Time Card: 9/23-9/29 - 66 hours - Busy + Time at Conference

Time Card: 09/23/2012 - 09/29/2012


66 hours this past week.  Busy as usual.  Presented research at conference.  Long travel times.   

Below is a record of the work that I've done over this past week, mainly in the areas of research, teaching and service. I usually average about 47 or 48 hours per week. Unlike the summer, most of my time during the fall and spring semester is spent on teaching and service. If you are interested in how I keep track of this information and why, please let me know. 

Date	Day	Task	Area	Total	Work unit notes
09/23/2012	Sun	MCM420	TEACHING	00:36
09/23/2012	Sun	Misc EmlTodoScd	MISC	00:34
09/23/2012	Sun	DeptServ	SERVICE	03:24
09/24/2012	Mon	Proj-HOTB	RESEARCH	02:40
09/24/2012	Mon	ResMisc	RESEARCH	00:43
09/24/2012	Mon	MCM510	TEACHING	01:26
09/24/2012	Mon	CrsPrep	TEACHING	03:42
09/24/2012	Mon	Misc EmlTodoScd	MISC	01:46
09/25/2012	Tue	Proj-HOTB	RESEARCH	01:09
09/25/2012	Tue	Proj-SMTV	RESEARCH	04:25
09/25/2012	Tue	ResMisc	RESEARCH	00:45
09/25/2012	Tue	MCM420	TEACHING	02:23
09/25/2012	Tue	MCM510	TEACHING	00:22
09/25/2012	Tue	CrsPrep	TEACHING	02:55
09/25/2012	Tue	ColCuricCom	SERVICE	00:42
09/25/2012	Tue	Misc EmlTodoScd	MISC	00:23
09/26/2012	Wed	Proj-SMTV	RESEARCH	01:02
09/26/2012	Wed	ResMisc	RESEARCH	07:54
09/26/2012	Wed	CrsPrep	TEACHING	02:55
09/26/2012	Wed	Misc EmlTodoScd	MISC	00:52
09/27/2012	Thu	Proj-SMTV	RESEARCH	09:02
09/27/2012	Thu	CrsPrep	TEACHING	01:45
09/28/2012	Fri	Proj-SMTV	RESEARCH	10:13
09/29/2012	Sat	ResMisc	RESEARCH	00:52
09/29/2012	Sat	MCM485	TEACHING	00:52
09/29/2012	Sat	CrsPrep	TEACHING	01:41
09/29/2012	Sat	DeptServ	SERVICE	01:11
		TOTAL		66:14

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For Fellow Faculty: This Week's News (9/30/12) - Number of Faculty Not Rising, The College Ranking Racket & Other News [VID]

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Game Research: WilliamHartPhD spent a chunk of time playing The Testament of Sherlock Holmes (360).

WilliamHartPhD spent a chunk of time playing The Testament of Sherlock Holmes (360).

Time played: 3 hrs

2 hours total

To see what other games I'm currently playing for research purposes (and fun), check out my Now Playing page on Gamespot or the current activity on my Raptr wall.

If you'd like to know about my videogame research, let me know. I do research on adaptation games (i.e., games adapted from novels or films) and mystery/detective games. I'm working on my own detective game now.

Also see: My Xbox profile | My Steam profile | My Playfire profile | My Gamespot profile

Or see my complete game collection on Gamespot.

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Earlier today I presented a social media and TV research paper with @EricaCTaylor at HU in DC #smtechconfwork @SMTechConfWork [Abstract]

Social Media Use While Watching Prime-Time TV
by William Hart and Erica Taylor
Norfolk State University


