$#!% I Say

Check out my video here —

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9G0hfL0Frk&feature=youtube_gdata

I finally figured out what I would do that was relevant to this course. Took me long enough (and wasted enough time) but I finally have something. I hope everybody (the professor especially) enjoys it. I worked hard on it. We’ll see what happens. Only time will tell.

I have yet to begin working on my final project as yet. I am still fine-tuning the details in my head. I have the music and idea set out but have yet to find the right videos so that I could execute the idea. I would love to have the time to just take a full day and finish this thing but that is not the case. Hope to have something started by the middle of next week.

What I did during my Spring Break was work and have family outings and get togethers. My time, as mundane and lack luster as it may seem, incorporated new media aspects. Of course our presentation group met and discussed not only our presentation but also new media in general. We taught each other about things on the web that we didn’t know already. We also delved into the technology to be used in our presentation.

When I had a birthday party for my daughter I downloaded “The Woman in Black” for them (legally, of course **) and then played it from a USB on the TV using my Roku 2. We spoke to my wife’s family in Israel using Skype. My son and I watched some videos on Youtube about troubleshooting wireless connections as well as some movies on Netflix. My baby used her iPad to do puzzles by herself and watched Yo Gabba Gabba and Mickey Mouse videos on Netflix and Youtube. I read articles on my iPad using apps like Wired and Flipboard.

Come to think about it, new technology and the new media that results has permeated society more than we actually think. We use it without even flinching. That’s why if you ask someone “What did you do during the Easter vacation” they’ll answer “Nothing”. Because to them they do these things utilizing new media with a blissful ignorance.

MacArthur is an understandably mad individual becuase his profession’s strnaglehold has become loosened for the first times in many years. But what is not understandable is the way he pouts and throws a tantrum like a little baby.

His comments are without reason and nonsensical. What he needs to do is take a lesson from the New York Times. What the Times learned was that old credo: “If you can’t beat them, join them.” The Times has successfully been able to trash their business model  to create a new one which fit more with the times and technology. To address MacArthur’s article would be a waste of time since reasoning with the man would be impossible.

Jay Rosen, in his “The People Formerly Known as the Audience“, states that the audience is now taking control of the media. That they are taking ownership of something controlled for too long by the established media. I am somewhat skeptical of such a situation being considered revolutionary. It is a revolution, don’t get me wrong, but it is not something so outstanding, so unfathomable, or without a past example.

Revolutions begin modestly and blossom into a full-blown institution. Take for instance the Gutenberg Press. The printing press revolutionized the printed word. In the past it was difficult for the common person to even be in the same vicinity as the document (or slab) containing printed (or brushed on or chisled) word. What evolved was the ability to print words in a short period of time and with little effort. What was effected by it was expansive and limitless. A system of education began to evolve and people learned to read. News and information travelled to areas beyond the outer bounds to which they were limited before. Yet the first and most greatly involved was religion. Religion was the basis of the printed word and vice versa. Knowledge was religion to most that could read. Saint Patrick was cannonized not for driving out snakes from Ireland but for saving an entire language and the religion that came with it–Christianity.

Centuries ago, monks in Ireland had, before the printing press was invented, dedicated their lives to painstakingly copying the Bible along with beautiful illuminations. These could take up to 20 years to finish and were only available to the few individuals who were lucky enough to possess that one book. The first Gutenberg bible took about 4 or 5 years and future editions took only months. Information was beginning to become available to the public finally. This lead to one of the greatest revolutions in history and is what took Europe out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance–the Enlightenment. As congregations and clergy became more familiar with the Bible they became incensed with the fact that the Holy Roman Church was feeding them lies about what the Bible actually said and misinterpreting the verses. Martin Luther took the first bold step when he posted his 95 Theses on the doors of the Church. Christianity, after almost a millineum of solidarity and control, broke into different sects–mainly the Calvanists and the Lutherans who formed the Protestant Reformation movement.

What makes the Reformation so important and relevant to the article by Jay Rosen is that it is an example of the people taking control of their religion (and in those days that meant much more than what that would imply today). They became the people formally known as the congregation. What is most interesting to note as an example from history is that the situation resolved itself in a way that is common to all revolutions–from chaos comes order and from order comes chaos. It was inevitable that similar restrictive, secretive, and ignorant religions would form from the previous Church. In fact the once single-headed Church became a multi-headed Hydra.

What we learn here is that though the people will gain some freedom and greater insight than they previously had, that door will eventually be shut again. Revolutions meant to free the people have historically lead to their eventual enslavement as well–think of Iran’s rebellion against the excesses of the Shah, the Russian and Chinese rebellions against their royal manipulators, and the French Revolution which rid the country of an uncaring King yet marked the beginning of the Reign of Terror where tens of thousands were guillotined in a matter of months.

You may be saying, “What does that have to do with media?” ALOT. Those who want to free us and open our eyes eventually become too big for their britches and become greedy and  drunk with the power they have gained. The revolution continues yet we need to see where it goes and how those controlling the new media react to their new-found power.

I never posted anything on Youtube before but finally did with this one. I find the video so funny. It’s my baby in the first couple months after she was born. Watch it and see what happens (not so funny if you’re the parent). I’ll have to wait and see how many hits this video gets and what the responses will be (hopefully nothing crude).

