Sabrina's Blog

Friday, January 29, 2010

A History of New Media: Course

For the next semester, I am going to be using this blog for my academic writings for my course on the History of New Media. This is a reflective statement on the purpose of this course for me, and will include questions and topics to be explored through the study. This is my first draft of the purpose:

As a digital media artist, it is very important for me to know where new media is going and where it came from. By being aware of the past of new media I can put the future of new media into perspective, see what works and doesn't work, find inspiration, and see how it fits into a larger picture. Knowing about emerging areas of new media is critical for me, and through this course I hope to be able to appreciate these areas on a new level. I will also gain experience in new media through out this course by posting my assignments to a blog and by communicating with my teacher in google wave. In general, coming into a course I never can be sure what to expect from it, all that I know with this one is that I hope to be able to place new media into a larger context, and gain various philosophical and technical perspectives on it. I will also have a chance to put my technical and theoretical knowledge to use in my final project.

For now, I think that a good approach to this course is to explore one area of new media technology each week, and the theory and history behind it. Some topics I would like to discuss include:

HTML 5 / CSS 2

Animation fronteirs

Search Methods/ locating information

Kindle / Text Readers (I'm using kindle to read my New Media book)

Flash

Accessibility / Usability / Human - Media Interaction

Open source / pirating

Advertising

Simulation

User-generated content

Video Formats

Online Identity / Community / Internet Trends

This list is evolving and changing, just as the purpose of the course itself.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Things to Know Before Making Aliyah: Some of the Red Tape I've Encountered

I figured I'd post a few things about Aliyah I've learned, since I did massive searches on the topic and this information still managed to elude me.

I decided that I wanted to make Aliyah while I was traveling in Australia, I called the Jewish Agency For Israel and they told me it wasn't a problem, just come to Israel and make it here.

The first problem I ran into was in the airport. I went to check in to my flight to Israel and they told me I couldn't fly because I had a one way ticket into Israel. I explained to them that I was planning on making aliyah but they still made me get a two way ticket and I almost missed my flight.

The next thing: Someone while I was in Israel told me that I'd have no problem working here if I was Jewish. First of all, unless you have citizenship or a working visa you can't work in Israel! Until I get my Tudat Zehut (Israeli ID, the last thing I'm waiting on for citizenship) I'm getting by on babysitting jobs.

Third and the thing that almost cost me the most: The Misrad Hapanim now requires a police report in order to make Aliyah. I was not informed of this before coming here, and when I found out I called my local police department from the states and was told I needed to be there in person to get it, obviously a problem as I was in Israel. Nefesh B'Nefesh (an organization that helps with the aliyah process) worked something out with the Misrad Hapanim (Office of the Interior, who finalizes the Aliyah) so I could submit a paper signed by a lawyer. You need this police report in order to get a work permit as well! If I had wanted to update my visa only to a working visa I would not have been able to do it as Nefesh B'Nefesh only assists with making aliyah!

Also, I planned my Aliyah very poorly, and I'm pretty dependent upon it coming through so I can really start my life here. Nefesh B'Nefesh told me it should take under two months from the date they process my application (November 1st) to process my application. It's been almost two weeks longer. Nefesh B'Nefesh has been helpful in general, but they don't have complete control over when get your Tudat Zehut, the Misrad Hapanim does since they have to go through them, so plan accordingly. I'll update this when I actually get my Tudat Zehut.

Some Resouces
www.nbn.co.il
www.janglo.net (for once you're in Israel)