iWant an Apple®: You're Not You When You're Hungry for Technology

O yes, the smart phone.  As the proud owner of a "dumb phone", I really have no desire to purchase a smart phone.  Though, admittedly, this means I can never contribute to F You, Auto Correct, I am perfectly happy not buying into this new craze.  Making this video was a fun way to comment on our society's obsession with this new technology.

I think one of the most challenging parts of making this video was figuring out the logistics, such as what we needed and how we were going to film it.  Also it was hard not to be completely awkward in front of the camera, but we succeeded, mostly.  One of the most rewarding parts was coming up with the idea and turning it into a finished product that we could upload online. Making it, editing it, and then watching the finished product, after we had taken out all the mistakes, was very satisfying. Just like a Snickers:

Around the World in 32 Seconds

And the technology that allows us to do it...

This advertisement is one for Cisco (and you find that out at the end when they display their company's symbol). For those of you who are not familiar with this company, they specialize in communication technology, looking to connect businesses around the world. In a perfect example of utilizing globalization, they have joined the global technological pathways and worked to spread their products around the world. You may recognize their product name Linksys, one that is more well known to the general consumer public. I chose this advertisement because, as well as it being a really cool ad, it portrays their goals and overall message very well by using images of many different environments connected together.

The advertisement is clearly demonstrating a human network connected through a single video, texted around the world, from cell phone to cell phone. However, you have to start wondering at some point how on earth kids, who appear to be in some rural area of Africa, have cell phones to access this video. Well there you have it, a persuasive media technique: plain folks. This is part of their message. Cisco is all about the “human network”, connecting humans and yes all humans. They don't discriminate, just look at their ad, they have people from all different backgrounds using their technology. There is that race card you were looking for. I highly doubt Cisco really caters to kids (and all the kids in this video are cute, warm fuzzies!) in Third World Countries. Like I said, their message is that they are using their technology to connect people all around the world in a human network, and that they are the best company for this on the market.

The image that is being repeated (yes, the 5^th persuasive media technique in this ad: repetition) is the “around the world” soccer trick. The use of this trick is brilliant since it coincides with their theme of creating a global human network, around the world. The advertisement's claim that they can connect all different sorts of people around the world, from white kids in the US to asian kids in China, is an example of hyperbole. I have no doubt that Cisco's human network does connect people all over the Earth, however, I suspect the people using their technology are a little older and in business attire. What Cisco does not mention is that since their technology is on the more expensive side they generally have clients in the business world and not so much on the individual level. Which is also an example of big lie: their services are available to everyone around the world. Yes, everyone who lives in the Global North and has enough disposable income. Related to that they are also using the bandwagon persuasive media technique. Everyone is using and benefiting from their product, even the kids in India.

Lets talk about how this ad relates to the triune brain. The only parts of the advertisement that require reading, engaging the neocortex part of the brain, are the beginning and end: “do an around the world” and “the human network effect”. After that initial use of text the majority of the ad is engaging the emotional part of the brain with quick movement from scene to scene and upbeat, catchy music. The music is also repeating the same beats over and over again, the sound reminds you of the motion of the soccer trick being shown. It is circling. The images range from rural to urban and are bright and colorful environments that are pleasing to view. Our, the audiences, recognition of different environments help them to portray their message of a global connection. They rely on us to recognize that these are differentt places and ethnic groups around the world, that are accessing and learning from the cell phone video.

This advertisement certainly shows a technological shift into the digital media culture. A video is shown in the ad and the very ad itself is exemplifying the move from analog to digital. Kids are learning from a digital video and we are viewing this ad through a digital interface. This also shows a epistemological shift from the word to image. While there are many different scenes and images shown in this ad there are only a few words. Their main tool for communicating with their audience is image. The ad is also displaying an aesthetic shift from discrete to convergence. The cellphone is not only used for making calls but taking and sending videos. This also demonstrates a personal shift. It shows moving from personal to participating in the worldwide Cisco network.

Photo Credit in Respective Order:

http://www.redrat.net/blackhole/_imagez/earthlights1.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gh6K5lbmvi4/TPjkMp_ildI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/evbHdynF6pE/s1600/connectedEarth.jpg

http://sacredheartland.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/earth.jpg

Ricki Lake and the Power of the Pink Ranger

My mother always believed in the power of imagination and the value of outdoor play, so TV was never a big part of my life. I didn't really realize what it was until I experienced TV at my babysitter's house. My babysitter, Claudet, was an older women who babysat for me, my brother and a few other kids. Being the oldest in the group, I got to sit with her and watch TV while the rest of the kids slept during nap time. Her show of choice was Ricki Lake's daytime talk show. For those of you who missed this gem of a show in the 90's, you can think of it as a combination of Jerry Springer and Oprah with winning topics such as Diary of a Player and I've Got the Goods to Be Strippin'...You Think You Do, but You're Trippin'.



Young children, as we all know, have a sometimes annoying habit of repeating the things that they hear. I was no exception. One night as my mom was making dinner, I picked up a head of broccoli and as I studied it I put it up to my mouth and said “This looks like one of those things you talk into.” My mother looked down at me, her 4 year old daughter, and answered “Yes... A microphone?” I nod my head with young conviction and place the broccoli back to my mouth “Yes... Hi I am Ricki Lake. And today we are going to talk about butts.” A statement like that would make any mother proud. However no harm, no foul. My mom has always had a good sense of humor and she was more amused than anything else. Nonetheless, when my mom told Claudet she was horrified at what I was learning during the time I spent at her house. I don't think I ever did see that TV show again. 

