Second Life

This is my Second Life avatar. I created my avatar to resemble myself, but also to show imagination in Second Life. I created my avatar the tallest it could be. The height was all the way up along with leg size. I made my body mass the maximum along with my muscles. The total body fat on my avatar was the least possible. So, I personally made my avatar a body builder.


My avatar from bottom to top consists of many different clothing. My shoes are white which represent myself because I pretty much only wear white tennis shoes. My pants are black which are the tighest possible which represent how big my muscles are and goes along with being a body builder. My shirt is mostly black with red stripes on the side. Once again, my shirt is very tight to make it look like I am busting out of it. My face is by far my favorite part of my avatar. My face consists of gamer brand goggles that I purchased from freebie island for 1 LD. I then am wearing a doo rag which I also purchased from freebie island for 5 LD. My hair is blonde which resembles myself but is a lot longer than my real hair. I have it slicked back, which makes it look like it is gelled. Last but not least, I am wearing a guitar around my neck which hangs over my stomach. I purchased this from freebie island also that was free! It also came with a guitar playing gesture that I love.


Overall, I really enjoy playing on Second Life because it lets me interact with random people with a different virtual identity. I also really like creating an avatar with different characteristics from my real life body.

My Aunt Mary

First of all, my Aunt Mary would have to be my Grandma on my mom's side.  She is my favorite older relative, and she means a lot to me.  She is currently in her older 70s and is going strong.  She is not really into new technology, and would have no idea on what a Myspace or Facebook is.  It would be very difficult for my Grandma to navigate and know how to work Myspace or Facebook.

Dear Grandma,

Social networks have become very popular in the world of technology.  Social networks are websites where someone can connect with other people sharing personal or professional interests with one another.  When you say you want a "MyFace" do you mean a Myspace or a Facebook?  This is very important because the two social networks are a lot different than you would think.  Myspace is more known for people who are still in grade school or people who are over the age of 30.  Facebook is more generalized towards high school and college students.  People who recently graduate from Facebook usually still use it to communicate with former classmates.  So for you Grandma, I would suggest Myspace.  Another reason for you to use Myspace is because my mom has it and she could also help you out if there are any questions you need answered.  

Myspace has a lot to do with creating your own background, creating your own music soundtrack, and creating bulletin announcements.  Myspace helps a lot when searching for friends with the special advanced search tool that lets you search for people by specific characteristics.  Myspace is also known for first introducing the "Top Friends" part of social networking.  Top Friends are a list where you put your favorite friends in order of how you like them.  For an example, if you joined Myspace, I would have you, my mom, Nicole, and Sean as my top four friends.

Facebook is more used for writing comments and posting picture comments on someone's wall.  A wall is the name for the page where somebody can write comments to the person.  Facebook is also known for first introducing applications and tagging photos.  The main applications that I have on my profile are: Detroit Sports, Michigan State Spartans Basketball, and Sports Betting.  Tagging photos means to describe who is in the photo that you took.  An example would be if you took a picture of my whole family at a family party, you could take Sean, Deb, Ron, and myself.

Good luck with your process of creating your own Myspace and you know that I am only a call away if you need me.  If you want to start living more with technology then you could even e-mail me.  That is a whole another story though. Just kidding with you Grandma!  Tell Grandpa I said hi!

Love Your Favorite Grandson,

Eric

TV Concerns

When I was growing up, I watched a lot of TV.  I mostly enjoyed nickelodeon and different cartoons.  I did however, have some restrictions on what TV programs I watched.  My parents were very generous on what I watched, but there were some programs what I couldn't watch.  The main shows that people my age couldn't watch were: The Simpsons, South Park, and WWF Wrestling.  These shows are the shows I watched the most especially WWF.  From what I remember, the shows that I couldn't watch were Howard Stern and any rated R movies that were played on TV.  Television was seen as both harmful and annoying.  Parents were worried that what their children watched on TV would result on actions that they would do in real life.  But at the same time, television was seen as annoying with the trends that were being started and sayings that were being said in the TV shows.  An example of this would be South Park and the saying, "Oh my God!  You killed Kenny!"  TV was also seen as educational with the shows like Mr. Dressup, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, and Sesame Street.  My parents attitude and tastes towards television has very much had a lot to do with what television I watch.  The television programs that I watch are mostly sports, King of Queens, and The Simpsons.

