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| All's well that ends all - Saturday, March 26, 2005 at 2:15 p.m. |
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Alternative title: All good things must come to an end (but the one I choose is much more happy sounding don't you agree?)
As my discussion on Karma systems have now ended, there is still one more thing to do: the reflection!
I must admit, regular blogging will be something that I will never get used to. Before, with my Xanga blog, I used to update only sporadically and in the future, with my Advertising blog (link shouldn't work until I actually get some content up) I'm sure that I will not be updating as often as I did for this blog. Weekly deadlines does make it easier, as well as a set topic. Setting up an itinerary really helped as, before, I was scrambling for things to say. I've already begun to line up topics for my new blog as result of the success I had with this blog. Talking about karma and blogging for 253 has truly helped me get myself ready for the information revolution type blogging that you only hear about from those livejournal users and those in south east asia.
Karma was a recent interest of mine at the start of the course and it is now like a religion. I used to cry out in anguish due to the lack of quality in some sites. However, I now believe in peer regulation as the saviour for us all, and I hope that I have convinced you, dear readers, of the same fact somewhat. I hope that you will all follow me to my newer blog and enjoy what I will have to say about consumer society. Let's see if I'll be able to become famous from my discussions in that one, shall we?
That's all folks!
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Cheers,
MrScaryMuffin |
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| 1-4all, and all for A4 - at 1:43 p.m. |
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Before I do my final reflection, let's talk A4 shall we? My group rocks, period. Props to Amanda, Anita, Ilia, and, of course, our wonderful director Nadia. It is hard, I must admit, being the only guy in the group. Gender inequality is a hard thing to overcome and I constantly feel that I must make myself useful in some way while never quite achieving that covenant spot of power. I'm joking of course, usually gender inequality implies the opposite and besides, as I said before, my group rocks.
We've finished the main body of our filming last Sunday (since Ilia and Amanda are disappearing at the most oppurtune times, that being completely opposite of each other) and now all that remains is animation (my job! Click here to see some animations that I've done about two years ago), stock footage taking, and editing. My greatest fear is the five minute mark, as I would absolutely love to break it. Roy told me that it is very difficult to make a good five minute movie and I would have to agree. But my agreement is only based on my experiences with filming back in grade 6 (which turned out miserably, by the way. The only "C" of my life) More recent experiences with filming, including that of sketch comedy making, and A4 has shown me that people have grown up and technology has become easier to use. I feel that five minutes is nothing now. We have so much information and so many ideas to show (off) to the class. More importantly, I really want that blooper reel. But of course, time is an issue especially if the entire class is to see all the films. For the future, I propose a different system, post all the films up on webct or something similar to how all our blog pages are up for everyone else to see. Then have people vote on the films, say...make it a requirement for people to cast votes for their 5 favourites. Then only play the best films in class. This way, not only will the entire class (including those who like to avoid the lecture hall) have a chance to see the films, but the time limit can be increase (almost doubled if necessary!).
Still, I have a good feeling about this assignment. The entire process has been fun and it is great to be animating again, although there isn't much demand for it. Storyboarding the assignment was cool too. I've always wanted to do something like that. I look forward to the final product as well as what others have created.
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Cheers,
MrScaryMuffin |
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| Return to Karma - at 12:58 p.m. |
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From the various websites that I have explored, it is easy to see that the karma system is not the end all system for post control. Sites like Newgrounds have systems that are customized to meet their needs. However, it is definitely useful and should be considered a minimum. Sites like DA and xanga suffer in lack of quality posts due to the lack of regulation. Karma is powerful, even Newgrounds integrates it into their system, but it can still be more powerful yet, as SE shows with their complete dedication to the system. The system works beautifully because it does not required moderators or admins to browse through all the traffic their site recieves but instead uses the peer users, who already goes through the content for their own entertainment or needs. This is similar to Rowland's discussion of how users of the net are both producers and consumer, except there is an added filter element in process. Indeed, the only people who should be regulating the net should be its citizens and not large corporations or government. If we following the concept of peer regulation that karma has introduced to us, would the citizens of the net be able to prove to the world that the internet is one of chaos and anarchy (the negative connotation one)?
