It has been fun writing in this blog. Now the school year is over and its time for me to step away from this blog for the time being. I learned a lot from english 114 and it was fun having the same teacher for a full year. As long as I am interested in a topic I will always write and even possibly on this blog. Thank you for your time and see you all later.

V for Vendetta

The story “V for Vendetta” written by Allan More and directed by James McTeigue, is a story about a masked man named V who was once used as a test subject for the governments wicked experiments. He then escapes and has a mission to give the people of England the freedom they used to have. While doing this he goes out and murders the people who created the man he has become. Throughout the story V uses different symbols that represent important parts of his mission. V uses these symbols to make him feel as though he is not doing the things he does for himself, but for the meanings that they symbolize, he uses three symbols that stick out throughout the story that are his mask, the roses he puts on his victims, and his name. 

Throughout the whole story, V hides his face under a Guy Fawkes mask. V felt that he had to defend England and stand up agains the Government and in order to do that his goal was to blow up Parliament. This was not the first time that there was an attempt to take down Parliament. “On November 5, 1605 thirteen alienated Catholics aimed to blow up Parliament in order to kill the Stuart royal family and the assembled Lords and Commons, trigger a Catholic rising, and install James I's surviving daughter Elizabeth as the figurehead of a Catholic regime.” (Cramsie) Guy Fawkes was the main man who planted tons of gunpowder in the cellars underneath Parliament. He was caught just as he was about to light the fuse. He was a catholic, and was trying to assassinate king James who was against Catholicism. Since King James was the head of the government, the only possible way to bring back Catholicism to England was to assassinate the king. 

This is V’s foundation but instead of fighting for Catholicism he is fighting for freedom. V wears his mask because he does not want to be seen as a human being. “We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world.” (Moore) V wants to leave a legacy that will allow the community to see him not as an individual but as a metaphorical creature portraying the idea of hope. V knows that no single man would be able to take down the government because man can fail but the idea of hope can bring the community together and together take down the government. The people of London seeked hope to be free from the government and to at last live a normal life once more. V’s idea came true and the whole community came together and stepped up to the government. V died before his goal of destroying Parliament was achieved but his idea carried on past him and brought it down. Even though he died, his idea will live on forever. 

Before V wanted to restore freedom he was in a concentration camp called Larkhill. Following World War III, a new fascist regime known as  Norsefire took control of Britain's ruling class. There primary initiative was to eliminate those who were unfavorable to the system of order. Unfavored people were Jews, minorities, political opportunists and homosexuals. Many of them were transferred to relocation centers such as Larkhill. We are never told why V was brought to the camp but while he was there he was selected to be treated for scientific experiments. “Over four dozen prisoners were subjected to the Batch 5 experiments, with barely 25% of them surviving the process” (Treuthardt). V was one of the prisoners who survived the experiments and proved to be a model prisoner. He was allowed to work in the camp’s garden where he grew roses and raised crops for the camps administrators. During this time he was housed in room 5 where he received a note from his neighboring prisoner. This note turned out to be an auto biography of his neighbors life. 

Her name was Valerie and she was in room number 4. She was brought to Larkhill for being a lesbian. Valeria and her lover Ruth were used to live in a small house in London. There Ruth grew roses called scarlet carsons in the window box for Valerie. There home always smelled like roses and were the best years of her life. Valerie and Ruth were separated and brought to the camp. Ruth was interrogated and forced to give up information concerning Valerie. Wracked with guilt over betraying he, Ruth took her own life. Valerie was then later tortured and killed. V received her Biography shortly before she died and has since then set out to murder all of the people who caused them harm. After every murder he leaves a rose with them in memory of many things. In memory of Valerie who’s lover grew them for her, in memory of when V grew them in Larkhills garden, and in memory of roses who were not extinct. 

V uses a mask to make him an idea instead of a person and to complete his image he uses a name that he chose, V. “His name is not even a name at all, it's a letter. Its meaning and purpose changes depending on the context it's used in; it is, in every sense of the phrase, a place to start” (Treuthardt). At Larkhill he was kept in the fifth room, labeled with the roman numeral for five--"V". “Adopting that symbol as his name, V pays respect to the forces that made him who he is” (Treuthardt). By using his room number, V is a living symbol of all the casualties of Norsefire's genocide. He was inspired by the number and his idea of the name “V” became his reality where he could pass on the idea of “V” to the world. 

