Wednesday, December 5, 2007
LibraryThing
LibraryThing is a great resource to be aware of. It’s always hard for me to find good books to read, and this is a great website that will refer you to books you might like based on your list. This is great because I basically only read books that have been recommended to me, and this will help me find new books to read. This will also be a good source for when I’m figuring out which books to use in my rationale.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
New Media Reader 585 - 647
Mythinformation
Winner’s essay, “Mythinformation”, seeks to articulate how computers can be used for positive social change. He takes the rhetoric of the computer language, and addresses what the social goals of the revolution will be. He addresses the idea that new technology and new ways of getting information does not necessarily create a more democratic society. It does have the potential to be democratic, but it must be worked towards, and does not come automatically.
From Plans and Situated Actions
Lucy Suchman wrote the essay in “Plans and Situated Actions” to make a critique on the practice within artificial intelligence. She presents a different concept on how people seek to accomplish goals. She points out that AI research is fundamentally misguided. She says that the basic principle that the research cannot be based on logical manipulations like the human brain would function, and that AI would never be able to address rapidly changing situations like on a battlefield. She presents two unsolved problems, which are the self-explanatory tool, and giving the computer a purpose.
Siren Shapes: Exploratory and Constructive Hypertexts
Michael Joyce makes a distinction between two types of hypertext environments; exploratory and constructive. Constructive hypertexts are flexible representation of thoughts, stories, arguments, and everything else for which we use media. Exploratory hypertexts are former constructive hypertexts that are not being used by original author of the work. With these two forms she argues that they hold promise for transforming education than simple electric reading with links. There have been a few programs on the Web that have used this type of hypertexts, but there are lots of legal issues that surround it. She says the web is barely-exploratory, and that it has a much bigger potential.
The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems
Bill Nichols writes an update to Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” He discusses the shift from a fetishization of the object to the fetishization of the process of interaction, of simulation. He relates simulation to video games and genetic engineering. I think it’s important to write this update to Benjamin’s essay, there have been dramatic shifts in art and mechanical reproduction, and he definitely never addresses simulation in that essay.
The Fantasy Beyond Control
Lynn Hershman’s “Lorna” is considered to be the first interactive video art installation. It allowed the viewer to make selections of the space Lorna was in. She spurred many new forms of interactive video art, with Hershman and Griffith, and the recent work of Chris Hales.
Winner’s essay, “Mythinformation”, seeks to articulate how computers can be used for positive social change. He takes the rhetoric of the computer language, and addresses what the social goals of the revolution will be. He addresses the idea that new technology and new ways of getting information does not necessarily create a more democratic society. It does have the potential to be democratic, but it must be worked towards, and does not come automatically.
From Plans and Situated Actions
Lucy Suchman wrote the essay in “Plans and Situated Actions” to make a critique on the practice within artificial intelligence. She presents a different concept on how people seek to accomplish goals. She points out that AI research is fundamentally misguided. She says that the basic principle that the research cannot be based on logical manipulations like the human brain would function, and that AI would never be able to address rapidly changing situations like on a battlefield. She presents two unsolved problems, which are the self-explanatory tool, and giving the computer a purpose.
Siren Shapes: Exploratory and Constructive Hypertexts
Michael Joyce makes a distinction between two types of hypertext environments; exploratory and constructive. Constructive hypertexts are flexible representation of thoughts, stories, arguments, and everything else for which we use media. Exploratory hypertexts are former constructive hypertexts that are not being used by original author of the work. With these two forms she argues that they hold promise for transforming education than simple electric reading with links. There have been a few programs on the Web that have used this type of hypertexts, but there are lots of legal issues that surround it. She says the web is barely-exploratory, and that it has a much bigger potential.
The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems
Bill Nichols writes an update to Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” He discusses the shift from a fetishization of the object to the fetishization of the process of interaction, of simulation. He relates simulation to video games and genetic engineering. I think it’s important to write this update to Benjamin’s essay, there have been dramatic shifts in art and mechanical reproduction, and he definitely never addresses simulation in that essay.
The Fantasy Beyond Control
Lynn Hershman’s “Lorna” is considered to be the first interactive video art installation. It allowed the viewer to make selections of the space Lorna was in. She spurred many new forms of interactive video art, with Hershman and Griffith, and the recent work of Chris Hales.
Comic Web Sites
This Modern World:
I really enjoyed the few cartoons I read. They are very insightful, they make great observations on the republican/ democratic controversies.
Leisure Town:
This one didn’t do much for me. I didn’t really understand it’s purpose, and though it’s different in style, the photo comics was a distraction and uninteresting for the most part.