I propose a net wide implementation of the a peer regulatory system. IETF could make one site for it all and eventually it'll be like a search engine site but with points and comments listed for each site searched. Users would make a single account (per IP address? or maybe recognized ISP email such as telus to prevent multiple accounts?) and they would actively participate in regulating the entire net in a way not unlike SE's system.
There are still downsides of Karma, of course. All sites that have been discussed so far, Newgrounds, SE etc, each have their respective admin that exert their powers when necessary. Should a globalnet scale peer regulation system ever be adopted, who would be the one to rule them all? "Sed quis custodient ipsos custodes?" (Who will guard the guards?). Technically, the philosophical argument that follows that famous phrase proposes that a circulatory system, where each guard guards another person and eventually the first guard guards the last so that everyone is covered, is applicable to the net. An actual formal arrangement is impossible due to the traffic. However, if the system is allowed to run its due course, then elite groups will begin to appear. It has already been discussed that empty regulation points (like Xanga's eprops) does not work well. Instead, real rewards must be given to those who regularly post quality posts and contribute positively to the system, such as that of stronger influence in regulation. Though history may be a good indicator, there may be a few who purposely act a particular way to gain power and then unify themselves so that they are more powerful than anyone else on the net. Even worse would be corporations buying out these people's accounts, or even making one themselves, and using their power for making revenue.
There are two solutions to this: One, we apply the IETF or another UN internet society (or all) as a guard and in return, the citizens guard them back. That is, the IETF assures that there is no serious infringement or power abuse at work and the citizens would show whether they support the IETF in a particular action or not. The second solution is even more simple in that the IETF is removed from the scenario and the citizens themselves have the ability to unite and take on any malforces. No matter how powerful a group may be, they cannot possibly be a match for the rest of the world.
Well, that's the end of my discussion on Karma systems and regulatory systems in general. What is next you say? Starting within the next month-month and a half, I will be making a new blog with blogger on advertisement and the consumer society in general. I will follow a similar format to this except the discussions will be focused more on various ad campaigns etc that are running in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Check back here within a month and I should have a site posted. Until then, don't worry, be happy dear readers!
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Cheers,
MrScaryMuffin |
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| All you need is time - Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 1:48 p.m. |
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It seems that I have had a slight miscalculation. I forgot that the blogs were due on week 12. I will follow my itinerary still, but I'll do the connection post and the final post consecutively together next week. No movies for segways today, let's just move right along shall we?
MSN groups
I am part of the Naruto Manga MSN groups. However, I'm a member, not for the people, but for the content. Aside from that, MSN offers very little in terms of communication choices. There is a chat, but that requires other people to be online to be interesting. The message forum is similar to that of webCT's, however the categorization of topics is much better. There isn't seperate chain links for each comments (which makes reading very difficult). Instead, it is more like a modern forum. For each thread, there is a page for the starting post and a link for all the replies. A "recommendation" system is in place where some posts may be ranked higher than others and members can recieve added benefits. However, it is rare for anyone to pay any attention to this as there are no counters or anything of the sort to make results apparent. As well, added benefits are only available if the group leaders create them. If they do not, recieving recommendations for your posts will not account to much, thus this system is poor in terms of regulating the quality of posts.
Xanga
The link to my own Xanga page can be found on the side bar or by clicking here. As you can see, I have not updated for quite some time and I have found that this is true for others (at least my friends) as well. Xanga is essentially another blogging site, though not as customizable as blogger. Visitors to sites may post comments on blogs and give out "eprops." This is a unique element in Xanga not found in other blog hosts such as blogger or livejournal. However, a quick browse through the Xanga FAQ, we find that eprops don't really account to anything. The only thing one may get from receiving eprops is a chance to be featured on the xanga featured content page. However, that requires a lot of eprops and is very rare. Xanga further makes this system redundant by defaulting the comment system to give 2 eprops, the maximum number per comment per post, instead of zero. Like with MSN, Xanga does not do much to encourage high quality postings.
