Blog Post for Final Exam

As I mentioned in my blog #4, it is tremendously important and hard at the same time to protect our identity and privacy online, and I feel the problem of virus is the worst aspect that Internet brought us to.

Internet is used by people of all generations from all over the world. There is so far no security point we have to go through when we use Internet. Therefore, it has been a hotbed of virus we basically do not know what to do about.

Huge amount of viruses is widespread in Internet such as Adware, Malware, Spyware and Trojan and each causes different problems. This is why I feel Internet is really scary if we miss focusing on what we have to take care at least by ourselves. We can protect our personal information, data, and other stuffs by using antivirus programs.

Here is the link that is explained about a virus itself and the solution of how to cope effectively with it.

http://iamalegend.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Get-Rid-of-Virus-on-Your-Computer

At the same time, however, it seems pretty serious situation when it comes to the leak of important information from huge companies. And it brings more disastrous situation if the information is one of the timely and "under-constructed" problem.

We will never forget the day when we experienced huge earthquake in Japan. And gradually, this natural disaster brought us problems such as the issue of nuclear plants and so on. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' security page which was managing these nuclear plant data got hacked, and these information was stolen by hackers. Here is the link of the article page.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2119850/warplane-nuclear-plant-stolen-mitsubishi-heavy-attack
Now this is not the "we can protect our personal information from a virus" problem anymore. It might cause huge negative influence to Japan by these national information being leaked.

Even though there are various of "anti-virus" programs for each of us to utilize, these incidents symbolize that Internet can be pretty fragile sometimes.



The best aspect of Internet for me on the other hand is the speed of spreading information globally. I found this article from the link “Scoop.it!”, and I automatically thought this story is hilarious. Here is the link of the article.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/8886569/Huntsman-Girls-become-internet-celebrities-of-2012-campaign-with-Twitter-wit-and-viral-video.html

This article is about 3 daughters of Republican candidate Jon Huntsman, and they leak videos filled with wit and sarcasm for their father’s bid. Sadly however, their efforts turned out to be making their own fame that they achieved through Internet sensation with a YouTube video.

This story is one of the examples of how the Internet can change their lives by being famous. Even though most of the viewers of their videos never see and listen them, people already are confused, and they even make huge influence toward the certain areas in “real world”.

As one more example, there is one female university student who exposed her naked picture  via twitter and her own blog. She is Egyptian and she was trying to express her freedom from the social and religious pressure. Here is the link of the article page.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/253444/20111121/aliaa-magda-elmahdy-egytian-nude-blog-photos.htm

 

Her message spread globally and even some well-informed persons such as human right workers commented positively on this issue. It gets controversial subject and she is the center of confusion under fire from Islamic law graduates. 

I simply take these significant power or force that Internet has as a legacy that contemporary people made. Of course there are amount of negative side that Internet has, but it is also true that we can use it as influential and informative source for EVERYTHING.

Again, I believe Internet can be beneficial or harmful depending on how we use it. As long as we have a basic and necessary smartness, we can live with Internet successfully and usefully.

Weekly Blog Post4

The Web once opened our possibilities to connect and share information to all over the world. The ridiculously convenient tool that we invented spread quickly and now we are facing the absolute negative side that this invention brought us.

Started from spam e-mails and notifications, these fraud is getting more vicious and is even getting hard for people to deal with. To avoid troubles and disadvantages of what the Web occurs, many Web management companies such as Yahoo and popular social network cites such as Facebook started to work on security problems. They make some original guidelines and even utilize Security to enhance their safety.

One example is to make ID security number for each user.

I personally think it is useful and meaningful to protect their information by making ID code than rather exposing it to all over the world. There is no way for amateurs to secure themselves from "professionals."

However, I also thought that is it really that necessary for us to be protected by internet itself? What if we are rather welcoming these spamming fraud by ourselves since we are not cautious enough about our security.

I found the site which shows how we can protect our information by OURSELVES not by somebody.
Although each element is pretty simple and basic, I want to ask these to myself too... Am I really trying to protect myself from spamming??

http://www.focus.com/fyi/44-ways-protect-phishing/


So, my question about the topic for the final exam is..
"Raise one example that web management companies and social network cites do to enhance their security".

