User talk:Blackflagdog

This is the user talk page for +++++++ ++++ . Blackflagdog (talk) 13:15, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Wiki assignment #1: Screen time exercise
I was recently listening to the 1969 album 'Hot Rats' by artist Frank Zappa. His unnerving and freaktacular style had rarely been heard up until this point. Zappa's earlier foray into life as a solo musician hadn't had nearly the same level of impact, with 'Mothermania' not having the latent sense of rebellion and raw sexuality. What may have been essential to the impact of 'Hot Rats' was Zappa's departure from his former collaborators, The Mothers of Invention. Whilst Zappa and the Mothers had collaborated frequently with much mutual express, Zappa's climax as an artist came as a result of his lone endeavours into the musical cesspool, where even the pioneers of the 1960's musical rebellion had dared to tread. The embracing of what society deems the ‘grotesque’ in music is embraced by Zappa, with outlandish sexuality, vulgarity and a beckoning set of lyrics for this album. A personal favourite track for me is Son of Mr Green Genes, which is a rolling exploration of Zappa’s ability to pull a small band together in almost orchestral precision whilst still embodying the decade’s freedom and penchant for the spirit of freedom in music. The combination of the fresh and punchy brass section with the use of the bent-string twanging style, demonstrating his influence from the west coast surfer and hippie movements really gives a sense of Zappa’s progression up until this point in his career. Other songs, such as Willie the pimp give an insight into Zappa’s lyricism, displaying his preference for the gritty, intoxicating side of life. Just the description of a LA pimp going about his business is enough for Zappa, making a grotesque but Teflon character. Who is created only for t’s embodiment of the city where Hot Rats was written, Los Angeles. Willie the pimp was also written with music legend Captain Beefheart, who is a natural pairing with Zappa, given their reputations for being truly groovy. Zappa’s first foray into lone album is daring, concise and cool. The risk of adding heavy jazz and psychedelic elements into your own work, with both the chaos of rock and the precision of Zappa’s orchestration of this record being essential, makes for a tantalising piece of work. The perpetual savant, Hot Rats is clearly Zappa’s unhindered masterpiece, where the expression is identified for its unique blending of musical genre, genius lyricism and psychedelic routes.

Blackflagdog (talk) 13:45, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Wiki assignment #2: Visibility and Online Footprint
Assessing my own personal visibility online, I’ve found that the social element of social networks has somewhat put’s me off the idea. I think my visibility online is fairly minimal by design, and my analysis reflects that. Firstly I would like to consider what kind of information, and to whom, is available about me online. Combing over apps and my browsing history, my two most frequented types of websites were ‘social sites’ (primarily Facebook) and sites where I paid for goods/services or ‘retail sites’. Examining my own online visibility in two categories, I think I can illustrate both strengths and weaknesses to my own visibility online. I’m going to examine my ’social’ and ‘retail’ identities online as they’re most active, and as with the nature of the beast that is online monetization, they sometimes mix. The ‘social’ identity consists of online networks where you primarily socialise, on any platform. Upon examining all of my own accounts however, I impact on the online world seems to be minimal. The primary point of my online socialisation is Facebook, where my day and month of my birth and name are available, as well as a picture of me to anyone who happens to search for me. Overall, Facebook doesn’t really seem to be a problem in regards to my personal visibility: the only real information you can glean from the cosmetic elements is what I look like and my birthdate, anything more substantial is guarded, up to the point where I use a fake email and no location serves or related apps. The other tenant of my footprint is the ‘retail’, unlike the social element; this is not easily searchable online to the public, but information conceded by me in returns for goods/services from online stores. I personally feel like this is the biggest vulnerability online. Websites like Amazon, eBay, Steam are all used frequently, and these website have had all sensitive information willingly handed over. Bank information, addresses, purchase history are all more available to someone I’ve never met than anything posted on any social networking sites. However, the consideration of social networks in the commercial argument is critical. The control I have over my online presence, and by extension my online visibility, is actually surprisingly limited. I examined how quickly I would be able to unsubscribe and unregister with a few sites, and with Steam and Facebook specifically, uncoupling them totally takes quite a bit of faux- bureaucracy with captchas and finding the exact right links. The effort that it takes to unregister from many of the sites I’m visible from is seemingly quite arduous. In my case, there is no real need to control my online identity as its influence is fairly benign, but there could be a case for the visibility – including geo-tagging and data mining – of people who use these technology more actively. The main issues with this lack of control over personal information is where that information could theoretically be going; is it sold to a third party, or is the data of our online activity analysed, catalogued and filed for future reference? In regards to my own visibility, I feel as though I’m secure and discreet. However, the analysis of this subject has given me lots to bear in mind for future uses of the internet and my presence online.

Blackflagdog (talk) 14:52, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Comments
Interesting. I have not listened to Frank Zappa before now and I find his style very interesting. It certainly has a very different vibe to it and clearly was influential to artists much later. Raw and full of life with the kind of sound I would connect with the 60s, his music made an impact that still affects artists today, financially, and musically. Stafoya (talk) 14:26, 10 February 2016 (UTC)