Because we couldn't get a wireless connection today, here are links to some of the links we were referring to:
The Family That Walks on All Fours (there's a preview of the documentary on this page):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/allfours/
Cybernetic Evolution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzd1OiP27s0
Hugh Rienhoff's struggle to decode his daughter's DNA:
http://www.wired.com/medtech/genetics/magazine/17-02/ff_diygenetics
Marjo Van Dijken and the push to sterilize "unfit" mothers:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/04/humanrights-women/print
ACT UP! Paris:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N08sudptGw
http://www.actupny.org/alert/denialists.html
A cybernetic eye:
http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/102/C7184/
James Watson, the racist:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fury-at-dna-pioneers-theory-africans-are-less-intelligent-than-westerners-394898.html
Stephen Jay Gould's response to racial bias in IQ testing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axcgdAUXai4
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Ethnography of a Basement Dweller
This is FPS Doug. He is a character on an internet-based show called Pure Pwnage (shot here in Toronto). FPS Doug is obsessed with playing first-person shooter games. He became a meme when this video of him shouting "BOOM, HEADSHOT!!!" first circulated the underbelly of the internet. It was enough of a cultural phenomenon that a character in the most recent Grand Theft Auto game was modeled after him, and many FPS players mod their own games to enable a recording of Doug shouting his catch-phrase any time they get a headshot.
I should note that he is irritating from about the 2 second mark, but it's worth watching for both the scene where he's getting ready to go for a jog, and the scene where he describes the intersection between his virtual world and his RL world while driving down the street. Note: Language Warning.
In light of today's question regarding the validity of ethnography in a virtual environment, I wonder how it would be remotely possible to study a lunatic like FPS Doug. Unfortunately, his portrayal is popular mainly because of its high degree of authenticity.
On a side note, here are some Furry LARPers. Anyone who remains curious can google "furry" or "yiff" at their own peril. My apologies to any furries in the class.
I should note that he is irritating from about the 2 second mark, but it's worth watching for both the scene where he's getting ready to go for a jog, and the scene where he describes the intersection between his virtual world and his RL world while driving down the street. Note: Language Warning.
In light of today's question regarding the validity of ethnography in a virtual environment, I wonder how it would be remotely possible to study a lunatic like FPS Doug. Unfortunately, his portrayal is popular mainly because of its high degree of authenticity.
On a side note, here are some Furry LARPers. Anyone who remains curious can google "furry" or "yiff" at their own peril. My apologies to any furries in the class.
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