Media 111 – Module 10 – Weekly Essay

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My Final Thoughts on H2G2

Before I took this course, I had only ever briefly heard of the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. I had never experienced the story. I’ll admit, when I first started reading the book, it seemed confusing, and not my type of read. However, as I progressed through it, it started to grow on me. It wasn’t after finishing the book, watching the film, and reading up on the influence and impact it has had over the years, that I really began to realize how special this story truly was. The story parodies our natural, endless, undying pursuit of knowledge. Our thirst for information is ingrained in our very nature. We don’t like not knowing the answers to our questions.

The H2G2 device that Ford Prefect is updating throughout his galactic travels also bears great resemblance with something that we use in real life to this day. It’s all around us. We all use it almost every day. The internet. The worldwide web is basically humanity’s version of the H2G2 and we are all constantly contributing to it in our own way. Scientific research, customer experiences, many different forms of art, statistics, and data are just a handful of examples of things that are contributed to our version of the H2G2 on a daily basis.

Douglas Adams’ story has touched many people and has what you could call a cult-following. The story has been reproduced in many different mediums including radio, television, and film. I would highly recommend this book to others! To this day, whenever I am in a stressful situation, I calmly tell myself, “Just don’t panic, Jesse.”

Media 111 – Module 9 – Weekly Essay

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My Responsibility as a Citizen

As a dignified citizen of the Milky Way galaxy, I feel like it is my responsibility to not only respect and embrace others from where I live in the United States on Earth, but to also respect and embrace others who live in different countries, on different planets, or in different galaxies! It’s important to be proud of where we live and what kind of culture or traditions we have, however, we should always remain open-minded and know that these norms and traditions can differ greatly in other areas. That’s a good thing, though! Diversity is awesome! Imagine how boring we would be if the entire galaxy was populated by American humans?? It would probably be destroyed by now. I feel like it also vital that we be open to change and willing to adapt to policies that allow our home to become a place where people of all walks of life have the opportunity to grow, flourish, and comfortably enjoy their lives.

One of the places I have discovered along my galactic travels, is Finland, another country on my home planet of Earth. Finland is a beautiful country! It is known for being the happiest country on the planet, according to an insider.com article by Theresa Christine.1 The article states that Finland has held first place in the World Happiness Report for the last four years! I highly recommend reading the article. It goes on to state that Finland is known for it’s universal healthcare, highly literate population, well-mannered citizens, and one of the best education systems in the world!

If the time ever comes where I feel the desire to move out of the United States, I know exactly where I am moving to now!

Helsinki, Finland. Panoramic View Of Pier, Embankment On Kanavaranta Street, Uspenski Cathedral And Pohjoisranta Street In Evening Illuminations. Photo by Grigory Bruev. Sourced from Adobe Stock.

References:

1.) Christine, Theresa. What it’s Like to Live in Finland, the Happiest Country in the World, 31 Mar. 2021,

https://www.insider.com/life-in-finland-happiest-country-2019-6

Also check out:

https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2022/happiness-benevolence-and-trust-during-covid-19-and-beyond/#ranking-of-happiness-2019-2021

Media 111 – Module 8 – Weekly Essay

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The Animation That Changed My Life

An animated video that I believe enhanced my life would be one that I found on YouTube from the American Museum of Natural History when I was younger where the camera is focused on Earth, but then zooms all the way out to the edge of the observable universe. I was completely blown away by this! I was absolutely fascinated.

I grew up going to church on and off with my parents. I can’t say I was as devout as others, but I believed that there was a God who was watching and listening to us. As I became older, I started to question that more. I started to wonder why there wasn’t any physical proof of something that so many people were convinced existed. After watching this video, it really made me wonder. It made me realize just how insignificant we really are in the grand scheme of things. Our planet is essentially a speck of dust in an overwhelmingly vast sea of nothingness, yet some of us claim that it was all designed and built around us, for us, by some divine being. There are billions of other galaxies out there. Each one of those galaxies contains billions of different stars, which can all have their own solar system and planets.

Watching this animation got me interested in science and space. I then discovered people like Richard Dawkins, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Lawrence Krauss, Christopher Hitchins, and Sam Harris. Today, I fully identify as an athiest. I strongly believe that religion and deities are things that humanity has fabricated ourselves due to the inability to go through life not knowing why we are here or where we go afterwards .I have a different line of thinking. I think as a species, we naturally tend to think too much of ourselves. We cannot imagine our existence without there being some meaningful purpose or reason for it. I can imagine that. I also don’t have a problem with it. I am perfectly okay with all of this happening by some random chance and just making the best of it while I’m here on this planet. I don’t need to believe in a magical being or a place in the afterlife in order to have a moral code and behave while I am alive.

When it comes down to it, I am glad that I have the views I have today. They are liberating. It’s quite possible that I wouldn’t have the views I have today if I hadn’t have watched the aforementioned animation.