I tried using all of the memegenerators and it was just impossible to figure out what was going on and to get to an end product. I found this picture on one of the memegenerator sites. But it was not a meme. I have no idea why the site is set up the way it is and why it is so impossible for noobs to navigate. I had to add the words using Adobe Illustrator because the memegenerators weren’t working.

I found Shirky to be somewhat insightful but opinionated. His arguments that the submersion of something new into a culture comes with a kind of shock to the culture. That is a given I suppose–introduce something new and the people will not know exactly how to handle it. And also a given is that something that becomes so entrenched and engrained in our society becomes almost imperceptible. What Shirky irks me on is how he trashes lolcats. Not that I find any redeeming qualities in the website but it is the way Shirky addresses the site and its proponents. He sounds so elitist in his attitude towards the site. Yet he admits to his enjoyment of Gilligan’s Island and The Partidge Family on television. Mindless couch surfing is worse in my mind. The person enjoying lolcats is at least involved in what they are doing they are viewing and producing content which they deem to be enjoyable. They may be doing something that is not contributing anything beyond a quick laugh for society but they are active. What somebody does with their free time should not be a concern of his or anyone else. If I choose to spend every last second of my free time standing on the corner watching cars go by, then I am free to do so. Not every action must have a productive or life-enhancing effect. Ushahidi is a greeat thing for people to utilize but must we be pigeon-holed into thinking  that all of our time spent must be meaningful. How much of your free time is spent in a meaningful manner? A great majority of it is spent idling. So get off of your high horse Shirky!

There are several forms of the game Pinochle—points and the types and number of cards vary. Here I will teach you how to play the most common form.

This form of Pinochle is played with only the cards 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. There are 4 of each card in each suit in the deck for a total of 90 cards. There have to be 4 players as well with partners being spaced out from each other, partners usually sit directly across from each other.

Prior to beginning the card play between the players, the cards are dealt and the points are “melded” (or calculated). Calculations are very specific and are taken into account on whether the hand can even be played. What begins is the bidding. Each player calculates what cards they have, what those cards are worth, and whether they can meld enough points to play the hand that they bid for. Bidding begins with the first person being forced to make an “open” bid which is 50 or anything higher if they wish. Bidding increments can be as low as by 1 up to 60 when they go to increments of 5 (see strategy for more on bidding). The person winning the bid is passed any 4 cards from their partner and then passes any other 4 cards back to their partner

First off, the person who wins the bid must call what the trump suit is (or the “royal” suit). That is—the suit which is stronger than the other suits and can win hands. The strength of the card goes by the following order from weakest to strongest: Jack, Queen, King, 10, then Ace. A royal card beats any non-royal card and the royal cards beat each other in the same order as just described.

The suit called as trump must have what is termed a “marriage”—a King and Queen of that suit. If there is no marriage, the hand cannot be played and the winning bidder loses points equal to the bid placed.

If there is a marriage then the points are tabulated:

Marriage in a money suit:

4

A “run” in the royal suit (meaning all cards from 10 to Ace):

20

A double run in a royal suit:

150

A marriage in a non-royal suit:

2

A Jack in every suit:

4

Double Jacks in every suit:

40

A Queen in every suit:

6

Double Queens in every suit:

60

A King in every suit:

8

Double Kings in every suit:

80

An Ace in every suit:

10

Double Ace in every suit:

100

A Pinochle (a Jack of Diamonds and a Queen of spades):

15

Double Pinochle:

30

Triple pinochle:

60

Marriage in every suit:

24

King, Queen and Jack in every suit:

28

Play is run clock-wise and the person who is due to play the next card has to play a card which beats the other card (if they have it). If they do not have a card to beat the strongest card on board then they have to throw out a card of the same suit. If they do not have a card of the same suit, they must either throw out a royal card or, if lacking a royal card, any card of any suit. If the first card is a regular non-royal card and the next card to beat it is a royal card the next player must play the suit first played, or in the absence of a card in that suit must play a royal card if they possess one. If they cannot beat the royal card and do not have the original suit they must still play a royal card if in their possession, or if not then can throw out any card.

Each 10, King and Ace is worth 1 point and the last play is worth an extra 2 points.

The player who won the bid must bring back the difference in points between the bid and the actual meld, but never less than 20 points. The non-winning bid team must bring back at least 20 points to have the meld they put down after bidding to count.

Strategy

When bidding begins the first person to bid “passes” his partner his meld. Say if I am holding a hand that only gives 14 points I will pass 10 points by bidding 51. If I have Aces (an Ace in each suit) along with that, I will bid 20 points as 52. If I have 57 points in my hand, I will pass 56 as my bid. Bidding can also be used to block communication out from the other players. If I am bidding, I will bid 59 off-the-bat simply to block my opponent’s ability to pass meld. Also, you want to be a team player so even though you may have a great hand with almost a double run in trump or a lot of points, your partner may have a better hand than you so you should not bid against your partner, you only drive up the bidding and thus the amount of points needed.

Passing cards is a vital means of getting more points. So if I have all the cards for a double run in trump except for one card, I will gamble by bidding high in the hopes of getting that one card from my partner.

Watch the meld of the opposing team as well as your partner, it is telling as far as who has which cards.

HAVE FUN PLAYING!!!! And if you want to learn more and get involved in the game go to http://npapinochle.org/.