More to come….

CC Photo by Nicolas Karasiak

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I only recently got a flickr account while I was traveling in Europe over the summer. I originally signed up so I could store my photos in case my camera was damaged or stolen. Before I researched for this presentation I knew very little about the flickr community or really how the site worked. I’ve spent hours looking around the site, and as the quarter comes to an end I am really looking at social media in a new way.

In many ways, flickr is arguably one of the most print-like forms of social media. Through photos, flickr users archive space and time, creating community and documenting history. The site hosts thriving communities from photo journalists to Occupy protesters. These digital communities have hierarchies and rules. Throughout the quarter I have been fascinated with how digital media is replacing our social needs previously satisfied by print media. This presentation offers further discussion on flickr as a form of digital media.

Sources of information:

My theme has just 2 fonts-one for headers and widget text and another for posts. However, they both are very similar, though the post font is a little smaller, and the header/widget text is more bold. They are both very simply fonts.

(2) Regarding the lecture at Kane Hall, how have you changed how you think about type? What are some issues with type rendering on a computer screen (compared with paper)?

I think his comment about about styling fonts for the screen being more difficult than print to be very true. I never thought about how extensive the work of typographers was well before the advent of technology. Before HTML people were thinking about how typefaces looked for aesthetics, marketability, brand recognition, etc. It really is an art form, and having dabbled in visual art myself I can appreciate the comfort of having something you are creating tangibly available to look and touch, especially in the 3rd dimension. I think this is one of the biggest challenges of designing for the computer that it is not tangible.

(3) What is the difference between a “font” and a “typeface”? Why do you think the terms are used interchangeably?

A font is the mechanism by which we share/use a collection of stylistic lettering called a typeface. The typeface is the art, style, design of the lettering, while the font is how it is transmitted, shared, and used.

I found this website helpful in answering this question: http://fontfeed.com/archives/font-or-typeface/

(4) Visit several sites that sell typefaces (fonts). Pick one that expresses the image you would want to present professionally and one that expresses a personal image. (Name, link them). How are they different? Alike?

I really liked one particular font we saw during the lecture called Ambroise. It looks very French inspired but looks good in English as well.

Professional Font: Ambroise Firmin Bold

http://typofonderie.com/fonts/ambroise-family/#try

Personal Font: Fontleroy Brown

http://www.dafont.com/fontleroy-brown.font

I used both fonts to type my name, thinking about using it as a header on a website or letterhead. The Ambroise is more traditional and would mesh well with a number of other fonts stylistically, so it would be great for a professional website or letterhead. I really like the Fontleroy Brown because it looks similar to my signature. I think this would be a good one for professional branding, like my personal webpage, but I wouldn’t use it for professional needs like a law firm website.

1) Create something simple, accessible and informative

2) Include creative aspects that make my project unique

Being creative with my topic: I commented on Dana’s blog because it helped me to realize that defining human rights is going to be my most important aspect of my project. A few years ago I purchased a children’s book explaining human rights and I think I can find ways to creatively introduce information on this topic. It also helped me to realize that I really want to utilize the concept of internet access as a human right as an opportunity to introduce a survey on the subject and connect the reader to more information on human rights and activism.

Keeping it simple: My comment on Tim’s photography blog  is about the importance of simplicity in design. This will be important to remember for my blog as well. I spent some time over the weekend playing with widgets on my page and I think that if I utilize these tools correctly, I can really add to my blog without cluttering it.  I also commented on Ava’s blog posts for her paper on different blogging platforms. This is a very ambitious topic, as is mine, but I think if we both keep it simple that they will both be successful.

Information is more accessible, but what I am really concerned about is the narrowing way in which we feed ourselves information. As discussed last week, emerging social media forums are allowing users to assemble their own newspapers such as paperli, as well as the use of sites such as Facebook and Twitter, risk a narrowing perspective. In comparison to print media such as newspapers the varying perspectives possible form a Google search is an exponential increase in information. What I question, however, is the quality of this information in both its validity and bias presentation.

