Overcoming Apartheid Web Site
Writer,
deanreh
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TagCloud of HistoryHacks
Writer,
deanreh
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Alternative Look at Atton
http://www.myspace.com/officialnegativland
http://www.gepr.net/geprfram.htm
Writer,
deanreh
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Change Congress
I am very much motivated by the backbone of Lawrence Lessig’s book Code. I am excited by the thought he introduces, which before hadn’t crossed my mind in a fundamental way, that is how architecture (and in his specific purpose code) determines behavior. I am particularly excited about the last chapter, which talks about the corruption of government. He describes the problem as the “world” not the legislators. This seems at first a contradiction. Of course it is the lawmakers who are bending to the lobbyist. If only we could get them out of office, then our government would be fixed. From Lessig’s point of view, this is a skewed way of thinking. It is skewed because it comes at it from the perspective that these people are evil. Evil might be too harsh a word, but at the very least people who do not have the best interest of their constituents at heart. Lessig’s view in this book and the focus of his recent work is compelling, because it starts from the perspective that these people are not evil, but rather influenced (more and more it seems) by the world, more specifically the legislative system. A system which is influenced unfairly by the distribution of money. I mentioned Lessig’s new work, which has shifted from Free Culture and intellectual property to this idea of corruption. This youtube video is one of the first public comments Lessig has made on the topic. As always (for fans of Lessig talks) the presentation is very approachable.
The reason I think this is important goes back to the idea of code. It seems interesting to me that the more I understand how code (architecture) of the net defines the behaviors that are available, the more I am able to apply these ways of thinking to physical bounded spaces. That isn’t to say this thinking is revolutionary, and that people haven’t thought about code and physical space. But I think the net allows us to change these spaces through code and experiment with the results. I am reminded by the comments of Will Wright who describes his games (Sims, Sim City, Spore, etc…) as games that allow experimentation of new worlds. In the same way maybe that Star Trek allowed writers to imagine what alien worlds might be like, and thus what might be possible in our own world. The net is doing that for more people arguably in a more significant way. Allowing us as individuals to imagine different worlds in a variety of contexts, whether for play (Sims) or slightly more serious (maybe) with Sim City. The point of all this is maybe it will encourage us to challenge both synthetic as well as physical spaces in ways we did not previously imagine we had the power to do. In the end the onus is on ourselves. I am reminded of the phrase I was told very often as a young computer user complaining about how the computer did something (delete my homework for example). 99% of computer problems are user error. Indeed.
Writer,
ouvyt
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Quilting & Code
Second Life never ceases to amaze me. Not surprisingly, many of the quilters in Second Life are quilters in real life. In real life, they use fabric, batting and thread to make quilts; in SL they use code. In both media and both worlds, they are quilters. However, there are some quilters in SL who have never made quilts in RL. I expect that several people who’ve made quilts out of code with digital menus in SL cannot even sew in RL. For weeks now, I have seen this to be one of the fundamental differences between people who make quilts in the brick and mortar world and the digital world…
However, an exhibition I recently saw in SL (I was there for research purposes only–I swear) really closed the gap in my thinking between RL and SL. In the brick & mortar world, people personally touched by HIV-AIDS sometimes make quilts for the NAMES project to honor a loved one who has battled the disease. Usually, these are people who have never quilted before. They become quilters for a specific purpose, to make work to honor a specific person and raise awareness about a specific issue. This does not only apply to the NAMES project. There are people who use quilting as a form of expressive activism to speak out on other issues. For example, volunteers with the Ugly Quilt Project make quilts and quilted sleeping bags for the homeless, often with no prior knowledge of quilting, let alone sewing.
Avatars volunteering at the SL HIV Prevention & Education Center and avatars with the Chilbo Community Building Project have organized the making of several digital quilts by avatars throughout SL to commemorate lives and avatars lost to AIDS, both in real life and in Second Life.
In terms of both creativity and poignant expression, these digital quilts equal those real, tactile quilts made for the NAMES Project. I am somewhat startled as the liminal gap between real life and Second Life closes before my eyes.
Writer,
tigneram
Topics: New Media, Research | No Comments »
Creepy Treehouse
This is an interesting article about using cyberspaces in education:
http://flexknowlogy.learningfield.org/2008/04/09/defining-creepy-tree-house/
Writer,
deanreh
Topics: Education, Resources | 1 Comment »
Thank Goodness for Collective Intelligence
Pierre Levy’s notion of collective intelligence being one of the most important effects of the internet is one that I have always found compelling. However I did not realize how vital this capacity can be for scholars, particularly scholars working in the world of video game studies. During my research project on BioShock I had reached a point of frustration. In the darkly lit, immense and richly detailed world of BioShock, while constantly getting shot it or attacked by security bots, it was extremely difficult, if not impossible, for me to locate every single audio diary. Since the player is not told how many diaries exist I didn’t even know whether or not I had found them all. Furthermore much of the games narrative, world-making, and ideological content comes not from the diary but from radio messages from your content and from system announcements, propaganda, or advertisements played over the loudspeaker. These recordings may be heard while the player is in the middle of the gun-fight. Although you can pause the game to write the messages down to the best of your recollection their is no such things as re-winding the game and so accuracy is a concern.
Enter the BioShock wiki at http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page. One I discovered this wiki it was a like a miracle. With 400 seperate articles edited by a large group of gamers it is a great example of Levy’s collective intelligence at work. Together the wiki’s editors were able to compile the content of all the audio diaries, radio messages, and speaker announcements that they have accounted. Although this list may still be incomplete it is infinatly more accurate and complete then a single average player would likely be able to compile on their own. And because the content of the site is never closed and can always be edited any player who discovers something new can add it and contribute to the communities knowledge. As scholars begin to look at new media artifacts that are much less closed and linear then films or books that might otherwise take hundreds and hundreds of hours just to track down the elements of resources like these I expect will prove more and more valuable.
