Going International

When it comes to pop culture, it's unavoidable when you are immersed in the culture itself. So sometimes it can get overbearing, and I like to explore the entertainment world beyond the borders of the United States, which is made possible thanks to the internet.

Since I was little I've always watched Hong Kong drama series (somewhere between TV shows and soap operas), then the computer came along and I had access to all kinds of media that highlights the pop cultures from different countries. From my own experience I've come across Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Mainland China, Korean, and Japanese pop cultures. Some I've delved into more than others, but it's interesting to see the contrasts between the pop cultures between these countries.

My favorite resource for english subtitled dramas is Mysoju. Within the Asian drama community, there is a lot of cross cultural influence and remediation. For example, there is a manga that originated from Japan called "Hana Yori Dango," which was made into a live drama in Taiwan (Meteor Garden). The series was then remade in Japan, and then Korea, and then Mainland China (Let's Go Watch Meteor Shower). The story is still the same, but each country takes the story and adapts it to their local culture and to match their ideals. The music industry is also highly subjected to this adaption, where popular songs would be covered or translated into other languages and be a hit single as well. It really brings into the question of what intellectual property laws are like, since there are so many

This is just an example of one of many cross cultural and media convergence. My examining this phenomenon itself is a convergence because of this cross-cultural exposure that I would other-wise not be able to experience if not for the internet.

Cisco & the Human Network

What is Cisco:
Cisco Systems Inc. manufactures network hardware used in computer networks; specializing in network connectors--routers, bridges and switches. They also design technologies and services for Internet communication.

What is The Human Network:
This is a current Cisco project to use internet connection as a way to connect everyone to everyone else.



Within the classroom:
Human Networking within the classroom has the potential of being very powerful.
- The possibility of “outside” classroom experiences like we’ve never seen before
- The ability to “take” the classroom straight to the topic being taught

~ Tisha

Native American Censoring {For Last Week's Post}

I was researching censoring in general and I found this interesting article (Click HERE to read it) about censoring in one of the places you would really expect it. The author talks about her experience working as a journalist in Native American communities and how eventually she was “blackballed” out of her job because of things she was writing about (Iran war, Bush administration, Russell Means, and Leonard Peltier.

Go HERE for Information on Leonard Peltier****

Go HERE for information of Russell Means****

~ Tisha

UM Employee fired for Innocent Statement

After reviewing the "Chilling Effects of Anti-Terrorism", I came across some irrational actions that were taking by institutions and the government related to the newly enforced patriot act. One action that really stood out to me was the report of a University of Miami Employee who was fired. It was his 22nd birthday on September 11th and he said out loud "Some birthday gift from Osama bin Laden!" Due to this statement, he was fired from his job. I guess it does relate directly to the Patriot Act, but it does illustrate the sensitivity of people had after the 9/11 attack. The government took advantage of this public sensitivity and they were able to enforce laws that allowed unauthorized viewing and searching of personal files.

Censorship

Looking through the list of websites and content that have been shut down by the US Government and other large scale entities, I notice that some have good reason to be shut down, but it is arguable that these censorship activities may have ulterior motives and selfish interests.

The 2 examples of content that were censored after 9/11 includes (but is not limited to) the following: (source)

A. Michael Moore's publisher insisted that he revise his book to be less critical of Bush. Discouraging a citizen from criticizing the government is basically going against what this nation was built upon. As long as it is not entirely slander, then it should be a valid comment by a concerned citizen on the state of the nation. Shutting out that dissenting voice only allows the government to continue down a path that may not be beneficial to the nation.

B. Baraboo News Republic cans Todd Persch - being fired for expressing one's viewpoints, the company may have its own interests to protect, but it is ideally wrong when comparing to the right to freedom of expression that we are endowed by the Bill of Rights.

Those are just two examples, but it is apparent that there were and probably are numerous instances where dissenting voices are muffled by higher powers. Not only does it violate the 1st amendment, but it also shows that citizens must not be passive and let these voices be muffled by the government or selfish interests that may damage the public good.

A (hopefully) Shorter, Lighter, and thus probably more Read Post

So, previous post of mine was my rather long and rather obsessively documented post on Free speech as it relates to government, companies, countries and people. I've just closed the >20 tabs I had opened to research the topic. But along the way, I found some really interesting posts including Henry Jenkins'  Blog , the The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund which, according to their website,  "was founded in 1986 as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community."

And a totally unrelated link about a man who paints himself to blend in with the environment. (I wonder what his motivation for doing this could be....?)

Filtering in Austria

After discussing Internet censorship in class and what different countries filter, I was curious to see what the European states filter, opposed to China or Iran. It was a little surprising to find out that Great Britain filters Internet content that has to do with images of child abuse. This was in 2007, and it was voluntary for search engines to block. The online surveillance expanded to filter out child pornography. According to the webisite some 19 European countries assisted in helping identify illegal online content. In Austria, authorities uncovered a child-pornography ring which involved some seventy-seven countries. This was all based on a report by a man working for a Vienna-based Internet file-hosting service.