V died at the end of the story but since he disguised himself, no one knew who he was and therefore made him an idea. This idea carried has since been carried on past his death. Even after he died his idea of bringing down Parliament came to a reality because of what his idea stood for. V was not really a terrorist, even though he committed murder and destruction, his disguise is what kept him from believing that he was a terrorist and instead an idea with a good deed. This good deed is what freed england from the government and united them once more. 

Works Cited

Moore, Alan, and David Lloyd. V for Vendetta. New York: DC Comics, 2005. Print.

Treuthardt, Mark. "V for Vendetta Analysis - Who Is V?" Welcome to the Shadow Galaxy. Shadowgalaxy, 2006. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. <http://www.shadowgalaxy.net/Vendetta/whov.html>.

Cramsie, John. "Remember, Remember: A Cultural History of Guy Fawkes Day." The Historian 69.1 (2007): 168+. General OneFile. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.

Censorship is the banning of public communication in the form of art, books, speech, or other ways of getting across an idea. This idea that is being communicated may be considered inappropriate to the population by the government, media outlet, or other body with control. A good example of censorship in USA is found on the news and on the radio. Words such as f**k and s**t are some of the words censored on broadcasts. Even I have to censor my words on this blog.  That is the most commonly seen form of censorship. Many T.V. stations such as MTV censor many of the words that are used in their reality shows.

Disney California Adventure

    Built right across from Disneyland, California Adventure welcomes you to enjoy the wonders of California back in its glory days with a Disney twist. This theme park opened back in 2001 on top of Disneyland's former 100 acer parking lot. During its early years the park failed to attract crowds and impress the public, but since then the park has grown to become one of the best sister parks to any Disney theme park. From the moment you enter to your end of the day viewing of World of Color, a nighttime water spectacular; you are surrounded in stunning architecture that makes you really wonder if this park was built my man or just pure Disney Magic. The significance of this park is how they can make you feel as if you were in a town far in the desert, a forrest in Yosemite, and in LA back in the 1920’s. All of this brought together is what makes this park special in many ways. 

  When you go to California Adventure and walk into Cars Land, you walk into a small town that is surrounded by a mountain range. The site of this makes you feel as if you have been transported into a desert. “When you go to Disneyland you are transported into a particular place and time, and before the expansion of California Adventure, you were never transported anywhere, said Principal Creative Advisor John Lassiter.” (D23) With the additions to California Adventure people are transported to different places and eras. Cars Land represents the California deserts back in the 1950‘s. This land has the small town of “Radiator Springs” seen in the movie “Cars.” The town is set up the exact same way as the movie from the Cozy Cone Motel all the way up to the Courthouse. As you walk around Cars Land you will notice how much detail there is in everything from the desert trees to the lamp posts that light up the land. One thing that people don't notice is the design of the mountain range. “The mountain range that creates Ornament Valley is designed after Cadillac tail fins from 1956-1962 with the 1959 tail fin being the highest point on the mountain, said Walt Disney Imagineer Kathy Mangum.” (D23) Disney has always paid attention to detail and you can really see it in this land. The diner in the land serves food that is seen all along Route 66 such as pie and burgers. The seating area of the diner is facing the mountain range giving the whole restaurant a spectacular view as guests enjoy a meal. Across the street there are shops inspired by curio shops along Route 66 that sell things such as bobble heads, tin posters, and antenna balls. Next door the Cozy Cone Motel is home to food vendors and with the amount of detail Disney puts into its products, they even designed the food after the Cone theme. Some of the popular food items are Chile Cone Carne, Pop Cone, Cone on the Cob, and Snow Cones. The Cone themed food is a nice touch that enhances the experience to the Land. On the outskirts of the town is where you will find Cars Lands main attraction. Radiator Springs Racers is a ride that takes you around the caverns of the mountain and finishes with a high speed race around the valley. This area of Cars Land is amazingly beautiful with its springs and oasis along with its trail back to civilization. The attention to detail Disney put in this land is outstanding but they didn't stop there. 

