Trolls, and Filter Bubble

Fitting the System

Trolls... Trolls everywhere. As you go about your day you will stumble upon some pretty mean stuff. I was watching some videos of the worst friends and for the most part was funny until the last video. The setting is on a frozen lake and there are two guys standing on it and the camera man is on the far, then he yells something like "do it now". So this guy throws a huge rock to where one guy is standing so the ice breaks and he falls in. You can see this guy struggling for his life in the ice cold water and his "friends" are peeing their pants because they cannot stop laughing. What kind of people are these people??? He could have died! But anyways after my ranting lets talk about trolls.

The definition of a troll according to beautiful Urban Dictionary is, being an evil person on the internet because you can. Of course I said it with a not so violent vocabulary but the meaning remains. I bet that for every sweet little ball of fur on the planet there is one to three trolls. So the first thing I am going to talk about is what I learned with Sir George Takei on Youtube (Yes he has a channel) about Trolls. He made a good point on how to fight them, and the way to accomplish this is: to not fight them. You see, trolls feed off of attention so if you ignore them they will soon get tired and extinguish in agony. Or you could fight the evil with love <3 If a troll says something mean about you, instead of fighting just be nice, because they may have never experienced being treated nicely. 

The second thing is the Filter Bubble, have you ever realized that the YouTube recommendations are videos of things related to stuff you´ve seen before? Well, this is because your devices store your search data and whenever you look for something it will use that information to get you the best results, that are related to you. If you ever compare your search with someone else´s screen, you will realize you both have different results, even if you searched for the same thing. This is called the Filter Bubble, is the bubble within the bubble that keeps your interests.  You will see things you like and feel compatible with and its nice, right? I will have to disagree, because this Filter bubble isolates you from new ideas, some ideas you won't want to hear but then again did slave owners like to hear that black beautiful people where humans too? You see there are other ideas that you wont agree and that you will enter into conflict with, but conflict will make you grow and your mind will be open to newer and better things. There is this search engine called duckduckgo.com it does not store any data so it will be a little harder to find stuff but it will help you see a wider world. 

I invite you to compare your search results with people in other locations, maybe relatives or acquaintances that live in another place screenshot it and share. I also invite you to be nice to someone, I read something cute on Pinterest that said "to be kind because everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about" You will be amazed. 

Con amor,

Linda

"Look up"

me, myself and my feelings 

You know what it reminds me of when people are looking down at their phones to avoid feeling awkward? The Le Miserable song: "look down, look down, don't look him in the eye" We are missing so much for looking down at our phones. We are even running into things because we don't want to deal with the real world. Like that lady whom ran into a drinking fountain because she was staring at her phone.

Kristen Howerton is a social media advocate that gave a ted talk about our diversions, she said that when we are stressed or in panic or with some sort of "crappy feelings" we tend to have diversions that distract us from our pain. In her case, she was in the Haiti Earthquake and her diversion was to prepare a well done suitcase that will allow her to leave Haiti with her new born child. She put her mind and will into it because she could not leave the building for safety reasons. American Citizens were picked up by military cargo airplanes so no luggage was allowed. Howerton was so attached to this suitcase for comfort that she even thought of leaving her baby, not really but she did have an emotional break down.

It feels like today we are so attached for comfort to our devices, we do not like to feel lonely so we avoid by all means that feeling, even in the bathroom... We are alone without feeling lonely, do you think this messes up our psychology? I would say yes. As I have written about this before, we have to be lonely so that we can enjoy company. What does it happen when we avoid feeling lonely? Obvious answer; we CANNOT enjoy company.

So if you ever feel bad after spending an afternoon with your friends or parents or someone you love, because you were not really there. Maybe think about going back to the human nature of being lonely so that you can enjoy the company of your loved ones. Just remember that they won't stick for too long and one day it will be too late to be with them, for reals.


