Group items tagged

In Bruce Sterling's excerpts from Shaping things, I kind of felt like he didn't spend enough time talking about privacy or security in a world of things that are always on and connected. So after searching "spimes" with keywords like "security", I found this article on an online magazine called "Government Technology" (of course). But the article did bring up some valid points about security regarding the "internet of things". My only question is how do we maintain privacy in a secure world of the "internet of things. Is it possible to have both? The idea of spumes is exciting and there is no denying the positive potential, but what do we have to sacrifice for convenience? Lohrmann, Dan. "Can We Secure the Internet of Things?" Government Technology. February 25, 2014 http://www.govtech.com/security/Can-We-Secure-the-Internet-of-Things.html

As mentioned in Siva Vaidhyanathan's reading portion "Open Source as Culture/ Culture as Open Source", computer scientist Richard Stallman began developing the pursuit of the Free Software Foundation. During the 1970s and 1980s, Stallman was working for MIT, he "set out to establish" this foundation that would help "prove that good tools and technologies could emerge from a community of concerned creators" (26). The link I provided is for the "about" section on the Free Software Foundation's current website. I thought this might help provide more insight about the program and offer information regarding their goals and work to keep the public free and in charge of their own computer monitoring. Free Software Foundation, Inc., "Free Software Foundation: About." Last modified 2014. Accessed February 5, 2014. https://www.fsf.org/about/.

Thanks for building out a link to this site, there's a lot of rich connections that continue to be relevant, perhaps more recognizably today with copyright concerns surrounding audio and visual media.

Described by new media artist Alexander Galloway as " simultaneously an introduction to and a retrospective of net art" this turn of the millenium collection of net.art was put together by ZKM, a German art, technology and culture institute dedicated to interdisciplinary and international collaborations.

Documentation of one of several "satellite art" projects that emerged in the late 1970s and early 80s. Artists taking advantage of residency opportunities with NASA to access various telecommunications networks! Here a project of Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz, a platform for this duo's query "what can people separated by distance do together through technology?" --- this 'sculpture' is fascinating to me in the ways that it illustrates the allure of contact, the social practice of technology. Of course the novelty-spectacle of an activity that is now commonplace is also humorous! "Excerpts from a Hole-in-Space - the mother of all video chats" posted by Larry Press March 15, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSMVtE1QjaU Accessed February 7, 2014

Linus Torvalds is one of the principal forces behind the development of the LINUX kernal and now acts as the coordinator for the project. He has also been responsible for the development of several other pieces of software, such as Git, a revision control system, and Subsurface, which is a logging program used by single- and multi-tank divers. He is the winner of numerous awards given in recognition of his contributions, including the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize, and was one of the first inductees into the Internet Hall of Fame. Wikimedia Foundation. "Linus Torvalds." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds (accessed February 7, 2014).

This is a testimonial by Debra Michaels, who discusses her first experience with cyber-rape and addresses various other forms and sites dedicated to virtually satisfying violent fantasies. Technology has allowed us to transport our consciousness through space, which intern allows us to be victims of emotional crimes. This article is just further evidence of that very fact. Michaels also discusses how these behaviors are parodies of real life behaviors, and that those behaviors, though done in a virtual world should still have a consequence.

This article lays out a semi-realistic landscape of the closer future of the internet of things. The provided infographic is a barrage corporate logos separated into sections of lifestyle and platforms. The image itself is a little disturbing, putting into mind a close future surrounded by a cloud of companies, infiltrating our homes with even more information invading our privacy. That being said I liked this article in particular because it did not have a cynical view of the internet of things and did not suggest we judge the validity of the technology on the worst case scenario. I think it's important to be paranoid, but not so much as to stall progress. Turck, Matt. "Making Sense Of The Internet Of Things" Tech Crunch. May 35, 2013. Accessed March 19, 2014. http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/25/making-sense-of-the-internet-of-things/

A few thoughts --the infographic begs for better design, so too the implementation of IoT? Perhaps pronoiac view is happy medium to achieve here ---- Progressive paranoia, or "pronoia" was an outlook popularized amongst cybernetic countercultures of the 1990s. General concept was that "universe is conspiring on your behalf"

