An Invasion of Long Boards (Process Project) (Fake Article)

Some may consider it a form of transportation while others see it as a trend. As a freshmen coming into the University of Maryland I have seen several bikes, mopeds, scooters, etc. But a large portion of our students enjoy riding long boards, which are much like skateboards but are "longer" in length. Due to the large quantity of riders on campus, many of the originators of long board riding feel like the others are just using it for some sort of trend in which won't last long. Marcus Davis, freshmen, said "as someone who has been riding for years, to come here and see everyone doing it kind of made me feel like a poser in the sense of hopping on the bandwagon."

Another freshmen, Aaron Banks, just began riding a month or so ago and believes he is just as good as the originators of this "trend." Aaron believes "just because they've been doing it longer does not mean they are as good as I am, I am a quick learner." To add to the controversy recently Marcus's longboard was sabotaged by an unknown assailant. As he got on to ride it one day, the wheels would not move, causing him much embarrassment as he tried to become mobile in front of the entire mall. Although this issue may seem minimal, this act of sabotage served as a warning of more to come from each side.

Week 5 Entry

I really found the Apportionment Methods reading cool how they put assigning seats in the House of Representatives in a system/formula. Great way to combine politics with Digital Culture in my opinion. While reading "Computer Programming as an Art," I really found it crazy that an entire paper could be based off of the notion as if Computer Programming should be considered an art, science, or both. Honestly when I think of "art" I think of abstract concepts and literally something that someone, an artist, created from a blank canvas. Now that I think about it though, Computer Programming is sort of the same thing.

Computer programmers start from a blank slate and depending on what they want their program to carry out is what their masterpiece will turn out to look like. The Imitation Game actually sounds like a lot of fun. I really like how the writer began with the basic rules of the game using humans then shifted gears and incorporated the use of machines to take the place of the game contestants. I believe the game would be way more natural using humans like the writer mentioned, with technical questions it would take us way longer to figure them out compared to a robot. The "Walking in the City" was very confusing to me. I didn't really see how it was connecting with the concept of Digital Culture.

Week 4 Entry

While reading the "Internet, bah!" article I found it funny that he was badgering the technological advances that were expected to occur in the future. One because he couldn't believe how they would help us and two because everything he was being negative towards ended up actually being created and user friendly. In the "Neuromancer," I really enjoyed the connection between the cyberspace and the ability for a human to control another individual in first-person view.  It goes to show you that even technology in the past paved new hopes for modern advances in the future. I noticed that the concept in "Neuromancer," matched that of the movie "The Matrix," which more than likely describes why it is one of our screenings for DCC.

"A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" posed a conflict of interest between the government and the residence of cyberspace. It seemed to me as sort of a civil war between supporters of the web and congressional figures, both being Americans. In my opinion I believe that the Telecom "Reform" Act breaks the First Amendment; freedom of speech, religion, and press. Most of my friends being Asian, I could relate with the "Digitizing Race" reading. I hear a lot of people say that they all look the same and the program that uses visual aid to prove that American's believe so is a good polling system that brings this  to reality. Honestly I didn't know that 6 females created computers but it made sense when you think about it because all the men were at war, leaving females at home to do such work.

Digital Footprint

Documentation

I wanted to convey my actually digital footprint so I literally outlined my digital life in the shape of a foot. The toes are a picture taken of me that is on my facebook page. (Top to bottom) The first layer on my actual foot is the information section on my facebook page with education and location showing. The second layer is the banner for my high school's newspaper website in which I was the editor-in-chief of. The third layer is a screenshot from my music video "Culture Shock." The fourth layer is my cover art from my mixtape "Culture Shock," in which I designed and edited myself. The fifth layer is the banner from one of my favorite rapper, Big Sean's website in which he published a post on me speaking about my academic achievements. The last layer is an online interview in which a girl posted on her blog in order to highlight my musical career.

Critical Analysis 


I went on Google and typed in my name. From there I chose several items I wanted to use in my "footprint." Using both video screenshots and pictures from different websites I'm incorporated in. I considered what part of my online personality I wanted to display (music, facebook, newspaper) as well what my digital footprint contents would illustrate me to be in front of my peers.