Advice for Life

This is my postmodern project for my Modernism and Postmodernism course. We get a lot of advice, but does any really matter? This is without a doubt the zaniest videos I've created.

Edu Tech

For my Ethics in Communications class we had to give a TED talk. The hardest part for me was to come up with an idea. Yet, one night I couldn't sleep, I came up with the idea of an educational tablet. I called the product Edu Tech. It is a tablet that students would use with a stylus. The whole point of the tablet is to foment handwriting and not reject technology.

 With Edu Tech, students can pick the background they want for their notes. This will make them remember them better because they will remember not only the words but the design they created.

Teachers will have their own tablet where they can submit quizzes, tests and homework assignments to all of the students' tablets. The tablet is for educational purposes only, therefore, there will be no access to the Internet.  

Handwriting develops the brain better than typing. It also, gives students confidence; good handwriting or a nice signature is something to be proud of. Products that incorporate technology and human ability can enhance a child's education process.

Access Denied: Third party candidates excluded from debates

When most college students think of the 2012 Presidential Election, two candidates come to mind, President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. The increased polarization of both parties in recent years has made the gap between the Republicans and the Democrats even wider. More often the ‘hard-core’ version of the views of the very liberal or the very conservative are being heard in the media and around the neighborhood.

Yet, there are other third-party candidates that do not get as much attention. Ever heard of Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, Green Party nominee Jill Stein, Constitution Party nominee Virgil Goode, and Justice Party nominee Rocky Anderson? If your answer is no, you’re not alone.

Political science professor Francis Graham Lee, Ph.D. said, “The rules in the United States are […] designed to make it very difficult, if not impossible, for a third party to play a role.”

Lee, alongside history professor Randall Miller, Ph.D. have taught an elections course for many years at St. Joe’s.

Miller described the situation in terms of biology. “Parties are like a species and the basic function is to keep reproducing yourself so the species can survive. You don’t want to let competitors in.”

Both professors explained that structurally, the United States does not have a system that works with many parties because “[the] winner takes all.” There is no proportional representation of multiple parties, but a single party that wins.

Yet, the third parties’ misrepresentation is perpetuated by the lack of media attention that these parties receive. As Miller described, “The problem just keeps compounding itself because you’re marginal, in fact, you don’t get much attention because you don’t have enough money, you don’t get in the ballots in many cases, you don’t get in the debates…you don’t even get what’s called free media.”

Miller described that when Obama or Romney go somewhere they get a lot of “free media, ”which means news articles or TV time that the press covers because it is newsworthy. Third-parties do not benefit from “free-media” and therefore have barely any public attention.

This past year, students may have felt the Libertarian Party’s presence stronger than ever because of Ron Paul, who was in the running to be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee. Ron Paul appealed to the young vote because of his socially liberal and fiscally conservative policies. Recently, the Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson filed a lawsuit against the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) because of exclusions to the presidential debate.

According to the CDP, a third party candidate needs 15 percent in polls in order to be part of the Presidential Debates. Johnson claimed that in polls of just him and Obama he exceeded that 15 percent.

Lee said, “You have to have some minimum cut off, there’s no doubt the 15 percent is too high.”

He explained that if any of the third parties gets 5 percent in votes this year, in the next election they will get Federal Funding. “The Federal Funding Rules are looser than the presidential debate rules,” he said.

The Commission on Presidential Debates is comprised of only Republicans and Democrats.

“The system is rigged for the two parties to maintain themselves and against anybody else to crowd in and take up time, space and money,” said Miller. “Right now it’s their games, it’s their rules, so they can pretty much do what they want.”

Both professors agreed that one of the only things Democrats and Republicans agree on is keeping the ballot between both of their parties.

“Third-parties will never get as much attention as the Republican and Democratic parties, but the ideas that they have are usually ones that the main parties are avoiding,” said Miller.