  After reading Alexander Galloway's Countergaming chapter from his book, I wanted to see some examples of artist-made game mods. I Youtubed video game mods and discovered a Youtube channel called 'Vsauce'. Vsauce is run by internet personality Michael Stevens who posts videos that discuss and answer questions about scientific topics, gaming, technology, culture, and more. The video I found about game mods was called Top 7 Video Game Mods: V-LIST #6. As a person that doesn't do a lot of gaming, I found it pretty interesting to see the mods in action. The coolest thing in the video was a guy who is building a working 16bit arithmetic computer. I don't know if it can technically be considered a mod at all, but it is pretty impressive regardless. The implications of stuff like this brings me back to the Galloway reading which ponders the future of video gaming and a as of now unrealized independent gaming movement. "Top 7 Video Game Mods: V-LIST #6 " Posted by Vsauce. Sep 30, 2010. Accessed March 19, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaTsPvyTCLQ

In Shaping Things, Bruce Sterling identifies RFID or "arphids" as key technological development that enables his imagined objects, "spimes," to function. This video, "Zapped!," by Preemptive Media, provides an easy to understand history of RFID tags, how they're used, for better and worse. The video concludes with the group's own tactical interventions using RFID equipped insects. My main impetus to post it here is to help illuminate the technology and, in doing so, make Sterling's Spimes concept more tangible. "Zapped! by Preemptive Media. Posted April 30, 2008 by Heidi Kumao. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIDClPlKHzE Accessed March 19, 2014

My research paper will be dealing with The Internet of things. Specifically, I am interested in the many obstacles in the way of everything actually becoming connected to the Internet. "7 Big Problems with the Internet of Things" takes a skeptical and realistic look at-you guessed it-seven of these obstacles. 1. The first problem is the many new security challenges that will be created. Getting a computer virus is bad enough, but giving hackers and criminals access to everything in your daily life is a whole other ballgame. 2. Another issue is that with the increasing amount of incoming data, it will be more and more challenging for businesses to perform their normal processes because of availability requirements. 3. The next issue, which many skeptics are worried about, is privacy. This one is linked to the security issue and already is becoming a problem with connected devices today. 4. Data storage is something that has already become an issue for large Internet companies like Google and Facebook. If everything is connected to the Internet, where will we store all of that data and can the existing infrastructure even handle that kind of overload? 5. Making all of this extra data available to everyone all of the time is a data management problem that may be hard to navigate. 6. Businesses that are managing data from a multitude of devices will have to significantly upgrade their server technologies. 7. Storing data at a single location will probably not be possible. Bandwidth requirements will exceed existing data centers. Though the article didn't cover all of the issues, it provided a good list of issues for me to look into as I move forward with my paper. Roe, David. "7 Big Problems with the Internet of Things" CMS Wire. http://www.cmswire.com/cms/internet-of-things/7-big-problems-with-the-internet-of-things-024571.php?pageNum=2

The FCC has ruled that Internet Service Providers (ISPs), such as Comcast and Verizon, are permitted to charge internet companies (Netflix and Youtube, for example) a fee to enable high-speeds for their users. The FCC has determined it is legal for an ISP to determine the amount of bandwidth given to websites. The implication to this ruling is that these websites will be forced to pay additional fees to ISPs in order for their websites to have continued or improved streaming speeds. Unfortunately for consumers of the Internet (i.e. everyone on earth), the costs websites pay for improved bandwidth will be passed on to them. The FCC's ruling gives mega-corporations the ability to censor, control and influence the Internet. The open Internet as we know it is dead. Net neutrality is dead. Wyatt, Edward. "In Policy Shift, F.C.C. Will Allow a Web Fast Lane." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.

Radical Software was created in the 1970s by Beryle Korot, Phyllis Gershuny, and Ira Shneider to create a network of video sharing. This site has PDF files of the Eleven issues published and distributed by Radical software between the years 1970 and 1974. The website also provides the history of The Raindance Corporation which was created in 1969 by a radical media activist and artist by the name of Frank Gillette. The general Idea behind Raindance Corporation was to created a collection of works and ideas for "implementing communication tools in the project for social change." The website also discusses in detail the intent of Radical Software and fight towards creating a world of free and accessible information.

thanks, this is an excellent example of primary source document, the actual artifact providing visual detail of its historical context that escapes easy translation. This site is equipped with a well organized search and browse function, too!

Powell's website has gone through a number of changes over the years, one of the most noticed changes is that their icon, remaining in the upper-left corner, has changed multiple times since 1998. The date of the website I posted is from 2000, and I think it fits the time of the technology available. This site does look "old", which is why I think all of these sites have been entertaining to revisit. It's set up in a fairly simple construct, there is nothing flashy or attention-grabbing about the text font. There's a strip of colored tabs at the top of the screen that I feel like I've seen many times before, like on a library or a middle school website. Websites now seem to have more engaging elements whether is motion graphics, or the design is just more complicated and intriguing. This site is pretty text heavy; there are minimal graphics so it just looks like a wall of black text, there isn't a lot that is keeping me interested. Images are small and don't offer visual representation of the store. The text is all in slightly different sized Times New Roman, even in the links or the pages as I'm navigating around the site. I haven't found any sound or multimedia. Toward the bottom of the page there is an option for "free stuff" for either a mac or a pc. The Powell's Bookstore name and icon remain in the same place on the site.