I believe that people worry about many different things in relation to television.  The main aspect I believe people worry about is the language that is used in television now.  It is very hard to find a television program that doesn't have at least one swear word in it per episode.  I start to see now how before the program starts, there is a warning on what age groups should be watching this certain show.  Another symbol that is used is usually in the top left corner of the TV screen that shows the different age groups.  Another worry about television is the violence that is used.  A lot of shows have guns, knifes, swords, and other weapons that could be dangerous.  The programs show a lot of detail which could make parents upset.  An example of detail would be blood when somebody is stabbed with a knife in a TV program.  

Overall, I believe TV has a lot to do with the way people look at the world and reality.  There are a lot of violent and dangerous television shows but at the same time, there are a lot of educational and fun television programs that people enjoy watching.

Wikipedia Discussion

I chose to read a Wikipedia article on the Detroit Lions.  I thought the discussion part of this topic was very interesting and important.  The reason I thought this was because there was arguments about the content that is on the page.  Somebody by the name of TomCat4860 keeps getting his information erased.  He is trying to explain why his content is very useful for the page and doesn't understand on why his information is getting deleted.  He believes that the information he is using for TV and Radio hasn't been written yet, and needs to be put in the article.  TomCat then has another comment on the discussion part of the site that is sort of a threat.  He explains that he contacted Wikipedia about his content being erased and that they are watching the site for any vandals.  He then asks if anyone agrees with him to contact administration to help out his cause so that this doesn't happen again.

The content for this discussion page doesn't center around the content of the article.  I believe that if somebody has a problem with the page, then they should contact the administration like he did but he did it after two posts.  Nobody wants to read someone complaining about something when they are looking for information or discussion about a certain topic.  I believe the article should be left the same but the discussion board isn't being used what it is supposed to be used for.  The discussion board should be used to talk about a topic and not complain about it.  Reading this discussion board has changed my opinion on the reliability of Wikipedia.  I don't like how any information can be deleted even if it is good information about the topic.  If I worked hard to put information on a specific topic and somebody deleted it, I would be upset.  So I believe the reliability of Wikipedia isn't as strong as I thought it was.  

Execise 2 on Page 324

When I think of news, I think of sports, politics, breaking news, murders, and car accidents.  There are so many different kinds of news in the world, and it's hard to find the most reliable source.  When I need to find news about a specific topic, there are certain sources I go to.  For sports, I rely on Sportscenter and ESPN.com.  For politics, I rely on Channel 4 and Channel 2.  I also rely on these two stations for the most important news, such as breaking news and car accidents.  

The news is very important because it keeps everybody updated.  I look for a lot of facts and very little opinions.  If there are opinions in a newscast or article, it makes it less reliable and makes people not want to believe it.  Statistics is very important because it shows that the news source is reliable and has in depth facts.  Well known reporters also make me trust a source.  If i recognize the person or their name on a newscast, it makes me believe it even more.  For example, if I see an article with Mitch Albom, I think of reliable information and can trust it.  There are things that make me suspicious also.  What makes me suspicious is a lot of opinions and non-organized articles.  I have read so many articles where I could just tell that the information was not reliable and a bad source.  For example, I read an article online from a link that I was unaware of.  I read the first paragraph, and knew right away that it wasn't trustworthy.  I then went to a more reliable site and found the information I was looking for.

My own personal defintion of the news is information that has a reliable source and is trustworthy to believe.  What I mean by this, is information where people know is true and can spread the word to other people.  This is how news gets spread.  Whenever there is a reliable source, people find it and spread the information through different news organizations.  Overall, news is very important through the world, and I have no idea where we would be without news, along with rumors.

Class Wiki Organization

I believe that our class wiki should be organized.  I don't like it how we have it set up.  My idea is that we assign a group of three or four people to either a specific group, or to two groups.  For example, four people should be assigned to sports and electronics.  Then, the class could either vote or just pick four or five people to be the editors of the specific topics.  Not only would it make the wiki flow better, but it would be even better class participation.  The reason I like this idea is because if we have to do a class wiki, then it might as well be organized and easy to navigate.  

