The Video Deck

This is a test blog to get a blog

I developed some questions that will concern different mediated experiences and concepts in media and technology. The big question to all of this is where will be the question that answers all other questions in technology is there one? Maybe that is to confusing right now and rightfully so because who can honestly predict the next great thing? You can assume and guess what should be the next big thing but that won't answer the question. When was the last time you thought about what will the next iPhone be, and what will it do that the current one doesn't do? The next iPhone may not even be an Apple product but the thought of what will be the next device that is like and iPhone or better than the iPhone is a more mind boggling idea. I am more concerned with the question that comes before that and that is only answered beyond the creation of the next iPhone. Have I lost you yet? Because we think of a problem first then answer second maybe we should think of answer first and then problem second that could somehow develop our next great thing, or not. Either way my questions are not to be answered by a lousily way, but more thought and methodical way if they amount up to that. Here is the list of questions I will choose from to answer thoughtfully.

Dealing with technology on a regular rather its editing a video in Final Cut Pro, shooting still images with a Nikon D40x, or checking a calendar with mobile me on my iPhone, I wonder whats the big next thing. As many of you may know Apple released its revolutionary iPad yesterday, a 10 inch, multitouch, Wifi enabled device. Apple is describing it as “their most advance technology in a magical and revoultionary device.” As I watched the live blog during the Apple event I became disappointed in the product and what it offered. I question why, how come, and where is, all to find no answers in return but after I read a filmakers blog (http://prolost.com/blog/2010/1/27/make-movies-with-apple-ipad.html) and some past BAS alumni blogs http://kyleewall.blogspot.com/ my brain machine began to turn.

I think right now with the release of this tablet and creative minds is exactly what we discuss in N503 about whats your mission, smart devices and the future of what we create with our MAS degrees. This iPad is ahead of its time and myself has doubted the powerful use of its technology and the endless possibilities in a mediated future. If everything is smart and responds to the sense of touch then what is limited. In the Prolost Blog, the filmaker mentioned color correction which is my, MO in video editing, and how the iPad could become the color corrector tools for a color correction project. In other words imagine using the iPad now as remote or an integral interface to control the color correction tools of a editing software. In fact, a step further, using the iPad as a virtual interface for your home iMac or Macbook Pro. Swapping folders, pictures, edits, presentations could all be controlled by multitouch gestures. As MAS students think how much this could change the way you edit, design, build and distribute the media we are creating now. Edit videos on the fly and see corrections in realtime, design 3D models all with your fingers, download text and pictures from your home computer onto your iPad and share in a keynote presentation. All this type of technolgoy is just in a matter of years and already Apple has touched the surface. I challenge myself, students of MS programs, and companies to change the way we interact with our technology and hardware. I leave with a few pictures to allow this concept to build.

On the eve of another Apple breakthrough product, I find myself gearing up for the announcement of another futuristic product by a very creative company. I have added another clock on my iPhone set to San Francisco to tune into the spectacular event. Already I set up my computer to download the podcast once the special event is released into iTunes to be viewed at HD 1080p. In all this preparation a thought came to me about the future of technology and its design and functionality for society. If companies like Apple are making these wonderful devices to be bought, consumed, used, and then become extinct over time, then why should the product only be made by corporations for consumers. In other words when will the consumer become the creator, when everyone tunes into a youtube medium to watch a release of a new product or design. Better yet how far are we from a socially created cellphone, or computer design by the same consumers that use them. Think how much facebook, youtube, myspace, and other social media sites created a network ideas, people, groups, organizations and so forth. Those same type of clusters could be used to produce a product that was design in that same network for the people that created it in the first place. It would be a entire collection of ideas of what should be used and what should not be used for this new device. I wonder how far we are from making this happen, since everything in the future will be mediated whats to say society couldn’t create their own device to harness their own mediated experience. To use the smart device do you have to be smart or know the principles behind it? It seems that way when youtube videos are produced and made to entertain. Are the producers of those videos educated in video production or are they learning socially? In the future their will be more smart objects and events, what will society’s role play.

What is your mission....

When this question is asked to me I get confused because I begin to try to answer to many question that arise. I ask first, “what do I want to create as a mission”, or “what mission fits my life and my beliefs.” I have even asked when or if I complete the mission then what? Many of these questions I don’t answer because I never have thought seriously of what is my mission in life. A lot of what I think of what is my mission in life, I think what is my purpose? These questions go beyond my mental capacity because they involve God’s plans and purpose for my life. As of date, I have not met that point nor am I striving to create something superficial to believe that it is my mission and purpose. With that said, being a service to others through out my professional career is where I would like my future to evolve to. I pray that my goals and aspirations are in Gods will and can both be met and accepted in his eyes.

