance and civil liberties is that past presidents have often times revoked certain civil liberties. Throughout history and times of hardship for our country, the federal government has impinged As a matter of fact, the United States has quite a record of policies
and practices that are clearly adverse to citizens’ civil rights and
liberties. Noteworthy examples include:
• The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, which made it illegal to publicly
criticize the government. Resident aliens could be summarily deported
by order of the president.
• Lincoln’s suspension of
habeas corpus
and other rights, allowing, in
one instance, the arrest of several Maryland legislators, to prevent them
from voting their sentiments. Furthermore, persons suspected of
“disloyal” practices were subjected to trial and punishment under
military rather than civilian law. Northern newspapers deemed
insufﬁciently sympathetic to the union cause were banned from the
mails, a signiﬁcant form of censorship.
• Domestic surveillance and suppression of “seditious intent” by the
War Department in 1917.
• The 1918 Sedition Act. Much like its 1798 predecessor, just about
anything deemed critical of the government was subject to criminal
proceedings. Attorney General Palmer authorized a number of
“Palmer raids” culminating in the arrest and/or summary deportation
of thousands.
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s internment of Japanese Americans
during World War II, an act of rights-depriving racial discrimination.
• COINTELPRO, the FBI counter-intelligence program of the 1960s
and 1970s, primarily for the purpose of disrupting Community Party
activities in the United States. Civil rights groups and anti-Vietnam
War demonstrators, however, were featured targets. Agents employed
a variety of surveillance measures. Abuses prompted the Church
Committee hearings. (Stone 2004)

There are elements of my research that I have uncovered that have troubled me. There are numerous programs that are currently implace within the United States and Europe that facilitate the breach of our privacy. One of the older programs in place is called CALEA (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act). This forced telecommunications companies to reconfigure their hardware so that law enforcement officials can tap into networks. As of this moment and as far as I know, law enforcement still needs a warrant to do any type of surveillance upon individual communications. Knowing that this technology exists however, I question the ease at which it can be abused.
Law enforcement and the government argue that they need these types of programs to better monitor criminal activity due to the incredibly fast rate that telecommunication technology is advancing. I'm beginning to understand the argument the author makes of his article when he said that this is only a supply-side approach. As shields says : The discussions assume the moral correctness of the supply-side approach, and conceptualize the problem as a technological one." Instead of handling source of the crime, they erode civil liberties to catch the crime.
There's many programs in place, and CALEA is one that has taken on an international scope.

wk 6-writing for school

2008-05-07T18:57:00.002-05:00

Well...I suppose depending on the topic, it can be either a chore or strenuous, at least for me. I suppose I have not found any instances where writing has been pleasurable, that I felt like something HAD to be said. I've noticed that that topics are rarely set in stone and the bigger topics let the student decide. Of course there is a general direction or theme present that guides the writing that is usually relevant to the course. I try to stay relevant within my topics so I try to look for current topics that have generated a buzz within the media. I did enjoy my script writing course, but even that class become trying for me. I REALLY REALLY wanted to make myself a better writer by taking this compositional class and scriptwriting course, but I feel that writing isn't something that I would go out of my way to specialize in. I find this unfortunate because I was hoping to get more proficient in the art so I could set myself up better within my career. While I don't plan on becoming a writer within the television or film industry, I plan on eventually becoming a producer. This is not entirely problematic but it would benefit me to understand how to elucidate my ideas onto paper, so that I can then translate it to film or video. But I digress.
I DO enjoy the classes that I take, but I find the task EXTREMELY difficult to partake, as writing forces me to form my thoughts structurally. I know this is a skill that can help me in multiple aspects of communication, but I often see myself as someone who reacts spontaneously, who adapts to the situation at hand. I suppose that even if I do poorly in this class, I see it as a semi-forced way to get me to practice my writing technique. I just pray that it doesn't end up becoming a liability as I force these last blog entries.

Wk2Respond -Purcell Gates

2008-05-07T15:26:00.002-05:00

Time for an army story. When I was doing basic training in Kentucky, we had a fellow soldier who had the oddest accent. Initially I thought he was from Australia and I believe the whole company believed it too. It comes to find out he was from West Virginia Appalachian area. It did not have a southern drawl, but it he did extend the pronunciations of his vowels when he talked. As Purcell Gates said, I think that the accent is due to the high level of isolation.
I also think it is this isolation that often fed to the many stereotypes about the Jenny and her fellow population. Humans too often ridicule customs that they don't understand, and given their accent, left them open for abuse.
In the section "Literacy Objects do not equal use", it talks about how Jenny has books within the house, but she doesn't use them for their purpose. Even before that Big Donny has apaper and pencil, but only uses them to draw and to give as gifts. Purcell_gates talks about how Jenny would pull down the books and "read" stories from them to her children. I'm wondering if the children actually wanted to be read to, or if they just wanted a story to be told. I find it interesting that they use the Bible and story books and pen and paper as "tools" in which the bible story is referenced when morality issues came up, and they used the pictures within the storybooks as inspiration to tell stories. I do find it quite odd within an illterate family, that children would asked to be read story from a book. How did they come up with that concept unless they had seen it somwwwhere else? How did they know that books were to be read to somebody and not to themselves? I wonder if the parents had seen them tell a story and then asked the children if they wanted a story read to them.

Make-up-Spring Break-Wk8

2008-05-06T15:56:00.002-05:00

So I'm kinda in a rut, a pickle one might say. I have a ton of work to make up, to at least make a D in the compositional writing class, I'll be honest, with you, it's probably not going to happen. So this is the long list of many posts that I will be starting to try to work my grade up. Since spring break has already happened, I think it would be best if i reflect on what I did do and what I didn't do. I knew that I planned on staying around, due to having too much work to catch up(surprise surprise!!). My mother came and visited for the week and she spent time mostly relaxing. I had a project in a production class that I had to get to and that took up a lot of my time trying to figure out how stumble through the program. It ended up going smoothly enough and then I handed over the project to the editor to place the footage in it's order so that we had a story that was cohesive and made sense. I believe it was the film from the night shoot that was insanely cold. I also had to try to work on a cutout project for my animation class. I held that off until the last of the week as that would probably take up more of the time i wanted to spend with my mother. I think I did a bad clip with keifer sutherland in jail and him getting beat up. pretty ridiculous stuff.

