McLuhan Remix

This is a post I just put up on my own blog, thought it would be a good addition to The Social Moose as well.

So, I recently heard from Jamie O'Neil, an assistant professor of digital media arts at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Canisius is a Jesuit school, like my own Fordham University--in traditional parlance, we are sister schools. And Jamie is a media ecologist who was prompted to contact me by my friend, sister media ecologist, and fellow Media Ecology Association board member Ellen Rose from the University of New Brunswick. That's in Canada, you know...

So, Jamie is also a performance artist, and he has an alias, Kurt Weibers, or I guess you could call it a stage name, pseudonym, or what have you. Here's the deal, in his own words:

Jamie O'Neil is a video/performance artist, writer and teacher. In 2002, he created the virtual identity of Kurt Weibers for usage online, in videos and live performance seminars. Kurt Weibers is the spokesman for Global Point Strategies, which developed Navel Software for organizational change, as well as numerous motivational presentations on topics ranging from creativity, listening, time management and synchronicity, to quantitative research methods for understanding culture. Kurt Weibers works as a reporter, business consultant in Norway and a DJ / VJ (on the side) the latter role being the reason for his involvement in the McLuhan Remix project.

This write-up is taken from his McLuhan Remix website, which is worth a look. It includes some explanation of the remix or mash-up phenomenon, and its relationship to Marshall McLuhan, as well as a short video essay entitled, naturally enough, McLuhan Remix, which is made up of three YouTube videos. You can play them continuously on his McLuhan Remix page, but I will also embed them here for your convenience, dear reader:

McLuhan Remix: Prologue 1/3



McLuhan Remix: The Medium is the Mix 2/3



McLuhan Remix: Epilogue 3/3





There's other interesting material on kurtweibers's Channel on YouTube, which you can explore if you care to.

The bottom line, for me, is not so much that McLuhan was prescient, but simply that he was identifying the characteristics of electricity, electrical technology, and the electronic media environment, much as Lewis Mumford had done before him. Most of what is being hailed as new and unprecedented about contemporary digital technology is, in fact, characteristic of electric technology in general, and was recognized by media ecologists like Mumford and McLuhan over the course of the 20th century. That is why McLuhan is more relevant than ever today, as we continue to electrify just about everything we can. You might say that what we are doing is in one sense expanding the electronic media environment, but in another filling it in or filling it out, or to put it another way, coloring in between the power lines. Remixed drinks, anyone?

Digital Ethnography

In class we viewed some of the YouTube videos created and uploaded by my friend Mike Wesch. You can take a look at his YouTube channel Digital Ethnography by clicking on the title, and subscribe. But let's also embed some of his outstanding videos here at The Social Moose.

We can start with the final version of his award-winning The Machine is Us/ing Us:



And his outstanding follow-up, Information R/evolution:




And how could we not include A Vision of Students Today?



And here's an extended lecture that is well worth an hour of your time, An anthropological introduction to YouTube:

websites

I've recently discovered three new websites involving social networking. Here are my thoughts on them:

Meebo.com

Pros: This site basically acts as an outlet for you to connect online to your instant messaging accounts. The sight is a host to AOL Instant Messaging (AIM), Yahoo, MSN, and Google Talk. I've found that it is a great way to keep in touch with people instantly when you are on a computer that does not have the instant messaging program you use.

Cons: The only downfall is that some of the screen names are saved differently than at-home IM programs. For example, at home I put in everyone's first and last name on display, and now I don't know their SN. It is a problem on meebo because it usually only displays the person's sn.

Overall: Great!

Woome.com

Pros: This site is mostly for meeting people instead of reconnecting with people you already know. You can friend, or "favorite" a person, and then instantly chat with them via webcam.

Cons: The webcam sessions expire at 2 minutes. Clearly not enough time to get to know anyone. Also, I found it is more of an online dating site than anything else.

Overall: Mehh...

Linkedin.com

Pros: This networking site allows people to look for a job, look to fill a company's position, or to simply interact with former colleagues and classmates. On this site, you can post your resume, past experiences, skills, training, etc. Also, someone can write a recommendation for you to give you an extra boost in the job market.

Cons: Not enough people know about it yet! While I am still finding people to join my network, I am discovering that most of the people I know (professionals or students) haven't heard about linkedin.

Overall: Great!

