My Identity

Our last assignment is to brag about our selfs? Sweet! So can we just stand in front of the class and talk about our selves for a half hour?

I haven't yet decided which mode I'm going to use to highlight myself as a photographer. The online photo-sharing website, Flickr, would be ideal for posting my photographs but it's limited. I can't blog there and I can't post videos. If only I could blend them into my own medium salsa.

I could design my own website. Now i regret neglecting last semesters Flash class.

I'll have to continue my search on the world wide net web for a better site to suit my purpose.

If any of you come across one, post it here.

This will probably be the first professional post I make.

John Walsh is a relentless advocate for victim's rights- particularly children. A hotel developer turned criminal hunter, he harnessed his passion for criminal justice in 1981 when his son was brutally murdered. He would eventually host America's Most Wanted, the nations top crime-fighting show.

Our goal for this project is to create a John Walsh my space that he would approve of.

MEDIUM ANALYSIS: Working Thesis

What compels people to not only visit hotornot.com but also post their own picture on the site?

Hot or Not

I've been trying to pick a medium I know quite a bit about but I can't seem to think of one that's interesting so I'll do the opposite. I decided to pick a medium I know little about. Hot or not .com or rate my professor.com. I want to know who started them, why they start them and why they're successful. The answer to my last inquiry might be obvious but I want to do some more digging.

When was I first introduced to technology? Well, first I should pose the question: when did technology actually begin? In the loose sense technology started with the invention of the wheel or perhaps the harnessing of electricity. In the strict sense technology began somewhere around 1989 with the invention of the microchip. This little chip would help define me.

In 1989 I was six. My toy arsenal consisted of GI Joe and Micro Machines. None of which contained a microchip. In 1989 I was content. Content until the microchip spurred the creation of Nintendo’s little plastic box of doom.

I had to wait until 1994 to get my own system and it technically wasn’t mine. It wasn’t mine for two reasons. First, it was used. That means it belong to someone else. That some else abused it to the point that it didn’t work very well. We spent many hours performing common tricks to try and get it to work. We blew into the games, pushed down on them prematurely while loading so that the game would scrape into place. We performed many other common tricks that didn’t exclude throwing it across the room.

The second reason the Nintendo wasn’t mine has to do with the word “we”. That’s right, I had to share with my older brothers. They would gladly take advantage of their older brother status and pummel me until I could no longer hold the controller. Thankfully it broke before I ended up in a body cast. My parents vowed to never let another devil box into their house again.

I blame Nintendo for two things. First, for my beatings. Second for starting a rivalry between my cousins and I. The previous owners/abusers of our used Nintendo were my cousins. My aunt had left the Nintendo on our door step early one Saturday morning. That Saturday morning wasn’t just any Saturday morning, it happen to be the same Saturday morning Nintendo released their “super” model.

When I went to visit my cousins the following weekend there it was-- a brand new Super Nintendo tucked inside a brand new entertainment center. The brand new entertainment center happen to be holding a brand new fifty-two inch TV. The moment my eyes graced their technology marvel I did what any ten year old would do. I through my self on the floor and started kicking and screaming. That happen to be the same day I used my first cuss word, which happen to be the first day I experienced the feeling of envy, which happen to be the first day my dad beat me. Well he didn’t beat me but he should have. And no, that probably wasn’t the first time I felt envy but it’s my first memory of envy and it was Nintendo’s fault, which meant it was the microchips fault.

Though my parents vowed to never let a gaming system into their house again they would later revisit their decision. Their new ruling would be reduced to a more diplomatic decree. They stated, “The only way a game system would be allowed into our home again would be if you paid for it with your own money.” Being ten at the time my parents assumed they were safe with their new and fair decision.

The following week I got my first job slinging newspapers. I saved for eight months and right before thanksgiving walked through the front door carrying a giant box. The look on my parents faces was priceless. “Where did you…” my mom looked over at my dad, “How did you…” my dad said. The cashier at Western Auto where I bought the thing gave me the same look that the check out lady gave Mcolly Culkin in Home Alone.

That thanksgiving was the worst in my families history. Since I only had one controller we fought so viscously that Mom delivered thanksgiving dinner to us in our rooms. The Microchip proved to reek havoc on my life once again.

My gaming envy took on a new form when Silicon Valley launched their first computers. Again my cousins got the first computer, not us. Again we got their old one and again I got trampled by my brothers over usage rights. It wasn’t until high school when my older brothers moved out of the house that I had time to my self on the computer. I didn’t have exclusive right because I still had to share it with my parents.

My first year of college I used my grant money to get my own machine. Steve Jobs had just launched the first iMacs and I was first inline. It served me well, mainly because it sat on my own desk, in my own apartment, free from my brothers’ reign.

I do my best to keep up with the latest gadgets. Though I survive on a college student's budget I work just as hard as I did slinging papers back in grade school. Working hard has enabled me to own a MacBook, iPod, cell phone and any other pop gadget that I have to have. The best part, I have exclusive rights to them all.

Digital Native

I'm a digital native with with a minor in anything that has pixels. Though I was already in Boy Scouts when the first dinosaurs rolled out of Silicon Valley I did manage to catch the high-tech wave. My ten year old brain had not yet begun a mass extinction of its excess neurons required to learn these gadgets. Luckily technology moved quite slow at first and gave me enough time to integrate before the training-wheels came off. Now technology moves so fast its got to be hard if you're just now immigrating.  

My dad, on the other hand, missed the boat. His high-tech neurons died with the sinking of the USS Arizona. He wasn't there during the bombing of Pearl Harbor but he did listen to it on the radio. He still, to this day,  dials 1 and then the number before he pushes send on his cell phone.

Technology Bio

When was I first introduced to technology? We'll first I need to set some parameters and define when technology first began. Did it start with the invention of fire or perhaps with the creation of the actual word technology?

Exposure to technology began for me on the day my mom brought home a used Nintendo. That was followed up with the purchase of my families first computer-- a 1mg PacPlus. Shortly after we had our own computer the school system began integrating their own. That was in fifth grade. Two years later the Internet sprouted up and I got my first E-Mail account. Of course the first E-Mail accounts were used mostly to brag about having an E-Mail account.

Today my exposure to technology consists of:

CELLPHONE: We all know how much we use this gadget. Of course my calling play consists of unlimited calling and texting, pictures included. Now that I got Internet on the thing my news junkie side constantly logs onto The New York Times to stay up-to-date.

MACBOOK: Not used as much as my cellphone but a happy second place for this compact QWERTY form of caffeine. I play the yuppy roll and whip it out at Starbucks to do my homework and download music. My bookmarks consist of: The New York Times, Myspace, Hotmail, NMSU and Flickr. They aren't subject to change.

iPOD: People annoy me when they walk around with their white earbuds. Unfortunately, I'm one of those people. My 80gig iPod is practically full and half of that's music. I know, forty gigs of music. You're probably guilty too. The other thirty or so gigs are photos and videos.

CAMERA: It's an extension of my arm. My lifeline. It's how I make a living. Nikon comes out with a new expensive camera every twelve or so months and I buy it. I'm not rich but I sacrifice to fund my addictions. Not only do I use it for work but I use it like any other person- its just bulkier.

VIDEO CAMERA: Almost as crucial to me as my Nikon. I also use it to make a living. At least once a month I have a video shoot. It's also nice to have for CMI assignment.

iMAC: My poor iMac. Since I got my laptop my iMac's only purpose is to look cool on my desk. I do start it occasionally to edit video projects.

My overall theme is going to be hard to nail down but I'm leaning towards photography. Possibly doing a photo study of my journey through technology.