When we are put into groups, we could decide who does what for the specific topic.  We would be more focused on the topic, and it wouldn't be as broad as our wiki is so far.  We just heard all the ideas from Wikipedia, and we could insert them into our class wiki.  I believe that our class wiki could be very informative, and we could even spread it throughout the university.  Our class wiki is a very good idea and I would even volunteer to be part of the sport group for the class wiki.  Everyone can volunteer their interests like we did before on that sheet of paper, and organize five to six different groups.  I believe the interests of the class would correspond with the wiki and the content would be a lot more informative.

Overall, I believe we should have an organized class wiki.  We should assign different jobs for it, and it would make the wiki flow a lot better.

Questions 1 & 2 on page 253

#1

The message for my ad is to show why cigarettes are so harmful to someone's body and to the environment.  There are so many people who become sick from smoking cigarettes.  A lot of people die from lung cancer, and it is one of the most common diseases to die from.  People know how harmful they can be, and that is why they keep buying them.  It is a horrible addiction and it's even harder to stop smoking once you've started.  Companies are smart and know people will continue to buy them so that is why there are so many different brands of cigarettes.  The most popular brands of cigarettes are Marlboro, Newport, and Camel.  It is even worse for teen smokers who are especially underage.  According to new results from the Monitoring the Future Study at the University of Michigan, Marlboro is the cigarette of choice for high school students.  Marlboro is the favorite with 65%.  Newport comes in second with 13%. Camel comes in third with nearly 10%.  

I believe this particular ad would be effective because of the picture that is displayed in the ad.  It is very visible to the viewers and I believe it has an instant impact on them.  The ad also displays the damages that come from smoking at such a young age.  When people start smoking when they are younger, it tends to catch up on them a lot faster than if they didn't smoke when they were young.  The title is also very important to my ad.  It is bold and gets right to the point.  As soon as a viewer sees that, it will get them to read and view the rest of the ad.  

The problems that arose from when I was going from concept to design was where I was going to put everything on the ad.  I had to make sure that the ad would catch the viewers eye and make them want to look more in to it.  I had to make sure my visual was easily seen and that my title was easily read and catchy at the same time.  I had to connect the copies with the title to make them seem similar in concept.  

#2

I learned a lot about advertising as a form of public communication from working on my parody ad.  I realized how hard it is to create an effective ad that will be viewed by others.  It takes a lot of time to come up with an effective ad and a lot of thoughts go in to every ad.  Usually when I would look at ads I would think, "Wow, that sure took them a whole two minutes to make that."  Now I know that every ad takes a lot of time to develop and create a concept that you want the viewer to realize.  Public communication has a lot to do with advertising also.  If you want your product or corporation to be successful, then you most likely need a great ad to expand your income.  Advertising does take a lot of money, but it helps make money when it is all said and done.

The ethics of advertising are also very important.  There is so much work that goes with every ad.  I never realized that there were so many steps.  The different steps that I learned from creating my own parody ads were: decide on your communication objective, decide on your target audience, decide on your format, develop your concept, develop the visual, develop the headline, develop the copy, and different mistakes that you need to avoid.  It is a lot of hard work but it can also be fun and entertaining.

Social Networking Election Debates

I believe that social networking is having a big impact on this years presidential election.  Everywhere you look on the internet you find somebody trying to help out their candidates with videos, pictures, or speeches.  The main place that I am finding politics with social networking is Facebook.

  There are so many groups and events that have to do with the upcoming presidential election.  For example, I was sent an invite to join the group, "1,000,000 Strong for McCain/Palin '08."  There is currently 124,965 members as of 10/7/08 at 11:48 A.M.  In this specific group, there are videos posts that talk about why McCain should be the next president of the United States.  Then there are videos talking about why Obama should NOT be the next president of the United States.  Also, there are pictures of Senator McCain and Governor Palin at conventions, debates, and city visits.  Connected to this group, there are links for other groups that people can join that have to do with the republican party.  An example would be the group, "Stop Hilary Clinton (1,000,000 Strong AGAINST Hilary)."  