Abstract

“2012 Is the Year of Must-Tweet TV” proclaimed a recent Reuters news article (Shaw, 2012). In the past year, dozens of articles about social media and television viewing have appeared in TV trade publications such as Broadcasting & Cable and MediaWeek. Also, most prime-time TV dramas now include Twitter hashtags at the bottom of the screen (e.g., #thementalist), encouraging viewers to tweet about the episode. However, while social media is playing an increasing role in television viewing, there is very little research on the topic. There are two limited studies of linking social media and reality television and only one study specifically analyzes what viewers tweet while watching a TV program. This previous study analyzed about one thousand tweets each from only two programs (a live political event during and a dance competition program). The research shared here is an analysis of thousands of more tweets posted during the showing of several TV dramas. In addition, the present research answers several more key research questions. Answers to these key questions would be of benefit to television scriptwriters and producers as well as advertisers and public relations specialists who seek to understand the viewing behaviors and the mindset of TV viewers.

Keywords: social media, Twitter, television, social TV, prime-time, dramas

A paper presented at the Social Media Technology Conference & Workshop 2012, Howard University, Washington, D.C., September 27-28, 2012.

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InterculturalCom: Language & Culture: Linguistic Discrimination (U5-P4) [VID] fa12

What is linguistic discrimination?

"HUD Fair Housing Public Service Announcement"



"Linguistic Discrimination in School African American English"
Note: The audio is a little out of sync on this YouTube video, but the content is informative.



Would you not hire any of the 21 "people" in following clip?
"21 Accents"

If you have an interest in acting and accents, check out Accents: A Manual for Actors- Revised and Expanded Edition


Speaking of acting and accents...
"Hugh Laurie: the British accent vs the American"  
Any intercultural mis-communication happening here?  They speak the same language, yes?



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InterculturalCom: Language & Culture: Cultural Literacy (U5-P3) [VID] fa12

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to the idea of cultural literacy and the role it plays in intercultural communication. 





E.D. Hirsch: education scholar who proposed the idea of cultural literacy. The idea was first introduced in the book Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.

Cultural Literacy: All U.S. American students should have a commonly shared set of knowledge.

Rationale: Better communication and thus better relations. 

• People w/o a shared cultural literacy have less effective communication. (Heterophily).
• People w/ a shared cultural literacy more effective, efficient communication. (Homophily)

Additional rationale: Many business leaders find young graduates lack good communication skills.


Examples of Things All Americans Should Know 

• 1492 
• 1776 
• Achilles
• Adam & Eve
• Adams, John
• Aesop's Fables
• Ahab, Captain
• Alamo
• Alcott, Louisa May
• Ali, Muhammad Allah
• Allen, Woody
• All roads lead to Rome

This is a somewhat representative sample of his list of 500+.


Video: Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire - lyrics. 


You may also want to see the official music video for the song.


Your task: You are in China and have to teach
An American Culture/English Language class. What would you do?




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InterculturalCom: Language & Culture: Beware of Idioms (U5-P2) fa12

Beware of using idioms in intercultural settings.

An idiom is "a group of words whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meanings of the constituent words, as for example ( It was raining ) cats and dogs" or "kick the bucket or hang one's head." (Dictionary.com)

“A traditional way of saying something. Often an idiom, such as 'under the weather,' does not seem to make sense if taken literally. Someone unfamiliar with English idioms would probably not understand that to be 'under the weather' is to be sick.” (American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy)

Why would you want to be careful about using idioms in intercultural situations? 
Any connections between idioms and emblems?

Example of a Chinese idiom:  "Dui niu tan ching"
It literally means “Playing music for a cow.”

If a wife told her husband that talking to him is like "dui niu tan ching," what is she really saying?
Does this translate into any American idioms?

If you are in an intercultural situation where idioms are used how can you figure out the meaning?


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InterculturalCom: Language & Culture: Star Trek, Darmok & the Picard Principle of Intercultural Com [VID] (U5-P1) fa12

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to issues of language differences in intercultural situations. 

During video answer the following questions:

• Would you face the same experience?  Have you?
• Can you figure out the language?
• What advice would you offer when interacting with people and you both don’t speak the others’ language (in short, lessons learned?)?

The “Picard Principle” of Intercultural Communication:
In the clip Picard says “Communication is a matter of patience [and] imagination.”


