Category Archives: readings

Readings 08: Watts + our small worlds

Reading 08.1

In The Science of a Connected Age, Watts introduces us to the idea or small worlds, or as we will come to learn, small groups. He talks about the frequently forgotten enabler of our connectivity: the power system. This certainly made me chuckle, as I can certainly attest to taking this entire system for granted which allows me to perform my networked tasks which have engrained themselves in my day to day life. I don’t think I have physically looked at a power line in years. In fact, I grew up in a suburb in A.C.T where a key selling point was that the power lines were run underground and forced out of sight (and out of mind). But as Adrian has reminded us a few times this semester, we constantly bathe in an extraordinary sea of mobile data and radio waves. Just because we can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. This Gizmodo article shows images from an artist who worked in collaboration with an astrobiologist to show us what the world might look like if we could see these wireless signals.

Image via Casey Chan

Image via Casey Chan

 

The power system is arguably the most essential technological feature of the modern world… Without power, pretty much everything we do, everything we use, and everything we consume would be nonexistent, inaccessible, or vastly more expensive and inconvenient.”

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Readings 07

Old New Media Readings

Readings 07.1

Art, technology and culture – which came first?

Murphie + Potts pose the following questions in this week’s readings:

How do we live with technology? What impact does it have on our lives? How should we concieve of technology? Are technologies neutral in themselves, that is, does the way in which they are used determine their cultural impact? Or do technologies have intrinsic properties that shape the cultures into which they are introduced?” (p.11)

Here are some definitions which helped me navigate through the readings.

Technology: the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry; machinery and equipment developed from scientific knowledge.

Culture:  the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively; the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society.

So does technology change the way we act, or is the way we act changing technology???

Readings 07.2

Shields and collage:

  • Collage as an evolution beyond narrative.
  • The law of mosaics: how to deal with parts in the absence of wholes.
  • The absence of plot leaves the reader room to think about other things.
  • Story seems to say that everything happens for a reason, and I want to say, no, it doesn’t.
  • You don’t make art; you find it.
  • The gaps between paragraphs the gaps between people

The only thing of worth you can learn from mine is that the spaces between words deserves to shine.” – Session & The Bear

Readings 05: Landow

Reading 05.1

This week’s readings is a series of extracts from Landow’s book Hypertext 3.0: Critical Theory and New Media in an Era of Globalization. 

Landow explains that hypertextuality occurs within blogs in two main ways: firstly by “[linking] chronologically distant individual entries to each other” to create context, and secondly by the comment function.

My key takeaways from the Landow reading is all about the agency of ‘readers’ in hypertext systems. They are no longer just passive consumers, but now serve dual purpose as both readers and authors themselves.

Landow also talks about the difference between blogs and personal diaries – a comparison which I find irrelevant. As Adrian has reminded us in the lectures, all our notions of the public and private are currently being rewritten by us, and the platforms we are using. I think blogs are best used when appropriated by the user in exactly the way they want. For example, a beauty blogger who posts product reviews and so on is using the blog as a platform which expresses their intentions best. Similarly, an academic with a blog can use it to collate their research and to postulate further discussions with their peers. One must (obviously) be wary of privacy online, and abandon our assumptions that anything online isn’t 100% public. But if a user wanted to utilise their blog in exactly the same way as they would use a personal diary, good on them in my opinion! Use away. You do you, and I’ll do me.

I liked the section of Landow’s chapter which talked over the role of beginnings and endings in hypertext systems. One side of the argument says that we can assume hypertext isn’t completely absent of linearity and sequence, and instead “possesses multiple sequences” (p.110). Opponents say that every hypertext system has to have a fixed entry point which you arrive at before the system of links begin. 

