Afterworld: Over It

Afterworld is an online TV series that started a few months ago. At first when it came out I was HYPED. I thought it would be perfect to report on for this class. The basic plot is:

Sometime between 5 and 6 AM EST, the world as we knew it suddenly,inexplicably, changed. After traveling to New York City on a business trip Russell Shoemaker wakes to find all electronic technology dead and more than 99% of the human race missing. Driven by a need to discover the truth and determined to return to his family, he embarks on a journey to his home in Seattle. Afterworld is the harrowing story of Russell's 3000 mile trek across a post-apocalyptic America as encounters the strange new societies rebuilding themselves. Along the way, he is forced to confront his greatest fears while unraveling the mystery of what caused this global event.

Over time, Russel figures out that something called an 'ENP' destroyed everything. Never fully explained, its something like an electromagnetic wave that was able to turn off technology and wipe out humans. But within about 20 episodes, the spastic plot line began to get to me. Every 3 or 4 episodes, a whole new subplot came up. He'd meet someone new, get chased by someone new, etc. Bascially, whoever wrote Afterworld tried to cover every single post-apocalyptic archetype ever written. There are those who respond to the disaster by pumping up their religion, retreating into nature, or just losing it because of a longing for survival. Because of these crazy subplots that just kept piling up I couldn't manage to form a coherent blog entry. Afterworld is a fun series but isn't making any general statement just yet. Any great Digital Age point it could make is lost. Eventually I lost track of episodes and I don't think I can catch up now. Sometimes, the greatest Digital Age attempts just turn to dust.

It's Digital Age Macro Time!

The general theme for today: when computers go bad!

Digi Playlist

So here are some of my favorite songs about the digital age. Internet, current culture, ect. if you'd like a CD of them, just ask. You can bring me a blank CD if you feel like it but I have a ton.

• Online - Brad Paisley
• Download this Song - MC Lars
• Don't Download this Song - Weird Al Yankovic
• nevergetoveryou.com - Simon and Milo
• memory - Alan Jackson (if I put the actual title, http://www.memory/, it messes up the link. sorry)
• She Frickin Blocked Me - Josh Tobin
• The Emo Song - Josh Tobin (can't find the lyrics)
• Snakes on a Plane (Bring it) - Cobra Starship
• Internet Relationships - MC Lars
• This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race - Fall Out Boy
• White and Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic
• and as a special bonus: I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Clause - Standstill (a hilarious contemporary christmas song.)

if you know of any other cool Digital Age songs, post a comment with them.

Link-tacular

So, I've managed to write all of the entries I'd planned, which I'm proud of. For right now I'm just gonna post some cool links to check out. If the inspiration bug bites me, there will be a real entry soon.

• How intel chips have changed...
• concept cars!
• brand me? new facebook app
• you know you love it: hottest geek toys!
• mobile banking... not so bad?
• luxuriotechno
• Facebook! you're still ahead, don't mess up now!
• what the heck's a wedcast?
• beyond a normal photosearch
• hey! offline info stays offline!

That was quick! The phenomenon of lolcats

So I decide to look up lolcat on Wikipedia, so that I can find the mystical origin of these pictures I'm addicted to. And I find something surprising: icanhascheezburger, one of my favorite sites in the world and one of the biggest lolcats sites, made its first entry in January. This January. As in 2007. It's so young! The earliest lolcat instance they can even find is 2005. Phenomena in the Digital Age doesn't take long. One website, one video, can turn into a huge catchphrase in a just a couple of days. Think about all of them: Hamster Dance, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Brokeback Mountain parodies, Chuck Norris facts, or Numa Numa. Infamy is just a click away. Consider this a mini-entry, just because I was so shocked that icanhascheezburger had only been around for a year. The essay took a lot of my cognitive thought out of me. but here's two bonuses: a lolcat bible and a bonus locat!

Facebook vs. Myspace: The Ultimate Showdown

Which one wins? I've compiled a list of some basic and extended stats. Then choose which one is pro and which one is con. Two websites will enter... and both will leave! But we'll still like one better than the other. =P

The Basics

Users:

Myspace: 87 million. Facebook: 55 million

Year of Creation:

Myspace: 2003. Facebook: 2004

Money:

Myspace: signed a $900 million deal with Google. Facebook: Google bought a 1.6% share for $240 million

Pro: Myspace

The Profiles:

Blurbs:

Myspace: About Me, Who I'd Like to Meet, Interests, Music. Facebook: About Me, Personal Info, Contact Info, Educational Info

General Look:

Myspace: Able to be edited with html. Possiblities= endless. Facebook: set colors and shape, rearranging and editing are possible.

