You. I. Me. Crazy?

"Often when you come across 'you' in texts, you'll suspect that that 'you' is a hidden 'I' in a concealed autobiographical story..." - Jill Walker

You. A word reflecting American individuality. Overused? Perhaps. Trite? Nah. In an individualistic society filled with many distractions, the stylish use of you allows for a more personalized experience when reading texts. In Jill Walker's "Do You Think You're Part of This? Digital Texts and the Second Person Address", she analyzes the various usages of the word you.

When straying away from the usage of you, there will be an implication that a you will be present. Walker gives the example of the video game Deus Ex where the human being controls the protagonist in a fantasy world. Although the narrator does not use the word you, he/she is still addressing the human being controlling the character -- you.

The strength of writing will be weaker without the usage of you, whether it is the direct usage or an implied reader via narrator. The alternative usage of the first-person "I" are not welcome as it alienates the reader; the "I" would be referring to the author and only the author, unless noted otherwise. In our digitized world, two-way communication is becoming extremely dominant, with your feedback as the reader being expected.

BUY A SUBARU!

Sit back and imagine the feel of soothing winds brushing against your face during the summertime. That is the reaction visitors receive as they first lay eyes on the Subaru website. Like their sleek and stylish vehicles, their digital domain also possesses the same pizazz. Take for example: When a sub-menu such as "Build Your Own" is pulled up, the smooth animation will remind viewers of the plesant comfort and ride of a Subaru vehicle.

Visitors will also find that navigating through the website is easier than passing a driver's license exam. Almost fool-proof, the website allows for drivers of any age and experience to bask in the wonders of this Japanese-based car manufacturer.

The website is also very aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. The contrast is precisely balanced, allowing for the best blends between dark and light colors. Not one color obnoxiously dominates the website which would leave visitors in disgust. Instead, even those with no intention to purchase a vehicle, let alone a Subaru, will be in for a treat.

Couch Computer chair potatoes have little reason to visit the actual car dealership until a test drive or purchase is warranted. The same information seen on a car's sticker can be found on the website. Price quotes for local dealers are pulled up upon entering a local zipcode. And there are no comission-driven salesmen to hassle with!

Link-Happy

Attention Readers: If you have not yet noticed, the links on the sidebar have been updated. So has the sub-title of the blog. Most of this by editing was done by hand (a.k.a. fooling around with HTML within the Blogger template -- scary stuff).

A quick tutorial on how to add links to your own Blogger site can be found here.

The Chart to Happiness

"Money: If you're poor, money does make a difference. But above a threshold of about $40,000 a year, more won't make you happier. Comparisons, though, influence your state of mind: No matter how much or how little you make, doing better than your neighbor will make you feel better."

What matters the most to you? Money? Education? Social Skills?

What about the least?

Walking up the stairwell in Townhouse 87, you can find my little information kiosk; a magnetic board in which I put up random things such as discount coupons to retail stores, weekly bulletins, and other random things that I may find funny and/or interesting. One particular example is a printout from Psychology Today, a visual of the everyday things in life (like one's sense of humor or one's conception of beauty) and how much it actually matters to your life. It also compares how awesome or boring these things may be.

Of course, these generalizations are very subjective and will vary person-by-person. But logically speaking, the publication's placement of these generalizations on the chart seems to be quite accurate -- at least in my own life.

For example, the quote at the beginning of this post about money struck my eye when I first printed this out last September. It reaffirms just how much of a competitive society we live in and also how central of a role money plays in our lives. And with social skills, it's labeled as Matters More Than You Think: "spending time with friends lifts your mood more than spending time with family. Being cooperative and knowing how to chat up the opposite sex are also associated with happiness."

Take it for what it's worth, ladies and gentlemen. It isn't the modern day Bible by any stretch of the imagination. But next time you get stressed out over something like an exam or paper, just remember that it "opens the door to a better career, but it also fosters higher expectations that may be disappointed." Relax -- because it matters less than you think!

Touch-Ups

Frequent visitors will now notice that most older, archived entries have been touched up. Namely, some of the writing has been re-done, and strengthened as a result. There are more hotlinks. Not to mention, there are quite a few new pictures added, allowing for the blog to be more aesthetically pleasing. Happy Blogging!

The Blogs of War

"A warblog devoted mostly or wholly to covering news events concerning an ongoing war." - provided by Wikipedia

Commonly referred to as a milblog (short for "military blog"), gone are the days of receiving letters from soldiers months after being sent. Frequent blogging eliminates the shroud of mystery surrounding whether a loved one has died. And the public no longer needs to rely on the mass media as their sole source for visuals and textual accounts straight from the battlefield.