This is an intriguing site for its connection locally to Portland and I think also of the struggles of so many "brick-and-mortar" bookstores in face of online bookselling. More particular as a case study for media archeology, the lackluster design elements of this artifact, as you point out, a (constrained) aesthetic familiar to many early websites --- the 'bells and whistles' arrving via text centric gimmicks--- contests and 'free stuff', rather than visual appeals.

We can see that this website looks like it dates from the late 90s/early 2000s and targets a younger audience due to the style of text used in the header (the 3-D text and the star to dot the 'i') and the overall basic layout that makes use of a more generic type face. All of the information that can be found on the site is hyperlinked on the left side of the page, and when one hovers over each link a colored, square icon spells out the name of the link letter by letter. Compared to contemporary websites, this effect seems to be more of a glitch than a cool, new use of technology. Also to note are some of the terms used throughout the site, including "cool stuff" being listed as the first hyperlink in the left column of the site, as well as the small add for sweet16.com found in the center of the page. A less sophisticated typeface is used in this ad and we see a flower in place of a '.' between sweet16 and com. It is also described as 'The freshest place to party!'. There's only one picture on the right hand side of the text, of a younger Britney Spears in a lace up leather crop top (much different than the fashion style she wears today) and there's a tie dye like pattern in the background of the website that further emotes the style of the late 90s and early 2000s.

Thanks for the thoughtful analysis of the design elements --- as you describe, they seem aligned with visual trends of their recent historical context and also point towards a particular audience. The presence of ads is often a helpful hint when decoding the target audience of a website. It's interesting to me, as well, that this early website is identified as Britney's own "welcome to my official website," the use of language implies she is responsible directly for the content. ---more recently I suppose its implied that she's professional enough, or more of a brand than person, to rely on that sort of gimmick to connect with her audience (?)

I found this a little unusual and not exactly what I was expecting for part of my Meta-Data links. But I thought it was relative and intriguing. The reading section titled "Half-Inch Tape Network" discussed the interaction between guerrilla tape and media and commercial cable programs. Points of interest surfaced about the development from the first television to cable to video cassettes and the underground distribution of tapes. "The half-inch tape network has strong similarities to the shape and ambitions of the Internet, which was being developed at that same time, and one might easily see the similarities between the 'alternative channels' created by the half-inch tape network and websites like YouTube" (15 of 20). This research lead me to find the launch of the VHS mode permitted to some YouTube videos in honor of the video cassette's 57th birthday. In the article(s) provided, each mentions something about the warping of visuals in the video, white flecks and a kind of buzzing that is featured. I have also provided a link to an example of the VHS mode on a YouTube video. Prigg, Mark. Mail Online, "Google reveals new 'VHS mode' for YouTube as video tape celebrates 57th birthday." Last modified April 16, 2013. Accessed February 5, 2014. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2309482/Google-reveals-new-VHS-mode-YouTube-video-tape-celebrates-57th-birthday.html. LINK FOR VIDEO EXAMPLE: http://youtu.be/wbesAd3YxaE?t=38s LINK FOR ANOTHER WEBSITE'S INFO: http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/15/youtube-adds-tape-mode-to-select-videos-in-celebration-of-video-casette-recorders-57th-birthday/

This is an advertisement for the SAGE computer system, one of key military-academic-industrial research endeavors discussed in the Fred Turner reading. The advertisement provides a good audio-visual elaboration of the inter-dependent aspects of a cybernetic system. There are also various technological artifacts present, including light guns and reactive screens. "IBM SAGE Computer AD, 1960" Posted by chiklit Dec. 29, 2009. Accessed February 6, 2014

This animated video by designer Melih Bilgil provides a concise, relatively easy to understand motion graphic animation about the Internet's infrastructure. Key technological inventions are detailed with a series of highly legible icons that Bilgil developed while studying Communication Design. Faced with inherently technical and sometimes challenging descriptions of various networking protocols and systems, this narrated visualization is an effective supplement to the histories relayed in the Cybernetic Counterculture texts. Melih Bilgil. "History of the Internet" Vimeo posted 2009. https://vimeo.com/2696386 Accessed February 11, 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2GRAVpbDds Somewhat related