The word gets around a lot faster on the internet then in person.  The internet had a big impact on the 2004 election, and I believe it will have another big impact on this years election.  I go to other peoples profiles on Facebook and find applications that are made for the election.  The application is called, "Who are you voting for?"  The application is used for a general poll on who the people social networking on Facebook will vote for.  

Professor Troy Murphy had a very good point when he came into our class on Monday, October 6th.  He talked about Mivote and why it is so important for people to spread their opinion about the election.  Some people asked, "Why should I say my opinion?" or "Who is going to watch the video anyway?"  Professor Murphy then handed out a paper showing how many different videos and views there were currently. 

 Social Networking has become a major part of opinion giving in the United States.  I don't expect this to stop anytime soon.  If you want your opinion to be heard, I suggest you do it over the internet.  There are so many people on the internet, and I guarantee it will be heard.  

Advertising

Three places where I spend most of my time is my room, UMD campus, and my work.  There are many different logos that are around me when I am at these places.  Advertising is everywhere.  It appears where ever you go, and is becoming very important in the world.

The main logos that are located in my room are sports logos.  There is the Detroit Pistons logo, the Detroit Tigers logo, the Detroit Lions logo, and the Detroit Red Wings logo.  The other logos that are located in my room are Nike, Reebox, Adidas, and Converse.  I have these logos located on my shoes and on other sports equipment.  Another logo that is located in my room is the Macintosh Apple, which is on my laptop I am typing on right now.

At UMD, there is advertising everywhere.  UMD has posters on walls, logos on shirts, and even logos in textbooks.  I see a lot of logos for Macintosh, PC, Michigan, Michigan State, and other colleges.  What is also very popular at UMD is the advertising logos for clothes brands.  The brands I am talking about is Hollister, American Eagle, and Abercrombie to name a few.  I also see different logos for bands.  Advertising has a lot to do with music, and people show it off through logos on hats, shirts, and pants.

At work, there is advertising but not as much as there was in my previous two examples.  Most of the advertising I see at work is for my work.  I work in the IMSE office at UMD.  We have posters everywhere that talk about engineering and why people should choose this for their major.  Other logos I see are for Bic, Staples, Sticky Notes, and Elmers.  

Advertising is so wide spread in the world that it is everywhere you look.  It is so important for businesses to get their product known.  Technology is so advanced now and the way for people to find out about new products is through advertising either on the internet or on the T.V.  There is also a lot of advertising still in newspapers and magazines.  I can't even imagine what the world would be like without advertising.  Would there actually be blank billboards and blank buses?  I know that sounds weird, but would there even be billboards then?  Advertising goes from school, work, gym, car, rooms, and even public bathrooms.  Advertising is very important in the world today, and it is a very smart idea.  Advertising adds up to over $200 billion dollars spent each year which equals $700 dollars a person.  There will never be a time where advertising is not present in the world.

Political Blogs

I believe that Mr. Kiskas presentation helped me a lot on how blogs work. He presented how blogs are started and which ones are reliable. He also told us some sites for blogs that are based primarily on politics and the upcoming election. My personal favorite that he told us about was the "forum blogs." I really liked americanthinker.com The reason I like these kinds of blogs is because people can add to the topic you are discussing. People might say, "well can't you just write comments on peoples blogs so they will see it?" The thing about that is not everybody will read the comments. It is more likely that somebody will read what you wrote in the forum if you following up on the specific topic. Another reason why I liked this one is because anybody can place their opinion on the subject. You can add pictures, videos, and even songs. The forum blogs start up a lot of discussion faster than regular blogs do. It is very interesting to read the debate that is going on between a republican and a democrat. These kinds of blogs might not be as reliable as most political blogs, but it gets you the information you want to hear about quicker than other blogs. My personal favorite forum entries has to be the ones about Sarah Palin. A lot of people are saying she's the anti-christ and the total opposite of what we need in office. I actually think she is exactly what we need to help assist our president. She gets right down to business and doesn't linger around certain topics. She gets right to the point which doesn't question her qualification for the job.