What does that phrase mean? Is it true?

Do a Google search on "Darmok Dictionary"

You may also want to see the full episode of Darmok.


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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: The Basics: How Email Works (U5-P7) [VID] fa12

How does email work?  What are the steps in the process?  The parts?




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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: The Basics: Cloud Computing and Google Docs (U5-P6) [VID] fa12

Cloud computing: "the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility (like the electricity grid) over a network (typically the Internet)." (Wikipedia)

Cloud computing: "In essence, personal cloud computing means having every piece of data you need for every aspect of your life at your fingertips and ready for use. Data must be mobile, transferable, and instantly accessible. The key to enabling the portable and interactive you is the ability to synch up your data among your devices, as well as access to shared data. Shared data is the data we access online in any number of places, such as social networks, banks, blogs, newsrooms, paid communities, etc." (PC Mag)

What is Google Docs and how does it relate to the definitions of cloud computing given above?




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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: The Basics: The Internet Explained (U5-P5) [VID] fa12

How does the Internet work?  What are the steps in the process?  The parts?




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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: The Basics: History of the Internet (U5-P4) [VID] fa12

What would a timeline (a list of events) look like for the development of the Internet as a communication tool?  Starting with the late 1960s, what new communication tools appeared on the Internet?  Examples: What year did email first appear?  What year did blogs appear?

Zuckerman gives a good timeline in his brief talk.



What would you add to this timeline for more recent years?


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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: The Basics: New Communication Technology - Rogers and Hart (U5-P3) fa12

What does it mean to speak of a computer as a computation tool?  A communication tool?

What are the forces that have shaped new communication technologies?

Source: The Changing Conversation in America, edited by Eadie and Nelson


How does Steve Jobs fit in here?

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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: The Basics: Winston's Model (U5-P2) fa12

How much do you know about the development of the Internet and the use of computers as communication tools?

Can you trace the development of the Internet using Winston's model?

Source: Media Technology and Society: A History From the Telegraph to the Internet








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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: The Basics (U5-P1) fa12

Your Internet Use?

In a typical week…

• How much time do you spend with e-mail?
• How many times do you check email?
• How much time do you spend browsing the Web?
• How many times do you go to computer to browse?
• What sites do you visit?

Is there a question or two missing that should be asked about Internet use?  Other ways you used the Internet?

So, you use it, you use it a lot, but what do you know about it?  How did the Internet get started?  What all does it offer?  Where is it headed?


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Time Card: 9/16-9/22 - 55 hours - To Serve with Honor

Time Card: 09/16/2012 - 09/22/2012


55 hours this past week.  Another busy week (course prep, etc.).  Took on an extra service task. 

Below is a record of the work that I've done over this past week, mainly in the areas of research, teaching and service. I usually average about 47 or 48 hours per week. Unlike the summer, most of my time during the fall and spring semester is spent on teaching and service. If you are interested in how I keep track of this information and why, please let me know. 

Date	Day	Task	Area	Total	Work unit notes
09/16/2012	Sun	MCM510	TEACHING	05:55
09/17/2012	Mon	MCM510	TEACHING	02:49
09/17/2012	Mon	CrsPrep	TEACHING	03:01
09/17/2012	Mon	MiscServ	SERVICE	00:58
09/17/2012	Mon	Misc EmlTodoScd	MISC	00:22
09/17/2012	Mon	DeptServ	SERVICE	00:15
09/18/2012	Tue	MCM420	TEACHING	05:26
09/18/2012	Tue	MCM510	TEACHING	01:16
09/18/2012	Tue	CrsPrep	TEACHING	01:29
09/18/2012	Tue	MiscServ	SERVICE	01:02
09/18/2012	Tue	Misc EmlTodoScd	MISC	00:24
09/19/2012	Wed	Proj-HOTB	RESEARCH	00:50
09/19/2012	Wed	MCM420	TEACHING	02:59
09/19/2012	Wed	CrsPrep	TEACHING	03:27
09/19/2012	Wed	Misc EmlTodoScd	MISC	00:30
09/19/2012	Wed	DeptServ	SERVICE	00:42
09/20/2012	Thu	MCM510	TEACHING	01:53
09/20/2012	Thu	CrsPrep	TEACHING	02:28
09/20/2012	Thu	UnivCuricCom	SERVICE	01:50
09/20/2012	Thu	Misc EmlTodoScd	MISC	00:34
09/20/2012	Thu	DeptServ	SERVICE	01:07
09/21/2012	Fri	MCM510	TEACHING	02:04
09/21/2012	Fri	Misc EmlTodoScd	MISC	02:20
09/21/2012	Fri	DeptServ	SERVICE	07:42
09/22/2012	Sat	MCM485	TEACHING	03:01
09/22/2012	Sat	MCM510	TEACHING	00:25
09/22/2012	Sat	Misc EmlTodoScd	MISC	00:35
		TOTAL		55:24

