Assignment 4: Text, Video and Picture

The newest Japanese sensation: VOCALOID New Singing Synthesis Technology by Crypton Future Technology. Continuing with Japan's main two traditions, pop idols and anything cute, Crypton has made the internet explode with thousands of videos and songs from these fictional singers and their hundreds of derivatives.

Let's take a look, shall we?



Adorable, isn't it?

In order of listed apperance, Vocaloid Library Mascots: MEIKO*, Rin and Len Kagamine, Miku Hatsune, KAITO.

(Alter personas in the middle: Miku Hachune army led by Chibi MEIKO**)

Fan made Vocaloid and UTAU*** mascots: Haku Yowane (Miku-based model), Teto Kasane (UTAU), Neru Akita (Miku-based model)

*The model in the video is actually named "Meiko Sakine", meant to be a younger 'pop idol' version of MEIKO (with software upgraded to Vocaloid 2 standards, making her sound younger but with a more refined voice), however many fans don't always make the distinction between Sakine and the original MEIKO.
**There might actually be a different name for this particular persona, however I'm having difficulty locating it.
***UTAU is another voice producing software, but unlike the paid-for Vocaloid program it's actually freeware. What it lacks in functionality it makes up for with the ability load in the user's voice as a base to create the music. As such, there are likely hundreds of UTAU fanmades floating around on the internet. Teto is one of the more well known ones due to her status as an internet prank gone right She was 'released' on April 1st by the internet message board 2Chan with the claim of being the newst Vocaloid. When the truth got out, some one gave her an UTAU voice and it simply ran from there.


[Click to see the full picture.]

(Tonarine Sai*, Haku Yowane, Akita Neru, Miku Zatsune**, Miku Hatsune, MEIKO, Rin Kagamine, KATIO, Len Kagamine, Miku Hachune, Kasane Teto, Acme Iku***
Top: Juon Kiku****)

*Tonarine is a version of Miku that uses a voice bank sung by a real person. She's not as well known as the other dirivates.
**Zatsune is a 'sexier' version of Miku with a slightly deeper, sultry voice.
***Iku is actually not Vocaloid or UTAU. She's a synth reproduction of what's called an 'eroge', a girl who voice stars in pornographic animes.
****Unfortunately no one knows who Juon Kiku is.

An early fan art picture with several of the original and fan made Vocaloid, UTAU, and other voice synth mascots. Several offical ones have been added since then, including Kamui Gakupo who used the voice of famous Japanese pop singer Gackt as a base, Luka Megurine who has a dual Japanese/English library, and the soon to be released GUMI (alternately, Megpoid) who will be voiced by Megumi Nakajima.

Alternately, there were original releases on the first Vocaloid program of English libraries with named but never animated mascots. They're not as popular as the Japanese mascots due to their unrefined and often robotic sound. Leon was the first of these in 2004, followed by Lola (both standard professional American style singers), Miriam (British style), Prima (Operatic), Big-Al (Sweedish Rock vocalist) and Sweet Ann (another American style). Big-Al and Sweet Ann were released with the Powerfx version of Vocaloid and are slightly more refined than their predecessors.

(And while it might not really interest anyone, I think it's fairly obvious by my blog's theme who this blogger's favorite Vocaloid is. She may be fan made, but Haku Yowane will always be my number one. ^_^)

Assignment 3: Current News

"King of Pop" Michael Jackson dies at age 50

On the afternoon of June 25th, the world lost a great yet often mocked idol. He started his career young, and though he gave the music world some of the most well known songs of the 70's, 80's and 90's (most memorably likely being 1982's Thriller followed by Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, and of his more recent works Scream with his sister Janet and Black or White), and was the pioneer of the long-form music video with Thriller's movie-esque plot and setting, something that had never before been seen on MTV.

On the other side of that, though, he was a man surrounded in mystery and controversy. His actions often garnered negative media attention, and a law suit and molestation charge nearly brought his career to a halt. Over the years the outraged cry of parents turned in to the mockery of the internet and media age.

I've had several talks with both friends and family about Michael, even prior to his death. My mother, father, and step mother in particular were fans of his music, and my father would often play his records around me as a child. I grew up watching Moonwalker repeatedly and imagining what it would have been like to meet him in person. Back when I was a child, no one really seemed to care that he was often around children himself. No one gave two thoughts to him building Neverland Ranch. It wasn't until I was a young adult that any of these things began to come up as an issue for anyone.

When having these discussions with other people, a common theme came up: that Michael was a sad and likely disturbed individual from his child hood experiences growing up in the spot light and never really being taught how to deal with life, having reporters constantly hounding him and mocking his actions in life. Couple this with a dependency on pain killers due to the accident that burned him horribly during the filming of a Pepsi commercial plus several other medical complications, he was really little more than a man trying to make a career while barely able to live his own life in some semblance of normalcy.

I still adore his music, but rather than hate him as so many do, or ridicule him as others do, I honestly felt sorry for him. He was a musical genius and yet he had no chance to be an average joe at any time in his tradgically short life span.

Say what you will about him, but I do believe he will be missed, and June 25th has become a sad day in pop culture indeed. This blogger only hopes that some peace for him can be found now that it's all over.

Assignment 2: Web 2.0

A) Describe what Web 2.0 means to you.

B) Look up Web 2.0 on a site such as Wikipedia. Describe any controversies you find.




A.
Having being one of a handful of the current 20-somethings that started out in the world of computers back before the advent of public internet and new Windows and Mac systems, I believe that 'Web 2.0' defines sort of the 'new generation' of the internet, mainly that of the MySpace/Blogging age. Many of the people my age and older either don't blog at all, or are fans of the old school, like the original LiveJournal of ten years ago. Any more, though, the internet has become more and more about social networking, which gave way to the sites like MySpace, Twitter, and the like. Internet users are becoming younger and younger. The internet is a versatile, constantly changing media, and as such it seems to grow with each new generation.

B.
Web 2.0 has really only been a couple of years in the making, roughly ten as documented by the article 'Fragemented Future' by Darcy DiNucci in 1999. As such, there are some who don't view it as being a legit era in internet technology. The creator of the World Wide Web, Tim Breners-Lee, even went so far as to call it nothing more than a 'peice of jargon'.

However, like the phrases used to describe various generations as a whole (ie Generation X, Generation Y, ect), Web 2.0 has been accepted by many as the way to describe the way the internet has grown. Even though no update of technical specifications occured doing this transition, it simply meant that the dotcom bubble of the early internet crashed, a 'new' interenet rose from its ashes. The internet was always to be about communication through the world, but it seems to this blogger that now is the time that it's finally being implimented and put to use.

Test (Assignment 1)

Email your blog's URL to the instructor.