I did a search on Limewire (don't judge me... I still buy CDs all the time) for "audiobooks". I was about to take a road trip home and was hoping for an audio version of Harry Potter or a Narnia book. Instead, I came across several Anthony Robbins books and a few copies of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus." You can imagine my surprise. So, I did what anyone would do in a situation like this. I downloaded them. I then spent the next two of the four hours in the car on my way home listening to why men an women need to change their views of each other in order to get along. I have never felt more sad in all my life.
Books-on-iTunes, as I like to call them, are a kind of digital narrative that has put a caring yet somewhat famous (Hello, Anthony Robbins) in your pocket, care of your iPod. I sat in my car that day with my iPod-car converter plugged in, listening to the high-pitched voice of a middle-aged man telling me that we women have the wrong picture of men. We see them like us, yet they are extremely different. Though most of the two hours it was on was spent with the volume all the way down while I talked on the phone, I thought to myself for a moment, "Who the hell really listens to this? When would you listen to this?" I pictured a 30something spinster at work with her headphones in. Someone would walk in and say "Hey, whatcha listening to?" She would then hurry to think of a song she had heard on the radio while slyly edge her iPod closer to her so the intruder could not see the screen.
Thought to be a fad of the 80s and 90s, self-help books have come back with a vengeance. Don't have room in your purse for that Chicken Soup book? No problem. Just load it up on your iPod, and some lady or man will read it to you as you feed the cats.
Video "for the next couple of days:"
Okay so this one was a little sooner than "a couple of days." This show was one of my favorites. It was on the Disney Channel before it came on regular cable. For the few of us who were priveleged with the "exclusive Disney Channel" days... this one is for you. :)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Digital Video... Or Another Way that I Waste too Much Time
In case you haven't read a word from this blog the entire semester, I'm kind of a fan of digital video. I have seen almost every "talked about" Youtube video, plus some. Every time I want to see an old music video, I look it up on Youtube. If I missed a show on TV, I watch it on the network's website. Even better than TiVo, being able to watch any number of ABC shows on their website from any computer (that has the right plug ins and enough RAM) makes it extremely easy to watch TV.
I have a thing for old TV shows. Call it an extreme version of nostalgia, I like all things 80s/early 90s. To think that things that I used to watch when I was little are now considered "old" is pretty funny to me.
Digital video, while it can be very useful to people like me that can never commit to sitting in front of a TV at the same time every week, can also be detrimental. Bootleg movies, for instance, is a form of piracy that has lost the movie industry millions of dollars in ticket revenues. There are a number of sites with hundreds of titles that can be seen without paying any kind of fee. This not only takes revenue away from box office sales, but DVD sales as well.
The Youtube phenomenon has changed the face of Web 2.0 dramatically. The whole point of Web 2.0 was that it is more participatory, and what could be more participatory than Youtube? Not only can you easily give your opinion on any video posted on the site, but you can even load a video yourself. You can make your own show with "webisodes" without answering to anyone. You are the director, the creator, the actor, and the boss.
In the spirit of digital video, here goes the video "for the next couple of days:"
This one was an 80's classic that has been brought back several times. But no matter how hard they try, it'll never be as big as it was in the 80s. Children's mentality just isn't the same. Enjoy the video!
I have a thing for old TV shows. Call it an extreme version of nostalgia, I like all things 80s/early 90s. To think that things that I used to watch when I was little are now considered "old" is pretty funny to me.
Digital video, while it can be very useful to people like me that can never commit to sitting in front of a TV at the same time every week, can also be detrimental. Bootleg movies, for instance, is a form of piracy that has lost the movie industry millions of dollars in ticket revenues. There are a number of sites with hundreds of titles that can be seen without paying any kind of fee. This not only takes revenue away from box office sales, but DVD sales as well.
The Youtube phenomenon has changed the face of Web 2.0 dramatically. The whole point of Web 2.0 was that it is more participatory, and what could be more participatory than Youtube? Not only can you easily give your opinion on any video posted on the site, but you can even load a video yourself. You can make your own show with "webisodes" without answering to anyone. You are the director, the creator, the actor, and the boss.
In the spirit of digital video, here goes the video "for the next couple of days:"
This one was an 80's classic that has been brought back several times. But no matter how hard they try, it'll never be as big as it was in the 80s. Children's mentality just isn't the same. Enjoy the video!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Editing Texts Electronically
After reading a little on editing texts electronically, I still don't have that firm of a grasp on it. However, I think, from what I gathered, that what I've done in my workshop classes is a type of electronic editing. As an alternative to the red pen to paper method, I like to use the "comments" function on Word when I review my peers' drafts. It's a neat little innovation that allows me to put a little bubble next to something I want to comment on. For example, I can put next to the 23rd repeat of the word excellent "You might want to use your thesaurus after the 15th time you use this word, as great of a word it might be." I might also make comments of a somewhat more professional tone.
That's pretty much the extent of my experience with electronic editing. The only other editing I do is when I modify my Facebook profile, which is hardly a sophisticated work of creative nonfiction. The extent of my editing usually reaches to changing one of my interests from "cheap wine" to "good wine," or finding a new witty line for my "About Me" section such as "I always wear more than the minimum amount of flair," or "I specialize in one-liners, so don't hold the bar too high for the second line." I guess that could be a different kind of editing in itself, almost like an electronic editing of myself? Wow... deep for a class-related blog. :)
For the video "of the next couple of days," I thought I'd put another old Nickelodeon show. This one was so ahead of its time, it needs no introduction. Enjoy.
That's pretty much the extent of my experience with electronic editing. The only other editing I do is when I modify my Facebook profile, which is hardly a sophisticated work of creative nonfiction. The extent of my editing usually reaches to changing one of my interests from "cheap wine" to "good wine," or finding a new witty line for my "About Me" section such as "I always wear more than the minimum amount of flair," or "I specialize in one-liners, so don't hold the bar too high for the second line." I guess that could be a different kind of editing in itself, almost like an electronic editing of myself? Wow... deep for a class-related blog. :)
For the video "of the next couple of days," I thought I'd put another old Nickelodeon show. This one was so ahead of its time, it needs no introduction. Enjoy.
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