Tag Archives: DTC 101

Rushkoff’s Commands

@starlingpreston

Rushkoff’s last four commands consist of social, fact, openness, and purpose. The Social Command states, “digital networks are biased towards social connections-towards contact” (99). Therefore, those living without computers are not privy towards this bias. Seeing as this social command emphasizes content and turning friends into a legal setting that makes connections into profit, those without computers are more inclined to see their friends and networks in a non-content view (Rushkoff 99). They see them as people, not profit. The Fact Command looks at how ideas are spread socially, that the most popular ideas are replicated and passed on (Rusfkoff 108). However, “memes” can often be false information that has been misinterpreted and spread (108). Therefore, those without computers are not subject to the false information that is spread via social networks. However, these memes do allow people to connect and spread ideas on a global scale. Rushkoff’s ninth command, Openness, states that digital technology’s resources are “biased towards openness” (121). The line between sharing media on the Internet and stealing ideas becomes blurred. However, a computer does allow for users to share original ideas (such as memes) that can be built upon, one such example is Wikipedia. The tenth command, Purpose, is biased towards those who program or write code (Rushkoff 134). If a person is not programming they risk becoming programmed. Yet, a person without a computer can do neither. Lack of interfacing with technology neither hinders their chances of programming nor increases their chance of becoming programmed.

Media Changes the User

quy_luu

Media use changes the user. I think it is totally true; there are many aspects that indicate this statement. People create their profile perfectly in social network such as Facebook, Twitter or MySpace. Because there are no regulations that indicate people have to have truly and credible accounts, people can be anybody in the online world. Considering the online world as the second life world, people will change a lot about themselves in the second life world, such as lifestyle, personal images and personal appearance; “In the Second Life world, he appeared cooler than in life” (page 125). Besides, online-game environment is another aspect that proves media changes users. As the same way to create personal profile on social network, users or players can actually be totally different people by merging themselves to their modified characters. By playing these characters, people somehow get influences from their games into their realities. “Computer games, I would suggest, model the interaction logic of self-appraisal in a literal manner. In order to be properly motivated to play through a difficult game, the player needs to know she can meaningfully affect the game environment” (page 136). People have to expand their status in order to adapt new environments and new circumstances (page 137). More than that, communication has been shifting by media because of people’s modified profiles. “In other words, our modes of communication impact our concepts of space, place and time; as we change modalities of representation, we also change our human perspective” (page 140). People tend to find someone who have similar their profile for communicating but in reality, those people are actually not who they are. That’s exactly why media actually changes the users in multiple ways.

Redridinghood

The electronic medium has transformed literature in a multitude of ways.  In Donna Leishman’s work, “Redridinghood”, the virtual surface provides a means of visual, touch, audio, and interactive objects.  You are given different options while navigating throughout the story, which allows the viewer to become an active participant in the story.

 

Marshall McLuhan states, “Electronic circuitry profoundly involves men with one another” and “We can no longer build serially, block-by-block, step-by-step, because instant communication insures that all factors of the environment and of experience co-exist in a state of active interplay.” (p.63) Leishman’s piece is a good example of this move away from the step-by-step formal organization, and the growth towards a larger scale human experience and interaction as a group or whole entity, rather than the singular focus of print.

 

The electronic medium has also made it possible to take a classical story and reinvent the manner in which it is told, this gives it the opportunity to once again gain interest by means of a new delivery in a more appealing package. McLuhan says, “The method of our time is to use not a single but multiple models for exploration.”  By using a multi-sensory approach, Leishman is maximizing the experience others have with her story.  It gives the author and audience a more connected experience where proximity is not an issue and interactions are produced.

Blog Week 6, “Shy Boy”

@starlingpreston

Hayles describes “digital born,” as a “first generation digital object created on a computer and usually meant to be read on a computer” (1). The poem, “Shy Boy”, was created using a computer and can only be fully viewed using computer “capabilities” (Hayles 1). “Shy Boy” uses motion, fading colors, and animation to create certain feelings and experiences for the reader. One would not be able to experience the fading of the words, if the poem was a print document. However, by using the animation capability of the computer, the reader is able to experience fading words and associate it with the feeling the shy boy is experiencing, his need to vanish. Furthermore, the motion of the text is not something the reader would be able to experience with a print version. The motion creates an urgency to keep up with the story. The print version would allow the readers to move at their own pace throughout the poem. “Shy Boy,” is a digital born medium that takes advantage of the technological capabilities of computers, while creating interactions between the medium and text. However, as Hayles describes “Shy Boy,” still encompasses the “traditional modes of understanding language,” while being digital (3). Furthermore, the digital work requires code that print work does not need. By using HTML and other programs offered by computers to create work, “Shy Boy,” is truly a digital born piece. Furthermore, it cannot be accessed without “running the code” (Hayles 3).

blog 1-new media

Internet/websites

#dtcv

@samai14

My name is Samai Mendoza I am a freshmen at WSUV. I’m undecided on my major but I’m thinking to major on public affairs. I’m taking this class to satisfy my ucore and it looks fun.

