Where Cyborgs Go To Die

A ‘talking stick’, also known as a ‘speaker’s staff’, is an apparatus of aboriginal democracy used by many tribes, especially those of indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast of North America. The stick is passed between a group of people, and whomever has the stick has the power to talk. If this idea were incorporated into Tinder, the metaphorical talking stick would be given to those who swipe right last in a pairing.

http://www.yourtango.com/2015251011/10-worst-tinder-dates-ever-witnessed-by-bartenders

As discussed in previous posts, to open a message with a potential match, both parties must have swiped right. This means that the first person to find out that you and your future S/O have matched is the second swipe-er. This gives this person the power to send “The First Message” or in Tinder terms: “The Cheesiest Pick-up Line Possible”.

Because of these specifications, the power of the speaker’s staff goes to the second swipe-er and therefore has nothing to do with cultural groups or demographics. This in itself facilitates communication between diverse groups of people - or more specifically, has the potential to facilitate communication between diverse groups of people, depending on the diversity of your ‘swipe rights’. However, though the power of the speaker’s staff goes to the second swipe-er, access to speech is spread out evenly among users.

So, given that the power of the speaker’s staff is given to the second swipe-er, that person also has the power to direct the flow of conversation by creating their mood with their specific online identity (Kuttainen, 2015), (McNeil, 2012).

For example, should you begin with “I’m an apple farmer who missed out on farmer wants a wife”, the humour gives the first swiper the ability to respond in kind, “You should’ve led with ‘you’re the apple of my eye’”.

OR should you begin with “Hey, how are you?”, the first swipe-er can only respond in kind “I’m fine, thanks.”

However! Unlike with other social media mediums, it is IMPOSSIBLE to maintain a virtual persona that is unlike the IRL persona you have, for one very simple reason.

The idea of the app is to ACTUALLY MEET IRL.

References:

Kuttainen, V. (2015) BA1002 Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place. Week 3 page 3

McNeil, L. (2012) There is no I in Network: Social Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography.

(Marking disclosure: FLOSS! I was trying to put my portfolio together when I realised that this week 6 post wasn't up but it's been sitting in my BA folder since then... so I didn't really know what to do...) 

The Cyber-Organic Canivore

   You would not treat multiple severe lacerations by chumming down a charred steak. Then why so in games like Minecraft? And why does a loaf of bread not fill your character while a single grilled pork chop? Although farming is not really a part in any of the games on the Mineplex server, it is still relevant as food gathering and medicational consumption is vital. Power seems to be given to meat, when it comes to sheer (though now indirect through a hunger system) healing power, with steak and pork chops as the most potent. This highlights power dynamics within the game, while the game is international and has a massive following, it would be hard to imagine this game aimed at Jewish or Islamic players. Furthermore a vegetarian would little choice but to suffer with impotent bread. As Patel  (2007 pp2-19.) puts forwards, the capitalist consumer world is about convenience, for the retailer; there is little actual choice for food consumption choices for these people. Although these beliefs may not necessarily translate into this virtual space, it is something to consider. Another interesting point is in the game primary focus on meat, this is a token sign that this game was made by reasonably wealthy people in a wealthy country, which really encapsulates the issues of childhood inactivity and obesity  in these countries.

References.

Patel, R. (2007) Introduction . Stuffed and starved: Markets, power and the hidden battle for the      world food system. (pp. 1-19). Melbourne, Australia: Black Inc.

penny,(2006)[Image]. pork chops (homecooked) - delicious!

Food Networks on Facebook

 Food networks on Facebook

By Madelaine Sacco

Retrieved from http://spaceelephant.com/ 

Facebook has the ability to be integrated in to the food network as a form of communication and exchange. Through Facebook, individuals can gain access to recipes from all over the world, including those from their country of origin (if they were/descended from migrants). As the Week 8 lecture describe, ethnicity was a food way that shared cultural recipes regardless of whether the ingredients are obtainable (Kuttainen, 2015). Thankfully, Facebook is a large basis for food networking, and so it is easy for an individual to ask others about where to find certain ingredients so as to try foreign or familiar recipes.