Wait...This is the last blog?

2008-05-02T19:37:00.002-05:00

Well, not for me, I think I have some making up to do. So we have to discuss issues we had about the class presentations? Here's an issue, I believe memorial union erected and dedicated for the soldiers. There's an issue. No, I think I understand the purpose of the topic... Okay, i got it. College library: I always try to stay away from unless I absolutely have to use it or am wasting time. If I have to write a paper or study(which is rarely) I can't go to College. There's too many distractions going, and I can't concentrate on things that I need to do. I used it for it's editing suites and because it's 24 hours. Ebling library is great, and I would go there all the time if it was closer. They also have editing suites so that I can do my video projects. It's just a great looking library, and goes on my list of inanimate objects I would make love to(along with Great Dane's pool tables).
I really can't imagine going to lakeside lounge to do anything except for group work, and even then i've only been twice. Once was meeting friends and we definitely did not study there and the second was to do some pre production talking for a film. I really wish i could explore all the libraries before I left(and buildings) just to say I did it, but i'm not relaly that big of a nerd. I feel that the good thing about having so many libraries are the different resources each one offers. I would estimate that I spend most of my time at memorial and the Cimc, which is the teacher's education library.
Sooooo...free post. i'm skipping mifflin, but I'm okay with that, I've never really been a huge fan of mass drunk outtings. For the most part I don't go full force because I'm usually writing papers or some other project that i've put to the last minute.
I went to the hoofer's sailing club meeting last night, and I really want to join. It's kinda expensive, and a membership doesn't even get you in with the other clubs. Bullshit. I'll probably od it anyways when I get some cash though. It'll be a great way to kill off a some lazy time during the summer. I just hope I don't end up being a yuppy wearing nautica clothes.

Free Posts

2008-04-27T23:27:00.003-05:00

I guess I'm just going to keep myself here until...I knock out an easy free post...We shall see. So everyone's talking about the end of semester or this summer, I guess it would be pretty easy to talk about my upcoming plans, but...what fun is that? Let's make this late sunday night as painful as possible. Perhaps, as reactionary post, I can talk about a quick topic that was brought up at dinner tonight. The girl was one I just met and she was not originally from the area. She moved here roughly 3 years ago and I asked her what she thought of the place, ya know, just bullshit small talk to see if there was any way to segue into some other conversation. She said that she can reflect upon Madison as having good traits and bad traits. I told her I agreed for the most part, but I always try to make the best out of any situation(I just like to have that positive attitude). So maybe as my last year here in Madison, I'll talk about what I like and don't like about Madison. First off, I'll go with the obvious thing; I like the snow. That's right, I LOVE the snow and I wish there was more of it. I love snowboarding and I love my truck in snow. The cold weather doesn't bother me, and I'm from Texas(Represent!). But perhaps it's because I haven't had it for 20 years like the rest of the residents. I think the only thing that pissed me off about it this past season is that we had an awesome snow, and then it melted, and then it was fuckin' cold and it snowed. If it's going to snow, it has to be enough to do something with, otherwise, it's just annoying and it pisses me off. Oh yeah, one thing I don't like about the cold weather, women bundle up too much and don't show off enough skin.
One thing I don't like and kinda scares me is that I seen that Wisconsin and the midwest were ranked the highest for DD. I like partying as much as the next person, but I've never seen alcholism as prevalent. State street really is ridiculous, and the sheer amount of bars just makes it seem that the only thing to do on campus is to hit them up. Unfortunately, I think that peer pressure has had an effect on me, which causes concern. On a side note, who the FUCK stops selling alcohol after 9 O'clock?!?!?!
I like how utterly huge the campus is and there are a million different clubs and organization and resources to use at your disposal. I can't say how it compares to other schools, but I am constantly finding new elements to the campus all the time.
I don't like our Communication Arts Department. I can only blame myself for this one though. When I decided to transfer here, I didn't do any research. I just got caught up on the sheer awesomeness of coming to this school. I thought it having a Radio Television and Film major was exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, I didn't know it was a theory based department and there was very little in terms of production. Don't get me wrong, my instructors are pretty awesome, but I can only write so many papers on the importance of Soviety Montage. Soviet Montage fuckin sucks. If anybody reading this has any inclination to take a Radio television Film class and is thinking of taking it over Soviet Montage, do yourself a favor, and stab your eyes with something blunt. The resources in the Comm Arts department sucks and there is nowhere near enough production classes to accomodate everyone. I'm not saying theory isn't important, but it should NEVER be the basis of a department. There is no use to it, unless you're going into academia. All it is good for is to supplement practical work.
Okay, I could rant 4 free posts about the department, but I should move on.
I love that Madison is a liberal school. It definetely adds a fresh perspective from what I'm used to and has focused certain aspects of my philosphy and values.
I hate that Madison is a liberal school. Too much of a good thing. Same follows with this topic. I'm not PC all the time and I don't want somebody harping on me because I could give two shits about monkeys getting tested on. No, I don't want to save the environment. Guns are fun. No, I don't want to support your cause...
I eat meat.
hmmm...this could be an ongoing list, and who ever wants to add one to anyside should feel free.

It's hard to keep up with these blogs...

2008-04-27T22:05:00.003-05:00

When you're so far behind? So I'm so far behind, that I could probably pick one, and call it a free post? or is it possible to pertain a blog that had nothing to do with that week and call it a future free blog? anyways, out of ALL the blogs I have yet to do, which should I choose? How should I choose it? Oh well, how about "What is writing?" for 200, Alex.

