Happy Leap Day Blog Anniversary to
Baby Boomer Blog for
Four Years of Blogging
February 29th, 2008 !
February 29, 2008
January 10, 2008
Baby Boomer Blog: The Thesis
In February 2004 I wrote the first entry in “Baby Boomer Blog,” a blog I created as a vehicle for developing my personal capital in an age of innovation and change. Baby Boomer Blog eventually became my final project for the MLS. It is a creative project and this paper serves as the process paper.
The process paper is divided into six chapters. In the introduction I explain my topic, blogs, and my project, Baby Boomer Blog. I present my thesis statement and define blogs, virtual selves, personal capital, and alternative futures. In chapter two I present the interdisciplinary framework for my project. I explain how the Liberal Studies curriculum, the writings of Arthur Harkins, and the Generational Theory of authors William Strauss and Neil Howe affected my outlook. Some current research from the Pew research foundation's Internet in American Life Project provides context for my project.
In chapter three I describe my personal experience with Baby Boomer Blog. I review the topics of my blog, present my blog statistics and describe the blogging service I use, called Typepad. Chapter four will define Blogging on the Internet Social Network, MySpace. Part of my research has been comparing and contrasting the results of blogging on this Internet Social Network. I expanded my original blog into two blogs, a technique known as cross-posting. Chapter five will explain what I learned from blogging. I analyze the lessons learned from blogging, including the importance of design for a blogger. I include an example of publicity I garnered for my blogging, and a cute web survey, “How Much Is My Blog Worth?”
In the conclusion of my paper, and I share my insights on the future of blogging and Baby Boomer Blog. I explain why I consider my blog a success, and highlight my most successful blog posting. Then I step back and look at blogs from a larger viewpoint to explain where we are now with blogging in 2007. I discuss why blogs have become popular, and how blogs might look from 2008 to 2018. The appendix features three screen print illustrations from my blog. A computer disc of the Baby Boomer Blog entries is included with this process paper.
The whole thesis is here.Download cohen_janet_dthesisdec2007.pdf
Thanks to my family and friends. Mike, Shana, and Marc, and my sister Meira, who is a constant inspiration. Special thanks to my friends Mary Alice, who first handed me a U. of Minnesota catalog, and Joe, a classmate who is now a blogger. Also thanks to my friends Marisa and Heidi, and the members of Poor Posture, Fixed Gears, and the Zombie House.
Thanks very much to my Advisors and Professors at the University of Minnesota: Jack K. Johnson, Arthur Harkins, and two favorite professors, Jerry Alan and Jeremy Iggers, who first encouraged my research on blogging. Also, thanks to the Master of Liberal Studies Department.
Next I'd like to thank the theorists and bloggers who most influenced my work. Thanks to; professor and co-advisor Arthur Harkins, authors Brenda Fiala, William Strauss and Neil Howe, and Generational Dynamics blogger John Xenakis. Special thanks to the Pew Internet in American Life Project for their ongoing research in this subject. Thanks to the bloggers and web creators I call my "Virtual Professors", whose words and thoughts have influenced me. Thanks to Andrew Sullivan, Meryl Yourish, Oliver Willis, Pamela Geller, Ray Kurzweil, Nova Spivak, dana boyd, Douglas Rushkoff, and Jay Michaelson. Also thanks to University of Minnesota blogger John Moravek. Finally I would like to thank some special MySpace friends. Thanks to Janet Waters Levite for being amazing, Manny Mann for being a blog-a-holic, Alvis Briggs, my futurist friend, and Diablo Cody, for being a fearless, female, blogger.
November 09, 2006
Collage from Photoshop Class
This is what I'm learning in my Photoshop class.
CS2 is way more fun than Microsoft Paint!
October 21, 2006
MnSpeak printed my Blog
I know this is super lame, but I never had seventeen comments to anything I wrote, even something so short.
From MnSpeak archives
Posted October 17, 2006
Great news music lovers. Barb from WOXYhas landed at The Current, and is now living in the Cities. She has been on the air three weeks - I've been listening to Barb for five years, since I've had broadband access. Alas, WOXY is no more [actually, it's back], but people, we have Barb !!! 9 a.m. to noon.
