dgst101

For this module, I got very excited since I am a Music Tech major- as well as a double major in Communication and Digital Studies.

Since I own a $300 DAW (digital audio workspace) called Logic Pro X, I decided to create a remix. I combined my two favorite songs at the moment: Justin Bieber’s “What do u mean” and Ariana Grande’s “One last time”. For this project, what i decided to do was to find an instrumental track of the Justin Bieber song. Then I added Ariana Grande’s vocals (just the studio vocals) on to the track. I found both audio samples on youtube, which I converted into an MP3 and downloaded onto the DAW (Logic Pro X). I decided to use these two songs for a mash up because: both songs have a BPM (beats per measure) of 125. I did not have to alter, speed up or slow down, the vocals to match the instrumental background since the BPM of both songs were the same!

After combining and editing the vocals to match the beat of the instrumental piece, I then added studio instruments to remix and make the track my own. I added bongos, drums, and claps onto the piece to be creative with it and to truly remix both songs. I carefully added these instruments to make sure that they helped the flow of both songs and helped the piece climax.

So far, this is my remix:

As confusing and difficult as this project was, at the end of the day I found it to be extremely interesting. My group, group 9, took apart a 2002 Panasonic Palm recorder. The video device was ahead of its time- for a 2002 digital product. Taking it apart was rather difficult. We lost some screws and misplaced some of the small items that were attached to the camera. We also had a hard time breaking the plastic and getting to the core of the device. The coolest part was seeing the camera part of the camcorder. It was really interesting to see how the camera was attached and learning how all these pieces come together and function as one item.

However, as fun as it was to tear apart and destroy the core of this camcorder- the difficult part of this project was attempting to locate where these pieces of the product were manufactured. Since our device is rather old, it was hard to find locations. Japan was a huge one, and also China of course. We tried looking up the device model/serial numbers to find locations. I ended up finding a website that was entirely in Japanese that listed a bunch of parts and random circuit boards- but sadly I couldn’t find our pieces (probably because our device is outdated).

Panasonic Parts

Giant (main) circuit board: The board itself is made from china, but the little black chips are all made in japan. Some of the chips have a little M logo on it which stands for Matsushita Panasonic. Konosuke Matsushita is the founder of Panasonic.

Speaker: Made from KDK in japan but when you look at the KDK website, or the wikipedia page, they only make air vents, electric fans etc.. nothing about speakers but they have a catalogue with the speaker that was used in the Palmcorder.

Lens Components: Flexboard: Constructed in Japan/China, Zoom Motors, High Flexibility Cable: YoungShin (US trading office of South Korean company) 1320 Tower Road, Suite 111  |  Schaumburg, IL 60173

Batteries: Likely Carbon Zinc or Nickel Hybride in the interior, rechargeable Lithium Ion externally, likely silver-palladium mix or tin/copper wiring

LCB power PCB Circuit Board: Could be either Made from: P. T. SANYO Jaya Components Indonesia (Components Division Capacitor Unit) or PT. Panasonic Industrial Devices Batam but we think it is more likely made from the components division unit.

As understood from above information, we tried our best to do this project, but if we wanted to do more of an accurate job I feel as if we should have done a product that was not as ancient. Like explained earlier, it was very difficult to gain information and locate factories in which parts were made due to how old the device was. Some of the factories that produced parts for our camcorder might have shut down or relocated.

Today in class, I participated in a semi-formal debate about the ethics of purchasing phones and other cheap technology when their cheapness is enabled by exploitation of slave labor. My group discussed how not buying cell phones and technology created by slave labor would be ineffective. We came to an agreement that not buying these necessities would not be a good idea- the more advanced and efficient way to solve this awful and abusive work conditions would be to create a democracy within a group and overturn this. Making this a social movement would be more effective than not buying what they are making- they will produce the stuff in the factories even if we don’t purchase it because other people and places will.

According to John Gastil, an important communication scholar, “Democracy connotes wide ranging liberty, including the freedom to decide one’s own course in life and the right to play an equal role in forging a common destiny.” The “common destiny” that Gastil refers to is the ultimate goal a group defines when created. It is important to appreciate democracy, which is not only an important player when working among others, but needed to work in a team. Without democracy, tasks would not get accomplished. People need to learn how to work together in order for a group to maintain strength. Individuals must share a “common destiny” in order to succeed in a team.

This being said, the most effective way to make a change to terrible work conditions and work ethics is to form a group and petition against it and bring it up to our government. Freedom of speech and the use of efficient democracy will be the leader in the way we all make a change.

In High School, we watched a video (linked below) regarding how the spread of media can raise awareness to this cause. This video has been spread world wide and has been a leader in the way American’s view and purchase products. The creation of social media has lead us to many movements that have reached success. Perhaps if we brought this upon social media we could make a change.

For this module, Ahad and I decided to make a makeshift piano using basic coding software. Since I am still a beginner at coding, we used a program site that was simple, yet very effective. The cool thing about our project is that it took a lot to get to where it is- what I mean by that is how we came up with the idea. At first, Ahad and I were planning to construct a game using java scrip. As we both have weak java skills, we decided to put that idea on hold and find a project that we would both be able to learn and do. Our second idea was a slack bot. We had an idea of making a bot on slack (sort of like daily cat facts) where it would post cool things on slack if someone typed a key word. Unfortunately, as we dug into the idea more and researched more, we found out that doing that would take more than 3 days to construct and was extremely difficult and confusing. Since I am not an advanced coder this module was very difficult for me. However, it was very eye opening to the point where some ideas we had were either too hard to code, or not using code enough.