Jesus! This is a pretty complex question. I would say in a nutshell that writing is the formation of symbols to express thoughts. I am going to say that writing entails of composing thoughts into expressions that others can recognize. This would be an agreed upon formation of symbols that a society would use to keep records. The symbols would in some way correlate to the spoken language. I don't see writing existing without a language.
It's hard for me to decide if ancient caveman drawings count as a form or writing, but I believe they are not because they are considered representations. Does one consider heiroglyphics a form of writing or is someother type of way of communication. Binary code is considered the language of computers, and computers do "write" information to CD's and DVD's, but we are called the authors. We have programming code, and we type up actions that we want to execute with it, but is it considered writing? We probably agree on that the action of typing is considered writing, but I have a hard time delineating where the boundaries are. Is it the function of the process? Or is it the purpose of the process? Blah, too late for posts like this...

free post and class writings

2008-04-27T21:28:00.002-05:00

I just got done with eatting my last dinner with a friend. It seems that he is doing a YouthCorp. camp up in the Oregon area. I've known him since my first semester here at the University of Wisconsin. The class we took together was a intro Spanish course and we ended up doing our final project together. I think the exercise entailed doing a skit in Spanish of certain situations. We knew we were going to go in there freestyle but we needed a prop to help us out towards the end. My friend and I came practice the possible scenarios but no matter which one they were, they would always end up to us playing and singing a song on the banjo. This was one of the topics that came up at the dinner today and so of course we had to perform, even though it was in the middle of the restaurant, and invovled me yelling. Oh well it was the Weary Traveler and I'm sure they could handle situations like that. So anyways the lyrics of the song went as follows: Yo tengo Espanol, es mi favorito!!! AYE! AYE! AYE! anyways the TA instructing the class told us to shut up as theere were classes next door being taught. I think it was just us being stuck on a project and our very outward, erratic personality that we ended up being friends.
He still has famiy that lives in the Madison area, so I can imagine him coming back, even if it is just to visit. Unfortunately, I don't share any similar ties to Madison, so I find it doubtful that I'll be around if I decide to leave(which will be likely). I'm happy that he's pursuing something he wants to do, I just hope I can keep contact with him and eventually meet him again sometime in the future.
As for writing that I'm doing in my other class...Nothing!! That's not entirely true, but no where near the same scale or same style. My other classes have me doing other types of work. This past week, it felt I was doing a full time job making a setand shooting a movie plus my classes full time and a part time job. I have an animation class that requires me to spend a lot of time in front of a computer drawing and animating. For my Latin American history class I did have some work that was relevant to writing. This past thursday another student and I had to lead discussion about a book for our class in which NOBODY else had to read; including our TA. So we had to take notes on the chapters and make an outline, which would also be included for our essay on our final. We tore it up; we were able to talk for 30 minutes about the book. Everyonce in a while there would be questions asked, but we definetely filled teh whole discussion time just with presenting. I felt that we were slightly erratic on the information presented, but the TA did not hide the fact that she was pleased with the results. So I have been balancing that presentation with our group presentation at the moment, and trying to get my writing in order, which I have been doing regularly with a large dosage of FAIL!

some research related to Digg

2008-04-21T18:03:00.002-05:00

http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/idl/papers/novelty/novelty.pdf

this is the Novelty and Collective Attention
Fang Wu and Bernardo A. Huberman
Information Dynamics Laboratory
HP Labs
Palo Alto, CA 94304

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/4236/4376216/04376224.pdf?tp=&isnumber=&arnumber=4376224

Social Information
Processing in News
Aggregation

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=16&sid=d5c3fcbe-5712-4af4-89b0-370612f5f03e%40sessionmgr7

A TOP 'DIGGER' WORRIES ABOUT HIS OWN POWER
TO DRIVE TRAFFIC
- AND THE POTENTIAL REWARDS
DIGG THIS

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/07/digging_deepershould_community.html

Should Community-Edited News Sites Pay Top Editors?

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=16&sid=2345c313-4cc1-4f42-87a1-b6a403c62842%40SRCSM2

Hold the front page
Contents
The Diggers and the Levellers
Section: Science and technology
Websites

How to replace the editor with a computer

DAmnit!

2008-04-06T12:11:00.003-05:00

Okay, So I'm late(once again) with my post and even worse, I've lost the topics of blog posts each week. I have a hunch that we're supposed to talk about one of the articles for this week, but I'm not sure what the second post is supposed to be. Damnit.

Ayight, So everybody has been talking about the Sorin article. Bitching bothers me, and I try to seperate myself from that type of discourse(if one wants to even consider it discourse), so I'll stay away from that article for this week. Instead, why don't we take a look at Uma Thurman as her character Mia Wallace from the movie
Pulp Fiction. I post this picture, because Cheryl Glenn's Article
Unspoken: A rhetoric of silence reminded me of a quote from the movie. If you have not seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it, especially if you like movies with alternative naratives. But before I digress from the relationship of movie and article, here is the quote and link to clip:
Mia: Don't you hate that?
Vincent: What?
Mia: Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about bullshit in order to be comfortable?
Vincent: I don't know. That's a good question.
Mia: That's when you know you've found somebody special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence.

The setting is at a restaurant, and the characters have met for the first time, and are basically out on a date. It has some elements of awkwardness due to the fact that his boss is also her husband. When analyzing the reasoning behind the silence, I found that I have been in a similar situation, but not necessarily with first dates, but just when meeting new people in general.
In this quote, Mia is referencing two different types of silences: The uncomfortable silence and comfortable silence. It seems that when people are uncertain where to pursue a conversation due to not being familiar with the other person, it seems that people tend to tread cautiously into conversation. Mia speaks about the uncomfortable silence as if it's worse than bullshit conversation. I guess it's this bullshit conversation that warms people up towards each other, breaks the ice,and allows the persons partaking to gradually open up to different topics in the conversation. Bullshit conversation offers a safeground it seems, everyone knows that a person shouldn't discuss politics and religion when meeting first time, even though these are all interesting topics that ould lend themselves to passionate conversation. So instead of deeper conversation, we stick to the walls of shallow areas so we don't drown with in a discourse that could piss off the other people. Or as our character points out, silence. Okay, to go back to the article, the author sites a list of meanings to interpret silences. I don't see any points that describe the situation as I have but combinations of the list(pg. 16)
The second type of conversation that she talks about is the comfortable silence, usually that's felt by both parties. I think of old people, who have been together for many years. While this sounds "pleasant" it also sounds boring and way too routine. I think the closest point that describes Mia's insight into silence is number 20: the person's silence reflects empathic exchange, the companionship of shared mood or insight. Within a relationship for so long, i would think that your soulmate and yourself would be so insync, that little to nothing has to be said to be understood. Ayight, I'm sure I could try to express my ideas better, but I'm spent. Here's some music. Pretty interesting Hip hop group. Try not to be offended by their name, while somewhat crass, it is a good play on word.

CunninLynguists
"Thugged Out Since Cub Scouts" (mp3)
from "Will Rap For Food"
(QN5, Inc.)