How Personal?

Myspace: Gender, State, Hometown. Facebook: home address and phone number

Top Friends?:

Myspace: Top 4, 8, 12, up to 24 may be displayed as part of the basic profile. Facebook: Third party application must be added in order to display any kind of top friends

Pictures:

Myspace: Albums now possible, tagging in the works. Facebook: Albums, tagging.

Feed:

Myspace: small chart of friend updates on homepage. Facebook: Mammoth feed on homepage, miniature feed on every profile page for that specific person.

Pro: Myspace

Communication:

Messages:

Myspace: similar to email. Private, but multiple messages stack up. Facebook: Private. Multiple messages with the same person are displayed as a single thread.

Preferred Mass Communication:

Myspace: Bulletins. Mostly surveys, questions, updates, etc. Pictures and videos able to be embedded. Displayed on sidebar of homepage. Facebook: Notes. Tagging available, as well as easy embedding of pictures and videos. Show up on mini-feed, Feed, and profile

Comments on Profile:

Myspace: Comments displayed on usual profile. Comments may be deleted and censored. Facebook: Comments displayed on a Wall. Features include deleting and wall-to-wall conversations.

Etc?:

Myspace: Myspace IM if applicable. Facebook: a 'poke' feature is equipped on every profile. Allows users to poke, get the attention of, other users. Also allows one to access the full or limited profile of a non-friend (if they poke back).

Pro: Facebook

The Extras:

Applications:

Myspace: HTML can be embedded in profiles. Videos and quiz results among top HTML added. Facebook: Third-party applications made available. Examples include Top Friends and Free Gifts

Groups:

Myspace: Not very popular, most users only have 5 or 6 if any. Hard to access. Facebook: Up to 50 groups, easily accessible

Events:

Myspace: None. (post a bulletin if you have to?) Facebook: Event application on a basic profile allows users to invite one another and RSVP

Status:

Myspace: newly added. displayed on profile (somewhere), never expires, also includes mood. Facebook: displayed on profile, mini-feed, and Feed. expires weekly.

Etc?:

Myspace: Extra features include Myspace IM, Myspace TV, Myspace mobile and Myspace News. Facebook: Sponsored groups and third party applications.

Pro: Facebook

Other:

Professionalism:

Myspace: considered much more personal. Facebook: can be used by professionals, with caution.

Age Groups:

Myspace: primary users aged 14-18. Facebook: primary users aged 18 -25

Privacy:

Myspace: users under 18 have their profiles automatically set to private. One must know the last name or email of user to add. Profile pictures always displayed. Facebook: all full profiles are inaccessible to non-friends. One simply adds a friend, and it may either be accepted or declined. Profile pictures and profiles can optionally be set to private.

Legality:

Myspace: Quite a few legal hang-ups, most of which involve sexual exploitation of minors. Facebook: Ongoing lawsuit involving illegal use of concept and source code of rival site, ConnectU.

Pro: Facebook

Winner is:

FACEBOOK!

Now, that's not saying that Facebook is ultimately immaculate and Myspace is the root of all evil. They both have their drawbacks and benefits. But as of this entry, Facebook rules! Oh, and below is a chart of how the users of both sites are growing. See a pattern? I think it reinforces my ruling.

New Digital Age Song

"Online" by Braid Paisley I work down at The Pizza Pit

And I drive an old Hyundai

I still live with my mom and dad

I'm five foot three and overweight

I'm a sci: fi fanatic, mild asthmatic

Never been to second base

But there's a whole 'nother me

That you need to see

Go check out Myspace.

'Cause online I'm out in Hollywood

I'm six foot five and I look damn good

I drive a Maserati, I'm a black belt in karate

And I love a good glass of wine

It turns girls on that I'm mysterious

I tell 'em I don't want nothing serious

'Cause even on a slow day I can have a three-way chat

With two women at one time.

I'm so much cooler online

I'm so much cooler online.

I get home I kiss my mom

And she fixes me a snack

I head down to my basement bedroom

And fire up my Mac

In real life the only time

I've ever been to L.A.

