Google Results

I have to admit that the thought of googling myself did strike up some fear within me.  However, not a fear of finding raunchy or incriminating photos, mostly just embarrassing ones.  To my surprise…I was right!  The results were chock full of my extensive high school theatre career; wigs and all.  Many of my friends and of course some of my own twitter pictures were displayed, along with screenshots of youtube videos of some performances I have done.  Yet, because my full name is Elisabeth and I go by "Liz" or "Lizzy" on social networks, I was able to get different results from different searches.  My nickname searches were clearly the ones that led to Facebook photos and other items from social media.  The Elisabeth searches, however, led to more academic related pictures, such as my flip book and my video art thumbnail from Santiago's Art and Technology class.  Either way, I am proud to say that I have no complaints with what people can find of me on the internet, and I definitely plan to keep it that way.

Life with an iPhone

How has my life changed since purchasing an iPhone?  As much as I would hate to admit it, it has probably changed for the worse.  Despite the convenience of a cell phone, and especially a smart phone, I can't help it to sometimes think of the fact that, in a simpler time, people did survive without them.  I often wish to be able to go back to that time where phones weren't chained to hands and eyes weren't glued to screens.  A time where people did not feel the need to publicly post every minute of their lives or spend excessive amounts of time stalking someone else's.  Social media is a great way to keep in touch with friends, but having apps like Facebook and Twitter in the palm of your hand is just another way to feed the addiction that our society has with sites like these.  With our heads always tilted down to our screens and our fingers constantly texting or tweeting, the ability to be personable and have a conversation with someone face to face is a rare skill these days.  I only bring up these negative aspects of the iPhone because I have personally witnessed how they affect those around me, but there are clearly positives to the phone as well.  The fact that it is a mobile computer can come in handy for endless amounts of tasks ranging from easy e-mail access to looking up a great restaurant.  As someone who is terrible with directions, the iPhone's Maps have also been very beneficial to me.  Some of my favorite apps that I often use (other than the social networks) would have to be Afterlight, a very detailed picture editing app, and TED, an app that is something like youtube but for inspirational speeches.  I would recommend either of these apps to anyone that was interested in the topics discussed on TED or in art and photography.  In today's world, the only way I could ever picture my life without my iPhone is if the whole world got rid of their's as well.  If I were to live in a world full of iPhones without one…there's a strong chance I wouldn't make it.  Despite the negatives and positives that there are to iPhones, the fact is that we can never go back to a time where they don't exist, and can only look forward to the future.  

First Day Feelings

When scheduling for classes, there was not much I could tell about what Digital Citizenship would entail other than the fact that it was required for a Communications major.  After our first class, I can honestly say that not much has changed.  That being said, my mind is completely open to anything and everything that this class has to offer.  The fact that this is the first time Digital Citizenship has been offered at UT is really exciting for me as a student, and I find it amazing that we have the option to mold the class to be what we want.  As far as myself and my goals are concerned, I don't have one specific career planned for the future.  I truly love every path that a major in Communications can lead to, and the fact that it is so broad allows me to explore all of my options.  I enjoy working with different forms of media, so that is one aspect of the class that I know I will love.  As far as the rest of the course is concerned, my main goal is to get as much out of it as I can and to further open my mind to new things.  Having such a broad major means never knowing what skills will come in handy, and therefore I look forward to taking away as many skills as I can from Digital Citizenship this semester.  

Video Art: Bulimia

Looking Into the Future

As I sit to write this, the only thing I can ask myself is, "Where do I begin?"  After reading "A Scientist Predicts the Future" by Michio Kaku, it is safe to say that my mind is blown.  To think that the incredible technologies and scientific advancements that have only been possible in movies will most likely become reality one day is very hard to grasp, but I do have faith that it will happen.  This article not only gives readers a look into the multiple types of technologies that will become available, but also into how they will benefit society.  For example, as media and industries are digitized, society as a whole will be able to gain knowledge on everything about services and products, which will ultimately lead to understanding exactly where the supply and demand curves meet, and this will perfect capitalism.  Advancements in health sciences will allow complex organs such as livers to be reproduced, allowing the term "organ failure" to become a thing of the past.  Further cancer research will bring scientists to be able to target individual cells and kill them, making cancer become that of the common cold.  Meanwhile, censors that can be placed in toilets or bathroom mirrors will be able to find early signs of tumors or other harmful health issues, thus saving lives.  It is these health advancements hat truly make me thankful for technology, yet it is the inventions that will reduce basic human skills, such as driving our own cars or cleaning our homes, that make me a little nervous.  Technology is already such a huge part of our lives, to the point where obesity and simple face-to-face communication skills are becoming issues.  If this continues further, I worry for the future generations that may lose simple skills as they allow technology to run their lives.  Overall, he world of technology has a bright future, but as with any part of life, their are both benefits and drawbacks to this reality.

Tumblr Findings

My daily explorations on tumblr had me stumble across this beautiful series of photographs using the camera obscura.  It is titled Guest Relations and is by the artist Robyn Stacey.  I immediately felt the need to blog about it because before taking this class I would have just assumed that these were done using a simple projector.  Now, I can immediately recognize a camera obscura series when I see one, and even understand how it is done.  I really enjoy Stacey's use of people in her pictures because it brings a new element that I have never seen before.  Also, I love how the color and liveliness of the scenery from the outdoors contrasts with the very plain and dull interiors.  I'm always finding great things on tumblr, but I was SO excited when I came across this!

SNF

After reading the article "The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack helped spread disco--and kill it," the movie itself has become much more to me than just some 70's film my parents showed me.  I can now see how it helped to define a generation.  The article explains that disco was already at its peak, or even possibly passed it, at the time the movie was released in 1977.  However, what made he movie different from the disco culture that everyone was used to seeing, was that it showed how disco was a form of escape for a working class boy from Brooklyn.  For the main character Tony, going to the club on Saturday nights was his way of forgetting his parents, his friends, and his future as a hardware store employee.  The article quotes one of Tony's best lines and states, "There are ways of killing yourself without killing yourself."  This spoke to me, and I think that it can speak to every generation.  It is basically saying that if you aren't careful, you can find yourself with a job or a life that doesn't allow you to truly feel alive.  This was Tony's problem, but going to the clubs and being the best dancer is what got him through the week and what got his adrenaline pumping.  As for the soundtrack to the movie, the article explains why it was considered the disco album to many buyers.  It stayed at number one on Billboard's album charts for a little over half a year, and it had one of the 10 biggest selling LP's of all time.  Despite the fact that bellbottoms were packed away and the genre of disco is a term of the past,  Saturday Night Fever and its soundtrack will forever represent a generation that was "unwilling to let economic uncertainty and social divisions keep them from having fun."  It is a great movie with great music that showcases an even greater era.