The Cycle of Technology: Comparing the Invention of the Typewriter and the Use of Modern Blogging

This picture was found on Flickr using Creative Commons. It was added by member, The New Ruffian.

The article we had to read for this week talked about the different impacts of the typewriter on businesses, literature (like memoirs, poetry, and others), and other aspects of life. It got me thinking about how a lot of the initial feelings that people had towards the typewriter first started being used could be comparable to the feelings people have about different blogs.

To start with, the article mentioned something about how the women of the time were able to become typists and became a icon symbol for other women. Basically, these women were held in high esteem, and made other women want to follow their footsteps. Thus, as the article states, many other women followed whatever styles and fashions that the typists initiated. This is similar to how popular bloggers are followed today. There are many different blogging platforms used on the internet for these bloggers to get their messages across to their readers. The posts that bloggers put up are rich in their own ideals, morals, views, experiences, and so on. To be more explicit: their style, their flare, their passions. Think about those bloggers who blog about fashion. They explain what style of clothes and products they wear, when to wear them, how to wear them, how to accessorize, the prices, and so forth. After taking this into account, readers may end up buying whatever was featured on the blog the next time they go shopping for either clothes or shoes. Now think about those bloggers who are social justice bloggers. They spotlight issues that readers have come to take for granted. Readers, once getting educated on a particular issue, may feel compelled to do something about that injustice. They may even start to reshape the way they think about certain things or modify their actions to cause less offense. Therefore, these bloggers- like the typists long before them- have influential power because they are looked up to by people who are reading their work.

Additionally, the articled talked about how the invention of the typewriter made grammar and spelling so important that dictionaries became a valuable tool to have. Just like the dictionary became an important tool once the typewriter was introduced, modern blogging made becoming internet-literate a very important skill. How often is it that we have heard how everything is now on the web, that newspapers and magazines and other forms of print are becoming more and more obsolete? Soon, printed materials will become just as rare as handwritten letters. As the article had said:

“The typewriter fuses composition and publication, causing an entirely new attitude to the written and printed word”

Modern blogging is another step in that ladder of fusing different printed works together and presenting it in a new way. Newspaper companies now have blogs that highlight different news bulletins, making it more accessible than watching a broadcast on television or hearing a broadcast on the radio. A lot of magazines- whether they are gossip ones or life style ones- are also following the same path.

In conclusion, after reading the article I could not help but see the similarities between the attitudes towards the typewriter when it first was used and modern blogging today. I like to think of the whole thing as a cycle, a cycle that improves information transmission with every turn it takes. Who knows, maybe some day in our future there will be another method of informational transmission that would take over after blogging. Difficult to picture right now, but can you just imagine it?

What It Means to Strip Media

In his piece titled “Uncreative Writing, Managing Language in the Digital Age ” Kenneth Goldsmith states the following to define nude media: “Once a digital file is downloaded from the context of a site, it’s free or naked, stripped bare of the normative external signifiers that tend to give as much meaning to an artwork as the contents of the artwork itself” (Goldsmith, 72).  Goldsmith gave an example of a New York Times article having small differences from the hard copy to the web version. The web version had a sans serif W in the word Washington instead of a classic black serifed T for Tony (72). The hard copy article was taken and put online and when it appeared online, some of it’s original external signifiers were altered. This online version was a nude form of the hard copy. It is a form of nude media.

Does nude media translate over to Creative Commons media? I personally think that nude media can apply to Creative Commons media. Creative Commons media provides art work that can be shared by anyone. There are certain restrictions depending on the creator of the work, but if it is on Creative Commons it can be shared in some shape or form. So how can a piece of art work on Creative Commons translate into nude media? If someone takes a piece of work from Creative Commons, and takes it out of it’s original element, and puts that piece of artwork into an atmosphere of their own, they are making that piece of media into nude media. If someone takes a photo from Creative Commons and shares it own their own blog, they are stripping that media externally and therefore making it into a piece of nude media. Another example of a piece of art work taken from Creative Commons and being transformed into nude media would be if someone took, for example a photo from Creative Commons, and if the creator put a license on it that people who want to share the photo can alter the photo, and if the person sharing the photo adds small differences to the photo, for example adding an arrow if they want to point something out in particular, that would make this piece of artwork a piece of nude media. If the original piece of work is being altered in some way, it would be considered nude media.  So yes, I do think nude media can come from Creative Commons media and I think the two can be connected.

I find nude media to be very interesting. I had no idea art work could be classified this way until we learned about this is class. It’s weird to think that if an original piece of work has been altered even in the smallest way or taken out of its original element, it can be considered nude media. There is probably so much nude media out there that we do not even recognize to be nude media.  Just like the New York Times example. That was a public piece of nude media that people probably did not even think to be considered nude media. Very interesting!

