For this Assignment I have chosen to talk about the news reports of the North Korean Threat that has been the talk of the day for the last few weeks. Below are my sources
Video - Link
News Article - Link
Blog - Link
I would first like to talk about the Video where the news reader talks about the development of Nuclear Technology. The facts and details about the threat released to public was not that much, but it is interesting how the media and articles represent the situation.
The video has a more military view and a response to the situation. The news reporter conveys that the Defense Secretary announced a 50% increase on missiles positioned to defend the US against a North Korean attack. The Hegemony represented here is that every threat needs to have a military response even though United States currently has the most advance military in the Globe. In simple words, the majority of the community agrees preparing for a military response because its a Hegemonic ideology among the society. The news video has given a high priority to this threat by talking about the military response.
It also shows a missile that could reach USA if launched but has a good chance that it might not be a threat because its not tested. Still the image of that picture of the missile in a rally does make an impact of the reality of the situation, and provoke precaution and possibly fear.
The blog was published in February as a response to the Nuclear Blast in North Korea that happened at the same time period. The blog states all the statistics of the immediate situation including pictures, graphs related to the nuclear blast. Most of the pictures are representations of the danger that the country poses to US and its allies. The article uses some rhetoric's to outshine its purpose. It states that if North Korea can launch a third successful nuclear attack then it can also launch an attack on USA or its allies. Ironically there is a graph in the bottom that has a graphical status of the worlds Nuclear Status which shows North Korea at the very last with far less military power than USA.
The News article is a recent post of another glance at North Korea threats. The comparison of this article and the blog mentioned above shows a huge difference. It shows the difference of responses that represent an immediate event and a well evaluated description of the same event a few months later. This news article has a logical and a political description of the reality of the threat. It interestingly brings up the ideologies of the North Korean people that helps the dictator to stay in power. It also brings up the previous actions of the country to rationalize the current situation.
Every article and news video has a way of representating the same situation in different perspectives and sometimes making them ideal according to the timing.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Friday, April 5, 2013
Research Proposal #3
Implications of Breaking the Light Speed Barrier
Introduction
If Light speed is achieved by mankind, what are the social,
political and economic implications it will have on the world?
It has always been in the minds of the scientists that light speed is achievable in the near future. There are sci-fi movies and TV series that support this prediction. It will be ,without doubt, one of the greatest achievements of man kind if the barrier can be broken. Some believe its impossible, but 50 years ago mobile phones were believed to be mere sci-fi gadgets.
In this research I wish to look into the after effects of achieving light speed. For an example, after the telephone was invented the world of communication changed rapidly into what we have now. It also effected our day to day life and is now a part of it. In this research I will be looking in to possible results of breaking the light speed barrier and how it will change the world. The effects are mostly positive considering the benefits of fast transportation, but there is a possibility humans might find a way of destruction through this as we have managed to do it in our past. Nuclear Energy can be given as an example.
Background
I have always been interested in Sci-Fi movies such as StarTrek, Andromeda etc. These fictions always made me think of the reality that awaits us in the future. It will not be accurate as the fictions predict but it will be similar. One of the main interests for me has been space travel; it takes 8 mints for sunlight to reach earth and it takes around 6 hours to reach Pluto. Theoretically, if light speed is achieved, a spaceship can travel to planets such as Pluto within hours. This opens up a wide scope of possibilities to man.
We will be able to travel easily to other planets to do scientific research such as search for life. The missions would take only hours instead of months and years. We would be able to mine for minerals from asteroids,moons and planets. It would also be a possibility for us to terraform other planets to change the atmosphere to sustain life.
All of these new events would change our economy, political boundaries and social life in unthinkable ways. Imagine talking to your uncle on skype who is in a mining camp in the asteroid belt.
My initial presearching on this topic was a failure because I could not find any articles or books that directly relate to this research.
Significance
I believe that it is important that we understand all or most of the side effects of a technology before going large about it. The manhattan project was a huge step forward in science and was suppose to shed light to many possibilities towards the benefit of man kind. The first actual application of the technology killed almost 200,000 people instantly, vaporizing them to dust.
As far as scientist can see, achieving light speed does not have ramifications deadly as such of an atomic bomb, but it can effect the economy, politics and social life in many ways.
Mining an asteroid that has mineral such as platinum will enable us to import tons of plutonium to earth. This would change the value of mineral drastically in the market. This will be the same for most of the mining minerals and the effects this would have on the global market would be unpredictable.
Another theoretical application would be the side effects of travelling in light speed. According to the theory of relativity a person traveling at light speed would age slowly than a person living on earth.
It is important that the society is aware of theories as such these before we openly accept the benefits of the speed of light.
Methodology
As I mentioned earlier my initial presearching was a failure because I could not find any scholarly or popular source that directly contributes to my research. Then I had to approach the topic from different perspectives. I thought of the possible steps we would take if the light speed technology was achieved, such as asteroid mining, terraforming etc. I did presearching on those theoretical concepts so that I can find information to support my research. It has been successful as I found a significant amount of information for the presearching process.
After I evaluate all the sources I will be producing my own outcome of the research.
Potential Setbacks
My research is based on a theoretical idea of a technology which some argue to be impossible. The situation I speak of is unrealistic at the moment. So the information available to me is limited. Even the information that is available to me sometimes take opposite stands that have created arguments in the scientific community. This has made the research very difficult, still just like every brainstorming mind in the scientific community I believe I can speak my own words with the facts that I collect.
