Blog Five

"The meaning of a particular thing is enabled by the web of implicit meanings we call the world" (170). This quote means that an object can mean many different things because of the implicit meanings that it can hold. I think that Lessig meant more about the context of an object and how a meaning can be broken down to different parts.


This is relevant to the Third Order of Order because there are many ways one object could be viewed. And that certain view can be different from person to person depending on the implicit meanings that it could hold. The song that I chose to portray is "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. So what would a computer need to know in order to understand the relevance of this song in my life? Well for starters it would need to know who I am. It would need to know my set of emotions, how I grew up, and what environment I am in now. It would also need to know my long term goals in life as well as the outlook that I have on it. If a computer knew the answers to all of these questions, then it would know the relevance that it has on my life. (Which would be completely frightening)

Blog Twelve -- RIP! Remix

The last reading of the semester out of Lessig's Remix has numerous connections to the video we watched in class, RIP: A Remix Manifesto. Lessig touches on the aspect of hybrid economies and the importance of continued innovation within them. He also touched on open source software by comparing it to the invention of a new kind of high-pressure train engine two centuries ago. The innovator, Richard Trevithick, decided to not patent the machinery, but gave the design to the public for people to make changes and improvements, free of charge. The video showed a member of Girl Talk and he was talking about the importance of sharing ideas for the sake of of everyone's benefit and further advance in an industry.

Another connection that I found between the reading and the video was the content sharing site, Creative Commons. While reading Lessig's Remix, he talks at length about the site and how it benefits everyone involved, for free, while not going outside the copyright laws. Creative Commons is innovative in that it gives creators and users tools that let them tweak, remix, and even distribute without worrying about copyright issues. The members of Girl Talk also referred to Creative Commons and the value that it carries. The site carries a sharing economy that both Lessig and Girl Talk give praise.

The last connection that I want to talk about is the overall remix culture that Lessig and Girl Talk talk extensively about. By "remix culture" they mean a mix of the commercial and sharing economies and making a hybrid economy. Since there can't be just one commercial economy and one sharing one, we all live in a hybrid economy. We share resources through complex social relations as well as pay a commercial economy for essential resources. These connections are important to know so we can do what is best for a society.

Blog Six -- Jenkins and Weinberger

While reading the beginning of Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, Henry Jenkins touches on the the concepts of convergence culture. The author also goes into length about comparing our modern mediums (like technology and media) to those of the past as well as how consumers of today are act differently than fifty years ago. Near the very beginning of the text, Jenkins states that that "Each of us constructs our own personal mythology from bits and fragments of information extracted from the media flow and transformed into resources through which we make sense of our everyday lives" (Jenkins 3). With so much media entering our brains today, it is easy to get caught up with the latest information on a subject. People who have grown up within the last twenty years have been accustomed to receiving information through many outlets of media rather than just word of mouth. 


The previous quote is linked to Weinberger's view of the web and it's invention of implicit meanings people use to make sense of the world. On page 107 Jenkins stated that "The meaning of a particular thing is enabled by the web of implicit meanings we call the world (Jenkins 107)". That being said, I think we need to realize just how much technology is shaping our view of the world. It's possible that fifty years down the road we might trust technology and the information it feeds us over our own intuitions.