Buy at iTunes Music Store

It's Never Too Late

2008-03-28T22:33:00.002-05:00

To ever try to publish a blog post. And that's one of the things that I have noticed about my writing style, that it's always the last moment, and I try to find ways to putting it off. I believe I already made a comment about this fact to a fellow classmate. I don't think I've gotten better since then, even with the threats of a failing blog grade...boo... I know my writing style continues to be weak, often times with my inability to form connections between my premises to form an overall argument. Often times I will have no problem finding examples and analyzing content/context but fail at creating a strong argument for an audience. This is especially problematic due to EVERY academia paper must be formed in this way. At least all the ones I encounter. Wow, I think I'm just going to talk down on my writing style the whole time. I also noticed that if I don't pay attention to my writing, I'll often repeatmy sentences with the same introductory or starting words.

Am I even on the right week?

2008-03-28T21:53:00.002-05:00

Well, Let's hope so. So basically, the way I ended up here in Wisconsin, and at college was semi round about. I graduated high school and went IMMEDIATELY into the Army. I signed up the GI Bill, knowing that my family couldn't afford to send me to college by themselves, so I made the sacrifice and commitment to pull the greater weight of fitting the bill(or Uncle Sam and the Federal taxpayers, THANKS!.) After getting out I had 36 months or 36 thousand dollars to spend on schooling, I figured I could make the most of it. Military life wasn't for me, so applied to a small private university in Michigan. I had an idea of what I wanted to pursue iin academia, but I worked on my gen ed while up there. Military life had too much regulations to abide for, and I was too individualistic. Sure, C4 and .50cal machine guns are fun, but the structure reminded me of living under constant paternal watch, always making sure to make sure you don't do anything too stupid. I felt college would offer a different lifestyle that allowed me to take responsibility for my actions.
Now concerning why I'm here, at the University of Wisconsin, can be explained by wanting a higher education. I was originally at a more technical institution that didn't offer a Bachelors. So once graduating there with a video production degree, I looked for the next step and applied. I was very stoked to getting accepted, especially since I never took teh SATs or ACTs(I'm actually proud of that fact for some odd reason). I felt armed with my experience and prior degree, I could come to the University of Wisconsin and become a developed and experienced person within my profession.

"If you aren't doing anything wrong, what do you have to hide?"

2008-03-12T20:33:00.005-05:00

Finally,
I've found a response to this question that has been posed to me before. Even more, I believe this is an argument in defense to the acquisition of personal information and/or eaves dropping. I believe that we can find a fault in the premise of the question, and when one rejects the premise of doing something wrong in private, the argument holds no substance. The debunking of this will be important for strengthening my own argument within my research.
Also, I wan to highlight the telecoms that are having civil suits brought against them and their involvement with the federal government.
Anyways, Here's somethin different in terms of music:
Birigwa
"Okusosola Mukule" (mp3)
from "Birigwa"
(Porter Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store

Matana Roberts
"Thrills" (mp3)
from "The Chicago Project"
(Central Control)

Buy at iTunes Music Store

The Blessing
"Bleach Cake" (mp3)
from "All is Yes"
(Candid Productions)

Buy at iTunes Music Store

Continuation of research paper, the 4th amendment defined

2008-03-12T13:46:00.002-05:00

I know, I know, Wikipedia isn't the best place to do research but it brings attention to a certain part of the search and seizure aspect of the 4th amendment, which specifically refers to the telecom companies:
The amendment applies only to governmental actors; it does not guarantee to people the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures conducted by private citizens or organizations .^[10]
^ United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109 (1984): "This Court has ... consistently construed this protection as proscribing only governmental action; it is wholly inapplicable to a search or seizure, even an unreasonable one, effected by a private individual not acting as an agent of the Government or with the participation or knowledge of any governmental official." (punctuation omitted).
Interestng, especially since the current administration is trying to grant immunity to these telecom companies. But these telecom are getting sued,(I believe) and not having federal charges.

This is a new jersey court case
State v. Reid 2007 N.J. Super
But it quotes about the 1st amendment.

Some interesting Spanish HipHop from Chile

Mantekilla Digital
"Peligro De Temporal" (mp3)
from "Peligro De Temporal"
(Still Alive Records)
More On This Album

Edgar Allen Floe
"Floe Almighty" (mp3)
from "Floe Almighty: The Remixture"
(MCEO Records, LLC)
Buy at iTunes Music Store

A guide

2008-03-09T22:35:00.003-05:00

For my research paper in my Compositional Class, I'll be looking into how FISA holds up agains the constitution. Here's a list of links to help me on my research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_and_seizure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy
yes yes yes, I know it is Wikipedia, but it does offer a lot as long as one does not use it as a cited resource . It can help develop ideas.
http://www.lectlaw.com/def/f081.htm
This looks to be important, especially on fleshing out the details of the amendsments and interpretations of hte constitution. This is great because it features a list of judicial hearings that explain the interpretitions. It can provide a great resource for research into law. This will be a first for me.
'An essential purpose of a warrant requirement is to protect privacy interests by assuring citizens subject to a search or seizure that such intrusions are not the random or arbitrary acts of government agents.' Skinner, 489 U.S. at 421-2 (holding that a warrant was not required in part because 'in light of the standardized nature of the tests and the minimal discretion vested in those charged with administering the program, there are virtually no facts for a neutral magistrate to evaluate'). The Supreme Court recently reaffirmed and expanded the principle first enunciated in Skinner, stating that, in some contexts, 'testing based on `suspicion' of [wrongful activity] would not be better, but worse' than suspicionless testing.
This piece particularly looks interesting due to the fact that it speaks of randomness n search and seizure. this is important to me because the NSA(and its counterparts) just compiles a huge database of communication between person. I should defenitely look into this Skinner case.
and finally, the most vocal group who seems to carry an interesting civil libertarian stance on this issue.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071218-fisa-reform-bill-tabledin-part-due-to-eyes-of-the-internet.html?rel
This is a nebulous cyber community, often times speaking anonymously through online forums and social... communities. I find this group of citizens interesting and often times agreeing with their stance on civil liberties. With Ars technica, i will be exploring Digg.com and Wired.