October 20, 2006
Baby Boomer Blog: Creating Personal Capital and Alternative Futures Through a Virtual Self.
This is a sample illustration for my upcoming project
Baby Boomer Blog: Creating Personal Capital and Alternative Futures Through a Virtual Self.
These are illustrations of bloggers who have created a virtual self icon for their mast head.
From top down:
Meryl Yourish drawing,
Ray Kurzweil as virtual Ramona, Heather Havrilesky as Rabbit,
illustrated by Terry Colon.
Andrew Sullivan drawing with beagles, also illustrated by Terry Colon.Pamela photoshopped as Superwoman for her blog, Atlas Shrugs, and
James Wolcott's face in a drawing.
Group Blogs Jewlicious and A Socialite's Life have models in iconic clothing to illustrate the content.
October 16, 2006
Rabbit's Eternal Truths of the Workplace
I have been blogging, just over
at MySpace.
http://blog.myspace.com/janetdcohen
Heather Havrilesky's "Rabbit Blog" was one of the first blogs I studied in 2004. My analysis had to do with her blog-fueled career success and how it increased her Personal Capital. Now in late 2006, I am returning to the key bloggers I studied in 2004. Now Havrilesky is Salon's TV critic. She also maintains the rabbit blog.
Rabbit Blog was an outgrowth of Havrilesky's work with Terry Colon, from the now defunct Suck.com. The format of the blog is an advice column, and Rabbit gets to rant her sharp, hilarious, spot on philosophy. This column should be required reading for office workers everywhere.
THE HALLS OF
INJUSTICE
Hey Rabbit,
I used to be like the
handsome Israeli guys only less handsome and no Angel Dust, just
driving drunk and hitting the LSD and whatnot...
But that
isn't what I'm writing about.
All that drunk and that LSD and
so forth led me into about twenty-odd years of Finding Myself,
wasting my Enormous Brain and my liberal-arts education on glorified
construction work, all the while thinking "I think there might
really be something to this computer stuff.."
And behind
a modest inheritance I finally broke out of the stoop-labor market
and learned a little bit about these computer things, enough to land
me a singularly unglamorous job with a hugely prestigious technology
company. Well my actual employer was an employee-leasing firm which
provides contract workers to the prestigious company, but the
understanding was that I needed to learn some more stuff and then the
prestigious company would hire me.
So I learned the stuff, and
it took me a year, and the day I was expecting to be told, "Hey
the fix is in, we're gonna straighten you out and you should be a
made guy soon," they told me to go home for ninety days and
start over. One of my colleagues had blackballed me, a silly little
twat who nobody likes and nobody but me really even respected at all,
had taken offense at a perceived slight and my shit was over. My boss
and his boss (the Regional Manager) have encouraged me to come back.
After ninety days on the dole. Apparently there had been some changes
in policy and that little twat's opinion was more important than the
obvious needs and desires of the team as a whole -- even though he is
now being punished. Everyone is being punished, this was not supposed
to happen, the Regional Manager is furious, how could this happen?
Why was nobody told?
So I'm about halfway through my ninety
days and I have finally managed to stop frothing at the mouth about
how they *fucked* me and I've decided that my job is to just get over
it already and get ready to go back to work, be nice to the twat,
watch my attitude, wear a clean shirt and so forth.
But I
wonder, am I being a sap? I have never had a real corporate job, is
this just how it is or should I pursue other opportunities? Like you
would know, when have you ever had a corporate job? You're a fucking
stuffed rabbit! If I go back is everyone going to look at me funny
and mutter about me to one another under their breath? Do my boss and
his boss really want me back or do they just tell everybody that shit
to ward off some imaginary liability under civil law?
This
would be an easy decision if I were not talking about a company that
is in the headlines almost every day. As a career-changer I could
really benefit from having this company on my resume, and not just
for a year as a contractor. I still don't have the technical chops to
do very well elsewhere, at least not right away, but do I really want
to hitch my wagon to a company that thinks nothing of employing me
for a year only to tell me that my work is very good and I can go
fuck myself?