Was when I got the chance with the marching band

To play tuba in the Rose Parade.

But online I live in Malibu

I pose for Calvin Klein

I've been in GQ

I'm single and I'm rich

And I got a set of six-pack abs that would blow your mind

It turns girls on that I'm mysterious

I tell 'em I don't want nothing serious

Cause even on a slow day I can have a three-way chat

With two women at one time.

I'm so much cooler online

Yeah, I'm cooler online.

When you've got my kind of stats

It's hard to get a date

Let alone a real girlfriend

But I grow another foot and lose a bunch of weight

Every time I log in.

Online I'm out in Hollywood

I'm six foot five and I look damn good

Even on a slow day I can have a three-way chat

With two women at one time.

I'm so much cooler online

Yeah, I'm cooler online

disconnection leads to debt

Quick: how much credit card debt does a normal household have? Nope, guess a little higher. Close: around 8,000 dollars on average! What is happening to us?

Look at how we handle our money. Online banking, credit cards, checks. Cash is a distant dream. We charge 2 dollar packs of gum, write checks for 4 dollar cups of coffee. Even checks are becoming inconvenient, with the introduction of checking cards. And now the companies are coming out with faster and faster ways to spend your money. You don't even have to sign your name anymore, just flash a magnetic strip.

But this can't be doing us any good. Money is turning into nothing but numbers on a website. It's lacking so much tangibility that we're losing any grip on it. Think about it: you're holding some bills in your hand. A twenty, a ten, maybe a couple of ones. You have to count it to buy anything, you have to separate it and hand it over. You can see the monetary value right there. You hold it, feel it. It's quantifiable. Here's an example: a digital clock vs. an analog. On an analog, you have this metaphorical vision of time, where you can physically see the space between the numbers, how much time you have. It feels different than a plain numbered digital clock, where all the guessing is in your head.

The easier it is to spend money, the more money we spend. Hey, we're Americans! Capitalism rules, right? But putting us further into debt isn't helping anyone. We're not in debt because we have more money or even more to buy. We get into debt because it's so easy to spend money and so hard to keep track of (if you don't have a really convenient online banking system). We're buying everything online, even getting loans on the internet. And you can even get your debt consolodation online! Then you're just feeding the monster even more!

So back to clock metaphor: some people can tell time just as well on a digital, and still are never late to anything. The analog clock is dying and the answer isn't to revive it. We just have to learn how to gauge time on a digital. Put in a little effort, and you'll always be on time.

ELIC photos

I felt like ELIC just ins't a regular book, and deserves more than a normal blog entry. Most of these pictures I took personally, and I altered them all.

The Lack of an Entry: Crime is Scary

I was planning on writing a blog entry about computer crimes. You know, the usual: illegal porn, identity theft, soliciting. The thing is... there's some research involved that I'm legitimately afraid to do. I just keep thinking: what if my searches get picked up on some crime scan? what if i end up accidentally on an illegal site? It's all research until I follow that one bad link.

The fact that you can get arrested for an action done on the internet is still kind of mind boggling. For some crimes, its understandable. For things like identity theft and kidnapping, the internet is just a vessel. The crime is committed in real life. But what about things like inappropriate postings or cyber stalking? What's the protocol? How do you know when you've done something that crosses some invisible line?

The invisible lines are what scares me. Ignorance is no excuse, right? There are things done online every day, by millions of kids, that could probably get us arrested. Illegal fileshares like Limewire and Kazaa are rampant. We lie about our age all the time to access websites and offers. When does it become more serious than just some normal misdemeanor? I'd rather not find out. Therefore, this entry is the lack of an entry. I crave the knowledge, but am afraid of what it might turn up. I'm sorry.

I can haz macro?

I decided to make some macros of my own. ^_^

Laptop vs. Desktop: The End of the Bulky and Stationary

There's a reason that this picture just doesn't look right. Who has the strength or capacity to turn a mammoth computer into a portable friend? No one. Computers once tied us in place with their heavy CPU's and giant monitors. And therefore, the laptop was born.

Laptops have become a beautiful part of our culture. Teenagers tote them to coffeeshops, college students use them in class, adults can work at home using the same tools they did when they were at their jobs. The revolutionary idea of portability changed our world forever...as well as our wallets.

