Henderson's Input

GST 364 Haikus

2006-01-23T15:09:00.000-05:00

HAIKU #1
Studying genre,
Imagining the future
Are our class' goals

HAIKU #2
Do-It-Yourself is
The hacker mentality,
The great science future

HAIKU #3
One against many
Is Hiro Protagonist's
Tough hacker credo

Gattaca

2006-01-18T15:43:00.000-05:00

The basic message of Gattaca is the oppressed group in a society does have the ability to transcend and defeat injustices, because even a superhuman, genetically engineered individual can not control his or her fate. In the near future, a struggle will exist between two types or "races" of people, but the lower caste of people will have the ability to transcend their basic genetic makeup. Also, one's will power also has the ability to balance the scales of natural weaknesses in strength and brain power. In the near-future, despite the advances in technology to control the genetics of people, the director believes those who genetics have not been altered can accomplish the same as those whose genetics have been changed.

I feel that the movie Gattaca portrays a slightly pessimistic outlook on the future as one class of people, the genetically altered class of people, are considered superior to another class of people, those who are born how we would define as "natural." In essence, a basic divide exists between the naturally born individuals and those who are genetically modified. This movie does, however, portray a positive commentary on those of the lower physical caste who have the ability to transcend their abilities and defy the probabilites of poor health (which are determined immediately following birth) in order to accomplish something that the genetically-altered caste of people could only accomplish.

Vincent bends the rules of the basic system, which is generally not accepted by society initially (this can be seen throughout history. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. was considered by many to be a rulebreaker whose defiance of the law was considered criminal. He was arrested several times for his courageous behavior to stand up against the injustices of society. A similiar situation can be seen in India in the early 20th century when Ghandi stood up and defeated the oppressive rules of the British empire. In both siutations, Martin Luther King and Ghandi were initally considered only glimpses of hope by their own people to defeat the oppressive society. Essentially, the oppressed did not have faith in the abilities of these two leaders. The dominating society as a whole viewed these leaders as firebrands and initially dismisses their power.

After gaining the popular support of the oppressed groups, Martin Luther King Jr. and Ghandi were able to rally a movement which threatened the status quo. The oppressive society leader's began to take notice of their actions, but became powerless to their gaining strength. The support of oppressed minority was able to defeat the oppressive majority. The oppressive society began to grant both Martin Luther King and Ghandi's movement for rights credence, because they became aware that their previous oppressive practices were not ethical The Civil Rights Movement gained success from this basic premise.

The parallel is clear to Gattaca as the director believes that in the future the ungenetically-engineered people will have the ability to defeat the oppressive society, and someone like Vincent will be their hero. Vincent gained support from the doctor before he was able to explore in space. The doctor was genetically engineered to be superior, but he felt that the injustices placed upon people like Vincent were simply unfair. The doctor represents an individual who has been empowered by the character of Vincent. He admires his courage and accepts that his caste of genetically-engineered people is equal to those who are born naturally. In essence, the genetically-modified race of people still possess free will, despite their genetic encoding, and have the ability to accept those who have not experienced the encoding process.

The movie Gattaca makes the viewer think about the appropriateness of what man should be able to alter and what God has meant for man. The quote, "Consider what God has done. Who can straighten what he has made crooked?" is an appropriate quote to sum up the message that the director of Gattaca wishes to convey.

Snow Crash

2006-01-12T14:36:00.000-05:00

Snow Crash is an example of the cyberpunk genre which gives the reader insight and a hypothetical glimpse on how the world will look like in the near future. The author makes several themes clear in the novel relating to the idea of control and how humans do not have the freedom to make their own decisions. This motif is clear when analyzing Y.T. mom's job. She works for the Feds and she is given strict time constraints on how long she can read memos and the working hours which she must devote to the government. This is interesting because, as the author states, Y.T.'s mom goes to work sometimes an hour before her scheduled time to avoid a problem with Feds. He constrasts this motif with the idea that the world in the future will have few rules. He suggests that people will grow up faster and without the constraints of rules. Y.T. exemplifies this notion, as she is only 15 years-old, yet she possesses a dangerous job as the Kourier. She delivers objects in dangerous areas throughout the novel and acts with confidence, a sense of entitlement which would normally be exhibited by a 30-year-old.

