Thursday, October 25, 2012

Big Bad Ideas: Outlawed by Amazon DRM << Martin Bekkelund

"Did she violate any terms? Amazon will not tell. Perhaps by accident? Amazon does not care. The conclusion so faris clear: Amazon closed her account, wiped her Kindle and  refuses to tell her why. End of discussion."(Bekkelund, 2012)

Big Bad Ideas Outlawed By Amazon DRM:

'via Blog this'

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Big Bad Ideas: The value of argument

Initially I thought of this post as extolling the value of social interaction to healing of the brain. I still suspect there is a connection, but when I reviewed what I had written, the post seemed to lack continuity, and it seemed to be more about relating essay writing (blogging) and aesthetic principles. So I decided to move the post to a more appropriate venue and simplify it at the same time. 

Big Bad Ideas: The Value of Arguement:

'via Blog this'

Thursday, August 30, 2012

podcasting 101 : Stephen Bates : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive


I stumbled across this short video that describes how to create a podcast! 

podcasting 101 : Stephen Bates : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive:



'via Blog this'

(The animated image was getting annoying after a while, so I shrank it. I may need to shrink it some more!)

In my opinion, a quality microphone, and a conversational tone are the most important aspects of podcasting. Not that I'm an expert, but I may post some school assignments in which I was required to podcast. My attempts were terrible until I got my daughter Audra to help me. Adding a second person to turn a monologue into a conversation was all it took to make the podcast interesting. Although I have used Audacity, and it is just as powerful as other tools, I think my preferred tool is Adobe's SoundBooth software.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

aesthetic meaning and value in the arts

A recent discussion of whether taste in music can be judged brought these previously written paragraphs to mind, in which I talked about the aesthetic meaning and value in various arts.
"reddle" by Klaus Leontjew
Great art establishes a background which can be self-defined, or more commonly is derived from the styles, trends, and historical context of the culture. Having established a background, art builds meaning through imitation, repetition, and contrast with the background. Meaning is constructed by each person who experiences the art as they apply their own unique perspective to the background, and to the similarities and differences of the art with its background. In each person who constructs meaning in the experience, they align themselves with some elements and disassociate themselves from other elements, creating the emotional equivalence of life experiences in a safe context. This individual interaction with art enables people to find meaning in various aspects of their lives that they would have otherwise missed, so art provides an emotional mirror that individuals use to see themselves and their circumstances from a new perspective. 

Art without contrast would have no meaning, as life without pain has no joy, and perfect equality offers no beauty, no life, and no reason for the change that defines and motivates us.

Beauty does not depend solely on contrast, but rather it depends on the relationship between the contrast, the background, and the cultural context. Some of the most awe-inspiring art is very plain and simple. However, subtle meaning can be lost in a loud crass environment where sharper contrasts are generally necessary.

Examine the photograph above. What similarities do you observe in the photo? What contrasts do you observe? Did you mentally "push away" an element of the photo? What did you reject? Why did you reject it? What element did you most connect with?  What message may the artist have wanted to convey? Did you connect with the author's aesthetic idea on some level?  How do YOU feel?

If you learned something from this blog about the meaning in art, please make a comment so I can also learn from you. Now listen to your favorite music, and ask yourself these same questions.


Reference:


Leontjew, K. (Photographer). (2009). Reddle. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
       http://photodonuts.com/klaus-leontjew 




Friday, August 3, 2012

Resources for Traumatic Brain Injury: The Kindness of Strangers

Resources for Traumatic Brain Injury: The Kindness of Strangers:

'via Blog this'

In my other blog, I highlighted a kindness I experienced from someone I don't know, and I included a plug for another kind stranger, SpellCheckPlus. As I reviewed my post it occurred to me SpellCheckPlus is precisely the kind of online educational tool that should be highlighted in this blog, so here is the plug I posted for SpellCheckPlus in my other blog.




Another "kind stranger," SpellCheckPlus
gave me a free subscription to their online 
grammar checker. Their valuable tool enables 
me to write intelligibly in spite of my current 
limitations.





Bookmark the link above, and try the free version of this tool the next time you want an

understandable spelling and grammar critique of your writing.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Brain Injury

Location of accident
There is a reason this blog has been inactive. Last June (2011) I was hit by a car while I was bicycling for exercise. Initially it seemed I was fine other than suffering from severe vertigo and the nausea that comes with vertigo, but over time, my abilities have progressively continued to decline, or so others tell me. I still hope for eventual recovery.  For every new symptom that appears, older symptoms seem to gradually improve. An example of improvement is my ability to write this post without having to correct severe grammatical errors caused by dropped words and phrases. (I will grammar-check this post before publishing it just in case.)

As I recover, I am building a new blog entitled Resources for Traumatic Brain Injury in which I am building a journal of my experiences. Eventually, I plan for this journal to become part of a larger website that will help others work through the kinds of difficulties I have faced.

Grammar checking for this post was provided by SpellCheckPlus (2012).


Resources:

Nadasdi, T & Sinclair, S.(2012). Spellcheckplus.Nadaclair Language Technologies.
          Retrieved from http://spellcheckplus.com