A nice laptop is a luxury. Popular ones can go anywhere from 700 to 1500 dollars. A very basic one will have you shelling out at least 350 or so. The extremely popular MacBook is 1300. They grow smaller and smaller and still have more and more capacity. Just like every other gadget out there. iPods have more room than some computers and you can hold them in the palm of your hand. And the thinner they get, the better they are and the more money you have to shell out to have one. Our new motto has become in America: smaller is better!

Which is why the desktop is beginning its slow procession towards death. It's clunky, outdated appearance and performance just doesn't suit us any longer. But it's price might. Take this: a pretty nice Apple desktop, including keyboard and mouse, will only set you back 150 bucks. It's got 10 GB internal drive and a 56k modem. It ain't the ritz, but it'll get you from a to b.

But as soon as the laptop emerged it began its takeover. In 2005, 54% of PC users had a laptop. Over the past few years the laptop has revolutionized how we do business, how we connect to each other, how we work. The laptop has unplugged us and allowed our virtual worlds to move freely. With the invention and utilization of wi-fi and long lasting batteries, we can constantly be on the move and still be plugged in...but is that such a good thing?

Laptops have made it easier for us to connect to the internet anywhere. So now, instead of having a reserved computer time, or even a place, we're always online. In places that were once social, we are drawing ourselves away. Kids use laptops in class and surf the internet. College students are more often on Facebook than writing notes for class. Their convenience and power are tempting, but in this laptop takeover, what are we losing?

The real question is: what have we already lost?

Technology + A Need for Convenience = Easy Food

Online shopping is not something new. It's become common practice to order anything you can find online: clothing, gadgets, cheese sandwhiches that look like the virgin mary, ect. In this process, you usually get your item a few days later in all its shipped and handled glory. But now, as technology progresses, you can get your favorite food items fast and easy by ordering online.

Now, this isn't a very common practice. The idea of getting food online is still a little wacky unless you're ordering a gift basket. Right? Then why is there an entire section of Amazon (my favorite internet mall) devoted to grocery? This isn't just gift baskets. There's everything from cereal and coffee to a can of kipper snacks and boxed milk. The question of why order things online has always been there. Most of the time, its because you're looking for something uncommon online, something that would be very difficult to find in a real store. But we're talking food here. Unless you're ordering canned alligator or something, I really don't see the point in having to find it online. Is the grocery store such a confusing madhouse that you have to have an easy to use search box, pretty picture, product review, and price comparison to get your bag of cheesey poofs?

But that's grocery. Let's take a look at classic, speedy delivery, such as what you get with pizza and chinese takeout. The best general site I could find was campusfood.com, catering to those hungry, lazy college students. You just go online, enter your location, and are supplied with a list of local restaraunts ready to deliver your cookies, onion fries, hot wings, lo mein, and/or pizza within an hour or so. You can even text message your order! Example: let's say you're down in Tuscaloosa, at the University of Alabama, and you decide to order some food online. You can find the pizza place listed in your area, and specifically order a hoagie with lettuce, tomato, but no peppers, and have a small pizza with the left half green olives and the right half black olives. Which makes me wonder... are they really going to honor that? I mean, who cares which half your dang olives are on? The pizza's a circle, just flip it over!

So I found an experiment on a blog about this very thing. In this experiment, two pizzas were carefully planned out and ordered off of the Domino's website. Were they honored? Read to find out.

I guess my big question is: does ordering food online go too far? Have we slipped so far into the black hole of the internet that we can't even go to the grocery store? We can't even pick up a phone to order anymore. And why do we need our pizza toppings so perfectly distributed?

White Teeth: Digital Age?

Go FutureMouse! Next up: FutureNovel!

To me, reading White Teeth felt like flipping through the TV channels and researching every show online simultaneously. White Teeth can be seen as a Digital Age novel, in my opinion, because of its spastic storyline, excessive multitude of characters, and its basic randomness. It satisfies the Digital Age's rampant ADD, running a story until its just about to bore you to death then switching pace, switching characters, throwing something new and exciting in. The novel was dense, but in a very different sense than Ivanhoe or something. It flashed its plot like pixels across a screen, information being lapped up and stored and filling us to the brim.

Then, of course, there's always FutureMouse. Everything from this genetic marvel's tail to his whiskers is Digital Age. Our fascination with genetics and playing God is emphasized in Marcus's big project. And the issues with these things are brought up by illustrating Millat and Joseph's problems with it. On Millat's side, there's the issue of creation: can and should we play God? And on Joseph's: should we really exploit innocent creatures in order to further our understanding?