    At the Center of California Adventure is Grizzly peak, a land inspired by Yosemite Valley.  This land takes place in the 1940‘s era when mining towns existed and miners were in search of gold. This land has to be the most beautiful part of the park with its massive rocky mountain and red wood forest. There are trails that take you down to a river with water geysers and trails that take you past a waterfall. Everywhere you go in this land the rocky mountain is in site dominating the skyline. “We wanted the mountain to clearly represent the beauty of California’s natural wilderness and along with that we wanted to develop an icon out of granite. The grizzly bear fit the bill perfectly, said Senior Concept Designer Chris Tietz. (Sklar 97) This is why if you look at the mountain from certain angles you can see the head of a grizzly bear. The mountain is also home to Grizzly River Run. “Grizzly River Run appropriately nicknamed “Grr” is the longest, tallest, and fastest white-water-rapids ride ever built.” (Sklar 98) The ride is also the only water ride of its kind to have drops. As you fall down the drop the raft spins making it a thrilling experience. This whole area really does a good job in surrounding you into California's Natural Forests and makes you feel as if you were truly there. None of this great architecture would have ever been created if Walt Disney never created his Company. This next land is in honor of his arrival in California and houses the theater that made Disney what it is today. 

 As you enter California Adventure, you will be transported back to Buena Vista Street, the Los Angeles of Walt Disney’s start. This main entrance represents Los Angeles back in the 1920’s when Walt first arrived in California that led up to him creating his Movie Studio. “Buena Vista Street is a tribute to Walt arriving in California in the 1920’s and 30’s. As you walk down the street, many of the shops and restaurants that you see look as if they could have inspired Walt Disney to create the motion pictures and shorts that he did, said Senior Show Writer Dave Fisher.” (Blue Sky Disney) Walt could have walked down this street and seen Clarabelle ice cream shop and have gotten the idea for his character Clarabelle. All the amazing detail in this entrance has its own story behind it. As you walk down the street you can see the trolley wires over head, the Hyperion bridge crossing over you, the trolleys passing you by and all of this leading you up the the amazing Carthay Circle Theater. “One of the things that was really important to the team as we began to look at this really immersive main entrance was to provide an icon or a centerpiece that would really culminate your journey as you walked up the street, said Senior Show Producer Melissa Berry.” (Blue Sky Disney) This magnificent theater is a replica of the Carthay Circle Theater where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered that made the Walt Disney Company what it is today. With the success of Snow White, Walt made enough money to create his main Movie Studio along Buena Vista Street in Burbank California and had the funds to build Disneyland. The theater has since been torn down but its replica is the main icon of California Adventure. This main entrance is the true masterpiece of the park because of its amazing architecture LA used to have in the early 1900’s and because of the tribute it has towards Walt Disney. No other Disney Theme Park entrance has been created representing the creation of the Walt Disney company and no other will. Disneyland was the only Disney theme park Created and enjoyed by Walt himself and to honor that specialness Buena Vista Street was specifically built right in front of Disneyland. 

    California Adventure is a Park not to miss the next time you go on a Disney vacation. It transports you to different places in time. From the Cars Land Desert, to the Grizzly Peak Forrest, through Buena Vista street for a 1920’s LA feel, California Adventure truly delivers. Not to mention the other great lands such as Paradise Pier representing the coast of California, Hollywood Land representing Hollywood back in the early 1900’s, Pacific Wharf representing San Francisco Fisherman Wharfs, and Condor Flats representing California Aviation. This park has everything to do with the wonderful state of California and is all mixed with Disney magic. The next time you plan a trip to Disneyland, do not miss out on California Adventure for it will transport you back in time and amaze you in only a way Disney can. 

Works Cited

Surrell, Jason. The Disney Mountains: Imagineering at Its Peak. New York: Disney Editions, 2007. Print.

Lasseter, John.  “Radiator Springs Reality Complete.” D23 expo. Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA. September 2011. Keynote Address 

Fisher, Dave. “Designing Buena Vista Street” Blue Sky Cellar. California Adventure, Anaheim, CA. 4 April 2012. Video Presentation

Universal Studios Hollywood's Ethnography

 

        Universal Studios Hollywood is known to being the entertainment capitol of LA. Located right off the Hollywood freeway in Universal City, Universal Studios is a destination that locals and tourists visit every year. Its located on top of and below a mountain that makes this place a well used space. Houses and antenna structures are built on mountains but theme parks are a different story. Theme Parks are built on flat land so that the guests don’t become exhausted while walking. Since there is limited land in LA county and Universal did not want to move there movie studio, they decided to build their theme park up above there backlot on the mountain. They made the theme park look as flat as possible by elevating rides and creating escalators that take you down the mountain. They used this space wisely and made everything perfect except the entrance. 