Following and Followers

About a week ago, most of us signed up for twitter. Even though, I have not been using it much yet, by viewing other people's tweets, I've noticed a few trends. While everyone uses it to let other's know what they are up to, businesses use twitter to inform others of what is going on, but also to create awareness about their respective business. Currently, I am following NYTimes, Starbucks, CNN, and CBS. In terms of news updates, every source I am following is quick to tweet anything news worthy, but I've noticed NYTimes' updates are a bit more frequent. Additionally, it is interesting to see how professionals use twitter to create awareness about their company, what events they are attending, and how to get others involved with their company. If companies master using twitter (and any other form of social media) to their advantage - it can probably be very beneficial. But it also brings up the question - whether or not businesses should follow those who follow them? Could it be better for business? It would be interesting to find out...

My daily habits

I have been using the internet since the mid 90's with the start of aol.com, to this day I still have an aol screen name but it is rarely used because I like the fordham.edu interface better. Prior to college that is all I used, following the news feed religiously. During high school I was really into underground metal so of course I was always on undergroundmetal.com searching all my favorite bands and looking for something new to pop up. Once my senior year came around I slowly got out of the metal phase (i still listen occasionally) and started to love underground hip-hop, I never would want to get off the comp because of always having something new at my fingertips. After high school I stopped using the internet frequently due to playing water polo for Fordham every second of everyday. For three years I was out of the loop, never up to date on current events or music. Finally I stopped playing and began to use the internet again for informational purposes. Recently I have become an internet freak again constantly needing to read some sort of newsfeed or listen to new music. I cant help myself from browsing the internet for hours with out any concept of time. Going from my fordham account to youtube and never stopping from there. Anyone have any  sites they can suggest to make me stay on the internet for that much longer?

My ski dream!!!

SKi Video check out this video...i'm an intermediate skier pushing myself doing some expert trails... this video shows what i'd like to do one day, except the fall at the end...i'd rather land it successfully. also, another thing i want to do is to jump from a helicopter onto the top of a mountain and ski all the way down...its funny, i just got into skiing last year, and i picked it up really quickly...i'm actually buying my own skis next week...just something i wanted to share with everyone...enjoy...

The Window to the World

My daily dose of the internet is served with a spoonful of news with a side french fried potatoes. I most frequently check out a website called Drudge Report. Drudge Report is a website that is full of the news of the world. The website does not do any actual reporting, but instead it provides links to the stories of hundreds of different news outlets. This allows drudge report to connect users with what seems to be the most unbiased news stories all the time. The website is free from faction because it does not have any agenda, nor does it have sponsors that need to be kept happy by stories' content. Additionally, there is no organizational slant on all the stories. There is no one sending memo's around Drudge Report to only link up conservative or liberal stories. Drudge Report has become my best friend recently. Ever since mid semester last year when I obtained an internet ready cell phone, I have checked Drudge Report nearly four to five times daily.

global community

      In the introduction to the book, several questions were posed in regards to the current debates involving cyberspace. One was, "Is cyberspace creating a global community?" To this, I would answer yes. Whether through the Internet, texting, or some other form of communication through technology, we can instantaneously connect with people from all over the world . The Internet, or more specifically social networks, allow us to connect with people we know or meet friends from all over the world. 

      Personally, Facebook has helped me reconnect with people from my past. In 5th grade my best friend moved away to Georgia. I had her mailing address so we attempted to keep in touch. However, after a few months, we slowly lost touch. After 10 years of not seeing or talking to one another, I got a Facebook message from her. She told me she was moving back to St Louis and that we should meet up. It turned out she moved into a house only three blocks from me. Since that summer we have become close again. If it were not for Facebook, we probably would never have seen each other again. 

My Daily Media

I don't really follow a routine with the internet, but I am always on it. Whether it's sending .mp3's over gmail to A&R's and managers, or browsing Youtube, I am always in touch with the world wide web. I do check Facebook and Myspace almost everyday, but I am slowly stopping because I have found Twitter! Twitter is a much more simpler site, but allows me to update my status, which is what I really appreciate. I'd rather only see what my friends and some of my favorite musicians are doing at the moment than being friends with them on Facebook or Myspace (Much less junk is thrown your way on Twitter). I also enjoy looking at ESPN and a few other sites that amuse me. I'm still open to find other websites that I may enjoy, and I hope over the course of the class I will. See you guys tomorrow...

Random Interactive Media film

Well I went to the bookstore for the 6 time this semester, 5 more times then I have ever been in any single semester, and still no book for our class. It makes me a little sad to say I cant be blogging about are class readings but im guessing we will all be another week behind. So instead of blogging about that, I browsed youtube.com for some related movies on Interactive Media and of course I only found non-sense, one of the films I found was on Hans Rosling at a Scandinavian Interactive Media Event . For some reason I can not embed this video, so if you search Hans Rosling im sure it will come up.

Marketing Books in the Digital Age

This YouTube video provides a great deal of insight into the book publishing industry as it functions in the digital media environment:




Or not.