Okay, this really excited me. As I was searching for something on Google, I stumbled upon this: White Teeth was turned into a four-part television show! Who votes that we should watch it in class? *raises hand*

Inventions: The Speed of Technology

• Today in the mail I received my new issue of Time, and on the front was a lovely rendition of the iPhone promoting the "Best Inventions of 2007". Needless to say-- I was quite excited. Here's a link to the online-version of the article.

• It amazes me how fast technology is moving. I mean, bendable computer screens? Processors that are measured in nanometers? A machine that can convert blood types? Ideas are being churned out at top speed, with astonishing creativity, design,and often practicality. (Often being the most important word: advertised near the feature article in Time was a toothbrush that tells you how to brush. Since when do we need that?) I think The World is Flat is right: right brain thinking is essential these days. With so many new, innovative ideas, you have to be extremely creative to be successful.

• As technology grows and speeds up exponentially... I wonder how this is going to affect us. It's been said that new proffessions will emerge faster than we can learn about them. I think our problem is that our carraige is edging up on our horse (to use an ancient metaphor) Pretty soon, the speed of technology and design will get so fast that the consumer, the inventor, and the big companies will barely be able to keep up.

• So how do we fix this? Which is the better solution: to slow down the carraige, or speed up the horse?

In honor of Halloween

• A really great list of facts about our beloved Frankenstein.
• Also, some really crazy pumpkin carvings! (The Giant Squid one in 2006 contest winners is my personal favorite)
• Top 25 Horror Movies, by Time Magazine, and Top 10 by Listverse
• What's with all the six year olds in sexy costumes?
• Why we think we see ghosts
• And finally, the coolest costumes for your dog, cat,kitten, and... guinea pig?

Good Moon Night

• Tonight, as I was driving home, I noticed how beautiful the moonlight looked on a road ahead of me. It was breathtaking. But the closer I got to it, the farther it seemed to move. My artificial, blinding headlights kept blocking it out. I became so set on seeing it, I finally waited until I was on a lonely road, stopped, and turned off my lights.

• The full moon on the grey asphalt and against the trees was like full blown, capital Nature calmly settling over man's creation. It made the road look so perfect: pale, illuminated, unlined. It made me feel content and simple. Carefree. And, I guess, free of the restraints the Digital Age had placed on me

• No off-yellow headlight could ever match that moment of moonlight. It made me wonder how many other great beauties we're missing. Kids don't see the stars anymore. Almost none of us do. We don't see many great (English?) landscapes or pretty sunrises. We've lost them...almost. Even though I don't ever see the stars or marvel at sunsets, there's still one thing that leaves me awestruck everytime: clouds. Cirrus or stratus, bathed in sunlight, hanging from the cieling of the sky. I personally believe that they are the most miraculous, majectic aesthetic objects the world has to offer. If I was religious, I'd say they were proof in God.

• But what happens when we lose this natural wonderment? What beauty are we missing, how much will we let slip by us as we further our factories and lights? How much will we retreat from nature? Are we really getting rid of it as a byproduct... or is there some deeper level of us that wants it to be gone from sight? Is the Digital Age pushing us away from natural beauty and drawing us to pretty colors, artificial images? What must we do to gain it back? What must we do to gain back our wonderment, our awestruck eyes, our overwhelmed hearts? I wish I could say.

And YES I couldn't get the post to work again without these little bullets. I apolagize. Just imagine them as itty bitty full moons.

• P.S: Emma? Ms. Bolden? Ms. Emma Bolden? Whatever I should call you: You are by far one of my favorite readers. :]

"...the kind of people who think writing is therapeutic."

" I never attended a creative writing class in my life. I have a horror of them; most writers groups moonlight as support groups for the kind of people who think that writing is therapeutic."

Our Creative Writing classes are a happy anomaly. We look at writing in a completely different way than a class at any run-of-the mill highschool. It's beause of the way we approach our writing.

I understand exactly the kind of person that Smith is trying to express. In the digital ase, these are the people who's poetry usually ends up being a story of their life set to rhyme. For the younger crowd, it's usually something to the affect of:

"My life is dark,

my heart in flames,

is this just

another game?

Does he love me?

Is it for show?

Tell me, will I

ever know?

Bloodstained razor,

broken heart,

I've lost my love,

now I depart."

