Second Life Avatar

The development of my Second Life avatar was mainly based on one of my many fantasies. The avatar isn't so far fetched though. It still has aspects of who I am as a real person. I based this avatar on the fantasy of me being a music star/producer. I love music and have always entertained the thought of contributing to the music industry by way of lyrics or producing the music.

Beginning with my hairstyle, I chose a Mohawk because I've always thought they were cool. Besides, those in the music industry and the spotlight in general usually have eccentric hairstyles. When customizing my avatar, I kept true to my actual skin color and therefore my avatar has brown skin. Another aspect of my avatar that was based on my actual appearance was my style of dress. My Second Life avatar is wearing a polo with a thermal underneath, slacks, loafers and socks to match them. These articles of clothing are apart of my wardrobe frequently.

The characteristics of my avatar that are more so fantasy are my last name, facial hair, my build or body structure, and the guitar I' am carrying. I chose the last name Nubalo because it sounds foreign. I have always been infatuated with other races ethnicity and in general the world outside of the U.S. Kodi Nubalo (my avatar) has a trimed beard which is a style of facial hair that I would like to have. He is also somewhat tall and pretty masculine. I am of a shorter and smaller build. The guitar Kodi is carrying just goes hand in hand with the fantasy of me being a music star/producer. You won't see me carrying a guitar because that's not really my style; plus I don't even know how to play the guitar.

Similar to many Second Life users, there was alot of time and thought dedicated to creating this avatar based on a fantasy of mine. I had to take into consideration the appearance and what activites Kodi would actually be involved in.

Aunt Mary : Social Networking

Dear Aunt Mary,

I find it very interesting that you want to get involved in social networking on "MyFace". To help you get an idea of the social networking activity taking place on these networking tools I will describe how my experiences have been with the tools "MySpace" and "Facebook". First of all, online social Networks are basically networks in which people link up together through various interests and begin online friendships. Some people, like my friends and I, have used these social networking tools to reconnect with long lost friends, teachers, acquaintances etc.

I've recently began using "MySpace" even though I don't have an account because I like music by a certain individual. I view this site to listen to new music by him and to see when he will be in town. "MySpace" began as a tool for musical purposes and is mainly used as that today. It is still used as a tool to connect with friends and others as well. My experience with social networking has been an interesting one through the "Facebook" networking tool. I've been a "Facebook" user for a couple of years now and I began using the networking tool to connect with friends I haven't seen since elementary school. Later, I began using the site to view pictures from events that I attended or may not have been able to attend. Some people I know use these sites to cause drama. They may post notes or comments about people in a negative way.

The differences between these two networking sites are professionalism and freely us of images. On "MySpace" individuals freely use very graphic pictures on your profile and you don't have to be an individuals friend to look at their page and listen to their music. You can be very creative with you profile in regards to wallpaper and images in general. On "Facebook" there are graphic images but it isn't tolerated as much on this site. Also there is a tool where an individual or stranger can't see your profile unless he or she is your friend. "Facebook" more so has a standard wallpaper that is used and is professional. This was originally created for college students to connect and collaborate. "Facebook" is still used for this purpose but it has expanded to high school students and possible middle school students. Based on worded of mouth, I would say that middle school students are mainly on "MySpace." The two sites are similar because people may post pictures or links in hopes of getting noticed by famous record companies or modeling agencies.

These social networking sites are very good tools if you want to stay connected with the world. My suggestion is to check out the characteristics and professionalism of the site "MyFace." Of course you should be careful Aunt Mary being selective with your acceptance of friend requests and distribution of information. Have fun!

The Speedy Gonzales Wiki Controversy

The discussion that interested me was the controversy regarding Speedy Gonzales's, the cartoon character, accent and its authenticity. The discussion was about whether to have the Speedy's accent referred to on Wikipedia as the "Mexican accent" or the "stereotypical Mexican accent." Speedy's accent is currently referred to as a "comedic Mexican accent" on Wikipedia, but underneath this way of phrasing or describing his accent is a great debate. This discussion happened to be the longest and most heated of discussions under the discussion tab. There were many good points of views brought to the table to come to the conclusion of "comedic Mexican accent."