References
Sharlanov, Gocho V. "The Speed Of Light And Uncertainty
Principle Of The Macro-World." Applied Physics Research 4.4 (2012):
118-125. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Apr. 2013.
This articles describes the theory of relativity and the effect it has in time on the moving object. This will be used to describe the aging process of a human traveling at light speed.
BELFIORE, MICHAEL. "How To Mine An Asteroid."
Popular Mechanics 189.8 (2012): 50-55. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 5 Apr. 2013.
This articles describes the process of mining an asteroid and effects of selling them on the open market. This shows the ramifications of Asteroid Mining.
Geggel, Laura, Katie Peek, and Miriam Kramer. "Space
Metal." Popular Science 281.5 (2012): 60-61. Health Source - Consumer
Edition. Web. 5 Apr. 2013.
This article shows a graphical view of minerals in an asteroid that can be used in my argument above.
"Making Planets People-Friendly." Futurist 30.2
(1996): 45. Sociological Collection. Web. 6 Apr. 2013.
This article describes the theoretical concept of terraforming which I have mentioned in the article.
Yahoo Answers
Link
The benefits of traveling at light speed
Yahoo Answers
Link
The benefits of traveling at light speed
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Representation
The Concept of Representation Before watching the Video
Representation in simple words would be being an icon to demonstrate something that you believe in that you want to show to the community. You can represent anything and you can represent it in many ways. Some of those ways are acceptable and some groups take it to an extreme to when it comes to representation. In general, a person has the rights of representation as long as it does not break the law.
The Concept of Representation After watching the Video
Stuart Hall talks more about the visual representation and the practice of representation. He conveys that representation is the idea of something that was already there but represented through tools of media.
Also he mentions the personalities that represent people or ideologies that 'stand in'. In the end he concludes saying Representation is the way of giving meaning to some image, words, a person or something that stands for a cause or a belief.
My concept does not express much about visual representation but it does say some about iconic representation. The meaning that I have explained covers a wide area and Stuart Hall talks about a narrow area of representation,
Media Literacy & Representation
Media is mainly about representing and presenting information to the public. The portrait they picture creates the representation and its what we are open to in Media. Its important we understand these representations as they are and not what they are re-presented with.
Most representations have an ideology behind it that supports the representation. They are driven by the ideologies and sometimes they can be subjected to hegemony as well. It is vital we learn to filter the information presented/represented to us.
Representation is all around us. It can be as big as a political party or as small as a newspaper headline. They all are re-presenting something that's already there which has been dressed up accordingly by Media.
Representation in simple words would be being an icon to demonstrate something that you believe in that you want to show to the community. You can represent anything and you can represent it in many ways. Some of those ways are acceptable and some groups take it to an extreme to when it comes to representation. In general, a person has the rights of representation as long as it does not break the law.
The Concept of Representation After watching the Video
Stuart Hall talks more about the visual representation and the practice of representation. He conveys that representation is the idea of something that was already there but represented through tools of media.
Also he mentions the personalities that represent people or ideologies that 'stand in'. In the end he concludes saying Representation is the way of giving meaning to some image, words, a person or something that stands for a cause or a belief.
My concept does not express much about visual representation but it does say some about iconic representation. The meaning that I have explained covers a wide area and Stuart Hall talks about a narrow area of representation,
Media Literacy & Representation
Media is mainly about representing and presenting information to the public. The portrait they picture creates the representation and its what we are open to in Media. Its important we understand these representations as they are and not what they are re-presented with.
Most representations have an ideology behind it that supports the representation. They are driven by the ideologies and sometimes they can be subjected to hegemony as well. It is vital we learn to filter the information presented/represented to us.
Representation is all around us. It can be as big as a political party or as small as a newspaper headline. They all are re-presenting something that's already there which has been dressed up accordingly by Media.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Goooooogle!!!
Following questions are answered:
1. Google should not be used in scholarly research.
I consider this statement to be wrong. Google is a search engine with multiple features embedded into it that facilitates searching for scholarly articles.
http://scholar.google.com/
Above link is a search engine provided by google and its whole purpose is to give easy access for a scholarly research. This search engine is a useful tool for finding scholarly articles and related information.
2. Like databases and the library catalog, Google allows you to modify your search to get better results
Yes, google has advance filtering capabilities. A user can use boolean operators to filter a search. Also google supports filtering using date, location and many other factors.
http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=136861
This link describes other special features google provides when using google search. These tips can be extremely helpful when narrowing down search results.
3. Google contains no academic (AKA scholarly, peer-reviewed) content
Google does contain scholarly articles.
http://scholar.google.com is a search engine that specifically searches for googles scholarly articles.
Next, Watch Eli Pariser's "Beware of Filter Bubbles" TED Talk and answer the following questions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s
4. What is a filter bubble?
Its a personal filter that determines the information that we get to see from a web search or a similar feed. It only shows us the results of what we have interests in and completely isolates us in that world. This is something, most of the time, the user does not have control over.
It also keeps us from information that we may need to know and only feeds us information the algorithms decide that are relevant to us.
5. How does the idea of a “filter bubble” relate to our class theme of media literacy?
To be media literate we need to go through all the information and evaluate them but in the case of filter bubble, we only get to see a part of the information feed, not the whole. We don't see the big picture, instead we are fed with what the filter determines to be relevant to us.
I consider this to be a major drawback when it comes to having an open door for all information around you.