Although many students may not remember (or know about it), there is an exception to the two-party debates within our lifetime. In 1992 and 1996, Henry Ross Perot ran for the presidency as the candidate of the Reform Party and exceeded the required 15 percent of polls to participate in the presidential debates. Perot had enough money to put himself out there, buying media time and campaigning by self-funding. In fact, in 1992 Perot was ahead of the polls before the first presidential debate. As both professors explained, Perot asserted issues on the deficit, which both Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush were avoiding. Eventually, the Democratic Party adopted some of his ideas and Clinton won.
“Some [third party] ideas do become part of the political parties,” said Miller.

Miller stated, “Ross Perot was able to pay a lot of money to get a lot of attention, which a lot of parties are unable to do.” He continued, “I think it’s unfortunate for us as a people that we don’t know more about, learn more about, and even want to know more about third parties, discover that there really are alternative views. It doesn’t work to our advantage.”

The two-party system has existed in the American politics since its early days, yet there are many ideas out there that both major parties dodge.
“For a lot of young people, one issue might be changing the American drug laws, particularly those involving marijuana, and that’s what they’re arguing for,” said Lee.

All third-party candidates, except Rocky Anderson, support the legalization of marijuana. Besides drug laws, the importance of the environment is another issue which third parties are discussing, especially the Green Party nominee, Jill Stein.

Lee said, “A lot of people thought it would be great if Mayor Bloomberg had run as an independent. First of all, he would have the money to self-fund. He probably would’ve gotten close to 15 percent, but even if he got 5 percent, it would’ve been nice to have him in the debate. Looking at both Obama and Romney and saying, ‘Neither of your numbers add up. This is craziness! Both of you are in gaga-land in terms of getting rid of the deficit.’ That would’ve been nice to have.”

Although they were not part of the televised presidential debates, there was a third party presidential debate on Oct. 23 moderated by Larry King and streamed live on the Internet. Issues ranged from drug laws to the military (including the issue on drones which Obama and Romney avoided) and an issue most pertinent to college students, student loans. The next third party presidential debate will be Nov. 5, and will stream on on www.freeandequal.org/live.

This article was originally published in The Hawk's website.

nohomophobes.com is calling people out

I recently saw someone sharing this website on Facebook. Nohomophobes.com shows all tweets that say: "#faggot, #NoHomo, #sogay and #dyke."

This is a screen shot of today:

Why am I sharing this? Because I believe this is a good way of making people conscious of how we use homophobic language without noticing. Like the website states, most times when use these words it is not meant to be hurtful. Yet, saying something is "so gay", for example, is using someone's sexuality to refer to something as negative. Sexuality is a part of a person's identity, and it shouldn't be deemed as bad.

Here's a screen shot of all time:

This website has been up for just a few months and so many of these words have been said. Twitter is a great place where we can express our thoughts, ideas and emotions but should there be some sort of ethic to what we can and cannot say? That is up to the person who tweets, yet I hope this makes people more conscious of how their words can affect others.

happy tunes

 

I went to Washington, D.C. to visit my best friend and met Manatho Shumba Masani in the Eastern Market. As soon as he started playing I knew I wanted to film him and make a video. The sounds of the thumb piano are soothing and simply make you feel relaxed and happy. Manatho has no problem playing for anyone and loves to share his happy tunes for anyone who wants to hear. By making a video I can multiply the amount of people that hear him play (assuming I get a lot of views.)

 He's owned the thumb piano he is playing for 25 years and says it is "the oldest piano in the world." All the pictures and video were taken with my iPhone 4S. I edited the video on my way back from DC in the Megabus. I guess it was my own way of not doing homework.

Hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it.

u can't text here

Making this video for my Ethics in Communications class was a lot of fun. I mean, I rapped to MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This." (Well, that's something I never expected to do for class.)

Yet, what I learned about this video is how sometimes the best moments happen spontaneously. Such as, running into the University's president and asking him to say, "U Can't Text here" or randomly deciding to dance as I crossed the street.

I hope that besides the video being funny, people realize that the message is important. Texting at lunch, in church or in class is disrespectful. There is a problem within our generation where we are so consumed by our individual media consumption that we disregard everything around us. It makes us lose a little bit of our humaness.

I love texting. Yet, I also love being with people. Connecting with them face-to-face and creating connections outside of my iPhone.