Over the summer I read an article on BBC World News about a similar topic: how the internet was affecting our memory. In July of 2011, two Columbia University professors published in the academic journal, Science, presented “Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips”. Their research suggests a move towards increased specialization in topical intelligence. They also found that when people were presented with difficult questions, they immediately thought about a computer, and, presumably, what they could search for to gain the knowledge and find their answer. While this is a promising understanding about how Google and the internet in general is changing the way we store information, it is also important to consider the quality of the information we have access to.

Tech scholar Nicholas Carr discusses a “loss of depth in our thinking” due to the way in which we are utilizing technology to simplify access to information and as a consequence degrading the quality of intellect.  As noted in the article, “Does Google Make Us Stupid?” many people disagree with Carr.

I do agree with one major concern presented under the premise that Google makes us stupid: the reliability and verifiability of sources. While I believe strongly in free speech and therefore in a free internet I think it is more important today then ever to educate people on critical analysis and how to know when you can trust a source of information. This has always been an important skill required for respectable academic work, and although the amount of information has expanded dramatically, this is a skill needed to gain quality information irreverent to the media.

However, I do agree with Carr in that fact that the more specialized the information we feed ourselves, the more we will struggle to communicate across academic fields. This has always been a struggle, for example, arts and sciences in general: how can bio-chemist find ways to connect with a creative writer? It is interesting to think that during the resurgence of valuing the arts and academia, the Renaissance was a historic change in the valuing of intelligence across many different topics and skills: it was a valuable asset to know a little bit about many subjects. And now it seems that we have shifted in another direction, where there is simply too much information to even imagine a renaissance man. Or, maybe it is simply that the computer and the internet are the new Renaissance man and we are simply its pupil?

Internet Access a Human Right?

Good news for me and my research project is that human rights activists invest a lot of time and energy into social media platforms like Twitter. One of the most prominent responses to the UN Report exploring internet access as a human right was written by the VP of Google, Vint Cerf. It is no wonder that by searching on Topsy I found a TON of responses to his column in the NY Times. Twitter will be a good resource to explore the pros/cons and varying perspectives on this issue.

Thesis: As technology progresses to include more and more of what constitutes as our public and private lives, it begs to question whether or not access to the internet is evolving into a new, fundamental right, or simply a redefining of already protected rights.

This is my timeline on how progressively I will research/work on my paper:

• What is a human right – who and how do we define them: UN dec of HR, the constitution – by 2/20/12

• How do we access human rights? – by 2/20/12

• recap of UN report main points, case studies, country responses – by 3/3/12

• pros/cons, responses, editorials – by 3/3/12

• my perspective on the issue, and others as well, including a short survey  and chart responses – by 3/3/12

Purpose: to engage discussion about the evolving use of the internet in the actualization in human rights. To demonstrate, through examples presented through various medias (video, photo, etc.) the many different ways to look at this evolving human right.

Success: I will feel that this project is a success if I am able to gain a better understanding as to whether internet access is a human right, either through research or through engagement with other students/blog readers.

• La Rue, F. UN General Assembly, Human Rights Council. (2011). Report of the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Retrieved from website: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/17session/A.HRC.17.27_en.pdf

This is the report that really started launched this discussion in the main stream. I hope to use this resource to recap the main points of the report, including case studies, country responses.

The following two resources are direct responses to the above UN Report. This is going to provide me with arguments for and against the findings of the report:

• Cerf, V., & , (2012, January 5). Internet access is not a human right. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/opinion/internet-access-is-not-a-human-right.html

• Edwards, S. (2012, January 10). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blog.amnestyusa.org/business/is-internet-access-a-human-right/

So, I decided to look at an article on my neighborhood, Capitol Hill, and found that there were whole sections of this article with out any citation. Though it was common knowledge to me, I decided to look it up. I found a great website called www.HistoryLink.org, a non-profit organization, that had all the information I was looking for. At the same time I learned some really interesting history about this neighborhood and Seattle in general.

I chose to insert a citation listed under a section entitled Ambience that discusses the history of Queer/LGBT/Gay culture in this Seattle neighborhood. I opted not to include additional information in the article, though my source provided it, because I thought it more aligned with the concept of Wikipedia to simply link to source where anyone interested in this information could find more information.

Here is what it looks like after I added the citation! Given more spare time, I could spend SO much time doing this. I love copy editing and learning more about formatting, HTML, etc.