6. Why is it important to know about filter bubbles? How can they affect your research?
Only a few understand and realize the existence of the filter bubbles. This means most of the information that are available to us come through a filter bubble and we don't see a standard information query. Every search we do returns results that are unique to our personality or personal computer.
In the case of a research we might end up looking at one side of the research question because the information we get might be filtered and our scope of the research might be limited to the bubble we live in.
7. Lastly, picture you are in an elevator making small talk with a stranger about this awesome class you are in called LIBR 1101. Stranger says “I don’t really know why you are bothering to take this class, everyone knows that all you need is Google these days.” What is your quick response to this stranger? A hint: although it is certainly your prerogative to do so, agreeing with this person will make kittens cry.
I will say "Google is only one of many ways, in fact google is a small part of the big picture"
1. Google should not be used in scholarly research.
I consider this statement to be wrong. Google is a search engine with multiple features embedded into it that facilitates searching for scholarly articles.
http://scholar.google.com/
Above link is a search engine provided by google and its whole purpose is to give easy access for a scholarly research. This search engine is a useful tool for finding scholarly articles and related information.
2. Like databases and the library catalog, Google allows you to modify your search to get better results
Yes, google has advance filtering capabilities. A user can use boolean operators to filter a search. Also google supports filtering using date, location and many other factors.
http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=136861
This link describes other special features google provides when using google search. These tips can be extremely helpful when narrowing down search results.
3. Google contains no academic (AKA scholarly, peer-reviewed) content
Google does contain scholarly articles.
http://scholar.google.com is a search engine that specifically searches for googles scholarly articles.
Next, Watch Eli Pariser's "Beware of Filter Bubbles" TED Talk and answer the following questions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s
4. What is a filter bubble?
Its a personal filter that determines the information that we get to see from a web search or a similar feed. It only shows us the results of what we have interests in and completely isolates us in that world. This is something, most of the time, the user does not have control over.
It also keeps us from information that we may need to know and only feeds us information the algorithms decide that are relevant to us.
5. How does the idea of a “filter bubble” relate to our class theme of media literacy?
To be media literate we need to go through all the information and evaluate them but in the case of filter bubble, we only get to see a part of the information feed, not the whole. We don't see the big picture, instead we are fed with what the filter determines to be relevant to us.
I consider this to be a major drawback when it comes to having an open door for all information around you.
6. Why is it important to know about filter bubbles? How can they affect your research?
Only a few understand and realize the existence of the filter bubbles. This means most of the information that are available to us come through a filter bubble and we don't see a standard information query. Every search we do returns results that are unique to our personality or personal computer.
In the case of a research we might end up looking at one side of the research question because the information we get might be filtered and our scope of the research might be limited to the bubble we live in.
7. Lastly, picture you are in an elevator making small talk with a stranger about this awesome class you are in called LIBR 1101. Stranger says “I don’t really know why you are bothering to take this class, everyone knows that all you need is Google these days.” What is your quick response to this stranger? A hint: although it is certainly your prerogative to do so, agreeing with this person will make kittens cry.
I will say "Google is only one of many ways, in fact google is a small part of the big picture"
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
GALILEO vs Libguides
Finding information on a research question specific to a database.
Database name - Computer and Information Systems Abstracts
What was your research question?
What is the impact of Artificial Intelligence in our day to day life in the future
What were your keywords (search terms)?
Artificial Intelligence, daily, future, life
What do you think of the results you got? Were they relevant? Were they scholarly? Did you get too few results? Too many?
I did the search and got 11 results. 9 of the results were scholarly journals and others were articles. The results were too little and only few of the results were relevant to my search.
What is the difference between searching in a subject specific database and in Discovery (the tool that searches a bunch of databases at once)?
It was clear after the search above, that a subject specific search narrows down the scope of a research to a tiny window compared to the same search in Discovery. Same search in Discovery gave me around 60,000 results. Also I had the option to narrow down my search which was a luxury I didn't have in a subject specific search when provided with too few results.
When do you think you’d want to use a subject specific database over Discovery (and the other way around?)
I would use Discovery to get a brief understanding of the research topic I have so that I can decide to go further or not. It will be very useful in presearching point of a research.
Using a subject specific database to get information would be only feasible when you are decided on the topic and want to go more deep into the subject.
Using Libguide
What research guide did you choose? (Paste the link to that guide in your blog post.)
http://libguides.westga.edu/computerscience
What do you think a research guide is?
A feature similar to a catalog on where to find relevant information related to the topic.
How does a research guide compare to the list of resources you found in GALILEO? Which one (research guide or GALILEO subject guide) do you think you’d be more apt to use if you were working on a research project?
A research guide gives more focused information on a subject and it seems very useful with all the links provided. Also at the same time the research guide puts a boundary to the extent we can do research on. Its more like a limited source of information compared to GALILEO. I would feel much efficient working with GALILEO rather than a subject specific research guide which has a limited scope.
I also think a research should be done with an innovative state of mind, using a guide might defeat the purpose.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
GALILEO Explained
What is GALILEO?
GALILEO stands for GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online. Its an online Library by the University System of Georgia. It holds links to thousands of articles, scholarly journals, newspapers and magazines.
How does GALILEO organize information?
It organizes information according to the Subject of the article. Links to subjects that fall under the same category are stored in a single database and there might be multiple databases for a specific category. Their are multiple categories in GALILEO so the whole library is a collection of databases with links to information sources.
