Category Archives: Student Blogs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q8wN3IF3-I

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z50uosps5fkhra7/Author.docx

@JaredAbrahamWSU

For my first project I decided to work on a video game remix. I was trying to decide what game I should remix. Should I do something like Call of Duty, or something a little darker? The game I chose to remix is Batman: Arkham Asylum. The reason I chose this game is because there were many more characters that could be used as inspiration, and the character I decided to focus on was the Joker. I chose the joker because he is ambiguous and unpredictable. You never know what he is going to do, because he is crazy.

I edited the project in VideoPad. My gaming console doesn’t have internet capabilities, so what I had to do was download someone else’s captured gameplay and edite it to completely change it to make my point. In the original video there was very heroic music playing in the background, but I didn’t like that because the Joker is not a hero. The Joker is a villain and the music should reflect the different characteristics of that character. The song I chose is, Piano Piece #1, Op. 23. The reason I chose this was because it was written using a 12-tone technique. I expect not many people will like my choice of music, but that is what I want. The joker is not a character that for which you should root, he is someone to despise. Another way that helps the video be unpleasant is the blurry quality. This was unintentional at first, but I decided that it helped get my point across.

I am going to copy and paste my essay onto here, seeing as the storage space on the site is full so it’s not letting me upload anything larger than 2KB… sorry!

Honor Stevenson

Remediation of Computers through Cellphone Access

            Smartphones, tablets, and touchscreens, oh my.

The 21^st century has brought a plethora of communication mediums to the forefront. These mediums are more convenient for the everyday person, and in turn have created more efficient methods of communication. Remediation, as defined by Bolter and Grusin, is “the representation of one medium in another” (78.) So, the convenience of these gadgets, along with the remediation of older mediums creates an integrated and more fulfilling experience for the user. But the question is, with the recent access to the internet these “new media” have gained, how has the computer’s interface and interactivity been changed?  The striking similarities and advancements made within the newest media show how the computer has been integrated in to the phone and essentially upgraded into computers on a portable scale. This remediation has been made possible by first, the integration of computer aspects onto phones, then by the presentation of media within a phone, and finally with the inclusion of phones in web-based media. So, to find the changes in the computer’s interface, one must look to the ways which smartphones have contributed to the progression of media.

The integration of computer’s aspects onto phones has propelled and shaped the way users receive their information. According to Bolter and Grusin, authors of Remediation: Understanding New Media, media are constantly evolving and remediating mediums that came before them (79.) Directly reflecting this is the transition from computers to smartphones. This change can be attributed to the programs which were once solely found on the computer’s interface, now becoming a part of the smartphone. A scholarly article written on the comparison of smartphones and PCs in South Korea states, that the GUI now found on smartphones increasingly resembles that of a PC computer (2.) This, according to authors Yu and Yook reflects the portability demanded by the majority of the Korean population. The authors also mention the introduction of RIM(Research in Motion) technology added to the first smart phones in 2004. Both of these reflect how the phone has become just as capable as a computer, but added itself to create a new interface for media formally solely accessible through computers.

The constant change in the way information is presented, because of the evolving media Bolter and Grusin refer to, has molded a generation’s opinion on what those people find intriguing. No longer does one read a newspaper article with no pictures, but an eye catching new article is remediated with 3D graphics, video, and color all to assist in conveying the message, as stated in the lecture “Remediation” by Brenda Grell. This realization brings to play the reasons behind the formatting of media in the cellular format. Bolter and Grusin agree that the intermingling of mediums into one product can create a whole new experience for the recipient and in turn convey a potentially different or more dull message than each medium separately. So, the compact and colorful way which icons appear on the phone is just one of many ways smartphones are visually becoming a medium of their own and transforming computers. These icons represent programs and applications which at one time were the computer’s sole possession, are now altered to become a part of a smartphone. The intermediacy is apparent as reflected by the addition of the programs and visual needs to create a more appealing product for the user.