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Cheers,
MrScaryMuffin |
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| Deviant Art and WebCT - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 at 12:42 p.m. |
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Well, as we dive straight into our 4th assignment, I thought I'd present to you guys a flash film with some very interesting cinematography.
The artist for that particular film is Vinnie Veritas and his DA (Deviant Art) site is here. In case you do not know what Deviant Art is, it is a website designed for artists. Essentially like a blog (the layout is similar to that of Xanga) The artist can upload and post their art, flash animation, photos, etc. along with some comments. Visitors can leave comments on the main page or for particular peices of art. The site is great for exploring style and seeing how other people aprroach art. You can follow one artist's favourite links and continue along that line and see many shifts in style and approach. Getting feedback on works is good too. However, there is no real built in filtering system and the quality of comments can often be lacking. Many users of DA like to leave one word comments on other artist's sites in hopes that they can attract many people to their own page. Another problem that had come up in the past was solicitors offering to pay artists for their works but scamming them during the process. DA's main attraction of posting art and recieving comments is similar to Newgrounds. DA can learn many lessons in controlling the commenting environment from Newgrounds but does not have to rely on such drastic (and time consuming) procedures as Newgrounds. DA's environment is not as dynamic as Newground's and a karma system here would be extremely helpful.
WebCT lends itself a built in filtering system as all of its users are expected to be mature and well behaved. Yet another reference to the Panopticon critic, when posting in the discussion area of WebCT one does not know if the professor or TAs will be reading their comment and thus, they post reflecting that train of thought. While the quality of the posts in WebCT is good, a better method of displaying information is necessary. The main problem that exists is the number of repeated questions found in the discussion. A better organization of the "forum" is much desired and perhaps a search function.
That's it for this week, busy busy, I must work on a paper now. Good luck to all of you who are experiencing a similar turbulent time as I.
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Cheers,
MrScaryMuffin |
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| You know what you doing... - Tuesday, March 08, 2005 at 12:33 p.m. |
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As it seems to have become customary for me, here's another link to another interesting internet phenomenon, one that is much older than the numa dance.
TmsT's Zero Wing Rhapsody
The newgrounds page for all things AYB can be found here.
Talking about karma systems seems to be leaving me dry of things to say so I've decided to broaden my topic a bit by looking into other systems of forum/comment control. Here's the agenda:
Today: Internet trends and newgrounds forum
Next week: Deviant Art and WebCT discussion forums
Week after: MSN and Xanga communities
Week 12: Return to Karma
Week 13: Conclusion and Final post write up before submitting
Of course I'll be comparing everything back to karma which, in my opinion, is the simply the best (and thus, the future) form of commentary control.
The commentary on internet trends is off on a tagent however, I just felt like talking about it since TmsT's parody of the All Your Base flash movie brought up the whole trend again. In the official AYB headquarters (linky), an interesting insight is made: "'All Your Base' is pronounced dead several times every day, yet it's 15 minutes of fame continue for some reason..." and the new parody that I linked above proves this as I, and others that I showed it to, still found it funny and not old/abused/etc at all (unlike, for example, the Wazzup phase that North Americans went through). I akin this aspect of AYB to the fact that it is very complex and flexible. There are many phrases and images from the original AYB movie that can be adapted to many things (for example, "XXXPlayer set up us the bomb" is unremovable in a Counter strike server mod).
Perhaps another reason why AYB is still alive is because of its popularity, not only with the public in general, but with the internet community as a whole. From gamers to the average user. Newgrounds is perhaps the one responsible for the strong internet following. Its forums uses an interesting system that integrates both the forums and the flash portal, where anyone can submit a creative (or not so creative) movie.
