Argument Reflection Blog

In this argument, my audience is absolutely everybody. My purpose was to try and deal with the issues from all parties in the attempt of trying to making some kind of a solution to both side’s problems. My overall design was to try and try to make all of the information available in a somewhat organized fashion. I then introduced my perspective and conclusion in an attempt to get those to believe my stance based on the facts presented in the previous pages. I believe my presentation is suitable for the web reader. It gives a variety of facts and what I believe to be a strong argument.
I am most proud that I was able to finish it. If I had more time I think I might be able to improve the structure of the pages and maybe insert a few more pictures. I don’t think lacking any technical knowledge affected my project in any way.
For the most part I selected general knowledge of the topic and the various events that were happening in accordance to my subject. However, several of these sources were used to either give a bad image to the record labels or help my argument in that a solution needs to be made and that the tactics being used are not effective. I think my decisions to give subtle biases in my body pages full of facts can influence the audience with my argument. At times I tried to make either the record labels or artist seem unfair with their possible greed.
In general I think I did a decent job at presenting my point. My original goal was to make the audience think that downloading should be legalized because it simply can’t be stopped. The project was difficult because I pretty much ran out of time, but that also can be due to some procrastination.

Proposal Blog

The topic and conflict of downloading music has been an ongoing struggle. It seems that no consensus will ever be made. Some think that no solution will ever come of this. Record sales are down 20% since 2000 and it has been blamed on downloading. I propose that music downloading should be free, but that there must be some conditions. For instance, I think it should be legal to post and download music, but this must be done on authorized sites that sell advertising space. Similar things have been attempted before, but the record labels complained that they were not getting their cut. However, the record companies and artists can collect the commission they would have normally lost to music piracy. Also, those who care about getting the music out there can also have that opportunity without having to get signed by a record label.

Multimodal Reflection Blog

The multimodal project was more involved than the hypertext essay since it was a hypertext essay with an included power point and podcast. My target audience for this project was everybody. This is because this was a presentation of nonbiased material. I tried to cover all sides equally since this is a somewhat controversial issue. My purpose for covering this topic in the project was to give a good background on downloading music and what is all involved. My overall design was not the flashiest, but I think with the few pictures I used it gave it some visual appeal. Some of my pages did not contain pictures which may take away from the project though. I placed the power point and podcast on the first page because that was the home page and I thought that would help to create a good introduction page since the power point was also a summary of the various views. I think these elements gave a decent presentation of the material in various aspects.
I am most proud that I was able to finish the project, but if I had to pick something else it would be that I was able to provide all of the viewpoints in a way that did not make me seem biased. If I had more time I do not think I would change really anything, maybe I would do something to the conclusion page to either lengthen it or just make it more visually appealing. If I had a greater knowledge of technology I would have the text word wrap around the text instead of just making a table. The table helps make it more visually appealing, but it would look nicer. I chose the research that I did because it provided the viewpoints of everybody. This includes all parties and the situations that this topic involves in other countries besides the United States.

Interview with Lauren Ward about downloading music.

Podcast

Research Topic

I would like to do my topic on downloading music. I feel that this is a good topic because this seems to be an ongoing battle between the music industry and the consumers. To begin with, the industry says that pirating music is wrong. I agree with them because it is stealing, but others believe it is up to the consumer on how much they pay for music if any. Many believe that they should not have to pay for art. This is a dilemma for both sides as they try to work things out. Even bands themselves are trying to regulate this. Notable ones are Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails who both seem to be against the recording industry. For instance, Radiohead put their music up for free online and let the consumer decide how much to pay.
Lawsuits are flying around and people are getting sued and charged for their stealing this is fair that they are charged, but at times seems to be out of control with thousands of dollars worth of fines. Though pirating is illegal it seems to be a little strict at times. I myself do not download illegally, but it seems to be a little like “1984”. I would like to use this as my topic because it current and interesting. I would like to know if there is ever going to be a balance because even some of the artists themselves are not agreeing with their labels.

Reflection Blog

My essay probably relates more to the digital generation. This is probably because I agree with most of the author’s points. Since, I agree with most of the author’s points, my purpose was then to explain why I agree with them and try to influence my audience that they should feel this way too. In general, I wanted to say that it would beneficial to students to incorporate digital media in the classroom, since we could use to not only educate in the subject matter, but in so to speak real life. I decided to talk about how we encounter it every day and then I began to talk about the potential of today’s generation.
I intended to give the design of my essay some appeal with the use of color on any page. I did not want the pages to be boring because if it looks drab some may very well just skip reading that page because it may not look to exciting. Despite the randomness of the colors used in some sense this may have helped since for the most part a different color was used on each page that reflected a different point. If a reader was looking for a particular piece of information, it may give some sort of clue as to where it may be located at. With anything organization is key. I wanted to place the links in an order so that if anyone decided to read them like a paper they could. So I started off with a summary and then I continued with the links as if they were building body paragraphs with my various responses. I then concluded with a small wrap with some final thoughts. I believe that all of this has made my presentation appealing. However, I have noticed on a few of my pages some problems. For instance, in my attempt to hurry I accidentally forgot a tool bar of links on one page and for some odd reason half a tool bar is missing from the works cited.
I chose the research that I did because it is very relatable. In some shape or form we deal with what I have included. The example on digital signs may be somewhat obscure, but I used it as a reminder that our world is going entirely digital so that we need to keep making changes. The other examples I chose have something to do with some sort of education that involves digital multimedia.
In general, I guess I am a little disappointed with my project. In a rush to finish it at the last second I forgot to fix a few costly mistakes that definitely hurt the appeal of my page. At times this project was definitely aggravating as I was dissatisfied with the first time too. In my attempt to fix these problems I disrupted the visual appeal.

