Tam's Panopticon

After my venture into Second Life, I've come to the conclusion that it was too glitchy for me to enjoy the experience. Despite that fact, creativity doesn't stop fully. The avatar I've chosen was this steampunk fantasy-esque avatar. Reason being is due to my interest in sci-fi steampunk, an interesting subgenre of sci-fi.

Perhaps the greatest weaponry of the mind is creativity: How the imagination flies up in the skies.  To quote Einstein: "Imagination is more important than knowledge" We now possess many tools to express our creativity. No longer are we limited to pens and papers, digital art and videography has advanced to a level which allow us to create 3D models, cinematic graphics and CGIs. Within the boundaries of the screen, anything is seemingly possible. Creativity isn't just limited to self creation: It's also about self-interpretation. Parody, recreating a published work in the minds and vision of another, has longed been shunned upon by big corporations, intending to protect their intellectual properties and images. By limiting these parodies, corporations are limiting the potential of these works to capitalize and market themselves to a bigger audience. Take notes from Disney: Brook Banes wrote about the media giant's willingness to embrace parodies in his articl

With the advent of technologies such as computers, creativity has had its limiters unlocked. We're able to create simulations and mold them to however we desire. The first instance of this is video games: Since the 70s, Nintendo has created experiences through video games, virtual creations of what Shigeru Miyamoto envisioned, that has captivated and become an integral part of our lives. Fast forward to now, Video Games, and in turn virtual worlds, have evolved to a point where they can simulate experiences we could never have in real life: Grand Theft Auto, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, games with realistic graphics that blur the line of real and virtual, allows us to immerse into stories designed by authors in a way that books and movies can't. In a sense, virtual worlds can be used to simulate what-if situations or create experiences that one normally doesn't have. VLES, or the Virtual Lower East Side, is a project from MTV that is a simulation and recreation of the r

Twitter as a platform is very unique, especially when compared to in-class discussions and BlackBoard discussions. Each platform has their limitations that in turn defines it and forms it identity. In-Class Discussions allow for the most freedom of expression in terms of ideas flowing in and out. Communication speed is almost instant since all participants are there. A downside is that these discussions happen instantly that some participants will not have time to think. Blackboard discussions allow its user to take their time to think out their responses. A downside is that this wait time can last for minutes, hours or event days. Twitter's main strength is its limitation of character count per tweet. This makes every tweet a statement of importance. Users are forced to think about their tweets to make them concise and brief.

Facebook vs Twitter vs Reddit vs Linkedin Facebook: What people would call the fore-father of modern social medias. Sure there had been others who came before it but Facebook has stood the test of time: It has grown and will continue to be one of the biggest social media platform and company for a foreseeable future. Facebook's bread and butter is its ability to share: Videos, Events, Images, Interests and etc... Facebook allows one to share these information with the push of a button and they appear on their friends' newsfeeds. Twitter: Twitter specializes in news and statements. It's a platform of the "voiceless voices": By limiting tweets' characters, each tweet feels like an important statement. Reddit: Reddit is a platform whose bread and butter is discussion. By facilitating discussions, Reddit allows its participants to share information and learn. Linkedin: LinkedIn's main attraction is that it is a social media platform for professionals.

The advent of social networks and medias brought many benefits to our lives. The main benefit of this innovation is connectivity. Social Networks allow entities in different locations to communicate, transfer information and content. Everything has its ups and downs and being connected 24/7 is no exception. Interconnectivity revolutionized communications. Gone are the days of telephone wires, mails, and slow transmission form of information transportation. Information can be shared and published in a blink of an eye. This fact transformed the recruiting industry. According to Frank Langfitt in his article "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting" published on NPR, the advent of social networks gave rise to recruiting social medias such as LinkedIn. This expedited the process of recruiting by a large margin and professionals are primed to build a case for themselves instead of relying on just their resume. Interconnectivity also brings a lot of backlash as we

Blogs and Wikis are both mediums used to share information. By definition, a blog is a "regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style". A wiki is "a website that allows collaborative editing of its content and structure by its users". One can figure out these 2 terms' definitions by just googling and at first glance, both seem identical. There are nuances that differentiate them however. Blogs are tools of self expression. It has more of a personal connotation: "This is your blog". It's where a person shares their stories, their opinions and of course news. Because blogs carry such individualism to themselves, they have become tools of self-expression and influences. As detailed in "Wal-Mart Tastemakers Write Unfiltered Blog", Michael Barbaro of the New York Times wrote of how blogs have the power to influence the viewpoints of Walmart'