Creative Commons And The Advantages It Provides

It is important to use Creative Commons media. This is because as a writer or blogger, you want to make sure you are not violating any copyright laws. You do not want to use any image or words that are not yours without the permission of the owner. Many people take media and use it as their own without giving any credit to the creator. Creative Commons helps solve this problem. Creative Commons provides licenses so creators can share their work with people in a legal way. This way, people can use works of art by other people in blog posts etc. without infringing upon anyone’s rights.

A blogger, as a both a user and a creator, could take advantage of Creative Commons.

As a blogger, it is vital to use. If you quote another writer or article, or use a photo that is not yours, you need to give that person credit. We learned in class that just putting a link, or source, is not enough. You need permission from the creator and then you can use writing or a photo, and then source it. Bloggers can really take advantage of Creative Commons and avoid doing anything illegal because Creative Commons provides work that has already been approved by creators. It’s convenient because it is all in one space. On Creative Commons it shows you work and what laws the creator has signed off on so you know exactly what you are allowed to do with it. As a blogger, this is very helpful. Until we learned in class that example of what could happen to someone by violating the copyright laws, I had no idea that just sourcing something is not enough. I feel relief as a blogger to now know that there is a place where you can get work that is already approved by creators to share.

As a creator, Creative Commons should be taken advantage of. I think if creators of work, put their work though Creative Commons, they will be protected from anyone stealing or sharing their work without permission. It is just kind of a no brainer to me. If you do not want someone illegally taking your work, then you should just go through Creative Commons from the start. If someone takes your work, you do not want to have go through the hassle of tracking the person down and going through a lawsuit. All of that stuff is just not worth it when there is an easy and simple way to protect your work right from the beginning. It is also good for the creator because the creator really has total control of how exactly how much they want their work to be shared, through the different types of licenses they can put on it. The creator has complete control when they go through Creative Commons. Any creator would be silly to not take advantage of that.

Overall Creative Commons is a really great resource. It gives advantages to both users and creators of  blogs and art work.

Spoiler TV

I chose to follow Spoiler TV because in my personal blog, I decided to liveblog and review different TV shows and movies. I’m not particularly obsessed with TV and I’ve gone completely without it many times. But as I get older, I find that I like watching TV a lot more than I used to or rather, I like watching shows to see how their story and plot will carry out. I pay more attention to the writing that goes into a show; the consistency, the character development, etc. I also notice scene set-ups more and music placement. Recently, I’ve become very interested in what goes into making a TV show and I’ve come to appreciate them a lot more.  Spoiler TV is perfect and will most likely be very useful for my blog; in their info, they state that they bring a “comprehensive spoiler service.”

Their above the fold is impressive and caught my attention right away. Their logo is a banner in which I recognized about ten actors and actresses from popular shows right off the bat and their name is imposed on top in bright blue so that there’s no missing it. Instantly, I knew this website was going to be LEGIT. Above their logo are all the navigation links. Their start tab displays their main features- links to twitters, an episode database (!!!), an image gallery, a highlight of what’s hot, and a highlight of what’s on tonight as well as announcements, a calendar of premiere dates, and a ratings chart. The other tabs separate all their shows into different categories (by networks, cable, or miscellaneous.) I explored Teen Wolf’s link to see how everything is set up. Anything tagged with a show’s title will come up and they post about a lot so some shows overlap on individual posts. I think that’s a good aspect of this website; they keep their posts interesting and more people can be involved. They have fun posts like “best scene of the week,” polls and interviews with actors and actresses but they also have informative posts where they show sneak peaks and they write complete recaps of episodes which is PERFECTION. They even have a link for movies where they post trailers, news about upcoming movies, etc. They also have a Pilot Watch where they update on prospective shows. They have a spreadsheet where they list the pilot’s title and what the show will be about.

At first glance, the blog seems a bit cluttered but that’s only because there’s so many shows they have to keep track of. It’s actually very organized and it’s easily navigated which I appreciate as I hate confusing websites. Their footer is easily recognized and simple and it displays their contact, feedback, and help links clearly. Their tagging system and all their links are very simple and to the point and nothing is too complicated. Basically, I love this blog and I’ll most likely continue to follow it actively after this class. I’m a sucker for organization and I geeked out a little (a lot) at the episode database as well as the complete recaps of episodes. I think this is the perfect website for someone like me in general as I tend to review everything I see in an episode and this just makes everything a lot easier, especially now that I’ve started a blog about TV and movies.

I honestly think anyone would enjoy it so here’s a link!

http://www.spoilertv.com/

The Londoner

I used bloglovin to find three blogs to follow. I was a bit confused as to how to use the RSS and which of the many blogs featured on the site to subscribe to. At the end, through some trial and error, I was able to follow three blogs that seemed interesting to me.