I hope you enjoy this video and learn something from it. I also hope the tune gets stuck on your head for as long as it got stuck on mine.

do not disturb

In William Deresiewicz's essay "The end of solitude", the author describes how my generation has come to a point were we are never alone. The constant communication through text, Facebook, Twitter etc. has made us so use to being in touch with people that we are afraid to be alone. Instead of focusing on our tangible self, we are more concerned about our online self.

I agree with Deresiewicz that our generation is use to being constantly connected, yet, I do believe that this is because the technology is so new we haven't been taught or know how to remove ourselves from it. One thing is for sure, the new update of the iPhone has a "Do not disturb button" that needs to be used.

Settings > Do not disturb > On

All you need to do so your notifications, texts and calls hold off. Bianca Bosker, the Senior Tech Editor of the Huffington Post, explained:

The Do Not Disturb tool marks a refreshing admission by a tech company that we actually have a life beyond our gadgets, and for all the good it does to be wedded to our devices, every now and again we need to trade FaceTime for face-to-face time.

It's Apple's way of saying, "Hey, there's a life out there you need to pay attention to!" The simple change of the iOS 6 software might also be the stepping stone to regain solitude.

Picture this: it's a saturday afternoon, you go outside, turn on the Do not disturb on your iPhone and read a book with no interruptions. Well, it sounds good to me.

Google/Gmail blocked in Iran

News Article from BBC

Imagine receiving a text message saying that your Gmail is blocked. That is what happened to Iranians. 

The link above is an article from BBC news informing that Google's search engine and Gmail has been blocked in Iran. According to the government Gmail does not satisfy Islamic Law and they "filtered it until further notice". The government claims that the people have asked for this ban because of a anti-Islamic movie "Innocence of Muslims" which was posted in Google videos. 


Yet, many citizens told BBC that they were outraged. Here are some tweets that BBC posted against the ban:

"This is a pre-determined scenario to block Google in Iran, they wanted to do this since long time ago." 

"Now they have found the best alibi to do it."

"Students and businesses use Google services the most. This self-proclaimed superpower is afraid of satellites, internet and people's consciousness."

However, it seems like other Iranians agree with the ban: 

"Google has removed the name of Persian Gulf from its map and has banned users inside Iran to access many of its services because of sanctions," Faramarz, from Qazvin, wrote. 

"Banning the service will bring some losses to Google, although not substantial. I agree with banning it." 

YouTube has also been censored in Iran since 2009.

There are two things that come to mind when I read this article. First, it is scary for me to see how a government can easily control what their people can and cannot see. The Web seems very easy to use, but it is also very easy to control. In the United States we often talk about how the censorship that happens in other countries and never wonder what happens here.

Yet, other communication platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs etc. let the opinions of people within the country be known. I'm amazed how easy it is to get reactions from the public. Iran might have shut down Google and Gmail but the voices con or pro it are not being silenced. When no voices from within are being heard, that's when we need to worry.

my digital media consumption

"Oh my, starry eyed surprised.

Sun down to sunrise

Dance all night

We gonna dance all night

Dance all night to this DJ..."

Wake up. Slide my Iphone to shut off Paul Oakenfold's "Starry Eyed Surprise". Random alarm music? Why yes, it's my specialty. 

I open my computer and put a nice "Good Morning!" playlist on 8tracks.com. I get ready for my day and as I go to class I get a text from my boyfriend. We go to different schools, but we're always talking. 

I remove myself from technology and go to class. As soon as I get out I check my e-mail. I get a notification saying someone favorited my tweet so I check twitter, all 3 of my accounts. 

Go to the gym. No internet usage but there's tv's in front of the treadmills. I like to watch soccer games because I don't need to actually hear it. 

As I walk home after the gym I notice I haven't checked my Facebook all day. My best friend from home sent me a message! Oh how I miss them...

When I get home I listen to Pandora as I shower. Nothing like a good concert for myself. 

I check my e-mail again. This time mysju account and thehawknews gmail account too. I upload recent sports scores in The Hawk's website. 

I call my mom. She tells me she likes how the shirt she bought me looks on me. (She saw it on Facebook). 

