Friday, January 29, 2010

Game day

Reading Adriana de Souza e Silva’s article From Cyber to Hybrid was a lot of fun. It made me wish I lived in an urban city with public transportation as my primary source of getting around town. As much as I love my Subaru, I miss the misty, overcast days in Seattle, sitting at the bus stop waiting for the #15 to take me down to Pioneer Square for my daily almond croissant and vanilla latte at Grand Central Bakery. Once aboard and settled into the pleather seat I would sit back, relax and let the driver worry about the traffic while I perused the pages of the latest copy of the Stranger. If only I had had a 3G cell phone back then. I have never been one to play video games. My past experiences playing them seemed to end in frustration; because I suck at it. However, my interest has been piqued and I found myself wishing I could once again relieve myself of the duties of driving and let someone else take the steering wheel so I could do something else…like play a game…on my cell phone…with other people…en route to work/home/school/anywhere.

This article was intriguing on many levels. But I was most struck by de Souza e Silva’s “Hybrid spaces as social spaces” part of the article. In this section, de Souza e Silva correlates hybrid spaces as social spaces where she regards “space as a concept produced and embedded by social practices, in which the support infrastructure is composed of a network of mobile technologies.” (The Cybercultures reader, pg. 766) Furthermore, she points out that “mobile devices bring actions formerly performed in specific ‘private’ places (homes or offices with desktop computers connected via cables to the network) to public urban spaces.” (pg 767) Examples she used to illustrate this concept were that of location-based games like Botfighters and Mogi. Each of these games uses mobile technology, ie cell phone, bringing virtual communities into hybrid spaces allowing players to interact with each other capturing creatures or trading “text” fire with another player within relative proximity of each other.

The idea of being able to do this with your mobile phone is a little mind blowing. When I first read this part of the article, I was immediately reminded of a game on a friends’ Android phone called Zombie Run! However, after researching what the game entails and after today’s class discussion, I realized it wasn’t a multi-user interactive game but rather fit more into the realm of augmented reality. I was a little bummed. The concept of a location-based multi-user interactive game for my cell phone just sounds so cool! Again, it made me wish I lived in a city where I could utilize public transportation, just so I could have the opportunity to try one of these cool apps out on my own phone. What’s even more exciting about the prospect of playing location-based games via mobile technologies is the opportunity to explore a city. One example I found that is similar to Botfighter and Mogi is an Android app called JOYity.



Needless to say, aside from the fact that I enjoyed reading the de Souza e Silva's article, I wholeheartedly agree with her perspective on mobile technologies bridging the gap between our ideas of space-cyber to hybrid and it's affect on connecting us socially.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Things Fall Apart


I wasn't sure what to expect when I began reading Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, but since it has been on my "books-I-want-to-read" list, I was excited at the thought of finally marking it off.  I have to be honest, I frequently found myself getting caught up in the plot. However, I don't want this to sound like a book report. Okonkwo's trials and tribulations throughout the course of the story had me wondering what fate awaited him at the turn of every page. But the more I read, the more aware I became of the connections between this book and Ong's Orality and Literacy, at least in regards to the discussions we've had in class.  However, the observations made didn’t revolve around literacy.  Okonkwo and his clansmen were obviously an oral community.

The first recurring observation was the role speaking held within the community.  It is more than the reverence for the speaking elder or priestess or tribesman of high regard, it was the ceremony of orality.  Speaking seemed ceremonial in most instances either when consulting the Oracle, resolving issues put before the high council or within the communal intimacy of tribe members.  This ceremonial formality seemed to give orality a reverberating quality.  There was a lot of call and response between speaker and audience and reminded me of sitting in church as a kid participating in the liturgy.  Likewise, the formality of even asking for a woman’s hand in marriage required fellowship first: the breaking of kola nut and drinking of palm wine; getting comfortable with your neighbor and relaxing together before business is brought to the table.  Today we live in a world where such formality (fellowship) is bypassed.  We want immediacy; state your case, and get on with our lives.  In Okonkwo’s world, most everything was connected to the teachings and customs of the past as passed on from fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers.  Even the rites of the priestess of the Oracle (Chielo) seemed formal and ceremonial, calling to attention the need for reverence and honor.
 
