Enhancing Our Habits

Before I begin today’s entry, I just want to say that I am sorry for updating so sparingly. This semester has been quite busy and updating this blog has fallen to the wayside. This does not mean, however, that I have not been thinking about it as I have used my iPad this semester. In fact, I have discovered some interesting things about technology and its place in society as I used my iPad all semester. I will try to make an entry about each discovery because each of them deserves to be looked at in greater depth.

The first thing I had slowly noticed by using my iPad is that technology enhances the things we already do. This sounds like a simple and obvious statement, but prior to this I had never really thought about technology in this manner. I have always felt that technology has a way of revolutionizing our lives and that as technology evolves we evolve. I am not denying that technology certainly does this, but at the same time there are things about us as humans that technology will have a hard time altering.

For example, one of my favorite hobbies is baking. No matter where I am or whom I am with, I am always ready and willing to bake. My favorite memories include baking at 2am with my sister and friend. As we baked, we had a wonderful time, but we began to have problems in our method. Cooking from cookbooks and printed out recipes could only take us so far. For starters, by the end of our baking sessions, our recipes were dirty and illegible due to us touching it with battered up and greasy hands. Perhaps we should have been more careful with how we handled the recipe but this did not correlate with what we were trying to accomplish, a fun and casual baking experience.

Eventually we stepped up to using a laptop and more recently my iPad. The great thing about using an iPad is that not only will it be more resistant to staining/damage, its Internet capabilities enhances our cooking. My favorite way to access recipes is through cooking-specific websites and blogs. With a few taps I can retrieve a multitude of new recipes from virtually anywhere on the planet. This is further enhanced because of the user-oriented nature of the Internet. Along with just a recipe, I can read reviews as well as potential substitutions and variations of the same dish. If I am stuck on a recipe’s method, I can also search through further blogs or look at videos on Youtube that could teach me the step seamlessly as I prepare the ingredients.

In the end, however, although my iPad enhanced my baking, it did not change my relationship with baking. I still like to bake and will do so readily. The iPad did not change this fact. The iPad did not also make me want to bake more than usual or in a completely different manner. Technology in this case only enhanced my habits.

All Work and No Play Makes for a Boring Device

The wonderful thing that I have found when using my iPad is that it is able to seamlessly switch from a tool for entertainment into a tool for productivity and education. I can listen to music while learning how to cook a meal or I can learn a language while playing a game app designed to familiarize myself with the characters/letters and words of said language. Today I want to highlight two of my favorite apps that I have found that demonstrate the idea that work and play can work in harmony.

 The first app I enjoy is a free app called iBooks. iBooks has served me well so far in both my studies and personal literature pursuits. With its ability to support PDF viewing, I am able to collect journal articles that I need for research. I can also organize them into separate folders so organization and ease of search are possible. Instead of printing out every last article (and thus wasting paper) I am able to carry all my articles with me wherever I go.

An added bonus is that collecting all of these journal articles in PDF form has freed me somewhat from Wi-Fi availability constraints. Since the PDFs are saved onto the iPad’s memory, I am able to access them without the need to access the online libraries in which I retrieved them from. So the next time I have a bit of free time I can read articles regardless of my location or access to a reliable Wi-Fi network.

The same rules apply to any other book that I come across. Along with scholarly journals, I have found pleasure in downloading leisure books. Now, in the blink of an eye, I can switch from academic reading to a full-blown fantasy adventure whenever the urge strikes me. iBooks is certainly going to be an app that I use on a regular basis.

           Now that I’ve discussed text-based education and entertainment, what is out there as far as video-based apps are concerned? This leads me to my second favorite app, TED. TED is an app that allows you to view videos found on TED.com. For those who have never heard of it, TED.com is a website that highlights videos from annual TED conferences around the world. TED conferences are events in which leaders and scholars from various fields and countries do talks on practically anything. The focus of the talks is geared toward enriching and educating people and the lives they live.

In using the TED app I am able to watch videos portably provided I have a reliable Wi-Fi connection. For example, sometimes I have a half hour to kill while waiting for a class to start. If the mood strikes I can access the TED app and in minutes can view talks about subjects ranging from global warming, education, and technology. Instead of waiting bored, I am able to develop myself and learn something new.

 Not only are the videos informative, they are also entertaining. Some talks are serious, but at the same time, are set up in a humorous manner. For example, my favorite video is a talk done by Joshua Klein. His video is about the intelligence of crows and how we can live harmoniously with “animals of nuisance” if we took the time to learn about them instead of exterminating their populations. His use of humor made the video not only informative but also entertaining. Today I wanted to see that video again and instead of heading to my laptop, I was able to sit in bed and enjoy the video easily via iPad and the TED app.

My point in all this is that, I have found that my iPad can serve both as a means of portable education and as a means of fun. This coupling allows for a more powerful machine that can do more as a whole than as two separate education and entertainment machines. In integrating the two facets, I have found myself loving this machine more and more.  

