Turkle'd pink (har har)

AT LAST! An article which truly speaks to the way I feel about technology and its relationship to the way we think and feel as humans. In Sherry Turkle's article "How Computers Change the Way We Think" -- she compiles a "...short and certainly comprehensive list of areas where I see information technology encouraging changes in thinking." Turkle does not deem these changes as good or bad -- but simply makes observations about the effects technology and computation devices have on our minds.

I will address each of her points by going down the list she compiled.

Thinking About Privacy -- younger generations (the "net generation") feel little or no need to take action towards protecting their privacy. They fill out personal information online without a second thought, download music/videos illegally and purchase items online etc. Turkle points out that there seems to be a disconnect between the younger generations and the fact that privacy is a RIGHT and not a PRIVELAGE. They seem relatively unaware about violations of privacy and government/commercial surveillance. Although, there are young people out there who are protective of their information and privacy rights, I do agree that there is a lack of knowledge and caring in the matter of privacy. Who can see your information? What will be done with this information? How is the information being obtained? What can I do to ensure my privacy? These are the kinds of questions which fail to be asked by many youngsters, perhaps due to a lack of education in the matter.

Avatar Or Self? This was my FAVORITE part of the list and it is a point that I have been trying to get across for some time. CHAT ROOMS, AIM, FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, WORLD OF WARCRAFT, SIMS, ETC. ETC. THESE TYPES OF TECHNOLOGICAL VENUES CAN ACTUALLY BE A DETRIMENT TO THE SOCIAL GROWTH OF PEOPLE. I've been saying for some time how I feel that social networking can create a barrier between people because they can create an 'online persona' which does not manifest itself in reality. People can hide behind the computer or an avatar. Turkle says, "For those who are lonely yet afraid of intimacy, information technology has made it possible to have the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendships." She also says, "...some people who gain fluency in expressing multiple aspects of self may find it harder to develop authentic selves".

Miss Turkle, thank you. Thank you for saying what I could not find the right words for. At last, a scholarly article which supports an observation that I feel so many disagree with me on.

I am actually going to skip to her last point because I can tell that if I go through all the others, I will become lazy with my analysis and compromise the integrity of this post.

Simulation and its discontents ok -- I'm going to pull a rather large quote from the article...

"Despite the ever-increasing complexity of software, most computer environments put users inworlds based on constrained choices. In other words, immersion in programmed worlds puts us inreassuring environments where the rules are clear... Children grow up in a culture of video games, action films, fantasy epics, and computer programs that all rely on that familiar scenario of almost losing but then regaining total mastery: There is danger.It is mastered...Scary. Safe."

OK, what I think she is getting at is that (in a world where entertainment media already tries to make everything black and white, good and evil) -- we now have children growing up and learning to make simulated decisions based on very cut and dry rules and scenarios. When these children become faced with REAL decisions, in a world where things are NOT black and white, they may flounder. The world is complicated and full of grey areas. While these games may help in the process of decision-making skills....the decisions are based on clear situations, and in life there are times when there really is no "best solution" but rather a series of distasteful options which you must bear through . Turkle says, "we have never had a greater need to work our way out of binary assumptions...we need to rebuild the culture around information technology...in that new sociotechnical culture, assumptions about the nature of mastery would be less absolute."

WHEW! Congratulations if you actually read all of that.

Sherry Turkle, I love you.

Generation Flash

"Generation Flash" by Lev Manovich left me in the dust midway through the first paragraph. I tried desperately to grasp the concepts he was writing about but continually found myself at a loss for their meaning. I will attempt to make some sense of what I read.

The article starts off by stating, "This generation no longer is interested in 'media critique' which preoccupied media artists of the last two decades; instead it is engaged in software critique. This generation writes its own software code to create their own cultural systems..." I can only assume that what he means is, instead of critiquing a website based on its AESTHETIC looks, we now critique it based on how it was written and coded (?) We no longer say, "I really like AOL because it looks nice and I like the colors" but we say, "I don't like the way it functions, whoever created this did a poor job". I could be WAY off in this analysis because I know NOTHING about software programming and was further unaware that it is considered an art form.