Inset dramtic sigh, and/or weeping. These days, we call this Emo poetry. A lovely new label that's spread like wildfire and is tossed around in any conversation, Emo is the general term for someone who is melodramtic, pessimistic, and depressed. It's usually used in vain, as a joke. Now imagine a group of these stereotypical kids in a room together, learning about writing. I can imagine their critique... "This poem shows that you're really sad. I'm sorry. Have a tissue. *pause* Oh, no, don't change anything about it. It's great the way it is, of course, because it just shows how sad you are. *hands over another tissue for weeping kid.*"

Because this is what happens when poetry becomes therapy. Then it's all about the feeling and not about the work. That's what Smith is trying to say, I think. That the kind of people who think writing is therapeutic see writing in a completely different way. They don't see it like those of us sitting in our well-decorated cubicles. We see it as an art form, to be mastered, improved, perfected. It's about quality of the pieces -- and to the others, it's about quantity of the emotions. They can get their feelings out on lined paper in little couplets, formed into quatrains, with drawings of blood drops, or maybe little hearts if they found a new girlfriend.

Moral of this story: Writing doesn't equal therapy and here at ASFA we're pretty darn lucky.

Moral of the emo poem: My life is a black abyss. No one loves me. *tear*

Resist the Feed: A Book Report

Feed by M.T. Anderson is a chilling portrayal of the future. Set in a time where there are layers of suburbs and great bubbles around every home, it introduces us to the ultimate gadget, the Feed. The Feed is basically a computer implanted into the brain. It can wirelessly chat with other Feeds, order products off the internet, show television programs, play music, and is constantly streaming advertisements, like this:

"Images of Coke falling in rivulets down chiseled mountainsides...a hand extended toward the lemonade like God's at Creation; boys in Gap tees shot from a rocket... Nike grav-gear plunging into Montana... friends clutching at birds made of alloys; law partners jumping fences; snow; altitude; tears; hugs; night."

The narrator, Titus, describes how the Feed has a customer profile for everyone, and can guide people in purchases, even telling them when they like a new product before they even have a chance to form an opinion. Big corporations have unimaginable power with the Feed, churning out more consumers with ease.

The Feed has also rendered the population blind to the world around them. Meat is now grown in huge fields of muscle tissue pumped with nutrients through tubes. Huge hoards of of cockroaches live on top of the bubbles around suburbs. The ocean is toxic sludge. There are huge air factories. People go on interplanetary vacations, but they're super lame.

Titus is ignorant to all of this until he meets a girl named Violet. She's unlike anyone he's ever met. She lives in a home without a bubble. She lives with only her father, and they are very poor. She got a feed at an older age than most everyone else. She wants to rebel against the customer profiles, mess up the corporate world.

But things begin to go wrong. After a hacker messes with their feeds while they are on vacation at the moon, Violet's out-of-date Feed starts malfunctioning. She loses feeling in her limbs for hours at a time. But when she begs the help of the corporations who power the Feed, they turn her down, for she isn't a valuable enough customer.

Although it's a young adult novel, Feed makes serious, mature comments on technology,our attitude towards the environment, and human connection. It delves into what the Digtial Age may make of us.

Grab-bag of linkage

So, every once in a while, you need a blog entry that's just plain fun. I've been browsing all kinds of articles on my favorite websitesand have collected some random, intriguing links I wanted to share:

• Hungry Planet: One, Two, Three
• Breaking News: Alabama picks a bible textbook!
• Nobel Prize for Physics: How we make our gadgets so darn small
• iPhone addiction
• Online DNA testing?
• Do you want to have a microchip inside you?
• How much should music cost?
• The return of the 188$ laptop.
• What the heck is a Googleganger?
• The 'hobbit' hominid discovered three years ago was human
• What happens in technology... cheap telescope may be outperforming the Hubble!
• Kinectic artist's talk with TED video
• Hey... how long would it take you to fall through the center of the earth?