Did I mention that I have some problems with
self-esteem? That I have a big mouth and a stubborn streak as wide as
the Pacific Ocean? That I'm talking about a company which has
substantially redefined the Web in a matter of a few years, and that
is years ahead of everybody in technical areas that fascinate me?
That my drag persona and my attempts at a career as a media critic
and a housewife did not work out?
What's a poor little
supermodel, with a body for sin and a head for massive
virtualization, to do?
Love,
Cisco LaPerla
Dear
Cisco,
Hmm. Confused. Body for sin, big mouth, stubborn
streak, liability, twat? Your story is a little bit difficult to
follow, frankly. I can't really tell what kind of a job you're doing,
whether or not you're using the term "on the dole" because
you're in Great Britain or because you think it's a cool way of
saying "on unemployment," what the actual terms of your
leaving your job for three months and then coming back were, or how
the twat in question was punished for being a twat. I also wonder how
you offended him, how he generally navigates the office, and what
makes people dislike him.
But forget all that. Basically, I'm
going to take your word for it: You were dealt an unfair hand by
authority figures who misunderstood, or who were covering their own
asses in some way, or who just didn't care all that much about your
well-being. Maybe it was convenient to get rid of you temporarily, to
placate the twat. Maybe they secretly didn't like you all that much,
and wanted to teach you a lesson. Who knows? First and foremost, I
want you to clear you head and focus on one very basic truth about
the workplace, any workplace in the world: It's no fucking
fair.
It's very, very important to remember this, no
matter what industry you work in, no matter what kind of a job you
have. Offices are poorly managed. Almost across the board. In
fact, let's make a list of ten things to keep in mind, every single
day, before you arrive at your job, whatever job it is.
Rabbit's
Eternal Truths of the Workplace
1. Most offices are
horribly managed.
2. Most managers can't, technically,
"manage" worth a shit.
3. Most coworkers are
out for themselves and no one else.
4. Most people --
bosses, colleagues, underlings, whatever -- don't know how to
communicate clearly with each other.
5. Most people do
work that ranges from mediocre to absolutely shoddy.
6.
When you do good work, most people won't notice or if they do notice,
they won't reward you for it.
7. Most bosses don't know
how to clearly communicate their expectations to you, and are likely
to sprinkle in personal insults, inappropriate comparisons to your
coworkers, condescending asides, and other disturbingly
unprofessional digressions when they speak with you.
8.
When you communicate your goals and objectives clearly, most people
will misunderstand you or assume that you're being overly aggressive
or nitpicky or trying to steal their jobs.
9. The
culture of most work settings is ineffectual, passive aggressive,
wildly dysfunctional, dorky, and almost willfully chumpy, and often
rewards mediocrity, troublemaking, pouting, and juvenile
behavior.
10. If you attempt to be yourself or express
your true feelings in most office settings, you will inevitably
offend someone, step on someone's toes, piss someone off, or get
slapped with a sexual harassment suit.
Now look, I'm not
saying there aren't offensive people out there who sexually harass
their coworkers. I'm not saying that some offices, somewhere, aren't
filled with nice people who communicate with each other clearly, get
along well, and do their jobs efficiently. I'm not saying there
aren't good managers and highly effective colleagues and straight
shooters and healthy, friendly people in the world. My boss at Salon,
for one, is extremely smart, clear, encouraging, and easy to work
for, and I'm honestly not just saying that because I like getting
paid.
That said, in my experience, most offices suck ass and
most coworkers are hard to take. Most people don't understand you
even when you speak very clearly to them. Many, many professional
human beings out there are troublemakers, even when you take pains to
lay out your objectives in the most polite manner possible, even when
you try hard to be detail-oriented, to keep everyone in the loop, to
graciously accept extra work, to help the people you work with and
make their jobs easier.
And look, it's not like you and I are
the only sane people on the planet. I'm sure if we worked together,
I'd hate you and you'd hate me. The fact is, it's very very easy to
get offended when you're on deadline and stressed out and you
basically dislike every word of every email that's popping up on your
computer and every word you overhear in the elevator and every bad
laugh or stupid joke you have to endure in the conference room. Even
if you love your job, even if you're grateful for it and you enjoy
the company of some of the people you work with and you actually
savor most of the tasks set before you each day, it's very easy to
get bent out of shape at work.