Yimagination:
This site looks very interesting, I like how it is trying to incorporate the viewer into the creation of a story. The c-ware section can allow you to create your own comic strip. I think it’s something to keep an eye on to see if it’s successful or not.
The Comics Journal:
A great resource for comic artists, with interviews and a forum for new comics to be posted.
Modern Tales:
This is a great site that is well organized, and you have access to about a hundred different comic strips. I had no idea there were so many comic strips out there.
Penny Arcade:
This strip is pretty good. I read a couple and I like the references to Facebook.
The Web Comic List:
This site is really good for getting up to date comics, and keeping track of when a new comic is out.
Top Web Comics:
This is the best site I’ve seen so far for aquiring online web comics. They have categories to search by, and then they are ranked, so the bad ones are filtered out. I was surprised they did not have a category for political comics, maybe there aren’t that many out there?
I really enjoyed the few cartoons I read. They are very insightful, they make great observations on the republican/ democratic controversies.
Leisure Town:
This one didn’t do much for me. I didn’t really understand it’s purpose, and though it’s different in style, the photo comics was a distraction and uninteresting for the most part.
Yimagination:
This site looks very interesting, I like how it is trying to incorporate the viewer into the creation of a story. The c-ware section can allow you to create your own comic strip. I think it’s something to keep an eye on to see if it’s successful or not.
The Comics Journal:
A great resource for comic artists, with interviews and a forum for new comics to be posted.
Modern Tales:
This is a great site that is well organized, and you have access to about a hundred different comic strips. I had no idea there were so many comic strips out there.
Penny Arcade:
This strip is pretty good. I read a couple and I like the references to Facebook.
The Web Comic List:
This site is really good for getting up to date comics, and keeping track of when a new comic is out.
Top Web Comics:
This is the best site I’ve seen so far for aquiring online web comics. They have categories to search by, and then they are ranked, so the bad ones are filtered out. I was surprised they did not have a category for political comics, maybe there aren’t that many out there?
Comic Documentary
The documentary on comics was very interesting. I didn’t realize that world out there existed. I had no idea what kind of culture surrounded the comics, or how they developed. I thought the intro was great, with the animations that drew up the name each person in the documentary, followed with the very comical oil spill at the end. I thought the superhero war propaganda was very interesting. I also didn’t realize that comics went through so much censorship. It was great how Mad Magazine was able to circumvent those censorships. I like how Robert Crumb had absolutely no inhibition in proclaiming his addiction to LSD and how he relied on it for his inspiration with his cat series. This didn’t surprise me as much as another scene in the movie with the girls wearing practically nothing playing pool behind a comic artist being interviewed. This is a side of the comic world I did not expect. I didn’t realize how much of a ladies man you can become by drawing comics.
I liked how the film turned the interviews into their own comic strip, by freeze framing them and placing them side by side. I thought it was a good documentary about comics, but I really wanted to see Bill Watterson, he is one of the most successful comic artists, and I own all his Calvin and Hobbes books.
I liked how the film turned the interviews into their own comic strip, by freeze framing them and placing them side by side. I thought it was a good documentary about comics, but I really wanted to see Bill Watterson, he is one of the most successful comic artists, and I own all his Calvin and Hobbes books.
Friday, November 16, 2007
515-584
A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century
Donna Haraway’s essay discusses the relationship of cyborgs and feminism in relation to mythological goddesses. She sees the goddesses as an image founded by a matriarchal utopia, whereas the cyborg is relative only to the present. She analyses the history of the cyborg through many veins, including science fiction. Her essay has been very influential in relation to science and technology; it offers a model for cultural and political engagement.
The GNU Manifesto
Richard Stallman was unhappy with the shift from free software to closed programs. He was a member at MIT, and saw the shift from free software to proprietary software. He then decided to develop software that would be free to all users. He would make programs that allowed people to manipulate or alter the programs to their choosing. The main issue is the value of intellectual property. He comes up with the term “copyleft”, which means that a programmer would copyright a program, but then add distribution terms which allows everyone to modify it. I really like his idea, and I think his philosophy would really open up the computer world, allowing ideas to build on each other, and for people to augment ideas. I think the programs would be a lot more powerful, and a lot more customized to our individual purposes.
Using Computers: A Direction for Design
Winograd and Flores wrote this article in regards to artificial intelligence. They essentially tell us that computers will never be able to attain human-like intelligence. They say that the “essence of intelligence is to act appropriately when there is no simple pre-definition of the problem.” They think that the artificial research should not be abandoned, only that they should focus on designing tools. They are more focused on the ontological perspective of communication technology.