I initially chose the blog “The Londoner” to be one of the three blogs I follow on bloglovin. That is because  I have come to  really like London.  Hearing the experiences of people who live there has become a hobby of mine since living there one day is a dream of mine. However, as I really started to read the blogger’s posts, it became quite apparent how quirky and interesting she is. I am quite glad that I chose her blogs to be one that I follow for the semester. Her online personality just seems to jump out of her posts, and she makes her everyday life experiences that seem so mundane more exciting and extremely vibrant.

Additionally, the template and theme of her blog makes it very easy to navigate, especially for someone like myself who is not all that experienced with the way the blogosphere works. The theme is simple in that it shows the titles of her blog posts, a cover photo, a few photos along the edge, and all the important information on the top of the page. To me, it seems that having a simple template and theme seems to be the best route to go if you want more people to appreciate your blog. “The Londoner” seems to work really well because not only is it simple and user friendly, but it goes really well with the type of blog it is.

One thing to note that is good about her blog is how her above the fold has all the important information any of her blog visitors may need to utilize. The header has the title of her blog neatly in the center, and all her links (such as “home”, “categories”, “London”, “shop”, “about”, and “search”) as well as the way to share via social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, etc are easily accessible in the navigation bar. Moreover, the most recent blog post is the first blog post shown above the fold. The rest of posts are shown as title, picture, and small text to explain what their post will be about.

Her blog also has an archive at the bottom, on the right-hand side. This is very beneficial for people that read her blog because they can go to any month they want and read the posts she had posted in the month chosen. Additionally, she separates her blog into categories which are accessible by clicking on the links in the navigation bar. Having an archive and categorizing the posts made on her blog, the blog overall is very user friendly and accessible.

I cannot wait to see what other posts “The Londoner” has in store as the year goes on.

Emma S.D.

My name is Emma Dingle. Hey 🙂 I hate my last name so please do not use it at all. I’m 20, about to be 21 on March 23rd. I am from Burlington County and I live in Westampton. I transferred to Rutgers this fall from my community college. I am a junior and I expect to graduate in the spring of 2015. I live on-campus but I go home frequently where I live with my mom, my sister, and a dog named Rose (which is the dumbest name ever but my sister was 7 at the time so…) or with my dad.

I am an English major; I want to write novels. I am also thinking of minoring in Cinema Studies so that I can learn about screenwriting as well because movies/tv seems interesting. I tend to be very opinionated and I would also like to write critiques of movies, TV shows, music, books, etc. I would like to start a blog eventually exploring this but I am not sure about the angle or what aspect I want to focus on just yet.

This is why I am interested in blogging and I would like to learn more about it. I think blogging is very useful today-almost necessary-because of the way we get our information; it’s always changing and the world is much more fast-paced. In addition to this, books are still selling but a lot of people get their news and share information online. To keep up, I want to know how to blog at least somewhat adequately.

I really love music, movies, books and TV and the way they are all involved with each other. I wanted to be the person who picked soundtracks for films when I was younger, back when I thought that was actually a separate job. I like all types of music; alternative rock, punk rock, pop, hip hop, bollywood, etc etc. I do not really care for R&B or country, however. I love Of Monsters and Men, Coldplay, Passion Pit, Metric, Drake, Arctic Monkeys, Fleetwood Mac, Death Cab for Cutie and tons of others lol I could go on for days honestly. I adore P!nk.

by Wikipedia user Schulu24

My favorite books are the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series and a lot more that I don’t remember the titles to, unfortunately. When I was younger, I read constantly and blew through everything so fast, I hardly remember anything I didn’t read more than once. My favorite TV shows are Once Upon a Time, Teen Wolf, Parenthood, American Horror Story: Coven (and only coven because Murder House was terrifying.) I can’t really pick my favorite movies because I have so many. I separate them into categories: favorite Disney, favorite comedy, favorite drama, action, romance, romantic comedy, etc. A few movies that stick out are Pirates of the Caribbean, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Lilo & Stitch, Tangled, Scott Pilgrim, What Happens in Vegas, Pineapple Express and much more that I can’t remember at the moment. I HATE scary movies because I have way too much empathy and end up placing myself and my friends in the people’s positions and it’s just all around a terrible experience.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a lot of things. I wanted to be a spy, I wanted to be a soccer player (I played defense for 3-4 years) I wanted to be a biologist ( only so I could study wolves which are my favorite animals) and I wanted to be something like Indiana Jones. I also wanted to be a pirate. So I decided to take the next best step and become a writer. I am literally always daydreaming so I felt like it was the logical choice.