So, okay. I try and look past this initial wave of confusion and move onto the next point Manovich writes about. He begins talking about "loops" and I say, "yeah, loops...like in electronic music...I'm on board with this." Manovich uses the idea of 'loops' to emphasize the 'remix culture' that we live in. He says, "Flash animations, QuickTime movies, the characters in computer games loop endlessly - until the human user intervenes by clicking." Manovich says that looping is now the new default metho to 'critique' media culture -- and I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what that means. How do you critique a loop? "That was a really bad loop -- I didn't enjoy that?" wouldn't you instead say something like, "I didnt enjoy the IMAGES or TEXTS or SOUNDS used in that loop?" Those are my best guesses.

Manovich then goes on to talk about layering in media. Just as musicians layer sounds together (drums, guitar, bass, keyboard etc.) so too can artists layer images. But Manovich warns that we must be careful how many layers are used in imagery because, "when we start mixing arbitrary images together, we quickly destroy any meaning". In other words, we must carefully choose the images to be layered and avoid just making a bunch of noise. He says that, as a remix culture, does it still make sense to create whole works if these works will simply be taken apart and turned into samples?

People are constantly taking images and editing them or 'sampling' them to make them their own; just as musicians sample tracks from songs and make them their own. For example, 'Gym Class Heroes' sampled a 'Supertramp' song in 2006. Someone took a picture of Abraham Lincoln and digitally placed Marilyn Monroe into the picture with him. So, it seems art no longer stands on its own as it is, but is essentially "up for grabs" to be reinterpreted or "remixed" by other artists.

I *think* what Manovich was getting at is that, the definition of art has changed as media types change. Instead of looking at WHAT the art is we look at HOW it is put together. And that is about as far as a could get with my analysis of this article. I feel unsatisfied with this analysis but without knowledge of the programs he spoke of (Flash ActionScript, Director's Lingo, Perl, MAX, JavaScript, C ++) then I cannot make an appropriate and educated response to the article.

Article

Attention Team Manovich!

I will be using the article "Generation Flash"!

blog #2 -- Virtual Community

My group of friends in high school were what people would call "nerds" ... or more specifically "computer geeks". The group was large and consisted of both boys and girls. The boys (and a few girls, including myself), would often LAN together on weekends. Counterstrike, Starcraft, Doom, Battlefield 1942 and even DanceDance Revolution were among the games we would play.

In addition, we would go to movies, discuss events, debate various issues, have BBQs etc.

As my friends became more tech savvy and web savvy, they decided to start an online forum called "Stupid-Trash.net". The forum was not only intended for the discussion of computer games and tech questions but was a virtual manifestation of the unique group of friends we had.

The forum was divided into various topics such as: "Gaming", "Tech questions", "For Sale", "Religious Debate", "Dreams", "Hang Outs", "Randomosity" etc.

The forum had a place for each of our friends to be able to participate in and communicate with one another.

Often, the forum would turn into discussions of "what happened last night at the LAN party" or "are you going to so and so's house". These topics would only make sense to those within our group of friends. While anyone had access to the forum, it would have been hard for someone to understand the conversations happening unless they knew the group, or a subset of the group, personally.

If a stranger to the community had stumbled upon the site and wanted to join the next LAN party, they might face some obstacles because a) they dont know us and b) we dont know them, so we would be less likely to extend the invitation to the stranger because they have no tie or 'meat space' connection with the group.

If the person happened to be a friend of mine, then I would be able to vouch for them and invite them to the LAN.

The real barrier with this community was knowing its members in 'meat space'. Without that connection, it would be hard for someone to jump in on a conversation or get invited to a LAN etc.