What's so wrong about this? In the August 2005 issue of WIRED magazine, an article titled "The Blogs of War" speaks about the dangers of soldiers-turned-pundits via online journalism.

"A new policy instituted this spring requires all military bloggers inside Iraq to register with their units. It directs commanders to conduct quarterly reviews to make sure bloggers aren't giving out casualty information or violating operational security or privacy rules."

From a selfish standpoint, it may seem that revealing casualty information at a local hospital is insignificant. But think of the subtle hints that a piece of information, revealed to the public, could hint the enemy in regards to the military's status. Take for example, this fictional scenario:

Hospital A: 47 casualties taken in, 25 shipped to a larger medical facility.

If the enemy were reading this, the "insignificant" piece of information has hinted at the quantity of troops/squadrons in the area, the quality of life among the forces, how well or poor those troops faced against resistance, etc. Although it may be an unrealistic portrayal of war, television and movies have shown that every little bit of information is proven to be quite useful for smart commanding officers.

It is definitely interesting to read actual accounts of a soldier's life, straight from the battlefield. But at the same time, it is not worth it to compromise the security of the armed forces. Perhaps a balance between the two will be achieved when the Pentagon finishes its analysis on milblogging.

A Postmodern Professor

It takes balls to walk in a classroom and teach a bunch of theory on postmodernism, to a group of students who are most likely hung over from the prior evening's festivities. Dr. David Gudelunas of the Communications department at Fairfield University does just that.

As a fellow avid-blogger, I agree with Gudelunas' point that weblogs are revolutionizing man's sense of community. He believes this trend of social networking is a rebellion to the one-way "traditional" means of media control; which is true because blog-keepers are now able to dictate what's "cool" alongside with the old white men sitting atop a corporate building. If my blog had a large readership, I could start posting about how neon silk shirts are "in." And to me, that would be "cool" and other people have the option of supporting my stance on blinding fashion.

Gudelunas brings to the table 6 points of postmodernism in which he relates it to the world of blogging. I will use the college student favorites such as Facebook or MySpace -- webpages updated frequently by the author, profiling his/her lifestyle and other volunteered information, as a standard of comparison.

1. A Semiotics of Excess or Endless Circulation - the blogosphere is one huge network linked together. His point makes great sense because the social networking sites allow users to "link up" with one another. And as a true example, I have friends on both sites that are currently residing in Florence, Italy and other parts of the world. I like being able to keep up with what he/she is doing and the feeling is mutual.
   
2. Intertextuality and Hyper-Consciousness - references to other productions (such as a television show making mention of another television show). In this particular case, I find that it's very easy and useful to link to another blog, such as the one Gudelunas maintains himself.
3. Bricolage and Pastiche - everything is built upon by smaller fragments and put together to form something more grandiose (think: puzzle board). His point is 100% correct because if there were only 1 person registered on MySpace, that site would be considered a flop. Instead, millions of teenagers, adults, bands, etc. nationwide are toying with it. And I actually joined MySpace because I wanted to network with my Staples co-workers. I had no intention of networking with other non-Staples people. That quickly failed as those who knew me from college, high school, etc. added me to their own social network; thus piecing together this "puzzle board."
   
4. The Triumph of Style - Gudelunas cites this as visual and audio aesthetics taking priority over actual content. I admit (and I'm sure most do this too) that I mull over which picture to put up for my online profiles. My own random musings: Is my hair perfectly spiked that day? Are my teeth not white enough in this picture?
5. Simulacra - a "simulation" of real-life; creativity as a product of one's imagination. Being the 6'8" Italian stud that I am, my girlfriend Natalie Portman agrees that it's been very easy to make stuff up--especially with the power that blogging offers.
6. Crisis of Referent - blogs are digital soapboxes that allow individual voices to be heard--at a cost. As a journalist, I've always been taught that there is always more than one side to any story. I've often used other sources' material as a foundation for myself to voice my opinion. Whether I'm supporting or arguing it, blogging adds a new dimension to one's Freedom of Speech. Heck, I feel that blogging is actually a better way to voice concerns and contribute to society than to cast a ballot with our flawed electoral college.
   

As someone who has taken Gudelunas before, it was more than a pleasure to hear him at the front of a classroom once again. Sure, he threw theory at us (and that probably lost a couple people along the way). My only question is: why isn't he teaching this turbo, too?

