Stuff For Week 6

Google Wave

I dislike Google Wave. Maybe it'll be the next big thing, maybe I'll change my mind, but I think it's kind of stupid. It's really complicated. I can't say what exactly about it I dislike, except that I like simple things and I feel like it's just one more step toward having people actually be more disconnected. If you're having a BBQ, why don't you just call people? I'll probably get some flack for this, but I like actually talking to people, and while I utilize tools like facebook invites and all that nonsense, I still like to actually see and speak with people, because that's a real connection.

Digital Dirt

Duh.

Yes, that's actually all I have to say.

Ken Perlin

I don't really know what to say about this guy seeing as I've never met him. Old-school though it may be, I don't actually care about people until I meet them in person. The niftiest website in the world doesn't make you interesting. He's got a lot of cool stuff, and if I actually had time to spend with it and got to look at every thing... no, I probably still wouldn't care. I realize in this blog I probably come off as completely apathetic and kind of an ass, but I'm not the kind of person who gets really excited about java keyboards. Yeah, it's cool, woohoo. It just doesn't strike my undying passion and interest. Maybe I'm jaded, but more likely my current bad attitude and resentment has to do with the fact I got almost no sleep because of CMJ.

I hate CMJ.

My hatred of CMJ is bleeding through somewhat into everything else, so if I hate everything this week, you know why. And while I don't hate Ken Perlin's page, I don't know him and therefore don't give a hoot. Some fun toys to play with, some cute little dudes, but that's really all I see.

Ken Perlin's blog

Again, I don't know the man, so I don't really care. It's not just him--the only blogs I bother to put in my RSS feed are stupid photoblogs--namely Photobomb and The People of Walmart. I read some of Ken Perlin's stuff, but I wound up doing exactly what I do when my best friend goes off about the latest dweeby advancement in all the tech stuff he's into--completely zoned out. After having studied this for four years in high school, my ability to care about it has expired.

Perlin Noise

I know from having been in film school how awesome this is, and it makes total sense to me that he got an award for it. I'm glad his mom was happy, and I agree he's a good American.

And that's me trying to be upbeat.

PAD

Again, this is one of those things that is pretty cool, but I don't see it ever coming into mainstream, household use. I also feel like if I had to use it I'd spend way more time trying to make it organized so my head didn't explode than I would actually using it to do work. But it's an interesting concept to lay out there.

Other Crap

It occurred to me today I don't like New Media much. I mean, I took this class to get a different view on it, but I realized I don't actually like any of it or the implications it has for us as a society. I don't really know how much of this can be considered art. I also don't like the fact that people are spending so much time futzing around with social networking and online culty communities as opposed to going out and actually socializing. Chatting with someone on the internet is not socializing. Blogging and commenting on other people's blather is not socializing. We're moving more and more towards synthesizing life and life experiences than actually getting out there and doing things, creating things, touching and speaking to real people. And I don't like it.

Don't yell at me, it's just what I think.