New Addition

2008-03-08T15:23:00.001-06:00

Upon my scouring of the internet for new and FREE music, I've recently come upon a website called the Independent Online Distribution Alliance. With this discovery, I have now become a distributor of digital music that offers FREE and SAFE downloads of artists. It should be interesting to see how I keep up with this. In addition, I will be posting along with my blogs a download. Feel free to leave a comment on the music and best of all, offer requests. (okay, maybe not best of all). I'll do some research and come back with... maybe nothing at all, or some more artists. However this works out, I hope to explore some music and spend more time on writing this blog.

Okay, so to celebrate Johnny Depp and the shooting of the film Public Enemies in Wisconsin, I have featured an artist that I have never heard of.

Try it out, find out what she's all about, and why she thinks about Johnny Depp.

Virginia Dare
"Johnny Depp" (mp3)
from "Baby Got Away"
(Absolutely Kosher)
Buy at iTunes Music Store

Response to: Spooner

2008-03-08T13:03:00.003-06:00

From my understanding of the text, Spooner is persuading the reader that alternate forms of academia writing can be useful in challenging and expanding an idea. I can understand that when one works within certain guidelines, it can create limits in how one expresses ideas. I do like the idea of Spooner questioning the academia industry and guidelines. I believe it opens a new way of creative thinking and understanding. But taking cues from the film industry, I believe that there needs to be some sort of motif that runs throughout a piece of writing. By including this, it helps to guide the reader in interpreting. As we've seen through Spooner's piece, he has the ghost editor fill in certain aspects of writing. It acts to help focus the reader and to get into the mindset of Spooner and explain why he took this approach. As he says on pg. 165 "...this requires the responder to imagine the text as the writer, not the reader, sees it." In appproaching a piece of writing this way, it has the ability to focus on the author. Now this may or may not be a good thing or a bad thing. In one sense, it creates a signature to the writing, that it isn't a conglomeration of past research and writings, but a seperate piece of work. However, I fear that if taken overboard or not used properly, it could steal the focus or importance of the subject, and redirect it upon the author. To exagerate, it would create an almost celebrity author of academia. Perhaps that's quite a stretch. Getting back to how academic writing reviewed, the guidelines that they follow often streamline the process ofthe peer review for being published in a journal. (I actually have no idea of the process). If each author is creating their own style, I can imagine it would slow the process of this review, with each reviewee(?) having to interpret the piece. I know Spooner hits upon this counterargument saying that writings are approved too often and rejected too less. But having a set of guidelines can streamline the process. Finally, I do support the idea of Alt. writing but, the idea of having a, overarching style or motif is essential in promoting this idea. If a piece of work has no overreaching structure, I would fear that it would be schizophrenic with the audience questioning hte motivations of the author.

Catch up?

2008-03-08T12:20:00.005-06:00

Not quite, I'm seriously having a hard time keeping up with these blog posts. I would think that being forced into writing would keep me on a tight schedule of practice, but somehow I keep it on the back burner. That isn't to say that I don't keep up with the class, but the idea of translating someone else's idea into my own always gives me problems. But hell, I've even missed out on some of the free posts.

The semester seems to be reaching its peak, with midterms in full swing and spring break coming up. Currently I'm working on a film project that focuses on lighting. Let me just mention a few things. First off, we must of really fucked up in class, because the WHOLE shoot is at night.I think our professor is sadistic. It was 15 degrees last night with a windchill of -8. We were outside setting up and filming from 5:30-12. I mean, I had no problem with the temperature, but some of our crew were miserable. I spent the whole winter body hardening for snowboard, so I was acclimated pretty well. I'm actually proud of myself, being from Texas and all. I laugh when I hear the local 'Sconnies crying about the weather. It's not so bad, if you ever get too cold, there is always the opportunity to step inside. Trust me, it's more miserable if you're outside in the cold and there's nothing you can do about it.

Sticking with the subject of cold weather, while everybody else is running off down south for spring break to warmer climates, I shall be heading up north to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I hope to get some snowboarding in but the main purpose is to visit my mother. In my mind it seems as a mixed blessing. The bad part is my mother is having major surgery and will be out of commission for at least a month. The good thing is it'll be right before spring break, so I'll be there to help her when she needs it the most. Fortunately she has a lot of family and support with my sister living up there.

Ideas for research

2008-02-21T21:24:00.002-06:00

After reading the articles on authorship, plagiarism and audience, i started to think about the flap that went over wikipedia andentry changes. Just like any type of media, it has the chance to be taken advantage of. I believe that there were instances of entries being changed by the united states federal government. Now i suppose there are ways that it tracks user edits to act as a resource. In other events in new media, the united states surpreme court upheld a court ruling where a wiki called wikileak had to be shut down. what the site provided was a place for whistle blowers to expose government secrets anonymously.anyways as raw story says(which has a notoriety of itself) it revealed money laundering of swiss banks groups. i read over the article headline but i'm not sure how deep teh story goes.http://wikileaks.org.uk/wiki/Wikileaks
and going along hte lines of that in new media... there's the amendment that was vetoed by the senate to hold the telecommunications company accountable for giving user information to the government. All these are still grey areas as the government tries to navigate technologythat waits for no one. maybe there's a good research question on communication in there...

...

2008-02-11T16:00:00.000-06:00

I am late on this one, and I'll have more catching up to do besides this class; but enough wasting words. Style to me is any kind of signature that one makes in what they do or perform. One HOPES to be able to create a distinction from the masses in literature, art, etc. but often we grab inspiration and technique from those we admire(and perhaps not?). When beginning to write, I believe one has to focus on their style until it eventually comes natural. For writing and other actions, a person's style might have only a few ways of doing things, or expressing ideas. But I think that style can always be expanding and evolving, with people often reinventing themselves. I like to think that my own style reflects my personality in the way I do things, which could be why I'm late in writing this post and sucking at it.