Lots of love,


me

The Dark Side... of the Internet

Dark Wars

During this week´s session we talked about the so called "Deep Web" or "Dark Web". No one really knows how big the internet is, but I can tell you is like huge. We can compare it to an iceberg, because the web pages we normally use; like Facebook and stuff are only the surface of the iceberg.

Episode One: One day the Navy was like: "I have a great idea! We should create a whole in the cyber space" so they did, and after they were all like "It´s alive" they were like: "we should release our baby into the wilderness and see what happens. Just for fun". So the Navy did and just like it happened in Frankenstein; the monster gets out of control and kills their girlfriend. Okay, okay, the deep web did not kill the Navy´s girlfriend, but it does pretty bad stuff. Like the deep web allows ISIS to reach tons of people and reclute them without anyone knowing their location.

In order to access the deep web, you have to download a thing called TOR. No I did not spell wrong Thor (he´s such a cutie though). After you have TOR in the warmth of your desktop, you can not only access the deep web, but you also become a server of the deep web. This is how it works: There are tons of servers around the world and if your real location is Hawaii no one will be able to know is Hawaii because your location will hop over other servers and it could show your location in the Philippines or any other place. It works like a VPN.

It is also a rebel and defies the constitution by creating its own currency, with the fancy name of "bitcoins". People can actually use those bitcoins in real life, someone paid their whole honeymoon with them (youTube it). You can start earning them once you download TOR and your processor starts "mining" the web. The dark web pays you for your processor´s hard work in bitcoins and you can be a billionaire in the cyberspace.

The majority of the content of the deep web is very bad hence the name "dark", like porn, drugs, prostitution, child pornography, human trafficking and everything else you can think of. It also has its good side, it allows people to access content that is prohibited in their country, for example China. They are able to access information that the government regulates and they are able to share with the rest of the world what is happening in front of them. Like a route of scape. Remember that video of the execution of an American journalist, well it traveled throughout the dark web and reached someone that liberated it into the surface. That is how we normal people got to know about it.

If your curiosity is telling you "Come to the dark side" let me tell you that is not ilegal to download TOR and it is not ilegal to surf the deep dark web, so if you are wanting to explore in the deep dimensions of the web go for it. But beware that you may get stuck in the filth and become a stormtrooper of the dark side to provide your location. So, maybe think twice.

May the force be with you my friend,


Linda

Wasting Time

HELP: I'm a Socialmediaholic 

Remember  Pixar's movie WALL-E? Remember those fatties talking to their friends through video calls and following color trends on their social media? Well I am one of those... This week I read a General Conference talk about wasting time scrolling through useless news feeds, and how we will be hold accountable for that wasted time.

Since I do not want to burn in Dante's Inferno, I have decided to be more proactive this week. And maybe share my light with others, maybe even inspire them, unfortunately this would have to be done through social media so... I guess I won't be escaping my phone that much. However I'll be sharing my knowledge, therefore teaching someone, which equals to the term "Social Learning". Which in case you did not know means the things you have learned from social media, like for example those flawless makeup techniques you learned in a tutorial, or that killer no-bake cheesecake you pinned, etc etc. (you get my point?)

Now,lets think about thinking, just like the great philosophers of time like Socrates or Plato but with cool hipster eye glasses. The act of thinking about thinking is called meta-cognition. So, tell my my dear; what have you been thinking about? (imagine myself with a cup of tea, and cool British accent)

Have you ever seen a vine and thought; "hm.. I can think of a few ways to have done it better"? Well let me break the news for you, you are not the only one that has thought of it, as a matter of fact there are companies that have even done it better. One example Toyota, they are a Japanese company that make pretty reliable cars. Which is funny because the first ones to make cars where the Germans, right? The act of doing something someone did before but you making it much cooler, its not called copying, it is called: (drum roll, please) innovation. So when someone betters an invention, it is called innovation, just like phones, we haven't gotten rid of them, but they have been so much innovated that today the phone has so many more qualities, than just talking.

