Online Communities (Before Presentation)

A virtual community is that a group of people who particularly interact with another group of people through communication media such as letters, telephone, email, chat room or instant messenger rather than face to face.

Our presentation is mainly focusing on online tools such as chat room and instant messenger. Computer conferencing emerged as a tool for using the communication capacities of the networks to build social relationships across barriers of space and time. “Computer-mediated relationships” produce an entire range of transference and counter-transferences that occur between players. Therefore, computer conferencing causes positive results and also negative cases.

Online Communities (Before Presentation)

Our presentation topic is Online Communities. We will talk about the reading from Sherry Turkle, ‘Virtuality and Its Discontents: Searching for Community in Cyberspace’. This article is all about multi-user dungeons (MUD) and Turkle concerned about many of us appear to be choosing to invest ourselves in unreal places.

As the development of technology keeps going on, human want everything that commutes right into our homes and depend more on virtual reality. Turkle challenged that this kind of desire will make our real life even more separate because people no longer have social contact. She pointed out that virtuality tends to skew our real experience in three ways. The first one is Disneyland effect. Another effect of simulation is that 'the fake seems more compelling than the real'. She lastly pointed out that 'virtual experience may be so compelling that we believe that within it we've achieved more than we have'.

We agree with Turkle's point of view that although virtual environments are valuable, we still need an authentic experience of self.

Self. Org I: Online Communities (before presentation)

Our presentation topic is “Self. Org I: Online Communities”. Our presentation content will base on the article which written by Sherry Turkle, “Virtuality and Its Discontents: Searching for Community in Cyberspace”.

In the article, Sherry Turkle introduces what is MUD (Multi User Domains/ Dungeons). It is one of the virtual community and the players can create their character and type command when they are playing the game. The MUD and the MMORPG are the virtual community. One of the Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG), The world of Warcarft, it is modern graphics- based. It is one of the changes for the MUD.

Turkle mentions different examples that people is wallowing in the MUD. So, we will give some examples when people wallow in playing the online game from the newspaper article, such as they didn’t having bathing for three days.

We agree that Turkle's point of view. We cannot wallow in the virtual community. Real life experience is more important than the virtual community.

After the presentation (Week 9) Self. Gov II: Resistance

In our presentation we were talk about our relationship between Consumption and Digital media. Nowadays, advertisements and consumers are everywhere. It pushes us to consume their products and services. As Poster, Mark said “We are not simply consume the object, at the same time, we also consume the hidden meaning behind the object.” We are making, creating and using the cultural meaning by consumption. Moreover, as digital media have well developed nowadays, “Consumers” becomes not just a user but a creator or an advertiser also. We are not a passive consumer affected by the advertisement through media. Consumers are
from passive to active.

In the discussion part we have shown some brand names to the classmates to discuss about what did we consume in the consumption process. As we are not simply consume the object, at the same time, we also consume the hidden meaning behind the object. Classmates were come up the same ideas with us; for example, the higher-class people would like to choose to go shopping at the international supermarket like City-super rather than the PARKnSHOP. As it is representing which group you are belonging to.

Moreover, as Blogging is so poplar in nowadays and it is a common platform to read some the comments about the product before you want to consume. This is a platform to resist the large amount of advertisement from the society, as their common would be more objective than the commercial advertisement. We are not a passive consumer affected by the advertisement through media. Consumers are from passive at the past to active at the moment.

Presentation (Week 9) Self. Gov II: Resistance

We are going to present the topic of Self. Gov II: Resistance is Fertile and in our presentation, we will base on the reading—“consumption and Digital Commodities in the Everyday” which is written by Poster, Mark.
In our presentation we would like to talk about our relationship between Consumption and Digital media. Nowadays, advertisements and consumers are everywhere. We were affected by these advertisements everyday. It pushes us to consume their products and services. As Poster, Mark said “We are not simply consume the object, at the same time, we also consume the hidden meaning behind the object.” We are
making, creating and using the cultural meaning by consumption. Moreover, as digital media have well developed nowadays, “Consumers” becomes not just a user but a creator or an advertiser also. We are not a passive consumer affected by the advertisement through media. Consumers are from passive at the past to active at the moment.
In the discussion part we would like to show some brand names to the classmates to discuss about what did we consume in the consumption process. As we are not simply consume the object, at the same time, we also consume the hidden meaning behind the object. After the discussion we will come up the conclusion as consumers are from passive at the past to active at the moment.