The Children's Era

2008-01-30T13:51:00.000-06:00

When looking over the different texts that out English 201 could choose from, a few caught my eye. While I would have liked to analyze the Texas Declaration of Independence, it seemed to me that it would be too obvious, that it was almost expected of me in a sense. I like switching things up. Call me dangerous.
As I was perusing through the different speeches I remember my instructor talking about one of the authors of the the texts being a proponent of eugenics(eugenicist?). I was faintly familiar with the term and philosophy, having read a Wikipedia entry during a dull day at work.
Some time later, the topic came up in a conversation between my mother and I about it being a law that a license should be necessary to have kids. This wasn't the first time we've talked about it and I initially agreed with her that we should have a license to have kids. Shit, after all we need a license to get married, we should at least need a license to bring a person into this world.
A little background: my mother works as a caseworker for foster kids, their parents and foster parents. So in her line of work, she sees her fair share of fucked up kids and inept parents. Maybe this has helped ground her philosophy, but she might of had this idea before her job.
Anyways, having this conversation again, after reading the Wikipedia entry I decided that licensing people to have kids was a form of soft(?) eugenics that a society could not practice and be morally sound.
Reading further down Sanger's speech, she asks the same question that I did and that is who or what would be the one to decide who is fit to have children and what ruler do you use to measure? Needless to say I couldn't convince her.

Week 1

2008-01-27T20:29:00.000-06:00

In a similar memoir fashion, I can't remember the first time I learned to read. I believe it happened around the kindegarten age but I can't tell you my first book. I enjoy reading, and find it a rewarding hobby to help me fall asleep. When I read fiction, I tend not to read as deep into the subtext and mostly analyze news and current events. Unlike our author of A History... I rarely read a book more than once. I'm not sure if I spend more time reading digital or paper, but it's close.

This WILL Consume you...

2008-01-25T09:57:00.000-06:00

Perhaps that is a stretch. If one hasn't looked at my profile on the left of the screen, then you can get a recap for my first post of the new year. This is a introduction or preamble, if you will, about me, Joseph Julio Sanchez, to you, the visitors. Originally from Texas, I grew up avoiding tornados in a small town north of Dallas for 18 years. IMMEDIATELY after graduating high school, I left to join the United States Army. Here's an idea of how immediate: I graduated on a Thursday in 1999 and that following Monday I was getting my head shaved in Ft. Knox Kentucky. I thought I was needed immediately, my how those recruiters lie to you. After graduating from basic training and advanced training I went to Ft. Irwin, California for four years until May 2003. At that time the United States was plowing through Iraqi territory and everyone seemed happy. The people weren't rebeling against the occupiers and the army saw no reason to keep me longer and I was honorably discharged without a hitch. I consider myself quite lucky. Faced with a choice of where to live after service, I decided to move the frozen tundra of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and stayed there for about a year with my sister and mother. At the time I was doing some basic classes at a small private university known as Finlandia. Knowing I had to leave the area in search of a more urban life and start a career in media, I moved down to Madison, Wisconsin and enrolled in Madison Media Institute and graduated with a diploma in video production. I wanted a higher education so I applied and was accepted to the University of Wisconsin. I'm a senior with an expected graduation of July, I currently work for the Badger sporting events for advertisements and events. I also work at the Interactive Media Development Center in the Teacher's Education building. I snowboard, and jump at any chance I get. If I miss class, you can take a guess at where I'll be.

Shitter (as My roommate might say)

2007-06-21T18:47:00.001-05:00

I have not been keeping up with this as I hope. I haven't been too extremely busy, but I've been kept occupied. I started my new summer class. it's pretty much another watered down review of com arts 350 and 351. I've already seen one movie in anotehr class called Public Enemy with James Cageny. Watched it for the same reason; gangster genres. blah blah conventions, blah blah the gangster is a product and demise of the city, wanting to become an individual he ultimately destroys himself. I want if this holds true in life. by seperating yourself from society, you eventually implode. I know in the army they don't like individuality, they'll be the first to call you out. maybe that's the reason why I had to leave, I felt that to achieve my goals I had to fidn my own route, go at it alone. I think that's good though, one can really find out what they're capable of doing. I see in society (and myself) a need be a part of the group. And I'm not talking about the whole bandwagon sheep thing, but self reliance and responsibility seem to be disappearing (the government seems to be lacking in the responsibilty department).
i think that we're too quick to look for help for a problem if the solution is not apparent. I know I'm guilty of it as well. hmm... talk about a tangent.
I got a "Kudos" or a acknowledgement from one of my producers the other day when we went on my shoot. I actually got two, the first one was really elementary, but it just helped him out on keeping track of the menial tasks in production, it was as simple as putting a note on a lamp that had burnt on reminding him that he needed to change it. that was it, taking some initiative, but he saw it and acknwoledged it. the next was from the same producer but he wasn't at teh shoot. it was the library shoot that i was telling you about with the instructional video for the people with disabilities. anyways the DP/producer/camera man was shooting a shot reverse shot with the talents. well he started out on teh left hand side of one of the actors and then he shot from the same angle, but on the opposite side. He broke the 180 degree rule and I let him know. He said that he kinda understood what i was talking about, but that it would make sense. Well, yeah it would make sense, but it's going to look wrong when you edit. Well the producer who was doing the editing heard the conversation on tape and made a comment to me about it. I told him i know i was right, but ya know, I'm just a production assistant. it's their shoot, I just help out if possible. but that's what shoots should be like, you can't always keep track of everything, so it;s good to have somebody watch your back. i made a comment, he decided to do it his way.
Okay so next week is going to fucking suck. and i mean that in the worst possible way. it's going to blow, let's take a look: monday through friday, I have work from at least 8:30- 1200, monday through thursday i have class from 1200 till 415. on monday tuesday thursday and friday, I have a dance shoot from 430 till8 30 (somewhere around there). Fuck THAT. I don't know why i told them I could do that. I should of got a spine or something and told them that it's too much.................but it isn't, it's REALLY a cake walk compared to some of the other shit i've done, even if i'm not able to get anything to eat. But this isn't the army, and i'm helping them out as opposed to me. it would be better to go throug the shit if i was the benefactor, but to be honest, it's some bullshit dance performance. MAYBE there might be some hot broads to console me, but even then. I'm not REALLY giving up a whole lot, but I do have classes, and I do like to eat. oh well, when one is consistently dependable, it begins to be expected.
So now what? I've started working out, and it's started in the morning, I wake up at 530 and i get into madison around 600. I try to run for about 30 minutes and work out until i have to go to work at 830. I'm not sure if I get all that I want to do in that time frame, but even if i woke up earlier, i'd only have about an hour and a half to work out, the gym doesn't open till 630 anyways. I've started running around madison adn the campus, there's a nice assortment of inclines and hills, especially with that bastard Bascom. it was bad enough walking that mother fucker, but trying to run up it after 20 mins of running, wears my ass out. But it's good, I just hope i can keep the pace that i've started. I actually woke up before my alarm clock went off, but i hit the snooze buttton anyways. I tried to get that kinda nap sorta thing, but it didn't happen. I'm kinda having some drinks tonight, so we're going to have to see if i can continue the waking up early thing. I love mornings, and I'm happy that I've been able to begin teh process of disciplining myself to get up that early. I think I mostly owe it to my ex-girlfriend for forcing me to move on. i was getting fat and getting relaxed into the cycle. it was what i need to get myself healthy and out there to pursue more pussy. although for the past two nights I did have drams about her,anyways nobody wants to go out with a slob, so i'm doing this for myself and all the potential females, the summer has just started today. but the only thing is i'm going to have to weigh my drinking time with my working out time. It'll be VERY hard to do both, especially if i'm out till 2 and wanting to wake up at 5 30. oh anotehr godamn thing, fuckin class is cutting into my sun time. i know i know, sounsd REALLY gay, but i got a pool and some time, go out there and float in the water, soak up some sun, read my book and work on a tan. nothing better than that, BUT now I got class from 1200 to 430 AND on teh friday I don't have class, I have work.
Hmmm...I don't think there's anything else, and i donthinkg anybody reads this anyways, but i'm putting a hold on rendering out my 651 project only because it's taking too bloody long to do. i think it has to do with being on a external harddrive. I also changed my background on my blog, which took me forever to find something i Kinda of like, I'm not a big fan of having to have patterns, so maybe a website would be better,,,,anyways thats it. cheap drinks at pedros, especially tequila. ODELAY!!!!!!!!

