Monthly Archives: September 2021

For task # 3, I was challenged with coming up with an anecdote, speaking it into a microphone to convert it from voice-to-text, and then analyzing the written text. To complete this task I used the microphone from my Logitech headset and the software application called Speechnotes, to convert the speech to text. The anecdote that I came up with was a little story about the first time my best friend met my 1 year old daughter.  See the text results below in italics and the analysis that follows.

Text

This is story about my friends first encounter with my daughter so few weeks ago my best friend growing up came to visit me from Ontario and it’s been a long time since I seen him because of the whole pandemic and him not being able to travel home due to the restrictions and everything it was great to have him come is actually the first time he got to meet my daughter who is just over a year-and-a-half he was play excited to meet her and we even prepped her for his visit so that she wouldn’t be shocked to see a stranger in her house she is shy with new people and can be a little direct when telling us that she doesn’t like or want something my body is at all funny extroverted and sometimes loud individual unlike my wife and I so we were a bit concerned how she would take him when he came to visit so for a couple weeks leading up to his visit we should have pictures and told her that he would be coming to stay with us for a few days and it seems like she was okay with everything she actually seemed happy and was saying his name every day even though she didn’t have a lot of vocabulary yet however the day before we came we took a video of her and again told her that he was coming guess who’s coming tomorrow while eating strawberries she smiled and said Joel my wife responded and said to her that’s right Joel need to visit us tomorrow and you’re going to say hi. That is when she smiled back to her and the camera and said by Joel anyway today I pick up my friend from the airport and took him home to my house on the drive I told him that my daughter was a bit shy and that she might not take him take him so quickly he understood so when we arrived at home we went into the house and went downstairs to where my daughter was playing with my wife and I said look who’s here my friend Joel my friend waved said hi nice to meet you what are you up to she was actually playing with their basketball and shooting it into her toy poop she didn’t respond my friend who is a huge basketball guy seemed excited and picked up the ball to play gaster can I play she looked at him but again didn’t now my buddy and I played basketball together high school and he actually played and University so basketball was his thing and he was very good at it he was also very prideful and knew that he was going to do so while everyone is watching chill takes the ball and shoots it up a small toy basketball hoop hits the back of the rim and misses been my daughter ball and says Joel Shoot Miss we all started falling over laughing this was a hilarious way for my friend to meet her

Analysis

How does the text deviate from conventions of written English?

This text deviates from the conventions of written English by barely having any punctuation; using poor sentence structure and poor grammar; and using improper capitalization. For example, the whole text is like an enormous run-on sentence where there are no periods, quotations, question marks, exclamation marks, etc. Written English has specific rules and standards but this translation doesn’t follow the rules as it seems to just try to translate the words that were spoken. This leaves the reader confused and  a lot to be desired.

What is “wrong” in the text? What is “right”?

Surprisingly, there is less “wrong” in this text than I would have thought. Yes, there are some misspelled/incorrect words (replaced hoop with “poop”) and there is no punctuation at all but it was able to capture most of what I had to say in terms of capturing most of my spoken words. When I was first introduced to voice-to-text technology a number of years ago the applications seemed to produce a lot of misspelled words but this application from Speechnotes was fairly good with spelling. Most of the spoken words were picked up but without punctuation and proper sentence structure it is difficult to truly understand the story. So what is “right” is the correct spelling of most of the spoken words and the order that the words were written.

What are the most common “mistakes” in the text and why do you consider them “mistakes”?

The most common mistakes are the lack of punctuation. Without the punctuation it is really difficult for the reader to interpret what the speaker/writer was trying to say. Punctuation is used to help tell the reader when there are pauses in the story and it also helps the writer put meaning into a story. It leaves the written text without emotion. For example, I laughed a couple of times when I was speaking my story but none of that was converted into text.

What if you had “scripted” the story? What difference might that have made?

If I had scripted the story the resulting text would have been more accurate with the spelling of words and use of descriptive words. The text result from the conversion still probably would lack punctuation but with the correct spelling of all the words it would have been easier for the reader to understand. Scripted writing would have probably given the text more structure but would have been more constrained and less spontaneous. 

In what ways does oral storytelling differ from written storytelling? 

There is a lot that is different between oral storytelling and written storytelling. Oral storytelling requires a lot of memorization skill and performance to actually keep the reader’s attention. Good oral storytelling utilizes facial expressions and body gestures to aid in the delivery of a story. These aids really help the listener understand the emotion and thoughts that the storyteller has. Another unique part of oral storytelling is that speaker can actually change their story in the moment depending on how the listener is receiving the story. For example: if an oral story starts out with a lack of expression, the speaker can adjust their story and add in more expression to keep the listener’s attention. 

