Letter to future students

      The seeing sideways course, as the name implies, is about seeing things from a new perspective. Too many times in life and certainly in college a student gets used to running through their courses in the grooves of the tracks they have already laid. If things are just about getting from A to B the fastest many new experiences, inspirations, and opportunities will be left at the wayside. As we discovered in the class sometimes inspiration can be something that is lost all together if life is just about churning out work. The class was an excellent reminder to keep your life and ideas fresh, applying this credo to ideas greatly outside the standard new media context. Rarely do you get the opportunity of a reminder of yourself and the creative process that spans an entire semester, this reminder will remain with you long after the class and is hopefully something you can take with you moving into the future. 

Register your work.

         I think that anyone in new media should certainly take a greater amount of time to understand copyrights. It will pertain to almost everyone’s work at one point or another. Copyrights are something that a few classes and course have maybe touched on, but there are some reasons why even a poor student should think about actually paying for registering some of their works and this really never gets covered. This subject might be dry, but there seems to be a real lack of understanding of the future in college in general (as expected) and even more so in the field of new media. I hate to say it, but to do what you love you have to change a hobby/passion into a business. The benefit that I see to be the greatest for registering for a copyright is that people can’t claim a defense of innocent infringement. Works are already automatically copyright protected under US law and a free copyright notice on the work itself can serve to prove willful intent against infringers, but registering only increases your chance of proving it and being awarded a greater amount. If registered within three months of publication or before any infringement occurs the copyright holder is entitled to statutory damages and attorney’s fees. Copyright literally means the right to control copy and distribution and that is the most important part of copyrighting a work. The added benefit of having the ability to license use and transfer ownership of the copyrighted material is a necessary advantage. The holder of a copyright is granted “moral rights,” the ability to object to any uses of the copyrighted material they might find morally objectionable. The cost of registering a copyright is quite inexpensive with a fifty to sixty-five dollar fee for mail in forms and a discounted online filling rate of thirty-five dollars. Register a copyright online at < http://www.copyright.gov/eco/> .The term of a copyright is fairly long lived with a term of seventy years after the death of the one holding the copyright in the case of an individual. In the case of a corporate copyright one hundred and twenty years after creation or ninety-five years after publication whichever is shorter is the term length. If the copyright holder registers with U.S. customs records the copyright allows for some import protection from foreign markets.

There are some disadvantages copyrights. The copyright only protects the manifestation of an idea, not the idea itself. The copyright must be filed before an infringement suit can be filed in court. Without registration only awards of actual damages and profits is obtainable. Independent creative changes may be permitted allowing others to create and release similar products. Reverse engineering is permitted allowing others to learn the concepts and working of the invention.  Burden of proof lies with the copyright holder when attempting to prove infringement. Authorship is not ownership. A component of creativity is protectable, but facts and simple compilations even if the act of compiling had great cost and effort are not protectable. The copyright process is not enforceable in all countries and many countries require separate registering of copyrights. Copyrights do have a shelf life. The strength of the copyright is also a weakness; you can’t openly allow others to use or distribute your work meaning the work may be hindered in its spread, spreading slowly or not at all.

         The form for registering a copyright looks quick and easy and comparatively shorter than most official applications. The discount for online filing combined with the status tracking is nice as well. The website for the US Copyright Office is small and self explanatory, navigating like any other website. Registering is key step in protecting a copyright and registering it with U.S. customs is a good idea when there could be possible importation of a foreign imitation of the product.

Some possible pitfalls for professionals or their clients with copyrighting are not too common, but there are a few things to look out for. Improper filing can make the copyright void. If the copyright is too general it could be contested.  If the registration is not filled in a timely manner the damages in an infringement suit can be greatly limited.

Contracts, agreements, and licenses apply in the area of copyrights for a good number of reasons. The copyright holders lease out the use and/ or likeness of their copyrighted material use licensing contracts and agreements. Licensing is one of the main ways that a copyright becomes a moneymaking prospect to the holder. Contracts made by the copyright holder can even fully transfer ownership of the copyright and make a greater one-time sum for the holder.