Landow draws attention to an interesting point which Ong makes in Orality and Literacy, that books, unlike their authors, cannot really be challenged:

The author might be challenged if only he or she could be reached…There is no way to refute a text. After absolutely total and devastating refutation, it says exactly the same thing as before… A text stating that the whole world knows is false will state falsehood forever, so long as the text exists.” (p.79)

However, I think this is quite different in online networks. Websites and blogs are so easily edited and republished, seemingly erasing any past information which has been put out there. Yes, the previous records are still stored somewhere in cyberspace, but I certainly don’t know where! The transient nature of online is something I certainly take for granted. I think it’s been built into my generation of ‘digital natives’ to expect this kind of change so frequently, that acceptance and adjustment is the only way to survive. Facebook is a perfect example of a platform which constantly reinvents itself (aesthetically), which proves my above point.

What does this mean for hypertext? Will linkages online get lost? Will we potentially keep running into ‘Page Not Found’ error messages as the online web continues to shape shift and change? What will happen to whole systems when the nodes that keep the links alive also disappear?

Readings 03: Network Literacy, Loop Learning and Essays

Reading 03.1

Adrian Miles’ reading was useful to help me think about the following things:

Becoming a peer: The blogging world, and indeed the world of networks, is all about successfully participating as a peer. Sharing, linking, and commenting on other users’ content ensures that you are being an effective user and producer – or a ‘produser’ as Axel Bruns has described.

“To be ‘good’ at network literacies is to contribute as much as it is to consume.” – Adrian Miles

Print literacy vs network literacy: Print literacy is reinforced over many years of traditional education, with emphasis being placed on books, reading, writing and essay-writing being “the major forms for the expression of knowledge in the humanities”. However, with the rise of ICTs, knowledge is now being formed, shared and disseminated in drastically new forms, and we need to strengthen our network literacy skills and reinforce them in the same way that print literacy has embedded itself in our culture of learning.

RSS, tags, and folksonomies: These are all network tools which allow content to communicate between themselves and gather in locations other than where they were originally published. This allows for easier, faster and more efficient information flows between users, and it also allows the individual appropriation of content for different purposes.

Reading 03.2

I didn’t get around to reading all of Mark Smith’s article about Chris Argyris. From the brief scan I did, it seems to be about single-loop and double-loop learning, and I’m interested in learning what that means so I must remember to finish this reading next week.

Reading 03.3

In Paul Graham’s The Age of the Essay he gives a run down of the history of ‘the essay’, particularly how it’s used in education and how we inherited our traditional form of it. However he then goes on to explain to “give the other side of the story” about how essays can achieve different things if we write them well.

Essayer is the French verb meaning “to try” and an essai is an attempt. An essay is something you write to try to figure something out.”

Graham claims that “due to a series of historical accidents the teaching of writing has gotten mixed together with the study of literature”, meaning that essay writing has been devalued into something that is perceived as boring and pointless (to the masses). However, I found this idea problematic as I have always been one of the 0.00001% who loved my English studies in high-school, and essay writing in this style was always a favourite activity of mine. I am definitely familiar with the groans and mumbles about essay writing that came from my peers though, I just personally always thought that essay writing was a really beneficial activity that taught me some great skills such as critical thinking and the importance of good editing.

Graham advocates that essay writing should be about working something else, and that we should write them for ourselves to help this process occur, instead of writing them to prove a point or be convincing. He says that essays are about surprises, and “surprises are things that you not only didn’t know, but that contradict things you thought you knew.”

Where I did find myself fundamentally agreeing with Graham was in his insistence for encouraging people to ask questions. I’ve always been inquisitive, and used to thoroughly tire my parents out with question upon question when I was younger, and I believe that a questioning disposition can get you a long way.

Readings 02: Creative Commons

Reading 02.1

Observation #1: Thank goodness the first ‘reading’ is a video.

Observation #2: Copyright is automatic upon creation.

Observation #3: Kiri’s Kiwi is not particularly friendly looking. (See 1:38 of this video explaining Creative Commons).

Observation #4: Creative Commons licenses are a way for an author to say ‘hey, you can use my work, as long as you attribute me’. This enables the flow and distribution of information, without having to continually grant permission for usage of the copyrighted content.

Observation #5: However, there are rules.

I sure hope this image has a Creative Commons license! To cover my bases, click the image to be taken to the original source.

I sure hope this image has a Creative Commons license! To cover my bases, click the image to be taken to the original source.