I have dinner. One of my roommates baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and we eat them at our living room while watching TV. This is my favorite moment of the day. When my roommates (all 7 of them) and I just relax at the living room. Sometimes we watch TV, and sometimes it serves as background noise for our conversation. Granted, many of us have our Iphones glued to our hands, but we show each other funny tweets and instagrams that we find. 

Digital media definitely is a big part of my life. Since I was a growing up, I always found technology fascinating. I would play in Microsoft's paint and make graphs in Excel about nothing in particular. 

Now, I like to embrace digital media but above all understand it. In my opinion it is very hard to avoid using it because it is how the world communicates. For example, to talk to my mom in Puerto Rico or my best friend in DC it's important to have these technologies. 

Yet, I think it's important to reflect how often we use digital media and in what ways it affects us. We need to understand how it limits us and how it empowers us. Most importantly, we need to understand that digital media is always changing so it's something we need to think about often. 

the history of the web/ some random thoughts

Web History Graphic

Click on the link above and let your mind be blown by the history of the Web. It's amazing how fast the development of the Web has gone and even more so how the speed of the development is accelerating. 

I think the study of the Web is something that should be talked about more. In fact, it should even be a part of history classes. I know about it because I'm a Communications minor, yet, the Web affects all of us. It re-wires our brains and makes us act different. 

Right now we are at a phase of transition where many people might reject the reality that we are changing drastically because of this. Yet, if we deny it we will completely lose ourselves. We need to embrace the positive things that the Web provides us with and challenge the negative ones. Why is it wrong to text at dinner? Is there a new code of manners that needs to be written about when technology is appropriate? Certainly, professors and teachers have made that code clear in their syllabus. 

Yet the reality is that because we have changed as humans, we need to educate the new generation differently. Remember when your mom said, "Stand up straight and don't put your elbows on the table!" Now we have to say even to our friends, "Can you not text while we're having lunch?"

Yet, technology unites us. We can share videos, photographs and thoughts together as well. You and your friends can listen to music together from a playlist created by someone in Chile. You and your dad can see the funny video cousin John posted in your wall. 

Be where you are. That is the key. Before texting, tweeting, changing your status or instagraming, see your surroundings and think if you are including or excluding people with technology. 

When Guttenberg invented the printing press, literacy rose so that the elite, upper class wasn't the only one to understand the world and develop intellectual ideas. Now the Web has allowed us to create and share our ideas. Yet, it is important to remember that if we lose touch of the reality outside of the Web, we will never enjoy the world that we learn and undertand about within it. 

you, me and our followers

[Adam walks in Jill's dorm. They are both juniors in college and have been close friends since freshman year.]

Hey Jill, how was your day?

[Jill is sitting at her desk and has her headphones on. She doesn't answer.]

What are you doing there?

[He walks closer to her]

Oh, checking your Facebook and listening to Pandora, that's cool. Third Eye Blind station? That's a good one.

[Still no answer]

I came here because I wanted to tell you something in person. Can you please disconnect and pay attention to me?

No? Oh, I see how it is. I guess Facebook stalking Leah is more important. She has a new boyfriend I see, what else is new. I can never keep up with her love life.

Well back to what I wanted to say...

[Adam takes a deep breath]

I love you.

Well, this is awkward. I don't even know why I tried.

Maybe I should tweet at you, huh?

I can picture it now I can say, "@Jillybean I @heyad12 love you. #bemine" and you can answer, "@heyad12  I love you too! #friendsforever"

That's not what I mean tho... I. Love. You.

I love the human side of you, not your profile picture or your LinkedIn profile. I love that girl that always participates in class and use to stay up late talking with me in the common room.

You don't understand that when you articulate your thoughts and ideas, it's magical...

Yet, this girl? The one who ignores me. The one who thinks is so connected but in reality is so alone.

I'm here pouring my heart out and you're ignoring me. How did this happen Jill? Talk to me! Look at me in the eye and tell me if you feel the same way because quite frankly I'm crazy for you!

You always use to tell me how you wanted a guy to sweep you off your feet and I want to do that to you but, you don't let me.

[Jill turns around] I don't let you do what?

[Adam's heart raises]

You don't let me tell you that I love you.