The largest weakness and gap with a copyright in the realm of new technology for a copyright is certainly a matter of globalization. Copyright laws are different all over the globe, and copyrighted products are seen quickly all over. The ability of foreign markets to infringe on copyrights and willingness to do so, often within their own legal rights is a huge conflict with the domestic copyright holder’s interests. The US has no real effective way to police these cases of international infringement, something that may take quite some time to change, as there is even trouble in some cases of defining the infringement.

I see the copyright area of intellectual property law moving towards more perfect globalization in the future. I think that in all aspects and all fields globalization will continue to push forward, and in the case of copyright law the vastly increasing global commerce will for copyright policy to become more widely standardized. Of course there will always be countries that will not fall in line with copyright policies and attempt to make money with knock off products, but as the alliances of large multi-national unions grow the economic penalties placed on these non-abiding countries will grow large and effective enough to push many of them in line.

Citations

Burgunder, Lee. Legal Aspects of Managing Technology. 4th ed. . Mason, Oh: Thompson West, 2007. Print.

Fishman, Stephen. Legal Guide to Web and Software Developement . 5th ed. . USA: Delta Printing Solutions, INC , 2007. Print.

Copyright. United States Copyright Office. Web. 29 April. 2011. http://www.copyright.gov/ 29 April. 2011.

Copyright. Wikipedia. Web. 28 April. 201. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright> 29 April. 2011

Reaction to class 4-11-11

I thought that the description on the second half of the "remember that project" assignment would be a good thing to address in the reaction to class blog since it really covered the subjects of that class. I said in the previous blog that I really haven't had any particular trouble with any of the assignments, but I don't really have issues sharing in a group and feel I know myself quite well, I can certainly see how people would have trouble with some of the personal subject matter. I don't know if I particularly experienced as much growth as some of the others however the class was new and occasionally a breath of air. The class was sometimes stifling as well, as when you could feel the tension others were holding and when it got so personal it almost felt like group therapy for people in the room. People go to group therapy in groups of people with relatable problems, when you listen to an issue that is far removed from you it is hard to feel involved and relatable. The girl who answered "why are you here" so fervently had the problem of a lack of passion and creativity, where I feel I have too many things I want to do and sometimes I zero in to the point of obsession on certain things so others I want fall to the wayside. 

Remember that project?

I don't think that any one thing is really my "wellspring of creativity", but I find many things inspiring. Art, films, music, even low brow commercials can have redeeming value when you are interested in the creative aspect. I try and hope I accomplish uniqueness in the work that I do, but when you are influenced by things  I feel some of that will inevitably show through. I haven't really had particularly had trouble being creative or extra troubles with any assignments in this course, I have had assignments that it was hard to get into doing because of the content and also the level of openness and therefore personal subject matter. Sometimes I feel like sharing and other times I just want to be alone or anonymous. We were put on the spot by this assignment with the call to make something unique and memorable. This call is a tall order, and  if I ever have something that not really stifles my uniqueness and creativity as much as makes me want to withhold it is to have it demanded. If I can stay organic I try to do that. Here is a picture I found in my phone; I took it on 4/13, it was done in joking, I don't remember the person's name just that it was a friend of a friend, I didn't remember taking it, it is somewhat unique, it happened organically, and now it is memorable.

Casting Call Sunday May 8th

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142103049192217

Fear Blog

Examine the situation.

This is what I asked you to do in the beginning of this assignment. What is fear, etc.?

Fear is a response to a perceived threat that is a necessary adaptation for survival as well as an integral part or the fight or flight response.

Formulate an experiment.

Play with the idea of fear and come up with an idea for something you can create (or do) that explores your thoughts on this idea.

I have already understood and faced my main fear for quite some time. I have the same fear which actually lies somewhere in between the distinction of fear and anxiety for almost my entire life. I will revisit my largest initial bout in facing the fear, a visit to an old folks home.

Hypothesize the expected outcome.

How do you think people (your classmates) will react to what you came up with?

I expect that people will see my fear as a fairly understandable anxiety. As my fear is one or reasoning and it is not an acute fear but a dull and long lasting one my arguments rationalizing the anxiety may pass well into understanding by other people in the class. Past family relationships that each student has had will play a roll in how they interpret the subject.

Conduct the experiment.

Share/present what you came up with in class.