And here's the blogs/sites that brought them to you, or ones you should definitely take a look at:

• Neatorama
• TechEBlog
• Time Magazine
• Newsweek Magazine
• Cuteoverload (pointless, but loveable)

Digital Age Cats: Garfield vs. Hobbes

Hobbes and Garfield are two iconic comical cats that reflect opposite ends of the spectrum. While Hobbes is the imaginary pet tiger of a zany young boy named Calvin, Garfield is the lazy pet of a lame middle-aged man, John. We'd all love to be like Hobbes. He's our ideal. Carefree and blissful, the simplest things can make him happy. Hobbes is intellectual, but doesn't lose his childish charm. He's all about nature and isn't the least bit interested in computers or cell phones. Although he and his counterpart Calvin can be found in front of the television often, they always seem to have more fun when they have adventures in the outdoors. Garfield, however, is our kindred spirit. He's shamelessly lazy, loves to eat, and is obsessed with television and convenience. Garfield is a unapolagetic cynic and is often quite moody. He hates Mondays and loves sleeping. The closest he ever gets to nature is occasionally catching a few birds from his yard. When it comes to technology, Garfield is in love. He's the type who'd buy an iPhone and a high-definition TV set, plus buy everything online. He loves and embraces every new advancement. Hobbes however, doesn't even think about technology. He wants to jump in a puddle, climb a tree, curl up in front of a fireplace. He's simple minded and easily entertained. Hobbes is a representation of all those things we miss: childhood, nature, innocence. Garfield however, shines a humorous mirror on current life. And although I'd love to be a Hobbes, I think most of us are guilty of being Garfields. Which one are you? <3

Technological Monolith

This was just too good to pass up. What you're seeing is an art piece which recreates the monolith from 2001 with a gigantic sculpted rendition of the movie's VHS (remember those?)The artist, David Herbert, unfortunately didn't have any kind of comment or explanation to accompany this on his website. This piece screams 'technology'! It appears and changes the world! The use of a very outdated technology gives it a deeper affect, making us tilt our heads and really think. I'd go more into it, but honestly, I'm no art critic and feel out of my element making any comments. I just thought that this was an amazing image for this class. I think it could be our icon. It's got Digital Age written all over it.

Digital Age Diet

Hungry yet? According to Time Magazine, you probably should be. In a photo essay about what makes us eat more, sight is listed as one of the biggest triggers. Just seeing a certain food you like can set off your hunger. And this can be pretty handy for advertisers, or even the companies with food on the grocery store shelves. You weren't really hungry before, but when you saw that hot dog... you've just gotta eat.

What has become of our eating habits in the digital age? Although trends like diet foods and organics have become popular, the old archetypal junk foods just won't die. Our classic drug of caffeine is gaining even more popularity, childhood obesity is skyrocketing, and we're all in a sugar-coated downward spiral. So here are some fun, sometimes frightening facts and statistics about our Digital Age Diet:

• Many babies begin to overeat by the time they reach their second birthday. At this time, they start ignoring the pangs of fullness and follow social cues
• 26% of 2-to-5-year-olds are at risk of becoming overweight, and 14% are already overweight
• Size of utensils or plates, and fullness of containers easily influence the amount you eat. If given a bigger utensil, you're likely to eat about 15% more. A bigger plate, 25%. When trying to pour a shot into a wide glass instead of a tall one, you usually overestimate by about 50%. And if you pour from a full container of liquid, you're likely to pour yourself about 10% more than a half-full one.
• There are around 170 million caffeine addicts in the U.S. 55 to 90% of citizens consume caffeine every day.
• The most caffeinated soft drink in Pepsi max, at about 80 mg per container. The most caffeinated energy drink is Powershot, packing 1200 mg per container. A harmful dose of caffeine can be around 750 mg.
• Additives and dyes have been directly linked to hyperactivity in children (big surprise there). Some children were even shown to become hyper after consuming the dye equivalent to just 4 oz of candy.

And these are just a handful of the facts I found. They all led to more consumption, higher rate of obesity, more money on fancy weight-loss programs... a vicious cycle. More of an emphasis has been put on health, but when will we start following it? Will obesity rates ever start declining, or will our waist sizes increase even more in the years to come?

Coming soon: hopefully some more cool statistics (the internet kept giving me error messages, delaying my research), and some relations with food + technology.

<3

Laptop crashes? Ka-ching!