So where does that leave us?
With Rabbit's Golden Rules of the Workplace, which are particularly
useful to hotheads and people with big mouths like you and
me.
Rabbit's Golden Rules of the Workplace
1.
Accept Rabbit's Eternal Truths of the Workplace. When you feel angry
and want to bash someone's face in, reread them. Remind yourself that
everyone is in the same boat: All offices and people in them are
disappointing in one way or another.
2. Never send
angry emails, or pick up the phone when you're angry, or allow
yourself to have an angry outburst in a meeting. Go for a walk, call
a friend, eat a couple dozen candy bars, but don't get pissed off at
work, it's a great big huge fucking mistake and you'll regret it.
Losing your temper at work is the definition of unprofessional.
3.
When you need to express yourself on the phone or through email, be
exceedingly polite. Thank people for helping you, for taking the time
to read your emails or answer your calls or requests for
information.
4. When other people are unprofessional or
want to start shit or bicker with you, stick to the objectives at
hand. Communicate what you need to in order to do the job and nothing
more.
5. Don't complain to people at work about other
people at work. If you must, choose one person who you trust to
complain to. Gossip and gripe all you want to that person, within
reason, but make sure you can trust him or her first, and don't
involve anyone else in it. Make sure the person won't repeat anything
to anyone else. If possible, find someone outside of work who you can
confide in about work stuff, but don't overdo it. Listening to
someone else's petty office bullshit is about as interesting as
hearing about the "really long, really weird dream" they
had last night in excruciating detail.
6. Try not to
pick sides. Don't stir the pot. Don't jump right in with your
opinion. You can be the most opinionated motherfucker on the planet,
but save that shit for your friends, don't trot it out at work. No
one will trust you, and they'll start to undervalue your work, even
when it's good.
7. Exercise at least four times a
week. Working in an office will eat away at your sanity unless you
stay in shape.
8. Do your best to manage your manager.
If he or she can't communicate his or her expectations of you, find
out what they are. Check in often. Ask questions. Make it very clear
what you're working on.
9. Don't waste your time doing
jobs that someone else can easily do. This is a great way to stay
trapped, frustrated and undervalued. Find the things that no one else
can do quite as well as you can and do those things really, really
well. If there are parts of your job that any trained monkey can
perform, try to get your boss to hire someone else to handle those
things while you excel at the stuff they can't hire out. This might
take time, but if you never do anything that is a waste of time or
can be completed by someone else, you'll naturally shape your career
path based on your talents and you'll make yourself irreplaceable.
10. Meet your fucking deadlines. Dummy.
11.
Exceed expectations.
So, specifically, Cisco? I'd say you need
to stop being yourself in the workplace. I know that sounds
oppressive, but you've clearly got a big personality and a lot of
opinions, and frankly, people hate that shit at work. You may be able
to get away with it if you're the boss, but even then, you're going
to run into some trouble.
Remember, offices are filled with
threatened, frustrated, unhappy people most of whom are pretty
fucking bad at their jobs, and they know it. You don't have the
freedom to be your charismatic, talkative, smart self in that
setting. Hell, you don't even have the freedom to offer feedback that
you think might help to improve the stupid product. Half the time,
your opinions and input, however spot-on, aren't welcome. That's just
the way it is.
If you want to work with other people, you
have to act like a nice, mild-mannered person. That's the kind of
person people want to work with. I'm not saying you can't stand up
for yourself, but it sounds like you're going to do that regardless.
I'm just saying, you've got to put that light under a basket. Save it
for the weekend, supermodel, because you've worked hard to get here,
and you're not going to have a career if you feel compelled to
express yourself freely in the workplace.
Yes, it's unfair
and stupid. Please feel free to reread "Rabbit's Eternal Truths
About Workplaces" if you want to remind yourself why you have to
mute yourself eternally. Just accept it. If I were you, I would stick
with this job despite feeling like your pride has been hurt by it --
you said yourself that it's an important firm and a really great
opportunity for you. You have to leave the past behind you, and make
it clear to everyone, including the twat, that you're not going to
sulk or start trouble despite the injustices of the past. Focus on
your work, ignore the twats, excel at what you do, and blow off steam
by working out and bitching to people other than the ones you work
with. At work, you need to learn to be low-key, easy-going, and
quiet.
