Wow, Obama chooses judge who knows stuff

This Wired article about new Spreme Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor is interesting, as it runs through her experience with cyberlaw. Looks like she knows more than this judge.

Our website, MelbinNoir, is coming along. I figured out how to utilise the Headline and Feature section, and the category browsing, so that's good. I'm a bit nervous about the pitch this afternoon, but it should be ok I suppose.

Looking at the other groups' sites, Chocrocks and UpUrAlley, and I'm pretty impressed. Its looking really good. I like the Chocrock graphic, and how the site seems to be all things chocolate, not just a directory. And I like how UpUrAlley have the 'new to the site' thing, which we've not figured out yet. I'm looking at some 'login-log out' plugins at the moment for Noir.

I was talking to my friend who is a jazz muso, and he didn't like the name of our site, he didn't get the MelbIN thing. I'm worried this might be a problem. Still getting the hang of the categories too, at this stage the front page menu is not discrete enough yet, there needs to be a better way of filtering the categories.

Social networks changed my life! And you can too...

***Note: I wrote this ages ago and forgot about it, so I'm posting it now*** These days it seems everyone's on a type social network site (SNS) described by boyd and Ellison (2007) in this week's readings. Even the most cynical of us have a Facebook page, or some even Twitter accounts - the latest craze, which seems to take social networking and blogging to its most basic level, which appeals to those who are just wanting to express themselves in a few sentences.

Of corse, there's a backlash to any new practice, and SNSs certainly have their enemies. I have a few friends who are not on FB, mostly men (but also a few females, who seem to be more weary-of than anti-FB), who seem to be very cynical about the power of SNSs, and quite judgemental of the users.

Indeed, there does seem to still be, in some parts of the community, a real anti-tech mentality. Perhaps it is a throwback to old ideas of cool and geekiness. Perhaps people see the reliance on computers as a sign of the apocalypse.  There's no doubt, I believe, there is still a fear of technology out there, the idea that computers are taking over, humans are losing their autonomy and uniqueness, that the computer will one day enslave us all and rob us of that thing we like to call humanity - yeah, because humans are so pure and innocent without computers. Sci-fi and movies like Blade Runner, The Matrix and Terminator have a lot to answer for.

Personally, I find people who can work with computers are generally quite 'cool,' and SNSs are used by many people to connect and reconnect with friends - quite the opposite to the stereotypical isolated socially awkward computer user of the 1980s-90s.

I'm always a little disappointed when someone says they are not on FB - how can I keep in touch with them?! Phone?! Please, I hate talking on the phone and messaging is wearing thin. There is really, for me, a shift towards Facebook becoming my primary source of communication with people. And I love it, it has changed my life. I'm now in direct contact with one of my best friends who lives in Geelong and I rarely get so see.

Of course, I'm a Facebook girl, I don't get Twitter. I suppose its good for those people who want a blog but dont actually want a blog. I have a Twitter account, as you can see on the right, but I rarey use it. I love the status update function on FB as it lets me see how my friends are going, but using the status as a broadcast tool is, for me, a little strange.  If I have something to say to the world, I want to say it through a blog, where I am less resticted than 140 characters. But that's just me, clearly people love it.

Well, not all people. Here's a link to the story I talked about in class, where the internet film fan community got all huffy about Twitter use in the cinema. They were annoyed as it threatened the romamce and sanctity of the movie-experience. And if its one thing I learned from my thesis, its that you don't mess with the 'aura' of the film experience for a cinephile. Tweet responsibly people!

Random musings over now.

The day before tomorrow

Tomorrow I'm bringing home my first ever Apple product (apart from downloading iTunes) - a 24" 2.66Ghz 4GB 640GB iMac! (Yes, I waited for the upgrade) To be honest, I've never really been a big fan of Macs, they never seemed so much better than a PC to warrant the price difference. To me they didn't seem to work 'better', just 'differently.' I also resent the way Apple has turned electronics and computers into fetish items. But I digress.

I'm getting an iMac for really one reason - to learn a new skill. I'm pretty comfortable navigating the Windows OS by now and I figure if I'm going to be taken seriously as someone who can work a computer slightly better than your average Josephine, I'm going to need to work a Mac. Not that anyone really works a Mac, the Mac works them and lets them think they're working it. But I digress again, as you can see I've got some Mac issues I'm going to have to work on if I'm going to avoid tears.

It should be interesting to see the way my blog changes when I get a Mac, whether I find it easier or harder. I might even buy a domain name and download WordPress, so I can have greater control over the aesthetics of it. Macs are good at aesthetics, right? That's what Justin Long told me anyway. 

I'll keep you posted on how I travel along the road to coolness.

 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLbJ8YPHwXM]

Kids these days.