I hope it is a suitable question.

DS106 Writing Assignments104 "haiku it up"

The glass of red wine
She put her mark on
Stays there with silence

I took this picture when I went to Bluenote Tokyo which is a pretty famous Jazz bar in Tokyo.

It was my first time to go there, so I was pretty excited about everything, so I even ordered some glasses of laxurious rose wine to celebrate this opportunity. I saw Jamaican Jazz live and the guitar player was 80yrs old!!!!!!! The show was just amazing and when I was reminiscing my memory there, I found the idea that I might can use this picture for the assignment"Haiku it up."

Hope you enjoy my Haiku :)





DS106 On/In the Web Assignment209 "Google Translate Fail"

So, I typed in Japanese "君の瞳に乾杯(Kimino hitomini kanpai)。", and that means "Here's looking at you, kid."
This line is well known from the famous American movie called "Casablanca"!!! Anyways, Google Translation translated this to "Here's to your eyes.".....?? Seems like this line is from one of the scenes when an ophthalmologist gives a patient an eye lotion. Hilarious.

DS106 Visual Assignments191 "Demotivative yourself!"

I remember the time when I took this picture... The location was exactly in front of TUJ!!! He was so cute with this stuffed animal, but also I got sorrowful impression. Why do even dogs have to carry something? I bet he doesn't want to. Maybe he wants to but... oh well. This picture inspired me to make this poster which demotivate myself. to live life. I'm just kidding.

Hope you like it!! 

DS106 Writing Assignments189 "1 Quote a Day"

It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are the more gentle and quiet we become towards the defects of others.

DS106 Fanfic Assignment126 "Fan Fiction Picture"

When I heard this song, it gave me the impression of how life goes like it is nothing. Moreover, I thought his voice is a mechanical-sounding voice, so I thought this picture would match this song. I clearly could imagined that it is not the absord and unrealistic picture if this one was the cover picture of his CD. I took this picture in last winter at Inogashira park and reserved it in my netbook.

I chose this assignment since I thought it seems interesting.
I got motivated, and I even felt if I were a real artistic producer of this CD.

Weekly Blog Post3 Part2

(After Tim, the blogger, finishes he talks with Jim, the commentator)

Jim was very impressed with the diversity of the talk and how relative everything is to the design process that manages to touch the imagination and excite us. Jim wonders how the relationship between mashups and pop culture is affecting education.

Tim the blogger says that pop culture sometimes does not have a message at all and comments that some portions in pop culture can be improved on such as TV shows that seem mindless. A lot of stuff being viewed now on television shows and movies is being inspired by the viral world. Movies such as The Social Network are a small example of how much the viral world can inspire the pop culture world, and designers driving the demand of pop culture by producing art that the public wants.

Jim says the web has now become one of the most important ways to get in touch with media and most people watch shows on television which have been inspired by ideas created and presented through the internet.

Tim also comments on the big impact on our life ideas such as Facebook have making millions constantly use that product and are impacted through the design.

Jim responds with the negative side that sometimes there is absolutely no message behind an art piece and that even though some things such as The Social Network movie are successful they shouldn't be considered as actual important art.

Tim goes on to say things such as blogging can really impact the public space although the ideas start out small with the degree of how now a days technology enables us to outsource so much faster than 5 or 10 years ago.

Education is also so much easier as you can produce and create stuff for yourself on the web. Learning techniques is also easier now through research on the web, as well as radio blogging which gives you a platform to speak and receive actual instant feedback.

Jim comments on a director being asked by his wife in a documentary, "What do you think the future of film is?" The director responds "video", explaining that our next Mozart or Beethoven will be found through the viral spread of those videos that are posted up.

Tim responds that not all videos though that are posted up may have value for you, but they will find a certain group of audience that demands it. Several children becoming famous while adults standing baffled is just an example of how it is important to consider that everything is possible.