“One factor in the origin and persistence of foodways is that they often represent an important expression of our identity, both as individuals and in reference to a broader ethnic, class or religious grouping” (Atkins & Bowler, 2001). Atkins and Bowler (2001) discuss food as an expression of identity, and the same can be said for expressing identity through food on social media. Often you can find pictures that individuals have taken of their home made recipes, or a meal that they are having at a restaurant; all of this is indicative of a person’s identity. Through their choice of meal, or whether they are trying ‘something new’, an individual is giving hints of what kind of person they are, and their type of cultural heritage, based solely on cuisine.

Facebook itself has a unique interaction with food networks; including various pages created by people solely devoted to food, to posting pictures of a meal and commenting on cooking technique, the variety of food networking through social media such as Facebook is truly astounding. Videos are commonly shared showing cheat ways to cook an easy meal, or the success of baking a difficult looking pastry; Just last week a video was shared showing how to bake and decorate a cake so that it looked exactly like a watermelon. The topic of food on Facebook is a common and easy way to communicate to other cultures while surpassing barriers such as language, skill, and location.

References:

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Food Network, week 8 notes. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from www.learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). Food In Society: Economy, Culture, Geography. New York, USA: Oxford University Press Inc.

Farming and levels

Farming food has been very helpful to the advancement of the human race, however recently through food networks many places no longer require their own farming for food. The food networks as Kuttainen puts it "leaves many people stuffed and many starved" which is true for Dota also. the only difference accept Dota the characters choose to except this and help our team rather than take the farm they require. Many characters choose to play the less stuffed hero's so that they may do a better job at supporting the team rather than farming. This is relative to life except typically those supporting those at the top don't have a choice in the matter. There is a choice in Dota though, pick the supporting heroes and help your big eaters get food, or everyone suffers.

When farming in Dota you farm creeps and gain gold from that through the lanes, the best way is to farm all lanes to be efficient, however sometimes it is better to let the farm just go if it'll cost to far to move it or move to it. Also it is possible to deny farm to like when India just left food to rot as stated by Patel. When denying farm you spend time not getting the farm yourself but nor does the other team get to farm and get strong, making your network better. And when the network is strong the weaker leaks also gain strength from the farm. When the big heroes have eaten the other heroes have chance to catch up on their own farm while the bigger heroes start going for the larger targets. As such the food network grows stronger as the weaker leaks get bigger. Dota is far different from life as it takes a communist approach to food, but its still an interesting comparison.

Bibliography





 
Kuttainen, V. (2015) Our space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place, lecture 8: Food networks [Powerpoint Slides] Retrieved on September 18, 2015 from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Patel, R. (2007) Stuffed and starved. Retrieved on September 18, 2015 from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Let Them Eat Cake

Photograph credit: Healthy Food Healthy Hearing

“It could plausibly be argued that changes of diet are more important than changes of dynasty or even of religion.”- Orwell (Atkins & Bowler, 2001) Food is considered one of the most important factors of everyday life. It is unusual to have a celebration without food. On our birthdays we eat cake. At Easter we eat white meat. On Christmas we eat our nannas famous cooking. Food is the comfort that we create that project our culture and celebration traditions. Is it true that Australia has no traditional food from our own origin? Of course we have Tim Tams and Vegemite although this large country is not known for a traditional dish as India is known for its spicy curry’s and America is known for its supersize McDonald’s meals. It is a stereotype that we think of these countries connection to these food groups. The “repository of culture” (Kuttainen, 2015) is projected throughout every aspect of our life. The purpose of food is projected everywhere. The shopping centre is purposely created for food alone alongside restraints and cafes. The world without food would not be productive. Thousands of food recipes are printed and hundreds of cooking shows are filmed just to test the creations of food flavour. Food is the petrol of our body’s. Diets are create around food and fitness counts on what fuel we are putting to our system. The healthier you are the more likely you are to post a ‘selfie’ of yourself on Facebook. It is the culture of Australians to eat although has food overruled our lives? Do we now just eat because food tastes good or are we eating to quench our tastebuds? The dimension of food is everywhere. Is a banana really just a banana or can we follow a history trail back to discover where it really comes from? Do we live to eat or eat to live?

References:

Food Culture, N.D. (2015) In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Food_culture

Kuttainen, V. (2015) BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, Lecture 8: People Networks. [Powerpoint Slide p.2]. Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). Chapter 21: The origins of taste. In R. Radojicic (Ed.). Food in society: Economy, culture, geography (pp. 272-295). London, Great Britain: Arnold.