Apocalyptic meltdown

Strickland, Jonathan. "What would happen if the Internet collapsed?" 10 February 2010. HowStuffWorks.com. 17 November 2010.

So it appears my interest in developing a thesis based on the collapse of communication is not relevant. I will dig a little deeper to substantiate this first article. Shame though, I think my fellow classmates were really intrigued by the apocalyptic theme.

Recent read

I've gathered multiple books specific to Gen Y and have come across some interesting titles. I just finished "Young World Rising" by Salkowitz. I really enjoyed reading about the future of Gen Y, how they will create change in the world and how to forecast this change. This book directly correlates to my thesis work and was a great resource. The last two chapters became to specific to describing conditions within specific countries and will not be pertinent to my work.

I'm moving forward with an interest in compartmentalized information and its effects on Gen Y. This generation responds to texts, websites with small articles, and short emails. Through some focus groups I worked with over the summer I realized this generation will read more if they are given 'sound bites' of info. I'm curious if in an educational setting that adjusting the methods by which information is shared could produce greater results with students. At this moment, this is where my head is.

Articles of interest

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_the_academy/v005/5.3gardner.html

Article on a specific library that has surveyed college students to see how the library might better suit their needs. Specific emphasis on generation y.

http://www.learningtolearn.sa.edu.au/Colleagues/files/links/UnderstandingGenY.pdf

Describing the 'great divide' in the population.

And so the bucket begins to fill...

I've been scouring the internet for that perfect article, the one that springs forth as a leaping point for a thesis idea. In this tireless pursuit I've been repeatedly reading the same types of articles. Whether it be the New York Times, Wired magazine, Popular Science, or TED.com the articles I'm drawn to time after time include modes of thinking, modes of teaching, and generation y. I find the process by which we absorb, retain, and use information to be a high point of interest in my initial research.

As the internet has risen to completely restructure our society and how we will access information in the future I see this topic as having a high level of importance. The focus is not on the internet itself, but how we access information in completely new ways and how that will alter our society. I'll continue to post articles as a means to store the information I find pertinent. This also acts as a means to refer to them in the future. I'm not sure where this 'bucket' of information will take me, but that's part of the intrigue as well.

Here's a recent article referring to the future of our information systems:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/50366/predicting_the_death_of_the_internet.html

Collaborative minds unite!!!

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/09/mf_kellyjohnson/

There's really no replacement for collaborating with creatives to reach an amazing and innovative solution. I love how this article refers to this as the 'hive mind'.

Visual thinking

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/09/st_thompson_visual/

Love visual thinking, sometimes it's the only way I can communicate my ideas. The english language can fail us sometimes with its narrow scope of descriptive words and phrases.

A night to remember

I recently had the incredible experience of working at NASA's Glenn Research Center over the summer to develop materials specific to Generation Y. Generation Y will represent the largest part of the population since the Baby Boomers and for this reason are a major point of interest for NASA's Outreach programs. I won't bother to argue Generation Y's age range as it's heavily disputed, but for arguments sake let's say 18-30.

During the development of this pilot program at NASA I wanted to incorporate a musical element into the artifacts we were creating. I had interest in contacting the musical group NASA as it was too funny we shared the same acronym, and I really liked their music. I initially contacted them asking for licensing rights to the song, "the NASA Anthem". They were not only thrilled to approve the request but were honored. (Insert mushroom cloud above my head here) I was so excited and thrilled, this was completely unbelievable. Over many weeks we have continued talking, discussing possibilities of working together again.

To my surprise, Sam from NASA was performing in Columbus, OH just a week ago. It was the perfect opportunity to introduce myself in person, and thank him for his continued interest. My fellow grad student friends, Jason and Sarah, along with my friend Jan jumped in the car and drove down anticipating a fun night.

Walking towards Sam I texted to introduce myself as 'I'm the guy with the big glasses and a plaid bow tie', he responded with, 'I'm the funny looking guy with the bad haircut'. Priceless. We were very excited to share dinner with Sam and talk about NASA, L.A., Ohio, and many other topics. Sam is a truly amazing, humble, friendly, and talented guy. Or as my friend Jason said, "one solid dude". He invited us to attend his show (he so graciously offered to get our group in for free) and invited us to hang out with him in the Green Room. We were all having such a great night. Sam was such a pleasure to spend the evening with, we had all shared later in the evening we wished he lived in Ohio because we'd love to hang out with him on a regular basis. I highly recommend attending one of his shows as the energy was off the charts. After and electrifying evening, we shuffled back to the car and drove back home, arriving at 5am, ouch. To our delight our host posted on his twitter page later that day, ""OH yeah> Props to my people from N.A.S.A. (the space program) that drove down from Cleveland last night to come to the show!!"

Points of interest

Generation Y has been an area of interest since my internship with NASA this past summer. Effectively reaching this specific audience has been referenced in many print and web articles as a failure.I would like to pinpoint a specific niche in this broader topic.

Cyber bullying has recently risen in the news as a phenomenon throughout the country. Will this be a cited continual issue? Or is it an isolated incident? Either way, the tragedies have been unbelievable and this may structure an interest into researching the topic closer.

Another recent article I read explained the next World War as being staged on the internet. Imagine a world where the internet is shut down and all technologies associated with it are frozen. No cell phone usage, or bank transactions. How would this effect a generation all too familiar with a world of computer dependency?

As I find more probing articles I will post them and continue the trajectory of research.

Recipe for success...

This blog serves to be a design recipe with the sum of its parts delivering a sumptuous thesis feast. As I continue to blog research, articles of interest, and thesis proposals they will be spiced with an appreciation for fine cuisine. A good meal fuels the work, right? I hope you enjoy the path as much as I do, and try some of my recipes that were moments of rest from the work.