My Digital History class

Usually, I only use my computer to do normal things like use Facebook, read the news and random blogs, check my email, do shopping or even “google” myself. For me the idea of web designing, computer programming or online gaming, belonged to the world of the unknown…

But this semester I took, as you may know from my previous posts, a Digital History class that shed some light on this digital world. In the past months I learned more about computers programs, technological stuffs and digital issues than in the last 3 years. In the class I created an HTML page, played with Photoshop, built my dream beach house in SketchUp and started to use an evil thing called Max 6.

Working, or at least trying to work, with this tech stuff was not easy: it was a process of trial and error, where the error and a never-ending headache became my constant companions. Part of the problem was that I get easily frustrated! For me this process was similar to writing in an “exotic” language that I had not yet started to learn how to read. At least, I haven’t cried in the process... but it may happen in the next semester when I’ll try to build an interactive/comparative map about the counterculture of the 1960’ (or something like that).

However, besides this soap opera that I have just narrated, I admit that I had some fun working with these new computer programs. The creative part of my brain started to work again, not as much as some of my classmates’, but enough to create some sparks on the area. Maybe I’m even reducing the probability of getting dementia or early Alzheimer with the new techniques that I learned.

Perhaps I didn’t learn as much as I'm claiming. If someone asks me to start coding in HTML or to create some music in Max 6 at this moment, I’ll need to take some relaxing pills and start my breathing exercises. But, after that, I’ll start to look at some YouTube tutorials or specialized blogs to learn, or relearn, how to make what I was asked to do, and that is the biggest lesson that I got from my Digital History class. Now I know that with a good online tutorial, or with multiple bad ones, I can start to work with many computer programs that some months ago I thought I would needed a BA in Computer Science to understand.

I call that progress! :)

The Museum of the Moving Image

So… When do you know that you are getting old?

I’m sure that there are many answers for that question, but for me it was the moment when I saw an electronic game, that I used to play when I was a kid, as part of a museum’s permanent exhibition. Yes, that happened to me and be prepared because sooner or later it will happen to you…

This past weekend I visited The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, NY, and played the original version of Mario the way that it should be played: in a Nintendo! And I kicked ass at it (I guess that these sorts of things are like riding a bicycle, once you learn you never forget).

An Atari, a couple of arcade machines and what some of my geek friends called Star Wars “action figures” also caught my eye because are not that far away from my own childhood.  But enough with this regression to the eighties and nineties: this blog post is about a very interesting museum that not only entertains, but also educates! Such a thing is possible, people. It really is.

When I arrived at The Museum of the Moving Image, I went directly to the second floor where different elements used in the production, promotion and presentation of movies and television shows are on display through the museum’s core exhibit Behind the Screen. Within this exhibit, the museum’s visitors can learn about what a director or producer of a movie does and how these professions have changed over time. Also, they will be able to take a closer look at the work of the professionals who design the film scenography and create the outfits and the makeup of the actors and actresses.

Additionally, this exhibition narrates the history of moving images through a collection of artifacts related to the movie industry that includes television cameras, projectors, television sets, sound recording equipment, old films, costumes and merchandise. On display are also “famous” pieces that many visitors would recognize in an instant: a Chewbacca costume head, a life-size replica of Linda Blair, used in the scene where her head rotated in "The Exorcist", and Winona Ryder's injured (prosthetic) leg from "Black Swam". A movie buff's paradise. 

 

An impressive feature at The Museum of the Moving Image are the interactive exhibitions and the fact that the activities created around them are designed to attract not only kids, but also teens and adults. In many museums, the “hands on” activities target the youngest members of the family and neglect other age groups in the process. In this museum this was not the case: I witnessed how many adults were engaged in almost every interactive activity that the museum offered.

I have to admit that I was totally engaged too: I filmed a (very) short film, changed the background music of a movie scene and learned how the music affects the atmosphere and the meaning of a scene, and even recorded some dialogues in a Marilyn Monroe’s movie. In fact, I was able to be the puertorican version of Marilyn for 20 seconds! Now I can rest in peace :)

                           

The Museum of the Moving Image is definitely a great example of how museums can use new technology to educate their visitors and stimulate their imaginations. This is a place that the whole family will enjoy, but it will be of special interest to people interested in media history, movies, museum studies, technology and, obviously, to Public History students.

Cleaning my Internet image? Nah!

The other day my classmates and I received some feedback concerning our Internet image. A professional of social media networking told us that we needed to clean it if we wanted to be successful in the contemporary labor market, where more often than ever, possible bosses use potential employees’ online profiles to determine if a candidate is suitable for an interview.

This information freaked me out! Suddenly, photos of myself getting drunk, dancing over tables, getting arrested and doing some very publics acts of affections crossed my mind. Then, I stopped myself for a second, smacked myself on the head and remembered that I’m not Lindsay Lohan, and that the only time that I had been in a police station was because I needed to denounce someone for stealing my book bag.  Yes, I know, my life is not as interesting as I thought.

 After this realization, I kept wondering about what was wrong with my online image and about how much power (or lack of it) I have over it.  I asked myself: What kind of representations[1] can people create about me thanks to my online presence?  Am I comfortable with this? Are those constructed images related with to the ones that I have in the “non online world”?