I gave a rundown of the attached presentation in class.

Observe the reaction.

Take notes of how people actually did respond to your creation (or whatever it was) in class. Somehow document your findings so you can refer to them later.

I feel that some people thought the fear was understandable, but didn’t speak up or comment. I did notice some understanding looks and nodding from certain members of the class, however there were some that might have thought the subject matter was crass. I have a take it or leave it presentation style that might have gotten the disapproving reactions so it is hard to say if it directly related to the fear itself.

Analysis of hypothesis with actual outcome.

Compare your notes on the actual reaction you got from your class mates (and me) with what you expected would happen.

I feel that my hypothesis followed the reactions rather closely except for the disapproval of my presentation style I mentioned above.

Propose changes to your idea based on what happened.

I could propose some style changes in the delivery of my fear as I mentioned above, but if it is about me then whatever way I present personal subject matter should be correct. The only other thing of my fear presentation I would change would be adding some video as it might have helped grab people’s attention more and therefore made people more open to the validity of my fear.

Then discuss the experience/presentation from class which you responded to most strongly, be it yours or someone else's. Answer these questions on your blog.

What was it and who did it?

Why did you respond to it so strongly?

How does it impact how you see your own project?

I didn’t feel strongly about anyone else’s, they were sometimes understandable, but my only fear is my own. I did feel that some presentation methods were interesting, and that made me think about making my own project less static.

 Worst things about aging;

Everyone you know dies

List by the United Nations (2005-2010)

