the Net was a powerful multiplier for intellectual capital

The line 'the Net was a powerful multiplier for intellectual capital' really struck me as a well articulated synopsis of the internet. This line which from the first chapter of the Cluetrain Manifesto is very true. The internet is an intangible and powerful force that proliferates intellectual wisdom to a very high degree, increasing the general standard of understanding of issues of people in general, and in a broader sense making people more intelligent. The minus of the internet is that it also proliferates garbage, thus exuding a negative effect also.

The author is of a very positive view in the second and third chapters. An interesting observation made in the second chapter is that the internet makes us manage our lives better and more efficiently, due to the vast scale of information it comprises, which we can attain to understand and figure things out better, eventually living more in the same time frame.

The author also is of the view tha the interaction via the internet is a good scape goat from the mainstream media, and one can interact with less obstacles, i.e of publishing , etc. Even though I agree with the easier form of interaction, such interaction hinders a proper form of debate and argument, something needed for the ultimate change. In a blog site for example, people will discuss and debate issues with days on end with anonymous names and fake addresses, and even when a person's opinion on something has finally changed or the debate has reached a certain outcome, no action will be capable of being taken as the very premise on which the stage is set is false. My point being authenticity and legitimacy are two things the internet does not provide, and individuals take advantage of that rather than countering the void and filling the gap.

On the whole, the first three chapters were an insightful read into the evolution and works of the internet. The book definitely seems to add to the understanding of the internet, and this age in general.

Wark's idea of gamer theory

In his book, Wark refers to the concept of a gap being present in the game.

The gap must be identified and utilized, and may act as a kind of safe haven from the game, and keep us from getting sucked into this galaxy of the 'game space'. The gap can also be utilized as a space from which game space can be better analyzed and understood more objectively. This way, a new perspective may be attained and we may become learned enough to see the application of gamer theory in game space with more clarity, as an audience, rather than a participatory actor.

This is my take on the 'gap' which he discusses throughout the book.

The Election and Thoughts Derived from NYT Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/us/politics/04memo.html?scp=3&sq=2008%20Election%20Internet&st=cse This is the url address for anyone who did not see my earlier post.

The article gives an insightful analysis on how Obama managed to utilize the internet to his advantage. The first and foremost difference in this campaign, in comparison to previous ones was the intensity of it. It made the race to the White House so much more exciting, faster, and harder to keep up with. Both camps had advertisements, support groups and blogs, etc on the internet so that the platform would not go waste. The importance of the internet grew more when volunteers for the campaigns were largely recruited and directed via the internet.
Also, when Bush ran for reelection, many people had broad band and others were not fully equipped in waging campaigns and campaign wars through the internet, but this time round, it seemed everyone was just ready to go at it, sitting in front of their pc’s with a fully functioning and fast internet service.
A vital role was played by America’s youth in getting Obama elected. Much of the youth was mobilized via the internet , and further direction and organization was also given to them via the internet. It is remarkable to see the internet’s power and the extent to which it can determine our future.
Hats off to Obama’s campaign managers who were wise enough to capitalize on this great tool, the internet, and utilize the formidable force of the youth.

