Blog #8

Text online can be circulated so much easier than a physical form of the text such as a book or magazine. With search engines such as Google and Yahoo it is at the touch of a button to find whatever text you could want. Not only is it easy to find the text you want or need to read, but there are now online libraries. Washington

State University uses an online library system where one can find academic articles online. This is different than having a print form because with print form only one person at a time could read it. With the digital age and having text online multiple people can utilize it and benefit it.

In Darnton's communication circuit the reader has slightly changed from what the reader has been in previous times. A more contemporary outlook on the reader is that the reader does not need to leave home to do gain access to the text. With academic and online books being available it is not necessary for someone to be a purchaser in regards to going out and actually buying an item. The reader can also now be a just a reader and not a purchaser. For example an online library not only allows this but it can benefit more than one person at a time. This is much more contemporary in term of gaining text.

Blog #7

When I think of something that has impacted my culture I immediately think of 9/11 and what 9/11 means to me. I was too young (sixth grade) to take in account if I ever really noticed the date 9/11 but I don’t think it meant anything to me. I doubt if that date meant anything to my parents or grandparents. However, now it means a great deal and I relate it to being a day of mourning/patriotic pride/remembrance. When I hear someone say “9/11” I think of the image of the plane hitting the buildings, images of firefights and ground zero come to mind. If the terrorist attack had never happened I would have a completely different outlook on the phrase “9/11”. As many of my peers say “Post 9/11” or “Before 9/11” it seemed to be the new hip way to date something—in replace of “B.C. or A.D.”

In retrospect hearing the phrase would have drastically changed in the event itself had not happened. However, visually seeing 9-11 or different variations of those numbers I would relate it back to the police. Since I was young in my elementary schools in the bathrooms and offices there were signs with a police officer and the phone number 911. This poster was to reassure a child to call for help if they needed it. 911 meant the police for me when I was it visually but it does not do that anymore. Instead when I see those numbers I think of current issues still affecting our country. I see the debates happening about the mosque being built at ground zero or the images of the terrorist attack that I remember watching on the news when I was younger. This symbol has changed drastically for me. Before the attack it meant help or police. Now post the attack it means controversial issues and a historically tragic date in American history.

I guess this isn’t a symbol or phrase that IF it had changed it would have revolutionized what I previously thought but it DID change over time. Not even over a long period of time but within a week of the attack 911 was not just a number to call for help or a day in September it was---An attack on my country, a date in history. As Crain says “the child is similarly the medium through which the alphabet permeates the culture” (pg. 56). I hate to be cliché but children are the future. As I said previously before a new phrase as come into popular slang. “Pre 9/11 or Post 9/11” when someone is trying to date something or call something old. I wonder if 911 will ever be strictly associated with the number for emergencies. I don’t believe it will. I think with it being used for slang and since it is still heavy in the media I would argue that generations after mine will associate that number sequence with the terrorist attack and the aftermath of it than a number to call in case of emergencies. Each generation has there own subculture, slang, trends and events that establish them. Mine I think has a small impact on American culture in regards to how the younger generation absorbs current events and how we speak about them.

Looking at maps I already have a preconceived notion of what I am going to see. This is because I have been exposed to maps since kindergarten. My most memorable map would be maps of states. For example I this Nevada map the counties of Nevada. I would not have normally expected to see counties but rather I would see cities. When I was younger and even now I expect to see cities; Las Vegas and Reno. Maps like this are helpful too. My county usually has flashflood warnings and I think it would be helpful on a road trip to know if you were in a county that was having weather warnings. “The history of the map is inextricably linked to the rise of the nation-state in the modern world. Manu of the printed maps of Europe emphasized the estates, waterways, and political boundaries that constituted the politico economic dimensions of European geography” (Laxton 59). As seen in this map boundaries are made but not in states but in counties. I see this as political boundaries as well within the state. Different counties will have different regulations and school districts. This is interesting to see how maps have evolved over time.

Blog #6

After reading the articles for this week it just reminded me of high school when gathering information meant going to the library. I would go into the library grab the books I need and be on my way of having credited papers. However, now I find myself searching on online libraries to find the perfect academic journal. Since it is within, usually WSU, online library system I find it to still be creditable. This is not true if I only search online. All the text and print articles out there give their readers no insight of how if in fact the text is recent, truthful or just an opinion piece. As John was discussing in his article print was sometime misprinted or copied differently from the original. This is interesting because I feel that this can be related back to our era of the digital age. We have the freedom now to print or write anything and have it out in the digital world. I found this similar because now information such as academic articles can be re-printed and morphed by anyone. The Internet allows someone to morph text and in turn loose its credibility.

In the sense of fixity and the digital age it is not always a good thing. This is a difference from the printing age and the digital age. Once something is one the Internet it is in theory there forever. Anyone can put context out into the digital world and then this context can be transformed into something similar or completely new. This is not always desired and in turn can be an unhelpful way of getting information out into the world. Again going back to the idea that getting information online is not always the safest. I knew in high school my sources were creditable but now it is harder to know if the information one gets from the Internet is creditable or not. Luckily online libraries and academic journal websites are out there and easily accessible to those who seek that kind of information.