Jim wants education programs to start engaging in the process and creating the space which allows students to succeed and fail, but at least attempt art work that challenges them. By having classes which focus on viral orientated media tools schools can prepare students even better for the world thats ahead of them when searching for jobs. What is so important about the web is that all forms of culture can be presented and analyzed by the public. This enables anybody to use the internet to advance their form of income or hobby.

Tim also brings up perfectionism. The internet allows people to quickly publish their work and have the courage to ask for help and receive the feedback. Fight the perfectionism instinct and ask for help from others to improve your work by publishing a lot of work instead of pondering whether it is finished or not.

Jim says people should definitely not be in art if they're not willing to put their ideas out there, since art is essentially the presentation of your idea to the public.

Tim continues that we should produce ideas only when we have enjoyment in them, and most importantly we do the work for ourselves so that we have actual value in the work. The environment, group of people, creativity, and the platform are important to actually being able to say and produce what your thinking.

Jim responds that people should definitely always explore and not think about what things should be but what they can be. Designers should keep their minds open and find their own story as Tim named his blog to reflect on what their voice and goal is. Jim fears that universities become places where students stop reflecting truly on their work and having creativity taken away from them, but realizes that things such as the web can take away such factors. Learning can happen outside of college too, and jobs are available out there for kids who don't go to schools by using devices and tools such as the internet.

DS106 FOR LIFE!!!!

Weekly Blog Post3 Part1

Timmmmyboy himself felt a dilemma when he gave up pursuing his fisrt major: Computer Science when he was in 1st grade of a university, and he was thinking that he should not change his major to Art since he thought he is not an artistic person. But he thinks now that it was a perfect decision.

Because artistic talent is not what we inherit. It is what we can learn in life. Ofcourse there are some parts that we can call it genes, but it is not everything. Like football players, nobody plays it without practicing it. Artistic talent is the same. By practicing it everyday, these talents foster. And these people are what ds106 is worth for. Just to be interested in daily stuffs such as taking pictures with your digital camera, you are already starting to become an artist.

Especially, the hungry people tend to be more artistic, and more than that they can be more challenging and creative. Also, it takes certain time and efforts to create masterpiece. During certain times of the day different people show higher results.

When faced with challenges and feelings of being uncomfortable humans often show their best results. These are breeding grounds for spurts of creativity. Certain art can inspire us in special ways which let us emotionally connect with the artist and the feelings they feel when producing art, such as photographs which push photographers to their limits.

What makes things interesting, what makes them viral?
1st Idea - Coffee filters might seem generic but boxes can be designed incredibly, letting the consumer know that the designer put deep thought into solving the problems which are presented, with the best solutions making something completely boring very interesting.
2nd Idea - Glee or shows like it present the idea of mashing two different ideas together creating something extraordinary with two normal themes simply by joining the two styles together. Mash ups are a simple way to create very interesting pieces of art whether it be theatre or music.
3rd Idea - Superbowl and similar events can be rather boring until events such as halftime shows can hype up the crowd and make it better. The producers took football and combined it with star performances during halftime
4th Idea- It is also possible to take something complex and make it simple by breaking them down further and further. It would make something very simple but because of the minimalistic designs there can be different degrees of complexity. These designs can be very powerful because they can be used as techniques to make different objects stand out such as setting up a empty room with a paperclip on a table. By having nothing else besides the paper clip the designer has empowered the paperclip making the audience wonder about the message behind the art, creating complexity by itself. Something else which is a powerful way to grab the audiences mind is through icons, or powerful imagery.
5th Idea- Vintage art or turning modern ideas into antiques so to speak is a creative process used as well. Designers can use techniques such as thinking what would an Apple commercial look like 50 years ago and then infuse those ideas into your current project. What would something modern look like if it were vintage is a very good process to inspire ideas and creativity.
6th Idea- Packaging and simple illustrations are good ways to spur up new ideas. In asian stores especially all of the different colors and simple texts are great to incorporate or learn from. Going back and looking at children books is also a good idea as simple can always turn a too complex idea into something more focused.
7th Idea- Antique Stores are great places to find old signs for text design and also in general items that inspire us such as engraved woodwork on tables. We often connect with our childhood in antique stores allowing us to think in different ways which open up new possibilities to produce new art.
8th Idea- Record stores are great places for art. Some of the best art was produced unto record covers often going unnoticed by those who now listen to CD's and I-Pods.