New York Times Article Citing How Internet Changed Politics in Election

November 4, 2008
The ’08 Campaign: Sea Change for Politics as We Know It
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
The 2008 race for the White House that comes to an end on Tuesday fundamentally upended the way presidential campaigns are fought in this country, a legacy that has almost been lost with all the attention being paid to the battle between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.
It has rewritten the rules on how to reach voters, raise money, organize supporters, manage the news media, track and mold public opinion, and wage — and withstand — political attacks, including many carried by blogs that did not exist four years ago. It has challenged the consensus view of the American electoral battleground, suggesting that Democrats can at a minimum be competitive in states and regions that had long been Republican strongholds.
The size and makeup of the electorate could be changed because of efforts by Democrats to register and turn out new black, Hispanic and young voters. This shift may have long-lasting ramifications for what the parties do to build enduring coalitions, especially if intensive and technologically-driven voter turnout programs succeed in getting more people to the polls. Mr. McCain’s advisers expect a record-shattering turnout of 130 million people, many being brought into the political process for the first time.
“I think we’ll be analyzing this election for years as a seminal, transformative race,” said Mark McKinnon, a senior adviser to President Bush’s campaigns in 2000 and 2004. “The year campaigns leveraged the Internet in ways never imagined. The year we went to warp speed. The year the paradigm got turned upside down and truly became bottom up instead of top down.”
To a considerable extent, Republicans and Democrats say, this is a result of the way that the Obama campaign sought to understand and harness the Internet (and other forms of so-called new media) to organize supporters and to reach voters who no longer rely primarily on information from newspapers and television. The platforms included YouTube, which did not exist in 2004, and the cellphone text messages that the campaign was sending out to supporters on Monday to remind them to vote.
“We did some very innovative things on the data side, and we did some Internet,” said Sara Taylor, who was the White House political director during Mr. Bush’s re-election campaign. “But only 40 percent of the country had broadband back then. You now have people who don’t have home telephones anymore. And Obama has done a tremendous job of waging a campaign through the new media challenge.
“I don’t know about you, but I see an Obama Internet ad every day. And I have for six months.”
Even more crucial to the way this campaign has transformed politics has been Mr. Obama’s success at using the Internet to build a huge network of contributors that permitted him to raise enough money — after declining to participate in the public financing system — to expand the map and compete in traditionally Republican states.
No matter who wins the election, Republicans and Democrats say, Mr. Obama’s efforts in places like Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia — organizing and advertising to voters who previously had little exposure to Democratic ideas and candidates — will force future candidates to think differently.
“The great impact that this election will have for the future is that it killed public financing for all time,” said Mr. McCain’s chief campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt. “That means the next Republican presidential campaign, hopefully a re-election for John McCain, will need to be a billion-dollar affair to challenge what the Democrats have accomplished with the use of the Internet and viral marketing to communicate and raise money.”
“It was a profound leap forward technologically,” Mr. Schmidt added. “Republicans will have to figure out how to compete with this in order to become competitive again at a national level and in House and Senate races.”
This transformation did not happen this year alone. In 2000, Mr. Bush’s campaign, lead by Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman, pioneered the use of microtargeting to find and appeal to potential new supporters. In 2004, the presidential campaign of Howard Dean was widely credited with being the first to see the potential power of the Internet to raise money and sign up volunteers, a platform that Mr. Obama tremendously expanded.
“They were Apollo 11, and we were the Wright Brothers,” said Joe Trippi, the manager of Mr. Dean’s campaign.
Terry Nelson, who was the political director of the Bush campaign in 2004, said that the evolution was challenging campaign operatives who worked for every presidential campaign, and would continue in 2012 and beyond.
“We are in the midst of a fundamental transformation of how campaigns are run,” Mr. Nelson said. “And it’s not over yet.”
The changes go beyond what Mr. Obama did and reflect a cultural shift in voters, producing an audience that is at once better informed, more skeptical and, from reading blogs, sometimes trafficking in rumors or suspect information. As a result, this new electorate tends to be more questioning of what it is told by campaigns and often uses the Web to do its own fact-checking.
“You do focus groups and people say, ‘I saw that ad and I went to this Web site to check it,’ ” said David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager. “They are policing the campaigns.”
Mr. Schmidt said the speed and diversity of the news cycle had broken down the traditional way that voters received information and had given campaigns opportunities, and challenges, in trying to manage the news.
“The news cycle is hyperaccelerated and driven by new players on the landscape, like Politico and Huffington Post, which cause competition for organizations like The A.P. where there is a high premium on being first,” he said. “This hyperaccelerates a cable-news cycle driven to conflict and drama and trivia.”
Among the biggest changes this year is the intense new interest in politics, reflected in jumps in voters registration, early voting and attendance at Mr. Obama’s rallies. To no small extent, that is a reflection on the unusual interest stirred by his campaign. Thus, it is hardly clear that a future candidate who appropriated all the innovations that Mr. Obama and his campaign tried would necessarily have the same success as Mr. Obama.
“Without the candidate who excites people,” Mr. Plouffe said, “you can have the greatest strategy and machinery and it won’t matter.”
Mr. Trippi, who worked for one of Mr. Obama’s rivals in the Democratic primary, former Senator John Edwards, said: “It has all come together for one guy, Barack Obama. But now that it’s happened, it’s a permanent change.”

Redefining Key Concepts

The meanings of ideas of democracy, equality, and choice have evolved, to say the least. These three key concepts, which complement each other, and are said to be the basis of many western civilizations, are increasingly getting controversial, as technology strips them of their once held beliefs. The Shirky article argues the same.

With the 're-feudalization of internet' (rebooting america), our choices are not truly free and random as true freedom of choice permits. Our choices are narrowed down by advertisments and marketing by giant companies that pursue their own interests, and do so by moulding our choices to what suits them best. These companies bombard us with ads once we visit a website that may suggest of our interest in a particular subject.

However, it can also be argued that such a phenomenon is part of the freedom that we ourselves have established and evolved through technology. Also, the free market economy endorses competition between companies, leading them to utilize every option that they may have to increase their clientele.

The Shirky article is correct in it's own right. The fact that our choices are not entirely chosen by us may seem unfair, and at the end of the day, is the result of our own previous choices.