Resume-Caption

2007-06-14T10:33:00.001-05:00

THAT was a pain in the ass to try to get done, but I've finally put my resume up on the internet. I don't know exactly why I felt it needed to get done, but there it is. I had to first sign up for an adobe reader free trial and I was able to convert my Microsoft Word document to a PDF. and then when I found that Blogger didn't take PDF's I brought it into Photoshop and saved it as a Jpeg. I guess I should really look and see if I can just change the word document into jpeg from the program itself. Anyways it's done, I just hope I don't have too much information out there on the internet about myself.

Resume

2007-06-14T10:22:00.000-05:00

New Offer

2007-06-13T10:17:00.001-05:00

So, yesterday was a full and interesting day, as any summer day should be. It started off with me waking up slightly earlier than normal to open up the backstage area. For the IMDC this is where it does it's media environment teaching. Teachers have access to DVD's, VHS, PC and the web, ability to plug in their lap top, and something called a Wolf Vision that is a high speed overhead projector. anyways had to be there earlier due to one of our producers being gone on vacation. Opened it up and started on my logging and capturing of video for this huge project that was video taped three years ago with 40 tapes, some ranging from 10 minutes to 2 and a half hours presentation and b-roll shit. So started that off and then got some DVD and VHS orders for some duplications. we have 2 duplication towers and each one has its own quirks with them. Both made by Condre(?) and one has a drive for the master and 6 for duplication and the other has the ability to load up the project on a hard drive and use 9 for duplication. the one with the hard drive is nice, but I can't figure out how to get it to duplicate from DVD to DVD and not load it each time on the Hard drive. Anyways made a few copies of some DVD's and a huge Betamax tape to a VHS. I don't think those were the good ole days when you had that fuckin camera on your shoulder shooting all day. If the tapes were that big,I'm not quite sure how big the camera was.
That was most of the morning, except I forgot to lock up the backstage after my shift, but no big deal. Nobody mentioned anything to me about it. I only work half days till 12 Monday through Thursday so i took a run around one of Madison's pristine lakes. South of the campus there is Lake Mendota, and it has a small bay with a nice area to run. Well it's that time of the year where the bay has turned from a lake to an algae field. Luckily it hasn't started smelling yet. There's very little water circulation that goes from the bay to the lake, so I guess that's what explains it. That or the fact that the lakes are surrounded by a city(that will definetaly...defenately...definitely be a topic I'll have to address.). Oh back to yesterday, Uhmmm worked out and laid in a pool to get some sun, I had till 4:30. I was going to help out with one of those shoots for instructional video for people with disabilities(Help me with an acronym somebody). This time it was waiting patiently in line at a bank or some shit like that. Pretty basic stuff. The only thing that I had to do was the normal production assistant stuff but this time I had to go pick up the talent. Not a big deal. Well, while i was doing the shoot, I got a phone call from Jennifer Barber about contacting her on account of a film being made in Madison Wisconsin. This is the original E-mail I sent her:
Dear Ms. Barber,
My name is Joseph Sanchez and I'm writing this e-mail with regards to your film "The Heir". I talked to Charlotte Frascona about any projects that were underway that could further my experience and she let me know that you had a film that was in the works with plans of being shown in the Wisconsin Film Festival. I'm interested in helping out, but I wasn't given any details about the project i.e. what phase of production you are in, what format you're using, or exact dates. I was told you're looking for help with cameras and grips, and that it's opened up for a credit. As I've said, I'm very interested in helping with the film, and my experience in media is VERY broad, so I've included my resume in the hopes that we can talk further about your project. Feel free to call at ***-**** or you can e-mail me back at this address. I spend most of my day in a basement, so e-mail is the best way to reach me from 8:30a-4:30p
Sincerely,
Joseph Sanchez

I hate television. I hate it as much as I hate peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts.
-Orson Welles