Who Let HIS Blog Out?

A "geek" is one who admits to enjoying a good dose of Star Trek and knows exactly how Wil Wheaton reached stardom. Biz Stone's "Who Let the Blogs Out?" is an enjoyable read for geeks and non-geeks alike.

Similar to William Gibson's Neuromancer where the reader is introduced to a fictitious, digital world, "Who..." explores the blogosphere, the worldwide network of blogs, and what makes them tick. The big difference? Blogs are more real than the skin on your body.

Apples and Oranges you might say? Sure, one's fiction and the other isn't. Just remember that the reader simply cannot hop on a plane and fly to Gibson's Chiba City. Even a less fictitious locale featured in "Neuromancer" such as Atlanta, GA. requires a great amount of money and time to visit.

With a few clicks of a button and a couple minutes out of one's hectic schedule, the reader can actually visit all of the blogs cited in the book--all without paying a dime. One example is Heather Armstrong's rants on everyday "public stupidity." Think: A real life Office Space.

Chances are, readers stumbling upon this page already have a semblance of what a blog is, at the very least. Stone gives a good walkthrough on how to set up a blog, attract visitors, and even gives tips on how to make money through blogging, effortlessly!

This book is by no means a literary masterpiece and will not be the most challenging thing you read. Instead, it will serve as a great time-killer; something to read in the crapper or during "primetime Blogging hours" -- when your boss (or professor) is not looking over your shoulder.

Thoughts on the Academic Excellence

There is always room for improvement.

Although overused, the aforementioned phrase holds true for any situation--including Fairfield University's quality of education. In the school's independant newspaper, The Mirror, reporter Mary Therese Church writes an article examining a new movement helping to improve the education entitled, "Center for Academic Excellence ups technology on campus."

Students in dozens of classes have already played a huge part in the progress of the center. Professors can now ask the center to do a mid-semester assessment of their courses. Half way through the semester, students in the class are asked to anonymously survey the professors' teaching methods and to comment on what works and what does not work in the class. The comments are then typed and there is a debriefing with the professor about the students' reactions.

It is not to say that Fairfield's education is terrible, because it is anything but that! And as a student who has taken a class evaluated by the Center for Academic Excellence, I am proud to say that the class overall did benefit from a mid-semester evaluation. It was one of my Communication classes from last semester, and it was already one of my favorite classes ever--but that sentiment did not hold true among the rest of the students. The evaluation helped the second half of last semester's class more enjoyable for my peers, and the class remained one of my favorites.

The reporter does a great job at describing the evaluation process and why it exists. Think of it as the tables being turned; instead of teachers giving out a mid-term examination, the students get a chance to even the playing field. And according to the article, many professors such as Kurt Schlichting appreciate that notion as it "can help teach old teachers new tricks."

I was not too high on the headline of the article, though. From what I gather, the only mention of technology used was when the evalutions were typed up electronically. It was also mentioned in the article that eight out of nine students had never heard of the "Center for Academic Excellence." So to put the organization's name in the title is essentially meaningless as a better title may have been, "Students Give Professors Mid-Terms" or something along those lines (though I will admit it is clear that I am not a headline writer).

Blogging - Connecticut Style

An Asian-American college student whose spent most of his adolescent life in Fairfield County writes about the trials and tribulations he faces day-by-day. That is the theme of my own personal blog that has enriched the lives of my peers. And like the blog-keepers mentioned in Jane Gordon's article, "Dear Blog: It's Another Day in Connecticut," (which appeared) in the October 9th, 2005 edition of the New York Times, my blog's specific theme revolves mostly around my life at school with the occasional random entry about anything (ranging from political to satirical) that prompted and deserved its own mention.

However, Gordon makes a fallacy in the differentiation between a blog and a journal. In my own experience, many people treat a blog as if it were a journal, with the only differences stemming in the fact that a blog resides in cyberspace and is available for public viewing. A good analogy is to compare a blog to a sitcom such as "Everybody Loves Raymond" where the show portrays a family man's life in a satirical manner. A blog is simply a textual, public discourse representing what life is actually like; descriptions can be exaggerated and taken out of context.

Rich Hanley, director of the communication graduate program at Quinnipiac University, makes a great point about the world of blogging. He was quoted as saying, "even if it's only to two or three people, you've succeeded." The statement holds true because your publicized opinion now has an audience. It does not matter if the audience is composed of three people or three thousand people, someone cares about what you have to say.