Readers, I have prepared for you a study in stress tolerance served two ways...

For this post, my partners and I took a scientific article ("Stress Tolerance: New Challenges For Millennial College Students.") and put in two more palatable forms

Prezi Presentation Turned YouTube video

Popular Article 

Google Translate: A (Augmented) World of Possibilities

The goal of virtual reality (VR) is to replace the world around, be it sights, sounds, or smells. Augmented reality, however, was designed to take the world as it exists and create changes, sometimes subtly, that have the potential to completely alter our perspective. For that reason, AR is becoming ever more popular.

The Last Newspaper “Augmented Reality: The Two Worlds Merge”

At first, AR was limited to those willing to wear clunky and oftentimes expensive headgear.  Now, however, we have the technology to create and experience AR in the palm of our hand. Smart phones, thanks to improvements in camera, processor, batteries, and GPS (among other technologies), have unlocked a world of possibilities beyond what early developers could have imagined.

Among the AR apps that are re-imagining our world is Google Translate. For many years, travelers have relied upon translating devices and apps to converse with other individuals with whom they would normally have no hope of communicating. Unlike earlier translation tools, Google Translate does much more than convert one typed word to another.

Twenty years ago, if you found yourself in a foreign country’s bus station you would have no hope of knowing what was going on, but today, using Translate, you can scan a sign with any smartphone camera and know exactly which line to stand in to get where you need to be. Additionally, the app allows you to highlight the specific text you want translated.  Then, once the text has been identified, it can be translated into dozens of the most commonly used languages.

Left: I took a screenshot while using Google Translate on the mustard I picked up while in Canada

Right: Using Google Translate to finally learn what the sticker on my replacement phone screen says

Translate is unique from most other AR apps because it makes the real virtual by creating a digital copy of what exists in the real world. However, unlike the physical sign, the digital sign can re-written, forwarded, retranslated, and even read aloud. As Tinnell said in his 2011work All the World’s a Link: The Global Theater of Mobile World Browsers, “The world’s surface is made to remember what happened upon it, to bear permanent legible albeit virtual traces. And yet … these permanent traces can be sorted through and effectively erased form the scene (without erasing them from the servers) and new permanent traces can be added at the scene, ad infinitum (or however much data the server can hold)."

The ability to speak with tone and inflection gives this app a degree of agency we would not normally attribute to a piece of software. The back and forth procedure of the app also gives it the air of a guide or teacher that is education us about an unfamiliar culture in a way we will understand.

No matter where the world of AR takes us, you can be sure that they are here to stay, getting better all the while.


Be sure to check out my classmates takes on augmented reality:
Amy (realrhetoricalrantings.blogspot.com)
Ellie (thisismyblog24601.blogspot.com)

Twitter Bots

Do Twitter bots have agency? Perhaps the answer isn't as clear as you think.

Thanks so much to my wonderful partners Amy and Elli.

Also, the closed-captions are up and running, so be sure to check them out.

Be sure to also check out Becky and Daniela's Twitter Bot post at http://danielapensatroppo.blogspot.com/2016/11/blog-post.html

A Study in Virality

Goal: Use multiple social networks to achieve internet virality for a USU research article.

* Note - The internet has a short attention span. Therefore, when creating this project, I acted as if the academic article had just been published.

Academic article: Effects of stimulant medication on cognitive performance of children with ADHD

1) An article for general audiences

Submit the academic article to the editors of several popular national newspapers (Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, etc.) and explain why an article written about this scientific paper would be a worthy addition to the science section of their publications. Publishing an article for general audiences in a well known paper will greatly impact the ability of the scientific article's content to reach the masses.

*Note - Do not limit article solicitation to newspapers. Magazine publications such as New Scientist and Popular Science will do just as well.

The next steps will be to share the articles on multiple platforms with as many people as possible.

“...virality leverages situations where many people are sharing with many other people at the same time. At each step out from the origin, another round of individuals, all of whom have their own broadcast capability, is exposed to the message.” (Nahon and Hemsley 2013)

2) Twitter

Upon publication of the article, all of the institutions listed above will tweet its release using their science twitter handle)

The tweet might look something like this:

“A new study shows that kids with ADHD who take stimulant meds have higher IQs. Could you have been smarter? #ohlookasquirrel #takeyourmedskids”

Be sure to retweet the newspaper’s tweet at all pertinent USU handles (USUAggies, USUNews, etc.)

3) Reddit

Link the newspaper article to the science subreddit (being sure to give it a sexy title like: "Stimulant medications result higher IQs for children with ADHD").

4) YouTube

Suggest to multiple popular science YouTube channels (such as ASAPscience, Vsauce, and PBS Idea Channel) that they make a video based on the article. These channels frequently produce videos that receive millions of views. If you are unable to convince one of these channels to make the video, make your own in a similar style.

