Extra Credit - Pianographique 10/27/05

Pianographique is an interactive multimedia tool that lets a user make a musical (and visual) experience by defining sounds through assignment to keys on their keyboard. The preview function on their site is amazing, it lets the user test the sounds and visuals that appear, in an almost kalediscopic way. I think sites like this are great - digital tools like these expose people without musical backgrounds to become interested in music and multimedia. People can also see just how far the two have come and realize that they too can contribute their knowledge and interest.

I am thinking about looking into the pricing on this program and trying it out for myself.

Pianographique

Here is a screen shot of the visual that comes up from each key being hit during the preview:

Blog Homework - 10/13

Why does the Monroe County Library oppose government mandated internet filters? What is the name of the federal legislation that they oppose?

The act that the Monroe County Public Library is opposed to is called the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). MCPL opposes government mandated filters (due to this act) for the simple reason that they do not work well enough. The filters block out too much non-objectionable material and still allow access to sites that should have been blocked. Having a library enforce and implement these filters is a waste of time and funding. I completely agree with the position the Monroe Co. Library is taking. If parents do not want their kids viewing objectionable material, they should monitor their child's use on their terms and set their own rules - not make public figures such as librarians do it.

The Monroe County Public Library website is quoted as saying: "Except for the Web pages produced by the Library, MCPL does not control Internet content and makes no general effort to limit Internet access. However, when informed of a violation of MCPL's Internet and Computer Use Policy, library staff will enforce the legal, ethical and cooperative responsibilities outlined above. As with other materials, parents and guardians of minor children--not the library nor its staff--are responsible for supervising their children's use of Internet resources at the library."

They also have a statement on their website about Intellectual Freedom:
"Individual patrons determine for themselves what library materials are appropriate for personal checkout or viewing. Parents or guardians are responsible for determining what their children borrow, view or use in the library. Library staff will not monitor or restrict any patron's borrowing or use of the library, its materials, or its resources based on a patron's age, background or views. The Monroe County Public Library endorses and defends the concepts of intellectual freedom, as protected by the United States Constitution and as described in the Library Bill of Rights."

The Wired article that was assigned for class (Justices Eye Library Porn Filters) this week makes a great point about why it is impossible to keep up with the vast number of pornographic and objectionable sites on the Internet. According to this article there are eleven million website like this, which has probably increased at an alarming rate since then. I don't think there could ever be a filter to stop people from viewing objectionable material. If someone wants to do so, there is really no stopping them. And we should be alright with that - the first amendment gives us this right.

Blog Homework - 10/6

A.
What is my definition of cool? Well, that is hard to answer because trying to define cool is sort of "uncool" in itself. Basically, being "cool" has been perceived by many as staying calm, collected, someone who has beliefs rooted in the counterculture. These people usually differ from those in the mainstream - and can be arrogantly self-aware. I guess my definition of cool is similar in these respects - someone who is not part of mainstream culture, but I don't like to include a superficialness as part of being cool. To me, being fake is the anti-cool. One must be themselves and have a presence that is recognized by all around them. To answer the question on if there are any better terms to accompany or replace "cool", I'm not really sure there are. Cool is such a ubiquitious term - a term with a much longer life than its counterparts, especially among teenagers. There have been temporary replacements for cool, in fact too many to list.

B.
Cool hunters could probably be used to market IU in respect to particular schools of the University, mainly Informatics and Kelley School of Business. Both of these schools are either experiencing rapid growth in enrollment or funding, as well as having premiere programs in the nation. Marketing these schools heavily in a global manner should attract even more students, continuing the level of success they are already achieving. Also, cool hunters could be used to appeal to students who are not as serious about their studies, but are basically in school to keep their parents happy or to just spend their money. While this is not advancing IU in any way (in fact these are the type of students that are hurting IU) the university could at least get some funding out of it. To appeal to these students, cool hunters could push the extracurriculars around campus, the achievements and national success of the sports programs, and the partying-nature of the student body. While the university is trying to ditch this image, I don't see it happening anytime soon. Also, Bloomington itself is a pretty progressive, and dare I say "hip" place to live, in certain parts. This is appealing to others interested in schooling here as well, and could play a part in the attraction of the university. All of these traits of IU and Bloomington being pushed by cool hunters would apply to alumni as they do to prospective students. Many alums would like to see their alma mater flourish and even give back to the place that fostered their growth for the years they were here. Cool hunters could make IU even more appealing to alumni by letting them know how all the new changes and advances made since their departure could affect their college-aged children, if they do in fact, have kids.

MIT's $100 Laptop

I remember reading about the MIT project proposing to create a laptop for no more than $100 sometime within the last year or two. At first I wondered if it could be done at this time with prices of technology how they are. I then thought, "Well if anyone could do this, the brilliant minds at MIT are probably the ones who would." - and they sure have. This project, known as "One Laptop Per Child", has been labeled as an education project, not a laptop project. OLPC was designed to provide technology to children across the world, especially in developing nations. OLPC recently took an important step forward in recent talks with Brazil, China, Egypt, Thailand, and South Africa, hoping to test 15 million of these computers with schoolchildren. These laptops will be open-source, and will basically be able to do what more expensive computers can do, except storing large amounts of data. For more information on this amazing endeavor, check out MIT Media Lab: $100 Laptop, as well as a recent article by cnet.com.