Reddit to the rescue. I don't have games on my phone, I have no want to waste every passing minute of my life with flash games, and I'm not too keen on surfing the internet on my phone, because even with a smartphone and 3G, surfing the internet still sucks because everything is so graphic intensive that 3G just doesn't quite cut it. So I downloaded "Reddit is fun" app for my phone and it solves a few problems. 1. It's extremely quick in the simple interface that only has to load words and simple graphics. 2. I'm actually learning things instead of burning time playing repetitive flash games. and 3. I don't have to type anything with the onscreen keyboard. It shall nontheless prove highly addictive, but there are worse things that could be done with that time, like playing flash games or staring at progress bars.
Showing posts with label Practicum-Andrew Butts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Practicum-Andrew Butts. Show all posts
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Practicum Post #6 - Reddit on the go
My television broke last wednesday, which means that my computer is my almost my only source of digital nutrients right now. That said, I've got two editing projects I'm working on and a few gb's of video that needs to be uploaded to youtube. Unfortunately, my laptop is old and weak like the American economy. Which means that every time I need to render, export, encode, or upload things... which I've needed to do alot of. I haven't known what to do with myself except stare at a time estimate that usually spends the first quarter of loading bar progress increasing before I actually get a reliable time estimate.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Practicum Post #4- Reddit "Read it"
With the same fervor as the name reddit combines the exclamation "read it" into a single word, do the users consume reddit posts. When I told some of my friends about how I had to do a project on reddit, one of the immediately forbade it (I of course didn't listen), another cautioned against, and then a couple others had their eyes light up with a "OH REALLY, wellhaveyouseenthis?" My answer is no, as they seize my computer and immediately navigate to a subreddit of choice.
One of those subreddits was advice animals... which turned into a 2 hour adventure taking us all across the internet to read the hilarity inscribed to these advice animal meme pictures. Though I probably shouldn't admit, insanity wolf (link to the most PC one I could find) was my favorite, followed closely by business cat and socially awkward penguin.
Somehow 2 hours wasn't enough... just yesterday I wasted another hour on advice animals in between actual productive periods of the day. This is in stark contrast to my first expedition on reddit where I found myself jumping around worldpolitics and reading about and witnessing the horrors of humanity in quick succession for that 3 hour romp.
When all is said and done, I believe that these experiences really support my central thesis that the internet is an enabler of pre-existing tendencies. The powers of the internet will not revolutionize who we are, but just allow us to do more of what we wish to do. I unfortunately have to live with the stark contrast between my need for political content and senseless memes. Finding balance will just take practice I guess.
Andrew
Monday, March 28, 2011
Practicum #3- Presentation- Reddit (Social Bookmarking)
Tommorrow I'll be presenting with Amanda on Social Bookmarking Sites through the lens of Reddit. Together we fall under the umbrella of collective intelligence. The simplest way to understand Reddit is in it's motto: "The voice of the internet-news before it happens." The idea is to have the best information most relevant to the readers quickly, without a corporate agenda. Content is thus created/posted and filtered through up/down voting by all the users.
The question I'd like to ask, is how can a service effectively filter information without sacrificing diversity of information?
Andrew
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Practicum Post #2- Reddit- is to news, like Wikipedia is to knowledge
Sorry, I've been really behind in making any posts... but everytime I jump on reddit, I always lose track of time.
The first thing I did before I went to reddit, was to google reddit, and stop by my dear old friend, Wikipedia.
Reddit pronounced "read it" is a social news website, owned by Condé Nast Digital, a subsidiary of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. Users (also referred to as redditors) have the option to submit links to content on the Internet or submit "self" posts that contain original, user-submitted text. Other users may then vote the posted links "up" or "down" with the most successful links gaining prominence by reaching the front page. In addition, users can comment on the posted links and reply to other commentators consequently forming an online community. Reddit users may create their own topical sections, known informally as subreddits and officially as communities, for which to submit their links and to comment, while appealing to a specific niche.
Wikipedia really hits it on the head, as usual. I'll go into further detail in future posts about some of the mechanics of reddit. But one important point to hit before I go is that although reddit is no longer free from the hands of a for-profit corporation, it doesn't seem to be affected by it's corporate parents, and in fact, went open-source not too long after being acquired.
Andrew
Practicum Post #1- Reddit- Somebody hide the razors...
I have made it a personal habit to avoid the mass media. Ever since I saw the movie Network
(1976) [SEE IT NOW, if you haven't already], I've never again trusted corporate interests as legitimate news sources... but it's not really the corporate interest that's problematic, it's the weakness of humanity that consumes their product. A self serving viscous cycle perhaps...
SO REDDIT! I've heard things about reddit... that it's a democratization of news, that you can find the things you care about, the things that matter, the things that don't get coverage, and you just might even be able to find scraps of this thing once called the truth. Finally this project gave me the necessary push to start Redditing... but I was warned by a friend, that reddit will consume me, that it can destroy lives... so cautiously I begin.
It is the simplest site to sign up to... literally. It has you pick a username and a password, then type the safety image letters and you're done.
I scroll past the top 14 posts unscathed, click a few, skip the rest... then I hit "FORGET WIKILEAKS, WE NEED WIKIWITNESS!" Which is a really great OP piece from a site I'd never heard of and presumably few people read. After reading through clicking three of it's linked videos portraying actual people dying on video... I went back to reddit to read comments that people left. After that it was a blur, but I'll piece it together for you based not upon my browser history, but upon the bookmarks alone I made to share with others.
More videos I watched... only the last is a safe mashup, the others might disturb you.
Suggested websites offered as solutions...full of links and videos...
At some point I had to confront my own humanity on this...it's just pictures of real, dead children. The choice to click is yours, but so to are the implications of your own humanity, either if you click, or refuse. So too, are your reactions.
And if that wasn't enough... some guy on reddit, 8 hours after the post, registered a domain, and started the site.... The guy who posted, planted the seed, and a fellow redditor is now watering it. Perhaps then, reddit has the power to change the world... all in my first 3 hours... all in my first read thread.
Thankfully or unfortunately, my expedition came to an end when I saw this...
too much traffic apparently. So I guess it's time for sleep now, but I fear what my dreams might bring.
Andrew
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