Photo thanks to ReverbNation

When Forrest Williams moved to Florida after spending most of his life in Arkansas, he knew things would change. Journeying from the Natural State to the Gulf Coast inspired both changes in his life, as well as his musical ambitions. “We’ve been really motivated by the people down here and the beauty of this place. I had never really written any reggae or any beach type music until I got down here,” Williams states. A laid back atmosphere generated from the beach going crowd of all ages that make up Williams’ fan base has helped shape this style, which is on full display with his latest record, Gonna Take Love, released October 13 and recorded right here in Santa Rosa Beach. The record features 10 songs and includes two of his older fan-favorites, “Goodtime Sunshine” and “Funky Groove”.

Halloween Night at Pandora’s

Fans of Williams shouldn’t have to wait long to hear more new tunes from him, as he is already planning the follow up to Gonna Take Love. The self-taught musician proclaims his upcoming record will be more of a country style effort going back to his Arkansas roots. “As far as good, heartfelt music, I’ve got a good message in it and I’m excited to go in and do this album,” says Williams. The record, which is already written, should be out around next Spring.

Those wanting to see Forrest Williams Band preform live can go to Pandora’s in Grayton Beach on Wednesday nights or check his Facebook page for upcoming shows. His latest CD is available at his live gigs and at Central Square Records in Seaside.

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Forrest Williams Interview – 30A

The Best Road in FL!

On a cool Fall night in Seaside along scenic highway 30A, Southern Gothic legend Grayson Capps treated those in attendance to his blend of hauntingly beautiful melodies infused with a touch of bayou-esque blues. Playing on the back porch of the iconic Bud & Alleys right on the snow white sands of the gulf, Capps looked right at home on a stage set up to resemble a rustic country porch, complete with the scattered bottles of beer and living room lamp. It was as if a little stretch of his world had been plopped right onto 30A, fitting for a town that once was home to the set of The Truman Show (1998 starring Jim Carrey). After the intimate set, which was played alongside piano player Randall Bramblett and Capp’s accompanying guitarist Corky Hughes, we were fortunate enough to be granted an interview with the eclectic Mr. Capps.

Grayson Capps’ Official Homepage
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This research is aimed at determining the future of online communities. With the rise of social network sites (SNS) there has become a distinct difference between websites set up for users to connect with one another based on common interests, and social sites that allow for a more personal network. This first paper will discuss the past of both topical based communities (referred to as “forums” in this project) and social networking sites, and how the members of these communities connected before the rise of such sites. The second paper will examine the present state of these communities and how there seems to be a blending of public discussion websites and SNS’, as well as a bridging of both offline and online communities. The final paper will examine where online communities are headed based on the theories and trends discussed in the first two papers. This project is being conducted to determine the future of online communities, and will draw on sources relevant to forums and SNS’, in particular one such community that has incorporated both. This research will answer an important question: Will internet forums become obsolete or evolve? The future of internet forums quite possibly will involve incorporating many features of social media, which opens the discussion of whether or not forums will exist as being separate from social media. Either way, it is obvious that forums will remain a fixture of online communities in the future; it just needs to be determined in what form this will be in.

The Past of Online Communities
The Present and Future of Online Communities
Presentation
Annotated Bibliography

Chris Caravello currently is a graduate student at the University of Washington, and is on track to complete his degree in Winter ’09. He began his career as a designer during his time at Florida State University, where he recieved his bachelors degree in graphic design. While living in Tallahassee, he began doing freelance design for musicians who lived in the area. Upon graduating from FSU in 2005, he moved to Los Angeles and took a job as a media designer for the Alsa Corporation. In the Fall of 2007 he moved to Seattle to enter the Masters program. In May 2008 he and his cousin, along with Alex Batess and Johnathan Lucas founded the Tyronehood network, which has grown from an online community set up for fans of the New Orleans music scene to a global social network featuring an online television site and a forum for its members to discuss music, travel, and lifestyles.

Upon finishing his Masters degree, Chris plans on moving back to the Gulf Coast to work as a designer and be closer to his young daughter. He is currently working on a project for the New Orleans based House of Shock.

After reading the article on the reasons young people choose IM over email, I would have to say that I generally agree with what the study shows.  The younger generation prefers IM to email because they like the instant gratification one receives when chatting via IM.  You type something, whomever you are speaking to recieves it right away and responds almost instantly.  I look at this as being practical.  It is the tool that most accurately mimics human conversation.  Especially with features such as chat rooms to allow multiple people to engage in the conversation, as well as most mobile devices allowing IM service.  Its as if friends can have an after class discussion, without being on school grounds, or at the mall, or any other place that young people congregate at to talk amongst themselves.

Another reason that I prefer IM to email, is that there are less barriers in place between messages.  There are no spam filters, no long gaps in pieces of conversation, and if something is not 100% clear in a message, I do not have to write back and then wait for a response for something to be cleared up.  Therefore work situations can go a lot smoother.

The level of interactivity offered is the biggest driving force in preferring IM over email, and the article had this to say on this point:

e-mail lacks the majority of functions that IM can provide, especially those considered as ‘interactivity’ items such as webcam, voice chat, conference chat, on line games, and voice mail. This deficiency can determine the choice of IM and e-mail.

This reiterate the fact that IM mirrors real face to face conversation, something email cannot presently offer effectively.  The sociability of IM is what its users like over email-instant response as well as knowing when their friends are online and free to converse with.  In my opinion and experience, it is this sociability that makes IM so popular.