In an environment that promotes silliness (like the numa dance and AYB), serious discussions on politics, and boasts overly violent games (like Chainsaw the children) it is easy how NG would be desparate to have a system to keep their forums manageable and clean. However, they do not use the karma system. This may be because the peers of the forums may not be or even less than mature than the original poster (and this turns out to be a great flaw in the karma system). Instead, Tom Fulp, one of the two brothers that run the entire NG site, created his own system of moderation.
Similar to the karma system of SE, there are points to be earned on NG and it can be done by making good posts, making good flash movies, participating in blamming (the down modding and destruction of bad movies and posts), and making good comments on flash movies. Some elements, such as the commenting system for the movies, is exactly the same as the karma system (a simple "Is this comment helpful? Yes/No" question to raise or lower points). The real difference the level system that people have.
The points earn by users of the site are tallied up as "experience points" and after gaining enough exp, they advance to the next level. Those with higher levels have more influence (again, similar to the SE system). Auto downmods (or lowering of points) for offenses such as improper language, spamming, and flaming, work to quickly identify and eliminate problem users, leaving a beautiful system that requires no extra moderators other than the Fulp brothers.
Of course, there is still peer based rating, but this system is reserved more for the portal than the forums. Large NG communities such as the Review Crew dominate here and help the Fulps to keep the portal under control.
In an environment that is highly dynamic and prone to attract, NG does a great job to retain control. This is perhaps why similar sites have not really appeared (another reason would be the fact that NG is just so awesome that no one else would think it worthwhile to try). For NG, a karma system would not do on its own. Just like how SE modified the basic idea of karma for their site, NG incorporated karma controlled commenting along with its levels and experience points and downmods so that they can custom create a system that would work the best for them.
Even though I am a great advocator of the karma system, I know that it has severe limitations in its ability to control users. However, I believe that it is a powerful enough system that almost any site can adapt it to its needs.
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Cheers,
MrScaryMuffin |
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| After the Midterm - Wednesday, March 02, 2005 at 3:23 p.m. |
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Finally I am done all 5 of my midterms...back to blogging then!
I'm still having trouble researching the origins of the Karma system...so far it appears to me to be a forum or comment program (similar to UBB) that various sites can purchase and use but other sites, mainly SE, have adopted and made a mainstay part of their appeal.
In either case, I thought that I might as well put in a few comments on yesterday's lecture.
First off, the thing that everyone will be interested in: The Numa numa dance!
Second issue at hand, for the one minute essay, Richard asked us if we wanted cell phones to be a part of our "academic experience." Myself, being quite the jokester, immediately thought "Yes, I want it to be part of the cheating element of my academic experience" (Joke of course, I am such a scaredy cat)
Seriously speaking however, cheating with cellphones is a complete impossibility. First of all, text messaging is too slow and too easy to catch. This leaves the option of morse code through vibration. If you're going to take the effort to become an expert of morse code, you might as well study. If you already are an expert, more power to you, but the vibrations are too slow and really, the only use is in multiple choice, of which there were little/none on our midterm. Still, one cannot apply this very well as vibro still makes an audio noise so other methods (such as tapping people's toes in morse) would still be better.
Seriously speaking again, having other electronics be incorporated into the course would not be so bad. Maybe not cellphones, but laptops. I recall joining elive for 253 even when I was still in class. I was able to talk directly to Richard when I wanted to (and advertise my blog) and it was useful. It can eliminate shyness as questions can be asked privately and the professor can share the question with the class only if he or she thinks it proper. Not to mention that an all laptop class would make it easier to take notes. The process would still work even during exams. MSN messenger has an activity called "appshare" that allows one to see another person's desktop and as long as the professor can see everyone, then Foucalt's panopticon applies. No one would dare cheat.
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Cheers,
MrScaryMuffin |
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