Two Selections by Brenda Laurel: The Six Elements and the Causal Relations Among Them, Star Raiders: Dramatic Interaction in a Small World.
Brenda Laurel writes a unique essay on how computer work in relation to Aristotle’s Poetics. She approaches computers from a humanistic perspective, using models that have been used on other forms of art. She says computer art can only happen if it is taken away from technologists, and put in the hands of humanists. She applies the elements of drama as explained by Aristotle to computers. I think this is a really interesting approach to computer art, and I like how she explains that in order for computer art, or drama to occur, it needs to be developed by people who understand human interactions, not scientists or programmers.
Towards a New Classification of Tele-Information Services
Bordewijk and Kaam consider the social role of various digital media, and not on a sensory level like McLuhan describes. He classifies the various applications on the internet as either being conversational or for consultation. I’m really unclear as to what he’s actually saying in this essay. The intro points out the social roles that technology creates, and he sees that eventually computer communication will integrate into almost every aspect of human interaction. He seems to just put out a way that describes how we communicate.
Donna Haraway’s essay discusses the relationship of cyborgs and feminism in relation to mythological goddesses. She sees the goddesses as an image founded by a matriarchal utopia, whereas the cyborg is relative only to the present. She analyses the history of the cyborg through many veins, including science fiction. Her essay has been very influential in relation to science and technology; it offers a model for cultural and political engagement.
The GNU Manifesto
Richard Stallman was unhappy with the shift from free software to closed programs. He was a member at MIT, and saw the shift from free software to proprietary software. He then decided to develop software that would be free to all users. He would make programs that allowed people to manipulate or alter the programs to their choosing. The main issue is the value of intellectual property. He comes up with the term “copyleft”, which means that a programmer would copyright a program, but then add distribution terms which allows everyone to modify it. I really like his idea, and I think his philosophy would really open up the computer world, allowing ideas to build on each other, and for people to augment ideas. I think the programs would be a lot more powerful, and a lot more customized to our individual purposes.
Using Computers: A Direction for Design
Winograd and Flores wrote this article in regards to artificial intelligence. They essentially tell us that computers will never be able to attain human-like intelligence. They say that the “essence of intelligence is to act appropriately when there is no simple pre-definition of the problem.” They think that the artificial research should not be abandoned, only that they should focus on designing tools. They are more focused on the ontological perspective of communication technology.
Two Selections by Brenda Laurel: The Six Elements and the Causal Relations Among Them, Star Raiders: Dramatic Interaction in a Small World.
Brenda Laurel writes a unique essay on how computer work in relation to Aristotle’s Poetics. She approaches computers from a humanistic perspective, using models that have been used on other forms of art. She says computer art can only happen if it is taken away from technologists, and put in the hands of humanists. She applies the elements of drama as explained by Aristotle to computers. I think this is a really interesting approach to computer art, and I like how she explains that in order for computer art, or drama to occur, it needs to be developed by people who understand human interactions, not scientists or programmers.
Towards a New Classification of Tele-Information Services
Bordewijk and Kaam consider the social role of various digital media, and not on a sensory level like McLuhan describes. He classifies the various applications on the internet as either being conversational or for consultation. I’m really unclear as to what he’s actually saying in this essay. The intro points out the social roles that technology creates, and he sees that eventually computer communication will integrate into almost every aspect of human interaction. He seems to just put out a way that describes how we communicate.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
New Media Reader 443 - 514
From Literary Machines: Proposal for a Universal Electronic Publishing System and Archive
Ted H. Nelson proposes an idea for a hypermedia network called Xanadu. It is a network where anyone can produce their own documents and connect them with other public documents. What it sounds like he’s proposing is exactly like Wikipedia; a place where versions of documents can be changed by anyone as long as it’s public. There will be a version tracker so anyone will be able to see what it was before it was changed. This design is intended to work with any imaginable form of media. I think Nelson was a great visionary in that he was able to foresee all these problems with fragmented information on the Internet and also a way to propose a solution.
Will There Be Condominiums in Data Space?
Bill Viola is the first video artist to create “70 millimeter” video art; which means he was able to transcend the cheap aspects of video production. In this essay he writes about the poetic nature of video art. It was much easier to understand this article after seeing the documentary on him. I really like his introduction paragraph about memory, and how it’s a filter. Then goes on to say, “Life without editing, it seems, is just not that interesting”. This is to say, that as we go through our continuous existence, our memory is constantly editing our perception, but if we were to simply video tape our existence it would be incredibly boring.
