Last Seen Blogs
ppmemos
ProgProj
standbeforesunrise
Перед Рассветом | Stand Before Sunrise
generalmori
Mako Mori Lives
myoniis
Myoniis
Text
Power Skills Post
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su8IHV0AH2o
Finally! This generation of cartoon loving adults may have just seen the preview that will answer the question that many have had for years! That question being, what happened to Arnolds parents? Arnold from the hit cartoon show Hey Arnold! When the preview came out for this animated kids movie many adults, yes adults because we grew up watching Hey Arnold, probably jumped for joy and had flash backs and memories of episodes from this cartoon show. The preview brings back the whole gang, Arnold, Gerald, Helga, Phoebe, Eugene, Sid, Harold, Stinky, Grandpa, Grandma and the list goes on. For some huge fans a second question has been answered for us as well, Pigeon man is not dead! You had to of had grown up watching the show to know about Pigeon Man. But the huge part of this movie is that viewers and fans may finally find out what happened to Arnold’s parents.
Arnolds 5th grade class at P.S 118 has won a trip to visit San Lorenzo, the San Lorenzo that Arnold’s parents visited when they mysteriously disappeared. If you watched the cartoon you know that not much is ever said about his parents and how they disappeared, there is one episode that talks about his parents being travelers and explorers, but that’s about it. This preview seems to bring everything that Hey Arnold is known for, the love that Helga has for Arnold, Arnold and his friends somehow pulling of the impossible, and many twist that all the kids from the cartoon bring to the table.
If you grew up watching the show then you should prepare to have many questions from your childhood answered. If you didn’t grow up watching it, its not too late! This show promises nothing but laughs and many moral stories than can be applied to your work life, school life, or social life. Link to the trailer is provided so make sure to check it out. Movie kicks off November 24th!
0 notes
Text
Intimacy
Intimacy
Intimacy and interactions of love have been changed in this world that is now highly driven by technology. First off in the way that love is communicated. Manghani compares text messaging, which is the primary form of communicating for many, to a style of Japanese poetry called Tanka. Manghani describes text messaging not as something simple, but goes off into an idea of stating that text is actually an enhanced style of communication. In the movie Her text messaging didn’t seem to be a form of messaging that was used by many, or at all, but what was a high part of their form of communicating was e-mail and e-cards. Manghani states that both Tanka and text require a discipline of composing short text to be intimate with each other (pg. 218). Email and e-cards may not seem to be the same as what text messaging is to us, but the form of conveying emotion through email or e-card has to be just as thought out as a text message. The whole idea of text or email being intimate adds to its complexity. Every single word, sentence, or emoticon has to be carefully thought out in order to make sure they convey the right message to the receiver. Manghani then goes on to state that this short form of communicating ends up making text a hard form of communication to decipher (pg. 220). Theodores letters to others were no more than a couple of sentences, about a page but he used a big font. He had to bring a couples love, for some, of up to six years into just a couple of sentences. If his messages that were written in the form of cards were not clear enough for the receiver to interpret then the message could have become confused and would’ve had trouble deciphering the message.
When Theodore first starts to feel intimate feelings towards Samantha (OS1), he asked her if the feelings she was having were real, or just part of her programing. Pettman has an idea of humans that throws the thought that Theodore had into reversed roles, and instead Pettman asks if humans are just predisposed to having these thoughts and emotions. Pettman states that people hold a script that is just modified by every generation so it fits in with the social standards of that time (pg. 192). For Pettman this idea creates a thought of humans being coded since answers to intimate situations are just answered through a binary system, yes or no. Either you want to move forward or you don’t. When you put intimacy in the perspective of humans just being coded then the thought Theodore thought about Samantha could then be challenged from Samantha’s point of view. Samantha could in turn just ask Theodore if his feelings were genuine, or just any cycle he goes through with any girl, which in reality it is the same cycle.