What is the relationship between GALILEO and a database?
GALILEO consists of several databases that contains links to resources such as scholarly journals, articles and magazines. These databases are categorized under the relevant subject. In a real live library scenario, the databases act as bookshelves in a library.
What is a database and how does it organize information?
A database is a collection of one or more tables. The table will consist rows and columns. When a user stores information such as a link to an article in the database it takes up the storage as a row in the table. The columns of the table can be relevant fields for storage of an article, such as published date, Author, Title and HTML Link.
A database is a collection of one or more tables. The table will consist rows and columns. When a user stores information such as a link to an article in the database it takes up the storage as a row in the table. The columns of the table can be relevant fields for storage of an article, such as published date, Author, Title and HTML Link.
When would you use GALILEO in a research project?
GALILEO library has a large number of scholarly journals and articles. This is useful at the presearching stage, to find out how much information is available on specific subject or an incident related to the project. With this its east to determine if the research topic has sources that can support it.
When and how would you use a database in a research project?
I would use GALILEO at the point where I have to go deep into a subject with the use of scholarly information sources. This will be at the mid way of the research where I have to find valid and scholarly information related to the project to take the next step on evaluating information with available resources.
GALILEO library has a large number of scholarly journals and articles. This is useful at the presearching stage, to find out how much information is available on specific subject or an incident related to the project. With this its east to determine if the research topic has sources that can support it.
When and how would you use a database in a research project?
I would use GALILEO at the point where I have to go deep into a subject with the use of scholarly information sources. This will be at the mid way of the research where I have to find valid and scholarly information related to the project to take the next step on evaluating information with available resources.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Research Proposal #2
Why Create A Virus?
Introduction
Cyber Space is a breeding ground for computer viruses. Almost every person who uses a computer have come across the term 'Computer Virus'. Most people consider them to be a form of cyber infection and focuses on curing the computer but very few think of the origin of a computer virus. Even the ones who do think about the origin are not aware of some interesting yet troubling facts related to it.
Most people think that a virus is created by some criminal master mind with evil intentions to destroy the cyber world, but the reality is something entirely disturbing. There are various reasons for a computer hacker to create a virus, one of the most common reason is experimenting learned program language skills by students. Another common reason is to show off, an act of self satisfaction which prompts us to think that the creator of a virus with such intentions must be psychologically disturbed.
Except for a very few who have been unmasked by the authorities, every virus creator hides behind a veil and their intentions are not vivid. I wish to uncover the reasons behind creating such destructive programs and the mentality of the creators.
Background
I am a college student majoring in computer science. I have always had the interest in the field of cyber crimes but more focused in hackers. Recently I have had my interest changed into computer viruses. A computer virus is in more ways similar to a biological virus but different in only one way. A computer virus is not an effect of the nature, its a man made creation. I have always wondered why a person would give birth to something that's destructive and would be proud to claim the glory of its destruction. Sometimes this doesn't really surprise me when I consider other man made hazards such as Nuclear Bombs, which were created in the name of peace. Still it begs the question why someone would go to all that trouble to write a few lines of codes which creates a program that's hardly noticeable and anonymous.
In presearching I have found out several interesting reasons that would provoke someone to create a virus.
Among those reasons were, showing off, proving a point and also revenge.
Significance
It is important that people understand how people who create viruses come into action. Even the most insignificant person could come up with a deadly virus that can do more damage than a nuclear bomb since everything is controlled by computers in this era. According to the articles I have gone through, most of these people are normal people with normal lives who happens to reap some kind of financial benefit or most of the time self satisfaction.
Methodology
I have done some presearching and found some useful articles that relates to the topic I have. Some discuss the reasons in a more psychological point of view rather than from a single perspective. I would also look into some scholarly articles and journals that have content on this topic and similar topics. After collecting data, I will be coming up with my own conclusion on why a virus creator would go through all that trouble against the law.
Potential Setbacks
During the presearching I found out that there are more articles describing the types and reasons for creating viruses rather than psychological reasons for these actions. Not much information is found to go deep to discover the state of mind of such a person. I would have to go through a psychological aspect of a cyber criminal to achieve this milestone.
References
Who creates malware and why? by Kaspersky Labs
http://www.securelist.com/en/threats/detect?chapter=72
Why People Create Computer Viruses? by NortonAnti-Virus
http://www.nortonantiviruscenter.com/security-resource-center/why-people-create-computer-viruses.html
Why do People Create Computer Viruses? by Bryce Whitty
http://www.technibble.com/why-do-people-create-computer-viruses/
Ideology
Video Response
Video
In the Video the narrator tries to give a clear view of the term ideology from his perspective to his daughter. He talks about two forms of Ideologies. First being 'Repressive State Apparatus' and the second being 'Ideological State Apparatus'.
In Represive State Apparatus he relates the job of police and authority which maintain a form of ideology through command on threat of punishment. In this form, the person does not have a choice other than obey the law. Its an ideology forced on the community for their own protection.
At some point in the video the narrator also mentions ideology through persuasion such as money. He relates this to a form of 'Repressive State Apparatus'. Although he claims they are related I see a fundamental difference. When someone is offered some money to do something he is faced with a choice, which is not the case when authority is forced on a person. The former has a choice and choices are unique to the state of mind even with two people with same ideologies.
