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This is a better article describing how she made her way into sci-fi and a great explanation of Cyborgs within Afro Futurism as metaphors for the struggle of any oppressed within a social power dynamic.

Thanks for sharing these! Now that I see the name, I think that she might have been mentioned by Soda_Jerk, guest artists in another class last semester. I'll put up link to their project, also in realm of Afrofuturism.

Here's an introduction to notion of the mundane reality that "we're all cyborgs now" insight on the extensions of mental and physical abilities from locally based cyborg anthropologist Amber Case. We'll talk more about her ideas in subsequent classes. Amber Case: We're All Cyborgs Now. Filmed December 2010, Posted January 2011, TEDWomen 2010. Accessed February 21, 2014.

This is a study by Amy L. Gonzales and Jeffery T. Hancock on how exposure to Facebook effects self-esteem. The study analyzes the psychological effect on the individuals as they view their personal Facebook profiles. The article then discusses two different possible reactions. The first would be OSA which is Objective Self Awareness, which is a negative response and the other is the Hyperpersonal Model which enhances self-esteem. The study later concludes that since a majority of the content on the users profiles are selected the individuals experience the Hyperpersonal Model, since the individuals have the satisfaction of preserving themselves selectively.

Regina Lynn's commentary Virtual Rape Is Traumatic, but Is It a Crime? discusses the concept of cyber rape, and the position it currently holds in our culture. Lynn discusses the serious nature of cyber rape and address the psychological trauma involved; but she questions if it should be considered a crime in the real world. Lynn states that while traumatic, cyber rape is not to be equated with real life physical rape. I selected this article because while I do not necessarily agree with Lynn on the subject, I thought it was interesting to read an article from a viewpoint that is oppositional to the majority idea that cyber rape is a crime in it's own right.

Found this Wired magazine article on cyber rape that i thought would be relevant to the conversation on the Mr. Bungle reading

I began my search by seeing what type Media Arts collection the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has. It appears SFMOMA has embraced Media arts and has procured and archived a site called "learning to love you more." The site was in operation from 2002-2009. The site issued "assignments" for participants to post on the site. Some of the subjects people were asked to post include, "take a picture of your parents kissing, "photograph a scar and write about it," and "interview someone who has experienced war." There are a total of 70 assignment subjects with a lot of submissions for each topic. "Learning To Love You More." Learning To Love You More. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Thanks this is great example of work bridging online / offline space, opening up a participatory platform. This one originated in Portland, I believe, coordinated by Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July

I selected a name I found interesting in the reading, Ben Benjamin. His website "superbad" launched in 1997 takes participants down a spiral of bazar, unrelated, flashing, digital art loops. Like the article "A History of Internet Art" mentioned, "beware that, seen out of their native HTML, out of their networked, social habitats, they are the net.art equivalents of animals in zoos." So I went to see what one of the mentioned artists work was all about. As the article mentions Ben Benjamin's work was featured in the Whitney Museum Biennial in 2000. Wikipedia also informed me he won a Webby award in 1999. "Superbad." Superbad. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Zotero is a plugin for Firefox (or stand alone program for Safari and Chrome users) that integrates bookmarking, old-fashioned note taking, and utilities like bibme.org into a single, user friendly interface. A button imbedded in the corner of the browser saves a website into your Zotero catalog, and does its best to peel off all the available metadata and organize it into convenient, easy to see categories. It enables the user to organize sources with full notations and (very exciting) export them into a bibliography in whatever style you prefer. As an added bonus, it can also catalog media: .pdf, images, audio, video. Your library lives online, affording very easy access. Additionally, there is a group function in the case that research need be shared. This program is a very fine add-on to our more accident prone organic brains and beats the hell out of cocktail napkins and self-addressed emails full of cryptic links any day.

Here's a great essay by Carrie Lambert-Beatty on Parafiction. She discusses the "Nikeplatz" work we saw in class along with several other works by various artists. Parafictional endeavors negotiate context collapse as strategic asset for opening up dialogue and debate. As noted in class, this particular genre of contemporary art has many similar goals and intentions as Critical Design. Carrie Lambert-Beatty "Make-Believe: Parafiction and Plausibility" October 2009 129, 51-84

The Circle by David Eggers is an interesting take on social networks and the possibility of a future dystopia cyber landscape. It is about a young woman who starts working at a facebook/google like company called The Circle and looses her private life her job. This novel is similar to design fiction in presenting what could possibly happen in the future, but in this case it is a negative view. If you are interested in context collapse, social media, communication and interaction this book is really interesting. I have linked to a 45 minute audio recording in which David Eggers reads a excerpt from his book. Here is a better summary of the entire story if you like the exerpt: "When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users' personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company's modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can't believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world-even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman's ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge" E

Eggars, David. The Circle. Knopf, 2013.

One example of how objects are slowly turning into spimes, is the addition of RFID into products that consumers use on a daily basis. Baltimore is one of a few cities that have begun distributing trashcans to businesses and individual house holds that contain the id chips. It is the hope that they will be able to collect information that will assess the usage of the cans by the customer, as well as other factors that are useful for creating a positive trash-collecting experience both for the company and the customer. Mark Reutter, Mark. "Inside City Hall: Are you ready for "smart" garbage cans?" Baltimore Brew, November 21, 2013

This is an NPR discussion about the effects that the internet has on us that I thought related to the Wesch article we read.

This website catalogs the growing trend of utilizing animated infographics to convey information. Not only is it becoming necessary to continuously filter the great amounts of data we experience into slick new ways of perceiving, a database that houses these new tools of perception becomes useful. Of particular interest to me is the combination of database with social media on vizualizing.org - the site hosts contests and challenges to better suss out interesting new designs in organizing information.

This brief video discusses how our senses are too limited to perceive everything is going on. The video suggests that technology has begun to form a sixth sense for us, one that tunes us into a reality that we cannot perceive with our own senses. Bizarre. qualcommsparks. "The Digital Sixth Sense." Youtube. 11 September 2012 Web

The new science of social networks is demonstrating how personal interconnections can affect our health. Ideas and habits that influence health for better or for worse can spread through social networks in much the same way that germs spread through communities. Komaroff, Anthony. "Social networks can affect weight, happiness." Harvard Medical School. December 16, 2011.

Michael Wesch delivers a powerful message regarding how we educate ourselves in the classroom. Wesch uses several examples of the psychology of learning in the modern world and how we can take steps to correct the outdated patterns of teaching. His critique of higher education is on point and easily understood. His biggest message is that we need to consider alternative learning environments that utilize new media in ways we have not yet seen. We should challenge the notion that critical thinking is the linchpin of education, and look to enhance and augment how we learn.

This is an NPR Fresh Air interview with an author regarding the current status of the internet in the United States. She makes some good observations, likening our highway and interstate systems that would not be in place if the government had not been a part of the project to the government's need to be more involved in ensuring and improving the infrastructure of high speed internet services in the US. The difficulty is that mega-corporations, such as Comcast, that provide internet and cable have little financial incentive to invest in improved internet. These mega-corporations operate in direct opposition with some sites on the internet, including Youtube and Netflix. Internet service providers/cable TV companies like Comcast make the connection to these internet sites slow as way to make sure subscribers will not cancel cable to watch online content instead. "Author: When It Comes To High-Speed Internet, U.S. 'Falling Way Behind'" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

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.