VALS Results

 I had just taken the VALS Survey and it marked me as a Striver as my primary type, and an Experiencer as my secondary type.
 Strivers are defined as trendy and fun loving and motivated by achievement in the form of appeasing the thoughts and approval of others. Money defines success for strivers because its the only way to meet their desires, the choices they make in their purchases are to emulate people, in their opinion, of greater wealth. They're active consumers because shopping is both a social activity and ability to off their standing. Their purchases tend to also be impulsive. Strivers see themselves as having a job rather than a career, and have difficulty moving on because of lack of focus and marketable skills.

Favorite Things:
-Chevrolet
-Playboy
-Coke Classic
-Winning the lottery

 My secondary type, Experiencer, is defined as young, enthusiastic, and motivated by self-expression. They are impulsive consumers who are enthusiastic by new ideas and possibilities but are equally quick to cool. They like variety, excitement, new, offbeat, and risky. They find outlets in sports, outdoor recreation, and social activities. Experiencers are avid consumers and spend high amounts of their income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing. Purchases reflect their emphasis or idea of looking good and having 'cool' stuff.

Favorite Things:
-VW
-Rolling Stone
-Red Bull
-To be entertained

 Pinpointing my personality type with this survey is hit and miss. With striver, I am partially motivated by the approval of others, namely my family, as well as looking back at their mistakes and trying to avoid them myself. I think my purchases are my subconscious way of emulating people, not because they're rich, but because I admire them. For example, I have a taste for long coats, and bought a new woolen one for winter last fall during Black Friday. I could trace a number of sources of where this proclivity originated from. Neil Gaiman, my favorite author who always wore black and appears in black long coats on his book jackets; Harry Potter, because long coats look similar to Hogwarts robes; or Doctor Who, a brown longcoat was what made the 10th Doctor iconic.
 I don't consider myself an active consumer because I don't have a job, and therefore I only use my resources sparingly and if there is something I want, I research it to see if it's worthwhile and save until I can afford it, therefore, I'm not that impulsive in my purchases. However, I am self-conscious about my career prospects because my career goals and interests are probably not very marketable and sometimes I feel that I'm preparing myself for a dead end.
Now watch as the New Kids on the Rock portray my pain.
The only thing I like from the striver's favorite things is the Chevrolet brand of cars (I've grown tired of coke, I'm disinterested in playboy, and I rarely partake in the lottery).
 I think I am somewhat suitable as an experiencer because my career choice is motivated by self-expression and I get excited or interested when someone tries new ideas, gambles, or takes a risk in changing an old formula. Sometimes whenever I feel stressed or when I'm just taking a break, I go out for a walk. As for my spending habits, it is significantly spent on entertainment as I have a large movie, video game, and book library to the point I'm having trouble finding room to store them. Other than being entertained, the examples provided by the Favorite things are not mine, (save, perhaps the VW brand).

Digital Storytelling Project

Image Source:

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/army_future_warfare_011110w/

http://www.jamesbom.com/remission-game-young-cancer-patients-boost-related-knowledge-overcome-cancer.html

http://www.another-castle.com/entries/40-Why-video-games-are-the-ultimate-entertainment-medium

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adrik/591983383/

http://www.theverge.com/products/playstation-3-2006-2007/3051

http://www.wibc.com/news/story.aspx?ID=1782334

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50428287@N05/6118319801/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/akd1012/6493549465/

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Determinism or Structuralism?

1. Books (novels and graphic novels) and movies are probably the mediums in which I identify with most. For example, Harry Potter. The series induced my love of reading, while the films were able to visualize the books into real life. There's always going to be the controversy of which is better, the book or the film? The books will always have depth that movies cannot encapsulate due to factors such as time and demographic. But again, films are a visual medium that grant it greater appeal to a wider audience. However, both mediums allow myself to be entertained and serve as escapism for life, where I can just relax, and watch another reality that seems to be even more fantastic and dyanmic than our reality.

2. Facebook and my Deviantart account probably serve as an extension of my body. Facebook allows me to keep in contact with my friends and family while also sharing my interests and experiences with them. Deviantart serves as an outlet and portfolio for my creative pursuits, letting others view and judge my work, seeing if I have potential. In addition, I can view and critique the works of others, as well as stay in contact with artists and writers I like.

3. I engage in the 'global village' through Facebook, Deviantart, Youtube, and TV Tropes. Initially I was reluctant to join Facebook and hoped that it wouldn't dominate my life in some way. So far, in the three years I had one, I've only played one game (scrabble) and I don't have a farmville account, however, I find myself checking my profile every fifteen minutes.

Youtube I use for the same reason as Deviantart, but mostly for entertainment and information purposes. TV Tropes is an online wiki (written by nerds, geeks, and  that catalogues tropes and devices writers, artists, musicians, etc. use in fiction and other works in general. Sometimes even extending to real life, which is useful in gathering information.

4. I consider myself a neutralist on determinism and structuralism, don't ask, I rarely take sides. I believe that humanity creates technology to fill a need, such as agriculture, the industrial revolution. While I also believe that humanity creates technology because it can, and it winds up changing the entire course of human history as we know it, like the wheel and the atom bomb.

Creative Commons: It Begins

As we live in the Information Age of today, it's becoming increasingly harder for artists, old and new, to make a living because of controversy surrounding copyright laws and protection of intellectual property in general. My stance on the issue is this: I agree that an artist should be protected and rightfully compensated for their work, while I also agree that aspiring artists should be allowed to utilize another’s work. 

Not in the same sense as plagiarism, of course, but taking something they like and incorporating it somewhere, like a musician taking bits and pieces from a song to form a new one, or a writer borrowing ideas and a style from an author they admire to form their own stories. There’s even web shows that are featuring people who’ve made a living reviewing and critiquing mainstream media using video clips, like Channel Awesome aka ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com. In fact, the whole war at protecting Intellectual Property seems to be extreme, as Intellectual Property might not necessarily be a tangible good like a book or a CD, but could also reside in the form of a teacher simply educating its students. Thus, Intellectual Property is just the sharing of ideas. One way or another, it’s going to influence somebody.

Then again, licenses like the Creative Commons, which allow the use of another’s work under the condition that it isn’t for commercial use, is not infallible. Artists still need a career and should be compensated for their efforts, because otherwise, licenses like the Creative Commons could erode copyright laws and potentially discourage artists from publishing. Heck, I want to make something and publish it some day and it would discourage me greatly if I know I can’t make a career out of it. This could possibly lead to unemployment and the stagnation of culture if jobs are nowhere to be found in media and nobody is churning out anything new. This kind of controversy has lead lobbyists to try and protect the artist and ensure compensation, however, their recent attempts to circumvent this issue have shown their willingness to take extreme measures. 

In addition, there are several people who copy and paste ‘Creative Commons’ and ‘Fair Use’ and other such jargon under the belief that it will protect them from any backlash. This is a problem in itself because a person can copy and paste any passage that looks law-related to protect their rights, especially if said passage has become viral. Chances are that person didn’t truly understand or research the meaning behind such jargon. The problem is that person did not take any discipline to earn the knowledge and just placed it there, and :POOF: E Pluribus Unum, Carpe Diem, Corpus Delicti, I have placed a bunch of Latin phrases and therefore I can upload bootleg copies of Napoleon Dynamite.

Protecting the rights of Intellectual Property, Copyright laws, and free distribution of ideas is a very nuanced issue, which ever side you’re on, there’s going to be consequences. Therefore, I think it’s best that lobbyists for copyright laws and supporters of Creative Commons to work together and meet some sort of middle ground.