Ideological State Apparatus is the form of ideology that has personal preference and opinion tied to it. Interestingly people tend to choose an ideology that's accepted widely rather than have something that's unique. Ideologies of the two major political parties in USA can be shown as examples of this, mostly every voting citizen chooses one of those two ideologies even though they don't embrace it 100%.
Its interesting that the narrator thinks these ideologies doesn't necessarily cope with reality, its more of a world you create for your self for your self comfort. In USA the two major political parties have two different ideologies and as long as the community has more than one well accepted ideas, neither of them can be any close to reality. The struggle for reality will exist.
In the case of a Cannibal Tribe, the community holds a single ideology that justifies their actions. The whole community embraces it, so it easily becomes reality.
Review on Althusser Modules
Ideology - A fake world of ideas built on a persons mind that is produced by the unmet conditions of the real life.
Ideology related to Media Literacy
If ideology is the message rhetoric and hegemony are the mediums for that message. Often an Ideology is portrait through hegemony. Rhetorics solidify the ideology fed to the consumers. In General Media Literacy aids in identifying ideology in context which are hidden from a bird eye view.
Video
In the Video the narrator tries to give a clear view of the term ideology from his perspective to his daughter. He talks about two forms of Ideologies. First being 'Repressive State Apparatus' and the second being 'Ideological State Apparatus'.
In Represive State Apparatus he relates the job of police and authority which maintain a form of ideology through command on threat of punishment. In this form, the person does not have a choice other than obey the law. Its an ideology forced on the community for their own protection.
At some point in the video the narrator also mentions ideology through persuasion such as money. He relates this to a form of 'Repressive State Apparatus'. Although he claims they are related I see a fundamental difference. When someone is offered some money to do something he is faced with a choice, which is not the case when authority is forced on a person. The former has a choice and choices are unique to the state of mind even with two people with same ideologies.
Ideological State Apparatus is the form of ideology that has personal preference and opinion tied to it. Interestingly people tend to choose an ideology that's accepted widely rather than have something that's unique. Ideologies of the two major political parties in USA can be shown as examples of this, mostly every voting citizen chooses one of those two ideologies even though they don't embrace it 100%.
Its interesting that the narrator thinks these ideologies doesn't necessarily cope with reality, its more of a world you create for your self for your self comfort. In USA the two major political parties have two different ideologies and as long as the community has more than one well accepted ideas, neither of them can be any close to reality. The struggle for reality will exist.
In the case of a Cannibal Tribe, the community holds a single ideology that justifies their actions. The whole community embraces it, so it easily becomes reality.
Review on Althusser Modules
Ideology - A fake world of ideas built on a persons mind that is produced by the unmet conditions of the real life.
Ideology related to Media Literacy
If ideology is the message rhetoric and hegemony are the mediums for that message. Often an Ideology is portrait through hegemony. Rhetorics solidify the ideology fed to the consumers. In General Media Literacy aids in identifying ideology in context which are hidden from a bird eye view.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Hegemony in Two and a Half men
I watched 2 episodes of Two and a Half men to analyse the trades of Hegemony used in the Episodes.
Season 10 Episode 14 - Run, Stevan Staven!
In this episode I analysed Hegemony Ideologies used in the minority the episode portraits as "Men who have troubled Relationships". The comedy was hilarious but interestingly most of the humor was surrounded around these men who are having a hard time with their relationships. Their situations are shown as common yet situations that carry certain ideologies.
One of the guys in the episode has trouble with the relationship because of an argument over the house key, which the girl takes serious enough to date another guy the next day. Its is a situation with humor but regardless it implies the man is no use to the lady if he can't keep up with the demands of her needs, starting as simple as a key. The guy is pictured as a helpless being. Hegemony is implied in this situation conveying even the smallest need of a woman is more important than the needs of a man in a relationship.
In another situation one of the male characters explains why his girlfriend left him. He says he got caught cheating with his secretary. The person who was listening says that it was an unfaithful move cheating on his girlfriend but later changes his mind after seeing a picture of the secretary, implying that she is sexually attractive. This is a really funny situation, still it implies a ruling class ideology. An ideology that, up to some point, justifies that it is ok to cheat on a relationship if the girl is sexually attractive (hot). Hegemony is the tool that justifies this fact in context of humor.
Season 10 Episode 15 -Paint It, Pierce It or Plug It
This is an episode that has a story of a 19 year old kid dating a 36 year old woman who has 3 children. I decided to to analyse the couple as the minority and look at the portrayed Ideologies.
The first impression of the elderly lady is pictured to be wild and crazy. She has tattoos all over her body, she owns a tattoo shop as well. It is clear that the directors wanted to make the woman look uneducated yet attractive. As the story goes along more about her family background is revealed. Her 17 year old daughter used to date a 32 year old guy, her son was trialed in a court room and her ex-husband is prison. All this are points of humor in the episode, but clearly shines out the point that she is from a very complicated background. I believe this is another way of portraying a ruling class Ideology, that most of the elderly women who dates young men have complicated backgrounds.
At some point of the episode she also agrees that she is with the young man only for sexual pleasure. Hegemony is used at this point to convey it is more exciting for elder women to date young men.
Also the young man is rendered as an irresponsible, immature and some times stupid character. This is clearly shown when the young man plans to take the lady to Las Vegas to get married the next day. Also implies that young adults would take a lot of immature decisions in the name of love and its the mistake of the age not the person. All these situations suggest humor even though they are based on ruling class Ideologies.
In conclusion, I have noticed that Hegemony is used very often in humor. The Ideology is hiding in plain sight as a part of the joke but it is hardly noticeable to some people without giving a thought about it.
