VALS

My primary and secondary results were Experiencer and Achiever.
I'm a little surprised at how accurate these results were as well as how contradictory they were.

Experiencers like to be unexpected and risky and they like to take chances and try new things and Achievers like stability and responsibility and things that don't change. These two don't seem to fit together very well, and yet they both describe me pretty accurately.

What have I learned about myself through this exercise? Well, I've learned that I contradict myself a lot. I think I've learned that what I say and what I do tends to vary in likeness. For example, the idea of bungee-jumping sounds completely fun to me, and yet if I was put in the position to actually jump, it would be the hardest thing in the world to actually get my feet to leave the stable platform.

This information may be used to appeal to me as a consumer by finding things that I may like and using those things to appeal to my interest in order to get me to buy things. Using the bungee-jumping example again, say a commercial comes on the TV and I'm watching. If the commercial has people bungee-jumping then I am more likely to pay attention than if the people in the ad are sitting around the table drinking coffee and talking about their boss.

Digital Storytelling

This is the Digital Storytelling video that we did.
The audio is kind of weird, apparently there was some background noise in the room we recorded in. I did my best to edit it out, but there's only so much I know how to do on sound editing programs.
Our group: Sarah, Kirsten, and Christina

Comm 203 Podcast Project

Please click this link for the podcast: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/6604453/-%20Shepherd/203%20Comm%20and%20New%20Media/Student%20Work/podcast%20project.mp3

Breaking Entertainment News brings you a look at Women in the Music Industry
Hosts: George, Brice, Christina

Today, we look at women's role in music, the music industry, and how this role affects youth. We also take note of how similar roles have been observed in cultures outside our own.

My Dear Media

I am completely a scaredy cat when it comes to scary movies. I can't watch them at all, and I even have to mute the trailers on TV for scary films or shows. This fear, I believe, derives itself from an experience I had with a certain movie when I was very young. That movie was "It". My Oma (grandmother) was watching "It" when my family came by to visit. While my family was watching with my Oma, I went to another room because I was scared. However, going to another room didn't help at all. Though I couldn't see the images on the screen, I could hear the music perfectly. The music alone carried all the meaning of the film. The tension and horror were well depicted in my young mind by the music. For me, the music carried the movies meaning and intention.

Media now has so many different uses and outlets, it really is amazing! People can watch movies online, or even create movies themselves if they want, and they can also share their creations and ideas with people around the world. I use a lot of media to extend myself to the world. I have edited images and expressed my thoughts on blogs, I've even made videos of my artwork and put them up on YouTube for people to see! Here, take a look:

I also connect with people around the world through the Internet. I exchange email with friends in Japan that I've met through online sites. And I also communicate with my family that lives in Washington state, Kansas, and even Germany.

I've always had media in my life: My oldest brother is a computer whiz who works at Microsoft now, so we've always had computers in the house. My mom is a Master of Music, music has always been around me too, along with movies. My mom actually met my step-dad online, so the opportunity to meet new people online from all over the world has always been there for me as well. In a way, media has shaped who I am now. But now, I want to improve on media and make it better. I want to see what people need and want and make it available to them through technology. I guess in that sense, I could probably be called a structuralist. Everything around us continues to change, I think we have some influence over that change.

Creative Commons

If a person has an idea, how would they protect that idea? What if another person had the same idea? What if a person had an idea because of the idea in question? Each had their own individual ideas, but they all seemed to mix and depend on each other, so who owns that idea and is it wrong to want to improve on the idea to make it better?

Say the afore mentioned idea is a tune for a song. So if two people who don't have any connection to each other have the same idea for a tune who owns it? Questions like these just baffle me and cause me to be ambivalent on the whole matter. When I think about it, both sides are having their creative moments but only one will ever recieve credit. To me this seems entirely unfair.

If I'm honest, I'd have to say that I think that copyright laws are too restrictive for our times. Think about when the laws were passed. Did they have high speed internet that can let people comunicate across the world in mere seconds? Did they have software that can edit pretty much any type of media with little effort? The Copyright Act of 1976 may have been appropriate for the time it was made for, but things change.

I can understand that people should have the right to make money from their music or book or other intellectual products, but I also know what it is like to have an idea that builds off of a peice of music or video clip and inspires one to create and be artistic (which is something I think a lot more people should do).

I guess what I want to say is that to create something is a precious process and everyone should have the oppurtunity to create even if their creation takes influences from established works. To copy directly would be foolish, but to be inspired and shape your own thoughts with your inspiration should be allowed, don't you think?

Oh hey there, First post.

Hi! Well, this is my first post on this blog.

I actually have blogged before, but mostly to help me learn Japanese or to post book reviews. (The actual story is that my friend gave me a blog she didn't keep up with, completely redesigned it for me, and told me to use it.)

So I have some experience blogging; this should be fun!