Sunday, January 30, 2011

Social Networking in Chile
























Top 10 Social Networking Sites In Chile


FOTOLOG.COM            2,824
Blogger                             2,577
Facebook                          2,019
Wordpress.com                 1,392
Windows Live Spaces      1,391
Yahoo! Geocities                905
Flickr                                   660
Hi5                                      497
Sonico                                 493
Lycos Tripod                      346
http://www.hitsearchlimited.com/news/999931/

-Chile's use of social networking Web sites is the highest in Latin America, and numbers have surpassed North America as well
-7 million Chileans have Internet access either at home or at work and, nine out of 10 of these people use social networking Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
http://www.santiagotimes.cl/news/1-other/19520-chiles-use-of-social-networking-web-sites-highest-in-latin-america


-88% of the population lives in urban areas (2008)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ci.html
-The population of Chile on January 1st 2010 is approximately 17,052,473
http://www.trueknowledge.com/q/chile's_population_in_2010
0-14 years: 23.2% (male 1,966,017/female 1,877,963)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 5,625,963/female 5,628,146)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ci.html
-Chileans also use networking sites to blog about social problems, like when 80 prisoners died and 20 got seriously injured when their cell block caught on fire.
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/12/19/chile-prison-fire-sparks-debate-on-social-networking-sites/

Social Networking Sites Show Destruction in Chile



But, social networking has a negative side
-A sexual awakening is happening through a booming industry for 18-and-under parties, an explosion of Internet connectivity and through Web sites like Fotolog, where young people trade suggestive photos of each other and organize weekend parties, some of which have drawn more than 4,500 teenagers. The online networks have emboldened teenagers to express themselves in ways that were never customary in Chile’s conservative society.


-Chilean society was shaken last year when a video of a 14-year-old girl eagerly performing oral sex on a teenage boy on a Santiago park bench was discovered on a video-hosting Web site.
-Chile has become Latin American’s biggest per-capita consumer of digital technology, including cellphones, cable television and Internet broadband accounts.
-Chileans are plugged into the Internet at higher rates than other South Americans, and the highest use is among children ages 6 to 17. Therein lies a central factor in the country’s newfound sexual exploration.
-Party promoters use Fotolog, as well as MSN Messenger, to organize their weekend gatherings, inviting Fotolog stars — the site’s most popular users, based on the number of comments they get.

-Fotolog is a photo-sharing network created in the United States, took off in the last two years in Chile. The country has 4.8 million Fotolog accounts, more than any other country. Children ages 12 to 17 hold more than 60 percent of the accounts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/world/americas/13chile.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

3rd Blog Post (10 Idea Principles UNCG)

Space:
The UNCG campus is ever-growing. We are slowly taking over old shops and streets to turn them into new buildings and places for students and teachers to go. Although the campus is expanding, the need for driving through it isn’t. I remember my mom always telling me that it’s easier to walk anywhere on-campus than to try to find a street that goes to a particular building.
 So, even though UNCG is getting bigger, the buildings are still close together, just like the people. It was obvious in it’s design that our college wants people to be more personal. Now-a-days, people are getting less direct contact with one another thanks to phones, computers, and other technology (that includes cars).
The good ol’ town of Mayberry in the Andy Griffith Show, is thought to be the ideal town, where everybody knows everybody, stops to say “hello”, and walks every where. People don’t do those things anymore because we have cars. In traffic, a person can not notice the race, the age, or even the gender of the people surrounding them. But, on foot, if there is a busy street, or a long line, then chances are, a person will not only know the race, age, and gender of the surrounding people, but they will also get to know more about each other, even become friends. And that was the idea behind having such a closed-in and close college, was that people would get to know one another a little better each day.