Season 10 Episode 14 - Run, Stevan Staven!
In this episode I analysed Hegemony Ideologies used in the minority the episode portraits as "Men who have troubled Relationships". The comedy was hilarious but interestingly most of the humor was surrounded around these men who are having a hard time with their relationships. Their situations are shown as common yet situations that carry certain ideologies.
One of the guys in the episode has trouble with the relationship because of an argument over the house key, which the girl takes serious enough to date another guy the next day. Its is a situation with humor but regardless it implies the man is no use to the lady if he can't keep up with the demands of her needs, starting as simple as a key. The guy is pictured as a helpless being. Hegemony is implied in this situation conveying even the smallest need of a woman is more important than the needs of a man in a relationship.
In another situation one of the male characters explains why his girlfriend left him. He says he got caught cheating with his secretary. The person who was listening says that it was an unfaithful move cheating on his girlfriend but later changes his mind after seeing a picture of the secretary, implying that she is sexually attractive. This is a really funny situation, still it implies a ruling class ideology. An ideology that, up to some point, justifies that it is ok to cheat on a relationship if the girl is sexually attractive (hot). Hegemony is the tool that justifies this fact in context of humor.
Season 10 Episode 15 -Paint It, Pierce It or Plug It
This is an episode that has a story of a 19 year old kid dating a 36 year old woman who has 3 children. I decided to to analyse the couple as the minority and look at the portrayed Ideologies.
The first impression of the elderly lady is pictured to be wild and crazy. She has tattoos all over her body, she owns a tattoo shop as well. It is clear that the directors wanted to make the woman look uneducated yet attractive. As the story goes along more about her family background is revealed. Her 17 year old daughter used to date a 32 year old guy, her son was trialed in a court room and her ex-husband is prison. All this are points of humor in the episode, but clearly shines out the point that she is from a very complicated background. I believe this is another way of portraying a ruling class Ideology, that most of the elderly women who dates young men have complicated backgrounds.
At some point of the episode she also agrees that she is with the young man only for sexual pleasure. Hegemony is used at this point to convey it is more exciting for elder women to date young men.
Also the young man is rendered as an irresponsible, immature and some times stupid character. This is clearly shown when the young man plans to take the lady to Las Vegas to get married the next day. Also implies that young adults would take a lot of immature decisions in the name of love and its the mistake of the age not the person. All these situations suggest humor even though they are based on ruling class Ideologies.
In conclusion, I have noticed that Hegemony is used very often in humor. The Ideology is hiding in plain sight as a part of the joke but it is hardly noticeable to some people without giving a thought about it.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Cultural Hegemony
As I was presearching on Cultural Hegemony I came across this article that explains the ideology in a more practical manner.
Link to the Blog
The author of this blog has focused more on Cultural Hegemony related to the American Culture. She has described how it has effected other cultures and how it has not. She also explains the two divides of this theory by Americans. One defined as the liberal viewpoint and the other defined as the conservative viewpoint. Both the viewpoints are interestingly engaging to me because of my perspective on this ideology.
For a person who has lived almost 19 years in a conservative country and moved to USA, I find both the viewpoints explained above to be true. The article in the end summarizes that the ideology itself is a mere theory and is not practically happening but I disagree. I remember how my community adapted to the western culture and how the youth embraced it. It happened gradually and it was hardly noticeable to some who did not know the native practices and cultures.
I have learned that Cultural Hegemony is a widely problematic case for some and it is the human nature that develops it to its next stage. I didn't realize the value of my own culture until I came to USA, which is also the nature of humans. The world is becoming smaller and I believe Cultural Hegemony is not a crisis but a mere outcome of globalization.
I came across this article after going through a lot of scholarly articles and Wikipedia links. This article was the only article that illustrated the ideology in a more practical manner.
Link to the Blog
The author of this blog has focused more on Cultural Hegemony related to the American Culture. She has described how it has effected other cultures and how it has not. She also explains the two divides of this theory by Americans. One defined as the liberal viewpoint and the other defined as the conservative viewpoint. Both the viewpoints are interestingly engaging to me because of my perspective on this ideology.
For a person who has lived almost 19 years in a conservative country and moved to USA, I find both the viewpoints explained above to be true. The article in the end summarizes that the ideology itself is a mere theory and is not practically happening but I disagree. I remember how my community adapted to the western culture and how the youth embraced it. It happened gradually and it was hardly noticeable to some who did not know the native practices and cultures.
I have learned that Cultural Hegemony is a widely problematic case for some and it is the human nature that develops it to its next stage. I didn't realize the value of my own culture until I came to USA, which is also the nature of humans. The world is becoming smaller and I believe Cultural Hegemony is not a crisis but a mere outcome of globalization.
I came across this article after going through a lot of scholarly articles and Wikipedia links. This article was the only article that illustrated the ideology in a more practical manner.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Research Proposal #1
The Underlying Language
Different countries have
different languages, some unique to their own countries. Often we assume that
it’s the language that’s hard to understand, but in reality the hardest part is
the language that’s not expressed by words. Some countries share the same
language but their cultures are fundamentally different which makes
communication somewhat difficult even though language is a mutual factor. Sometimes knowing the language is is different from using it.
In this research I will be looking for issues
faced by International Students in United States related to language
barriers and social difficulties caused by cultural differences.