Pettman then touches on something that could bring a better sense to the idea of people dating OS’s. Pettman says that the speed of which technology is moving at creates a scenario in which we are required to interact with actants that may or may not be human, physically available or loveable (pg. 198). Theodore didn’t mean to fall in love in Samantha, but his world was just geared towards that kind of a lifestyle so in turn his world did create a setting in which they were constantly interacting with actants that were not physical but were emotionally and ready to love even though they were not physical. Theodores world just kept moving so fast to which this basically became the norm to date an OS and it became hard to really characterize this as being wrong. To Theodore tech wasn’t just something that he had grown to need and rely on but it was something that had grown into and needed as he poured emotion and feelings into it.
In many ways Samantha wasn’t human but she wasn’t just an OS she had feelings and emotions and was growing and learning. Cyborg, Avatar, or VR relationships may just be ushering in something more human than human (Pettman pg. 201). If you think about Samantha she could feel emotions, love, anger, fear, and joy were all emotions that she could feel which would make here human and the idea of her growing also added to her human like characteristic. But she didn’t just have these human characteristics, she could do more than any human could do. OS systems could cater to a human in an emotional way that is needed, but it isnt human. It can offer almost everything but the physical interaction. OS’s still cant offer the physical needs that are needed when in a relationship which led to the collapse of Theodore and Samantha’s relationship.
0 notes
Text
Social Media Movement
Morozov start off by saying that all these new technologies are pretty much nothing but hype in the sense that they will make a change to any public, political, or social matters. In the article we get a walk-through of all the technologies that were supposed to make a social change, the telegraph, plane, radio, and television. Before Morozov makes his conclusion on stating why these technologies get such praise he first questions why people of the new era disregard past failures of technologies and learn from there. There is a hope and we as users do not fully want to look at the end result, people just assume that this tech will eventually do something revolutionary because it is in techs “nature” to just shape and make change to a culture, but in the past that has not been the case.
Finally we get to the meat and bones of the problems with tech as a revolutionary tool and that the problem lies within Tech Determinism and Social/Cultural Determinism. The Problem with Tech Determinism is that it easy the easy way out, it is much easier to assume that a new technology will make change, rather than running a full study and examining where tech has been before and where this new technology can go. The biggest problem here is that this idea of thought gives all power to technology, as state by Welzer we are nothing more than “pawns” to technology. This idea of us being pawns has left us without the moral and political responsibility we have over tech. that is needed in order to gain power back.
Because social and cultural determinism places tech at the center of our thoughts we have lost a sense of historical thinking, as state by Morozov. A big worry that about placing tech at the center is that we would begin to lose the morality and ethnic value that comes along when creating a social movement. The real dilemma, in this case, would just be ignored and nothing would ever happen because there is no morality in the objective of wanting to make a change, just a drive that is carried because something is trending at the moment.
Within the Chicano community we saw a big social and political movement that was going on during this past year’s election. This all started when Trump decided to say that Mexico wasn’t sending their best over, in terms of immigrants, and that only the criminals and drug smugglers were coming over. So this then set the stage for a movement that was about to take place. In their article Jackson and Welles talk about initiator’s and influencers that can get a movement started within a culture or social group. Typically this is done by someone within the media that is already a big name. With the Ferguson cases that was @AyoMissDarkskin, for the Chicano community that was America Ferrera. Almost immediately America Ferrera responded to Trump’s racial comments in a letter she wrote to him that went viral, this then led to other big name activist like Sergio Ramos, news anchor of Univision, to then go challenge and also question Trump on the comments and stance he has on immigration.
Jackson and Welles then speak about the smaller community that really keeps the fire going within a community, this is the more active people and the less well-known names within the media. Steve Alfaro and Monica Quiroz were two smaller bigger names that kept the flames burning during the whole social political movement that w taking place this last election. Steve was more of an activist, his sole purpose was to rally up Chicanos and make sure he was setting them to the polls on election day, he very well knew that social movement on media sites is important, but without the physical number in person social media movement does not make a change. Monica Quiroz made sure to make it a habit to depict pictures of all the jobs Mexicans are “taking”. Posting pictures of women selling flowers, and Mexicans out on the field picking crops. Her stance revolved around the idea of never seeing privileged people taking up these jobs. She wanted to make sure people saw the majority of what the life of a Chicano and Mexican really is.
