Week 2: Design Assignments and a Skype Call with Oblivion

All,

Welcome to week 2 of the Summer of Oblivion, I have to apologize in advance for the seemingly unending drama surrounding Dr. Oblivion. If we know things were going to work out like this we would have never hired him. That said, the show must go on, so be sure to watch both part 1 and part 2 of today’s live broadcast. Part 1 reviews the visual work of ds106 students over the past 3 or 4 days and part 2 talks about some required listening and viewing along with a Skype call between myself and a (not THE) Dr. Oblivion that ends quite badly.

Todays Live Broadcast

Part 1

Part 2

Required listening/viewing, as well as some useful design resources

This Week’s Design Assignments
Complete at least four Design assignments from the ds106.us site. You can find them all here. Feel free to submit new assignments as you feel compelled. They all need to be completed by this Friday, 6/27—and ideally you will do one a day. On Thursday we begin moving towards audio, so remember how fast this course moves and be sure not to fall behind now ebcause audio will prove very demanding.

Tomorrow’s Live Broadcast
I am counting on having a live broadcast again tomorrow at 11:30 AM (EDT), but unfortunately I am getting quite sick. I will do what I can to find a replacement if it proves unwise for me to go on with it given my condition. I had one co-presenter planned for tomorrow, but if anyone else would like to jump on the live broadcast via Skype or their own video camera I can give you access to the Justin.tv account for ds106, or just contact me with your Skype address. Let me know if this is an option via email (jimgroom_at_gmail.com), but count on seeing me unless you hear otherwise tomorrow.

We will be discussing the art of design, some of the inspirations for the assignments we have in this category, as well as iPad visualizations, and copyright. In preparation for the discussion about copyright see the blog post on the recent “Kind of Bloop” incident.

Also, read D’Arcy Norman’s follow-up to the discussion wherein he discusses the potential impact for ds106.

Godspeed O’Blivion’s return,
Jim Groom, TA Extraordinaire

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9 Responses to Week 2: Design Assignments and a Skype Call with Oblivion

  1. Mr. Fixer says:

    Look buddy boy, you just succeeded in incriminating yourself not only to the police of the good state of Virginia, but all the dang students in this thing you call a class. Take a look at 7:02 min. into the part two video. That has already been copied and sent to the Virginia State Police. Yer busted!

    That damn old man you sent me after has got a serious hurt goin on. He’ll be out of commission for a good few days. That one Mr Groom is for free just to show you I mean what I say. And what I say is you best stop badmouthing my name around that little class of yours and get with the program. I hope to the high heaven you get your Oblivion back! Maybe you’ll send me after him too! I could damage two Oblivions in one damn summer and make some more money in the process.

    You think about yer actions pal. You know where to find me.

  2. Reverend says:

    All,

    In reference to the comment above, I leave here as proof that someone is intentionally pretending to be who they are not at my dire expense. Mr. Fixer could not have left this comment at 5:17 PM today because by all accounts on a (not THE) Dr. Oblivion’s blog he was killed in a high speed chase this morning. I wish this smear campaign against me would end so that I can limp through this course with the hopes of reconnecting with THE Dr. Oblivion.

  3. Araba Bky says:

    FYI, Friday’s date is July 1st. In the words of the Dr. “Mental Health is Good Health”!!!

  4. Joe Proffitt says:

    It’s official. I have no idea what the (bleep) is goin’ on. I’m gonna do another design assignment now.

    • Reverend says:

      Joe,

      Doing a design assignment is always a good idea, but also explaining your confusion here might help me help you a bit as well.

  5. Andrej Stare says:

    …..and Copyright

    There are a lot of minor copyright violations on the fringes, and nobody gets too upset about that. For example, a teacher copies a chapter from a textbook to distribute in class; a student in ds106 uses a picture for his or her class assignment. I think this is all right; it is for the common good; nobody gets rich off it. Undoubtedly, some of these violations occur because of ignorance.

    I would draw a line when copyrighted material, such as the example in D’Arcy Norma’s piece, is used for commercial purposes, it is widely distributed and, especially, if it makes money. These cases draw attention, they are easily identified, consequences follow, and they should. I do not have much sympathy for Andy Baio.

  6. @Andrej but the example I linked to is not a case of copyright infringement, despite it being a commercial project. Making something that is reminiscent of something else isn’t copyright violation. Copying and redistributing another artist’s work is a copyright violation. There is a marked difference between the two acts. The fact that Baio had to settle in order to avoid bankrupting his family, even though he would have won, is insane. Baio did not violate copyright. But he was bullied into paying a huge sum of cash anyways. Just because someone thought they had a case, and could afford expensive lawyers. It’s like the guy who goes all-in with a huge pile of chips at a poker game each hand, forcing all other players to pony up if they want to challenge him – even if they know that he’s bluffing. Not many people can afford to take that risk.

  7. Joe Proffitt says:

    Mr. Groom,

    I think Ms. Oblivion is just confusing me XD

  8. Pingback: On creativity and being an artist

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