Background
On my first day in United
States I was walking down to the Row Hall to meet my International Advisor. On
the way I came across this person who was walking towards me. As he was walking
past me, he looked at me and said “Hey, how you doing?” I stopped to answer his
question but surprisingly he walked away from me continuing his path as if he
didn’t expect an answer from me. This shocked me, at first I thought he must be
insane, but he didn’t look like it. From where I come from, when a person asks
“How are you?” it is a genuine question and we expect a genuine answer. It is a
question that signifies the caring one has for the other, but in America it’s
just a phrase similar to saying “hello”. When I’m having a serious conversation
with someone, if that person asks me “How are you?” it makes me wonder what
kind of an answer that person expects. In Sri Lanka, we often use English to
greet people. A person would say “Good Morning” or “Good Afternoon” to greet
someone she/he meets on the way. It is a short greeting and no long answer is
expected, simply put it’s just like saying “Hello”. Then again, saying “Hey,
how you doing?” and walking away would make no sense to both the parties
because it’s not a greeting, it’s a question a Sri Lankan would only ask from a
person whom she/he has an interest in that persons well being.
This was my first encounter in United States and
was definitely not the last. At first I thought knowing the language would be
sufficient to communicate with someone but apparently its not the case. Its
interesting to know what kind of barriers are faced by internationals in their
day to day life.
Significance
Its important that the
community understands the difficulties of adapting to a complete different
culture and living as a part of it. The challenges vary to a student
to another but it will be something similar for an American studying in another
country. Understanding these barriers will help the students to communicate and
understand each other. My research will give a brief understanding and a view
on what to expect when living in a different culture and how to overcome the difficulties.
Methodology
I have been searching for
scholarly articles and journals to find information on this topic.
Presearching stage was successful as I found some interesting
articles and pages. They are written by Professors and Graduate Students which
provide accurate and peer reviewed information that are reliable.
Potential Setbacks
At some point I will run out of
sources as this topic is not a widely talked topic. Although its not a popular
issues, it is a personal interest for me and I intend to use the resources I
have. If necessary I will use a survey distributed to the International Student
Club of the University to request and get more information about
personal experiences of the members regarding this issue. The feedback can
be used as statistics as well.
References
Language
Challenges Faced by International Graduate Students in United States
Understanding Of
International Graduate Students’Academic Adaptation To A U.s. Graduate School
Faculty Perspectives
Regarding Graduate International Students’ Isolation From Host National
Students
Identifying and Working
With Barriers Facing International Students
Monday, February 11, 2013
Information Sources
Information is delivered to us in many forms. Some forms are a part of our lives such as Newspapers and Magazines, but some are only used when there is a need for it. When it comes to Researching, we have to go through all kinds of Information Sources to get what we want.
Newspapers are one of the most common mediums of information sources available. Local events and incidents are easily found in newspapers without any hassle. When researching about a social issue or something similar, it would be wise to go through the newspapers and understand how the local community goes through the same issue. The disadvantage to this information is that Newspapers are not 100% accurate with the facts. The industry publishes what ever the reader has the interest for and sometimes the news and facts deviate from the truth.
Scholarly Articles and Books are two of the most reliable ways of finding research information. Its also one of the most recommended information sources as well. These peer reviewed articles are written by professionals who are at their best in their fields. It would be interesting to go through different articles of the same topic and understand different view points. This would be very helpful during a research process and will give a better understanding of your own thesis.
Online encyclopedias hold an enormous amount of information and are freely and easily available to the public. Its the first step for a pre-researching process. Encyclopedias do not go deeply into a topic, instead they describe and define a common issue or an object. So most of the time its hard to find a topic specific page that would help the research, but it does help to support facts that are needed. Encyclopedias can only help a research at its first basic level.
Magazines are a popular mass communication media and its vastly growing as well. Only a few percentage of magazines can actually be used as reference or sources to a research because most of the magazine industry is about entertainment and gossip!
If the research is related to an issue or common incidents that the government keeps public records on, then Government Documents can provide reliable, accurate facts and information to support the thesis. It available to the public for use. These are facts and data so its easy to extract the relevant information and manipulate it according to the thesis.
Every thesis has a point when looked from a given perspective. Even the most senseless thesis or argument can have a surviving factor for someone with a different perspective. Information is important when doing a research, but the means of using the information extracted from sources can create a stronger research paper.
Newspapers are one of the most common mediums of information sources available. Local events and incidents are easily found in newspapers without any hassle. When researching about a social issue or something similar, it would be wise to go through the newspapers and understand how the local community goes through the same issue. The disadvantage to this information is that Newspapers are not 100% accurate with the facts. The industry publishes what ever the reader has the interest for and sometimes the news and facts deviate from the truth.
Scholarly Articles and Books are two of the most reliable ways of finding research information. Its also one of the most recommended information sources as well. These peer reviewed articles are written by professionals who are at their best in their fields. It would be interesting to go through different articles of the same topic and understand different view points. This would be very helpful during a research process and will give a better understanding of your own thesis.
Online encyclopedias hold an enormous amount of information and are freely and easily available to the public. Its the first step for a pre-researching process. Encyclopedias do not go deeply into a topic, instead they describe and define a common issue or an object. So most of the time its hard to find a topic specific page that would help the research, but it does help to support facts that are needed. Encyclopedias can only help a research at its first basic level.
Magazines are a popular mass communication media and its vastly growing as well. Only a few percentage of magazines can actually be used as reference or sources to a research because most of the magazine industry is about entertainment and gossip!