Post the video to YouTube

5) Linking to the Video

-Link the video to reddit.com/r/videos. Be sure to link the newspaper article in the Reddit and YouTube video description

-Also, link the video and article to tumblr

-Do the same for Facebook and any other platforms that seem applicable

6) Memes

Additionally, you could try a meme-based approach

For example:

or

Be sure to link the newspaper article in the description or the comments

Memes can be posted on Imgur, twitter, Instagram, reddit.com/r/funny, and many more sites.

7) Bask in your success

With any luck, the information in the article will have spread to thousands of people who would otherwise have been unaware.

Sources:

Memes were found at: https://twitter.com/mudboy62 and http://www.atthenook.com/

Nahon, Karine; Hemsley, Jeff, Dec 06 2013, Going Viral

Make sure to check out my classmates viral campaign strategies: Elli & Amy

Sampling and Remixing

Ethical Heuristic Framework

1. Identification of Producers/Creators

a. Where did your samples (images, video, audio) come from?

Our samples originated from various places, such as parts of the ASPCA official ad commonly seen on television, Taylor Swift’s music video, and homemade videos of pranks, via youTube.

b. Who has taken part in the creation of these samples?

i. Individuals? Sarah Mclachlan, Taylor Swift, and unknown homevideo authors.

ii. A community? Animal Rights Activists and normal everyday people

iii. A company or other organization? ASPCA

c. Do you have a connection to any of these individuals or groups? We care about animals and have pets. Otherwise, no.

i. Is this connection close, or does it resemble seven steps to Kevin Bacon? Not especially close.

d. Do you think your relation (or lack of relation) to these individuals or groups gives you more or less constraints to sample and remix their creative work? A lack of substantial connection to the ASPCA or animal cruelty has allowed for a less inhibited view/use of the materials.

e. If you do not know where your samples come from originally, how do you think you might discover this information? (Once you have done more research, go back and answer the previous questions.) It would be very easy to trace the origin of many of the clips taken. For example, the ASPCA commercial video can be found on youTube as well as their website.  

2. Identification of Caring/Wounding

a. To the best of your ability, please research the groups and/or individuals from whom you have sampled. According to your sources (scholarly, popular, friends, etc.), what are some of the cultural values of these people and their communities? Provide some evidence for your claims. If you identify as a member of one of these communities, explain how you have come to understand the community’s values and how your own understanding of these values might differ from others in the community. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as their name implies and their website confirms, is an organization devoted to preventing animal cruelty in the United States. Sarah Mclachlan is an advocate of the organization, who has appeared in multiple ads they have produced. Our understanding is that of an outsider who commiserates with the cause, but does not actively participate in the organization.

b. Identify 3-5 of your acts of sampling in relation to the individuals and/or groups you identified above as either acts of caring or wounding or both. Address the following questions in this identification:

i. In your sampling and remixing, are you potentially contradicting, subverting, changing, or even violating some of the values you researched above? Imagine someone sampling your work (something to which you have dedicated your life) and remixing it into a new work that actually violates the values expressed in your original work or that seems to take credit for authorship without acknowledging you. How do you think the “original” authors would react, should they witness your remix? How might it affect them? Our sampling and remixing certainly makes light of a serious issue and completely changes the meaning of the original ASPCA commercial. The original authors might find it humorous because pets are a part of everyday life but because our video makes it seem that pets would rather not be helped, the original idea of the ASPCA is argued against. If our video was taken seriously by an uptight ASPCA member, it would perhaps make them mad but most would regard this video as no hinderance to their goal to rescue animals.

ii. Are you appealing to their values? In other words, do you think the artists you sampled from would endorse how and what you sampled and remixed? The creators would probably acknowledge the humor in our interpretation. In fact, Sarah McLachlan performed a parody of this advertisement in a Super Bowl commercial for Audi. The original video is very “gut-wrenching” and memorable. Obviously the creators know this because they made it like that to convince people to join the ASPCA. Any parody made of it would not be taken seriously.

iii. Under what conditions might your act of caring be an act of wounding (and vice versa)? Our video, when viewed with a certain paradigm, seems to make light of animal cruelty, which was obviously not our intention.

c. How might your caring and/or wounding change your relationship to those individuals or groups? Has your opinion of the different individuals and/or groups changed? Why or why not? How? The ASPCA is a very large organization, which has a very small possibility of encountering our video. If they did, we doubt they would trouble. Our opinion of the organization is relatively unchanged, though we do appreciate the work they provide.

3. Identification of Ethicality

a. After completing and reflecting upon the previous sections, ask yourself the following questions:

i. Do you consider your acts of wounding and/or caring to be ethical?

1. Why or why not? Can you justify your acts of wounding? How? Yes, because it is entirely ethical. An advertisement is made to be watched and therefore criticised, especially one so obvious in its goal.

2. If you decide to distribute your remix, do you think it would be legal? Yes, though we don’t envision a situation in which we would be able to profit from this remix.

