Social Engineering

I kept so much opinion to myself when we were discussing about traditional learning. I was afraid that I might be too assertive and become fallacious or appear to be appealing to some form of anger. But there's so much more inside me...

We have spent around 6 to 8 hours a day for around 200 days a year in that cell-type room, wherein half of that life had already been spent asleep. As of now, that's more than 3/4 of our lives away from our family and friends, stuck in a cell, forced to absorb information which is most of the time irrelevant to our lives.

How can we consider the student factor when the child we're trying to blame is innocent. He was born into this world with natural curiosity and a faculty of wonder, almost all of the time accepting what is revealed to him in his environment: religion, culture, morality. Everything is a matter of orientation. At such a young age he was already made familiar to the cell-type environment. It was the bad text books, horrible teachers, unjust and intolerant punishments, standardized tests that encourage memorization and not learning, unnecessary censorship, disregard for individuality, non-liberalism and anti-libertarian doctrines, it was these things that destroyed his real love for learning.

Just a few days ago, we had this field trip with Lakbay Kalikasan for Ms. Sche's class. It was astonishing and I learned so much, more than I could have in a lecture in a cell with some boring history teacher. I am so thankful that Ms. Sche organized something like that and I believe and demand that all professors should be more like her. A percentage of the big tuition we pay each term should be for travel and outbound education. How I wish...

Anyways, above is a video by John Taylor Gatto. He has amazing replacement models to our current traditional education system. Although I do not entirely believe in all of his beliefs, I would have to say that he greatly influenced the way I think. I read this article about him before that changed my life. haha.. I think I lent it to a friend. I'll try to look for it then maybe make you guys read it if you want.

peace.

Will it blend?

Circuit Bending

Remember those old speak and spell typewriter toys you used to have? or maybe your old-school gameboy or basically any old toy you used to play with that created a sound? Gather them quick! For in this post, I shall introduce you to the innovative world of Circuit Bending!



Basically, the art of Circuit Bending supposes that you can tweak almost any electronic audio device and transform it into an alternative music synthesizer or instrument. There are a lot of instructional videos out there on the net on exactly how to do this and it's quite simple all you need is the right tools. These experimental devices are then, most of the time, connected to a computer and effects are added using a sequencing software such as Cubase SX or Ableton Live.

There are also extreme instances where circuit benders choose to transform the most unexpected of things into midi-controllers or synthesizers such as driver's license or even irons!



This innovation and evolution of technology emerged from an underground do-it-yourself society that's not affiliated with any of those big corporations or academies. These creative people deserve recognition. This is a manifestation of actual applied knowledge in the field of engineering without the corruption brought about by capitalistic monopoly. In order to breakfree, we must break our dependence and learn to Do It Ourselves!

Reminds me of how the Swat Kats used to turn stuff in the junkyard into weapons and means of transportations. Hmm, well I leave you with this video of children being taught how to circuit bend at such a young age as part of their after school enrichment program. This is the kind of stuff we should have learned in school when we were young. This is the kind of stuff we should be teaching the next generations. Independence and Liberty! The natural desire for experimentation!



Sources:
http://createdigitalmusic.com/tag/circuit-bending/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_bending

brainchild earth

I dwell among them. I breathe, I eat, I walk. I, too, am flesh and bones. And I try as hard as I can to be just like them. But I am a mortal in a different sense. The complexity of my being is often misunderstood. I feel that I can no longer adapt to their given conditions. The time constraint prevents me from learning more from their culture and as time passes by, my true colors slowly show. There are just too many secrets that cannot be told. And I feel that I do not belong here. I am an outsider.

"What... are you?" she curiously asked as she sat beside me. Her tone was as if she did not fear me at all.

The progress she is making in slowly unraveling the mysteries behind my existence is making me feel very uncomfortable. And, unexpectedly, the fact that she could see me bothered me. She could finally see me. But it felt as if it was the wrong time and place. And I did not know how to react. I did not want to scare her away, and for the first time in my life, I realized that I did not want her to see me at all.

"There is no given name for my kind," I calmly replied, "and even I do not know why I am here, or why you... can see me."

She looked at me with a confused look on her face then said, "What are you talking about?"