Just an inquiry, I wasn't given much information originally. To back track a little bit; the way I came into contact with this project in the works and Jennifer is that I was looking to fill time in my summer. I went to my academic adviser and she let me know that there was a project in the works this summer. I had just put my resume together and was looking to exploit all avenues. Sent it off with the letter and yesterday I received a phone call. This was about 730, had no dinner yet, but I was willing to make that sacrifice. I drove back into Madison for the 3rd time that day and sat down and talked with the writers/directors/producers. Had two beers(high life and a shiner bock) and just talked and listened. I was given a script to look over as well as a press release and let them know. They wanted to know how serious I was and I told her(by this time it was just Jennifer) that I will not respond within 2 days so that I may fully mull it over. So that's where I'm at in this point. I read a short piece last night before I passed out.
See, the thing is that it can come with a credit attached to the project. But it's one lousy credit, and then I have to write a paper over it? What the fuck ever. Oh, and then PAY for the credit as well. I'm HIGHLY thinking it's not worth it. I'm leaking much harder on just volunteering for the experience. And it's not really volunteering for the Resume boost experience, but the actually doing it experience. There's hopes that it will be put into festivals, so thats cool, but it'll be my first work on a full length film.
So that's where I'm at, this is where we're at. I need to read the script and decide how I want to pursue this. They seem to have the passion to make this movie and the stamina to keep the morale high. It should be good and in the least interesting. I plan on doing it, just not quite sure if i want to pay and get a credit or not. I told them I'm more of a Broadcast man, but I'd be ecstatic to work on a movie. I think that's all for now. there shall be more to come I'm sure

Renders for Streaming Process

2007-06-12T10:45:00.001-05:00

So one of my jobs at the IMDC (Interactive Media Development Center) consists of digitizing shot footage from DVcam and Mini Dv tapes and then streamed from the web. Well apparently there was some problems on streaming the footage to the web on for one of our clients. There were problems where the audio and video were out of sync the further along one watched the video. I'm definatly not a pro at things like this and this is a step process to how to use Final Cut Pro to stream video on the web. I'm sure there's things that are a lot easier than this, and this might be just for a specific webcast that this applies to. Also I do believe that not only do you need the Final Cut Pro program but the Quick Time Pro. My producer Jesse wrote out these steps and I'mm just passing this along to whoever stumbles upon this page. Pretty dry shit, I know
1. Open your project
2. click on teh sequence tab to select your project that needs to be rendered.
3 choose "File"-"Export"- "Using Quicktime Conversion"
A. name the file with the file you want .
B. "Format" drop down menu should be set to "Quick Time Movie"
C. Click "Options" and make sure the settings are as follows:
i. "Video" should be checked
1. "settings" should be:
Sorenson Video 3
Frame Rate: 15fps
Key Frame: Every 45 frames
Quality: halfway between medium and high
Data Rate: restrict to: 150 kbits/sec
"size" should be:
320x240QVGA
ii. "sound" should be checked
1. "settings" should be:
Format: Qdesign music 2
Channels: Mono
Rate: 22.050 kHz
Quality: Normal
iii. Prepare for Inernet Streaming" should NOT be checked.
iv. Click OK
d. click "Save"
4. after the file has exported, open it from the folder
a. make sure it plays back properly and audio/video i synced after scrubbing through it a couple times
5. while still in quicktime-choose"file"- "export" (I believe this is quicktime Pro only)
6. choose "Export: Movie to Hinted Movie"
a.Then click "Options"
i. "Qdesign Music 2 sound"- "Track Hinter Settings"-RTP
Payload Encoding"- Choose "Quicktime"
ii. "Sorenson 3 Video"-"Track Hinter Setting"-RTP Payload Encoding"-Choose "Quicktime"
iii. Click "OK"
b. name the file
7. Check that it plays okay and stays in sync after scrubbing

On the Ball

2007-06-11T13:44:00.001-05:00

So I've had this blogg for a few days now and have yet to put my first post. Hopefully I can get into a routine. I'm on the computer constantly through out the day but actually composing thoughts into sentences; I have a hard enough time doing that when I talk. Anyways I want to try to keep track of my happenings events, volunteer work and projects that deal with media and more specifically broadcast media, and even more specifically LIVE broadcast media.Some will be trivial, while others could be great opportunities I can track and pursue further. I hope to keep track to make an online curriculum vita(I just learned what this was a few days ago) and... work on my writing in the process. I also want my blog to evolve, with my own changes and not some template.
So perhaps I should start now, and a semi average workday. Two producers I work with at my student job-The IMDC also have their own production company. At the moment they are hired out by Attainment company to make some informative shorts for people with disabilities on how to learn how to do everyday stuff. It's pretty much their show, but I help grip(for those of you who are not in the industry means set up lights, camera, tripod the set, etc. etc.). But along with that I get to be an actor! It is very basic things I'm acting out(it's for people with disabilities) so today consisted of me sitting in a chair and reading a book. I was an extra, but I have had the lead role of when I crossed the street at an intersection and used an ATM. Today, it was library skills and I mostly moved Lowell lights. This afternoon we'll be heading to M&I bank to show how to wait in line patiently at a bank. Good shit, but until then I'm uploading some student projects onto google video. I probably should finish up some loose ends on it before I upload it(I don't have credits yet, and I need to change the music because it's probably copy righted and cut them up to make them smaller.).
Since this is my first blog, I figure that it gives me the opportunity to mention things out of chronological order as well. As I'm trying to deepen my media skills, I tried to sign up for a dreamweaver course. Talk about a no go, the class was full and there was more than a few people on a waiting list. don't know what it is, with people geekin' out on that program. I'm looking Student Training Seminars(?) classes during the summer time. Shit I have enough time on my hand I might as well fill it up with something that can further my career...uhhh carreer... There's other ones I'm looking at that deals with hardware and installation for PC's because I don't know dick about RAM, gigabytes, hertz, diskdrives, nada. Maybe I'll figure somethin out. I'm also looking at attending a HTML/CSS class, but fuckin programming scares me, I just know it's important and good to know. I don't ever have a desire in making a career of internet webgraphic design bullshit, but I want to know it for myself.
Oh one other thing, for the shooting that we're doing for the instructional videos we use a Sony HDV camera, but I should definatly jot down the mdoel number and stuff like that, the more info the better.
One thing I really enjoy about summer is the ability to read at leisure. I enjoy reading, and I enjoy the books that we read, but damnit, it's nice to read passively as opposed to...analyzing every element within the book. But it's not even analyzing every element that gets to me; it's having to analyze every damn element quickly. But right now, I read before I go to sleep. I don't have to read 8 chapters by tomorrow and if I want, I can try to read drunk at 2:30 in the morning after I come home from the bar and not worry about missing anything(usually this consists of me reading a paragraph more than once and eventually passing out). So I'm halfway through Good Omens by Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchett. Good book, better than Anansi Boys. Better than Mirror Mask also(I fell asleep halfway through, so I can't be completely positive about this).