Spring Break Sprung the Nerd in Me

When you hear "spring break", your mind probably wanders to a sunny beach, parties and late night outings. But let me disappoint you. My spring break was the opposite. It was homey, gloomy and snow stormy.

Here's basically a true depiction of my spring break:

 

I went back to Minnesota hoping to spend my week in the sun on the porch, reading the books I borrowed from the DSU library, but the mighty snow storm hit us hard on Sunday evening. My plan to sit on the porch was mercilessly crushed. I was forced to cancel my plan, just like the schools were forced to announce a snow day! 

So I perched at Barnes and Noble on Monday instead, while it snowed and snowed. And just like that John Green kept me busy for three days. I was Looking for Alaska. I made friends with Pudge, the Colonel, and Alaska. 

I loved the fact that Alaska and Pudge gave me things to think about: what is our way out of this labyrinth.

For Alaska (spoiler alert), it is straight and fast; for the Colonel, it is the labyrinth itself and an acceptance of its complexities and sufferings and as for Pudge, it is to forgive. 

I have yet to decide whether suffering in the labyrinth is worth it at all, whether the labyrinth is something that one can escape, something one can ignore. Until then I will keep trying to find a meaning for it. Maybe trying to find its meaning, I might be able to find whether it can bring us some solace. 

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

What did I just watch!? I feel like my life has been a lie all along! 

The idea that the machine is using us is mind-boggling! But if you think about it more, it makes sense right? We are so dependent on it that we lose track of who's using who. 

It's like Plato's allegory of the cave.

The Second Iteration of English for New Media Video

Every Super Bowl Ad, Tide Ad

Now that we have celebrated the Patriots' loss at the Super Bowl, can we talk about the commercials!?
What an amazing marketing done by Tide! From "a typical Super Bowl car ad" to "a hilarious beer ad", to an ambiguous fragrance or insurance ad, Tide Ad encapsulates every Super Bowl stereotype into one, making it "every Super Bowl Ad, Tide Ad".
I give the creators of this commercial 10/10 on everything.
Here's what Washington Post has to say about it

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2018/02/04/the-five-best-super-bowl-commercials-from-tide-to-tide/?utm_term=.af90d5e527e2 

New Media as a Cultural Shift

According to an English philosopher Francis Bacon, three discoveries changed the entire course of the world:

1. Printing
2. Gunpowder
3. Magnet

Printing in literature, gunpowder in warfare and magnets for navigation.

The emergence of New Media brings in a cultural change, the way society behaves and the social aspects of the world.

Marshall McLuhan says "the medium is the message." All this means that the means by which you present the information influences the message itself. In other words, when seeing a marker you know that you need a whiteboard to write on, a person to see the message you write with the marker, a person who has the knowledge and ability to write and have a message. In other words, every medium has a message.

Look around you and find anything and think about it consciously. What messages you are surrounded by?

Stop Motion Movie

As per instructions, we were supposed to make a video that represented English for New Media. I chose to make mine a stop-motion video. A stop motion video is basically an animation technique that makes still photos look like they are moving by chaining them back to back for seconds and nano-seconds.
In making this video, I wanted to explain to prospective students for ENM what English for New Media is and what it encompasses.

YouTubers and Influencers

I watched and follow many YouTubers on Twitter, Youtube and Instagram. Many of these YouTubers have over 100K followers, which in terms of YouTube numbers, is a pretty nice number of audience and views. Anyway, my main point is, these YouTubers are huge influencers, like Casey Neistat who revolutionized the entire realm of videography and film production.

I probably spend over an hour every day watching these videos. That's a lot of time per week. Do I gain anything from these videos? Hell, yeah! I have learned to appreciate technology and the way we use and view it.
A few years ago, no one could have thought people could have a full-time job as a YouTuber, now, every YouTube fanatic wants/aspires to be a YouTuber. Look at far we have come! I am sure it is going to evolve into something bigger and better. However, the only thing that concerns me right now is YouTube's monopoly. It's the only platform where people can monetize their life on social media.
What do you think will happen in ten years? How do you see the realm of social media evolving? Is it going to evolve for the better or worse?