Click Here (in no particular order)

Here are my favorite blogs! I actually am not a very devoted follower of most of them, but these are the most memorable of my many years trawling the net.

I think that these blogs are successful because of their content. Many are funny, like the defunct Marmaduke Explained, but they all keep their audience coming back somehow, with things to engage the viewer, like Ze Frank's dozens of quirky internet games, the writing prompts from VW, or the sarcastic personality quizzes that first brought mewing.net to fame (that one is more of a quasi-blog, since it predates the blog craze and has more elements of the personal website).

It might just be my personality, but I have found that I return to some blogs or websites just to sift through things I remember years after I know they've been discontinued or gone on hiatus, as many blogs are wont to do. For example, Marmaduke Explained hasn't been updated since September 11, 2008. It's sort of the equivalent of Facebook stalking, except that blogs were around much earlier than Facebook and the content is usually of a much better quality. Each post obviously requires some effort, so it's more like a sort of...interactive magazine, in the case of blogs that also have many other features.

It took me quite a while to get all the screenshots uploaded and hyperlinked, so happy clicking!

Online Dating

I can't say I've had personal experience with it, but I've been sort of a passive spectator while people I know have entered into online relationships. It's a bizarre construct--the anonymity of the internet allows people to have the courage to approach someone with a cute photo or similar interests on a dating site, or even, with MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) someone with a high level or rare items.

I can understand when people meet online, find a connection, and decide to go on a date in person. That's basically the equivalent of a classified ad in the newspaper. What I'd like to discuss here is when the physical aspect isn't there at all--when people meet online, and their entire relationship is based on online interactions.

It's easy for that to arise out of MMORPGs. Many players invest so much time into games like World of Warcraft, Second Life, and Ragnarok Online that they develop a group of online friends, and just like in real life (though to many, games like that essentially are "real life"...personally, I don't quite get it since I've never experienced it) some relationships become romantic. People can go on online dates--playing games against each other, or watching movies "together" with torrents or on Youtube while chatting with each other. Some MMORPGs even offer the option to get "married" to another player. Come to think of it, Facebook also has that option, and also offers the means for online couples to get to know each other's friends and family.

A lot of the inhibition is gone without face-to-face interaction, so online couples may know more about each other than they would reveal to their real-life friends or family. Really, it only increases the incentive to become more and more immersed in online life.

I can see the appeal, I guess. In some ways an online relationship is just easier than a real-life one. If you have a fight, just X out of the window. But I don't think an online relationship can ever truly offer all of the aspects of real life. Physical interaction--not only sexual, but just everyday interactions like a hug or a hand on the shoulder are very entrenched in our human psyche, so I don't think it's very healthy to completely abandon that and live life completely online.

(I was going to try and find an article on the psychological effects of online dating, but so far all I've found is cheese. I'll keep looking.)

Technological throwback

I thought I'd elaborate more on a topic that was discussed in class, because I feel like I could definitely "post 250-500 word items" on it.

Vinyl.

vinyl, vinyl, everywhere, vinyl, vinyl...um...in my hair? grody.

In case you've been too busy downloading Super Mash Bros. or A.C. Newman from torrents or Limewire and haven't heard--word on the street is that vinyl is cool again, despite the more widespread popularity of CDs and digital music.

Everyone has an opinion on it, whether they love it, hate it, or want to make bowls and ashtrays out of it. I am one of the third group.

I appreciate vinyl for its aesthetic, tangible aspect. Yeah, the sound quality is better, but I'm a person who doesn't really care about HD television or Bose headphones. It's nice, but I'm not enough of an audio- or video-phile to really care--and then again, I never grew up with vinyl. I like the immediacy and portability of digital music. Whether or not the quality is superb, I'm still going to do a little dance (hoping no one notices and thinks I'm a bit loony) when "Guilty Pleasure" from my own guilty pleasure, Cobra Starship, comes on my iPod while I'm walking to class. The main reason I like vinyl is for the art. Call me shallow, but it has that trendy, vintage appeal that's been growing in popularity over the past few years. It connotates a sort of knowledge of what came before, "back in the day" when none of us were actually alive. And that's cool now, I guess.

There is one fact, though, that no one can dispute:
It looks really cool on my wall.

PS (for the discerning viewer)--The Pulp Fiction sleeve above is actually a video laserdisc.

Fausto the Filler Fish

So as I'm writing, my roommate, a mutual friend, and I are all "doing homework". My Facebook Online Friend count is rising, as it is wont to do around 10pm on a weeknight when everyone in the dorm is procrastinating. Hence, my "Working Out" playlist is interrupted only by the "message recieved" pops of Facebook Chat and the occasional buzz of a text message.

I think the only living thing completely unaffected by technology in my room is my fish, Fausto.

We all love Fausto, and his ability to fill up the page.

The purpose of this blog is to talk about New Media Frontiers like Facebook and Twitter, etc. since they control my life, and the lives of many other college students. Seriously. The mutual friend just said that he needs to buy sneakers for the gym, to which I replied, "Let's get some shoes," a la Liam Kyle Sullivan without even thinking about it. It's a little bothersome. But this first post is really just a test run to see if everything works. Apparently pictures do.

My friend just chatted me asking when a good time would be to go to the convenience store together. My reply-- "NOW! ZOOM!"
I'm feeling a little stir-crazy from being plugged into my entertainment all the time, and from staring at calculus homework for what seems like approximately ten years smushed into however long it's been since dinner. And tonight the moon looks like a smile.