3. If not, what would you need to do to make the distribution of your remix ethical as well as legal? (See 2)

Thanks to my wonderful partners Amy and Elli, for making this blog post happen. Also, be sure to check out Daniela and Becky's post remixing project at http://danielapensatroppo.blogspot.com/2016/10/hello-from-single-side-material-in-this.html

Deathnote: Examining the Rhetorical Strategies of Comics

Be sure to check out the videos by Amy (realrhetoricalrantings.blogspot.com) and Elli (thisismyblog24601.blogspot.com) that also examine graphic novels.

Your Friends are Horrible People

(This post contains adult content and might be considered offensive to certain groups)

Procedural rhetoric is a fascinating branch of rhetoric that encompasses “the practice of using processes persuasively,” (Bogost 28) and is a subset of the field that we had not even considered previous to reading Bogost’s Procedural Rhetoric. He goes on to explain that “its arguments are made not through the construction of words or images, but through the authorship of rules of behavior.” What does this mean, precisely? One way this persuasiveness is put into action is through games, such as Cards Against Humanity, a purposely distasteful card game intended for a partying audience. The game successfully fosters an environment where offensiveness is not only acceptable but rewarded. Terribly caustic and inappropriate phrases and jokes presented during the game would be immediately balked at and rejected outside of play. Under the premise of a fun party atmosphere where such behavior is unpunished, however, players’ moral standards quickly dissipate. Whether it was the intention or not, the game reveals to players how “horrible” they are and have the potential to be, given the right circumstances. Moral code is not so steadfast.

If the name isn’t enough to convince you of the blunt purpose of the game, look at what it says on the box of the game before it is even opened up: “A game for horrible people.” In fact, the creators’ website includes single worded reviews such as “horrible” and “bad”. One word says it all as they advertise these reviews to build the reputation of the game, adding to the “horrible” environment as people play. The creators also exploit the bad reputation further by allowing others to contribute more “bad ideas”. Though arguably the game’s main purpose, like all games, is to entertain, it also creates an atmosphere that brings out the dark side in everyone. It's main genius is using humor to do so.

The object of the game is to collect the most black “statement” cards. Players must learn to choose white “response” cards that appeal to the judge. The judge chooses the white card they like the best or find the most amusing, and the corresponding player obtains the black card for that round. This creates an interesting psychological twist as players attempt to appeal to each other’s darker psyches, regardless, perhaps, of their own moral background or standards.

One of the most persuasive procedures of the game is that the longer you play, the more desensitized you become. There really is no end in sight unless players have the miraculous patience to go through all 90 black cards and 460 white cards in one sitting. In a way, it’s like one of those amazing road trips where you get to know everyone on a more personal level. The longer that you're in the car with your friends and the more fast food that is eaten on the way, the smellier everyone gets. It may start out smelling awful but the longer everyone is on the ride together, the more desensitized everyone gets to the bad smell until finally you leave the car, realizing just how clean the air is outside. In Cards Against Humanity, innocent ‘moral’ people will squirm at some of the cards used like “Masturbation” and “Nipple blades.”  However, the longer the game is played the less ‘evil’ things seem. Soon the true purpose of the game alights in the eyes of all players, desperate to be the winning card. And since ‘everyone is doing it’ there’s no longer a sense of judging that usually holds people back from bringing out their worst sides.

On a similar note, the game does not hold back when it comes to response cards. For example, not every player will approve of the card “Pac-man uncontrollably guzzling cum,” but it is included in the game anyway. When “Kids with ass cancer” is an option, “Tasteful sideboob” seems perfectly mild. This lack of un-offensive card options lowers the player’s inhibitions and helps the creators’ accomplish their goal.

Another intriguing aspect to the game that undoubtedly contributes to the player’s propensity to behave offensively, is the relative anonymity involved. This is especially true when larger groups of people play, which is common given that it is marketed as a party game. When players add their own despicable answers to the mix for the judge to choose, unless their card is selected, no one knows they put it down. This concept adds an element of risk and excitement to the game as well. People are more likely to lay down wildly distasteful and hilarious cards because the risk for repercussions (i.e. being “caught”) are lower. 

In what many would consider a politically correct society, this game has no place. Perhaps that is what has made the game so successful. It is a stress release, or rather, a tool that facilitates the release of the offensive and overly sexual in a way that can be laughed at but also invites discussion. This was almost certainly part of what the creators’ hoped to accomplish with the game. As Bogost’s states, “Each unit operation in procedural representation is a claim about how part of the system it represents does, should, or could function,” (Bogost 36). For all the reasons cited above, it is clear that the game has successfully utilized procedural rhetoric to help players have fun, invite discussion, and demonstrate that (in the right environment) anyone can be a “horrible” person.

Also be sure to check out Daniela's post on procedural rhetoric at http://danielapensatroppo.blogspot.com