Thanks for reading! Nice to meet you. 🙂

Introduction: Roxy

Hi, my name is Roxy Harrison. I am a senior here at Rutgers and am equal parts lamenting and celebrating my last semester. I am an English major, and in the throes of finishing my Women and Gender Studies minor along with a Spanish minor. I am also drowning in the anxiety-ridden waters of serious procrastination in regards to applying to grad school. Maybe if I pretend May isn’t coming, then it won’t right? Logic.

My house got rocked last year from Hurricane Sandy, so a lot of my push-back from growing up and submitting applications is a serious aversion to leaving home again. Coming back to find all of my beloved books and journals stewing in a delicious little swamp of bay water and mud was enough to make me cry on the spot. However, there’s something really therapeutic about having to start over. My life isn’t made up of things but rather memories and moments. I try to stockpile those when I remember the twenty-seven pairs of shoes I had to throw out of my closet because I’m pretty sure they were going to sprout seaweed.

My favorite tree

None the less, it could have been worse and so I have to make serious moves to make this happen for me by next fall. I am completely obsessed with my dog, unfortunately named Puff, and we have my mother to thank for that. This is him being tortured by my nine year old sister and eleven year old brother. And yes, he is absolutely as ferocious as he looks for the record.

I’m an avid beach-goer, as if you couldn’t guess by the chaos of my partially destroyed house, and live in a small coastal town that doesn’t even have its own zip code. We share with the neighboring town. My obsession on top of all obsessions is writing, I picked up a pen when I was about fourteen and I never put it down. My aim for the end of this semester is to finish my Creative Writing certification and maybe just maybe finish the stack of novels I have waiting for me in order to take the English Praxis

I’m currently working at this little trendy bracelet store in Red Bank, New Jersey called Alex and Ani. To say it’s gained a bit of a cult following is putting it mildly. I spent my winter break elbowing past middle-aged women and teenagers desperate to get their hands on bangles. We had bouncers for the forty-minute wait it took to actually even get inside the store…well that’s just another nightmare I don’t want to delve back into.

Needless to say, I doubt there was a single woman in the Monmouth County area who didn’t get their hands on a recycled brass bracelet for the holidays. Despite my retail trauma I managed to make it out relatively unscathed from the 2013 holiday season debacle. And this was entirely in spite of the belligerent forty-year old moms who couldn’t understand why we would be sold out of the December birthstone two days before Christmas. It’s definitely not for the weak-hearted.

This is a pie slice of my life. Finish my undergrad, transition to start my post-grad, work part-time in the girliest place imaginable. Add whipped cream, juggle my boyfriend, best friends, parents, workload. Drop my fork on the floor because I can’t even handle all of that and bypass nuking it in the microwave because let’s be real. I don’t have the time or the patience. Serve cold, for sure, and enjoy.

All About Me :]

My name is Ekta Katariwala. I am twenty-two years old. I am first-generation American, as my parents were both born in India. I have a brother who is two years older than me. I am a double major in English and Sociology, and I hope to work for a publishing company or do PR somewhere.
Reading is my passion. I would read any book given to me regardless of whether or not I like it. Once I start a book, I need to finish it. I am also the type of person who loves to reread good books over and over again and not find it boring.

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”- Oscar Wilde

I don’t have a specific genre of books that I like reading, I would pick up any one that looks good. I mostly read fiction novels, but I have been reading some non-fiction books lately and have come to really like them. My favorite book of all time would have to be “Holes” by Louis Sachar.
However, my love of reading was initially sparked by the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I have read and reread those books more times than I can count. I’ve also seen all the movies more than once. Over the summer, I even visited the Harry Potter set tour in London. It was pretty amazing, and was one of my favorite memories from my recent trip to England.

Speaking of England, I don’t think there is a place that I love more. I had visited England five times before, seeing as my mother grew up there and most of her family still lives there. However, this sixth time visiting really changed my view of the country as a whole. I really fell in love with all of London. Everyday for the two months that I was there, my mother and I would leave around eleven in the morning and come back home to my grandmother’s at four in the afternoon. In that time, we would have walked throughout the different places in the city and still have more to go to the next day.

Unsurprisingly, one of the many places we went to was King’s Cross, where I was able to take a picture along the wall of Platform 9 and 3/4. My favorite place that I went to was Trafalgar Square near the lion statues. The lion statues are up on a platform that is difficult to climb up on. However, with some extra help from my dad, I was able to take a photo on it. The last time I was able to do that was the first time I ever went to England, which was when I was three years old. So after nine years, I got a new photo with the lion. It was pretty cool.

My hope for taking this class is to figure out how blogs work. Blogging has become such an integral part of our daily lives, more so than newspapers and myagazines. I wouldn’t be surprised if printed magazines become obsolete in the near future. At the present time, there are many blogs that supplement different magazine publications. Who’s to say they won’t overtake them in the future? Therefore, I really want to learn how to effectively use blogs and other multimedia.