Monthly Archives: September 2014

Readings 08: Watts + our small worlds

Reading 08.1

In The Science of a Connected Age, Watts introduces us to the idea or small worlds, or as we will come to learn, small groups. He talks about the frequently forgotten enabler of our connectivity: the power system. This certainly made me chuckle, as I can certainly attest to taking this entire system for granted which allows me to perform my networked tasks which have engrained themselves in my day to day life. I don’t think I have physically looked at a power line in years. In fact, I grew up in a suburb in A.C.T where a key selling point was that the power lines were run underground and forced out of sight (and out of mind). But as Adrian has reminded us a few times this semester, we constantly bathe in an extraordinary sea of mobile data and radio waves. Just because we can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. This Gizmodo article shows images from an artist who worked in collaboration with an astrobiologist to show us what the world might look like if we could see these wireless signals.

Image via Casey Chan

Image via Casey Chan

 

The power system is arguably the most essential technological feature of the modern world… Without power, pretty much everything we do, everything we use, and everything we consume would be nonexistent, inaccessible, or vastly more expensive and inconvenient.”

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Symposium 09: The storytelling ecosystem

ecosystem services collapsing

Image via flickr user Martin Sharman

Stories in networked spaces can potentially be disparate connections of ‘bits’. The whole art of working in this space is to think about how these parts can come together to form something different that the sum of its parts. That’s what an ecosystem is: structures and patterns from individual parts – whether that be nature with its flora and fauna, or the online terrain of blogs or hypertext systems.

What’s interesting is that in these ecosystems, scale does not matter. Just because a tree may be the biggest in size, does to mean it’s the most important thing. Each part brings its own importance and diversity to the system. There is no privilege, no hierarchy, and most importantly, no centre. As Jason told us, we grow up thinking there is a centre to everything. This worldview is problematic, and makes it harder to adjust to the mindset that is more appropriate in understanding ecosystems. Everything intercommunicates in complex and interesting ways. However, there is no way of predicting in advance which parts will come to matter, and why this is the case. As Adrian reminds us, it’s only in the doing that these structures and relationships form.

In the symposium, we talked about Cowbird being a good example of the above.  This website, which is a “public library of human experience” takes individual’s stories and collates them into what Adrian calls a ‘soup’ of story, images and videos. These stories then shift from being a distinct island unto themselves, and start having relations with other stories. The story then grows as a consequence to these relations, out of the control of the author.

I asked whether this is similar to Twitter, which brings together information in a somewhat similar way. However, we discussed that Twitter is a timebound stream, which is more ephemeral in nature. You can aggregate and communicate with likeminded people, but it’s not a curatorial space. Hashtags, however, are a little bit more about curation and collation, but it is ultimately different from the above kind of ecosystem.

Mixed Media Creative Critical Essay Draft

This essay (draft) uses applied knowing (knowing through doing) to demonstrate the network literacy I have acquired throughout the RMIT University course Network Media.

I will then talk about the repercussions that the radically changing cycle of media as we know it will have on my role as a professional media-maker and influencer.

I believe the key components to participating as a peer in the network are:

Trackbacks 03

Apple gives us a run-down of the Oracle of Kevin Bacon we spent time discussing in the symposium this week. She explains that technology is bringing the world together and making it a smaller place. I think it’s so sad that the ‘unconnected’ are so easily forgotten in sweeping statements like this. Three of five people in the world still do not have access to the Internet. We are so easily blind to the reality of information inequality. As can be seen in the late modern world, access to the digital world is closely connected to power and who wields this power. The disparity between those who are ‘media rich’ and those who are ‘media poor’ raise issues of technological infrastructure, or lack thereof. It’s something I’m very interested in – the idea of information rich countries and information poor countries who might be disadvantaged by their inability to access  the online realm.