So here's a familiar situation: your computer is messed up, broken, and/or FUBAR. This basically means it's either doing something you don't want it to do or its not doing something you want it to do. Here's my personal example: This cute little bar has become the bane of my existence. Supposed to be nice and convenient, its causing me nothing but trouble. It's made my volume control and scrolling capabilities dissapear, and as much as I try to fix it, it seems impossible. Thing is.... this isn't the first time something like this has happened. I've had a lot of things go wrong with my computer and I just end up dealing with them. A few weeks ago, my Internet Explorer went suicidal and decided it no longer wanted to exist. To fix this we just installed Firefox and I've been slowly getting used to it ever since. About a year ago, I somehow moved my Taskbar to the left side of my screen. I couldn't figure out how to fix it, but decided to just leave it there. Now, I'm so used to it that when I got my new laptop I decided to left align the Taskbar. And if you move it... I'll go OCD on your butt and switch it back in a nano second. But I know everyone can't be like me, just getting used to the little errors that happen on a computer. We want our computers to run how we like them, right?

So do you ever realize how much money little annoying errors like this can make? Let's face it: when it comes to computers, I'm spoiled beyond reason. I have a grandfather who fixes them for fun, and knows every little thing about them. But for usual people, a service like GeekSquad is required for errors like mine. A basic diagnostic, if you bring your computer in to the store, is 60 bucks. An advanced diagnostic with repair is a 150. Even if you only have to do this.... twice a year, it could add up from 120 to 300 dollars. Troubleshooting a network is around 160 dollars, and installing some security features can run you up to 220. Then there's the most expensive one: Data Recovery. To recover "accidentally deleted or formatted data from a working hard drive" costs 260 dollars. To recover it from a failing harddrive, it shoots up to 520 dollars. Here's the kicker: to recover data from a 'severely damaged' hard drive.... 1600 bucks! There's a lot of money involved in this crazy world of computer repair.

Now the big nerd you made fun of could be your only hope if your computer crashes. Having a good techie knowledge can be extremely beneficial. Even knowing HTML pretty well or being able to make Myspace layouts can increase your cashflow. So as technology becomes so prominent in the digital age, the jobs connected to it are becoming essential and rather well paid. We love our computers and will do whatever necessary to have them fixed, including shelling out an inordinate amount of cash.

So in the future, will these geeky jobs be valued as much as say.... doctors? lawyers? Will a computer analyst be earning the six-figure paycheck we all dream of? Better start retaining all this digital age information, it might just come in handy.

iMourn the DigiDeath

Imagine this. You get a text message from an old friend of yours, "Did you hear about so-and-so?". So-and-so, let's just call her Jane, is an aquaintance of yours from middle school. Slightly confused, you decide to go to her Facebook page to see what's going on. Well, there's nothing on her profile or status, so you look on her wall. Listed there are 10 to 15 posts, and counting....

"I never really knew you, but you were such a great person."

"I love you and I will miss you so much."

So what's going on? This is Facebook Death.

This is what happens when someone who has a Facebook dies. In this case, your old aquaintance got into a car accident just the night before and passed away. Word got around, and before you even know it, her Facebook has become a virtual memorial.

People are leaving Wall posts like flowers on the roadside. They change their statuses to "missing their friend" or "knows she's in heaven now." They might even switch their profile picture to any photo they may have taken with Jane.

This is mourning gone Digital Age. No longer do we have a candlelit vigil. We leave a post on Jane's wall, maybe have a picture up, and be done with it. The information for the funeral will be put up in a group or an event. Most likely within 24 hours there will be some kind of group devoted to mourning Jane, where people will write about how much they loved her, post pictures, disuss favorite moments.

What has happened to us? The one thing that seems like it could bring us out from behind our computer screens is becoming just another online event. Not even death can tear us away from our internet customs. Usually, it seems like a tragedy like this would tempt us to pick up the phone, cry on a best friend's shoulder, get together with people and work through the pain. But instead we join a group and type up empty memories. We message old friends. We browse through pictures, click after click, to remember our friend.

Their page will remain up, possibly forever if no one knew their password. Facebook pages turn to gravestones. Jane will be immortal on the internet. To anyone who didn't know she had passed, they could browse over her page and have no idea that the person they just friended will never friend them back.

Promise me, if I die, you won't create a group for me. Take the money from my old wallet, I won't need it anymore, and go to dinner with everyone. Promise me that you'll put flowers on the roadside, not send me free virtual ones as gifts. Promise me, if I die, that you'll all write letters of real memories, and throw them one by one into a fire. I would much like to be remembered this way. I do not want to be a Facebook gravestone. If I die, I want you to get in your cars and bring my mom a casserole, or all gather in my old room, or have any kind of human contact. Promise me that you'll forget about the internet, just for a day.

<3