Media 111 – Module 7 – Weekly Essay

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Movement in Film & Video

You learn something new everyday! I had no idea that Vincent Van Gogh, the famous artist, struggled with mental illness. Not only this, but he incorporated something into his works of art that nobody else had done before, probably without even realizing it! He was able to display fluid turbulence in his paintings. This baffled many brilliant minds for years to come. Van Gogh wasn’t anybody special. Some of his most famous work was created while he was a guest at an asylum! This shows that anybody can go on to be produce great works, no matter what your story is. This is definitely inspirational. If I was trying to create content that inspired and moved people, I would try to create unique works of art.

The same goes for movement in film and video. The viewer is given a chance to see that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and great things can happen sometimes to any one of us if we are willing to put in the effort. Those great things can even happen by accident as well! The story of the invention of the Post-It note was a great example of this. Go out there, be yourself, and inspire!

Hyperland

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I took it upon myself to watch the short video, “Hyperland”, featuring Douglas Adams, the author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. I found it very interesting, not only because of the information it provided, but because of how the video was filmed. The video was filmed in a way that replicated a person’s experience when using a personal computer. It also kind of had a H2G2 vibe going on there. It was at this point that I realized that Douglas Adams was very big on futuristic technology and science-fiction. I also found it interesting how the operating system of this hypothetical computer that Adams was using was represented by a person who appeared to be a butler.

The video really showcased the internet and all of it’s potential. They delved into history, art, science, and technology. I found the history aspect of it to be very intriguing. The internet is an overabundance of information, if you think about it. It helps us gain a deeper understanding of life, the universe, and everything. It assists us in our endless pursuit of knowledge, just like the H2G2 book and super computer in the H2G2 book, but in a way more helpful way.

The Impact of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

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The impact of Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” has been profound. This book has inspired many different adaptations, series, novels, stories, and other forms of media. The story has what you could call a cult-following. I had heard of it before taking this class, but had never gave it a chance. After starting to read the novel, I found the story a little hard to follow, but it eventually grew on me. By the time I finished the book, I was digging it so much that I wanted to watch the 2005 big screen adaptation starring Martin Freeman. I found the film to be very good. This film is just one of many different takes on the Adams’ story. His writing is almost a comedic spin on science-fiction, I would say. His story has almost certainly had a global impact.

Hello World! I Know Where My Towel Is!

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Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jesse Seward. I am currently enrolled in the Multimedia Communications program at Peninsula College to further my education and skillset, not only for my current job, but to also utilize in my personal life. I have always had an interest in the these areas. I certainly have a strong passion for video production.

I currently work for Hermann Brothers Logging & Construction in Port Angeles. I started off as a Commercial Truck Driver, but now I also have many other duties there as well. I built and maintain their website, manage all of their social media accounts, design ads for hiring new drivers, develop training videos, and train new drivers. I will include a link below to the training videos I have created for Hermann Brothers. I feel that my training videos are unique because I often try to add some form of mild humor to them to keep the viewer interested. Click here to see how I do that!

Here is another video I produced for Hermann Brothers:

Hear from some of our drivers!

Here are a couple examples of graphic ads I have created for them as well:

Driving Positions Open hiring ad
Join the Team! hiring ad

I would define success as chasing your dreams by picking a field of study that you have a passion for, and always giving it your all, even when things get tough.

P.S. Here is my towel. I don’t go anywhere without it. Never know when it might come in handy.

Media 111 – Module 6 – Weekly Essay

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Babel Fish and Moore’s Law

The good ol’ Babel fish! Little did Douglas Adams know that this fictional piece of technology he came up with would be a very real and useable technology in the future. I wonder what he would think about this if he were still here today! This awesome tech comes in many forms. You can get yourself a handheld instant translation device, headphones or earbuds that translate right into your ear (not as painful and uncomfortable as putting a fish in there), download apps for your smartphone that translate audio of one language into another in text, or even go online to Google translate in a web browser and type in what you wish to be translated. This technology has a beautiful impact on society. It helps remove the language barrier between different peoples. This is especially important for someone like myself who as a content creator, have a responsibility to ensure that all of my productions and works are easy to access, navigate, and understand, no matter what race or ethnicity you are. 

According to the article provided, Moore’s law implies that every 2 years the amount of transistors per square inch on chips doubles. This law has held true for quite some time now. However, they are beginning to think it may be taking 2.5 years for the doubling of the transistors. I feel that this essentially means that the limits and capabilities of technology are doubling every 2-2.5 years. That is mind-blowing to say the very least. 

Handheld translating device: https://www.amazon.com/Language-Translator-Jarvisen-Languages-Translation/dp/B07RFTLWN1/ref=asc_df_B07RFTLWN1?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80814185082047&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584413740500371&th=1Links to an external site.

Translating earbuds: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=timekettle+wt2+plus+ai+real-time+translator+earbuds&adgrpid=1331510200561409&hvadid=83219643785736&hvbmt=bb&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=67589&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=b&hvtargid=kwd-83220382096359%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=11868_10977521&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_5z0mv3qaxz_bLinks to an external site.

Translation app for smartphone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/translate-me-live-translator/id1231853258Links to an external site.

Google translate: https://translate.google.com/