If the research is related to an issue or common incidents that the government keeps public records on, then Government Documents can provide reliable, accurate facts and information to support the thesis. It available to the public for use. These are facts and data so its easy to extract the relevant information and manipulate it according to the thesis.
Every thesis has a point when looked from a given perspective. Even the most senseless thesis or argument can have a surviving factor for someone with a different perspective. Information is important when doing a research, but the means of using the information extracted from sources can create a stronger research paper.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The Research Process–Picking a Topic
These are some of the current news stories that interest me
- Gun Politics in USA Link
- This is a well known issue in USA and also a major issue considering the recent incidents. This has affected a huge amount of people and devastated their families.
- The most interesting part of the news story is the fact that the same constitution that's suppose to protect the American citizens, has contributed to this situations current status. The protestors against the Gun control laws are using the second amendment as a weapon in their protest. Sadly, the country consider the well being of a individual citizen more important than the well being of the entire country.
- Being a citizen of a country where Gun control laws are at a high level, I have a bipolar belief on this topic. Some of my friends get offended by my comments on this topic, which is not surprising when I think of how many firearms I have seen in Georgia. The opinion that I have is from a complete perspective and it will be hard to comprehend for some people.
- Obesity in America Link
- The National Institution of Health defines obesity as having too much body fat. Its been described as the fastest growing public health issue for the US.
- In Sri Lanka (Where I come from) we walk almost everywhere to get our work done in the outdoors, but in USA almost everyone drives everywhere. Its very interesting that there are Drive-throughs for everything, even banks have Drive-throughs. Also the food here is mostly unhealthy junk food, which happens to be cheaper than the healthy real food. It is the small things that makes the big difference.
- In order to come up with a good research paper for this topic, I will have to go deep into a lot of other aspects of this story.
- High Medical Bills Issue Link
- The medical expenses in USA is very high compared to other countries in the world. Statistics say around 15% of the population doesn't have medical Insurance.
- It is interesting that In USA getting ill could end up bringing yourself to bankruptcy even with medical insurance. 75% of the people who filed for bankruptcy had health insurance.The fact remains that except for billionaires, every person who lives in America is one major illness away from bankruptcy.
- When writing a research on this topic I would be able to support the fact that a huge problem exists, but I will not be able to come up with a possible solution or at least something close to it.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Rhetorical Tricks in Action
Mass Media has an immense impact on the public and most of the time the public grabs the first opinion on a news, based on whats presented to them. The harsh truth is that most of the time mass media does not take a neutral point when presenting facts. As a result of this, media has the ability to cloud the judgement of the audience towards reality. 'Rhetorical Tricks' are counter argument tricks that are one of the most efficient ways of achieving and winning arguments but usually most of the times these counter arguments do not make sense at all.
Sadly though, majority of the audience does not grab the facts of an argument, they like to be fed with opinions and praises the person with better charisma regardless of the facts the speaker presents. 'Rhetorical Tricks' are perfect tools to achieve such success. In my opinion I would rather call it an 'Art of Deception' than mere tricks, because the most interesting part of 'Rhetorical Tricks' is the fact that most of the time the audience is unaware of such deception being used on them.
Below are several instances of 'Rhetorical Tricks' used in News Programs
Sadly though, majority of the audience does not grab the facts of an argument, they like to be fed with opinions and praises the person with better charisma regardless of the facts the speaker presents. 'Rhetorical Tricks' are perfect tools to achieve such success. In my opinion I would rather call it an 'Art of Deception' than mere tricks, because the most interesting part of 'Rhetorical Tricks' is the fact that most of the time the audience is unaware of such deception being used on them.
Below are several instances of 'Rhetorical Tricks' used in News Programs
- Rachel Maddows segment on Dick Morris - Video
- In the segment, the presenter used 'Ad Hominem' through out the whole show. She often shined out Dick Morris's personal life and actions and tried to tangle it with the his job and tried to question his judgement.
- Rachel Maddows segment on NRA and Gun Control - Video
- This segment was very interesting. Instead of using a counter argument, Rachel Maddows was pointing out the 'Rhetoric Tricks' that NRA has used on public to justify their opinions. This itself was a very effective counterargument.
- NRA uses 'False Cause' to back their argument on opposing Gun Control. They say that Guns are not the problem , the problem is Hollywood.
In the end, every opinion is relative to the state of mind. Some believe even the most senseless facts and some have an open mind and a more different perspective.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Research Reflection
Are you researching effectively? What in your process do you think you'll need to change?
In short, No. I honestly think my research skills can be improved immensely. Picking a topic and presearching has been a problem for me when researching. Although being a Computer Science major is an advantage when finding resources in the Internet, its hard to search for something when you really have no clear idea of what you are looking for.
How information literate do you think you are? Which information literacy skill do you need the most help in (locate, evaluate, use)
I think I am at a good standing when it comes to information literacy. I do a pretty good job in locating information as well.
Why is it important for you to know what research is?
In short, No. I honestly think my research skills can be improved immensely. Picking a topic and presearching has been a problem for me when researching. Although being a Computer Science major is an advantage when finding resources in the Internet, its hard to search for something when you really have no clear idea of what you are looking for.
How information literate do you think you are? Which information literacy skill do you need the most help in (locate, evaluate, use)
I think I am at a good standing when it comes to information literacy. I do a pretty good job in locating information as well.
Why is it important for you to know what research is?
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