        Universal Studies grand entrance is far from grand. Theme parks are supposed to invite you in and amaze you the second you enter. Disneyland for instance has the most amazing theme park entrance in the world with Main Street greeting you and as you walk down it you see the icon of the park, the Castle. With Universal you just walk in and are greeted with an underwelming atmosphere. The only thing people seem to pay attention to is the statue of the filming crew. For such a great theme park you cannot experience its greatness until you walk past the entrance. As soon as you walk into the park you feel as if you were in an outdoor mall with no shade at all. The buildings are unimpressive and the greenery is no where to be seen. They have palm trees but they do nothing to enhance the theme if they are even going for a theme. It would be nice to see their park icon inside the park but sadly its out in the front near the parking lot. Universal is a big time movie company and they couldn't even get their very own theme park entrance right. I have a good idea though on how the entrance should look. The entrance I envision would be costly but would well be worth the money and could potentially bring in more tourism. 

        Universal is know for a lot of its movies and I would like them to bring in a few elements from a variety of movies. When you walk into the park you should be on a street with a lot of trees and a beautiful normal fountain in the middle of the street island. On the rite there will be themed shops as well as an entrance to the Jurassic Park restaurant. Behind these shops will be a huge mountain that towers over the entrance with beautiful trees and plants and a waterfall as well. On the mountain will be a luxurious restaurant themed after the movie Jurassic Park. There will be indoor dining as well as outside dining with a view of the Santa Monica mountains in the distance. As you eat outside you can see a stream of water leading up to a dip creating the waterfall. On the other side of the street there will be more stores but they will be themed to the New York skyline. Universal has filmed a lot of movies in New York and this would be a great tribute the those movies. In front of this store there will be more trees and benches to relax and enjoy the view around you. There will be a marching band performing on the street as well as popular characters roaming the street. This whole entrance will then lead you down the street to an overhead sign that says “Universal Studios” and right beyond that will be the parks icon, the Universal Globe. This entrance will be spectacular and will be a must see attraction for LA. 

        

        Space is limited and the way we use it is important. Universal used space wonderfully by creating a them park on top of a mountain but messed up with the parks entrance. If the theme park wants to be a true competition to the other theme parks in Southern California it needs to fix its entrance. When Disney messes up anything within their parks they fix it and an example of that is California Adventure that is about to come out of its 5 year expansion. The park was a flop when it first opened and was not up to Disney's standards, so for the past 5 years they have been fixing all of those mistakes and when the Park relaunches this summer it will have a new entrance and a new land. Universal should learn from Disney and create a theme park that is complete from the entrance all the way up to the rides. All it takes is money and Universal for sure has the cash to fix its theme park. With the announcement of “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” coming to Universal Studios Hollywood, maybe this is when they can remodel the entrance because after all once Harry Potter opens, the whole world will be watching. 

This is my bedroom. I set it up so that I only have to leave my room to grab food or drinks. I have everything in my room such as my TV, Ps3, VHS player, cable box, Mac, and so on. These things keep me entertained for almost every day of the year. My room even has its own bathroom that connects to my brothers room. On the walls there are posters of my favorite things and o my shelves I have books, dvds, blurays, books, and figurines. I have a desk where I do my homework and keep my school supply. I have 2 windows that look into my backyard and my side yard. The side yard window has a bad view of our junk and sheds and my back yard window has a view of the basket ball court and grass. I have a big bed that is soft and high up. I used to have to jump into it get on it but I have grown in the past 3 years and now its level with me. 

Land is wasted all over the world. Examples of wasted land are dumps and deserted buildings. Over at CSUN a majority of the land is used correctly and not wasted. I consider parking lots wasted space because all you can do with is is park your cars. At CSUN they use their land wisely and have parking structures that have a nice design to them. Parking structures take away the acres of pored asphalt and make it into a small multilevel parking lot.