This is about your future, it's not about fighting
battles that will not only give you high blood pressure, but will nip
your career possibilities in the bud. Leave your great big
personality at home and become the kind of no-nonsense, hard-working
employee that it's easy for people to respect, to promote, and, most
importantly, to overpay.
Good luck!
August 31, 2006
Blog Day 2006
Today is Global Blog Day 2006, and I thought it would be fun to post their survey.
BlogDay posting instructions:
1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending on them on BlogDay 2006
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a a link to the recommended BlogsJava Joe is my friend Joe E., a Graduate Student at the University of Minnesota.
Israelly Cool is an Australian/Israeli Blogger whose blog I read extensively during the war.
Kosher Torah the blog of a Kabbalistic Orthodox Rabbi in California
Btw, Madonna is not Kosher.
Orthodox Anarchist from Israel. Not sure what he thinks about Madonna.
PZ Meyers, University of Minnesota Professor rails tirelessly against creationism.
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link: http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2006 and a link to BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org
If you are interested, Global Voices invites you to help fellow bloggers living in other parts of the world get to know you better. We’re finding that people in different countries blog for different reasons, and that blogospheres in different places have developed different kinds of relationships with the rest of their culture, politics, and mainstream media. We’d like to help people understand you and your region’s blogosphere better. So if you have the time, please help us do this by writing a post any time between now and Thursday (or several if you like), answering some or all of the following questions:
Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging for Graduate School. I quickly realized the ego gratification of instantly publishing to a global audience. I've been studying the difussion of the innovation of the since 2002, and started my blog on Leap day, Feb 29, 2004.
What do you blog about mainly?
I started with topics on
Innovation Studies and by posting my classroom assignments. Now my
blog is more personal, and represents my virtual self.
Do you blog in your first language
or in another language, and why? Only English
What motivates you to keep blogging even if (like most bloggers) you’re not paid much for it
My blog is part of my graduate studies. Now I use it for creative expression. My topics include blogging, Innovation studies, my virtual professor Douglas Ruskoff, book reviews, concert reviews, Jewish topics, and family information.
Is your audience mainly inside your own country or around the world?
Once I received an email from Great Britain about a TRIZ Creativity post.
What do your family and friends think about the fact that you are a blogger?
They are proud of me.
Does your boss know you have a blog?
When I used to work, no. Now, not applicable.
What is the relationship between blogs in your country or region and the mainstream media?
Minneapolis has a well developed blogging community. The Political blog, Powerline, is well known nationally. Local City Pages blogger, Diablo Cody, published her titilating stripper memoir this year. Minnesota Science Blogger, P.Z. Meyers is a University of Minnesota, Morris, Professor.
When you blog, how would you describe what you write? Is it part of a conversation? Is it ranting? Is it a daily diary? Is it journalism? Is it some or all of these things at different times? Does the definition matter?
My writing is a conversation with myself, with notes. I write about books, movies, televsion shows, trends, theories, Judaism, my amazing family, and buying socks.
Have blogs started to have an impact on politics in your country? Have they started to influence what stories get covered in your country’s media? We’d love to know some examples.
Absolutely. For example the recent Left Wing Blog War of Kos versus Lieberman was the worst Democratic infighting I've ever seen.
April 23, 2006
Creating Knowledge in the Blog-o-sphere
Final Presentation
Advanced Interdisciplinary Inquiry
Prof. Sarah Dennison
24 April 2006
Janet D Cohen
Creating Knowledge in the Blog-o-Sphere
My studies commenced in September 2002, with a class called “The Future of Media.” This fit perfectly with my Undergraduate Degree in Communications from Temple University. I was poised to jump into the world of Digital Media in the Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies Program at the University of Minnesota.
Salon was the first Digital Medium that I studied. The fledgling Blogs of Andrew Sullivan, Glen Reynolds, and James Lileks came next. Just for fun I threw in Heather Havrilesky and Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs. It was the run-up to the Iraq war, the time of the right wing Bloggers. Looking for balance, I found Blogs like Oliver Willis, and a plethora of Alternative Media.