The discussion began with an individual questioning why his modification of "Mexican accent" was reverted to "stereotypical Mexican accent." From here brought a number of suggestions with sensible reasoning such as "comedic", "caricatured", or "cartoonish" and the reasoning was the fact that it is a cartoon after all and more importantly that Mel Blanc, the Caucasian man who inspired the accent, was going for comedy but not just with this character but with the other cartoon characters as well. The characters that were listed were Yosemite Sam and his "southern drawl accent", Porky the Pig's "stuttering", and even the so called "American accent" that was portrayed through Sylvester the Cat. Another suggestion was "inauthentic" with the reasoning that there is an absence of evidence that his ethnicity was a purposeful source of humor and that Speedy was just a Mexican character that had funny things happen to him. The suggestion that caused the biggest stir was "stereotypical" because of the definition of stereotype given by Wikipedia which is a group concept, held by one social group about another. The reasoning behind this suggestion is supported with the example of Mario's inaccurate Italian accent in which he says Italians don't sound like and he would know because he is Italian. One individual provided a good counter to suggestion of "stereotypical" by simply stating that, in conjunction with the definition of stereotype, Mel Blanc doesn't represent the entire Caucasian race.

The result of this discussion currently reads "comedic Mexican accent" on Wikipedia and everyone is satisfied with this right now becaus it isn't as subjective as stereotypical and more precise than the others. I definitely feel that this discussion has led to the appropriate article content. Reading the discussion about the Speedy Gonzales article has improved my view about the reliability of Wikipedia because many say that it isn't reliable but after viewing this discussion that included good suggestions, reasons, and results I am impressed!

TV Concerns Among The People

The rules governing television viewing in my home as a youngster growing up were that me and my brother were not to watch mindless shows that contained pornography and obscene language. First of all, my brother and I were to finish our homework before we looked at television and even though that didn't always work out we stuck to that rule most of the time. We were allowed to watch game shows, the discovery channel, cartoons, various children appropriate sitcoms and dancing shows. We also had to go to bed at around 9:30 or 10 o'clock as well, so we couldn't really watch tv that long anyway. After we got a little older, we were allowed to view shows that had a little more stronger language and we were able to watch tv longer. My brother and I still had to respect the homework/pornograph rule though. A rule that my family went by and that I think everyone should abide by is the rule of doing something constructive and not watching tv all day even if you didn't have homework. As a youngster, Tv in my household was seen as harmful and an annoying diversion, but at the same time it could be entertaining and informative.

My family's attitude toward television has shaped mine because I too view tv at times as a harmful but at the same time informative. I also view various shows as funny and I know for a fact that the people I hang around could careless about the show and may have never heard of the program. My family's attitude has greatly shaped my view of television. In relation to television, I think people worry about the fact we as a people are watching too much television and aren't active like we were before the television and its variety. Some may not have any worries because they watch tv alot and may believe that tv is a wonderful thing and has gotten better by the second in regards to variety and convenience. Being able to watch what you want when you want because of channels being dedicated to a certain topic or genre and the fact that you can use your reciever to record shows while you are away is a dream come true to many viewers. I truly believe the concerns of television have changed over the years from tv not staying on long enough and turning off at a certain time to limited shows to too many commercials to too many shows. As long as technology increases and ideas are produced into reality, I think the concerns of the people will continue to be there whether they are for the changes or against the changes of television.

Defining the News

My idea of the news includes facts and statistics, interpretations, and different points of view and opinions. These facts and statistics, interpretations, points of view and opinions could be pertaining to subjects or topics such as science, politics, sports, religion, latest in Hollywood, etc. I turn to the news to do homework, to be cognizant of world affairs and local affairs(economy, war, policies), to form an opinion on an issue, and of course to settle any discrepancies with friends, family, or peers. What makes me trust a news source is prominence of it based on its accuracy, basically if its widely known as reliable source. What also makes me trust a news source is the source being the industry a great number of years and having experienced researchers and reports which ties in with the first reason of the prominence of the source. A very important factor that aids in the source gaining my trust is if the source gives both sides of the story. What makes me suspicious is if the source doesn't give both sides of the story and is in a sense blasting or constantly promoting a certain side. Of course there will be bias but if there is too much then that turns me off from a news source in which I search for a source that isn't slandering or censuring.