Week 9 – Resistance is Fertile (The introduction of our presentation)

Our presentation topic is Consumption and digital media in everyday. We will base on the course reader “Consumption and Digital Commodities in the Everyday.”, written by Poster, Mark in the content of presentation.

As Mark pointed out that in most industrialized countries, individuals in their everyday lives are bombarded continuously by advertisement. It means we cannot live without advertising and media. Moreover, most of the advertising are contains the invisibility and inaudibility elements. For instance: When we are enjoying the DVDs in living room, we can discover that the promotional material at the beginning of the movie. However, we cannot avoid it by fast forward. That why, Mark brings up the idea that advertising and consumers are in everywhere and anytime.

Another main point is consumption as cultural creation. That mean we are not simply consume the object, at the same time, we consume the hidden meaning behind the object. According to Mark, “A city that is real ‘imaginary museum’ forms the counterpoint of the city at work.” In city, all the advertising is come from our imagination not the real. City seems as the imaginary world. When we consume a product or service, we are satisfying our imagination not our real body.

However, when the digital media have a well developed, the consumption pattern has changing now. “Consumers” become an active role. We are not a simply consumers. We start to become a creators and advertisers. Moreover, we can express and discuss our opinion in the weblog. It also produce the side effect blogging becomes advertising. In the presentation, we will push many examples to support those above statement. I hope this introduction can give you a basic concept of our presentation.

By Cody Wan

Critical Annotated Webliography

Question 3: Frankenstein continues to occupy the popular imagination as a monstrous scientist. Analyze some of the ways in which Frankenstein continues to haunt discussions of recent technologies.

Frankenstein is a famous novel character. In the story, there are so many technologies appear when making Frankenstein. Are the technologies that appear in the story affected nowadays people or science? It’s the thing that I’m going to talk about in the above essay by using some article documents.

1. This article is about there is two western doctors decide to have some experiments of human cloning since they have successes in cloning animal and livestock before. However, there are so many religious and medical organizations criticize or them and said that they are “Doctor Frankensteins”. As a results, there are no country support their ideas and help them to develop the human cloning project. They disagree with this project because they think that it has violated the moral minefield and worried about the treatment between clones and naturally born humans. On the other hand, it seems that cloning is scientifically possible. Two doctor point out that since cloning human is just the same as the process of cloning animals or Dolly etc.
Although there are so many people against human cloning, however, it still has many scientists’ continuous researching and experimenting about it around the world. Moreover, Wople said that in the coming decade, the doctors are able to control about the embryos and they would become bio-engineer.
Is it possible for them to clone human, it still have many problem remain and waiting to be solve while the researching process.

2. This article is about the changing technologies from the relations between Frankenstein and modern human cloning. As we know that, science would always change no matter in which period of time, it just changes spectacularly. After Industrial Revolution, Mary Shelley has written a novel about Frankenstein. Although what she has written seems outdated and horrid nowadays, it still has her own saving grace. She believed that science would go to the dark way and down turn in the coming days; however, our sciences have not go to the way that she thinks and the scientists have tried to bring this ideas and its benefits to our society.
Since the technologies have opened up and developed, it becomes more updated and brings some modern creations of robots and biological clones. As a result, there would be some changes between Frankenstein and modern human cloning. The article gives some hits that modern human cloning is different from Frankenstein. It is because our technologies’ are more updates and the scientists have tried their best to bring benefits to the society. So, we don’t need to afraid what had happened in the story will happen in the real society.
3. This article discusses about are the stage of Frankenstein seems become a new reality. A Scottish scientist, Ian Wilmut, has conducted a research about embryology successfully. He had taken the adult mammal cell to develop embryo. Ian Wilmut has cloned a sheep called Dolly by using some simple method with limited funding. Although he had cloned Dolly, he just wants to get better in farm animal’s productivity. Some people said that Ian is the modern Frankenstein and think that science fiction idea, cloning human, has become real. However, according to what Ian has said, he thinks that it is impossible for people to clone human by using the same method. Moreover, there would have many problem need to concern. For example, the social status of the clone and the life of them etc.; we should consider about it seriously.
Since there is so many people banned the idea of human cloning, some people suggested that the research should conduct underground and the clone should create secretly. They think that it is just the problem of time and who is the first person to create human clone. If the first human clone has appeared already, the criticisms are not important at all.

