Learning Log
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My second learning log in video form!
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Big Questions of Connectivity
- How can we best use the Internet to Connect people? Through blogs? Facebook events? Email? Forums?
- How real are the connections that happen via Digital Media?
- What is the best way for to increase connectivity?
- In what way will we be using connectivity?
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Siegel or Shirky?
Obviously Digital Media has connected the world in ways never thought possible. People are communicating and sharing ideas at lightening fast pace across huge distances. This seems like something that could only be a positive. But Siegel brings up the interesting idea of the loss of privacy and the creation of individuality into a “norm”.
I suppose I agree partially with both of these men.
With Shirky, I believe that we really are doing something great with the internet and blogs. We are connecting people and becoming incredible productive. We are helping our stuggling world and are learning incrediable things at incrediable speeds. But I don’t believe in his idea of becoming “prosumers” and we haven’t lost leisure time. Not everyone spends their life on the internet, not everyone is always doing or creating something.
The world is about balances. We couldn’t all be producing and consuming all the time. There is still the fabulous invention of sleep. And there are still people who never go on the internet, who never communicate outside their tight knit communities, who spend their time simply. (Like the Amish….or monks…)
I agree less with Siegel on many things. Though his writing style and wit are definitely very persuasive.
His examples of youtube, match.com, and ebay are very very convincing and also very believable and plausible. We are marketing ourselves. But we, as humans, have been marketing ourselves long before the internet. People were always trying to look a certain way, be unique and yet part of a movement (Hippies anyone?). We try to sell ourselves every time we try to get a job. We try to get people to like us, or love us, by only telling select things about ourselves or lying. All the internet has done has made it faster and increased our range.
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In our upcoming October design issue, one of the many fascinating feature stories we’ve lined up is a lengthy profile of Pinterest and its elusive CEO, Ben Silbermann. That story goes live later this week, but until then, here’s a teaser, in the form of an infographic about Pinterest, created by Fast Company’s staff and designed by our own Ted Keller.
In this profusion of figures, you find out a few key things about the image-sharing service. For one, it’s dominated by women. Second, something about its layout and culture stokes an enormous buying impulse. And third, major brands are getting in on the act. It’s not a stretch to say that soon, at least on retail sites, a Pinterest button might become as ubiquitous as a Facebook Like. Check out the full infographic via the link below.
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Fanagalo was established as a lingua franca between between speakers of various languages found in South Africa and was mainly used in mines throughout the country.
It can be viewed as a pidgin and is a simplified version of Zulu (and Xhosa) and other related languages, with adaptations of modern terms from English, Dutch and Afrikaans.
About 70% of the lexicon is from Zulu.
It evolved from contact between European settlers and African people especially in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and later also in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and even Malawi.
It is important to note that it is not a artificially-manufactured language.
The name “Fanagalo” comes from strung-together Nguni forms fana-ga-lo meaning “like + of + that” and has the meaning “do it like this”, reflecting its use as a language of instruction.
Historian Adendorff describes two variants of the language, Mine Fanagalo and Garden Fanagalo. The latter name refers to its use with servants in households. It was previously known as Kitchen Kaffir. The word “Kaffir” is the Arabic word for an unbeliever, i.e. non-Muslim, and was used by Arab slavers to refer to the indigenous black people of Africa.
It thence became a common word used by early European settlers to refer to the same people, and in the 19th century was a term for the Nguni languages, as well as an inclusive term to describe South African shares on the stock-market.
Through time “Kaffir” tended, in Southern Africa, to be used as a derogatory term for black people.
Fanagalo is also known as Fanakalo, Fanekolo, Piki, isiPiki, isiKula, Lololo, isiLololo, Pidgin Bantu, Basic Zulu and Silunguboi
(via globalvoices)
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For three days in October 2012, we will bring together a visionary and eclectic network of renowned scientists, technologists, designers, educators, corporate leaders, social and ecological innovators, artists and others to explore these questions, their answers, and their implications. It promises to be a rich and powerful dialogue – one that might change how you see yourself, your organization and the world.
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Ushahidi -
Do you see the three degrees working in your life?
Yes and No.
Yes because when I started a club sports team at my highschool I saw the affect of my friends telling their friends telling their friends about it. A game that started out as just me and a couple of my friends turned into me, a couple of my friends, and one of my friends baseball teammates. And it progressed even further until we had people from all different schools and age levels coming out to play with us. So in that way, I have been affected by the three degrees.
But I’m not sure if my happiness is ever affected by friends friends friends happiness. I don’t really know or ever hear about these far removed friends and as they are never talked about I never see the affects they have on my friend.
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Commons that have helped me
The biggest commons that has ever helped me would have to be the band room.
At my high school it was more than just a place to practice or store your instrument, it was a place to come together with people of similar interests to talk and learn and enjoy music. It was in this common area that I made close bonds and through those bonds became a better musician. There was always someone in the band room; always a friendly face, someone to talk to or practice with. That kind of consistency in the chaotic world of high school was rare and so desperately needed.
I grew so much there. I learned my instrument in that room, my band basically lived in there, I had cried, screamed, and laughed in that room. Without its existence I would not be the same person or even be where I am now.
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When have you been most motivated and by what?
The most motivated I have ever been was during my sophomore year of high school in my high school bagpipe band. My motivator? Fear. Fear of failure and being surpassed by younger students.
Fear has always been a great motivator for me and it really came into play that year. The past year had been easy. I was the only freshman and was pretty babied because of it. With introduction of two new members my sophomore I had my first real competition.
It started when one of the younger students started memorizing one of the tunes I didn’t know yet. I remember the deep fear that settled in the pit of my stomache. I remember imagining terrible scenarios where he had surpassed me a skill level and became a section leader over me. I remember,most clearly, going home and working on that tune all night until I had it memorized.
After that first encounter I really pushed myself to be the best. I not only wanted to be better than the younger student but now I put myself in competition with the older students. I was motivated to not only never let myself fall behind but also to be ahead of the game.
Because of that year of hard work, which turned into three year of hard work, I was able surpass many upperclassmen and beat them out for leadership positions. I was also able to stay ahead of younger students with more talent or skill then myself.