Happy Pills!!!

Over the winter break I was in Barcelona with a few other fordham students on the Spain Trip. the trip was amazing, the sights, the parties, everything... there was one interesting place that we came across in the commercial district of the city. The place was called Happy Pills. It was a small store with the name "Happy Pills" on it and the Red Cross symbol underneath. so many ideas went running through my mind about what the store could be selling...turns out it was a candy store with candies packed like prescriptions with labels to cure wacky "diseases" like sitting at home during football sunday...and many others....it was a funny store...just thought I'd share with everyone..

A Missing Link

Fordham University's Web Site


http://www.fordham.edu/


oh alma mater Fordham...

daily media

    Everyday I tend to check the same couple of websites: Facebook, CNN.com, Yahoo.com, etc. I most commonly use Google as my search engine, because it is my homepage. I also check my Fordham and .Mac email. Some blogs I look at every so often include celeb gossip sites like Perez Hilton, What Would Tyler Durden Do?, and I'm Not Obsessed. Other technology I find usedfule on a daily basis include my iPod (which has AIM, Facebook, and Internet through WiFi) and my cellphone, which I use for texting (it's a very basic cellphone). 

   When I have more time on my hands I usually glance at YouTube and find some entertaining videos. Here are a few that I enjoy:

Stealth Cat

Nintendo 64

Charlie Goes to Candy Mountain

Media Usage

The internet is an endless source of information and resources. My daily usage of the internet consists of checking email, at least several times a day, checking facebook, and mostly doing some type of research. Three out of my five closest friends currently live outside of New York, one of them is just several hours away by car, while the other is overseas. Checking email frequently allows us to have conversations and communicate with each other on a regular basis. Even though it may be difficult for us to talk on the phone because of time differences, and schedule conflicts - emailing each other regularly makes us feel that in one way or another everyone is quite close. Also, I help come up with different projects for local youth groups, so many a times I spend my time doing research --> looking at other organizations and figuring out how they do what they do, looking for team building activities, and other useful information for youth group leaders. Throughout the day I tend to check the New York Times website regularly to get my daily dose of news. Additionally, I use the internet to instant message friends, check bank statements, and buy books.

How I use the internet

It's sad to say... but I use the internet more for Facebook than anything else. Dom's right... it is an awful addiction. Otherwise, I typically use Firefox or Safari to check my school e-mail and my G-Mail account. I don't usually use iChat because I'm not much for talking online, but if I am on, I'm usually invisible! On a day to day basis I also check the gossip blogs Dlisted and Perez Hilton... they're so funny, I seriously can't get enough. Somehow by reading about the lives of celebrities it makes me feel a little bit more normal. I also still use MySpace a lot even though it seems to be the least popular social network of people our age. I mainly use it for music! So many bands have Myspace profiles putting up their own blogs of updates, tourdates, new songs, and music videos. One of my favorite bands, Valencia only put certain things on their MySpace so I feel the need to check up on them basically once a week. I also can't help but check any new updates for the band festival Bamboozle. I go almost every year and it's a big deal for me. Another website I go to often is Threadless, a website where people can post their own designs they created for T-shirts. If you have an account you can rate the t-shirts and help choose which one will actually be printed for people to buy. You can even make money off of the t-shirt if they're re-printed more than once! It's pretty cool and a great place to find completely unique t-shirts which nobody else will have.
Yet another weakness I have when it comes to the internet is watching TV shows. I am a HUGE tv buff. I have so many favorite shows that it's so hard to keep up with them all. I usually miss the new episodes when the air on tv and end up watching them online. This is probably what takes up most of my time when I use the internet. I watch a lot of The Office, Lost, and That 70s Show. The fact that ABC has EVERY episode of Lost online has definitely effected my studying habits... oops.

Getting Out Your Dreams on the Internet

The internet, as of late, has really become a way for artists, comedians, and actors (etc.) to break out into their industries. Websites like Myspace, Youtube, and Facebook are all social networks that help these aspiring artists gain a fan base and spread the word about their work. These websites are not only for the artists trying to get out their dreams though; they are meant for everyone and anyone who wants to have their voice heard. Some of these people actually obtain a substantial following from their blogging or vlogging done over the internet. These people have come to be known as "internet celebrities". I found this interesting article on them if you'd like to check it out : Internet Celebrity phenomenon!

This is my favorite quote from the article: "Fame is no longer about getting "15 minutes"; it's about becoming famous to 15 people."

Here's another link to some of the most popular people, videos/films, and sites that became huge because of the internet: List of internet celebrities!

America's Song 2009