Archive: The Gnovis Blog
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Counter-to-what-culture?
This morning I started reading the Jameson classic, Post-Modernism. Five pages into the book — one of ten on my summer academic reading list — I realized that among other things my list is far too ambitious for a mere three months already dotted with work, school, and an often sacrificed social life.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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Arlington: The Rap
It would not seem appropriate to have a blog based in Washington without drawing attention this brilliant video. This video has taken Washington by storm with this appearing on the local NBC, FOX and ABC stations (they do some pretty hard-hitting reporting here in the district).
This is an ode to Arlington, the side of the river where alot of Georgetown students live. Of course, there are also alot of students who live in the district. Do they live in the district for th reasons mentioned in this video? I can’t say for sure. But yes, probably.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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The Network Structure of the Obama Administration, Illuminated
Last week I accompanied Dr. Linda Garcia and her son, Steve — a business consultant who specializes in social network analysis — to present our research at the Harvard Political Networks Conference.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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Why Sony wins the video game wars
Yes. I think Sony wins thevideo game wars. You will either find this statement (a) entirely credulous since I already sunk $600 into a 60GB Playstation 3 (personal bias revealed) or (b) entirely incredulous, because the Wii is clearly the fastest-selling system, and the XBox 360 has the most marketshare of next-generation games.
Let me start by saying that there is nothing wrong with either of the other two systems. But here are my reasons for this statement.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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Taking your thesis outside the academy
Ashley recently posted about her self-publication of her thesis using Lulu’s print-on-demand service, and I wanted to follow up with my own thoughts on this process. While Ashley’s post emphasized the nostalgic and sentimental motives for self-publishing, I approached my own project from a much different perspectice: career development, personal branding and, of course, copyright.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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How Savvy Are Viewers in Our Staged World?
Recalling the time when Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” movie came out, the question most often raised was how much of the film was documentary and how much was carefully orchestrated entertainment. At the MTV Movie Awards a couple weeks ago, Cohen organized an on-stage tussle with Eminem that the rapper later admitted was a planned shenanigan for laughs and shock value.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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My Book for My Mom (Thanks to Lulu)
I wanted to look at my Mom and say, “hey look, I wrote a book.” Sadly, Georgetown no longer accepts paper thesis submissions which makes all kinds of sense for the reasons you don’t need me to go into. If you’ve paid attention at all to debates about the future of media you know paper is out and electronic is in (cheaper, better for the forests, etc etc etc).
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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'Chuck' and the Future of Television
It’s no secret that I’m a TV geek. (Evidence: here, here, here, here and here.) But even those who aren’t narrative nerds who love to watch serials in expectation of the next big plot twist have plenty of reason to love Chuck.
For those who don’t know Chuck, Chuck is the only quirky hour-long comedy about a Stanford flunky who works at a Geek Squad-style entity while solving top secret CIA investigations. Chuck is also unabashedly for the children of the ’80s. Guest stars include Scott Bakula of Quantum Leap and Chevy Chase of the SNL and the Vacation franchise.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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Hipsters as a Community of Practice
I’d like to think I’m on to something with this hipster stuff.
Over the last few weeks, Andrew Sullivan, a blogger for The Atlantic Monthly, has posted extensively on hipster culture, proffering reflections on christian hipsters and black hipsters , also known as “blipsters.”
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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The Melting Pot and Me
I swear New Yorkers were born with three hands: one for their coffee, one for their cigarette and one for their cell phone. And most days I’d like to slap all three right out of their hand. While I am not, nor will ever be a real New Yorker, I do, for better or worse, reside here. When people from back home or college ask how I like living in NYC I never respond with “I love it” or “I hate it.” I simply say “it’s an experience.” And I think most of the non-natives tend to agree.
Category: The Gnovis Blog