The CSUN bookstore is not a wast of land for multiple reasons. The whole building is not just a bookstore. Its also has 3 dining locations a mini market, copy center, offices, sit down places, and 2 beverage locations. This whole building has something for everyone and is there for not a wast of land.

The CSUN orange grove is the not a wasted space at all. This is nature and its like a mini forrest. This is where you can relax and do homework while animals and wildlife can live and rome freely. If you are stressed out by a test the pond is a nice place to relax and just watch the ducks. The pond is secluded and if you didn't take time to walk though it you would have never know there was a pond. A majority of the campus never walks through this forest which makes this area peaceful and quiet.While you are here you don't feel like you are on campus which makes all your school stresses go away. 

The SCUN library is another example of not wasted space. Students go here to study, do homework, relax, read, hang out, and so on. The library lawn in front can be used for outdoor events and is used for the graduation seating. This space is used properly and is a good example of how space should be used. 

   Land is space. The way one would use land depends mainly on the person who has obtained the space.  There is untiltled space where the land that was being used would be used by a certain person for a  significant amount of time. After they were done someone else would come and take that space from the relenquishing the former owner of any rights to the land. The taking of untitled space has been going on for five centuries. Today when land is not being used effectivly one could claim it as their own. In Brazil when land that is not being used and someone wants it they do something called "Squatting" to claim the land. Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra is an organization in Brazil that works toward the permuting of seizing space. The government can also reclaim the land themselves through eminent domain claiming to need the space to create something o the indigenous people of the land or sell it to larger land owners.

   Land that is titled does not make up hundred percent of the worlds land surfaces. There is extensive growth where more and more land is being brought into the domain of titled land. Then there is intensive growth where land is being constructed for the ovulation into close- contact areas. This is called Urbanization. 

Streaming Media

We love our media and thats why we spend hundreds of dollars on it every year. Whether its purchasing the latest movie or just purchasing an old classic, the world continues to loves its media. Although we still purchase our media, DVD sales have gone down. Just as CD’s sales plummeted in the past decade due to iTunes and other digital download stores, the DVD is going the same way. The future of media distribution is through streaming. Streaming exists today but its in its early stages. Netflix is a company that pioneered streaming, for a monthly subscription fee you can watch all the movies in the Netflix library and now companies such as Hulu and Amazon are creating their own ways of streaming. Since a majority of movies are already on the internet, it would be easy to push them out for streaming. The future could actually be today! Wrong, the only thing thats in the way of making all movie streamable are the Giant Media Corporations. All they care about is money and if they offer us a buffet of movies, even though they would still be making prophet, they would not be making as much money as they would want. It is this kind of selfishness and stubbornness that is causing people to pirate their movies. People love media so much that if they cannot afford it, they will pirate it. In this past decade CD’s have practically vanished and thats what is going to end up happening with DVD’s. Streaming is the future and is also the best way to prevent pirating. For a monthly fee of unlimited content, pirating would be a thing of the past. 

Media has always been distributed in different ways. At first it was through the VHS, then it was through DVD, now its through Blu Ray and the beginning of Streaming. Streaming will make distribution of media easier for everyone. For the consumer, we would just have to go to any of our devices and choose what we would like to watch and for the media companies they would just have to upload their media online. This easy way to distribute media is the future and I am not the only one who thinks this. Netflix believes that “the future of entertainment is likely not in physical media – the DVDs and CDs that sit and gather dust on our shelves. Rather, it’s in entertainment that is delivered dynamically, streamed from one company’s server directly to our internet-connected devices” (Braun). Netflix has been pushing for streamed media for a while now and even though it has improved over the years, its media library is quite small. Even though it has a small library, you can can stream it from anywhere. You are able to stream Netflix from your phone, tablet, computer, playstation, and even Blu Ray players. All Netflix needs to satisfy its customers more is have better content. Netflix has a decent collection of older movies as well as a huge variety of TV shows but most of the popular content is not available. One thing that Netflix does not have is that it “has no rights to rebroadcast content soon after it airs” (Braun). If a movie is released on DVD or a TV show has just aired, Netflix is not able to put that content onto its server to be streamed. The movies and TV shows that Netflix have take a while to be streamed. Once a movie comes out on DVD you would be lucky to see it able to be streamed within 4 months. The TV shows Netflix has are full seasons once the season comes out on DVD. Hulu another streaming provider, does have power to have TV shows to be streamed the minute the show has finished airing. The difference between Hulu and Netflix is that Hulu has more TV shows and Netflix has more Movies. Both of these companies merged together is what the future of steaming should look like. Consumers should be able to stream the content they want the minute a specific media is released. The technology is already here, so what is the problem? Why are we not able to stream all the content we want? The Media companies are to blame for.