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MediaTech: Granville Woods: Communication Technologist (U4-P3) fa12

In 1913...

B.J. Nolan, Tennessee patent lawyer said:

“I never knew a Negro to even suggest a new idea. Much less try to patent one. And I have dealt with them all my life. P.S. I have asked other lawyers around me for data of Negro inventions. And they take it as a joke.”

Com Technologist: Granville Woods

• 1884: Inventor of improved telephone transmitter
• 1885: Inventor of telegraphony
• 1887: Inventor of induction telegraph

35+ other patents

Why not mentioned in history books along side Edison, Bell, etc.?




Granville Woods: His story

• Sometimes called the “Black Edison”
• Born in 1856 in Australia or Ohio
• Went to work at young age
• Mainly self-educated / read anything he could find on electricity.
• Worked as fireman and then engineer on railroad.

Early 1880s, Telephone Transmitter
Woods: “My invention relates to a method of and apparatus for the transmission of articulate speech and other sounds through the medium of electricity.”

Telephone invented in 1870s

1885: Inventor of telegraphony
A combination telephone and telegraph.
What need does this meet?



1887 induction telegraph
Woods: “for the purpose of averting accidents by keeping each train informed of the whereabouts of the one immediately ahead of following it, in communicating with the stations from moving trains…”

Granville Woods: His story

• Tried to market his inventions himself.
• Sold/Gave up rights to many of his patents to corporations like: American Bell Telephone Company, General Electric and Westinghouse.
• Died 1910 in virtual poverty.

See connections to Winston's model?



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MediaTech: Audio/Video Tech (Basics): Steps in Signal Process (U4-P2) fa12

What are the steps in signal processing?

• Step 1: Signal Generation
• Audio Signal Generation; Video Signal Generation
• Step 2: Amplification and Processing
• Audio Amplification and Processing Video Amplification and Processing
• Step 3: Signal Transmission
• Audio Transmission; Video Transmission; Satellite Transmission
• Step 4: Signal Reception
• Radio Receivers; TV Receivers
• Step 5: Storage and Retrieval
• Audio Storage; Video Storage

Step 1: Signal Generation

"Audio signals are generated mechanically, by using microphones and turntables; electro-magnetically, by using tape recorders; and digitally, by using laser optics. Television signal generation involves the electronic line-by-line scanning of an image. An electron beam scans each element of a picture, and the image is then retraced in the TV receiver."


Step 2: Amplification and Processing

"Audio and video signals are amplified and mixed by using audio consoles and video switchers. Today’s digital technology enables sophisticated signal processing and a variety of special effects."


Step 3: Signal Transmission

"Radio waves occupy a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. AM radio channels are classified into clear, regional, and local channels. FM stations are classified according to power and antenna height. The wide bandwidth of an FM channel allows for stereo broadcasting and other nonbroadcast services. There are two types of digital radio: satellite-based and in-band, on-channel."