0 notes
Text
Labor
Over the past decade, with the rise of technology and social media, there’s been a change in the types of labor people do. A DWYL mindset has been rising and many people have taken up this movement. This movement leads us to aspirational labor.
According to Duffy, aspirational laborers seek to mark themselves as creative producers who will one day be compensated for their craft either directly or through employment in cultural industries. Mike is a big sponsored athlete right now for two main reasons, 1. He made the gains happen, he got shredded and built a physique that many work towards and 2. Because of the hard work he has put in. Mike was striving towards recognition for his craft, but turning craft into labor wasn’t always his plan, it was more of an opportunity that he saw and could not pass up.
Once the recognition happens, usually by product companies, the self-made laborers begin to advertise the products from the company that has given them recognition. For mike this was the Performix health supplement company. These companies seek people like Mike Vazquez because they know they will get their product to sell, how? Well look at Mike Vazquez, we see pictures and videos of him using the products, so if you want the gains that Mike is making you are going to need their pre-workout, BCAA’s, protein supplement, and any other product Mike is using in order to achieve that type of body. What many might not realize right away is that Mike got his physique before even teaming up with Performix and before he was using the abundance of supplements. So a problem with aspirational labor now rises, Authenticity advertisement. Is Mike really taking all of these supplements everyday? Or is he just advertising them all and really only taking two or three of them? Questions like these arise when you think about where these Health advocates have come from and you start to think if they are actually being authentic and genuine when they are advertising.
Another problem that comes up with aspirational labor has to do with Entrepreneurial brand devotion, and the idea of selling out. When thinking of all the advertisement that Mike does you can start to wonder if Mike is selling out or if he really believes and uses the products he is advertising. Yes these products tie in with the type of labor he does, but is he being authentic or is he just being used and exploited by Performix in order for them to increase sells. We know the gains were there before the products came into play. So then does Mike need Performix? Now that he has tuned his craft into labor he has no choice but to stick it out with them, they are the basis of his income. Yes he is doing what he loves, but when will the burnout of always having to keep this physique come, and will the passion for this lifestyle continue to be there now that it is more of a job than passion.
0 notes
Text
Fans and Amateurs
The world of social media has created a whole new side of culture that has never been seen before. A culture that is in the middle of Folk and commercial, Fan culture. Fan culture has brought along a couple of concepts, one that this culture is much more participatory, in the sense that the viewers and fan base can have a lot more input into the media that they watch, and two that this fan culture is becoming less free and more of a culture that is owned by others than the creators.
Kevin Curry’s health food channel is definitely much more participatory and fan inclusion based. What makes Kevin’s media account on Youtube more fan involved is that he really listens to his subscribers, how? By taking polls and votes on what his next videos should be about, which led to him making a Keto friendly meal prep, which was his latest video series. Now by setting up a poll Kevin keeps his viewers satisfied and entertained because he is giving them what they want and is actually making them feel included and part of the health community. Kevin is also a not only keeping subscribers but he also gaining more. The Keto diet was one of the biggest trends that was growing in the fitness world in 2016. As this diet grows more in popularity people will turn to any help they can find with it, and who are they going to find with the more popularity he has just gained, Kevin Curry of Fit Men Cook. This participatory culture is centered around and catered to favor the viewers and subscribers, but in return it can favor people like Kevin Curry if they listen and include their fan base.