If the future in digital media truly is streaming, then why aren’t studios and networks quick to jump on this bandwagon? Because they have to make sure there is money in it for them!  “The only place that money will come from is by controlling the content” (Indiviglio). Media companies do not like streaming, they do not want to offer a buffet of their content at one flat price. There is always a catch with media. If you buy media on a DVD there is no way to be able to watch it on both you TV and Phone without buying them separately and when you pay for cable television you still get advertisement between the content. Companies do not give Netflix all of their content but they do give iTunes a majority of it. The reason is that iTunes is not a subscription service. In order to watch a movie on iTunes you would either have to buy the whole movie or rent it individually. Companies are getting money out of every episode watched verses being paid a certain amount by Netflix. Media companies have adapted to streaming though and that is through their own websites. The day after a TV show or a special premieres on a channel, you are able to go to the channels website and watch it as many times as you want for free. The only catch is the advertisement through the stream. Since companies do this now we can see that their has been progress through the years, “in the early 2000s it was impossible to watch films and TV shows online and the Internet was still a collection of text and funny gifs back then” (Ernesto 1). The only way media companies would agree with Netflix would be if Netflix offered media as a “pay per view” or if Netflix paid them more money for the content. If Netflix has to pay more for content that means we would have to pay a higher monthly fee as well as having advertisement to pay for the costs we do not cover. If this change ever happens it would be similar to how Cable Television operates. 

Currently we are paying for cable with content that includes commercials. We are so used to this that we don't realize that we are being ripped off. TV should be free since the adds pay to run the shows. This was once the case but the media companies considered their content being shown for free was pirating. “Copyright owners took the cable companies to court. Twice the Supreme Court held that the cable companies owed the copyright owners nothing” (Lessig). During this time watching television was free to us because it was free to the cable companies. This all changed as the media companies gained more power and it became required by law for the cable companies to pay for the media. This then required us to pay for the cable provider. The bad news for the cable companies though was that they had to pay back the media companies for everything they had broadcasted for free. “It took Congress almost thirty years before it resolved the question of whether cable companies had to pay for the content they “pirated” (Lessig). As the years go by cable prices keep going up and we keep paying for it. Cable today is very inconvenient since we have to adjust our schedule to watch our shows by the cable providers schedule. If we already have to pay a high price to watch shows with adds we should at least be able to make TV revolve around us rather than us revolve around the it. There should be a better watch to watch TV and streaming seems to be the answer. 

I believe there is a way to make streaming come sooner rather than later and that is with the death of Cable Television. Cable controls the way we watch TV. If you favorite show is on at say 8PM on Thursday but you have a party to go to, then you either have to miss it or pay money to have a recorder. Subscription services such as “HBO” and “Stars” give you a library of movies but they are shown on their own schedules. Television needs to be more personal with the consumer and less of an inconvenience. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs has a vision for the future and once said "I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use, it would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud ... It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it” (Isaacson). Apple is coming up with the future of the television and while we eagerly await, one thing to point out about Steve's vision is iCloud. Apples iCloud would be a game changer for television. If you like a show or even a movie enough to want to own it, once you buy it off of your TV, iCloud will distribute all of your purchased media to all of your devices such as your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. The second you buy it on your TV you could pick up your phone and start watching. The television is only going to become smarter and more reliable. “The true vision of a smart TV, shared not just by Jobs but by his competitors, is one in which you simply have all of the shows you want to see available, on demand, for a reasonable fee” (Rothman). With the internet we can reimagine cable and only get our media online. If we put together what we have learned from cable, Hulu, Netflix, iTunes, and iCloud, we can get rid of our cable boxes and cable wires running through our homes and just have all of our media streamable to all of our devices. The television will not be the only place to watch all of your favorite shows but on your portable devices as well. We would be able to watch our favorite TV shows weather it be new or not, whenever we want. Instead of a commercial telling us to tune in for a new show at 6PM, the commercial tell us that the show will be viewable starting at 6PM. You will never miss a show again because once its on line it will always be there. This is the the potential of streaming, instead of paying a cable bill, we will be paying a streaming bill and just like cable, streaming will have commercials between your movies and shows. If you prefer not to have commercials, then you will also have the option to rent or purchase the show or movie and will be viewable instantly on all of your devices. I believe that media companies would agree to a streaming service like this more than a service like Netflix. The media companies would be getting money through the streaming provider as well as money through commercials and media purchases. Someday Netflix could even evolve into something like this but for now all we have to do is wait and see. 