When I first became a reader in 2002, Salon provided content for free. At the time every article was about the impending war. I was one of the first subscribers, and consider Salon a must for graduate school learners. I've been reading Salon so long I remember when Garrison Keillor was “Mr. Blue,” the original Salon Advice columnist. Andrew Sullivan is a fascinating writer whose Blog is called " The Daily Dish,." I have been reading him since being introduced in Salon. Of all the Blogs and Bloggers, I consider his the boldest. Sullivan was originally known as the “Gay Republican,” although he endorsed Kerry in 2004 because of the ballooning National deficit. Andrew Sullivan is now employed by Time, and his blog appears on their web page. He posts about five times a day, with conservative commentary on political issues. Gay Marriage Rights, Catholicism, and Opposition of Torture by American Troops are the themes Sullivan emphasizes.
Glen Reynolds is called the Blog-Father. He is a Law Professor, Technology writer, and compulsive Blogger. His Blog is called Instapundit. In 2002, I read his Blog, along with Johnson's Little Green Footballs . The only thing sharper than the opinions on those Blogs are the voices on their article threads. A fledgling Progressive Blog on my reading list was Oliver Willis. He calls his Blog, "Like Kryptonite to Stupid." Willis likes to get in rhetorical tangles with Reynolds. Arguing is part of the fun of the Blog-O-Sphere. I watched Willis increase his personal capitol by Blogging. Starting as an independent (self-funded) voice, now he's an employee of Media Matters for America. Lileks is a columnist from the Minneapolis Star Tribune who writes “The Bleat.” Not technically a Blog, Lileks comments on the local scene and includes plenty of anecdotes about his family.
Heather Havrilesky is currently the Salon Television Critic with a column called, "I Like To Watch." Her Web career started on a now defunct site, Suck, where she wrote a weekly comic about neurotic characters illustrated by Terry Colon. Havrilesky then started a starkly comic Blog, penned as a series of advice letters to “Rabbit.” Just at this time her career with Salon took off, and Havrilesky needed to change the name of her Blog. The former “tinylittlepenis” was changed to Rabbit Blog.
My next class was “Youth and American Media.” Again I seized the topic of Blogs. I conducted an unscientific but telling survey of G.L.B.T. Youth Blogs. My paper, “Twenty things about Twenty Blogs,” looked at the Blogs and found many similarities on their use of this New Media. Most interesting, I found many of the Blogs for my survey from an aggregate page that linked to thousands of sites.
In September of 2003, I stepped into Dr. Arthur Harkins' mysterious realm of Innovation Studies. I absorbed theory and examples, and kept reading Blogs. I discovered Dave Pollard's How To Save the World Blog , which, incidentally, was hosted by Salon. I found many other Innovation Blogs, especially that of inventor and futurist, Ray Kurzweil. Again, reading Salon lead me to another Blogger I studied. He is Author, Professor, Futurist, and Media Critic, Douglas Rushkoff. Learning took on a new dimension. I added On-Line content to what I was learning in class. Pollard, Kurzweil, Rushkoff and others became my Virtual Professsors I read their books, papers, Websites, and Blogs. I have even had Email discussions and Paper Contributions from two of them. I was learning in a non-traditional way. When Rushkoff taught a Digital Communication Theory Class for New York University I participated too. He posted his curriculum, assignments and required the N.Y.U. Students to post in the class Blog. As an observer I read the syllabus at my leisure, but followed the On-line discussion. I was enriched by boning up on the theorists, like Walter Ong or Marshall McCluhan, and Internet Communication pioneers like M.I.T.'s Sherry Turkle, or Linux founder, Linus Torvalds.
It was time to try Blogging myself, and I did so for my next Class, “Humans and Their Tools.” The Blog was called Tech Toy Blog. It was my first experiment in Blogging. Jennifer Swedell, Co-teacher of the Firefly, was the other Blog author. There is quite a bit of information on the topic of Technological Toys, so I just checked Google News for weekly updates and posted Information and Opinions. The Blog was active for six months, and generated a few comments and trackbacks. A trackback is when another Blog mentions you in their content.