Rank	Country (State/territory)	Life expectancy at birth (years) Overall	Life expectancy at birth (years) Male	Life expectancy at birth (years) Female
1	Japan	82.6	78.0	86.1
2	Hong Kong	82.2	79.4	85.1
3	Iceland	81.8	80.2	83.3
4	Switzerland	81.7	79.0	84.2
5	Australia	81.2	78.9	83.6
6	Spain	80.9	77.7	84.2
7	Sweden	80.9	78.7	83.0
8	Israel	80.7	78.5	82.8
9	Macau	80.7	78.5	82.8
10	France (metropolitan)	80.7	77.1	84.1
11	Canada	80.7	78.3	82.9
12	Italy	80.5	77.5	83.5
13	New Zealand	80.2	78.2	82.2
13	Norway	80.2	77.8	82.5
15	Singapore	80.0	78.0	81.9
16	Austria	79.8	76.9	82.6
16	Netherlands	79.8	77.5	81.9
18	Martinique ( France)	79.5	76.5	82.3
18	Greece	79.5	77.1	81.9
20	Belgium	79.4	76.5	82.3
20	Malta	79.4	77.3	81.3
20	United Kingdom	79.4	77.2	81.6
20	Germany	79.4	76.5	82.1
20	U.S. Virgin Islands ( US)	79.4	75.5	83.3
25	Finland	79.3	76.1	82.4
26	Guadeloupe ( France)	79.2	76.0	82.2
27	Channel Islands ( Jersey and  Guernsey) ( UK)	79.0	76.6	81.5
27	Cyprus	79.0	76.5	81.6
29	Ireland	78.9	76.5	81.3
30	Costa Rica	78.8	76.5	81.2
31	Puerto Rico ( US)	78.7	74.7	82.7
31	Luxembourg	78.7	75.7	81.6
31	United Arab Emirates	78.7	77.2	81.5
34	South Korea	78.6	75.0	82.2
34	Chile	78.6	75.5	81.5
36	Denmark	78.3	76.0	80.6
36	Cuba	78.3	76.2	80.4
36	United States	78.3	75.6	80.8
39	Portugal	78.1	75.0	81.2
40	Slovenia	77.9	74.1	81.5
41	Kuwait	77.6	76.0	79.9
42	Barbados	77.3	74.4	79.8
43	Brunei	77.1	75.0	79.7
44	Czech Republic	76.5	73.4	79.5
45	Réunion ( France)	76.4	72.3	80.5
45	Albania	76.4	73.4	79.7
45	Uruguay	76.4	72.8	79.9
48	Mexico	76.2	73.7	78.6
49	Belize	76.1	73.3	79.2
49	New Caledonia ( France)	76.1	72.8	79.7
51	French Guiana ( France)	75.9	72.5	79.9
52	Croatia	75.7	72.3	79.2
53	Oman	75.6	74.2	77.5
53	Bahrain	75.6	74.3	77.5
53	Qatar	75.6	75.2	76.4
53	Poland	75.6	71.3	79.8
57	Panama	75.5	73.0	78.2
58	Guam ( US)	75.5	73.3	77.9
59	Argentina	75.3	71.6	79.1
60	Netherlands Antilles ( Netherlands)	75.1	71.3	78.8
61	Ecuador	75.0	72.1	78.0
62	Bosnia and Herzegovina	74.9	72.2	77.4
63	Slovakia	74.7	70.7	78.5
64	Montenegro	74.5	72.4	76.8
65	Vietnam	74.2	72.3	76.2
65	Malaysia	74.2	72.0	76.7
65	Aruba ( Netherlands)	74.2	71.3	77.1
65	Macedonia	74.2	71.8	76.6
69	Syria	74.1	72.3	76.1
69	French Polynesia ( France)	74.1	71.7	76.8
71	Serbia	74.0	71.7	76.3
71	Libya	74.0	71.7	76.9
73	Tunisia (10% above world average)	73.9	71.9	76.0
74	Venezuela	73.7	70.9	76.8
74	Saint Lucia	73.7	71.8	75.6
76	Bahamas	73.5	70.6	76.3
77	Palestinian territories	73.4	71.8	75.0
78	Hungary	73.3	69.2	77.4
78	Tonga	73.3	72.3	74.3
80	Bulgaria	73.0	69.5	76.7
80	Lithuania	73.0	67.5	78.3
80	People's Republic of China	73.0	71.3	74.8
83	Nicaragua	72.9	69.9	76.0
83	Colombia	72.9	69.2	76.6
85	Mauritius	72.8	69.5	76.2
85	Saudi Arabia	72.8[4]	70.9	75.3
87	Latvia	72.7	67.3	77.7
88	Jamaica	72.6	70.0	75.2
89	Jordan	72.5	70.8	74.5
89	Romania	72.5	69.0	76.1
91	Sri Lanka	72.4	68.8	76.2
91	Brazil	72.4	68.8	76.1
93	Algeria	72.3	70.9	73.7
94	Dominican Republic	72.2	69.3	75.5
95	Lebanon	72.0	69.9	74.2
95	Armenia	72.0	68.4	75.1
97	El Salvador	71.9	68.8	74.9
98	Turkey	71.8	69.4	74.3
98	Paraguay	71.8	69.7	73.9
100	Philippines	71.7	69.5	73.9
100	Cape Verde	71.7	68.3	74.5
102	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	71.6	69.5	73.8
103	Samoa	71.5	68.5	74.8
104	Peru	71.4	68.9	74.0
104	Estonia	71.4	65.9	76.8
106	Egypt	71.3	69.1	73.6
107	Morocco	71.2	69.0	73.4
108	Georgia	71.0	67.1	74.8
108	Iran	71.0	69.4	72.6
110	Indonesia	70.7	68.7	72.7
111	Thailand	70.6	66.5	75.0
112	Guatemala	70.3	66.7	73.8