She also has sexual relationships with individuals in the novel including Raven. This part of the novel is objectionable in our society, as an underage person having sex with an adult is not part of the norm on our society. I was disturbed by this scene, but it seems evident that this is one of the main points which the author wishes to convey to the audience. The idea of a society without rules would produce an individual who is free to experiment with danger and sex at a young age. The interesting contrast with Y.T. and Y.T's mom makes this novel both compelling and metaphorical, as there seems to be a changing of the guard between Y.T.'s mom generation and Y.T's generation.

Draft Craft Manifesto and Reflections on Designing a Self-made Rocket

2006-01-12T13:43:00.000-05:00

I think the Do-it-yourself (DIY) movement is an interesting and growing movement in the U.S. As we talked about in class on Tuesday about how the trend for making and creating objects in societies has reversed itself. In medieval times, creating objects was not valued as the pursuit of knowledge was the most important human endeavour, whereas in current times, creating objects is for the rich and those who have the time to make their own creations. I think our exercise yesterday in class which involved creating our own self-propelled rockets taught me several important lessons about the DIY movement. One does acquire a sense of satisfaction after making something from scratch, because the process of designing something enables one to place his or her own personal stamp on the object. Our class could have very well bought one of these self-propelled rockets and experimented with how they were assembled but this exercise would have little to no educational value, but education is about the process of ideas and personal creativity. As Marc Frouanfelder from Make magazine stated on the NPR radio show about the current movement of DIY, "There is value in one's personal creation, because it is there own." I believe this is true. I learned alot from assembling and customizing something of my own. I can see that that DIY also has value, because as Frouanfelder implied, people gain satisfication about creating objects as well as giving these creations to other people. This process of giving a personally-made object is like, as Frouanfelder said, "transferring creativity from one to another which is rewarding."

This activity of making a personally-crafted self-propelled rocket has inspired me to take on more DIY projects. I think DIY and its ideology grants people freedom to express themselves, because they do not have to be restricted by what a manufactures has produced. Our discussion about what does one buy the when they purchase an item from a manufacturer is pertinent for this subject, because I think this the idea of freedom that DIY provides is at the core of the intrinisic value of this movement. I felt liberated to create and mold something of my own, and gained personal satisfaction in knowing that created something.

I believe this ideology carries over to Second Life as well. I believe people enjoy this game, because they have the ability to mold a character in their own likeness or the likeness of any creature in the world. This parallel can also be seen in those who write programs for Linux as well because people gain satisfaction in the process of writing their own programs outside of Microsoft and Macintosh.

Laws and Justice in Second Life

2006-01-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

In Second Life, there are very few rules which govern this virtual world. The program informs the user that there are 6 basic rules which must be adhered to while logged into the program. These rules are commonly referred to the Big 6. These rules address issues about:

1) Intolerance of other groups in terms of derogatory language, demeaning language, cannot belittle people or groups in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, etc...

2) Harassment of other users which includes behavior which is deemed threatening including sexual advances which is classified as annoying.

3) Assault of other users in the form of shoving other avatars, pushing, or shooting in safe areas

4) Disclosure of information which forbids the sharing of personal information with other users especially on blogs and public Interent pages.

5) Indecency in the form of obscenity and profanity and the restriction of strong sexual conduct and strong violence in non-mature areas.

6) Disturbing the peace in the form of disrupting scheduled events and interfering with server performance and speed as the creators of Second Life want to create an environment where all users feel comfortable with using the program and entering the virtual world.

Second Life produces a police blotter which indicates violations of the Big 6. These violations carry sentences which range from warnings to being suspended for various periods of time. Users can be suspended from 3 days-14 days according to the current police blotter, but a website on the Internet indicates that some users can be suspended for longer period of times such as being suspended for life for violations of the law.

There is also an area in Second Life called Democracy Island where people can discuss the future of democracy and how it relates to virtual worlds. The idea of justice is discussed in this area as well, so users can transport to this area and discuss the importance of democracy and how it relates to democracy.