Written storytelling lacks these visuals and gestures so there has to be more words that are used to bring meaning and understanding to a story. “Although writing is secondary to language, it often enjoys higher prestige. Writing is generally done more deliberately than speaking, so finished written pieces are much more carefully crafted than a typical spoken sentence. Written texts can thus convey their message more precisely, adding to the sense that writing is worth more than speech” (Gnanadesikan, 2011, pg. 5). For example, if an oral storyteller “shouts” in their story, the way they shout (how loud and with certain tones) then the listener has a better understanding of the “shout”. Whereas in writing, if the writer says “the boy shouts”, well the reader doesn’t really know how the boy shouted. In this case, writers would use adverbs to give more meaning to the actions that they are writing about. So instead of saying “the boy shouts”, a good writer would say “the boy shouts wildly!”

Written storytelling also requires the reader to interpret more of the thoughts, ideas, and emotions that the writer is trying to convey. Different readers could read written stories differently. In Ong’s reading he discusses the inability to study oral storytelling unlike with written storytelling which can be studied due the the symbols of punctuation the use of descriptive words that are present in the written text. Ong says “Written words are residue. Oral tradition has no such residue or deposit.” (Ong, 2002, p.11) This shows that written stories leave a mark allowing each reader to decode and interpret the story on their own. Oral stories differ in that they rely on the speaker to guide the listener through the story.

References

Gnanadesikan, A. E. (2011). “The First IT Revolution.” In The writing revolution: Cuneiform to the internet (Vol. 25). John Wiley & Sons. (pp. 1-10).

Ong, Walter, J. Taylor & Francis eBooks – CRKN, & CRKN MiL Collection. (2002). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. New York; London: Routledge.

Hello everyone, my name is Grant MacLeod and I am a Canadian East Coaster having grown up and lived in the province of Nova Scotia most of my life. I have fallen into an interesting job where I am predominantly a technician (oceans technologist!) but I also train and educate individuals on the use of technology used in the field of fisheries/oceanology. My job is unique and my tasks are actually very broad as my team’s main responsibility is to help improve the efficiency of our fishing practices as well as our company’s understanding of and the sustainability of our targeted species populations (clams, scallops, lobster, shrimp, etc.). This is not an easy job and requires that we are versatile to achieve our team goals. This also means that we need a lot of tools and gear to complete our work.

This post is a response to the Task #1 assignment for my ETEC 540 -Text and Technologies course. For reference, this task was completed on 9/17/2021.

For this task I am sharing with you my work bag which I commonly carry. Its contents are usually consistent but can change depending on what is needed for a specific job. My work environment also changes from the company’s office, to my home office, to onboard fishing vessels, to the workshop, or to other company, university, or organization’s facilities. In the image that you see above, are the contents that were most recently inside my work bag (Surprisingly, there is less in my bag than usual). See the list below:

• 1 backpack (N)
• 1 water bottle (N)
• 1 laptop PC (N)
• 1 power cable (N)
• 1 wireless keyboard (W)
• 1 wireless mouse (W)
• 1 headset (W)
• 1 earbuds (W)
• 4 coins (2 toonies, 2 quarters) (W)
• 1 bag of Cough Drops (lemon and honey) (W)
• 1 pack of gum (W)
• 3 coffee rewards cards (W)
• 1 exacta knife (N)
• 1 green highlighter (W)
• 1 black pen (W)
• 1 precision screwdriver set (N)
• 2 SSD external hard drives (N)
• 1 ethernet patch cable (N)
• 1 phone charger cable (N)
• 1 pair of Steel Toe boots (N)
• 1 hardhat (N)
  

Note: My cellphone is missing from the photo because I used it to take the picture.

Need = N

Want = W

What is your daily need for the items in your bag?

These items that I contain in my bag are some out of necessity but some are just out of pure desire or want. For example I need my laptop PC and my power cable to complete most of my daily work tasks yet I want to have juicy fruit gum because I like the taste, it reminds me of childhood, and it helps me focus. Above I have coded the items by letter which items I feel are a Need (N) or a Want (W).