Please stop shutting yourself out in a virtual world, I know it is nice to not feel lonely but maybe feeling lonely is part of being human. Plus you can focus you attention to your surroundings, maybe what sounds do you hear? what colors do you see? what do you smell? make the effort to be present wherever you are. I will do so too.

Thanks for reading,

Linda

Vitacora Dos

Segunda Vitacora

Have you ever wondered how did the internet begin? Me neither, but in my Psychology and Social Media class we learned the very humble beginnings of it starting with; the telephone. Did you know that "tele" (Greek accent comes out) comes from the Greek word "tele" that means faraway, and "phone" comes from the Greek word "fono" that means voice. I hope you watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, if not go google it. So, the word telephone means faraway voice, which makes sense. 

Anyways, it all started with this new technology that connected people from faraway, it had super humble beginnings where you had to both talk and hear from the same whole. After Americans had mastered the art of connecting, they were able to communicate from coast to coast and almost everyone had access to it. Then the US government was afraid that if there was an attack they would not be able to communicate, since whenever a telephone pole fell down the communication was down too. So they needed a new technology that would allow them to communicate even if a part of it was destructed. And guess what? They build it, they made it stronger with a beehive like system that allowed the information to travel through different canals even if one was broken. I think that the whole thing was inspired by someone watching an experiment with rats trying to escape a maze. 

It was fun to watch all those old devices and remember having to dial a disc telephone, those were annoying because if you messed up a number you had to hang up and start all over again. Talk about some patience right there. Phones started to evolute and people needed to be wireless so the huge cellphones that you can only watch in old movies and that were so cool back then appeared. If you compare those to our phones today; they are getting humangos like the oldie ones.. My phone cannot even fit in my pocket anymore, and the bigger your screen the cooler you are. 

Communication started to evolute and just like that today we are able to give our input and therefore created Social Media. Because if you didn't know, and I seem to be filled with fun facts today, social media is all those pages/apps/sites in the web that you can give feedback or contribute to the cause. For example, those cookie tutorials you upload to YouTube or those mean Tweets you made about something you were ranting about, you are contributing to the web and that my friend, makes you part of this big World Wide Web ohana.

Hopefully I didn't bore you with my fun facts and movie quotes, 

You know you love me,

XOXO

Not Gossip Girl (winky face)

Cyber Social Butterfly, Real World Hermit

Cyber Social Butterfly, Real World Hermit

I have realized how much of a hermit I am. I don't feel bad about it, I feel pretty good actually. I know I should not be proud of it but somehow today's society kind of pushes you into it. With people staring at their phones and a vast necessity to "share" their life in the WWW, people just forget about other people. How many times have you looked at your phone while having a face to face conversation with someone? It's so hard not to look!

During this week, specially with the class of Psychology and Media that I'm taking this summer, I have become more aware of the hermit syndrome I have  and of those around me.
Whenever I feel lonely or in an awkward situation I will just stare at my phone and scape. The social media world is like the perfect button that people have craved since ancient times, you can remove yourself from uncomfortable reunions, conversations, even uncomfortable feelings, it's just beautiful and harmful at the same time.

Right now it doesn't seem harmful at all, social media and technological devices allow you to connect with loved ones. Such devices are of great aid when in need; like if you need a flash light, directions, weather conditions, it has a dictionary, tutorials, ideas even games. It's beautiful! But oh so bad for yourself. There's this TED Talk with Sherry Turkle, she talks about how we connect to isolate ourselves, we no longer know how to socialize and we are teaching our younger generations to scape from the feeling of loneliness. This las part makes me think of in order to taste the sweet you have to taste the bitter, I would like to see how we could taste company and the joy that brings from feeling comforted by others without knowing how to feel lonely. How could we know the difference? Would we just take it for granted? Or would we ever even feel companionship again??

So today, I decided to unplug just for a few hours. Now of course I am back at it typing this blog, but I tried and it was actually kind of nice. Hopefully you can try it too...


With love,

Linda