If you want to learn more here are the links to
the topics I discussed in this entry:

- iBooks App Page

- TED App Page 

- Joshua Klein's Informative/Entertaining Experiment with Crows  

How I Learned to Take a Chance, Play a Game, and Love a Machine

When I first found out that I was going to be receiving an iPad for this class, I was both excited and apprehensive. The technology nerd in me wanted to dive right in and dissect this machine, but at the same time, I was not sure how I would like using it. For the most part, my information consumption has always come from my laptop. It was a constant companion and my shoulders often became sore from carrying it around all day. To me, the soreness was worth it, since without my laptop, I was disconnected from the rest of the information world.

Then the day arrived. We received our iPads. I couldn’t help but think I was staring at a stranger. This thing did not look like my beloved laptop. I was not sure if I could adapt to this flat, keyboard-less, thing. Honestly, it didn’t leave my room for the first week. I didn’t even take it out of its case much. However, this soon changed.

One day as I was browsing the net (on my laptop), I saw an ad stating that the first part of the Back to the Future video game series was free on iPads for a limited time. Being a big fan of the movie series and hearing that the recently released games were good, I decided to check it out. I figured since I had an iPad, it was my chance to play it myself as I did not own the other consoles that the game was sold on. I quickly took out my iPad, found the game in the App Store, and then started to play the game once it finished downloading.

 Although my iPad doesn't allow me to go back in time, I can still have many adventures with it.

I sometimes joke that video games are my gateway drug to technology. I am often apprehensive about any sort of new technology until I find out that my favorite games can be supported on it. This certainly rang true with my iPad. After playing the game for a little bit I felt my reservations ease away. The iPad was fun. The iPad was not a stranger; it was only a friend wearing a different set of clothes.

Soon enough, I began using my iPad for practically everything. Although there were some compatibility issues (iPads cannot support PowerPoint editing for free and I still prefer using a keyboard to type), I slowly started depending on my iPad more and more. For example, I can be extremely disorganized with schedules. The myHomework app quickly became my savior. I use it to schedule and keep track of not only my classes but also any homework and lessons involved as well. I also went beyond its intended use and use it to keep track of social scheduling. Since everything is entered manually, I can easily type “Meet Mom at Home” instead of “Reading Homework for LNGN 245”.

My new best scheduling-friend. If I am early/on time to any meeting, it is because of this.

I think this versatility is what also makes me fall in love with this machine more and more. Apps have an intended use but as its users we can manipulate it in new and unexpected ways. Alas the technology nerd in me is at peace in this new world.

Even the longest journey must begin where you stand.

Every adventure has a start. Without one, the journey does not exist. I thought it appropriate, before I began this particular blog journey, to share with you a little about myself and how I came to be here.

From reading the title of this blog, you can see that my passion is languages. Passion is quite the understatement. Honestly, languages are an extension of my soul. Every moment I am awake, I am seeking language in all its forms, written, spoken, signed, sung, recited; the list goes on. My favorite form of language is the song. The beautiful marriage between language and music can send me into rising fits of frenzy or plunge me into the darkest depths. To me, although the music certainly helps, it is the words in a particular song that drive these emotions.

In fact, it was music and the words they express that eventually led me to pursue Linguistics. Growing up in the age of the Internet, I was lucky to have the world at my fingertips. Not enjoying the music on the radio, I began at an early age seeking out music on my own. What I found blew my mind. I found music, not only from America, but also from everywhere in the world. It was the first time in my life that I discovered that music does not necessarily have to be in English. Music belongs to all speakers regardless of what they speak.

I was hooked. I could not get enough of the beauty, but at the same time I suffered. I had no idea what was being said in half the songs I listened to! This was what started my frantic attempts as a child at trying in vain to learn every language I came across. I wanted to read what the artist was trying to say on his or her own terms. A translation could only take me so far. To get to the true essence of the words, I had to experience it from its source.

Eventually I found myself at MSU’s Linguistics program. With a thirst to learn new languages I set out towards succeeding during my first semester. However, as I took courses in general Linguistics I found that I also had an interest in the components of a language. What made up a language and how others use it also has its own form of splendor outside of the language itself.

This leads me to this class, Language and Mobile Communication. Again, as a woman of the Digital Age, I have used mobile communication in all phases of my life. I use it to my advantage in order to communicate and learn. Interestingly it was technology that started my journey and as you read this blog, it is technology that is still my ever-valuable companion. The use of my Ipad, given to me as a student in this course, portably connects me to the beautiful songs that still spark the language nerd in me and at the same time it helps me learn even more about new and exciting aspects of Linguistics.

I hope you enjoy reading about my language and technology adventure just as much as I know I will enjoy taking it.

 Extra: Korean is a language that I hope to master one day. Until then, these are some of the beautiful songs that fuel my learning of this language. I hope they inspire you to learn a language as well. Enjoy!

Clazziquai - Choom (Translation: Dance)

Unfortunately I could not find a translation of this song. It seems to have disappeared off the internet since the last time I checked. Nonetheless it is still quite nice to listen to. Along with a Korean version they also made an English version. If you're interested just Youtube "Clazziquai - Dance English Version"

Epik High - Pieces of You

Quite possibly my favorite Korean group of all time. This group holds a special place in my heart. They also do English songs.