Tools that help with the creative process in design:
1.Kolur is a program which helps with figuring out your color palette to do better works with more eye capturing color composition.
2.Noun project is a site which helps you with handing out free icons from all types of categories.
3.Aviary is a site which allows you to not need photoshop, but still gives you tools to alter photos with somewhat of the same tools such as color editor, video effects, and it is totally free.
4.Defont is a site that provides fonts and icon deigns like the noun project. Tools such as a barcode program allow you to type letters which then produce barcodes afterwards allowing you to download those same designs you have created.
5.Stock exchange is a photo website allowing people to upload photos and sell them to people who need to use pictures for their projects. Sometimes you have to pay but most photos are free to use as long as you accredit the photographer who uploaded it.
6.Smashing magazine helps with using programs such as Photoshop better by giving you tips.
7.Threadlist is a T-shirt company which has great T-shirt design work.
8.Business card sites can also breed creativity by giving you restrictions due to the size of the design allowing you to better analyze how some of the ideas came about.
9.Dribble is a site where designers can post screenshots on what their working on and get feedback.
10.Book cover archives are also great ways to inspire creativity due to the restrictions of the artist and the expectations of the authors.

By using different outlets such as antique and record stores and combining them with viral websites such as Dribble designers are able to advance their progression of techniques as well as being inspired to create new projects in the process. In general, mash ups and combining different ideas is the best way to produce good art but to produce extraordinary art designers also have to remember to reduced complexity of those combinations, creating a simplistic well thought out art piece.

Exam assignment

I love music! So, I'll talk about "mashup", because it seems it is the only topic related to music that I love. Mashup is one strategy of music which combine more than two songs. Specifically, it should be combined vocal track from one song, and accompaniment part from another song. It is sometimes called "bastard pop" or "bootleg" also. Mashup is often mistaken for remix, arrange, and medley, but this is totally wrong, since none of three utilize two songs fully from the first code to the very last. The CD which featured mashup already have been selling from 90' as bootleg version, and it got popular around 2000 gradually.




Well, let's talk about more detailed stuffs. As the famous sound source, "Nirvana Vs Destiny's Child" is essencial.



This mashup was created by one artist, and after it was updated, it spread and got popular real quick. Let me explain these two songs each by each at first. First song was the "Bootylicious" from Destiny's Child.
This is the song from their album "Surviver" produced by Rob#Fusari. This pop and funky party tune got great hit and even made and spread the word "Bootylicious" to all over the world.

The next song is "smells like teen spirit" from Nirvana.



image:nirvana-destacando-a-kurt-con-desenfoque by Erprofe through CClicense

This song was sold in 1991 from the album "Nevermind", and everybody in America was immersed in Nirvana and the Rock music style called "Grunge" that Nirvana spread.




So how these two different kind of songs(R&B and Grunge) can be mixed and do these amazing jobs. Mashup is often made by Rap music which has less melody than other type of songs and Techno and Rock music which has relatively stable melody. However not only that, Mashup is definitely a kind of art as well as the cutup of audio and music history. The reputation of each mashup depends on listers' perspective, but the important part is what kind of listers the mashup is looking for such as just to listen, to use for comedy, or to dance.

Here are the links of what kind of jobs various artists done so far. I hope you can enjoy my links about mashup through this blog post.

Other famous mashup songs

Other indie mashup songs

Other mashup songs related to parties

Please check it out! Enjoy!!

weekly blog assignment #2

So, I will talk about the relationship between Pop Culture and artists. This time, I will focus on the artist called Beardyman who play voice percussion as his proffesional job.
  

Darren Foreman (born 14 May 1982) also known as Beardyman is a musician from London renowned for his beatboxing skills and use of live looping technology.

He has gigged and recorded with MC Klumzy Tung as part of MC/beatbox duo The Gobfathers. Together, they presented Get Lucky TV's 'The Freestyle Show” in 2005, and also appeared as traffic wardens in a hidden camera show. This is how he got popular.