A couple items as of note are:

1. Steel Toe boots and hardhat – Although these items don’t always fit in my bag they are important for my work. I often work on large fishing vessels and it is company policy to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) while on board. If I am at the dock, these two items usually suffice but if I’m at sea more PPE is required. I’m sure you can guess what that is. 
2. Bag of cough drops – I usually carry a bag of lemon and honey cough drops just in case I get a cold. I interact with a lot of people so having cough drops is great to have available, although I noticed that this bag is expired. Looks like I will have to get a new bag.
3. Headset – My need for a headset is so that I can communicate and complete my work without distractions in whatever environment I am in. They help block out background noise. For example, the headset is great when I am at the office and there are noise distractions around me.  
4. Coffee Rewards Card – I am a coffee drinker and I usually make coffee at home or in the office. However, sometimes when I am on the road I like to purchase McDonald’s coffee. I like the taste and it’s usually a good price. I try to collect stamps and use the rewards cards because I find free coffee tastes even better.

How might these items be considered “texts” and what do they say about you, the places you inhabit, the cultures with which you engage, and/or the activities you take up?

Many of these items can be considered texts or mostly have text imprinted on them. Most of the text relates to the branding for the items and were chosen because of a preference that I had for those particular items. For example, I have 1 water bottle with a plastic label with printed ink text. The text indicates the brand of the item and the message that the company wants to display to its customers. I usually choose Big Eight (Sobeys Brand) water because I find it tastes the best and it comes from an aquifer in the area that I grew up in. This shows that I value taste and appreciate where I come from. Perhaps it shows that I can be slightly biased too, haha.

Having a laptop PC and other digital devices shows that I work in a field that requires the use of these technologies and shows that I engage with tech culture. It shows that I must have some ability to use these items as well.

Another interesting note is that although it might not be visible, a lot of these items (like my boots, hardhat, harddrives, etc.) are labelled with my name. This probably shows that I like to be organized and don’t like my things going missing. Labelling is a form of text that helps prove ownership and allows for better organization.

Thinking about the title of the course, what are the “text technologies” in your bag, if any? What do these items say about how you engage with language and communication?

The text technologies that are in my bag are mainly my laptop PC and my cellphone (which I often carry in my bag but mostly in my pocket). These are both digital devices and I use them both for work and personal activities like for this course. I use them to send/receive email, take notes, work on text documents, for research, and send text messages, etc. This shows that I communicate mostly through the use of digital technology. I also have a pen and highlighter in my bag but no writing surface (i.e. notebook) to actually use them on, which is quite funny. Perhaps this shows that note taking by hand or print technology is still present in my work but not as valuable to me compared with digital technology.

Another item(s) that could be considered a “text technology” are the two SSD hard drives that I keep in my bag. These devices contain a lot of text, images, and videos and for my job, I collect and analyze a lot of this type of data. Having these devices shows that storage of data is important to my job and I require lots of it.  

How does the narrative of the (private) contents of your bag compare with the narrative produced by the image you have of yourself or the image you outwardly project?

I think the contents of my bag give an indication of what I need to do for my job but not necessarily what my job is. For example: having a precision screwdriver set indicates that I need this item for work, to remove and insert small fasteners, but it doesn’t give indication that I work in the oceans technology field. Also, by just looking at an image of me I don’t think one would think that I work in this field. None of the items on my bag project this either. Based on these items some might guess that I am an IT technician or a construction worker.

What would this same bag have looked like, say, 15 or 25 years ago? How do you imagine an archeologist aiming to understand this temporal period might view the contents of your bag many years in the future?

The contents of my bag would look very different 25 years ago. 25 years ago, I wouldn’t have a laptop because I wouldn’t be working from home and therefore wouldn’t need to transport a computer in my bag. I would have a desktop computer at my office. I also wouldn’t need (or have) a wireless keyboard and mouse either (I don’t think these weren’t even invented back then). If I had a hard drive, it would be much bigger in size. I might not even have had bottled water because it was less common back then. 

What I would have is a notebook (probably more than 1) and more pens, pencils, and other writing tools. The backpack itself would probably be more of a briefcase style and would contain a lot of papers.

If an archeologist from the future was aiming to understand this bag they would probably say that this is a bag from a general worker who works in an office and at construction sites. Perhaps if I had a PFD or one of my underwater cameras it might help them narrow my job down. These items would also show that this bag was probably from the digital age but more earlier on when there was still a use for print technology. It shows that the owner of this bag probably still had a use for and knew how to use print technology. 

Overview

This task was an interesting one to engage in. Examining the contents of my work bag made me really think about text/literacy and how they play a role in my work life. It really made me think about how text technologies have changed over time and makes me curious about what these text technologies will look like in the future.