By Spring semester of 2004, I was an admitted Liberal Studies and Innovation Studies student, and needed to bone up on basics with Dr. Jill Barnum. I chose a paper on Blogging as my topic, and during this semester I took my giant leap. I started Baby Boomer Blog, on Leap Day, February 29, 2004. I set it up on a Blog service called Typepad. This service is one of three hosted by Six Apart, an innovative company owned by Benjamin and Mena Trott. They host Typepad; used for small Blogs, Movable Type; a service for business, and Live Journal; the Social Network. Incidentally, when Jennifer and I tried Tech Toy Blog, the University of Minnesota UThink Blogs had not been created. Now UThink is powered by the Movable Type service.
I named my Blog from the influence of William Strauss and Neil Howe's The Fourth Turning. This book's theory is that patterns can be found in American History are based on Generational cycles. Born in 1952, I am definitely a Baby Boomer. I also thought using this title might help build readership. I became an avid reader of the Strauss and Howe Forums, and the Blog of John Xenakis. Xenakis is another of my virtual professors who applies trends to Strauss and Howe's theory, which he takes one step further, called Generational Dynamics. His Weblog and Online books have been a valuable resource for some of the more esoteric theories in Innovation Studies, such as The Singularity.
My Blog became my Virtual Online Notebook that I used to post articles and information for my classwork and interests. As of today I have posted eighty-seven entries. These have generated ten comments and 1,698 page views, about three a day. I found other virtual Professors, like author Jay Michaelson, who graciously sent me some of his writings relevant to a class. Michaelson is a the editor of the Online Journal called Zeek, an author, and teacher. When I studied Marc Prensky, his Blog articles provided extra knowledge I used in my paper. I even formed a “Virtual Personal” relationship with Rushkoff. He allows me to view pictures of his daughter on Flickr as a “family friend.” Also I read the Blog of his wife, author Barbara Rushkoff. Reading her blog makes me feel like an “insider” to their lives.
In the Summer of 2005 I had the opportunity to take some Split Rock classes toward my degree. I had classes with Kim Addonizio, Scott Stulen, and Jerry Allan. I learned about the Short Short Story, basics of Photoshop, and had Creativity Training. I used my Blog to Self publish the results of my classes. If you look at my Blog from July 8, 2005, I finally learned how to add pictures, and my kitty was my first model. I was even named Minnesota Blog of the Day on July 21, 2005 in the Minneapolis City Pages.
By Fall of 2005, Blogs were commonly used as a Learning tool at the University of Minnesota. I participated in the Liberal Skills Blog for my final Innovation Studies Firefly class. In 1999 a small group of engineers at Pyra Labs had invented the Blog. A short five years the innovation had become a way to create and share knowledge, and for some, a way to increase Personal Capitol. Locally, City Pages Blogger, Diablo Cody jumped from a Stripper to a Blogger, Novelist and Screenwriter. I don't know if reading Cody officially proves Harkin's Mode Theory of Knowledge Creation, but it's always funny.
Internet Social Networks take Blogging one step further. Within the parameters of the Social Network, millions of individuals Blog. When I logged on to MySpace, I experienced another environment to post my Blog. My Space, however, has the advantage of the built in audience. When I make a Blog posting on my Typepad account I “ping” Blog services to show my posting to the world. But it is a “ping” in the dark. When I cross post on the My Space Blog, I can send a Bulletin, and know my friends are viewing. I do have one devoted fan on Typepad, but I get a whole group from My Space.
Studying, reading, and ultimately creating my own Blog has been an exciting project of my Graduate Studies. I have refined my writing, sharpened my critical thinking, and learned ways to digitally manipulate images. I have learned how to create my own Knowledge, and have been enriched as a result. I also got Diablo Cody to be a MySpace friend.
November 18, 2005
MySpace.com and Robyne Robinson Rox
My next paper is an analysis of Millies using MySpace.com within the context of Mode 3 and Mode 4 learning. I know this sounds like code words that they teach in Graduate school, but this is what it means.
Mode 3 learning is teaching yourself, and Mode 4 learning is using that self learning in an environment where everyone is doing this. In Myspace.com, 38 million (as of this writing) Millennials are creating musically and ever other way within networks of literally millions of others.