You Are Being Watched On Campus

We often talk about the lack of privacy that the internet has brought, and how difficult it is to keep private things private. However, it is astonishing that a campus, reportedly of a liberal arts college, carrying out surveillance on it's students without having informed them. There is a surveillance camera fitted at the corner of Medbury(the side which faces Demarest). The camera, which is right under the search light, faces the quad. If something like is being done by the college, the least they can do is inform us of such happening.

Such actions in such institutions reveal that there is no guaranteed privacy anywhere today and that it is vital to voice our concerns and fight for our rights, if we are serious about attaining them that is.

Communicative Capitalism-Jodi Dean

The chapter exudes an unconventional perspective of the internet and usefulness. I found the chapter to be extremely insightful, as it gave me a chance to view the internet as I had never done before.

The internet is a great facility to enhance democracy and individual participation in politics, only if the thoughts and voices of different people are posed properly, with organization and clarity, through a website that is recognized by the state and government, a website that has legitimacy. Jodi Dean hits the nail on the head when stating " it is (the internet) depoliticizing because the form of our involvement ultimately empowers those it is supposed to resist". It is understandable to rave about the internet, as it is a revolutionary tool that has made the world a smaller and more proximate, and made communication much faster and efficient. But coming back to politics, it is true that our little contributions that we think have added something to our cause, whatever it maybe, is inconsequential in the grander scheme of things. This is because your input in whatever form maybe, is not acknowledged and stacked in a folder which comprises of all views similar to yours, and is not then presented to the powers that be so your views have an impact as one, your view is just another of the trillions circulating on the internet, being as futile as can be. It must be conceded, that our inputs in the internet are like fish in a fish bowl, going round and round but not achieving anything. The only thing which can be attributed that whirlpool of data is that it is a spectrum of perpectives that are there, just there.

Also, another vital point of the chapter is of the 'commodification of the internet'. The websites encouraging participation, or so we think, are superficial and present such an image, but in actuality are engaged in " financially mediated and professionalized practices, centered on advertising, public relatios ,and the means of mass communication". Thus, instead of empowering the people, this leads to depolitcization and giving the people a false sense of power and hope.

Finally, the amalgamation of ideas is hindered by communicative capitalism. The idea of 'post politics' explains well as how each individual's view remains as an 'independent and individual' view, and thus "matters are not represented-they don't stand for something beyond themselves".

I personally learned immensely from the chapter, and found it difficult to disagree with much.

Why Obama has an edge

Barack Obama has much going for him right now. While his counterpart is campaigning hard in Democrat states, Obama is sailing on the economic crisis. His popularity is gloating as the economy is plunging into a deeper crisis each day. In Germany, during the recession of 1929, when the economy used to go a notch down, the Nazi party's popularity used to go a notch higher. Obviously, in this case, Obama's popularity going up is not a negative. Most Americans would choose Economy over National Security at the moment, unless the Republican camp exposes a video of Osama Bin Laden threatening another attack, something which happened in the last election, giving Bush the cutting edge over John Kerry. Not to mention Coling Powell's endorsement of Obama, something which has really been an eye opener for everyone, and a big let down for the Republican party.

However, we must keep our fingers crossed.

With Elections Around the Corner, and Mistrust Still Prevailing

Most would agree that Obama has managed to unite and invigorate the youth and get them on his side. Also, he has tried to reach out to all segments of society, especially as the day to vote closes in. His stance on 'change' has also calmed down, as he seeks to attract the white upperclass that is most likely to vote for McCain, to safeguard and protect the stature and money that they possess. Howeve, researching on the issue of race during fall break, mainly via the NY Times articles and NY times blog, 'the Caucas', I came upon the conclusion that Obama is still looked at with suspicion in many areas of America. Patric Healy's article in the Oct 12th issue of the paper, clearly argues how race is still the underlying issue in parts of Ohio and West Virginia.

Adam Nossiter writes how there is a 'receptive audience' to McCain's anti-Obama advertisments in the South, people who are questioning Obama's racial heritage and where really does he come from. There exists a mystery about Obama, that his charisma and oratory skills do not seem to clear, a mystery that is blended with distrust.

And the Caucas, which is a blog of the NY Times, highlights an interesting point. Written by Kate Pilips and Michael Falcone, the blog reads how McCain is using Obama's race issue as a weapon, by criticising how Obama has made it difficult to be criticized by citing racial prejudice in any legitimate criticism that is made of him.

At the end the question arises, whether the United States of America is actually prepared to have a black man as President.

The Final Debate

The debate last night was a let down. I had been looking forwared to see it and had higher expectations of the quality of the debate. However, both candidates seemed bogged down with personal accusations and petty 'tit for tats'. Also, it seemed neither of them had anything new to offer, but only more of the same. There were no final attractive additions in the economic packages they were offering to America, but rather argument over each others campaign advertisements. I would agree with Professor Dean that the presidential campaign achieved a new level of 'low' last night.