Sources

http://www.abcnews.go.com/
This web site is authoritative is because the stories are written from the associated press. Though this is not one particular author, it still can be trusted. This site is also current. The date is easily locatable and is even from today. This site is also relevant because it offers several trusted articles that may be relatable to any topic. This site is accurate because it says it is cooperation with USA Today and that way the sources can be checked.
http://www.thetimesonline.com/
To begin with, this source is current. It is copyrighted from 2008. This site can also be called authoritative because it is from the associated press and the members of the press are listed. This site can also be considered accurate because it uses first hand quotes of the individuals that are involved. This site is relevant because it is a real news source that is credible. Information can probably be found for a variety of topics.
http://nytimes.com/
This web site is current. It is constantly being updated. Next, the web site is authoritative. The author is listed and the sources are listed in the article. For instance, in one of the articles, a doctor is listed along with his quote. This also helps the accuracy of this site. This site is relevant because the information is current and like the others offers many topics to get information from.

Technology

I am a nerd. Technology is a big part of my life. Actually technology is part of everybody’s life. Technology has impacted my life in every possible way, even in the most unlikely ways that nobody ever thinks about. Every minute of my day is being affected by technology. Yes even while I sleep! I love technology. It is like a taco. Sometimes has a shell and contains all kinds of stuff inside. Mmmmm taco. Anyway, without technology my life might not be so fun. I wouldn’t have my car to go to the movies. Oh yeah there would be no movies. I would not have an ipod or no pickups on my guitars, and there would be no recorded music. Hey at least there would be no remixes. Technology is my entertainment. I love to go home and sit in front of a computer or tv, plug in a guitar or listen to my mp3 player.
Technology has been forever changing and it will forever be changing. Hey a sharpened stick made by a monkey is technology. In 10 years, that monkey maybe building a boat. (Wouldn’t that be awesome). To sum up what I kind of danced around, technology is forever changing and without it we could be in a lot of trouble. Thank goodness for medical technology.

Great Scott it's Cyberculture!

Cyberculture is scary. Everything is now online and can be a little frightening. I was introduced to cyberculture a few years ago and am kind of amazed at how much stuff is on the web now. For instance, I had thought online gaming would be popular, but I had no clue people would devote their entire days to this. I guess you can say that my participation in cyberculture is moderately involved. At first, I was reluctant to join social networking sites because they seemed kind of odd, but I eventually acquired a facebook. Now I’m a junkie. It’s a sad, sad internet addiction. I cannot go a day without checking what’s going on with my friends, but overall this is a good thing I can now stay in contact with my friends who attend other universities like so many others. I have also found other ways how cyberulture is very useful. Sometimes, when I have a technical question, I can find the answer on somebody’s forum. Sure it might be ran by somebody named Pirate Pete, but hey it’s free information.
Cyberculture has both met and disappointed my expectations. To begin with, I love that everything you would possibly love to find is out there on the internet including business who love to sell stuff at a fraction of the price. However, I guess you can say we all probably saw this one coming. Pop up ads are everywhere like an infection. I really don’t want to open up a page and have an elf trying to sell me shaving cream for my turtle. Hah that was dumb, but I probably I got your attention if you spaced out while reading this. Our new virtual world has also disappointed me. Why do people think it is necessary to date online? This is just my opinion, but it seems a little creepy. All I can think of, is the person desperate, a criminal, or possibly both. Oh well.
Overall, cyberculture is just going to keep expanding with quite possibly a new variety of online activities. I think cyberculture is never going away.

Pop Culture vs. Cyber CUlture

Pop culture is everything that can affect us through the media. Cyber culture is pretty much all of the technology that has been developed or will be developed and how it changes us and our activities.

Pop Culture

We basically live and breathe popular culture. Popular culture is a part of every American’s life, like it or not. Pop culture is commercially successful. It will never die just evolve and as it evolves we will only absorb its next stage. First of all, in my circle of friends, we may discuss a new television show. It’s what is new and exciting, there is less of a chance that we are all going to discuss a rerun of an old program. Music also plays a large role in pop culture. We all want to listen what is new, cool, and endorsed by entertainment’s biggest celebrities. This is why some music is entirely successful. Someone else thinks it is cool. This is entirely true for everything now though. Do people not dress themselves differently because a magazine tells them that this is what we should look like. Everyone watches tv. When you turn on the tv, there are a million car commercials with young people and a catchy song that basically says you are not cool unless you buy that little box with a million airbags.
Pop culture defines our generation, our parent’s generation, and every generation that has come or will come. It will affect everyone and everything because it’s human nature to buy into what’s new. Now if you would excuse me I am going to discuss some new movies, buy new cds and clothes, and possibly use some slang. Popular culture is a cult.