Step 4: Signal Reception

"Radio receivers pull in AM, FM, and other signals, in monaural or stereo. New digital multiband receivers are becoming more prevalent. In TV, large and small-screen receivers have attained record sales in recent years, abetted by new digital capabilities and "smart" remote control devices."

Technology cluster? Relationship to adoption?


Step 5: Storage and Retrieval

"New technology is reshaping audio and video storage and retrieval. Phonograph records, compact discs, and videotapes are being supplemented and may ultimately be replaced by digital storage media, such as recordable CDs, digital versatile disks (DVDs), and high-capacity disk drives on computers. A comparatively new phenomenon, audio and video streaming, permits radio and TV stations to send their complex signals onto the Internet."




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MediaTech: Audio/Video Tech (Basics) (U4-P1) fa12

Basic Principles/Science of Media Technology

• "Broadcasting, cable, and new media make use of facsimile technology, reproducing sound and sight in other forms. The better the correspondence between the facsimile and the original, the higher the fidelity."
• Transduction is the process of "changing energy from one form to another; it is at the heart of audio and video technology. Transduction can be analog—the transformed energy resembles the original—or digital—the original is transformed into a series of numbers."

At what point or points in signal processing does transduction occur for traditional (over-the-air) radio?



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Game Research: WilliamHartPhD spent a chunk of time playing Minecraft (XBLA).

WilliamHartPhD spent a chunk of time playing Minecraft (XBLA).

Time played: 2 hrs

19 hours total

To see what other games I'm currently playing for research purposes (and fun), check out my Now Playing page on Gamespot or the current activity on my Raptr wall.

If you'd like to know about my videogame research, let me know. I do research on adaptation games (i.e., games adapted from novels or films) and mystery/detective games. I'm working on my own detective game now.

Also see: My Xbox profile | My Steam profile | My Playfire profile | My Gamespot profile

Or see my complete game collection on Gamespot.

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MassMedia: You Know News, But Do You Know Fake News? (U3-P1) [VID]

You know news, but do you know fake news?

Watch the following clip from a local TV news cast.



When watching the above clip from a news broadcast what are your reasonable assumptions?  That the people interviewed are local people?  That this is a local story?  That the reporter did the interviews and wrote the story?  That this is real news?

Now, check out this next video which was written and produced by independent video company and funded Quest Diagnostics, a company that runs lab testing centers around the U.S. where allergy testing is done. 





What did you notice?  What if you started both video clips at about the same time?  Try it. Start the bottom clip, wait a few seconds and start the top clip.  Notice any difference?

The second clip you saw is an example of what is called a video news release (some background).

"Video news releases or VNRs (also referred to as fake TV news) are segments designed to be indistinguishable from independently-produced news reports that are distributed and promoted to television newsrooms. TV stations incorporate VNRs into their newscasts, rarely alerting viewers to the source of the footage. While government-funded VNRs have been most controversial, most VNRs are paid for by corporations; non-governmental organizations also put out VNRs" (SourceWatch).

Check out the following video.



KMSP-9 Helps Rev Up Convertible Sales


If you are interested, see another video comparing a local news cast with a VNR on YouTube or check out even more examples of VNRs and local news stories from PRWatch.

In the clip above, Pakman, mentions the FCC's sponsorship identification rules. Here is one rule/law.
"... the Communications Act of 1934, ... requires broadcasters to disclose to their listeners or viewers if matter has been aired in exchange for money, services or other valuable consideration. The announcement must be aired when the subject matter is broadcast. The Commission has adopted a rule, ... which sets forth the broadcasters' responsibilities to make this sponsorship identification" (FCC). 

How does this apply in the VNR situation?

So, corporations put out VNRs and they sometimes show up as news.

Now, to what extent are VNRs used in politics or as political propaganda?


Note: The above is a clip from a 2011 documentary titled Programming the Nation? directed by Jeff Warrick.

Is the use of VNRs as news appropriate?  Is it ethical?   Who is at fault?

Spotted any examples of VNRs airing as news in the past few months?



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