My definition or basic belief of what the news should be is a source that forwards information to the people with out being so slanderous but gives both sides to the story. The news will be bias at times but should be similar to the wikipedia core value of the neutral point of view to let the people form their own opinions on an issue based of the specifics of the story. The neutral point of view definitely pertains to the information that the news passes forth such as interpretations, points of view and opinions. The news should be a haven for meaningful and current facts and statistics to keep the people informed and apprised. A news source should encompass all of these aspects to be credible and reliable.

Organization of the Class Wiki

The class wiki should definitely be organized because I would rather create a wiki thats meaningful as opposed to create a wiki that contains random and insignificant information. At minimum there should be a guideline to where we are only to put information that is significant to the wiki. The class wiki should be organized, enlightening, and relevant. I am not thinking of a wiki that is so strict that we dont have fun creating it but I am sure I'm not the only person that would rather have a wiki that is meaningful and presentable.

The idea of assigning people to certain tasks or subjects is a good idea. The only thing I would suggest is to assign certain tasks or subjects and the various topics that are related to the main subject to individuals based on their interests. I would use this assigning process because it creates a better chance for an organized class wiki. This chance is created because when people are researching a topic/subject that they are interested in they tend to have a greater standard for the type of information they post regarding the subject. The process of assigning people to certain tasks or subjects based on their interest involuntarily creates a better class wiki.

Working with the txt: Parody

The message of the parody is to show that smoking leads to death and the rationale behind the strategy we chose to create this ad was to get people to stop smoking and killing themselves. Shareen and I thought this particular design would be effective because almost everyone is familiar with this product and the slogan of "Pleasure to Burn" was perfect to pair with the concept of death. The only questions that arose as we moved through the concept to design phase was what color urn to use?, should a logo be on the urn?, and should another logo be on the ad period?. Working on a parody ad helped me to see that advertising as a form of public communication is very useful and in most cases helps people get the point. I learned that there is a preferated line when it comes to the ethics of advertising because you are allowed to advertise an item that can kill and cause harm but it's ok as long as you state what the product is capable of doing, which isn't right in my opinion.

Effects of Social Networking Sites on the Political Campaign

Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook have a great impact on the Political Campaign this year. They effect the campaigns in positive ways. These sites offer a way for people who tech(internet) savvy and who are not really tuned in to newspapers or or television to become cognizant and active in this years presidential election. Some may have strong opinions about who should win the election and lead the nation but how can they be aware of whats going on if they dont pay attention to the other main forms of media? But of course, social networking sites is how these individuals can find out the current views of the candidates and the people on various topics, the standings of the candidates in each state, also the locations of election polls in their area so that they can go out and vote. These social networking sites allow people to feel well informed on this year's election and encourages them to become active and of course vote!

The social networking site that is making big waves, in my opinion, is Facebook because through Facebook, as I write, Obama and McCain are encouraging voter registration. These two campaign camps are utilizing Facebook by allowing users to check whether they are registered to vote, to request an absentee ballot, and to locate their polling place; per www.politicalticker.blogs.cnn Facebook has allowed Obama and McCain to spread their messages and gaining supporter through links posted which go to the two candidates campaign sites. I think these social networking sites are greatly impacting and influencing political campaigns and overall this year's presidential election.