Below is the link to our project (1 out of 3)

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/99353132/

Before really getting into the book, I honestly did not understand Neuromancer. I had trouble grasping the point and thinking about what author William Gibson struggled to portray.

After reading and having time to reflect on Neuromancer, I began to understand it’s purpose. It is 2016: everyone uses the Internet. Almost all of our generation has some sort of smartphone, which is basically a mini portable version of accessing the World Wide Web in seconds. We have the Internet at our fingertips. While reading Neuromancer, I began to imagine a world without the Internet. I began to realize that the very idea of the web is certainly new, and unimaginable for generations before us. I remember learning how to surf the web on my father’s chunky computer running Windows ’96. I thought the sole purpose of the machine was to be able to use “paint” and to change the wallpaper of the desktop. Reflecting on the advancement of technology while I was growing up, I cannot imagine living in a world where I wouldn’t be able to write a paper and right click a word for synonyms. Reading Neuromancer has truly opened my eyes to how much I owe my success and growth in education to the Internet.

Interestingly enough, my favorite quote from the novel has to be:

“Aside from the huge pair of sunglasses concealing her mirrored insets, [Molly] managed to look remarkably like she belonged there, another tourist girl hoping for a glimpse of Tally Isham. She wore a pink plastic, a white mesh top, loose white pants cut in a style that had been fashionable in Tokyo the previous year.” (4.53)

Another favorite quote from the novel is, “Unlike my brother. I create my own personality. Personality is my medium.” (23.54)

I thought this was very interesting because people tend to judge each other’s identity, either online or in person, vert quickly and artificially. Whether we like it or not, we make quick judgments at first glance, even if we try not to. It is human. As a result of this, I believe the quote is trying to explain how we process someone’s identity. For example, I know that if I view someone’s Instagram who has 16-55 likes on a photo they posted, I do not think highly of them. However, basing someone’s popularity or self worth based on the number of followers or likes on their social media does not correlate to their identity in person. Our online presence versus real world personalities are sometimes combined, thanks to the ever growing use of social media. It is important to realize our self worth beyond our online accounts.

As I kept reading the novel, I began to praise it. Neuromancer raises many questions regarding the advancements, and our use, of today’s technology. Furthermore, the novel does a remarkable, yet debatable outlook on new technological inventions.

Elaina Finkelstein
Jan 28, 2016
DGST 101
Blogging Module

Research on blogging:

“Blogging is as much about sharing with one another as it is about getting your own voice out.”

I have been blogging since my tenth grade year in high school. Blogging is vital in my crazy disorganized life because it brings me closure and acceptance to everything that is going on. Since then, I have learned many things about blogging from recent research and experience that I would love to share to my fellow classmates:

First of all, it is important to remember to write what YOU feel. Do not write to please anyone. Blogging is a way to express oneself through different mediums online- therefore you should do it for you and for no one else. Be honest with your blogging, for you might change someone’s life and open someone to new ideas. I had a blog I made in high school about a skin disorder that I have. That blog not only helped me and what I was going through, but also helped people who had other issues going on be brave. That is just one example on why blogging is so important. It allows your voice be heard.

Secondly, I have learned that focusing on how many views or likes your blog gets is unimportant. Like I stated before, blogging is personal and should be to the benefit of you. The amount of people who read your blog isn’t nearly as important as how many people you have influenced. If you have 30 followers, but have impacted a girl’s life immensely with your posts, then at the end of the day that is the ultimate goal of what should matter. Yes, bloggers want many readers but numbers don’t tell us everything. I have known blogs that were Tweeted out hundreds of times but were actually read less than blogs that were Tweeted out a couple dozen.

Thirdly, size matters. When considering writing a blog, it is important to think about your readers. Would you want to sit down and read 2,000 words for fun? Nah. Think about the size of your blog. The length is important, keep it short, simple, but make every word count. Just because a post is long does not mean is it good, on the contrary just because a blog is short doesn’t have to mean its sloppy and done quickly. Make it bearable and make every word have a purpose- don’t just write to write. Try to keep it fewer than 1,000 or you may lose your audience before you get one.

Lastly, grabbing reader attention is vital for bloggers. Blogs require views and people to connect from what you post. I learned that it is important to create and write content that is very relatable to a wide audience. Also, I learned that touchy topics such as politics, religion, or sexuality are the more risky subjects when trying to get a diverse audience to read your blogs. Although writing about those things aren’t necessarily a bad thing, the best way to grab readers is to make it PG-13 and audience friendly. Other ways to grab reader attention is by content such as video or pictures. I know that pictures grab my attention more than a title usually; therefore it is important to get creative and crafty.

In conclusion, blogging one of the more personal activities web is used for. I believe it is amazing that we can type out how we feel and let our voice be heard and post it for anyone in the world and web to see. It is important to be safe, considerate, and creative when blogging. There are many different website to blog on including Tumblr, Buzzfeed, or The Odyssey and many more! Regarding that, there are also many interesting things one might blog about. Using social media like Facebook and Twitter is a great way to get a blog started and to achieve views. Personally, I enjoy blogging about personal experience because I like to influence people with what is occurring in my life. I hope that when I get older I will look back at my blogs and be reminded of how happy and excited about education I am today.

As a student in DGST10, I intend to use this space in my website to publish all my research and work from class. Instead of making a sub domain for this class, I make DGST101 a category on my website as a whole. The module I am currently in is called “blogging”, therefore I intend to post my material and research in this space.