In terms of actual police avatars and virtual jails, it does not appear like there are many of these entities which exist in the virtual world of Second Life. The only place that houses violators of the basic community standards is the Temporary Banishment Cornfield which holds people for several different amonts of time.

After exploring Democracy Island, it is apparent that jails, as they appear in the real world do not exist, but it is clear, through the police blotter that people can be virtually suspended as Linden Lab employees can deem user actions to be against the rule and issue warnings and suspensions, and make this public to the general Second Life audience. The police blotter does adhere to the privacy policy however on the police blotter, as unlike in the real world where the perpetrator's name is provided, the police blotter in Second Life does not include the real or virtual identity of the user.

Second Life

2006-01-09T16:02:00.000-05:00

The Second Life program is interesting because anyone can log into Second Life and create their own profile and character. It is amazing that the data from this program streems over the Internet and so the world in Second Life is constantly changing, because one can control his or her avatar to change the virtual world. It is difficult when you first set out in the virtual world of Second Life, but after talking to several avatars, i gained valuable information with how to interact in the virtual world. People for the most part are very friendly and they try to help you by telling you where to go and how to obtain money. I was able to secure several items from these individuals and able to gain several friends in my first episode of Second Life.

One of the challenges of this program is finding one's way around the virtual world, because one of my friends in the game was shot by another avatar and was transported back to the help island. Somehow, he returned under the direction of the avatar who shot him, and i am not entirely sure how that happened. This aspect of the program is unclear, but i am sure by playing the game, i will gain experience and learn how you can transport your avatar and when actually that occurs.

One amusing part of my first experience in Second Life occurred when i changed the shape of my avatar. I was able to take the shape of a snowman by buying it from a store. I did not think it would be as easy as it was to change the basic shape of my avatar, as it only cost my $1. I have only $98 in Second Life, so the cost of one dollar was not a significant expense.

One of the exercises that i was not able to unlock is how to dance or attend a dance club. I think it would be interesting to access how Second Life would depict a dance club, or any type of club for that matter. Also, i did not see any restaurants in Second Life and i wonder if it is required to consume food to subsist in the virtual world, or whether one can simply walk around and explore the virtual world without eating food.

Hero Journey Profile The Lord of the Rings

2006-01-05T15:44:00.000-05:00

Character Profile

1) What is your character's name?
Frodo

2) What is your character's age?
33 years old

3) What is the gender of the character?
male

4) Who were his/her parents? Any special qualities, challenges, gifts, horrors?
Frodo does not have any parents and the only significant father figure in his life is his Uncle Bilbo. His special quality is he is the chosen one to destroy the ring of doom

5) Was there anything special or unusual about the character's birth?
Nothing is said in the book about this aspct of Frodo

6) What was the attitude of the parent's about the character?
not applicable to this hero journey

7) Does the character have siblings? What is their relationship, birth order?
Frodo does not have any siblings

8) Who were the character's peers? What was his/her relationship to the peer group?
Samwise, Merry, Pippin. These are all friends of Frodo's when he was growing up in the Shire.

9) Where did he/she live? One place, more than one place, series of places, no place?
While growing up, what did this character do for fun and enjoyment?
While growing up, what hard times did this character have?
Frodo grew up in The Shire, but he did not face any hard times. He helped Samwise with tending to a garden as his enjoyment.

10) Did the character have any special friends, relatives, mentors, pets, objects, places that he/she could turn to in times of trouble?
Frodo had his friend Samwise as a person to turn to in times of trouble. He eventually could use the ring as a means to escape evil.

11) What about school/socialization? How or where did the character learn the general skills needed for adulthood?
not applicable to this story in terms of the schooling. Gandalf and Bilbo acted as Frodo's mentors.

12) When or how did the character learn about the opposite sex, or his/her sexuality?
not applicable in this story as this aspect of Frodo's life is not discussed in any detail.

13) When how, or what marked the character's entry into adulthood?
What are the character's special talent's gifts, challenges, faults?
Frodo special gift is he is the only one who can destroy the ring in the fire. He faces several challenges throughout his journey and is forced to overcome these in order to succeed.

