Random Hacks of Kindness

For our homework assignment we had to read about something called "Random Hacks of Kindness" .  It was embedded into a url link.  Before I read it, I did't know what to think.  At first I thought it was about random people doing helpful and polite things to other people such as;  holding a door for someone, randomly complimenting others or helping a random stranger with groceries (at first I thought the link read "Random Acts of Kindness").

To my surprise it was nothing like what I had expected.  I clicked on the link and my web browser transfer me to a website.  At first, I thought that maybe I clicked on the wrong link so I went back and clicked on the link again.  The same page popped up so I knew I was on the right page.  As I started to skim the site I found that it was titled ROHK (an acronym meaning Random Hacks of Kindness) in a unique font.  I decided to go visit the about page to see what this organization was all about.  The first thing that I read was the mission statement.  It read "Our mission is to make the world a better place through a global community of innovation developing practical open technology."  I pondered what that meant but couldn't grasp its meaning.  So I started to reading the rest of the site'e about page and came across another statement that caught my attention.  It read “hackathons” and “technology for social good”.  After compiling fragments of the site, I came up with something that helped me relate to the site...."Think of people hacking for positive reasons such as helping the people without voices (such has the outcasts or people in poverty stricken places)".    

(Website  "http://www.rhok.org")

" Random Hacks of Kindness – Oxford – 3rd/4th December : Tim's Blog." Tim's Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. <http://www.timdavies.org.uk/2011/11/05/random-hacks-of-kindness-oxford-3rd4th-december/>.

3 Potential Sources for Ethnography Assignment

Wade, Burton. Belk Gym.  20 December 2006.  UNC Charlotte- Stake Your Claim, Charlotte.  Flickr. Web.  3 November 2012.

This is a picture of the Belk Gym at UNC Charlotte (I didn't take the actual picture.  It is Wade Burton's photo.  I was going to take a picture of the building, but had some difficulties.  So for now I'll just use this as a reference point).  In using a similar photo like this one, I could talk about the structure of the gym's interior and exterior.  I could maybe even mention the floor and the designs on it and its relation to specific sports.  I believe that their are hidden literacies under the lines on the court.  For example: One of the lines may say "hey, if you shoot here you get two points", another might say "if you shoot here than you get three points and tells you that you're pretty good".


Anonymous.  Personal interview.  November 2012

I have not conducted an interview yet, but hopefully I will in the near future.  In this interview I hope to interview at least two people (one male and the other female).  I think it would be best if I could interview some one that knows the building's history, and changes it has gone through.  From the interview I could see how other people see the building.  During the whole interview I'll try to center it around its relation to literacy or hidden literacy.  I bet that the interviewees will have different thoughts on the building and the literacy of it.


Belk Gym.  "Basketball at Belk's Gym".  Rec, 2012.  CD

This would basically just be a recording or short film of people participating in sporting events.  I could incorporate some of the sounds into the film and show the hidden sonic literacy such as a ball bouncing and people playing a basketball match.  The communication and the sound that echoes in the gym.  I could even potentially expand on the architectural areas of the gym such as:  Why does sound echo in the gym.   I think that after viewing the recording I'll get a different view on literacy in particular the hidden literacy (most of the pieces might come from sound).


(These are just some of the thoughts I had in mind.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The category of literacy i'm focusing on is based on "architecture".)