Kate talks all about copyright in her blog post, making a really interesting observation that so often copyright is discussed with negative connotations (such as copyright infringement, or copyright limitations). Instead, I’m on Lessig’s team and think we should be moving more towards a celebration of all that copyright can allow, especially in the field of creative commons which can contribute to some amazing cultural movements such as remix culture and rewrite culture.  

Nicola tackles the idea of technological neutrality – something I’m still grappling with myself. She thinks that technology is neutral, until picked up and used by a human. I think that it’s a lot more complex than this, with debates around technological determinism and the relationship between technology and culture continuing to stump me with each new reading.

Study study study

This week I want to have a look at how I study. I want to articulate what works for me and what doesn’t.

In one of our Network Media labs, Betty had us try a Pomodoro study session – that is, an intense, distraction-free, concentrated period of studying for 25 minutes, followed by a 5 minute break.

This is a technique I’ve been using for about a year now, after the Apple App WorkBurst was recommended to me by a friend. I find this type of study really effective because it is essentially reward-based, offering a break after a period of mental exertion. This kind of bargaining always works with me, and I generally use the five minute break to watch videos on YouTube or stretch my legs before returning to a period of intense work.

Next I want to talk about co-studying. This is a concept which I love. Basically, it involves two or more individuals meeting up to study alone, together. I have a few friends who I routinely call on for this kind of silent motivation. Having someone do the same activity as me makes me want to continue studying both for them and for myself. I usually like to do this kind of study at a cafe or in a library with friends.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the things about study which I find the hardest to do – and that is, put simply, just starting. This is the absolute, 100% most difficult part for me. It often results in me procrasti-sleeping, procrasti-eating, procrasti-cleaning and of course, procrasti-television-watching.

That’s when this generally comes in handy:

Trackbacks 02

Amy talks about the Murphie + Potts reading from week 7, creating a link between her Communication Histories and Technologies class and Networked Media. I have to agree with her, and note that some of my favourite parts of my Professional Communication course at RMIT has been running into these moments where things seem to beautifully collide and interact, helping inform me of a more holistic way to understand the world which I inhabit. An example of when this happened was after learning about Anderson’s theory of Imagined Communities in a first-year politics class, and then going on to use it for communication theory in several further classes such as Communication Debates & Approaches, and the course Understanding the Modern World at City University when I was on exchange. I hope that I continue this trend of interdisciplinary lifelong learning long after I graduate.

Ashleigh reflects on how much private information she surrenders in a simple Instagram post. This reminds me of an article I read last month which shows how easily Google Maps collects geodata on your locations and movement, and how quickly this information is pieced together to show meaningful information and patterns. #BIGDATA

Image via MemeGenerator

Amongst some on-point fashion analysis of Networked Media’s finest, Luke discusses Symposium 06 and gives a run down on the debate of art vs technology, and some observations on Nelson and his musings. Can we also just talk about how good his post on potato peelers is?!

Readings 07

Old New Media Readings

Readings 07.1

Art, technology and culture – which came first?

Murphie + Potts pose the following questions in this week’s readings:

How do we live with technology? What impact does it have on our lives? How should we concieve of technology? Are technologies neutral in themselves, that is, does the way in which they are used determine their cultural impact? Or do technologies have intrinsic properties that shape the cultures into which they are introduced?” (p.11)

Here are some definitions which helped me navigate through the readings.

Technology: the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry; machinery and equipment developed from scientific knowledge.

Culture:  the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively; the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society.

So does technology change the way we act, or is the way we act changing technology???

Readings 07.2

Shields and collage:

  • Collage as an evolution beyond narrative.
  • The law of mosaics: how to deal with parts in the absence of wholes.
  • The absence of plot leaves the reader room to think about other things.
  • Story seems to say that everything happens for a reason, and I want to say, no, it doesn’t.
  • You don’t make art; you find it.
  • The gaps between paragraphs the gaps between people

The only thing of worth you can learn from mine is that the spaces between words deserves to shine.” – Session & The Bear