Hero Journey Story Lord of the Rings

2006-01-05T14:55:00.000-05:00

Departure Stage 1:
Frodo is an in the adolescent stage in the Shire. Frodo is given the ring from Bilbo and will encounter difficulties. Frodo does not expect the ring and it is not anticipated by the protagonist. The ring is not hoped for by Frodo but bestowed upon him by Gandalf. He must detroy ring in Crack of Doom in Mordor

Departure Stage 2:
Frodo was overwhelmed with the task of destroying the ring and leaving the Shire and Bilbo. Frodo enjoyed his life and enjoyed the company of his friends and the comfort of the Shire.

Departure Stage 3:
Gandalf, the wizard, helps Frodo and teaches him how to carry the ring and the powers which come with the ring. Gandalf appears throughout the story and helps Frodo along the way as Frodo attempts to destroy the ring in Mordor. Gandalf has magical powers in that he can change forms and take the shape of other creatures.

Departure Stage 4:
Frodo leaves the Shire and he enters some other world of evil within Middle Earth including Rivendell. The Dark Riders are guarding the Threshold and ultimately Sauron. Frodo must resist using the power of the ring to succeed in his journey. Frodo is chased by these riders and is forced to enter places of evil and seek to destroy the ring. The threshold is leaving the safety of the Shire and entering places where the power of Sauron extends. His ultimate goal in crossing the threshold is to save Middle-Earth.

Departure Stage 5:
The young and unexperienced Frodo is left behind as Frodo grows into adulthood. He avoids the Dark Riders and does not use the ring to do so. He is thrust into this journey as his uncle pleads with him to carry out his will. He is grows into being a hero as it is his duty to save Middle-Earth from evil. The symbol of this stage is he leaves the Shire.

Initation Stage 1:
One trial which would be difficult is fighting foes which are physically bigger than Frodo, as he is less than 4 feet tall. Frodo is given the ring to defeat evil which chases him throughout Middle-Earth in his pursuit of destroying the ring. Frodo is chased by Orcs which attempt to foil his journey. Frodo's great fear is disappointing Bilbo in his goal of destroying the ring. Frodo hides in the woods to avoid evil. He has Legalos, and Gimli, and Aragon to help him along the way.

Intiation Stage 4
Frodo works with Gandalf along his journey and views him as a father figure in his pursuit of destroying the ring. He accepts several challenges of Gandalf along the way.

education in 25 years

2006-01-03T15:05:00.000-05:00

In twenty five years it is likely that the use of a school building and desks could become obsolete. Technology is becoming so advanced that the use of portable devices like laptops could be used to facilitate a virtual classroom. The Internet could be used as a source of communication and teachers could simply post assignments and facilitate a lecture on the web without actually teaching in a classroom. Portable devices such as ipods and palm pilots could be used by students to transmit homework assignments and tests. This could produce several basic problems as the academic honor code could be compromised because students would have more access to cheating on assingments.

Also, this future outlook on eduaction could pose a social integration problem because people could avoid direct contact with one another. A sense of a detached local and world community could result from this influx in technological advances in teaching. As a result, the world would become more asocial which could cause major problems in community and international relations. One of the primary functions of the education system is social integration as education is viewed as a vehicle for allowing young children to become part of the community.

The use of books also could become less prevalent in education as access to internet resources would become more widespread and dominant in the education in the future. This trend has already developed in the past decaded due to the growth of online databases on the internet.

Also, these conversations on the Internet and lectures could be taught in chinese as this langauge is predicted by many experts to become the dominant language in the near future. Above is an image which represents how a teacher could teach in a studio and then could electronically transmit his lecture throughout the world to his students. The education system in the future could very well become a global institution as exhibited by this image as students could interconnect with their classmates throughout the world.

I agree with what the previous class said about how virtual communication will take the place of physical relationships.

2006-01-03T14:38:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog entry. I have a blogger account in order to log my studies in a class at Elon University. My class called Imaging Technology will discuss the importance of the cyberpunk genre and explore the past history of techology and its future development.