He gradually started to use various social network sites. In 2008 he collaborated with visual artist Mr.hopkinson to produce a video called 'Monkey Jazz' which visually describes the live looping process, which has had over 1 million views on Youtube.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fC65sy9tzY&feature=fvst


Beardyman often incorporates humour into his act. He has impersonated Elvis, dressed as a monkey on stage at Bestival and once posed as an Austrian climate change lecturer, "Professor Bernhard Steinerhoff", before breaking into his set, with over 1 million views on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-y8sw1lNng


Other than upper posts, he uses every kind of technology such as radio, tv and magazines.


online magazine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZjYUFTRn5U&feature=related

tutorial videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bhrxpNoyRk

radio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bhrxpNoyRk

with other famous artists
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTltqqrviek&feature=fvwrel


He uses various types of tools related to the internet and is influencing his name and skills of voice percussion. Even though voice percussion was originally one of the street arts so far, but he changed the definition of it.  And now, he's beginning to get popular not only in UK but also all over the world.


Other than this artist, pop culture and internet connects each other strongly today.

This is the video that we made for the presentation. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQcbsFa8doY&feature=youtu.be

-Pop Culture-

pop culture is the culture that the general public likes. Compared to subculture and high culture, they don't need any stable knowledge about pop culture. Therefore, they can enjoy it sensuously. By the improvement of mass media, it got easier to enjoy high culture such as art works and Opera, but still pop culture occupies general public's attention more.

For example, Hikaru Utada, who is a Japanese R&B artist influenced especially young generation in Japan around the year 2000 by her memorable songs, and her CDs and albums always have been making great sales no matter what kind of reputation they got.

For You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ngVxyoVTxU&feature=BFa&list=PLBCB9D4C8D749242A&lf=results_video

weekly blog assignment #1

So, I want to talk about music. It's pretty much simple topic but also occupies huge percentage of my interest. And I've also been working as a jazz singer, so I thought I might could provide some interesting information to readers. Music has obviously huge range; for example from hard rock music to country music, but what I want to focus on today is "mellow music". I know it's vague way to divide the range, but hope you understand it.

What kind of songs are included in "mellow music"? Now that's what I'm talking about. I have some favorite artists who make amazing music.

 First of all, she is very much popular already for so long, but Norah Jones is one of my favorite artist. She originally was going to North Texas University and was majoring jazz piano. In her senior year, she went on a journey to Manhattan, NY and decided to stay there. Her creativity as a composer and her gentle voice caught attention of the president of Blue Note Records, and she contracted with the company. Her style of music is basically jazz, but she also takes sounds of soul, country, folk, pops. This is why her music got support not only from jazz fans. She always keeps her touching voice no matter what kind of songs or even covers she sings, so I always can listen any of her songs in a same tension.

One of her song from her first album
Turn me on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHff55AeEAQ

The cover song of Nick Drake
Day is done http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auB8lKV0svY

Secondly who I want to introduce is Damien Rice. He was born in Dublin, Ireland and have been going around whole Europe as a street artist. And then the famous movie composer David Arnold listened his demos, and he contracted with his company. His style of music is basically folk, but what he is great about is the variety of instruments that he uses in his songs. The melody lines are simple enough, but you can listen splendid harmony such as violins, clarinet and percussion from his songs.

One of his songs which was used in the ending of the film "My Blueberry Night"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YXVMCHG-Nk

The collaborated song with his ex-gf from his first album
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZduDvIBu3EU


 More than them, I have many more to recommend you, but all I want to say is "mellow music" is not the genre but the styles of the artists. Folk, indie rock and jazz... from my perspective, these are the songs that you can relax when you are listening them. After work and just got home...while you do some romantic date with your lover or someone you're interested in...before doing things very important and you need something to calm you down... I choose mellow music to make myself relax.

about Doug Engelbart

So, he is obviously a smart guy. But there were times when he grew restless.
He said "I realized that I didn't have any more goals than a steady job, getting marriad and living happily ever after" and then...

Check this website, you can watch valuable videos of his interviews.

http://www.invisiblerevolution.net/index-inside.html

Hello world!!

finally.. I could upload my first post.