Cody's Advertising Inventory

Three places where I typically spend a significant amount of time each day are my kitchen, the U of M dearborn cafeteria, and my car. In the kitchen of my house there is advertisement for McDonalds on a napkin, for Panera Bread on a mug, for everything you can imagine because the TV thats on top of the refrigerator, for microwaves, cereal, knives, apples, seasonings, oven gloves, beverages, and tupawear. On campus in the U of M dearborn cafeteria, I see many forms of advertisement such as Apple/HP/Dell/Toshiba computers, people wearing True Religion, Ed Hardy, American Eagle, U of M pullovers, Nike shoes. Also U of M notebooks, pencils, banners for sororities/faternities, napkins for the Java cafe, flyers for faternity/sorority parties, organization picnics, fund raisers etc. Of course the cafeteria has the almighty TV in which you receive 150% advertising. The U of M dearborn cafeteria is FULL of advertisement.

While on the road, in my car, there is advertising for political groups on bumper stickers, advertising for cars (jeeps, jaguars, MKZ's etc.) through emblems/billboards, brands of cigarettes & liquor, Burger King, Wendy's, Casino's(MGM, Motorcity, Greektown), colleges/universities, insurance companies on cars as a big sticker, lawn posts advertising real estate companies/individuals running for office, blimps advertising tires, and digital billboard displaying great deals at Target, Macy's etc. So as you can see, there are plenty forms of advertising in my personal environment/"frequent locations."

Adverstising is everywhere you look and go! It is also fused into everything you and I listen to. This environment influence my thinking because seeing those certain advertisements on a regular basis, in such a great amount, causes me to think "hey, im not hungry but I want some McDonalds" or that I dont need any new jeans but Im about to go by some. Also that I might consider a brand that I might note have taken a look at right off hand. These environments influence me and you greatly.

Political Blogs

The blog I would most likely return to for news, information, opinion and commentary on this fall’s election is the Daily Kos. The major factor that makes the Daily Kos my top pick is its ability to hold my interest and this is major because of my great lack of interest in politics. The Daily Kos achieves this through its collection of videos and articles that show the hipocracy and humor of politics. My reasoning behind choosing all blogs that relate to this subject is simply the blogs ability entertain me through irony, but also through stats of the poles and events that affects those stats.

The Daily Kos also holds my attention by the later reason mentioned which was that of the stats of the poles. This blog also refers to another factor that catches my eye which was the opinion and standing of the people on the issues at hand. A blog that I found memorable is "Money For Wall Street Means No Money For Main Street." I am fond of this particular blog entry because it shows that McCain, "the cult of deregulation", has ironically put his country last on the list, priority wise, in order to fund the financial crisis instead of putting his country first and providing it with "the things that the nation needs."

Personal Cultural Inventory

My alarm on my Verizon phone with some rinky dink default sound clip. I ate Kellogg’s rice krispies cereal with a lot of sugar of course. I checked my mail to make sure what time I needed to be to the 36th district court downtown for a speeding ticket. Hopping in the shower after I brushed my teeth with the very minty Crest toothpaste, I looked in my closet (considering I have to go to court and to work) for my dress/business clothes. Burberry tie, French cuffed shirt, dress pants and square toe Stacy Adam’s dress shoes.
Listening to a little jazz on the way downtown, along with my 1996 Pontiac Bonneville I saw plenty of cars on the road and most of them recent sedans, school buses and one random stick shift Jetta with a positive political statement in regards to Barack Obama. Waiting outside of the courtroom with plenty of other people, I noticed most were in casual urban clothing (Ecko,RocaWear,Nike etc.), some suited lawyers wearing very expensive Ferragamo dress shoes , and fully uniformed officers. Heading to U of M Dearborn for class, I began to look at the stores and restaurants change from all English advertisements to English and Arabic advertisements. Waiting in the cafeteria before class starts, I saw Arabic students dressed in casual clothing along with head coverings, African American students dressed in casual urban clothing, and Caucasian students dressed in casual clothing such as Levi’s skinny jeans, with fitting hoodies, screen tees and Vans slip on shoes or a Ralph Lauren polo with some Rock&Republic jeans.
After leaving work, in which people where dressed in business casual clothing (Dockers and an Express button-up) or dressy business clothing with clothing similar to mine, I ended the day by going to the Palladium movie theater in Birmingham, MI to see the new Tyler Perry movie “The Family that Preys”.