Web-based media is on the most prominent way which the intermediacy of computers has been altered by smartphones. Today, the internet must be compatible on a small smartphone’s screen, and one often finds that the web pages are identical as the format reflects the intermediacy of the media. This is because smart phones have become so popular, that successful communication must include cellular access. In fact, according to Yu and Yook’s study, in South Korea alone 79% of the population currently own a smartphone which they actively use. Assuming the smartphone usage is reflected similarly across the world, many businesses and sights have added a purely mobile aspect to their web pages. Simply the altered layout on a phone, though containing the same media as a computer is a remediation, simply because the smaller screens require more condensation of information for the speed and convenience of the user. As this format has changed and integrated each aspect of a webpage, it creates its own portable media that is altering the interface of computers because they must create phone-accessible pages, and in turn make their computer pages more desirable so the computer audience are compelled to view the screen or use the program on a computer with all its intricacies rather than on a smartphone.

Overall, changes due to the remediation of the computer’s interface and intermediacy have been evident because of smart phones. Though these phones are the new platform for efficient information, computers are still striving to make themselves a desirable and needed media as the phone still does not have the full visual aspect of a computer. Bolter and Grusin’s theory of remediation has held true in this instance, and it is evident that smartphones are the new media which has emerged from the evolution of the computer. But the question if smartphones will totally replace computers, as their theory would suggest, remains to be seen. The changes seen in the computer are positive, as they have helped remediate further for the benefit of the user. All in all, if this progression of media continues, each media will continue to shape and evolve each other for the good of all.

Bibliography

Grell, Brenda. “Remediation.” Washington State University Vancouver, Vancouver, Wa. 29 Jan. 2013. Lecture.

Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin. Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1999. 295 Pp.

Yu, Jinhwan, and Jooyeon Yook. The Study on the Conversed Remediation between Old and New Media of Smart Phone and PC in South Korea. Waset.org. World Academy of Science, Engineering, and Technology, 20 June 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.

@chrisdtc101

For this week’s blog post I chose to focus on the electronic literature piece “Shy Boy” by Thom Swiss. “Shy Boy” is a poem written to be read and experienced on a computer rather than just as text on a piece of paper. In “Shy Boy” the words appear on the screen in intervals, with one line appearing every few seconds. The screen does not just show the words though. It also has varying shades of gray and black around the lines of the poem with lines often appearing at different places on top of or around the shaded patches on the screen. Every few lines, the words disappear off the screen in some way. For example, when the line “He’s melting” appears on the screen, the words fall from their place to the bottom of the screen while also slowly fading or “melting” away from view. There is also music faintly playing in the background while we read the poem. This music allows us to focus more than one of our senses on the piece of literature. Not only are we reading the words that appear on the screen, but we’re also listening to the music that accompanies it.

Katherine Hayles says that “Unlike a print book, electronic literature literally cannot be accessed without running code” (Hayles 1). In the case of “Shy Boy”, we would be unable to experience all parts of the poem without the running code that allows the words to appear and then disappear and that lets us hear music play while we follow along with the poem. Because “Shy Boy” can only be fully accessed with running code, it is considered electronic literature and not print.

My idea was to create a video with still photos to explain what electronic literature is.  I used a digital camera to take the pictures and I uploaded them onto the computer in sets. Then I put them in the order I wanted and organized it on imovie. The quality did turn out too great since I was moving the camera slightly when taking pictures and it sometimes make it harder to read descriptions. If I do something like this again, I should try to find a way to keep the camera still. After having written the “what is literature part,” I decided on a song and how I would organize the rest of the movie. I decided on can-can because it was a short song and I thought of this as something that would go at a fast speed. Though, part way through, it seemed to go too fast and it was hard to fit parts in that went with the music. My idea to organize this was to look like I was getting information out of the computer answering my question with a definition. I scribbled it out to show it in a more exciting way. My goal was to focus on describing three things, which were hypertext, interactive fiction, and computer games. Then I showed what they looked like. I learned that there are many different genres and styles for electronic literature. I found it interesting to view some of the hypertext stories and see how they worked.

Authoring Project 1

Here is my essay. The website says that my powerpoint is too big to put on.