The Endless Chain
Ben Bagdikian’s “The Endless Chain”, articulates the relationship of the dominance of new media over old media; video games are now bigger than movies, the web is reducing the amount of books sold, etc. Bagdikian notices a relationship between old and new media, and through press accounts he sees that old and new media systems seem to be integrating into a single system. He says that new media is no longer a marginal phenomenon, but I think he’s just looking at the emergence of certain new media becoming mainstream. I think there will always be new media in the margin, and only a few will actually become mainstream. He also discusses the influence that major media broadcasters have, and how they dominate the media industries.
Direct Manipulation: A Step Beyond Programming Languages
Shneiderman proposes a new type of communication, one that is not based on words, but a visual language. His justification is that words are just representations of things, so why not be able to carry around a new way to visually represent ideas. He describes a direct manipulation system that doesn’t rely on a programming language, but relates the computer to an ordinary action. The benefits of this is with the interface design; Photoshop being a good example of direct manipulation. I’m not quite sure I understand the importance of this article. He seems to simply be making a statement about good user interfaces, as opposed to the ones that don’t work.
Video Games and Computer Holding Power
Turkle, in her article, approaches computing and video games from a psychoanalytical standpoint. She noticed the major force video games had on our culture, and analyzed how the computer enables us to enact personae that are different from non-computing situations. Instead of the common conception that video games are a bad influence, her research discovered that they allowed people to take on different roles that are important to them psychologically. Computers influence the way we interact with the world and ourselves. I really like reading about this analysis, it gives video games more justification, and gives good insight into the psychoanalysis of it.
Ted H. Nelson proposes an idea for a hypermedia network called Xanadu. It is a network where anyone can produce their own documents and connect them with other public documents. What it sounds like he’s proposing is exactly like Wikipedia; a place where versions of documents can be changed by anyone as long as it’s public. There will be a version tracker so anyone will be able to see what it was before it was changed. This design is intended to work with any imaginable form of media. I think Nelson was a great visionary in that he was able to foresee all these problems with fragmented information on the Internet and also a way to propose a solution.
Will There Be Condominiums in Data Space?
Bill Viola is the first video artist to create “70 millimeter” video art; which means he was able to transcend the cheap aspects of video production. In this essay he writes about the poetic nature of video art. It was much easier to understand this article after seeing the documentary on him. I really like his introduction paragraph about memory, and how it’s a filter. Then goes on to say, “Life without editing, it seems, is just not that interesting”. This is to say, that as we go through our continuous existence, our memory is constantly editing our perception, but if we were to simply video tape our existence it would be incredibly boring.
The Endless Chain
Ben Bagdikian’s “The Endless Chain”, articulates the relationship of the dominance of new media over old media; video games are now bigger than movies, the web is reducing the amount of books sold, etc. Bagdikian notices a relationship between old and new media, and through press accounts he sees that old and new media systems seem to be integrating into a single system. He says that new media is no longer a marginal phenomenon, but I think he’s just looking at the emergence of certain new media becoming mainstream. I think there will always be new media in the margin, and only a few will actually become mainstream. He also discusses the influence that major media broadcasters have, and how they dominate the media industries.
Direct Manipulation: A Step Beyond Programming Languages
Shneiderman proposes a new type of communication, one that is not based on words, but a visual language. His justification is that words are just representations of things, so why not be able to carry around a new way to visually represent ideas. He describes a direct manipulation system that doesn’t rely on a programming language, but relates the computer to an ordinary action. The benefits of this is with the interface design; Photoshop being a good example of direct manipulation. I’m not quite sure I understand the importance of this article. He seems to simply be making a statement about good user interfaces, as opposed to the ones that don’t work.
Video Games and Computer Holding Power
Turkle, in her article, approaches computing and video games from a psychoanalytical standpoint. She noticed the major force video games had on our culture, and analyzed how the computer enables us to enact personae that are different from non-computing situations. Instead of the common conception that video games are a bad influence, her research discovered that they allowed people to take on different roles that are important to them psychologically. Computers influence the way we interact with the world and ourselves. I really like reading about this analysis, it gives video games more justification, and gives good insight into the psychoanalysis of it.
Proposal for a Universal Electronic Publishing System and Archive
Ted H. Nelson proposes an idea for a hypermedia network called Xanadu. It is a network where anyone can produce their own documents and connect them with other public documents. What it sounds like he’s proposing is exactly like Wikipedia; a place where versions of documents can be changed by anyone as long as it’s public. There will be a version tracker so anyone will be able to see what it was before it was changed. This design is intended to work with any imaginable form of media. I think Nelson was a great visionary in that he was able to foresee all these problems with fragmented information on the Internet and also a way to propose a solution.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)