Now my mother thinks that TV, along with Walmart and junk food, is right up there with the devil. She can be a little extreme at times... Though she was not upset that I had experienced it at my babysitter's house, I have spent most of my life watching only movies on our television set because we never had cable and probably never will. We didn't even have anything other than dial-up internet until I was in college.
However, there was a short period of my life that we did have TV, from kindergarten to 3rd grade. My memories of that media-enlightened time consist of very little besides an overriding desire to watch Power Rangers. Yes, you read that correctly, Power Rangers. In my young mind, nothing could be better than watching that multi-colored fighting force vanquish the bad guys. That and my mother had forbid me and my brother from watching it, on account that it was “too violent”. TV in general was forbidden most of the time so this show was thus doubly forbidden and thus all the more attractive. As in any kid's mind, parents telling you not to do something equaled spending lots of energy in an attempt to do said thing. Most of the time this entailed us trying to use sneaky ninja skills.

Picture credit Megan Barros, Photographer extraordinaire. My friends and I are way cooler than the Power Rangers (see second picture).

Though Power Rangers had the draw of the forbidden fruit, that was not the only reason that I wanted to watch it. There was also the Pink Power ranger. Like many a little girl before me, I wanted to be the Pink Ranger. She kicked butt and took names all while wearing a tight pink suit and maintaining perfect hair. I have never really understood that actually. How did these people manage to avoid the inevitable helmet hair? I think that was their real super power! In any case the Pink Power Ranger was my role model. As I have grown older I realize how this show was merely proliferating gender and racial stereotypes. Not only was the brown haired blue-eyed girl in pink but the original cast featured the Yellow Ranger (another girly color) as an asian girl, the Blue and Red Rangers were white males and the black guy in the group was (shocker) the Black Ranger. Though it seemed extremely unfair when I was a kid I now appreciate my mother's efforts to get us hooked on Phonics instead of TV. Like any typical Vermont girl I would much rather be hiking than sitting around inside watching the television. I can thank my mother for that. However, every once in a while, I do enjoy taking a nostalgic blast back into my past by watching a Power Ranger episode. For the ingenious dialogue if nothing else. 

(Picture credit: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/31560/review/power-rangers-operation-overdrive-blue-sapphire-vol-3/)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEmsLdw3uj0

Friends, Family and Frisbee

Woman seeking man who plays Ultimate Frisbee, likes Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain...

Age: 21

College Year: Senior

Major: Environmental Studies

Double Minor: Global Studies and Ultimate Frisbee.

(Picture taken by Me two Thanksgivings ago. And now I can't have my mother follow my blog...)

Here's another photo taken by my dad. I had to put up a more redeeming photo of my mom.

No but really, about me... People say you are a product of your parents and I definitely am. If you meet my family you will begin to understand a lot about me. I am kind of a nut but I am just one nut in a family tree full of nuts (look to the picture of my mom on the top left). I get my silliness from my family. Our game nights range from playing Clue, while only speaking in English accents, to Scattagories, where pink paisley panties are something you throw away. We have a large number of long running inside jokes that always manage to leave us in stitches long after we have forgotten their origins. The silliness does not end at my family. My grandparents, cousins and other extended family members on both sides all have a great sense of humor that makes our family reunions full of laughter.

 This is my Cousin's band Devil Makes Three. Click on the link and he is the one with the impressive beard.

Montana and Oaki, two of my horses. (Photo credit:me)

I am a native Vermon'er born and bred, complete with flannel and hiking boot attire. Like any good Vermonter I have a healthy amount of state pride (though I am by no means above cracking jokes about there being more cows then people, which is FALSE by the way). I hail from 5 or 10 minutes outside of Brattleboro, VT and my family owns two horses, over twenty hens, a dog and 82 acres of land. No, we do not own any cows. However, growing up in rural Vermont I have come to love nature and the outdoors. While living in Burlington I severely miss being able to see all the stars in the sky. Both my parents are from Vermont and I understand why they haven't wanted to leave.

My best friend Dominique when she came to visit my house. (Photo credit: me)

My immediate family is the stereotypical Mom, Dad, Brother (younger) and me. Our family activities range from hiking trips and bike rides to visiting museums and having movie nights. This has resulted in my wide range of interests. The numerous trips we have taken out West to go hiking and camping in places like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Zion Canyon and Bryce Canyon National Parks and many others has instilled in me a love of nature and the outdoors (and has led me to my major today: Environmental Education). My parents have always encouraged me to be curious about the world around me, in the past and the present, so I am full of random facts that I find interesting. The information I have discovered and explored comes from a variety of sources ranging from our family trips to museums and historical cities to StumbleUpon (the best source for procrastination since Facebook)

My best friend Dominique and me at Shelburne Orchards (Photo credit: Megan Barros

My friends Tony, Riley and Dom. Taken on my computer

Your experiences and the people that you surround yourself with really shape you as a person. My values and interests have been influenced by how I was raised by both my family and friends. After all what are friends but an extension of your family. Freshman year I was extremely lucky to have two awesome roommates Caitlin and Nicole. Caitlin played Ultimate Frisbee in High School and when she signed up for the club team she encouraged me to as well. I can safely say that was one of the best decisions of my life. All of my closest friends, including my best friend Dominique, I either met through another Ultimate player or are Ultimate players themselves. The guys and girls teams are made up of about 80 players total and I consider them one big crazy family. By joining the team I entered the Ultimate community which extends outside the sphere of UVM and reaches internationally.

I have many different interests and am always excited to try new things. Life holds many opportunities and I am curious about all of them. I have been to China as well as Nicaragua and my travels have given me wanderlust, there are many other places I want to explore from Costa Rica to Egypt. I would like to experience as much of the world as I can, in my lifetime.

Me and my Dad in Hawaii. Photo taken by my Mom.