  • The first logo means attribution to the copyright holder must be present. This is automatic with Creative Commons licenses.
  • The second logo means the content must be used for non-commercial purposes.
  • The third logo means share alike, and requires that any work that includes the content must carry the same license.
  • The fourth logo means no derivatives, i.e. you cannot change the content.

Observation #5.1: Jamendo sounds like an excellent resource for CC licensed music. Make mental note to check this website out.

Reading 02.2

Observation #6: Main legal issues that may arise for (Australian) bloggers are: copyright (surprise, surprise), moral rights, trade marks, defamation, and right of publicity.

Observation #7: Duration of copyright is generally the lifetime of the creator plus 70 years.

Observation #8: “You do not necessarily need a written agreement with every contributor to your blog – verbal permission is fine – but obtaining something in writing makes the terms of the licence (permission) clear to everyone.”

Observation #9: Ideas, facts, styles or techniques cannot be copyrighted. It is only the material form of the idea, fact, style or technique which is protected by copyright law.

Observation #10: If linking out to other websites on my blog, try to be sure that they are not infringing copyright.

Observation #11: There is no exception for “fair use” in Australia. Read more about the (somewhat) equivalent ‘fair dealing’ here.

Observation #12: Trade marks exist in two forms – registered trade marks and common law trade marks.

Observation #13: DO NOT DEFAME.

Observation #14: You may be responsible for material posted by other people on your blog (such as in the comments) and potentially liable for defamation. This applies to copyright infringement too.

Observation #15: There is a US-based international non-profit ‘digital rights’ group called the Electronic Frontier Foundation defending users’ civil liberties worldwide.

Observation #16: Freedom of speech is not written into the Australian Constitution, and as such, there is no explicit legal protection for acts of ‘freedom of speech’ like there is in the USA.

Observation #17: Remember that if you are operating your blog through a blogging service (like WordPress), you are liable to their Terms and Conditions. Yep, that sneaky little ‘agree’ button we all click after pretending to glance over the mountain of text that appears. I mean… sorry, what?

Reading 02.3

Observation #18: I love a bit of Lessig.

Observation #19: CC licenses are effective tools which facilitate and support the idea of remix culture and participatory culture.

Observation #20: Watch out for the creepy face-zoom at 3:25.

Observation #21: “That’s what literacy is, it’s the capacity to think critically, developed through a practice of using and reusing the creative work of others” – Lessig.

Observation #22: “We ought to use copyright law to enable the different business models of creativity, learning and knowledge that there are out there – not just the one [business model]” – Lessig.

Observation #23: Woah, this video was uploaded to YouTube in July 2006! YouTube was such a baby then! I’m pretty sure that’s just a few months before Google bought YouTube (in October…?).

Observation #24: Okay I’m not getting very distracted by reading about the history of YouTube.

OBSERVATION #25: OH MY GOD I JUST FOUND OUT GERIATRIC1927 (PETER OAKLEY) DIED IN MARCH. Ohhh he was such a great, pioneer of vlogging.

Observation #26: Alright, back to Lessig.

Observation #27: There’s no real way to measure how many CC licenses there are, but in the recording in 2006 Lessig said that we’re definitely in the tens of millions.

Reading 02.4

Observation #28: Here’s a link to the Creative Commons Australia website.

Reading 02.5

Observation #29: Why is this video talking about The White Stripes? Are they going to make an analogy about how we are The Seven Nation Army of Creative Commons License Holders??? (TSNAOCCLH – catchy, right?)

Observation #30: Oh it’s alright, they’re just here as a poetic example of the power of collaboration and co-authorship (see story about Redd Blood Cells). Great.

Observation #31: This video is really great. I dig the funky bass lines. But also, it really contextualises Creative Commons licenses by giving the history of how they came about.

Observation #32: CC isn’t supposed to compete with Copyright, but to complement it.

Reading 02.6

Observation #33: The Australian Copyright Council “supports a creative Australia by promoting the benefit of copyright for the common good” because “a society’s culture flourishes when its creators are secure in their right to benefit from their creative work and when access to those creative works is easy, legal and affordable.”

Observation #34: It’s bed time.