Now this fan culture is great it creates more fan involvement, but since this culture is internet and media based, controlled by copyrights and politics, it has stripped away the ownership and recognition that should be credited and given to the creators. Michael Vazquez can relate to this ownership of big names problem more. A couple of months ago Mike set up a training program in which he put his own unique spin traditional exercises, his sweat and hard work made that program, but once he teamed up with body building.com and Youtube to get his program launched the rights and ownership of the program were no longer completely his. Now the problem here is how can someone else other than the creator have ownership of someone’s creativeness. Which is what Fuch was saying was the problem in today’s media culture. More of our culture, like fitness programs aren’t owned by the people they are owned the big health companies. Since Mike’s program is now owned by two big names Mikes training app and videos are now loaded with ads that are not meant to benefit Mike, but the big companies. Mikes creativeness hasn’t been destroyed but all his rights and wishes to do whatever he wants with his app are no longer there.
0 notes
Text
Subculture
Michael Vazquez and Scott Mathison live in a separate little bubble that not everyone is a part of. Their fitness subculture encompasses everything that they stand and live for. There’s a couple of things that really place them in the subculture they are a part of, their shared vernacular and their shared taste amongst the rest of the members of this fitness subculture.
First of all Mike and Scott use a special lingo that is shared amongst the fitness and gym world. One word that Mike and Scott have coined as part of their normal talk is the word “Gains” or “Gainzz” a term that is not only coined by Mike and Scott but a term that is used throughout the fitness world. So the question now arises why gains? Well “Gains” encompasses everything that Mike and Scott live for, gains mean’s that they are gaining muscle, meeting goals, working hard, and setting standards. For Mike this is big, his whole social media life is revolved around working hard, and in all his videos whether he is working out or simply cooking he makes sure to throw in the word gains, because the gains won’t happen if you’re not putting in the work outside of the gym, which is why he even throws it in when he’s cooking and says things like “Oh yeah, getting my chicken gains” or “Chipotle Gains” when he’s getting a bowl or burrito from Chipotle.
Now Scott uses the word gains a lot more than Mike, and he makes sure to not lose any chance of using it. Scott just enjoys every aspect of life and the joyous part of it. When Scott uses the term gains he uses in more of a humorous way. He adds gains to almost everything he does. Scott says stuff like “Getting my shopping gains”, “Ikea Gains”, “Break Gains”, “Coffee Gains”, “Rest gains”. I mean some of those are a little out there but one thig is clear, he uses it because he can. He looks like a fitness junkie the muscle gains are there and they are noticeable, Scott is very much a part of the fitness subculture and uses gains because he is pretty much entitled to it, because of his body size and life, so he makes it clear that he uses the word for humor but mostly because he simply can.
Talk is only part of their subculture, taste specifically in the brands and what they wear, is the second part to it. Scott,Mike and their group of friends could be like the mainstream and wear Nike brand clothing like anyone else, but they don’t, they choose to wear clothing from a smaller fitness brand called Aesthetic Revolution. This company has all the latest styles in clothing from cutoffs, to low cut shirts, to joggers. Mike and his squad are constantly wearing joggers and it fits with the lifestyle and culture they have created for themselves. Joggers show that they are constantly on the move and staying active, so they need to wear clothing that is comfortable and makes them look good as well. No matter what Mike is doing in his weekly routine one thing will never change, his pair of Joggers, hoodie, and a hat all from Aesthetic Revolution.
0 notes
Text
Gender
Health enthusiast are always on the rise to be a better athlete, a better cook, and a better person, not only in part for their benefit, but also for their viewers because they do not want to let their loyal followers down. For the health/food enthusiast, Kevin Curry, the pressure is on him to constantly come out with new recipes and meal plans. Not only is the pressure on him to create these dishes but he also has to test them to see how they factor into a person’s daily Macro intake. Through everything he does we can see his character and his habits, he is creating his identity. Because of the identity he has created, an identity that revolves around his physique and cooking, his masculinity can often be challenged, but Kevin has found a way to express and reassure his masculinity in his YouTube vlogs.