113	Suriname	70.2	67.0	73.6
113	Honduras	70.2	66.9	73.7
115	Vanuatu	70.0	68.3	72.1
116	Trinidad and Tobago	69.8	67.8	71.8
117	Belarus	69.0	63.1	75.2
118	Moldova	68.9	65.1	72.5
119	Fiji	68.8	66.6	71.1
120	Grenada	68.7	67.0	70.3
121	Federated States of Micronesia	68.5	67.7	69.3
121	Maldives	68.5	67.6	69.5
123	Ukraine	67.9	62.1	73.8
124	Azerbaijan	67.5	63.8	71.2
125	North Korea	67.3	65.1	69.3
126	Uzbekistan	67.2	64.0	70.4
-	World Avg.	67.2	65.0	69.5
127	Kazakhstan	67.0	61.6	72.4
128	Guyana	66.8	64.2	69.9
128	Mongolia	66.8	63.9	69.9
130	Tajikistan	66.7	64.1	69.4
131	Western Sahara	65.9	64.3	68.1
131	Kyrgyzstan	65.9	62.0	69.9
133	Bhutan	65.6	64.0	67.5
133	Bolivia	65.6	63.4	67.7
135	São Tomé and Príncipe	65.5	63.6	67.4
135	Pakistan	65.5	65.2	65.8
135	Russia	65.5	61.83	72.6
138	Comoros	65.2	63.0	67.4
139	India	64.7	63.2	66.4
140	Laos	64.4	63.0	65.8
141	Mauritania	64.2	62.4	66.0
142	Bangladesh	64.1	63.2	65.0
143	Nepal	63.8	63.2	64.2
144	Solomon Islands	63.6	62.7	64.5
145	Turkmenistan	63.2	59.0	67.5
146	Senegal	63.1	61.0	65.1
147	Yemen	62.7	61.1	64.3
148	Myanmar	62.1	59.0	65.3
149	Haiti	60.9	59.1	62.8
150	East Timor (10% below world average)	60.8	60.0	61.7
151	Ghana	60.0	59.6	60.5
152	Cambodia	59.7	57.3	61.9
153	Iraq	59.5	57.8	61.5
154	Gambia	59.4	58.6	60.3
155	Madagascar	59.4	57.7	61.3
156	Sudan	58.6	57.1	60.1
157	Togo	58.4	56.7	60.1
158	Eritrea	58.0	55.6	60.3
159	Papua New Guinea	57.2	54.6	60.4
160	Niger	56.9	57.8	56.0
161	Gabon	56.7	56.4	57.1
161	Benin	56.7	55.6	57.8
163	Guinea	56.0	54.4	57.6
164	Republic of the Congo	55.3	54.0	56.6
165	Djibouti	54.8	53.6	56.0
166	Mali	54.5	52.1	56.6
167	Kenya (20% below world average)	54.1	53.0	55.2
168	Ethiopia	52.9	51.7	54.3
168	Namibia	52.9	52.5	53.1
170	Tanzania	52.5	51.4	53.6
171	Burkina Faso	52.3	50.7	53.8
172	Equatorial Guinea	51.6	50.4	52.8
173	Uganda	51.5	50.8	52.2
174	Botswana	50.7	50.5	50.7
175	Chad	50.6	49.3	52.0
176	Cameroon	50.4	50.0	50.8
177	Burundi	49.6	48.1	51.0
178	South Africa	49.3	48.8	49.7
179	Côte d'Ivoire	48.3	47.5	49.3
179	Malawi	48.3	48.1	48.4
181	Somalia	48.2	46.9	49.4
182	Nigeria (30% below world average)	46.9	46.4	47.3
183	Democratic Republic of the Congo	46.5	45.2	47.7
184	Guinea-Bissau	46.4	44.9	47.9
185	Rwanda	46.2	44.6	47.8
186	Liberia	45.7	44.8	46.6
187	Central African Republic	44.7	43.3	46.1
188	Afghanistan	43.8	43.9	43.8
189	Zimbabwe	43.5	44.1	42.6
190	Lesotho	42.6	42.9	42.3
190	Sierra Leone	42.6	41.0	44.1
192	Zambia	42.4	42.1	42.5
193	Mozambique	42.1	41.7	42.4
194	Swaziland (40% below world average)	39.6	39.8	39.4

Frailty

Walkers

Arthritis

Wrinkles

Muscle loss

Aches

Fatigue

Eating at 4:30pm

Mental faculties

“Millions of older Americans—indeed, the majority—cope constructively with the physical limitations, cognitive changes, and various losses, such as bereavement, that frequently are associated with late life.”

-Mental Health; Report of the Surgeon General

Inevitable

Reminders

building ruins

’He not busy being born is busy dying’

Bob Dylan

Burden

 On family

Taxpayers

Sometimes the public

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20, 2006

No Jail For Elderly Driver In Market Crash

Calif. Judge Gives 89-Year-Old Probation For 2003 Market Crash That Killed 10

By Christine Lagorio

“Weller was 86 when his 1992 Buick Le Sabre plowed at freeway speed into the crowded farmers market on July 16, 2003. In addition to the 10 killed, more than 70 people were injured.”

Irrelevant

Target audience

Products

Music