The future of media distribution is through streaming. The world has the technology to use its capabilities today. Its now up to the media companies to make a decision and deploy the future. My vision is a great way to stream content in a way that companies would all agree on. Its basically Cable TV reimagined. Who knows what companies could do with streaming, their is always more room for features. The future is bright and once we reimagine cable then the next step could be to reimagine the movie theater, or even possibly have the theater in the comfort of our own homes . 

Works Cited 

Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock down Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin, 2004. Print.

Isaacson, Walter. Steve Jobs. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print.

Rothman, Wilson. "Steve Jobs' Vision for Apple TV Set Lingers." Technolog. MsNBC, Oct. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/steve-jobs-vision-apple-tv-set-lingers-119894>.

Indiviglio, Daniel. "How Does Netflix Possibly Survive?" The Atlantic. The Atlantic, 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/how-does-netflix-possibly-survive/245317/>

Braun, Michael. "Michael Braun's Blog." Netflix Streaming ⓠA Bad Deal for Netflix ». 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://blog.thebriz.org/2011/10/netflix-streaming-a-bad-deal-for-netflix/>.

Extended Copyrights

Extended Copyrights in 1976  stated that after the authors death the copyright would last for fifty years and for a major corporation it would last for seventy-five years.  This act was then extended to 95 to 120 years for corporations. This act is also knows as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. This law basically "froze" the advancement date for the Untied States public domain where any works that had a copyright date would then be extended. Under this Act, works that were made in the year 1923 and afterwards that were still protected by copyright in 1998 would not enter the public domain until 2019 or afterward, depending on the date of the product, unless the owner of the copyright releases them into the public domain prior to that or if the copyright gets extended again.

Work that is completely original should always belong to the author. Mickey is a great example of this; Disney owns Mickey because of the fact he came up with it. If Mickey fell into the public domain people would create work that would sell a hundred percent due to the fact that Mickey is such a well known character. Disney would not get a single dime for this iconic charter that he created. It is not fair for the creator to lose control over who gets to use his work.

   In Chapter 5 of Free Culture it talks about how we wouldn't walk into a store such and Barns and Nobel and take a book off of the shelf without paying for it. Since we wouldn't do this then we shouldn't do the same thing online. I believe this is a double standard. For instance a book in a store cost the publisher money to make a hard copy of their writing where online they spend no money at all. Its like saying that its steeling to read my blog because if my blog were turned into a book you wouldn't steel it. I would have to spend money to turn my blog into a book so therefore if the book was stolen it would be unfair. But I am spending no money at all typing on this blog so thefrefore I don't care if you read it or save it to your computer. We don't go and directly steal from a site that sells digital books such as iBooks and Amazon, we pirate the books from websites that offer the for free. There for if we did steal from a store, we wouldn’t from stores such as such as Barns and Nobel. We would go to a store that offered the books for free and that allowed us to steel. Of course a store like that would not exist because of the money the the owner would loose. The same owner could offer books for free online and cost him nothing. We basically get the books for the manufacturing cost of free!

Out of the 87% of Photoshop users, 58% pirated the software.

 Pirating can also benefit companies. I never purchase photoshop since it too expensive but if I had the money for it I would rather buy it than go through the trouble of installing it for free. To get software for free its a hassle. You have to wait the long hours of the download and then you have to find a way around the access code and set up. If I had just bought it it would be a a less than 10 minute process. This is the same for the world. When the economy goes up more people will buy companies software. As of now the economy is stable but if people get the software for free now, when if if they have more money they are benefiting the company and is also free advertisement to the piraters friends.