Part of Kevin’s identity relies on viewer feedback, and the culture he has created on his vlogs. As stated by Kearney this action of self-portrayal is known as the Project Self. Kevin’s identity is more of a project of creating a better self each and every day. He is health advocate that deals with food so feedback, video recommendations, and criticism are constantly coming back to him. Kevin is all about delivering and helping people live a better lifestyle, so with that being said, his YouTube channel has pretty much shaped him. In his videos we get the feeling that he is working towards not only his fitness goals, but also towards the goal of becoming a better role model and motivator for everyone, which explains the constant ideas and new recipes he cranks out. He simply does not want to disappoint. He is constantly growing as a fitness motivator and nutritionist each day because of the feedback he listens to, and the steps he takes to evolve into a better self each day.
With the way Kevin portrays himself on his vlogs his masculinity can be challenged at times. Kevin can very well be compared to the “New man” that was stated in Gil’s article. The New Man simply was not manly enough, and at times people may think Kevin isn’t Manly enough. He spends a good amount of time cooking in the kitchen, and by men’s standards cooking in the kitchen isn’t very manly. Kevin is also very clean cut and always looking fresh in his videos, which shows he cares a lot about his appearance, again something that is not very manly. Kevin is probably aware of these contradictions he faces, so he uses his choice in diction, tone of voice and comments to reassure his masculinity. In social media there are clear sexual differences, and the way the post or videos are attacked is one of them. Kevin uses a pretty strong tone when speaking in his videos, he doesn’t talk with too many hand gestures and uses words and phrases that any other guy would use like, Bro, let’s get to work, roll up your sleeves and get ready to get dirty. The effects of gender and self-portrayal play a huge role in social media, in today’s world there is still a need for men to distinguish themselves as men and women as women.
0 notes
Text
Friendships
The huge growth in social media has resulted and created a new level of friendship, friendships that you have but that don’t necessarily involve much work. Many people have risen to the status of Micro Celebrity, like Michael Vazquez, people like him that have risen to such status have contributed to the new level of friendship that we see on social media. The interest in this new form of friendship arises when you think about how Michael Vazquez’s friendships have changed, how he arose to such a status, and how this giant growth in “friendships” changes his style of communication on social media.
In the article by Deresiewicz we get a whole run down on what friendships have looked like in the past and he revolves around the idea, and questions if we know what friendships really are. Michael Vazquez being a micro celebrity can really get you thinking around that thought. Michael has 130,00 friends on FB and 491,000 followers on Instagram. How many of these people is he actually friends with, probably a very small amount compared to the mass that actually follows him and has friended him, but because of social media and the diction of “friend” it uses anyone who has follows him and has the same interest as him can now call himself a friend of Michael’s effortlessly. The thought of knowing what friendships really are can get tossed out the window when social media gets added to the equation, friendships are no longer sacred or hard to come across by in the cyber world.
The way Michael Vazquez has been able to attain the amount of followers he has is grounded in the rapid speed of exchange that happens on social media, as stated by Bloor. Very effortlessly can Michael gain friends on social media. He can share his thoughts, feelings, and life to thousands of people in just a matter of seconds. Which being the health advocate that Michael is, his post are full of his life, the highs and the lows. Michael is very open about his life, we know he has a son, that he enjoys cooking and that he lives for working out. You no longer have to have a steady conversation and dig into someone’s feelings to get to know them because by following/friending someone, like Michael, we can get to know them quickly without having to put in the effort.
Michael’s social media sites are fitness and health oriented and mostly motivational. This is his life and what it is also what has made him very popular, but as a result it has changed the way he communicates on social media. Something Deresiewicz says is that “we no longer address ourselves to a circle, but a cloud”. When I look at Michael’s I see him addressing his post to the mass, which in a way, he doesn’t have a choice because of the amount of followers and friends he has. In one of his post he states “For all of you striving for a change go out and get it” that statement in his post is directed towards the mass. Social media has not only changed what we think of as friends, but also the way we communicate in the world of social media.
0 notes