Typology

Using ScribblerToo and Flame Painter

 

Kitty is lost in her own dreams!

 

Garage Band song creation

"Unless you've lived their life, you can't say what their life is like!"

One of the classes I'm enrolled in in this semester is anthropology. Unlike so many classes, this one can totally change the way we think of other people who live in different places. Because we are used to judging people constantly based on their looks, we've come to think in a certain stereotypical way of everyone who belongs to that culture. In this class, we discuss this issue and how cultural anthropologists deal with it. "Unless you've lived their life, you can't say what their life is like!" My anthropology professor/cultural anthropologist said this quote in class in defense of the other cultures and habits that we are not used to and when we see it, we judge based on what our own culture would agree on. He told a story about the "black church" (something I've never heard of before) and how the people receive the holy ghost and fall down. Another anthropologist wanted to see how this is even possible, so she went to that church and attended the service and her task was to observe, and write down notes of what the people were doing before she came up with a conclusion about this strange habit. Every Sunday she would attend and write down her notes. After few weeks, she found herself tapping her foot to the music and when everybody stood up, she did so to even though she has been trying not to imitate them or fall into this habit. Then, she starting shouting like them and lifting her hands up high, then she felt something; something good perhaps that took over her whole being. In a split of a second, she found herself on the floor. Now that she had experienced the holy ghost, she can relate and understand these people's habit. 

There is a saying that says "don't judge a book by its cover", neither should you judge people by their looks or culture without knowing what their life is like. I chose this topic in particular because I can relate to it since I'm Egyptian. For some people, the first thing that comes to mind is "do you live in pyramids?", "do you live in the dessert?", and "do you go to school on your camel?" These are true questions that I've been asked, unfortunately. As for others, the first thing they think of is "oh, you must be a muslim" or "a terrorist". These are all misconceptions that are made based on the ignorance of people. I've read online comments about some of the stuff in the recent news happening in Egypt and it struck me that they talk as if they were there. A book can give you slight ideas of what it's like over there but conclusion should never be made until you live with the people and live their lives. 

Also, being an orthodox christian has put me in a spot of questioning about how is it possible to live like this. Orthodox Christianity is known for being too strict; such as fastings when we follow the vegan lifestyle, almost the whole year. Also before going to mass, we must be fasting (no food or water) for 9 hours. The list goes on and on, but the point is you can't ask this question or say this life this impossible without trying or attempting to live this it for a bit to understand. This is why this class is really interesting and important. I hope that someday the world view of different cultures will change and that people would be open minded to try different things before being judgmental. 

digital audio assignment

1. AAC format stands for advanced autio coding. It is a standardized compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. MP3 is a lossy compression which is designed to reduce the amount of data required to represent the audio recording and still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio. AIFF stands for "Audio Interchange File Format" which audio file format standard used for storing sound data for personal computers and other electronic audio devices. The AAC was the earliest version. The MP3 encodes more information than AAC such as the pulse code modulation. AIFF is the newest version. 

2. Sizes:
AAC- 5.4 MB
AIFF- 28.9 MB
MP3(good quality)- 2.7 MB
MP3(higher quality)- 4 MB
youtube  7.9 MB

3. AAC and MP3(good): not much difference between both but words are clearer in MP3. In AAC, sound is almost covered with a top layer.
MP3(good) and MP3(higher): There is a huge difference in the sound quality between the two. Words are clearer in the latter one. The sound has more echo in it. In the MP3(good), you can hear sound of air covering over the music.
MP3(higher) and AIFF: They both sound exactly the same. Instrumental wise, however; the music is clearer in the sense that every note has more in depth sound. For example, after each piano note, there is an echo or a continuing sound. This sound fades away in the MP3, but in the AIFF it is still clearer. Also, the sound feels like it is a piece of music being performed in front of you, meaning that every flaw/ original description in the note is heard. Moreover, when there is loud part, it starts sounding pitchy in the MP3.
In the MP3 youtube version, it is really poor quality. The sound is much lower to start with and feel like all the words are connected. Even a poorer quality than AAC. However, there isn't a pitch sound like the one in the AAC.

4. I would choose the AIFF or the MP3(higher quality). The reason for my choice is that the sound is much clearer, there is no pitch, and the overall quality is amazing. The words can be heard clearly.

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