2.  What interest groups have you joined or learned about in your time online that are doign the most to combat the problems our planet is facing?  Could these groups exist offline and without the help on the Internet?

3.  How could social networking sites organize members to not only become more aware of these problems facing Earth, but do actual physical work towards the common goal of protecting the Commons?  Which existing social networking site is best suited for this task?

Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.

Published in 1968 and written by Garret Hardin, Tragedy of the Commons provides a startling look as to how we are killing our own planet with our irresponsible attitude in areas such as population and pollution. The “Commons” that is the focus of the article is any resource or area of the planet available to any member of the population. As our population grows in number, the abuse of the Commons becomes more and more noticeable on the environment. A few centuries ago, if a wasteful act was committed by someone, its impact would be minimal, if at all. Now as animal populations are nearing extinction and pollution ravages our natural habitats, those abuses are magnified. Hardin says that there are no technical solutions to this problem, this problem can only be addressed by the human race as a whole making a decision to determine what is a want, and what is a need, and we will have to come to realize that our planet is a finite resource. As in a growing population WILL eventually exhaust Earths ability to sustain this population.
Hardin gives the famous example of the shepherd to explain his theory of the Commons. A shepherd that is faced with adding another sheep to his herd despite this creating a strain on the resources of the land will almost ALWAYS choose to do so. It is because to most, personal gain > common gain. The shepherd fears that if he does not choose this way, then someone else will choose it and then will gain an advantage over him. This is the Tragedy of the Commons. We wish to add to our profits without limits on a planet that is limited.
Hardin’s solution to wastefulness is to make it a cheaper option to treat the problem than it is to continue being wasteful. In the case of pollution, make it cheaper to treat sewage than it is to continue dumping it into the environment. We need coercive laws in place to encourage these doomsday methods to stop. In the case of population, I believe it would apply as lowering taxes or other incentives to those that have fewer children. Add another member to the family, make the family pay more. Our existence as a welfare friendly state of course impedes this idea.
This can be tied into the Digital World. In his book “Here Comes Everybody”, Clay Shirky states that he believes the Commons will benefit from the creation of Digital Media due to the fact that interest groups can be formed easily via the web and thus communication between these groups is able to be done instantly and span the entire globe. As I have found in my research for this class, interest groups have long been a source of relief for the worlds problems, and the Digital Age has only made things easier for these groups to come into existence.
Despite Mr. Shirky being somewhat of an idol of mine, I will have to point out my belief that this Digital tool may actually be a double edged sword. While Digital Media has indeed made it easier for research to be done with access to information and resources, and has led to groups of like-minded scientists with the good of the planet in their causes to come together, it has also encouraged us to explore our planet, and thus create pollution as we speed off to see first hand the far away landscape we viewed online. Instead of going out with the girl we sit next to in class, we are meeting a girl online that lives in England and therefore getting on a smog blasting jet and spending our money on travel instead of going about our normal lives in our home cities. The Digital Age has allowed us to do so much without ever leaving our home computers, but it also has driven us to do so much thousands of miles away from it as well.
I guess I can say I am 100% guilty in both the light and dark side of Digital Media. This actually came into my mind as I sat and watched the following music video in a bar in Tallinn, Estonia last year. I was visiting Estonia purely on the fact that I had become interested in the country while surfing the web as well as talking to an Estonian girl that I had met on an online community.

Smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered

Hardin, G. 1968  The tragedy of the commons. Science (New York, N.Y.), 162(3859), http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/162/3859/1243

Shirky, Clay.  2008  Here comes everybody : the power of organizing without organizations / Clay Shirky Penguin Press, New York :

Digital Language = Far Reaching
- It is the 3rd great metamorphosis that allows us to communicate with others on a far reaching scale.
- Because of digital language, we are now “one homogeneous mass”, to quote Samuel Bowles.

Digital Language Timeline
-Telegraph
-Radio
-Telephone
-Television
-Internet
-Not all technology is readily adapted…

Amateurism
-Amateur radio does still exist among hobbyist and enthusiast, and this proves very useful when national disasters or wars interrupt traditional means of communication.
-What amateurs today report things that “the media” sometimes misses?

Benkler On Todays Digital Age

“The Internet allows individuals to abandon the idea of the public sphere as primarily constructed of finished statements uttered by a small set of actors socially understood to be “the media” (whether state owned or commercial) and separated from society, and to move toward a set of social practices that see individuals as participating in a debate.”

New Media
As our world becomes computerized, media begins to change.
Lev Manovich’s 5 principles of New Media
1. Numerical Representation
-Media becomes programmable.
2. Modularity
-Fractal Structure
3. Automation
-Media creation, manipulation, access.
4. Variability
-Infinite versions.
5. Transcoding
-Computerization of media

And when you set it all in motion…….http://ultimateanna.com

Interactive Media
-“Closed” and “Open” Interactivity
-Following the mental structure of the creator, a predetermined path.
-Clicking a link, that goes to an image, that goes to the next image etc etc.
-True interactivity allows its users to choose their path.
Lake of Death

Sources:

Manovich, Lev, The Language of New Media (MIT Press, 2001)

Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom (Yale University Press, 2006);

Roger Fidler, Understanding New Media (Pine Forge Press, 1997)