I would not know, not in a million years, how I could ever make her understand. And I figured I must not stay in contact for too long. All of this might create some sort of ripple in my immediate surroundings and forever affect the future's state of affairs.

And so I walk towards the elevator leaving her with my final words,

"I am a visitor here; I am not permanent."

network neutrality

Save the Internet | Rock the Vote

weird how i was just writing about the internet a few days ago.. then just a while ago a friend shared this video to me. we need to stop the big corporations from taking away the internet from us. we must fight this monopoly of technology!

Credit:
The link was shared to me by Feanne. Feel free to check out her site and art works.

lunch

In order to have your own channel in TV you'd have to consult so many organizations and you need approval from the congress. The same goes for radio, I think. But in the internet, you could have your own radio show, post your own TV show, publish your work, share music, share information, all in real-time. Even though most domains are for sale, there are so many free sites that allow one to publish multi-media work for the whole world to see.



I love the internet. It has allowed me to watch so many movies and TV shows, download gigabytes of music, and publish my thoughts and written work. Maybe one-day the whole world would be wi-fi just as the radio is today, free for everyone who chooses to listen.

Just a thought I had while I was listening to the radio station 108.0(formerly 107.1). They transmit different forms of electronic music without the common interruption from advertisements or boring DJs. I could already imagine most pessimistic purists tainting its existence with accusations of hypocrisy. I don't really care. I think it plays great music and it entertains me.

Maybe one day it would also end up having ads. There is no such thing as a free lunch yo! Even the airwaves have become subject to property distribution, taking it away from its true owners -- the people!

Even with the internet, I guess. Internet Service Providers must be hoarding lots of profit. Maybe one day the internet would be free for all and all this technological monopoly would be stopped. Maybe in the future, wi-fi would be world wide and available for all.

foresight

Most of my subjects are now allowing on-line publishing mediums as a means for the student's submission of requirements. We were asked to create this blog for compmed and just today for engtri we were asked to join people@dlsc, an on-line publishing system designed specifically for, as the name states, People of De La Salle Canlubang. It's about time. The technology is finally being utilized.

I just finished watching Prison Break season 1 and noticed a lot about the technology being used in the series in their conveyed present setting. They can track people through cellphone calls and bug conversations. Could people in real life really do this? And if they can, how advanced is this technology in our present time? I fear how we are so unaware and uninformed about these things. We have seen in the media that our government and other power hungry groups are capable of such acts of invasion of privacy. It has been mentioned in various cases showed in the news. But then again, how can we trust the news? How do we prevent the high rollers and big time politicians from pulling their strings and connections in order to manipulate what is shown in mainstream media?


Yes, wire tapping is against the law, but how do we know that we are safe? How will this technology affect the privacy and liberty of the world's population? And how will the people's lives adjust in contrast to these setbacks? Indeed, technology is making the world a smaller place and our progress as a whole has been remarkable, but until when will we allow ignorance to rule over us? I don't even fully know how tracking devices and bugging systems work or what they look like and up to what extent their capabilities are. We have been stuck in our daily routines and have conditioned ourselves not to question these things.

A few weeks ago, there was this series of power failures that occurred around the alabang area. I saw a few Meralco trucks working around different locations. I have no idea how those wires work. Some are for cable, telephone, internet, and electricity. A man pretending to be in uniform could easily manipulate those wires and install their devices without the citizens caring or reacting. We have taught ourselves to ignore. Maybe in the future, our government could have anti-conspiracy departments or agencies that will help protect our people from such misleading and deceptive acts. The crimes and violations of rights related to computer mediated communication are easy to conduct and hard to catch. Specially in a third-world country where most of our people are not informed and are not educated about the said topics.

In the future, do you think such advanced tracking systems and wire tapping devices would be available for all? In our past lesson in compmed, we learned that computers used to be only for a few elite groups such as the army. Today, it's already becoming a necessity for academic requirements. It could be possible that the tracking systems would one day be available for all. Family members would be able to locate one another and there would be less missing persons and children. Criminals could be tracked and endangered species could be watched over. The opportunities and benefits are seemingly limitless.

But then again... are we really ready for the future?