Writer,
kglass
Topics: Resources | 1 Comment »
Rethinking Copyleft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft
http://www.scribd.com/doc/322877/Lawrence-Lessigs-Code-20
Writer,
deanreh
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Another Model for the Distribution of Music on the Internet?
Here is an interesting article about how Trent Reznor, the lead-singer of Nine Inch Nails, has found another way for musicians to distribute free music to fans via the Internet, while still providing a way for the band to make money. Unlike Radiohead, which offered fans the ability to name their own price (as low as nothing) to download their latest album, Reznor is offering his latest instrumental album Ghosts I-IV (there are four albums total) at a variety of prices. User’s can download Ghost I for free, pay $5 for a high quality digital copy of all four albums, pay $10 for the digital copies and a CD copy of all four albums, or pay either $75 or $300 for deluxe editions, which include things such as blue-ray DVD’s, vinyl, etc.
The article estimates that Reznor made about $750,000 from this staggered price model in about three days. Although smaller bands would not be able to gross as much money, this seems like a good option for many musicians, as audiophiles will pay more for high-quality music. This would allow music to be distributed freely, while still providing artists with a way to make a living.
Writer,
TheNelsMantra
Topics: Resources | 2 Comments »
Today’s Sewing Computer
Nothing much new with me this week, History Hacks. Just been working on “Adventures in Fiberspace.” Here’s an excerpt of what I have so far:
Today’s Sewing Computer
In their 1998 book, The Quilter’s Computer Companion, Judy Heim and Gloria Hansen wrote, “If quilters are misunderstood, their use of computers is even more so. What possible use can an appliance that was born of the need to chart the distance between the earth and the moon have for people who spend their time sewing centuries-old pineapple designs onto fabric?” (Heim and Hansen, xiv) Clearly, quilter’s expectations about the utility of computers in the context of quilting has come a long way in the ten years since the publication of The Quilter’s Computer Companion. As with any industry, sewing machine manufacturers now have a huge online presence. A visit to the Husqvarna Viking website, http://www.husqvarnaviking.com/us/, reminds one in many ways of a mid-range clothing retailer’s site. A large flash movie takes up most of the real estate on the page, with a changing array of sleek, sexy new sewing machines and exclusive limited editions. Mauve flowers, red borders and images of smiling women ranging in age from 20-something to 70-something immediately cue the visitor to this site that Husqvarna Viking’s target demographic for this site is women of all ages. Even though one cannot actually purchase a Husqvarna Viking online, (the customer is instead directed to a dealer in their area), one is certainly invited to browse, shop for 4-D software, sign-up for the email newsletter, watch the latest clip from The Martha Stewart Show, and much more.
One of Husqvarna Viking’s machines featured on the site is of particular interest in terms of digital cultural studies. The Emerald 183 is heralded as “today’s sewing computer” suggests that women, even into their seventies, are looking for sewing machines that do more than the backstitch. The site reads,
“Experience today’s sewing computer; the Emerald 183!
The old-fashioned typewriter has its charm, but computers have made the world easier and more accessible – including the sewing!
Emerald 183 from Husqvarna Viking is a user-friendly, computerized sewing machine. Not a mechanical knob in sight! All stitch selections are made with the touch of a finger and shown in the very bright, well-lit Infodisplay.”
The machine has 83 wonderful stitches that can be adjusted to your preferences then programmed and saved. (Husqvarna Viking) Clearly targeted at an aging audience, the ad reminds the reader that while the typewriter (and by extension, the old-fashioned sewing machine) are nostalgic, computers, with the buttons and Infodisplays, make work easier and more accessible to people like Fern, who can no longer do intricate handwork due to aging or another physical condition. This is not a sewing machine that requires physical labor, the ad suggests, but rather a sewing computer that allows one to sew with the push of a button.
The Quilter as Humachine
Computerized sewing machines such as the Emerald 183 allow quilters to upload patterns downloaded from websites or cds directly into the machine, taking the guesswork out of appliqué and allowing for precise, professional-looking artistic outcomes (assuming one is proficient in using a sewing machine). For quilters with poor eyesight or arthritic hands, machine quilting, especially digitally-assisted machine quilting, is vital. Without the technology, they simply would no longer be able to make their work. Many other quilters still feel today, however, feel that such technological enhancements are detrimental to the craft; they feel that a quilt made on a machine, especially a computerized machine, is really made by the machine. Quilting and other crafts have been valued for generations as hand-work and should remain such, they argue. “Instead of seeing what a magnificent piece it [CoronaII: The Solar Eclipse] was regardless of technique, many quilters had trouble accepting the fact that it was machine quilted..I feel that we spend too much energy debating whether machine or hand is best.” (Hargrave, 5) While such controversies will likely continue, it seems certain that the sewing computer is here to stay. Given that many quilters will continue to augment their bodies through sewing technologies to quilt more precisely and more efficiently, it is perhaps most important to investigate the implications of the convergence of quilter and machine.
From bifocals and breast implants to titanium golf clubs and sewing machines, people have been using technology to enhance their bodies or the functions that their bodies can perform for hundreds of years. While bifocals and sewing machines certainly seem harmless enough, advances in biotechnology, media representations of cyborgs such as the Bionic Woman and the Terminator, and the rapidly shrinking gap between in the human-computer interface brought about by technologies such as voice and fingerprint recognition have some scholars proposing that the twenty-first century human is actually a humachine.
Writer,
tigneram
Topics: Research | No Comments »