COMM325: Blog Entry 4 - Wikipedia

Prompt: Blog entry writing prompt: Assess the benefits and drawbacks of Wikipedia. Does the crowd sourcing truly prevent misinformation? If so, how? 

Wikipedia is a great tool. I use it often usually to satisfy a random question or trivial curiosity. I also use if as a starting point for more serious research. Wikipedia is a great resource for vetting topics for research. By looking up the questioned topic on Wikipedia you can easily see if it is written about often. Even though the actual information can not be used in serious scholarly documents it help to know that other people are interested in the same topic.

Unfortunately I don't think crowd sourcing prevents misinformation. The information is most likely not provide by subject matter experts and even if it is the articles do not receive the same kind of scrutiny that a scholarly journal would. This could potentially cause the information to be bias either by someone with motive or by ignorance of more complete research. I think this is why Wikipedia serves best as a starting place. 

COMM325: Blog Entry 3 - ProPublica and Creative Commons

Prompt: Why does ProPublica use Creative Commons licenses?

ProPublica uses Creative Commons licenses to give readers and follows the ability to share the stories posted on the site. ProPublica does this to increase their readership and the public impact of those pieces. ProPublic and Creative Commons differ from traditional media licenses in that sharing and copying are encouraged. This encouragement is bound by the agreement of the person/site sharing to note that ProPublica is the source of the story and to include the Propublica "PixelPing." This HTML tag, called PixelPing. allow Propublica to track the hits on a particular story in a non-invasive way. This allows them to further track readership and helps them to determine what types stories to pursue in the future. I think that ProPublica is the future of traditional journalism. The site is a great example of a sharing economy. The use of Creative Commons makes it even easier to pass information through the internet without hinderance

COMM325: Response to Postman Article

Prompt: Thinking of digital media as tools, how have they affected our culture? Postman says the tools “become the culture.” Do you agree? Why or why not? Think of a comparable invention today that changed society and explore its potential impact.

I agree with Postman. Our digital tools have become our culture. In today's age it is unusual to know someone that doesn't have some form of digital footprint. So unusual that those people will most likely receive a strange look after that admission

I like to consider myself a bit of a throw-back. I rarely use social media. I still buy physical books, CDs (though I rip them into MP3s), and the newspaper still gets delivered to my door. But the draw of digital is undeniable. As I sit typing this there no CD playing to produce the music I am listening to. Rather the tracks are pulled from the ether and I have nigh unlimited choices of what to listen to. Classical guitar I got it, new alternative metal well I got that too. All via a little app on a phone (Amazon Prime music service via iPhone). No more digging through dusty bins of CDs for me. No more ripping, no more concerns of running out of computer memory. I don't even have to know the whole name of the band or artist I want to listen to. An obvious must for those CD bin dives of the past. No now I can type in what I think I'm looking for directly into the app search box. That's how I found the aforementioned classical guitar. I typed into the search box on the app instrumental guitar and about five recommendations popped up. Through a quick trial of those five I found what I wanted for my reading soundtrack for the next hour. 

The streaming service like this app is where I think the biggest impact comes from. Now and even more so in the future media will be consumed on demand. We already have DVRs, Netflix, and a slew of websites dedicated to streaming movies, music, television and news that's updated to the second. I think this trend will continue and I believe streaming, on-demand media will eventually be the only way to consume media.I In 20-30 years maybe even sooner that broadcast TV network will go the way of VHS. I don't think the studios of these networks will go away just the delivery system.
I can see it now - 20 years from now - a family gathers on a couch  in front of the warming glow of a television and chooses a movie to watch on Netflix or maybe a compilation of silly cat videos via YouTube. Now that's entertainment

I Don"t Practice Santeria...Wa-What?

Been awhile...end of semester craziness, holidays...life gets in the way...blah, blah....excuses, excuses


I was in Wawa today. While I was getting coffee I noticed that Sublime's Santeria was playing. Weird right...not really what you expect to hear while in convenient store. Well even stranger was some of the Wawa Muzac edits...

                             Well I'd pop a &%$ in Sancho & I'd slap her down.

The word "cap" was edited. Probably a good word to edit for the young kids and elderly...I mean God forbid if the children start running around talking about popping caps in someone...Oh but this was just the beginning
This was classic editing...

                              Daddy's got a new &%$@!-&*!$
                              And I won't think twice to stick that *&!!#$ straight down Sancho's throat.
                              Believe me when I say that I got somethin' for his *&%$ !$%%.

At this point its just silly...I mean why play the song? And for what reason was punk edited?

I guess it could be offensive if you heard someone singing about killing a dude while you're waiting for your hoagie. But punk? Come on...

The funniest part was the style of editing. It wasn't the usually silly word dubbed over the "bad" word but this jarring sound like a tape being fast forwarded...