None of this is surprising, but further reiterates how orality has been deeply rooted with peoples across the globe, of various cultures and customs and how it has called for respect.  Our class discussions in DTC 475 currently reside on virtual communities and debate of whether or not they create isolation or seek to abolish it.  I am divided.  Reading a book like Things Fall Apart and regarding the sense of community in the story makes me think that social face to face community creates stronger bonds and a sense of togetherness.  Although we are a literate group of individuals, I am drawn more to the verbal speaking culture than the virtual culture.  That’s not to say I don’t seek to evolve and find a happy medium between both real life and virtual communities, but even without written text, sometimes I take more away from a verbal conversation than I do from a book. 

Friday, January 22, 2010

Blog assignment #2: Virtual Community

Although there are several virtual communities I belong to, the one I will focus on is Angel. A virtual community, as defined by Michele Willson are "communities experienced through technological mediation over the Internet and possibly enhanced in the future by virtual technologies." This being the case, I choose Angel because it is a virtual community I belong to that links me solely to the other community members online through the Internet.

I am taking my third class online this semester, having taken two last semester.  As part of DDP, I am linked to fellow classmates living in almost every corner of the world; some are in Tri-Cities, some in WA, some in the U.S. and still others in China, New Zealand, Great Britain etc.  Our community resides in Angel since I have neither spoken to or met any of my current or previous classmates aside from commenting on their discussion posts. This holds true of the professor as well...I've neither talked to or met them aside from reading or responding to their discussion posts. As part of this community I interact not only according to the guidelines set by the professor teaching the course but through necessity to relay or receive information pertaining to the class.  If we are not posting our ideas and commenting on others, we're emailing each other.  This is not to say that I could not interact with these community members outside of the virtual realm.  However, time, space and interest pose an issue.  I choose NOT to interact with my virtual classmates outside of the Angel realm because I neither have the interest, time or resources to do so, but mostly interest.  My connection to my fellow community members/classmates rests solely on the temporary but still important committment to the class.  Once the class is over, I'm done.  On to the next class. If I happen upon a former community member/classmate in another online class (or even 'embodied' class) then great.  Maybe we'll become friends and want to meet up for a Hefe at Jackson's or a coffee at Barracuda.

The terms of entry into this particular community rests on a few things.
1. You must first be a student who has met the required entrance prerequisites (ie transcripts and application etc) paying tuition to WSU to take the online class.
2. Because of #1, this means you have to be reasonably educated and literate (one must be able to read, write and perhaps even do some critical thinking) to engage in this community.
3. Once access to this community is granted, a computer with Internet is required to participate since an online username and password are required to enter into the virtual community space.

After discussing barriers of the digital divide: access, content, literacy, pedagogy, and community it's easy to see how Angel fits into this.  Access and a certain degree of literacy are a must. Community is implied since that's essentially what the access is granting you entry to; a meaningful space via Internet connecting people with a common interest.  The content revolves around learning or at least the opportunity to learn something.  Community interaction is usually required, but encouraged with enthusiam for community building and critical thinking.  The hiccup comes with pedagogy.  In my opinion, Angel is a pretty straightforward program to navigate.  But I have seen posts from people who have minimal computer skills get help with navigation from fellow classmates, the professor or TA, or online Angel assistants.  Does that count as pedagogy?  I don't mean to dumb down any the nature of this assignment but even after our discussion on the digital divide, I think there's some gray area with how wide the divide is from person to person.

My notions of the digital divide and virtual community are being shaped and molded into a broader and diverse understanding of the technological world.  Other communities that came to mind that I belong to would have included Facebook, Blogger, perhaps email?  After our last class discussion, I no longer knew what to think about "community".  I chose Angel because it seemed to be the most authentic of the virtual communities I belong to; virtual community as defined by Willson. 

I still feel like I'm processing everything: cyberspace, digital divide, virtual community, technology...
Bring it.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Orality and Literacy Pt. 2: Was that a rhetorical question?