Clearly, Obama and McCain have exhausted their list of things to sell, and the time has arrived for America to choose it's new leader.

Chapters 16 & 18- Boler

The chapter on Bush and internet political campaigns was an insightful chapter that revealed the impact and affect that creativity on the internet can have on something as important as a presidential campaign. Also, the chapter shows how the internet has empowered the ordinary individual, which in turn has contributed to increased democratization, which is a positive thing.

The other chapter also gave importance to the internet stating how white supremacists are taking advantage of the internet in furthering their extremist ideology, and that it can and needs to be countered, as both pro and anti white supremacist people are on an equal footing with the internet as their main tool and platform.

Both these chapters show how the political discourse of today has changed with the internet and how people have been given an opportunity to voice their views on a platform that is consistent to all other individuals. This in a way has brought more equality and opportunity to the world, at the same time.

I-Spy Recap

In his book I-Spy, Mark Andrejevic captures the internet as a new force which has altered our way of living and interacting. Andrejevic argues how the internet has become a modern platformof political repertoire, and has therefore made the concept of democracy more true and meaningful.

Andrejevic's indepth and thorough analysis of the new mode of interaction and the advantages that are to our avail as well as the disturbing realities that we may be wary of helped me immensely in understanding the newly evolved world we live in and how it has become into what it has.

Hacking Incident of Governor Palin's Email

I think this incident just re-enforces the argument that we were having the other day of how the Internet's lines of privacy are getting more and more blurred by the day. Most people who use the internet for business purposes and not only for leisure, would agree that email correspondence and even searching through search engines is a private and personal affair and no one has the right to view it, be it through hacking or any other manner. Just as the cell phone and face to face interactions are considered personal interactions, the internet is also a personal space for many, and invasion of that is parallel to tapping a cell phone. I firmly believe that lines need to be drawn and it be clarified that it is NOT ON to view others personal activities on the internet.

Beyond Borders

As we were discussing in class earlier, the perimeters of 'privacy' have become more and more blurred as we have increased our usage of internet and google. I do not foresee a future for a concept known as 'privacy' to exist ten years down the road. The likelihood of it being left as a mere word stripped of all meaning is high. Google is attracting more and more users each day, and the numbers are just going to increase. Soon it will be an invaluable accessory, and that will guarantee the ceasure of 'privacy'.

Chapters 1 and 2- I Spy

The first two chaptes were definitely eye openers. It is clear that the concept of individual privacy has assumed a different meaning, that is if it remains at all. Even though google and other search engines are useful tools for information gathering and academic purposes amongst other uses, they whisk away our privacy. The internet has in a way blurred all individuals into one, and any one can be fished out by clicking on the search button. It has become just too easy to know who the other person is and what their background may be. It would be fair to say, that search engines like google have made every internet user (that is essentially everyone), vulnerable and 'out there'. However, every thinking individual has conveniently condoned it the issue, though we still like to occasionally complain about our privacy being violated. At the end of the day it is a trade-off, and we have chosen things to be the way they are.

Internet-contributions and discontents

Internet and internet blogging are like any opportunity that may be presented to anyone, except this opportunity is everlasting, if you will. And the opportunity can be utilized, i.e. intellectual exchanges by which you can learn and better your capabilities and knowledge, or the opportunity can be vulgarized and made into a disgusting tool to please one's twisted ego. The first two articles instigate a question, should a line be drawn in the internet which bars people from being abnoxious and insulting to others? Or should everything continue the way it is as doing anything else would infringe on our concept of democracy, something that is also very dear to us. I believe, that what we need on the internet is a 'democracy in check'. Other than that, there can be no abrahamic solution to this growing problem, as people are increasingly exploit the internet. Even though this solution may be criticized by many, it will bar out the negative elements and atleast have peace for the majority of internet users, who are not in consensus with that minority.

Technology-What it is

In today's world technology plays a vital role. It shapes our lives and our individual, in a broader sense, shaping the world. Even though many may say that technology is no more than an aid to human existence, technology heavily contributes in to making us who we are. The media, internet and all other types of technology mould are views and perceptions, thus, influencing the choices we make in our life. Internet and computers are just a new and more advanced version of pencils and books, which once upon a time were viewed in the same way as internet is viewed today. Writing is fast becoming a frequent way of communication. As technology influences our lives more and more, and we spend more and more time on our desks and get less physical interaction, email and digital interactions are becoming more and more popular. The written interactions, even though devoid of facial expressions, can be more expressive and have more of an impact as they do not fade away like spoken words, but rather remain in front of your eyes. Also, written words provide clarity in statements made by individuals and instigate more of an objective interpretation as there is less likely for a context to the conversation to exist, which is usuall y present in face to face interactions. Another important factor that goes in favor of written interactions is that there is a record of conversation, where is in oral conversations words are mere events that occur and become part of of the past.