Blog #1 -- CYBERSPACE

In the introduction to Michael Benedikt's article "Cyberspace: first steps" -- he basically states that since William Gibson's introduction of the word "cyberspace" in 1984, it has had certain negative connotations tied to it. Benedikt said, "An unhappy word [cyberspace], perhaps, if it remains tied to the desperate, dystopic vision of the near future found in the pages of Neuromancer (1984) and Count Zero (1987)..."

I understand that, perhaps, the above definition of cyberspace was exactly the kind of thinking Benedikt was trying to unravel in this article...but I personally, still associate 'cyberspace' with impending 'dystopia'.

Let us first define 'Dystopia':

–noun

a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.

While I feel the web in a great place to gather an array of knowledge and communicate with the like-minded (or the unlike-minded) etc. I feel there are MANY aspects of the web which are leading to "oppression" and for some "misery".

Take the events of China vs Google -- China was having it's google search engine censored, to disallow people from searching certain topics or accessing certain sites. This kind of censorship is absolutely an oppression of the ability of the Chinese to use the web freely.

If the internet/web did not exist, than this need to 'control' it would not exist. The pure existence of the internet opens doors for people, governments, companies etc. to control, censor, regulate, and restrict the level of access that others have.

Let's talk about the 'misery' aspect of 'dystopia'. Social networking sites, such as Facebook, are causing anxiety and misery for some who are concerned about privacy issues. People, unfamiliar with personal privacy settings etc., are experiencing anxiety about the level of information others can see about them. Many employers are using social networking sites to view the pages of potential candidates. If someone tags a questionable photo of you on facebook and an employer comes across it and finds it offensive, then that persons job opportunity may become jeopardized....causing misery.

To me, each time a new media is created, it creates new problems to be solved. To say that the web is all peachy and wonderful is to be ignorant. While the internet can be a wonderful thing we must not overlook the issues it in turn creates.

Non-Assignment Post

I have only been in Washington state for about 5 days and 4 days of those have been spent at WSU-TC. I can already tell that I am going to be extremely pleased with the curriculum of each of my courses this semester!

I feel that each of my courses contain at least some information that can be applied to the other.

For example: today in DTC 475 -- we briefly touched on Science Fiction and its origins and implication in regards to todays technology. In my Eng 339 course -- we are going to be watching Forbidden Plane, a classic sci-fi film.

I am interested to see how the continuing discussions of Cyberspace/technology (and it's origins) might overlap with discussions of sci-fi filmography in ENG 339.

This post, of course, is completely unrelated to the Assignment for Friday. But I wanted to get these thoughts out before my next class!

-hannah

Happy 1st blog entry!

Hello!

My name is Hannah Goodman and I am currently a Digital Technology & Culture major at WSU-TC.

I spent the past 3 years studying Cinema and Television Arts at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) in Los Angeles.

Recently, the ENTIRE Cal State University system faced a $41 MILLION dollar BUDGET CUT. Yes, you read that right -- $41million! What does that mean for CSU students? Increase in tuition AND cuts in programs (meaning, fewer classes offered).

As a 23 year old student from Washington, I just could not afford the tuition and expensive rent (and I mean EXPENSIVE....we are talking $750/month for a roach infested studio and rowdy neighbors!).

My solution? Head on home to the Tri-Cities and finish up at WSU-TC. Although the transfer back to Washington from California cost me about 25 upper division credits, I know that my wallet and my sanity will be grateful.

It is going to be an interesting transition back to small(ish) town life from big city living -- but this decision was what I needed to get my education complete, and that is my top priority at this point in my life.

If you would like to read more about the CSUN budget cuts...visit this link: http://sundial.csun.edu/2009/07/budget-cuts-unexpectedly-take-away-classes-that-students-need-to-graduate/

Los Angeles can be a wonderful place for students hoping to go into the media and entertainment industries. I would be more than happy to share my knowledge with anyone who may be interested in going down that path!

Hmm -- that is my recent academic life in a nutshell. I look forward to reading everyones blogs!

See you tomorrow!