Then I did the most obvious thing: I googled myself! And I was outraged with what I found: I have many online  doubles! Dozens of girls from around the world popped up when I googled my name. They were from Venezuela, Dominican Republic, USA… I thought that a good way to fix this randomness with my identity was by using in the online world the two names that my mom gave me in the "real" one: Raiza Denise. Not a good idea either!  My mom was not as original as I thought she was by combining my two names. Raiza Denise is all over the place on the Internet and I got the impression that is even a trademark for some European company. The worst part of all this is that according to Google my doubles are more popular than me.

It took me a while to find the “real” Raiza Denise Báez in the Google search and when I finally did it, I noticed that most of the stuff that appeared was related to my social media activities on social networking sites such as Facebook or Linkedin. Also, I found a really annoying Mylife page that has my address and birthday information for public display, and an old MySpace page that I have not been able to get rid of.  Those are my traces on the online world. I tried to find my Twitter page but it was non-existent, at least on the first three or four pages of the Google results that I checked. I came across some profile pics too, in which I’m alone, with friends,  or traveling. Nothing really shameful I would say.  

I have to admit that this is not the whole story of my Internet presence: I have other photos where I’m having a drink, acting silly or just hanging out in places or countries that some persons would find inappropriate. Most of them are in my “private” profile, thus in theory only my “friends” can actually see them, but those “friends” are a couple hundreds who may not be so private with the info that they upload or share regarding others…. Therefore it is possible that some of those photos (or Facebook’s  status or my Amazon’s buying history) that are supposedly restrained in private online settings, are in fact silently floating around in cyberspace just waiting for the perfect time to pop out and reveal to the world the “truth” about myself: that once upon a time I was an undergraduate student who drank beers, had political views, had random friends, did karaoke singing and visited communist countries: what a discovery!

I guess that those kind photos are the ones that the professional of social media networking was worried about. It is obvious that from all those different images people can create many representations of me: some will be good, some will be bad and some could be even ugly. But in the end, part of these constructions will depend on the preconceptions of the persons who are seeing the images: on their beliefs, their prejudices and on their own view of the world.

This reminds me of an experience that I had with some photos that I uploaded on my Facebook page a couple of years ago.  It was around May of 2010 and I was looking for a roommate in Washington DC. A friend of mine put me in contact with an American Federal worker who lived in DC and agreed to help me find a place to stay in the area. We become Facebook friend.

After a couple of days of this “online relationship”, my new “friend” decided that he was not going to help me anymore. His reason for this decision was that he looked through an online album, that I uploaded before I met him, that contained photos about the student’s protests that occurred in Puerto Rico during the spring and summer of 2010.  He thought that those photos could represent an image problem for him, for my future roommate and me.

This situation taught me how quickly people would make judgments and create narrow and prejudicial representations of other persons because of the images they receive of these people. In spite of this, if I had another chance I will upload those photos again because they reflected something that was important for me, for the Puerto Rican society and, particularly, for a generation of students that were affected by the tumultuous events of 2010. A generation that knows that in today’s society the online social networks are part of the public sphere and can be social barometers with the power to influence decisions made in the “real” world. A world in which  private opinions are becoming less relevant.

The online social media, at least the sites that are significant, are spaces where people interact, express themselves, exchange information, create social and cultural alliances, and make friends, or even enemies. And all this happens because people have been using it as an extension of their “real” world. Certainly, I’m not advocating that everyone should share their most embarrassing or intimate photos on the web, or that writing hateful rants about politics or professors is the way to go. On the Internet, as everything in life, we should be careful and think about the message we are trying to send and be aware that others could interpret it in multiple ways. But this, instead completely holding us back, should just make us more cautious. If everyone only showed the politically correct version of themselves on the online world: what kind of online social media we would end having?  A boring one for sure, but most important: an online social media completely irrelevant to anyone! Well, except to the Human Resources people.

At least for me, if I’m a thinking of hiring someone and see a photo of a good candidate having a Medalla[2], traveling, hanging with his/her dog, family or friends, or participating in a social/cultural/political public activity, I will want to interview that person. And if this same person has some blogging about pets, global politics or about the benefits of drinking wine and eating chocolate, I'll  probably hire him/her without even a first meeting.

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[1]  Some info about representation http://english.emory.edu/Bahri/Representation.html

[2] Puerto Rican beer

An update!

Well it’s been a while, I know. My Canadianrican blog has not been as successful as I thought… It just that I've been busy getting to know how life is here, in the north, and figuring out how to have the authentic local experience. I have to admit that the Canadians have been really helpful with this: they keep telling me all the things that I need to do to get the proper taste of Canada.  I even have a “to do" list and here are some images as evidence of me completing it:

 This is me really happy because finally I had the opportunity to enjoy the snow.

First time skiing. I have to admit that I fell on the ground a

 couple of times, but nothing serious. 

                                                                   

Me ice skating. 

This was after a week of practice. As you see, I almost got it right. 

                                  

And this is a photo that I took yesterday. 

The cold weather doesn't  bother me anymore, I can be

 near a polar bear and I even like Tim Hortons. 

I still have a couple of things left on my "to do" list,  but it’s only been a couple of months since I arrived.  Beside completing my Canadian "to do" list, I have to take classes, do a lot of projects, etc... The good thing is that I'll have all winter to make a snowman, play hockey and swim in one of the Great Lakes… We’ll see…

Ohhh, wait! I almost forgot: If you notice something unreal in the photos, you're not crazy. I've been practicing with Photoshop for my Digital History class. That is why in some photos the colors may look weird or I look thinner. Is just a Photoshop effect. I just wanted to make the images more interesting, but don’t worry, the real essence of each photo was strictly maintained.