Here is my MySpace.com page, so you can see what it looks like. I'm still working on the here's and there's, but generally it's easy to use. If you look at some of my friends, you can see how the Millie's love to customize with bright colors. Wired magazine ran the article that started my interest in writing this paper.
The Hit Factory Who needs major labels, marketing, or airplay? A social networking site is getting more hits than Google -- and turning invisible bands into mini entertainment networks. How MySpace became the MTV for the Net generation. By Jeff Howe
Other stuff: Did you know local Mega Star Robyne Robinson has a Jewelry Line? rox minneapolis
Robyne makes beautiful natural stone and sterling bracelets and earrings. How did I find this out? From Tyra ! She gave it a good plug at the end of the show yesterday. The designs are available near Ridgedale and at the Walker gift shop, and some other places, including NYC.
I finally ordered the Sunday NYTimes, with its ready supply of articles for graduate students. We have easy access to archives, so I am attaching copies for my Firefly friends, but for the blogosphere, we are pretty cut off from NYTimes Opinion and archives without paying for the new service. So I'll just summarize the Brook's article:
Psst! 'Human Capital' By DAVID BROOKS
Help! I'm turning into the ''plastics'' guy from ''The Graduate.'' I'm pulling people aside at parties and whispering that if they want to understand the future, it's just two words: ''Human Capital.''
If we want to keep up with the Chinese and the Indians, we've got to develop our Human Capital. If we want to remain a just, fluid society: Human Capital. If we want to head off underclass riots: Human Capital. .......
We now spend more per capita on education than just about any other country on earth, and the results are mediocre. No Child Left Behind treats students as skill-acquiring cogs in an economic wheel, and the results have been disappointing. We pour money into Title 1 and Head Start, but the long-term gains are insignificant.
These programs are not designed for the way people really are. The only things that work are local, human-to-human immersions that transform the students down to their very beings. Extraordinary schools, which create intense cultures of achievement, work. Extraordinary teachers, who inspire students to transform their lives, work. The programs that work touch all the components of human capital.
There's a great future in Human Capital, buddy. Enough said.
The other article was in Sunday Business, still online for a while about inventor James E. West who says Americans need to be more devoted to investing in innovation.
Not Invented Here By TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN
Inventors have always held a special place in American history and business lore, embodying innovation and economic progress in a country that has long prized individual creativity and the power of great ideas. In recent decades, tinkerers and researchers have given society microchips, personal computers, the Internet, balloon catheters, bar codes, fiber optics, e-mail systems, hearing aids, air bags and automated teller machines, among a bevy of other devices.
Mr. West stands firmly in this tradition -- a tradition that he said may soon be upended. He fears that corporate and public nurturing of inventors and scientific research is faltering and that America will pay a serious economic and intellectual penalty for this lapse.
For the Firefly cohort - Has everyone seen Into the Blogosphere? It presents serious academic papers on Blogs, prepared right here at the University of Minnesota.
Final note - Here is the Liberal Skills Firefly blog for more information on the application of Learning Modes.
November 11, 2005
Forbes on Blogs, How Much Is My Blog Worth?
Forbes had a cover story on blogs this week -Attack of the Blogs
11.14.05
"Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting
liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective. Their potent allies in
this pursuit include Google and Yahoo".
The well written article brings up a potent point, what can a company/individual do when they are attacked on a blog. Check it out.
The New York Times always reports on internet innovation and these two links were from recent articles. First, phillyfaces.com a Philadelphia Actor and Talent directory, it's all there for the casting agents. Second, indieflix.com, a different business model for movie distribution. For $9.95 the customer gets their own copy of the movie, made to order.
I can estimate my own personal blogging capital with this link, How Much Is My Blog Worth?
It is from Dane Carlson's Business Opportunities weblog for small business. I'm not going to copy the button, but I'm worth well over a thousand bucks! Just for kicks I typed in Andrew Sullivan, his blog is word over two million.
Inspired by Tristan Louis's research into the value of each link to Weblogs Inc, I've created this little applet using Technorati's API which computes and displays your blog's worth using the same link to dollar ratio as the AOL-Weblogs Inc deal.
Recent Posts
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