For my upcoming essay I would like my main topic to be about media distribution. My main focus will be on cable television, Netflix and iTunes. The future is digital media, DVD's will be gone sooner than later but sites such as Netflix are struggling to get studies support. I want to talk about how companies want money for every movie and show we watch. With Netflix we only pay eight dollars a month for unlimited media compared to iTunes three dollar for one TV show and ten dollars and up for one movie. I also want to talk about how the only way for companies to participate with Netflix is if Netflix pays them more or by throwing in adds with every show we watch just as on cable TV. I want to show how studies only care about their money over our enjoyment of their product.

Music Pirating

Music is the top form of media that is pirated today. Music labels are complaining that the public is steeling from the artist by pirating music when in reality a majority of the artist steel ideas from other artists. Its like the circle of life, the artists steels the music from another artist, the selfish music labels takes ownership of the artists life work, and we steel the songs from the music labels. 

Lion King Copyright Walt Disney

Dj's are the main artists that steel from other artists.  Dj's only use turn tables and the beats and vocals are from other artists drums and voices. This should not be considered steeling though. Artists should be able to share there music with one another. For just using 3 seconds of a song costs more than using a whole song from another artist. Artists that want to change other artists songs there fore have to make covers off of other artists. Today music is so widely distributed that its hard not to pirate. Pirating is todays radio, if we like a song we pirate it it we want a song we purchase it for the high quality or buy a full CD. Artists are still getting there millions and the music labels are getting even more. They are all just being selfish and want more money. This is why we pirate, the public wants music but we cannot afford it. Music should be more affordable and then maybe we will get music legally. 

Rovio CEO Mikael Hed announced, "Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day."

It does not mater who owns a product or media, if pirating continues it is basicaly free advertising. The companies trying to stop pirating are only in it to get more money but even if they continue to try and stop it people will still continue pirating and the companies are only wasting their money on stoping it. Rovio knows that their angry bird game is being pirated into plush and board games but see it as free advertizment that now they are opening an angry birds store in China. Their largest market is china so they believe with all the pirated plush they can make huge prophit.  

Rovio owns its game angry birds and thats thanks to apple and its app store. I could even make a game in i wanted of the iPhone and it will be fully mine but of course apple gets 30% of the prophet. That is still a good deal in the end though because it if fully yours. All companies should be like apple and just take prophet for games instead of owning them. This world has to be fair with its developers and artist. Only the creater should own its property. 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57369388-93/angry-birds-ceo-sees-opportunity-in-piracy/

http://www.thekiaa.org/intellectual-property/piracy-vs-copyright-infringement.html

How free is this culture of media, books, movie, ext? Its not free. Nothing is free anymore and this is all thanks to the major corporations. In todays world all companies care about is money. In order for them to get the money they want they have to charge us in some way for their content. Even for a major movie studio to make a movie off of a similar foundation for a book has ask for permission or in other words buy the rights. Even if the movie is slightly similar the companies have to buy the rights or face a law suit.
    Back when Dreamworks was creating their major hit Shrek, they bought a book that had nothing to do whatsoever with what they came up with. They originally planed to use some elements but in the end the final product was different. Companies have to put up with situations like this in order to just be safe from being sued. If a company wants to make a movie out of a book such as what Warner Brothers did with Harry Potter then it is fair for the Author to get a prophet out of it but the publishers should not get anything. Music and books that people wright end up not being theres after they go through a publisher.
    The music Artists create for a living, the prophet is shared between the music labels, and composers. The music label and composer should be payed to bring the music out to the world but after that the money should only be given to the Artist. With books the Author shares the prophet with the publishers. Same as for music the Author should get everything. there should only be a one time fee to give the publishers after your book is released. Today this is only a dream. Maybe one day a deal can be worked out but until then, the way the world does business is unfair.

Introduction

Group members: James V, Mari H, Aza S, Angel B.
Our theme is PROPERTY
The purpose is to figure out a way to keep culture free. We find it not fair that the record labels or companies are selfish. They just want more money from us and even the artist. The companies should not have so much power over anything. They create it for us to buy and the only way for us to buy it is it it were a fair price. Piracy is the best way to get anything for a fair price.

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