Internet/websites it’s a new media.  There are a lot of things we can find on the internet today from games to social networks to all kinds of information. We can play online games like angry birds and Pac man.  We can also find social networks like Facebook and twitter. Internet is a digital media object because according to the lecture slides the definition of digital is “objects produced with the help of computers” and internet and everything that it holds is obviously produced with the help of computers. Facebook and twitter are “media [that] becomes programmable” (p.27) as Manovich states as a typical new media. Pictures and videos can be shared in Facebook and basically controlled by the person who adds them as the in the numerical representation characteristic explains. You even have to crop the picture when you want to make it your profile picture on Facebook. Facebook is also a new media object according to Manovich in the Variability characteristics because most of the time Facebook upgrades and automatically updates. According to Manovich a new media “web sites are also periodically updated either manually or automatically.” (p.38). Facebook is also an example of modularity because of the use of text characters. Manovich says that new media “consists” of text characters. (p.31) in conclusion” new media is created on computers” (p.46) which is transcoding and Facebook is an example of it. As years go by there would be new media and there will be new expectations to be considered new media and the new media that is today will be old media in a few years.

New Media Object – GoPro Camera

GoPro cameras are becoming some of the most popular and versatile video cameras on the market. They are small, durable, water proof and can record amazing high definition videos and pictures. Another major benefit to these cameras is that they are very simple to use and the quality they produce is truly amazing. According to Manovich, “cinematography, which means writing movement, the essences of cinema is recording and storing data in a material form. The film camera records data on film; a projector reads is off” (pg. 26). The GoPro does just this, but stores the film digitally on a hard drive in the camera, so it can be retrieved later. The GoPro heavily relies on Manovics’s 4th characteristics of new media, Automation. The GoPro auto sets and adjusts white balancing and knows what to do for light levels so you get a very good picture quality with very little effort. The GoPro is basically a computer then a video camera. It does the same functions as any hand held camera, but it’s designed to be slim and easy to use, and that’s why they are so popular. Automation and software is what makes the GoPro such a popular camera for people looking for high quality video and user friendly usability. It automatically stores the data as a MP4 format which is very common for most video editing software so you can easily make videos on any computer. This is a digital media object because we no longer need to shoot video on film to make videos, and the quality has surpassed the possibilities of what film quality could produce.

New Media Object – IPad

The first iPad came to the world on April 2010 and it is obvious example for digital object. It was only about two years since the first iPad released but it shifted the technological human demands to higher levels as a new media. More than that, people are getting close to technological world because of the digital device’s features as iPad and it brings people closer to others by communication developments. Apple Incorporation created iPad and it is small mobile computer with touching operations. It has Numerical Representation as it converts continuous data into numerical representation (Manovich 28); for example, you can view your images on iPhoto that is one of the greatest applications on iPad. There are a lot of features on the iPhoto that you can adjust the image’s color, shadow, angles and you can flat or crop the photo. It also satisfies Modularity; Manovich states “These elements are assembled into large-scale objects but continue to maintain their separate identities” (Manovich 30). We can watch movie on Ipad and movie is the combination between sounds and images. They always have different identities but they all run at the same time. Plus, the World Wide Web is also modular (Manovich 31); the iPad was invented with built-in Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity. That way, you can search any websites on Ipad by Safari. Besides, iPad goes along with Variability as it maintains itself and generates new supporting programs by period updates (Manovich 38).  IPad’s update requirements are established in the App Store and it will alert you when the new updates release. This new media is an amazingly great device that has multiple benefits with reasonable prices.

Week 1 Blog Response

@JaredAbrahamWSU

 

My name is  Jared Abraham. I am a DTC major and am in my first semester at Washington State University Vancouver.

Tablets and smartphones have revolutionized the way we we interact with our  computers, our televisions, and our friends. As well as, giving us instant access to people around the world in an instant. One of the many ways that we are able to  do this is  through applications. Applications, or apps, by using cellular data provided by various phone companies like Sprint and Verizon, have the ability to connect someone from Washington to someone in Rome in a matter of seconds. For instance, Facebook has given everyone who chooses to use it, a window into peoples lives through their status updates. Although Facebook started out as a website only, with the quick rise in popularity of smart devices the social media company has launched several different apps, ranging from the original Facebook app to the Messenger app. Facebook has also purchased some apps launched by different companies like Instagram.

All of these apps have what Lev Manovich calls the principals of new media (The Language of new media, pg.27). some of these principals can be found in Instagram.  For instance, an example of Manovich’s first principal, Numerical Representation (pg. 27) could be Instagram. Instagram is a photo editing app that you can install on your smart device, using algorithm to remove or add noise to or from a photo(pg. 27). Instagram could also be an example of “Modularity” (pg. 30). An example would be the pixels of an image.

It is exciting to think how far technology has advanced in just the past five years. We can only imagine what new innovations and advances will be made in the next five years.