Somehow I still enjoyed it...horrendously edited Sublime is still better than most MUZAC

I wonder if I can make a request...hmm...maybe Smoke Two Joints or Forty OZ to Freedom

To Namaw's House We Go

Ah...the annual tradition of traveling for the holidays. I will be packing up Jayme and the kid to drive 400 some odd miles. So over the turnpike and through the middle of absolutely nowhere to Namaw's house we go (not to forget that Fafa's there too)

I thoroughly enjoy the time we spend at Namaw & Fafa's house. Mike and Sandy have always made me feel very welcome even before marriage when i was just some dude dating their daughter,

What I don't enjoy is the drive. Once past the King of Prussia exit from the turnpike the surrounding scenery become very repetitive. Seriously its like the background scenes from Scooby-Doo, Didn't  I just see that cow? You know you're bored on the road when you get excited to hit Carlisle,,,yeah Carlisle PA,,, So added to that regurgitated scenery of cow, cow, farm, cow is now tractor trailer.
I'm sure that Carlisle is a beautiful town to live and work in but it doesn't add much to see from the view out of the car window. The next most exciting thing...I'm sure you're riveted...wait for it...crossing the Susquehanna. Then I will say to Jayme, "Look its Three Mile Island," and she will say, "I think i see Deadpool on top of it"  Yes it's corny but it tradition now let us not speak of that mutant movie's name that I will not utter here. But I digress, so now Jayme, child and I have made through 4 hours and 15 minutes of turnpike madness. The end of the trip is nigh, my spirits rise but then fall instantly because there is still at least 45 more minutes of vehicular torture. Those last minutes drag and fell longer than the rest of the trip

I forgot to mention...how did I forget this...there's a 4 year old in the back. She will be equipped with an old iphone loaded with Disney movies and toddler games. So add to the joy of trekking the PA turnpike "Let it go" on repeat. Arrrghhh!!! Overall the kid is a good travel companion she entertains herself and we usually only have to make one extra stop along the way. But still she is a toddler and they are nothing if not fickle

So yeah at this point I feel like Frodo collapsed on Mt.Doom, (come on like you didn't see at least one mention of LOTR somewhere in a travel story) like him my mission not yet complete

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Uniontown appears and the familiar site of the giant tire guy (WTF is that anyway) is a balm to my soul. We arrive at Namaw and Fafa's, the excitement pours from the kid and I begin the pack horse duties hauling the three quarters of our house we brought with us out of the car. Hugs and questions of the trip initiate, good food is offered and consumed greatfully (Thanks Namaw), and my favorite words are heard spoken from my father-in-law Mike (Fafa), "Hey Matt would you like a beer." Yes sir i would

Old Man on Campus

    Returning to college as an...ahem...older student is interesting to say the least. First of all I dress like a college student for class...t-shirt, and jeans or the such.  I spend most of my days (now nights) clad in business casual like its chain mail so I made an active decision. I will only wear work clothes to school in instances when transition from student to supervisor doesn't allow for a quick stop in a phone booth  (do phone booths still exist?) or more likely home. This way I blend in a little bit more...not much...but a little more. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not wearing skinny jeans or black socks with sneakers. I'm blending in, not trying to be a hipster. Seriously, I stand out so much think I heard a younger student mumble "Narc" when I walked by him.
    Secondly, everyone is so young. I'm not trying to insult or assume these people aren't smart or don't have experience. To illustrate consider this, I had a conversation with one of my classmates the other day cause we shared a common interest, playing guitar. I asked how long she'd been playing. She responded, "Oh, about 3 years, I started when I was 14." My heart stopped for a second. This young woman was almost exactly half my age. Outwardly I chuckled and said, "I also start playing at 14, except it was more than 3 years ago." Inwardly my brain swirled with too many thoughts to even continue the conversation and so i went on my way thoroughly perplexed. In another instance a couple of co-workers and I were talking about Nirvana. I asked our 20 year old intern if he listen to them. His response and I quote, "I don't really like classic rock." At that point I think the few functioning brain cells I had died. My co-workers and I were flabbergasted. Let that set in...Nirvana...Classic Rock. If you too are experiencing profane diarrhea of the month than you understand how I felt. No words adequately convey how troubled I was by that conversation
    Next, why do college students sit in silence and then complain about classes being boring? I see this behavior frequently. The professors ask question to keep the class moving or to hear another voice besides their own. Nobody will offer a response, half of them won't even make eye contact with the professor. In case that somehow is contrived to mean they would like to comments. I mean how boring is silence in a class. I simply can not take it.  Any more I have to be involved in the conversation even if it is just me and the professor. I'm sure other students may be annoyed at me but I will not sit quietly. Just today I heard two classmate complaining about how boring the class is but yet they will sit there struggling to keep awake. Not me, call me teacher's pet (that would be a first) but don't expect me to join you in your doldrums. I'll fight boredom my way...getting involved, asking questions, attempting to learn something new.
    It is a little different to be the old man on campus but I'd have to say I really do enjoy the experience. I know I standout so I ran with it.  It's fun.

Welcome

Welcome to Left Over Remarks

A little bit about me and this blog.

My name is Matt. I'm 33 years old and hail from the far off land of (queue spooky voice) PENNSYLVANIA, Philly to be exact. I grew up just outside the city and now live in the Northeastern reaches of Philly or as I like to call them "The Cityburbs"
I'm married (to my beautiful and extremely patient wife Jayme) and have an almost 4 year old daughter.

I'm sure your wondering about the title. Left Over Remarks just came to me. I'm left handed first of all and I find a lot of times that my opinions take time to form and so by the time I'm ready to remark its the like leftovers as the interwebs has surely moved on to something more shiny by that time

Why am I writing this? Well, I recently returned to college and since I am majoring in Communications I figured I should try to start communicating more often. Makes sense right? My goal as a Communications student is to become a writer, when i grow up. So hopefully practice (yes, I'm talkin about practice) will make perfect or at least somewhat intelligible.

Frequency - I'm initially going to attempt one post a week.

So here it goes