Power:
         Just like the ancient Egyptians, our society has a hierarchy. But even on a smaller scale, our campus has a hierarchy with the founder, the dean, the professors, the teacher assistances, and finally the students. This doesn’t mean that as students we are the lowest of the low on the food chain like the slaves in ancient Egypt, but it does mean that we have less “power”, knowledge, and experience than the people above us.
         But something that sets the UNCG campus apart from the ancient Egyptians, is that our “class” is permeable. One day, a student can become a teacher assistant, then become a professor, then the dean, and maybe even then become a founder of a college. Students are being taught to become better than they are. A college graduate is much more likely to get a job than a someone who never even attended college. 

Experience:
         Everyone’s experience of UNCG is different. For example, when I walk into a dorm, I think of the one night I spent in one when I attended SOAR, and all of the thousands of memories that coexist with that one thought. If my brother enters a dorm, he would think of his fabulous view and college life when he went to UNCW. And if his wife walks into a dorm, she would think about her time rooming with four other girls in a UNCG dorm, and how they stayed friends and attended each other’s weddings.
         The UNCG campus is also filled with the experiences and history of other students. A perfect example of that is the Graduate Sidewalk. Just taking a stroll down the hill makes me feel as if I can, just for a second, image what the life was here at UNCG. I also start to wonder what they would experience if they were to walk over the brick that has their name on it. To think of the many years that it took to get their name there, and how honored they feel to have their name engraved on something that will be forever looked at.

Principles:
         When I think of principles, I always think of the first day of classes when the teachers hand out the syllabus and go over the academic policy. Most people just skip over that part, thinking that it is just common knowledge, when if fact, the academic policy is different, more or less, for each class. For instance, in an art class, ideas and inspiration for projects come from all over the place, including your neighbors, but in a science class, if you look over a person’s shoulder on quiz or a test, it is considered cheating and you will receive a zero and much more consequences.
         Also, the statues around UNCG represent our principles. Minerva shows strength, determination, and wisdom, whereas the statue of Charles McIver shows knowledge, self-motivation, and success. The fact that the two major statues are different genders show that one of UNCG’s principles is equality in genders.



Precedent:
         Before UNCG, the campus was a women’s college, and this is still obvious today. The statue of Minerva serves as a reminder of the women’s college and how strong women can be through tough times. Now, UNCG still has a higher number of females attending then males. UNCG also still has a great number of majors that would be considered for women, including clothing, cooking, and family classes.

Site:
         The site of UNCG is in it’s name. It’s a university that is in North Carolina, Greensboro. North Carolina is known for a lot of things, but one major aspect is sports. Although it is usually known for Basketball, Golf is another import sport here. UNCG is very close to downtown Greensboro, making the location convenient to many things, but also not having to be restricted to the limited space that downtown has. Because UNCG is not in the center of downtown, the campus has space for a huge golf course (along with other things), showing just how important it is to North Carolina and to the campus.

Order:
         By looking at the layout of the buildings at UNCG, it is obvious that  there is some order. The dorm houses are mostly located near the dining hall, making it easily accessible by students who live on-campus. Another example is the Gatewood Art Building. How much of a coincidence is it that an art building is literally sharing a parking lot with the campus museum?
         But that’s not the only sign of forethought before placing buildings. The Sullivan Science building is located right next to a children’s daycare. At first, I thought that was a little odd in terms of placement, but after talking with my sister about it, I found out that the physiology majors go to the daycare and observe the children throughout the class for a diagnosis to give to their parents about their behavior.

Scale:
         Growing up, I always thought that UNCG was just for the locals, because I would have never thought that North Carolina, let alone Greensboro would attract anyone that didn’t already live here. But once I started looking into UNCG more when I deciding on colleges, I noticed that people come from all over the world just to come to UNCG. Not only is the global scale of UNCG increasing, but also the scale of age. College isn’t just for 18-22 year olds now. More middle age parents and adults are starting to attend college. In fact, my mom just graduated with an art degree last May and she is 51 years old with four children.