4. This article is about the different between Frankenstein and cloned human. There are a lot of people think that human cloning is not good for the society. From a research, it shows that more than 75% of people disallow the experiment of human cloning. However, more than 95 percent of people do not really know about what is human cloning. In their mind, they just think cloned human is something like Frankenstein monster or mindless zombies. It is what uneducated people think and most of them always affect by the image of Frankenstein. However, the technique that used in the film or novel would not happen in the reality. Also, it is impossible for the dead people alive again by using the same method. In fact, human cloning does not mean there would be two same people appear in the world. It just takes some DNA of a person and develops the cell. After nine months, a new baby was born and grows up just like a naturally human baby. They just share almost the same DNA like Twins but not two same people with same appearance in the world. So, there are some different between Frankenstein and human cloning.

5. Some people said that Frankenstein is being brought to the reality. Since there are some case of clone animals and genetically engineered food, people may believe that the novel character, Frankenstein, would be brought to our society possibly. From the time of the word ‘Frankenstein’ appeared, it has some meaning of it, that is, ‘anything unnatural with its origins in the lab or transgressions into the unnatural’. In the past, the things, which people think that it is impossible to happen, are able to occur nowadays. For example, we can transplant the human organ form the recently dead body; the scientists discover what is pacemaker, smallpox vaccine, the atomic bomb as well as the cloning animals and genetically engineered food.
It is no doubts to said Frankenstein bring a lot of affection to the science or technologies part. It makes us know that those things happen in the novel may have the chance to become visible in another way of scientific method. Just like Lederer had said says, it is impossible for us to rid of Frankenstein's monster whenever we talk about science and scientists.

6. According to the article, Frankenstein is the novel characters which contain technology and humanity in the modern West society. It shows that the technologies in it may bring some benefits as well as some adverse effect to our society. Since Frankenstein had included so many elements in it, it had provided a series of interlinked characterizations and associations which concern scientists, technology and human society. Also, we would see that Frankenstein monster is full of ambiguous. It has the potential for good and the potential for evil. The monster is the technology which presents technology as amoral and non-human. Frankenstein also shows as a product of science. There is no Inquisition or Royal Society to control the scientist and creation. Although it’s just a novel, it clearly shown Frankenstein would bring the technologies to our society.

To sum up, the technologies that appear in Frankenstein have brought a lot of effects to nowadays science and the society. Although the real person of Frankenstein may not really exist in our society, it’s concept of creating human clone may the same as Frankenstein. It really a important feature for the scientific aspects.





Webliography

1. Jeremy Bransten. ‘The Cloning Debate -- Real Science Or Frankenstein Fantasy?’
http://www.zavos.org/library/articles/Frankenstein.htm

2. Connor. ‘Changing Technology’ (2008)
http://www.bookstove.com/Classics/Changing-Technology.96015

3. TIME MAGAZINE. ‘Frankenstein: a new reality’ (1999)
http://web.quipo.it/frankenstein/thenewreality.htm

4. Esmaeili. ‘Human Cloning’
http://www.humancloning.org/essays/esiann.htm

5. LaShunda Prescott-Manly. ‘Bringing "Frankenstein" to life…’
http://www.engr.wisc.edu/wiscengr/november04/frankenstein.shtml

6. Tranter, Kieran. ‘Frankenstein and law as technology’ (2007)http://techtheory.blogspot.com/2007/02/frankenstein-and-law-as-technology.html