Working with the Text

FLORIDA

Creativity is important

Culture-(dress, music, hobbies)

Want action rather than to sit around

Want to stride towards something

A lot of people don't care about what other people think

Some people want to become somebody than a lot of people aren't

CONNER

Youth does want to follow in peoples footsteps

Youth wants to be apart of art but not the main part

Most youth would rather follow than lead

Some youth want to create their own image

Some youth want to make their own form of art and writing

Youth is different from what it used to be

Florida talks about how youth people "define themselves in terms of a creative ethos."  Towards myself, I believe he has some good points and some bad points.  He is right because people of youth have different styles of cultures that fit in with other people.  This has to do with the way people dress, what kind of music they listen to and what kind of television shows they watch.  It is very hard for a teenager to sit around and not be doing anything.  We are better off moving and keeping busy as much as possible.  Florida could better define his observation by explaining what he means entirely.  There are some teenagers that could careless what other people think about them.  They would rather create their own trend, then to follow someone else's trend.  Youth people are still trying to come up with ways of doing things on their own.  They want to show everybody that their generation is still alive and running.  They want people to look back and say, "Wow, they sure lived in a great generation."  We want to be creative at work so we aren't bored all the time.  We try and make every aspect of our life more exciting than it was before. 

My Personal Cultural Inventory

My cell phone woke me up around 9:15 with the ringtone "All Summer Long" by Kidrock.  I get out of bed and go to the bathroom.  After that I decided what I was going to wear to class.  Since I heard earlier in the week that it was going to be a little colder the next couple days, I put on jeans.  I then picked out my blue Hollister shirt and put it on.  I walked upstairs and let my dog outside to go to the bathroom.  I let him in and then decided to eat some breakfast.  I couldn't decide between fruit loops, cookie crisp or cinnamon toast crunch.  I decided on fruit loops because of the fruity taste.  After my delicious breakfast, I brushed my teeth and was off to class.

On the way to class, I listen to 99.5, which plays country music.  I've noticed so many different types of country on this channel that fascinates me.  In my head I try and think of what kind of people would like the specific type of country music that is on at that very moment.  My personal favorites are Keith Urban, Gary Allan and Kenny Chesney.  I stop at a red light and see a bumper stick on the car in front of me that reads, "Obama 08."  The next red light I am stopped at I see a sticker on a car that reads, "NObama 08."  It is very interesting to see the different kinds of style that gets put into politics.  Politics are so important in the United States right now that people go to different extremes to get their point across.  

I arrive at school and park in the "F" parking lot at school.  The reason I park there is because on Fridays I only have my math class which is room 1096 in the CASL building.  As soon as I walk through the door that is from the parking lot I parked in, my class is located in the first room on the right.  I arrive in my math class and sit down to get prepared for class.  The class ends at 11:10 and I walk to my car.  I notice people sitting on benches smoking cigarettes and reading the newspaper.  I get in my car and drive home.  After I am home for about an hour, my friend Joe calls me to ask if I wanted to go to the rec center to play basketball and to work out.  It sounds like a great idea to me so we decide to meet there at 2:45.  I arrive there around 2:45 and meet up with Joe.  We get asked to play in a basketball game right away and play for about two hours.  After basketball, we head over to the lifting part of the center and bench press.  Everyone around me is listening to their Ipods while running on the treadmill, pedaling on the bike or lifting weights.  Joe and I lifted for about an hour before we decided that we were tired and decided to go home.  

I arrive home and as soon as I walked through my front door, I could smell pizza.  I took a long, cold shower and got dressed.  I decided to just put on a t-shirt and sweat pants for dinner.  I ate dinner which consisted of pizza, breadsticks and salad.  It was very delicious and filled me up perfectly for the rest of the night.  My friend Brian calls me and asks if I wanted to go to the fair and I told him yes.  He picked me up and we went to my old grade school fair.  At local fairs, it is very easy to notice the different styles of people.  I saw Goth, preppy, gangster and punk just to name a few.  We left there at about 11:30 and Brian dropped me off at my house.  I ended the day by brushing my teeth, washing my face and watching sportscenter.

I learned that every single day is different, but there are a lot of cultures that are the same.  Even if it consists of music, bumper stickers or clothing, there are different themes of my daily life that are interesting.  I just had a normal day in my life, but different things seem to jump out at me that fascinate me.