Technology:
         Technology has evolved all over the world, and UNCG is no exception. It has gone from a computer that was the size of an entire room, to something the size of a contact. Technology can also very helpful (along with harmful). UNCG shows off just how technologically advanced by having a “Mac Lab”, a digital lab, and even the library is renting out laptops, and new iPads. 

Surface:
         After looking at all of buildings around UNCG’s campus, a few of them stand out when compared to one another. If you look at the Foust building, which is the oldest building at UNCG, you will notice it is made of brick and has the simplest window designs, and when compared to the Gatewood buildings, which is the newest, you will notice a great difference. The Gatewood building is made almost entirely up from glass and the entire outer surface is glass. Also, the Sullivan building look very modern when compared to Foust. It has tinted glass and huge windows that make up a semi-circle around a part of the building. 



Sunday, January 23, 2011

2nd Blog Post (circles, stacks, and groups)

        Every day I see a multitude of people, friends, classmates, colleges, and even professors gather around the fountain in front of the Cafe. This is a place for students and faculty to get together and relax. And what makes it so easy to relax? Is it the beautiful fountain? The perfect spot for people-watching? Or is is the circular form that has been drawing people together for many years? Well, I would say all of the above, but the most suitable answer is the geometric shape that we know as the circle. 
        Even way back in King Arthur's time, the circle has meant equality, and a place for people to gather without being judged. This "fountain of knowledge" is surrounded by a semi-circle of seats, so that no matter where a person sits, they still receive the same amount of equality, relaxation, and fountain-seeing as the next, making the ritual of gathering there more concrete and everlasting.


        All UNCG students know the story behind this clock between the Cafe and the EUC, that if you walk under it you won't graduate on-time. Now, it's not just that scary legend that makes people not  walk under it, but it's the structure. If it was intended for students and faculty to walk under it, then there wouldn't be an entire sidewalk going around it. Also, it's the boxed in form that tells our feet not to take us under the clock. 
        The space is a bit tight for a group of busy college students to all go strolling under on their way to class or to eat. The fact that the clock is atop a very closed in area in the middle of a wide open space outside makes the columns stand out, in return, making the ritual of not walking under the dreaded clock more believable and easier to follow.


        This is a picture of the Foust building, a place that harbors many different majors, ranging from arts and science to African-Amerian studies. As you can see, the building has many different triangular shapes on it. Triangles normally represent a progression, a refinement, or even just classifications. But these stacked triangles represent all of them. 
        Since the Foust building contains a variety of different majors and classes for those majors, it could be thought that each triangle stands for a different major. For instance, if the highest triangle or cone on the left is the Department of Religious Studies, then the very base of that would be the Freshman, then the Sophomores, next the Juniors, and finally, the very top; the tip of the iceberg, would be the Seniors. The Seniors have worked through four years, continuing to move up each year, until they are at the "top of the food chain" in a way. The idea of progression could have been the reason as to why the Foust building is the building that it is today, holding so many eclectic majors and departments, because of the ability to classify by the triangular shapes it has adorning the roof.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

1st Reading Response and 1st Blog Post


This is my project on Uruk and Eridu in Mesopotamia. As lovely as this look (although it's unreadable), it is not the actual project. I was having difficulty uploading the document, so I decided to just take a screen shot of it. This is only a temporary fix until I can get the actual project up.

Monday, January 17, 2011

New Header

This drawing is a snap shot of a section of my wall because I thought nothing could be more personal or "me" than my room. I just moved into a new house and I am slowly making it mine. I felt this was the best way to describe me as a designer because I actually did create, design, and put my personal touches into the room, just as I would for a any project or client.

As colorful as I may seem, I chose not to incorporate color because I felt I haven't mastered coloring (as juvenile as it may seem) since we didn't learn it last semester. But, to still put my creativeness and quirkiness into the drawing, I chose a curly sort-of text known as "Jandles".

In the picture itself, every picture, every frame, and every shelf is lined up, making each separate section relate to each other. In my projects, I try to have every aspect of it correlate into something else.