Rhetoric as defined by Ong is the art of public speaking. But more than that, it was the 'art' of public speaking that was a product of writing.  Merriam-Webster's online dictionary first definition of rhetoric is as follows: "1 : the art of speaking or writing effectively: as a : the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by critics of ancient times b : the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion
3 : verbal communication" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhetoric.  What I found most interesting about Ong's description and explanation of rhetoric as it pertains to orality and literacy was: "With its agnostic heritage, rhetorical teaching assumed that the aim of more or less all discourse was to prove or disprove a point, against opposition. Developing a subject was thought of as a process of 'invention', that is, of finding in the store of arguments that others had always exploited those arguments which were applicable to your case."  (Ong, pg 108-109)  It's silly what the mind conjures when reading certain things.  Although I can't remember the date or time, I remember the first time I heard, "that was a rhetorical question" and wondering exactly what "rhetorical" meant.  I had to look it up in the dictionary (in the privacy and quiet of my room) and I remember still not understanding (keep in mind, I was just a kid when I first heard this term). As time and understanding would have it, it came to mean that despite what the question was, it found its favor with the person asking it, thereby reinforcing their point.

The interaction of rhetoric in the loci communes or commonplaces further drives the idea of home.  Ong establishes both analytic (cause/effect, opposites) and cumulative (essentially formulas for speeches/writing) commonplaces as helping keep alive the orality and art of rhetoric.  Regardless of its commonplace, rhetoric still found its footing in the academic world.  Ong noted, however, that the exception to this was the rise of female writers in the 1600s. It is no surprise to many (if not all) of us that formal schooling for women way back when didn't revolve around subjects which lead to more male-dominate professions.  It was much more common, as Ong pointed out that women more or less studied the business of domestic affairs or homemaking.  Yet, women still found their way around the academic, Latin-based rhetoric of writing giving rise to the novel. 

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

DTC 375: Orality and Literacy Pt. 1 or Homer vs. Pink Floyd

I have to admit, it was a little daunting to hear our Prof. say," 'Orality and Literacy' is a tough read."  So I began reading this book with some trepidation. However, I surprisingly found the subject matter interesting and almost a little riveting.  I am currently halfway through chapter 3 but anticipate being close to finished with this book by Thursday, since I don't have a choice anyway. But I digress.  This blog entry is about orality and literacy, or more appropriately, my association of Homer's epic poems with rock opera.

You might be asking yourself, "how could she possibly be associating Homer with Pink Floyd?"  It was Milman Parry's discovery that "virtually ever distinctive feature of Homeric poetry is due to the economy enforced on it by oral methods of composition.  These can be reconstructed by careful study of the verse itself..." (Orality and Literacy, Walter J. Ong, pg 21) That explanation turned the light bulb on in my head and Another Brick In The Wall started spinning on my mental turntable; needle on vinyl.  I can remember listening to that song as a kid, the repetitious lyrics reverberating in my memory.


It's a strange correlation I guess, but as I read about mnemonic patterns, the primary oral culture, literate vs. illiterate peoples, hexameter, metric formulas and the sophistication of Homer's poems, all I could hear in my head was, "Wrong, do it again! If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?!"  (Note: (for those who actually listened to or watched the provided link) It's interesting to know that the poem the teacher reads from Pink's notebook are the lyrics to Money.)

Anyway, what I'm getting at is this: the orality that can be associated with Homer's Odyssey and Iliad with it's metered verse feels no different than Pink Floyd's rock opera The Wall.  Before written word there was only oral communication.  Bards, troubadors, versifiers, minstrals, poets and songsters...their rhapsodized words committed all those stories, histories, proverbs and verses to memory.  It's no wonder that early childhood education begins with nursery rhymes and quaint songs.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Blog assignment #1: Cyberspace

I have to admit, I had to read, and re-read the 10 definition intro to Michael Benedickt's "Cyberspace: First Steps."  As to which one resonated with my preconceived notions of "cyberspace"...well, let's just say that given I'm not the most technical or computer driven individual, my preconceived notions didn't really amount to much. I'm willing to bet that the very first time I heard the word "cyberspace", I probably had visions of the speckled, inky vastness of space.  It's fair to say that my preconceived notions of cyberspace are closely related to the internet.  Both words imply an enigmatic vastness that I don't explore as extensively as I could or should.  Not because I don't want to, but there always seems to be so many other things to do.  

