Author Archives: jkaiser

@joe5joe7

E-literature pieces provide a fascinating ability to re-conceptualize stories we already know in a way that gives us a different or enhanced understanding of the story. The E-lit piece “Red riding hood” provides us with the story of little red riding hood in a way that only and E-lit piece can, a way that provides us with interaction within the story. Unlike a classic story that is told solely from the person telling the story, this medium allows the author to put some story control in the hands of the viewer. This makes it far more interesting, adding significantly to the depth of the piece. In addition to this unlike a story that is a strict progression of cause to effect, this medium allows for the story to be told in a myriad of ways with an indeterminate ending.

Another affordance of the medium is the ability to engage more senses than a regular story, and actually grants the author more control over what the viewer feels. In a book or short story the viewer is free to conjure up whatever mental images they want, however an E-lit piece allows the author to control every aspect of the experience, from the images to the sound. This can provide much more of an atmosphere than a simple story can. All of these aspects differ significantly from  a regular book, however the goal is the same. This is merely a different medium through which authors accomplish the same thing, but this puts more tools at their disposal.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/KrGxoOY7tmg

For my Authoring project I decided to use the medium of DOTA 2. This game is what’s known as a “E-Sport” which means that it is played competitively around the world be teams for money. I thought that it would be an interesting comparison to take the commentary from a sport (in this case soccer) and set it over some clips from a “professional” Dota 2 player. I discovered through watching some of these videos that the announcers for actual Dota 2 events sound actually very similar to the announcers for sports, and that the composition didn’t feel wholly out of place.

Adding the sports commentary gives the game a bit more gravitas, conveying and Aura on the piece that’s different than it’s original. ESports are not really recognized as “real” sports, so giving it the same treatment as one changes your perception. This game contains many of the same elements as a “real” sport; for example it’s team based and the players can make a living on it. I discovered that the audio actually managed to line up fairly well when I edited it down, and the similarity to DOTA 2 announcers took me by surprise.

@joe5joe7

I do not believe that the Star Wars Saga violates copyright for a number of reasons, namely that it doesn’t affect the market share of Star Wars. Since it’s a video on youtube with a fairly small number of views and can in no way be considered a substitute for the original work. Another factor to consider is the nature of this work compared to the original. While this work emphasizes the musical score (not from Star Wars) and utilizes the video clips from Star Wars merely to provide emphasis. In addition to both of these it only uses a very small fraction of the original work. Given the fact that there is also a lack of the Star Wars movies sounds in the clip it conveighs a very different message than the one that the movies did.

The Star Wars fan video is not a copyright violation for a different reason entirely. A copyright only protects the actual thing, not the idea of the copyrighted work. Since the fan film didn’t use any of the actual footage or names, they should be free of any legal trouble. There is a slight question though about the fonts and logos that they used; specifically the ones for the production companies. Last I checked the criteria for copyrights on that was whether they could be confused for the company in question, and Fox and Lucas Films could easily make a case that this is the case.

This picture struck me as I was looking around google maps. I found the ambulence, and I began following it, curious as to where it was going. Eventually I came across this scene, a scene with multiple facetes that I couldn’t analyses them immediatly. As Walter Benjamin said “This constitutes the shock effect of the film, which, like all shocks, should be cushioned by heightened presence of mind.” Pictures and films have a unique ability to give you an almost unfiltered view of an instance. This picture takes place in Chile, in what is quite possibly a dangerous part of town. The photograph is taken from a place where there is no feasible way for me to get the picture, and yet there it is.

Photography is pure, this is a pure view of this place, of these people. But while it’s a pure view, it’s only of an instance. We have no way of knowing if the ambulance was in a rush to help someone that was injured, or what the story of the family on the left is. You can almost feel the tension between the two men on the right, photography asks questions but refuses to provide answers. It’s almost maddening how a simple picture can ask so many un answerable  questions.

@joe5joe7

The computer is something that has been with us for years, at least the concept, however only recently has gotten become as general purpose and powerful as they are today. Originally they thought of them as solely for the purpose of computing and doing the very specific formula they are designed to solve. Charles Babbage’s difference engine for example, “Intended to revolutionize computation by mechanizing it.” Over time these became more and more complex, eventually reaching the point where the very concept of something like The Matrix could be thought of.

At it’s core idea, the Memex thought of by Vannevar Bush is designed as an augmentation of life. It’s designed to facilitate receiving information, as well as allowing you to easily share it with others. It’s designed so that any time you need information, all you have to do is reach out and the information is readily available to you. Along those same lines if you have any need to augment the information or change it, that also merely requires reaching out and making the change. The falling lines of code in the Matrix are simply the natural next step along this line of thinking.  Instead of the device augmenting your reality, making it easier to work with, the device is your reality. Unlike the contained nature of the Memex, the falling code of the Matrix is all encompassing, it permeates everything that you see. While Vannevar may be considering “As we may think”, the concept behind the falling lines of code is What we may think.