My senior year of high school I volunteered as a mentor under the Americorps organization to children from battered women. During that time I really developed the love for service and doing for others when I was called upon to do. After that I realized that I not only enjoyed it but looked forward to providing any service I had or knew how to do for others. As the years evolved, I served in the nations greatest Army in a conflicting war, became a student mentor at IUPUI, and continue to offer unconditional service to my friends and family. I think being a service to others has become a continuos goal of mine and I notice it as I gain more information that can help others. One purposeful goal that I would like to reach is educating information about the use of different medias and mediums to communicate effectively. In addition, I would want to apply the same goals to other national universities to improve on learning, information and technology. The material that we learn is very versatile and applicable to many organizations and business on converging technology and communication with science and art. As a future graduate, I can play a major role in helping achieve this in many different facets from the knowledge I learned and will continuously learn. On the other side it is tough to really say what is a purpose in a technology based career because of the nature of its growth in society. It is imperative that one must stay updated on the latest information and practices to use the skills and knowledge attained to battle new horizons. In thinking that, maybe a Ph. d. is not in my future to attain and not my purpose to become a researcher of this field. In fact maybe my purpose is to be a multimedia consultant with an innovative attitude that keeps companies, universities ,and other organizations serviced with the best video editing suite to compete in the future. Who knows, I will leave that to God and his will be to be done. In the meantime I will put myself in a position to achieve any endeavor that presents itself in the future, and that first starts off with achieving an A in N503!

Ok I am going to type this blog and go to bed cause I have to be up at 8am or 7, something like that. Anyhow yes yes and yes I am going to be snowboarding this year and this video just gave me more inspiration to do so. Maybe this is not like what most people think of snowboarding with all the flips tricks and cool chicks(wack) but I think I will just like the sport. Currently I have picked up MTB (Mountain Biking) and its a whole lot of fun and a great way to contribute to exercise without the constraints of a gym. Its fast, competitive, extreme and very fun and I do it all by myself and with a small group of others. That in itself is fun for me without doing all the jumps and things to make it fully extreme.

So my birthday present to myself will be my first lessons in snowboarding to get down the basics. After that I plan of going snowboard over the next three months three times. This year will be the preliminary year that gets me started into the sport and gets me going to see if I will enjoy it ( I know I will). With that said I leave you with this video from snowboarding in Chamonix, France. Its not all that goo-goo ga ga stuff but I think it looks fun. Enjoy also the music traxx is dooope I think its Dj Krush.

Over the last year I have really begin to focus on my future and my career. Before entering grad school at IUPUI, I always thought of having a dream job of editing video, creating intelligent graphical pieces, and earning a ton of money. Today I think less of what job I want, but more so of what career I want to shape for myself. I think a job will only get you to getting another job then another, but a career I think will land you in an environment for change. A career can fuel a change that impacts life, people, communities, and states. As a student and alumni of the Media Arts & Science program, I believe that as students we are not just learning practices and techniques just to land a single job, but to create and change the way things are communicated and used for the greater good. For this aspect of the program I desire to attain and be apart of in the future.

These days I am working towards my Masters in Media Arts and Science to one day be in charge of changing media technologies and practices. I want to be able to teach from this program as well as become a doctor in this program to push the ideas and practices to a discipline. Although, I believe that experience and work will be the best mode of education out of this program and with that said I want to work with a masters degree before thinking of attaining a Ph. D. in Media Arts & Science.

Today I am looking into research and developing new ways to distribute video and create video technologies for the digital world. I have taken a research design course as my first class in my masters program, and so far it has provided me with great information on structuring and developing my research. My topic in research is finding a correlation between sharing of online video and their ratings to the ratings of TV. Basically I want to find the social aspect of online videos and why they gain popularity and ratings. I think this is important because in new media, convergence of media is key, and finding new developing ways to do it is powerful. If there is a correlation between online video and TV then I believe the content offered online could be offered as a free service to households through their televisions. This study could also be applied to how and why online videos are produced and created. It could effect the practice of editing videos to a different standard than to what is now used now. My topic still is a work in progress, but I know where I want to begin and I am working on fulfilling my research goals.