But with 10 neatly laid definitions put before me, I'd have to say that I was most drawn to not one, but two of the definitions:

"Cyberspace: A new universe, a parallel universe created and sustained by the world's computers and communication lines.  A world in which the global traffic of knowledge, secrets, measurements, indicators, entertainments, and alter-human agency takes on form: sights, sounds, presences never seen on the surface of the earth blossoming in a vast electronic night."

"Cyberspace: Through its myriad, unblinking video eyes, distance places and faces, real and unreal, actual or long gone, can be summoned to presence.  From vast databases that constitute the culture's deposited wealth, every document is available, every recording is playable, and every picture is viewable.  Around every participant, this: a laboratory, an instrumented bridge; taking no space, a home presiding over a world...and a dog under every table."

The first definition seemed to wax poetic.  Like Star Trek "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life...to boldly go where no man has gone before"; a wealth of information and of unseen peoples and places all encompassed in the "electronic night."  The second definition felt like a continuation of the the first, touching again on an electronic vastness of information infiltrating diverse spaces where we work or kick up our feet and scratch the dog's head.  By choosing to major in DTC I've willingly thrown myself into the hypermediated vastness of technology. With each class I take, I wade deeper and deeper into making all those preconceived notions of computers and technology into something more realized; in terms I'm comfortable with. I'm overwhelmed with the amount of information/sounds/images/programs/links out there.  It's almost too expansive.  Thankfully, each class I take builds upon the last and I feel like I'm gently being led into the knowledge of cyberspace. It isn't sink or swim.  It's like floating, weightless and almost faceless, from the privacy of my home while sipping my morning coffee.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Introductions

Hello all and welcome to my new DTC blog!  My name is Dena Lacey.  I am optimistic about this semester now that my brain has had winter break to reset and get re-energized.  I have another blog, but will refrain from sharing it as it has been neglected for some time due to my really busy life.

Here's a bunch of random stuff about me:


I am 35 years old.
I am a junior at WSU Tri-Cities trying to obtain a degree in DTC (duh.).  This is my second semester at WSU and I am scheduled to graduate in Spring 2011.
I am divorced and a single mom of the greatest kid on earth.  His name is Beckett and he's 3 years old.  He's the most amazing thing I've ever created and I am very proud of him!

I am originally from Austin, TX but have lived here in the NW since 2002.
I plan to move and set roots in Seattle once I finish my degree.

I have pretty typical interests.  These include but are not limited to: cooking, baking, making my son laugh, watching movies (huge Coen brothers fan), singing out loud to classic rock songs, being a dork, reading, pretending to be a health nut, collecting gig posters and eclectic/kitschy artworks, home decorating (my own house, that is), talking on the phone, traveling, making sure my hair always looks presentable, tattoos, trying to say clever and funny things, and generally loving myself and l-i-v-i-n' life.
My favorite color is red.
I am an Aries...which makes me stubborn and headstrong among other notable qualities.
My favorite food is sushi (when I can afford it).
I want another tattoo...a half sleeve on my left arm.
I like my steak medium rare, my eggs scrambled and my coffee really creamy with a little sugar.
I love all classic rock music (bc it's the only thing my parents allowed us to listen to) and divide my time between classic rock and indie rock/pop/folk/alt-country.  I am currently on a Cars, Foreigner, and The Bird and the Bee kick.
I tend to be a grade grubber but am trying not to care so much since it really makes me feel like a nerd.
Javier Bardem's character Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men really scared the crap outta me.
I have a thing for vintage pin-up girls.
I like watching "reality" television if it requires real talent aka Top Chef, Project Runway, Shear Genius etc.
I am a huge Venture Bros. fan.  (Go Team Venture!)

I want to learn to play the drums.
I have 3 siblings and am the oldest of the 3 daughters.

Alrighty then, I guess that's all I have for now.  See ya 'round! :)